[luckylefty2gunz]

if you have any real world racing experience then the wheel is like taking a breath it just comes naturally!!! as soon as i plugged in mine it was like night and day, could never use a remote to race just wouldn't be right.

[dsgerbc]

LancerEvo7

I look forward to being at the back of the pack! I must say, it's something I'm not used to.

Set feedback to 10 and try to drive with least steering input. That's an advice I think helped me get used to the wheel. Not sure it's gonna help you, since I never drove with the pad, but still, who doesn't like giving advice?

[BrandonW77]

^ I recommend turning power-assisted steering ON as well, you only notice it when you make really quick turns of the wheel but it makes it much easier to correct for rear-end sliding.

[RDAardvark]

Going from Dan's and Brandon's posts, I had a look at my wheel setup: Force feedback was set to 5 and power steering was off. First off, power steering really 'tightens' up my wheel (DFGT) and makes it feel a lot more realistic. I also upped the force feedback to 8 but don't really notice much difference. Mind you, I've also had a look at Yuri's bungee cord mod for the DFGT pedals and must say it really makes a difference. Throttle control is so much more realistic and it is now a lot easier to balance the throttle. Braking takes some getting used to but there is so much more feel there.

Our first race night is fast approaching and I need some serious practise time. I was going to suggest a full practise session on Saturday, in the Alfa Cup time slot (3pm EST, 8PM GMT) but then realised that it is New Year's Eve.

So, anyone got any suggestions on when to try to have a practise session? Early Sunday morning?

Monday would suit and I can open the ORCA lounge about 8pm GMT. I should be able to do this on Friday evening as well.

[BrandonW77]

^ Not sure what my schedule is going to be this weekend. I'm supposed to go to the Indy Auto Show either Saturday or Sunday and I'll be partying it up with friends Saturday night. Whichever day I don't go to the Auto Show I'll be up for a thorough Alfa practice session, should know later today so I'll make an update when I know for sure.

Tonight, however, I will be looking to do some 500-550pp racing in the ORCA_SpotRace1 lounge. I should be available around 7pm EST, we can do several 5-10 lap races at different tracks, just for fun. If you're interested in racing, please post in the ORCA Drivers Club Thread so we can try to round up some other drivers to join us.


Last bit of business, the Spa DLC poll shows 20 people have the track, 1 plans on getting it and nobody is without it. So Spa will officially remain as the season finale and it looks like nobody will have to miss out on it.

[RDAardvark]

^ That's what I was afraid of: Everyone will be partying this weekend so Monday would probably be the best night for practise. Mind you, I'm not in work on Monday so we could have a daytime practise session if anyone is up for that.

[TrackBound7]

Now this all has me thinking about my wheel. I know my force feedback is pretty high, probably around 7 (go figure...my lucky number), not sure about the power assist. Where is that located, in the same area as the force feedback settings?

Yuri/Johnny/Tim, do you have pictures of what you did with bungee cords, keep hearing about this, interested in checking it out.

[RDAardvark]

There are numerous postings around the interwebs on the bungee cord mod. There's one here on GTPlanet, from which this image is taken:

The bungees I have are way too long so I tied off part of the length and then simply looped the cord around the pedal. I've not twisted either bungee yet, but obviously for more resistance, put a few twists in it.

[TrackBound7]

Hmm, I might play around with some ideas with the cords. I keep my feet on the bottom 1/2 to 2/3 of the pedal. I might be able to have the bungee cord on the top of the pedal coming back towards my steering wheel. Might give a better feel and keep things out of the way. Thanks for the pic.

[BrandonW77]

Ordered three 23" 1080p monitors today. Should be here the second week of January.


Anybody up for racing tonight? 500-550pp in the SpotRace lounge?

[Menown]

I'll be there around at some point. Gonna try the headset, it doesn't have talkback, so if I shout, you know why

[BrandonW77]

I'm opening the ORCA_SpotRace1 lounge now for some 500-550pp racing if anybody wants to join.

The ID won't be online so you won't see the yellow dot above the coffee cup. Just click the cup itself and join the lounge.

[OwensRacing]

Got the 86 series then after I'd be down for some action.



Speaking of good things. I discovered last night my main powered subwoofer wasn't working right. Very little noise from it. Moved gain dial and was scratchy sounding. Off to google. Discover the potentiometer can get dirty or corroded. Bought some cleaner spray. Removed back amp and then the pot. Cleaned it up. Much smoother put it all back together. Hook it up and BOOOM BOOOM BOOM OMG I am not sure how long I've been with out it. I added a second lesser one this summer. Just wow. Saved myself some coin today with a little luck.

[BrandonW77]

I've had some interesting developments over the last couple weeks that I thought I'd share, especially since part of it was recently discussed here.

First off, with the most recent update we're now able to turn off the suggested gear indicator. I've never used that indicator literally but I, like many others, would make some decisions based on it's info. Example: start braking approx 2 seconds after it starts flashing. It wasn't necessarily intentional but the flashing light is so prominent that it just happened. Eventually I came to rely more on that blinking light than paying attention to physical braking points and my consistency was not optimal.

So I've been racing with the gear indicator turned off for the last week or so. Admittedly it was rough at first but I quickly adapted and have found that my performance and consistency is improving. I'm using more of my senses and field of view now, I feel like I'm able to brake a bit later and take a more optimal line through the turn because of it. I also have more of a feeling that I'm actually driving and not relying on some "aid". I can't exactly put my finger on it, I think it's more of a combination of things that add up to create a better experience all around. I highly recommend that everybody spend a day racing with the indicator turned OFF, it will take a few races to get used to but after that everything feels more natural and you won't miss it at all.

Secondly, on Monday I built a box for my rig so I could invert my G27 pedals. I didn't expect this to make much difference but it has had quite an impact for the positive. Having the brake pedal at a different angle had GREATLY changed the feel, it actually has a progressive feel to it now and gets stiffer the further I push it. I have not installed the Nixim mod yet and did nothing to change the strength of the pedal, but simply having a different fulcrum/pivot point between my foot and pedal has effected the say it feels. I am now able to trail brake and threshold brake MUCH better than before. Previously if I wanted to give 60% braking (for example) I had to "hover" my foot at the right position and if I gave just a little more pressure it was easy to end up with 100% braking instead of 70%. Now it's much easier to apply just a tad bit more braking and not over do it.

The evidence of all this became pretty clear last night. We did some 500pp and 525pp racing and in both races I ran I was right in the mix with iForce and Wiifreak for the duration of the races. Anybody that's raced with us knows those guys are in a league of their own and I've never been near their level. In both races I spent lap after lap going door to door with Wiifreak, in the first race I finished less than .2 seconds behind him (for 2nd place) and actually passed him on the last lap of the second race to secure 2nd place. Granted he spun with about 4 corners to go but I was right on his bumper when he did, and I was less than 2 seconds behind iForce at the finish line. I should note that iForce wasn't too thrilled with his car selection for that race, but we all know that he's fast in anything.

The point, these two improvements to braking ability have had a HUGE positive effect on my driving ability and I'm somewhat shocked by it. Not everyone has the ability to improve their pedals to this extent but having the suggested gear indicator OFF plays a major part in the improvement so I recommend that everyone try this out. It will feel surprisingly odd at first and you'll be surprised how much you unintentionally relied on it, but you'll be equally surprised and how much it was negatively effecting your performance.

For the guys with DFGT pedals, do whatever you can to make that brake pedal better. The squish ball under the pedal works good (I used this method using high density foam) and combined with the bungee cords I think this would be a decent improvement. Improved braking performance has quite an impact on your overall performance, more than I expected.


Just thought I'd share.

[bdubclub]

I have been wanting to invert my G27 pedals since I got my wheel, just dont have the time/skills to fabricate something. Any tips on the box that you made Brandon? Also, I use the indicator more than I want to, and find that my best braking spots are the ones where I have an actual on track reference point. I am definitley going to try turning the indicator off, since the only reason I use it is because its there....

[WRP001]

Finally back home and now have the Alfa in my garage. My Bobs are breaking it in now as I've yet to do a lap with it. Do people typically share their practice laps times here on the thread each week? I'm about ready to take it out for a drive at DRC and wondering what the range of lap times is for the group.

[Naptown25rs]

WRP001

Finally back home and now have the Alfa in my garage. My Bobs are breaking it in now as I've yet to do a lap with it. Do people typically share their practice laps times here on the thread each week? I'm about ready to take it out for a drive at DRC and wondering what the range of lap times is for the group.

2:05.00 is about the ballpark time if I remember correctly... A few of the top guys in this group might run a second or so quicker, and with the draft thrown in during the race, you might see laps a couple of seconds lower still.

[BrandonW77]

bdubclub

I have been wanting to invert my G27 pedals since I got my wheel, just dont have the time/skills to fabricate something. Any tips on the box that you made Brandon? Also, I use the indicator more than I want to, and find that my best braking spots are the ones where I have an actual on track reference point. I am definitley going to try turning the indicator off, since the only reason I use it is because its there....

I didn't do anything fancy, just measured my area and made and angled box out of scrap wood. It came out quite well, but as you can see it's nothing overly complicated or fancy. I'm going to permanently mount it after I get the Nixim spring mod done.

WRP001

Finally back home and now have the Alfa in my garage. My Bobs are breaking it in now as I've yet to do a lap with it. Do people typically share their practice laps times here on the thread each week? I'm about ready to take it out for a drive at DRC and wondering what the range of lap times is for the group.

I have no problem with people discussing lap times here. I've seen some groups that "ban" that type of discussion but we've never had any issues with it and the faster guys are usually more than happy to share info with anybody who's struggling and I'd never want to stifle that. I don't exactly remember my lap times from DRC but I think I was right around the 2:05 range without the draft. Hope the Alfa lives up to all the hype! I think you'll fall in love with it like the rest of us have.

[Jahgee1124]

I suck horribly, my best lap is around 10 seconds behind the ballpark set earlier

[WRP001]

Naptown25rs

2:05.00 is about the ballpark time if I remember correctly... A few of the top guys in this group might run a second or so quicker, and with the draft thrown in during the race, you might see laps a couple of seconds lower still.

BrandonW77

I have no problem with people discussing lap times here. I've seen some groups that "ban" that type of discussion but we've never had any issues with it and the faster guys are usually more than happy to share info with anybody who's struggling and I'd never want to stifle that. I don't exactly remember my lap times from DRC but I think I was right around the 2:05 range without the draft. Hope the Alfa lives up to all the hype! I think you'll fall in love with it like the rest of us have.

Thanks. I should be up to speed. I ran 25 laps offline in practice mode to complete the break in and tweak my approach using my ghost (WRS habits die hard). Changed oil went online to my lounge and ran about 10 laps online with a best of 2:04.581.

I ran with stock wheels so not sure what custom wheels will do for top end speed if it changes the gear ratios. I just painted the car and installed custom wheels so I'll find out shortly. I resubmitted the registration form with my colors: Gold Chrome / Gold Chrome. My son picked those out so don't blame me. I probably would have preferred the stock red/yellow, but someone already declared those.

I sent a friend request to ORCHA_Champ and will use that lounge to practice as soon as I'm on the list.

Anxious to run some laps with the group.