With a street price of just £19.99, Trust's GM-3400 steering wheel and pedals kit initially provokes two thoughts. Thought one: that's cheap. Thought two: what's the catch? And as it happens, both thoughts are appropriate.

That cost, though, we can deal with quickly. Quality steering wheels ordinarily retail at two to three times the price that Trust is asking, but given that the firm is notorious for offering lower cost alternatives to the premium priced products of others, it's very much in line with the ethos.

But you do have to accept that there are compromises along the way. The substitution of vibration feedback for force feedback may look at first like an exercise in semantics, but it does alter the gaming mechanic slightly when in the midst of a heavy racing game.

Furthermore, what Trust calls a compact design, we're more inclined to describe as "small". Granted, for the smaller player, and certainly the younger one, the design has advantages, but for those of us with overgrown paws, there's a consideration that needs to be made here. The rubber inlay on the wheel itself - missing from the similar, yet smaller 3200 model - is nonetheless a welcome addition.

The unit itself comes in two pieces, with a steering column and separate pedals. The main steering unit can be attached to a surface using sucker cups and a supplied clamp, and then the brake pedals you seat near your feet as you'd expect. Mounted onto the front of the wheel itself are a plethora of control buttons. According to the blurb, should you opt to plug the unit into a Playstation 2 rather than a PC - we tested it out on the latter (as it supports both formats) - these buttons then also become pressure sensitive.

What's really missing for the serious driver is a gearstick, but again we come down to an argument over the balance between features and price. The serious enthusiast, realistically, is likely to go for something a little more adept.

But then that opens the GM-3400 to the enthusiastic amateur, to the cost-conscious and to the occasional dabbler in racing games. And truthfully, they're not going to be too disappointed. In use, we found that the kit had a little bit of a hollow, artificial feel, but once we'd adjusted to that, it did a serviceable job of guiding us round the selection of racing games we threw in its direction.

You'd not describe its performance as spectacular - although it was accurate - and nor would you consider the system suitable to use for long periods of time, but you get your money's worth. That said, even adding £10 or £15 to your budget is likely to get you a notable improvement.

A functional, cheap and cheerful steering wheel accessory, best suited to occasional enthusiasts and those on a very, very tight budget.