Are you Faster With a Wheel?

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I'm faster with the wheel. The main advantage over the controller is much easier modulation of throttle/brake and finer steering controls.

The pedals give like 4 inches of travel. I could switch and hold 25%, 80%, 50%, etc throttle/brake quite easily all day. It's a lot harder to do that with a button that has perhaps 1mm of travel distance. This comes in handy when gradually accelerating out of corners, lightly braking, keeping a steady throttle through a sweeping turn, etc.

The steering is also similarly easier and advantageous with the wheel.

All in all, it's much easier to wring the most out of the car, and keeping it balanced, without the on-off type of steering/throttle/brake inputs when using the controller. I've used the controller before just fine (GT4: 94% completion), but the wheel is definitely better.
 
Synwraith
:lol: I was just going to link him to my words there, I imagine he will find some use in it as I also started off useless with the wheel, as well as having a laughable setup.

A year and a half on from changing to wheel, I am over a second per lap faster on most tracks, or at least I was on Prologue. I think it is even more essential to have a wheel for GT5 👍

All the best
Maz
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👍:sly:

Thanks again Maz, very useful thread!!!
 
I don't know if I'll ever be as fast with the wheel. I used to be quick and VERY consistent with a DS2 back in the day. But the wheel is easier on my thumbs and many many times more fun so I'll stick with it and maybe one day I'll get better. :scared:

Jerome
 
I built a stand like this:

710542455_f149aafe57_o.jpg


It works really well and cost less than $30 to make. Here's the link to the original thread

http://www.seasonedgamers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44896
 
When I first started off I was a lot slower with the DFGT, but with practice I have definitely improved, have a lot more control over the car. Plus, for me, it is a boat load more fun.
 
I'm way faster with a wheel. I haven't used a gamepad for racing since GT2. I tried to use the gamepad the other day on GT5 just for fun and couldn't even complete a lap.
 
I'm honestly not sure whether I'm quicker with my wheel(G25) or not, but to me it doesn't matter. The wheel is more fun than the controller so I won't go back and find out!
 
You've been given some great advice here already. Stick with the wheel. I too had problems at first but after a month or two I was much faster.

Correcting oversteer was more difficult at first but after a while you improve your technique, and more importantly, you drive so much more smoothly that you dont need masses of overtsteer when the back gets loose.

You should try to keep both hands on the wheel in THE SAME POSITION for all but the tightest of corners. Crossing yor arms you should be able to achieve 225degrees of lock in either direction and because your arms are crossed you can snap back towards opposite lock much more quickly.

Keep at it and after a year you'll wonder how you managed to play racing games for so long on a pad.

One disadvantage is when you go to your friends house and he whips you because you've become useless with the pad. Like me.
 
Man this thread makes me want a wheel. My only problem is I've always raced 3rd person. I'm just faster that way. comes from years of NASCAR games where you gotta know if ur car has cleared the other car coming off a turn.1st person you just can't tell. Anyone else make the switch from 3rd to 1st after using the wheel?
 
Not faster, but happier.
Nah, I'm joking.
But what do you mean with 'faster'?

I played GT4 with the DS2 for years, using analog sticks for turning, braking, and often for throttle. The beast was controlling the oversteer of the Alpine A310, but with other MR/FR cars it was fine.

In other ways, it's impossible with a controller to fight the understeer which comes with FF middle to high powered cars. Impossible to find the right wheel angle and the right amount of throttle.

Last month I bought a G27, and was love since the first lap.

Definitively:
a bit faster only with FF cars in the 120-x HP range.
For other cars, quite the same speed, but with less errors. No more breaking points missed for slippery sticks, no more tapping the wheel input to draw a correct line.
So, if you mean faster in the overall race I say yes, I'm faster.
Hotlapping? Quite the same speed.

Maybe, people having trouble with a wheel never driven a real car, or tried a different game, or simply overdrive thinking to go faster. Even without the correct feeling which comes from a real car, force feedback, the capability to make a turn with a constant wheel angle, and pedals modulability help to drive consistently.
A smooth drive was the way to use the controller. The same for a wheel.
 
DOUQA
One disadvantage is when you go to your friends house and he whips you because you've become useless with the pad. Like me.
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that's why i never go outside without a wheel in my backpack, well since GT5 i've never been out at all...


j/k
 
Stick with the wheel. It'll make you faster in the sense that your response time will improve over that of the pad, you'll be able to control your acceleration going into a corner a lot better. I have a DFGT aswell and the key to getting good is to start with the slow cars and work your way up to the super cars. Trust me when i tell you that there's no better rush then doing a lap around "The Ring" in a fully tuned Nissan G-TR SpecV '09 while using a wheel.
 
It might be possible to brake faster and start/correct oversteer better with a pad.

BUT:
Which is more realistic? The wheel.
Which is more fun? The wheel.

IMO, those two factors greatly outweigh everything else, even IF I were going 5 seconds slower a lap (which I'm not).
 
thal689
Man this thread makes me want a wheel. My only problem is I've always raced 3rd person. I'm just faster that way. comes from years of NASCAR games where you gotta know if ur car has cleared the other car coming off a turn.1st person you just can't tell. Anyone else make the switch from 3rd to 1st after using the wheel?
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I too have always played with a pad and the chase cam ever since GT1. But after driving with the wheel, you will get used to the bumper cam and will never go back to the chase cam. Roof cam is okay with a wheel but it lacks the rearview mirror. Even my friends who are pad users and have tried my steering setup prefer the bumper cam over the cockpit view or chase cam. It was an easy transition for them just like it was for me 👍
 
Yes, much faster. When I first got my G25, I was disappointed in myself for buying it because it was so hard to use. I kept practising and learnt how to control different types of cars with the wheel. Now I have a G27 and can't live without it.
 
G27
g2701.jpg


Pad:
padti.jpg


Same car (race modded Corvette) on the Indianapolis track. All driving aids off.

With the wheel I can take any of the four corners without braking. With a pad I either have to brake or reduce my speed before every corner.
 
If your DFGT moves even clamp down to a table then you can buy a roll of "Easy Liner" and cut a piece to place under the wheel. I had a problem with getting G27 clamps tight enough to stop it from sliding. Easy Liner did the trick.
 
I would assume I'm faster with a wheel as I haven't used a controller since GT3.
 
I only drove with a pad once or twice when I first got the game. I'm quite capable of golding all the license tests with my old Momo so I'm probably quicker with a wheel.
 
2 things you need to know about the wheel...

It turns 2x times the drivers hand animation... so it seems harder on tighter tracks...

you can correct with a wheel, with the controller you just have to be more thoughtful about lining up for aggressive moves, with the wheel you still need to be careful but you have more precision when it comes to correcting an over or under-steer... its MUCH harder to hold the sticks in a perfect position and really control the cars behavior.

This is VERY blatantly in your face in Rally events (any other rally game too), you need to not go along with the force feedback, you need to fight it to put the car in the correct angle of attack.
 
When I started playing Gran Turismo it was the 3rd one on the ps2. I played with a controller then and continued playing withy no wheel through GT4 but decided when I got my PS3, that i should get a wheel to play Prolouge. I bought the DFGT too and im still using it now.
It took a VERY long time to get used to it though. I hated it to start with, and really wanted to go back to my controller but stayed with it and im glad i did! You simpily have more control of the car. You know instantly when you have pushed the car too hard through a corner, and you how much countersteer you need through the feedback.
Try using front wheen drive cars first. Dont use no assists though, its best to know how to control your car without them, and youll usually get faster times. After you get more confident try drifting. This will take AGES to get the hang of, but its worth it. Theres plenty of bigginer drift tunes out there, so have a look! After you have mastered drifting, youve most definately mastered the use of counter-steer as weel, and therefore you can control faster, more tail happy, rear wheel drive cars.
Its worth it to use a wheel. It makes the game far more ingaging.
 
BradKinder
This sort of setup will not result in you being faster than the sixaxis/dualshock. This is because the chair/table/pedals will move over time while you play, and completely cancel out the advantage of precise, controlled, and deliberate inputs.

If you care only about being faster, then don't even bother with the wheel unless you can afford an Obutto. (Or something similar)

You might have a bit of fun with the tables and dining room chairs or whatever you scrounge together, but you will be less consistent and eventually put the wheel away in favor of controls that don't get out of place within 5 minutes of using them. You might be able to drive a good line somewhat slower than the limit without troubles, but you won't ever be able to do things like drifting reliably without a cockpit.
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BS. Don't anyone listen to this guy. While you really want the most stability possible, you sure as hell don't need a multi-hundred dollar cockpit setup to do it.

My setup isn't really any fancier than that and it never moves. Maybe if you're yanking on the wheel and slamming the pedals with abandon, but I don't do that.

My wheel is clamped to a small piano bench that I picked up at a garage sale for $5 for playing Rock Band drums (and now keyboards.) The pedals are on the carpet. Neither move.

gt5setupresized.jpg


If you can afford a fancy setup, more power to you. I've planned on building one for my PC flight sim stuff for years. But it's FAR from necessary. There are plans (including some linked earlier in this thread) all over the web for inexpensive, easy to make setups, but it's quite likely that you've already got something around home that'll be perfectly sufficient as well.


And, FWIW, I'm way better with a wheel. As has been said repeatedly here, once you get a feel for it, it's much easier to hold a consistent line as well as make minute corrections with a wheel. You can turn down many of the driving aids which will, in the long run, allow you to run faster.
 
If you have a table that's too short use books to heighten it, that's what I'm doing. The wheel beats the controller in so many ways, you have more control, except when your about spin out, it's tougher to rotate the wheel 360 degrees than it is to flick a thumbstick. But other than that, you'll be smoother in and out of corners and smoother with playing the throttle with a wheel.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I used it again last night and I'm so bad it's funny but once I can control the oversteer and learn the tracks a bit better I should be ok. I'm ok in the GTR around the Top Gear Track now and can match my pad times. Will try and make some sort of stand over the weekend (feel free to share your setups if you haven't already posted them elsewhere).

Cheers.
 
I feel faster on my wheel .... but i can't gold any of the license tests unless i grab my Dualshock .... :( ... sad but true ...

(with the analog sticks)
 

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