I play all the major PC racing sims too and I think the GT5 Time trial compares well, and better the PC games in a few areas physics wise and loses out in some areas. But if you consider where PD has come from and where GT4 was, it's progressive
Physics in each game takes a while to get used to, but once you do they suddenly feel a certain smilarity for a funny reason, when it felt so alien when you first played it
Even in all these PC games they all feel different, so who is to say which is correct? I mean none of them really feel like real life.
I played GTR Evolution a fair bit a few weeks back, it feels pretty arcadey and simple compared to the GT5 Time trial so I'll leave it out. R-Factor has the same basic physics engine as it, and I'm not dedicated enough, hardcore and drawn to it enough to go fiddling under the bonnet like I would when it comes to modding other PC FPS and strategy games I love.
NetKar Pro feels very good, right up there with my best, but the cars are hard to relate too and I haven't played it in a few months so I'll leave it out
Now I have played LFS, iRacing and the GT5 Time Trial long enough to get a feel for each, and a week ago I played all 3 back to back.
LFS feels like the odd one out. iRacing and the GT5 TT feel pretty similar with a few differences
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Overall the reason why I like the GT5 Time trial the most, because it's the only game that gets me into the zone, locked into the screen like I did when I was churning out laps for 2-3 hour stints, where I really feel like I'm driving a car, banging up through the gears, the engine screaming, steering the car around. And I have good control and connection to the car.
I get that a bit in LFS, especially online. I haven't so far in iRacing, and I've done quite a few official Time Trail events, qualifying sessions and races. The steering feel and force feedback is the best of the bunch, so I don't know why, but something is not right. I never really feel like I'm fully in control of the car or it has much weight. The way it looks, the way it sounds and how it controls plays a part I guess. And the cars you get to drive, or lack of. I really like the debris and smoke effects they added recently though, much like what we have seen in GT5. It really adds to the feeling when you race - eye candy like this makes a difference for all the naysayers out there who poo poo eye candy....
The GT5 TT also seems to be the only game where the rate you apply the throttle makes a big difference, not just how much. It matters a little in iRacing, but not to the same degree. In LFS it doesn't seem to matter wether you mash the pedal quickly or wether you ease into it.
There is not only slip angles, but slip curves to work with.
At first I hated this and it felt alien, and I couldn't figure out why the car was losing control , but like I said before once you get used to the physics it feels second nature and I can read what the car is doing and make it dance.
As far as force feedback goes, you can turn off centre spring force, to make the PC games function like they should but you can't in the GT5 TT, so your stuck with good weight transfer effects (feels exactly like iRacing) and a few bumps, but everything else seems to be masked by the centering force. If you turn the FF up, you just get more centring force.
I can feel a bit of the natural wheel positioning when you over steer, but it's nowhere like as strong in LFS. Maybe LFS is exaggerated though. iRacing is somewhere between the 2.
Most PC games have canned FF to communicate grip, engine vibration, braking and other stuff etc, but a real life car doesn't work like that. You get that with the seat of pants feeling. iRacing has more realistic steering and FF effects, like a real car.
So GT5 TT is more inline with that, but feels somewhat vague and lacking some stuff. I can see the bumps in the cockpit, but I can't feel all those high frequency bumps like in iRacing, except for the major ones and going over curbs etc.
You can feel ABS pulsing in LFS through the wheel, which is pretty cool.
LFS has the best connected to road feeling, and that your actually driving something with air filled rubber tyres, but cars don't feel weighty, and the overall physics feels quite soft and doughy. Throttle response is pretty poor, and you never really feel the power and torque of the engines. I have used the LFS tweak tool to up the engines up to 500-600 hp, and it never feels like it.
GT TT feels like your driving on solid rubber tyres as opposed to air filled ones, but weight of car feeling is good.
Tyre model lacks acceleration grip, and has too much braking grip.
Best feeling of throttle response and screaming engine.
iRacing cars don't really feel heavy, or your driving on tyres to me like in LFS, but it models that skipping across the road surface, when the tyres don't bite properly extremely well. Engine sounds not so good. Tyres make as much noise as the GT5 TT as well
Like I said before, if PD improves the tyre model and force feedback, it's gonna be a sweet ride. And best overall package by far.
for so long recently, and then attempting the Targa Florio in GPL last night, I can see there's a huge difference in "involvement" in Prologue, (the TT is much better). For Example, my heel-and-toe had become really quite sloppy!
