I use the defaults but make sure to set the following:
Make sure the FFB strength slider in game is at 100%
The CSWv2 defaults but with SPR-Off and DPR-Off.
How much feedback you get through the wheel on curbs depends on a per car basis. The steering and suspension geometry as well as wheel alignment and tyre pressure must all have such an impact on the tyre's instability that it's easily affected by a curb. In other words the tyre must be able to easily push on the tie-rods.
- Soft tyres = lots of dampening of feedback
- Camber affects contact patch size and grip. If the tyre has grip it won't be easily upset even on a sawtooth curb
- Caster changes the angle of the Spindle/Tie-rod arm that is on the spindle. So it also affects the FFB.
There is a value in the per car FFB settings (under vehicle setup) that's called "Spindle Arm Angle". Playing around with that value can make a difference in how the FFB feels and reacts.
I am sure you are wondering... "but dude... when you go over a big sawtooth curb in real life you can definitely feel it through the wheel".
Yes, you can feel it through the wheel but where does it come from? When the tyres rise and fall onto and off of the curbs it produces a verticle impact. This impact is caught and dampened by your...
tyres, springs and dampers.
However, the energy of the shock isn't being removed. The energy travels through the strut tower (which you can see under the hood or bonnet of the car) where the top of the shocks are mounted. It than goes through the metal of your entire chassis as a huge vibration.
Your seat is mounted to the floor pan, but your steering wheel is actually secured to the car's firewall. Often near your master brake cylinder. So the vibrations also go through that firewall as it's part of the chassis and reach up to your steering wheel.
Now if you ever drive on a stone road or even an off-road surface try to grab your wheel with one hand and your dash (also secured to the firewall) with the other hand. Now if you feel the vibrations same vibrations through the dash and your wheel, and as a third your seat, than those are vibrations that act upon the car vertically. It is not the energy that moves the wheels and pushes on the tie-rods which move the steering rack.
Back to pCARS. The FFB is actually simulating the steering rack movement by calculating the spindle's movement which is influenced by tyre physics.
My advice, if you really wish to feel the curbs in a proper manner, is that you invest in Simvibe and at least one Buttkicker tactile speaker (best 4 for chassis mode, giving you the vibration energy from all 4 points/struts of the car). The vibrations will than go through your desk, chair or best... rig. It will than travel in the same manner as it would in a real car, since your rig is your chassis.
Also if you're on console audio tactile is the only other option you have.
I am sure you might wonder why I give this advice and haven't opted at WMD during development to give us more 'curb feel'. This is due to how the energy travels in a car. Since the vibrations don't upset the steering movement (left/right), as explained earlier. It would be wrong to simulate something that it shouldn't be doing.
You see, the FFB signal is acting in exchange for the rack in the steering housing of a real car. The FFB motor actually acts as the pinion at the end of the steering shaft (to which your steering wheel is bolted) and is instructed to turn clockwise or anti-clockwise to move the steering wheel left or right.
The position sensor in your FFB wheel is sending back a signal to the physics engine that the pinion movement is or has been executed and the physics engine respositions the tyres in real time and recalculates things all over again.
Now if you add in unnecessary effects to the FFB signal, it also affects the car's phyics as it changes the steering angle of the car. In other words the car is being steered by the FFB, but the added effects would influence the angle of the tyres as well. This than causes the car to change direction, which upsets balance (even if very tiny) and so on.
Anyway, that's just my 2 cents. I do realize people have different wishes though, but I am a purist in this regard. So I always stuck to a balanced Fx Fy Fz and Mz force feedback settings in the game. You can get what you want via FFB, but it requires a bit of tinkering.
A FFB tweaking manual should be in the works, but I am not sure if it's 100% complete yet.
That said, this is from the wiki put together by the community:
http://en.pcars.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Physics#I_can.E2.80.99t_feel_the_kerbs.3F
"
I can’t feel the kerbs?
The kerbs are physically modelled, so if the kerb is rather flat in real life you won't feel much in the FFB."
Sorry, I know you might have wanted just settings but I felt that I should be complete so others learn as well.
