Buying a shifter, is it worth it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mister dog
  • 42 comments
  • 23,332 views
It's worth it if you plan on using it. I don't use my TH8A in GT6 since the clutch is broken in GT. But I bought it for PCars in March and plan to use it and my clutch pedal (bye bye left foot braking, haha) 👍


Jerome
 
Ever driven down a steep mountain pass? If you don't engine brake you cook your brakes before you even get half way to the bottom.
Haven't driven down a steep mountain. That's the extreme case the guy mentioned in the video i suppose or if you're driving a truck/heavy vehicle downhill?
 
Doesn't have to be a truck, a regular passenger car can fry it's brakes as well. In a proper race car with racing brakes on a race track he's right the brakes will do their thing no problem but you start racing around something like an old Mustang and a bit of engine braking can go a long way.

I always engine brake, have done since I started driving. I lived in a hilly area so it helps control the speed of the car going down a hill so you don't need the brakes as much.

On a race track, heel toeing the car at the right time can also help slow and maintain the balance of the car while braking. Try slamming on the brakes with the clutch vs braking whilst in gear and you will feel a difference.
 
Time for a little update, i've been playing with the shifter for a couple of months now and it was worth the money. I needed to get used to it and i still miss a shift sometimes, but overall it ups the fun factor.

I have a bit of a dilemma now, as i have the CSR shifter set it's either the H shifter or the sequential one. I have the H shifter installed since i bought the set, but it affects my lap times a bit in race cars that normally use sequential shifting, as it is more work. It's a compromise of having to sequential shift with road cars that normally have an H one, or loosing time and making it a bit more difficult for yourself driving racing cars with the H shifter (when they don't have paddles).

Anyone else in my position, and what do you prefer having installed? I don't want to switch them around each time i change a car as that is too much work.
 
The sequential CSR shifter is very clicky, not that nice to use. Personally I would go for paddles on sequential cars and full H-shift with clutch on cars which need it, and just put time into learning to H shift.

If you need to be competitive and don't fancy the extra work, you can always unplug the shifter or switch to a profile which doesn't have H shifting enabled and run any car with paddles.

If you really are intending to give up on H shifting, only then does the sequential shifter make sense.
 
The sequential CSR shifter is very clicky, not that nice to use. Personally I would go for paddles on sequential cars and full H-shift with clutch on cars which need it, and just put time into learning to H shift.

If you need to be competitive and don't fancy the extra work, you can always unplug the shifter or switch to a profile which doesn't have H shifting enabled and run any car with paddles.

If you really are intending to give up on H shifting, only then does the sequential shifter make sense.
Cheers. The H one is quite clicky also but if you turn up the volume you don't really notice it that much.
Actually mapping the paddles as a sequential isn't a bad idea to be able to get the most out of both worlds. I think i'll keep the H shifter whilst i'm playing AC and put on the sequential one when PCARS is released, as that game is more focused on race cars.
 
I much much rather use my sequential then booring paddles but just try it and decide yourself and disregard what internet says. Some cars even sequential feels a bit slow so then it has it uses.

Do you have the shifter mounted on the default bars? It´s not much work to change then.

I don´t miss quick release on my wheel either though it would be a nice gimmick. I could live with the TH8RS and it´s 3 minute operation to switch from sequential to H-pattern. On the Clubsport shifter I recon it´s down to 30 seconds or something as I want to change the knob otherwise it would be 3 seconds. But I guess we are an impatient breed everything must happen now. People buy SSDs to get windows to load 2 seconds faster and the racetrack 1 second faster and it´s a must despite in games it don´t affect performance whatsoever.

Sorry for rant.
 
I much much rather use my sequential then booring paddles but just try it and decide yourself and disregard what internet says. Some cars even sequential feels a bit slow so then it has it uses.

Do you have the shifter mounted on the default bars? It´s not much work to change then.
Yeah same here but then it doesn't feel right in a road car :)
Do you keep the sequential shifter when switching to a road car? I suppose you're not going to exchange the shifters on those bars each time no?
 
Each time I would really want to switch I would switch simple. It´s no big hassle if I don´t have time to switch I have no time to race either.
 
it all depends on what you want to do...if you are mostly racing and care mostly for outright speed and laptimes, paddles are the best because they are far easier to drive with and allow you to be much faster.

if you care more about driving pleasure and realism, then i would get an h-shifter because its much more fun. even if GT6 is not as good as it should be in regards to how the clutch and shifting behaves, its still very enjoyable if you get used to it. you have to shift a little slower than you could from 1st to 2nd especially and be sure to always depress the clutch fully as you shift. it is however not like the clutch was digital as some people complain, because you can surely let the clutch slip when you take off for example, but in order to succesfully get into a gear the clutch needs to be fully down.

i'm mostly drifting and i enjoy doing that with my h-shifter. its even more enjoyable if you also play pc-sims like assetto corsa. with three pedals and an h-shifter i've been able to make real use of the different techniques that keiichi tsuchiya teaches in the drift bible in assetto corsa. sadly in GT6 it does not seem to be really possible to do things like the clutch kick and even more so the shift lock technique because its not that sensitive towards them. you also don't need to really heel and toe downshift in GT6, but i always do it just for the fun.
BTW, what rig were using just wondering.. btw is just me but it seems FFB works better in GT5 than 6 am at lvl18-19 so far and only drive 6 premium cars all stock manual h-patern gear box apart from oil change maybe. I tried 6 and it seems like there's less details in FFB way it is in 5. Might be my rig I use non native PS Ts-Pc racer wheel with drivehub
 
I have a DSD Pro Sequential shifter on my rig, I can't stress enough how satisfying it is using it. I still use paddles on race cars that have paddles in real life but I actually prefer to use the shifter.

Adds to the immersion no end, especially as it is very solid and has a realistic movement so it feels like you are banging through the gears with a real gear box.

Couple that with Simvibe giving vibrations through the seat as you select another gear and it's bloody fantastic.

For immersion I highly recommend a separate shifter
Yeah
I have a DSD Pro Sequential shifter on my rig, I can't stress enough how satisfying it is using it. I still use paddles on race cars that have paddles in real life but I actually prefer to use the shifter.

Adds to the immersion no end, especially as it is very solid and has a realistic movement so it feels like you are banging through the gears with a real gear box.

Couple that with Simvibe giving vibrations through the seat as you select another gear and it's bloody fantastic.

For immersion I highly recommend a separate shifter
Yeah dude but you gotta use h-shifter where h-shifter is due and engage the clutch ;-p trust me, as nice as only using sequential for all cars is, it will take your immersion to further dimension
 
Last edited:
It's worth it if you plan on using it. I don't use my TH8A in GT6 since the clutch is broken in GT. But I bought it for PCars in March and plan to use it and my clutch pedal (bye bye left foot braking, haha) 👍


Jerome
It's broken as you are trying to believe it is, it works Okay btw and takes quite sometime getting used to it , although is not perfect but immersive wise it's worth it
 
Last edited:
Back