Steering Wheel Contoller - How Quickly Did You Get Used To It?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lbpomg95
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Jbaffoh
No sound??? Amazing. I could not do that.
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I can process visual infos well above average most people can do in terms of time to process and reaction time :) At least , that's what my buddies told me since Nintendo days :lol: I already used to drive on PC and console with manual + clutch ( when available ) using stick controller. Back in PS2 days, I was pretty good on D1 GP driving sim, with dedicated clutch button ( clutch kick baby ), most of my friends could not keep up drifting with manual clutch on DS2. Tandem drifting in survival mode was a beast to tackle, not even GT6 drifting can compare :) Need to have good understanding of real life drifting techniques just to be able to connect drifts and avoid collision, all this with manual + clutch on DS2 :eek: The challenges was more insane with precision parking stunt by drifting, similar to world record parking stunt :P

When no sound, I relied on my eyes to use the tachos/speedos, experience of quickly translate what's happening to the car visually ( cockpit view ) split seconds of processing :lol: I often raced with muted TV back in GT5 days ( online ), late night driving :) Stick is just a tool, if I have a wheel I will use it for sure :)
 
LeMansAid
I own a few wheels ranging from a $20 second hand DFGT, up to a couple of mid-range Fanatecs, right up to the mighty $2600 ECCI 7000, and I can tell you that a better and more expensive wheel will not sort out your teething issues.

Consider your settings though. The "protection" that you might have needed with aids may actually be hindering you now for instance. It's also important to make sure you set things up the way that it's most enjoyable. It shouldn't be a chore, forget about lap times for a while and just enjoy the experience. Practice will eventually make perfect...... ish.
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I've never used driving aids and never will on GT6, controller or wheel, aside from ABS set to 1 in some cases. As it stands it isn't a chore. I am genuinely having a whale of a time crashing into everything! :D Though I've stopped with the crashing at the moment because I'm really enjoying sort of half-speed cruising around the track all smooth-like. I started this thread simply out of curiosity.

Johnnypenso
Best advice is put away the Stratos and start learning to drive with a Miata or stock BRZ or something similar, flatter tracks at first like Tsukuba, Silverstone etc, on Comfort Mediums. The Stratos is one of the most difficult cars to master and not a good car to start with. Brands has a lot of things going on from cambered corners to elevation changes and isn't the best place to start either. Run lots of laps in one or two cars until you are consistent but don't try to be super fast at first, just consistent. For sure don't start on sports tires or racing tires as they won't teach you anything about car control at this stage on lower PP cars. No aids but ABS either, everything else is a crutch that changes the natural physics of the car.
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My Stratos actually has a set-up similar to the one in my tuning index, which is relatively subdued. The first car I ran was actually a Delta on Tsukuba (coincidence!), and I then moved to a lightly tuned 120BHP 1991 MX-5 on CM tyres. I've been having far too much fun to put the Stratos away now, though! :dopey:

I did try a Cizeta on SH tyres at Spa after a couple hours last night, never has that car felt so fast. I'm loving this. Money well spent.

And the interior view is something else, now. Truly brings out the game's charm, as if I wasn't enjoying it enough without the DFGT.
 
At the risk of sounding like an old fart, most young people these days will not have had the experience of driving a RWD car with more power than grip and no PAS, TC, ESC/DSC or ABS therefore may not immediately pick up on the Force Feedback cues through the wheel. GT isn't too bad in that respect - you can feel the caster effect and weight change as soon as the rear breaks loose so it's pretty helpful. In real driving, while people talk of 'seat of the pants' feelings, the main cues come from the inner-ear vestibular system, something that can only be simulated with and enclosed 360deg rotation 45+deg tilting pod! Until I can buy one of those for a reasonable price, I'll make do with a G27... :)
 
Ridox2JZGTE
I can process visual infos well above average most people can do in terms of time to process and reaction time :) At least , that's what my buddies told me since Nintendo days :lol: I already used to drive on PC and console with manual + clutch ( when available ) using stick controller. Back in PS2 days, I was pretty good on D1 GP driving sim, with dedicated clutch button ( clutch kick baby ), most of my friends could not keep up drifting with manual clutch on DS2. Tandem drifting in survival mode was a beast to tackle, not even GT6 drifting can compare :) Need to have good understanding of real life drifting techniques just to be able to connect drifts and avoid collision, all this with manual + clutch on DS2 :eek: The challenges was more insane with precision parking stunt by drifting, similar to world record parking stunt :p

When no sound, I relied on my eyes to use the tachos/speedos, experience of quickly translate what's happening to the car visually ( cockpit view ) split seconds of processing :lol: I often raced with muted TV back in GT5 days ( online ), late night driving :) Stick is just a tool, if I have a wheel I will use it for sure :)
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In real life, I don't watch the tach to know when to shift. Nor do I watch a graphic to know when my tires are lighting up. Nor do I stare in my rear view or side view constantly to know when someone is approaching from behind. Sound and feel is key.

The DS3 is devoid of feel, and playing without sound would remove all enjoyment for me. To me, that would remove the driving game or "sim" aspects, and transform it into a pointless exercise in pushing electrons around a screen--like Asteroids.
 
Jbaffoh
In real life, I don't watch the tach to know when to shift. Nor do I watch a graphic to know when my tires are lighting up. Nor do I stare in my rear view or side view constantly to know when someone is approaching from behind. Sound and feel is key.

The DS3 is devoid of feel, and playing without sound would remove all enjoyment for me. To me, that would remove the driving game or "sim" aspects, and transform it into a pointless exercise in pushing electrons around a screen--like Asteroids.
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Agree :) For losing traction while my TV muted, I relied more on reflexes and instinctive counter actions, I never looked at anything other than tach/speedo - and it didn't even distract me from the road, as I can simultaneously do both ( I know most tracks in GT6 like the back of my hand ) When there's no one at home and it's not at late night, I cranked up my surround set.
 
I found the Goodwood special events to be very good practice for control of the stock cars with various handling balances. I managed to get gold times on them all with my wheel only a few weeks after getting used to using it.
 
lbpomg95
I have invested in a Logitech DFGT, and just set it up today. It's a good laugh, and I'm really enjoying it.

However, I'm curious.

Many people I've seen on this site have mentioned how (eventually) they are faster on a steering wheel as opposed to a DS3 controller. Obviously, this will have taken practice.

So, as I bound around Brands Hatch in a Lancia Stratos finding every wall within a mile radius, I ask you - how much practice did you put in before you could match your controller lap times/competitiveness with a wheel? Or are you still faster with a DS3 controller?
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I took to a wheel like a duck to water. Quicker straight away, although I think it was more to do with the pedals than the wheel itself

In the big scheme of things I'm not that quick, but definitely quicker with a wheel. Stick with it, it'll pay off for you I'm sure 👍
 
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It was mostly a jab at my own lack of initial driving ability on the wheel, however I'm stating a 100 percent fact so the OP can get better insight on my post. I'm pretty fast man. Not the best. But pretty fast. I don't say it to toot my own horn. I say it so people don't take my advice or opinions or comparisons with "a grain of salt" I guess you could say. Or atleast not as much so.. Kind of how I will hold stotty or CSL's opinion with great value opposed to yours :). Because they are fast and also have the credentials. Now I can't go mentioning all of my greatest GT accomplishments because that would be arrogant, or "CHECK OUT MY WORLD RECORD" like (I think you know who I mean) however you have yourself a nice day and don't take my jab at you to personal.

this post was meant for @GTP_CargoRatt . I have lost the ability to quote on my mobile device
 
I was immediately quicker. I remember there was a licence test in gt5 for a section of nurburgring that i couldnt pass. I mustve tried it 100 times with the controller and gave up in frustration. The second i got the wheel i tried it again and i beat my best time by a few seconds first go. It was just so easy to be precise and you could feel the understeer. It was amazing to have so much more information and control that wasnt available on the controller.

How long it takes to get quicker with the wheel is probably going to be different for every person. The biggest challenge is learning to drift on the wheel.
 
I recently bought a Thrustmaster T300 a few weeks ago after years of using a DS3. It took about a week to get used to it (along with several crashes!), but once I got to grips with the force feedback it felt amazing! You really get to know what the car is doing and therefore I am already faster than I was.
:lol::)
 
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How long it takes I think depends on how fast you were on a DS3 and how old you are - I was hopeless on a DS3 and immediately enjoyed the game more with a wheel even if I was slightly slower at first. With DS3 I used all driving aids, but with wheel I drove without them from the start. I started the game (GT5) over again when I got a wheel - I think that is the best way to get used to a wheel and you should be faster on a wheel before you complete the game - or if you are an old guy like me with great big hands and sausages for fingers you will be faster with a wheel almost straight away.

When I sold my DFGT, after upgrading my wheel, the middle aged friend that I sold it to was faster with the DFGT than DS3 within half an hour of trying it - unfortunately he was also faster at the game than me within a few hours as well!
 
mark wolf
I was immediately quicker. I remember there was a licence test in gt5 for a section of nurburgring that i couldnt pass. I mustve tried it 100 times with the controller and gave up in frustration. The second i got the wheel i tried it again and i beat my best time by a few seconds first go. It was just so easy to be precise and you could feel the understeer. It was amazing to have so much more information and control that wasnt available on the controller.

How long it takes to get quicker with the wheel is probably going to be different for every person. The biggest challenge is learning to drift on the wheel.
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I agree with Mark here, I was immediately faster with the wheel and now GT-6 has improved to where I can usually catch any incipient power slides while racing. I love my G-27 and another cool thing about the G-27 (and maybe other Logitech products) is that you can program them for different rotations, lock to lock, I use 405 degree rotation using buttons 2 and 3 simultaneously then pushing the square key (nine o'clock button) while holding down the 2 and 3 buttons on the bottom row, this on the gearshift lever console. I run 8 and 10 on the FFB wheel settings and the sensitivity at Zero.

I am an old guy, and I was pretty hopeless on the DS3. To me it was like trying to fly an airplane with a sailing dinghy tiller, totally unintuitive?!?! The only complaint I would have about the G-27 wheel is the gear noise and some lack of smoothness. The ease of accurate steering makes it all worthwhile.
Cheers, Pete
 
So if I hold down the 2 middle (red) buttons, & press the square button, I will only have 405 degrees rotation. Nice. The silly things come with no documentation at all. Default is like 1080? Guess I need to go snoop around the website.
 
rosckolove
It was mostly a jab at my own lack of initial driving ability on the wheel, however I'm stating a 100 percent fact so the OP can get better insight on my post. I'm pretty fast man. Not the best. But pretty fast. I don't say it to toot my own horn. I say it so people don't take my advice or opinions or comparisons with "a grain of salt" I guess you could say. Or atleast not as much so.. Kind of how I will hold stotty or CSL's opinion with great value opposed to yours :). Because they are fast and also have the credentials. Now I can't go mentioning all of my greatest GT accomplishments because that would be arrogant, or "CHECK OUT MY WORLD RECORD" like (I think you know who I mean) however you have yourself a nice day and don't take my jab at you to personal.

this post was meant for @GTP_CargoRatt . I have lost the ability to quote on my mobile device
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Yea, I know I'm a nobody who hasn't a clue as to what I'm talking about, you don't have to tell me.....thanks for the reminder though I guess.
 
It was a counter to your unneeded remark about me. And not a very serious one at that. I have no idea how fast you are these days. However I did take note of your personal best TT finish @ 23rd I believe it was?

@GTP_CargoRatt
 
I had a very weird experience getting used to the wheel since I somewhat skipped the 'swapping' process. Basically, I'd been using controllers in GT4 and GT3 and stopped playing GT games for about 3 years once my PS2 finally died. I then starting playing GT5/6 with the wheel straight away, but it still took me about 4 months to find my ultimate pace and more importantly, consistency... which meant, for example, I had lots of trouble with the WRS qualifiers! :lol:
 
Ridox2JZGTE
Looks like I'm 14 years old kid with more than 20 years of driving experience IRL :lol: I can drive both stick controller and wheel. Still don't really fancy wheel on console though, sometimes the FFB just horrible/unrealistic on some titles, PC + wheel is still better, but not by much either. In terms of replicating real life input, yes wheel is good, got a round wheel to turn, pedal to press and stick shift to move, but the interaction and feedback are mostly subpar. The nuances and the feel of a real car pedals and wheel are hard to achieve, unless you have dedicated setup to simulate certain car like Sega F355 Challenge wheel + H shifter + pedal. The pedals and H shifter on F355 are just amazing, even in todays terms.
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You have not played any legit sims, if you think PC + wheel is not much better. If you are a good driver IRL, you're going to be a good driver on a wheel in GT6. I imagine we may have differing definitions of 'good', though as well. I've never come across someone who was a very good driver IRL and said they couldn't grasp or be competitive online with GT6 and FFb wheel.
 
VR_Engineered
You have not played any legit sims, if you think PC + wheel is not much better. If you are a good driver IRL, you're going to be a good driver on a wheel in GT6. I imagine we may have differing definitions of 'good', though as well. I've never come across someone who was a very good driver IRL and said they couldn't grasp or be competitive online with GT6 and FFb wheel.
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Not sure what you mean :confused: I still think wheel like G27 is okay, but I won't say it's realistic enough. I have been driving with a wheel since the days of the original Need For Speed :D, I already drive a real car back then.
 
Ridox2JZGTE
Not sure what you mean :confused: I still think wheel like G27 is okay, but I won't say it's realistic enough. I have been driving with a wheel since the days of the original Need For Speed :D, I already drive a real car back then.
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NFS2 was my first driving game and I also played that with a wheel as a kid. All I had was a real kart ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I mean what I said. That if you think PC + wheel is not much better, then you have not played any legit PC sims. Not sure how else to put that.
 
VR_Engineered
NFS2 was my first driving game and I also played that with a wheel as a kid. All I had was a real kart ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I mean what I said. That if you think PC + wheel is not much better, then you have not played any legit PC sims. Not sure how else to put that.
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Have you ever tried Sega F355 Challenge without assist ( pro mode ) and H shifter with clutch ? Newer PC sims might beat that in realistic physics, but I guess the feel and interaction with the physical pedal and wheel would be similar if not worse. Sega F355 pedals was one of the best I ever used, heel and toe were natural and almost felt like a real car ( you need to be able to do it in real car to be good in F355 )

I played NR2003, GPL, Geoff Crammond GP series and a bunch of rally sim with a wheel long ago, haven't played PC sims with a wheel since 2010.
 
Ridox2JZGTE
Have you ever tried Sega F355 Challenge without assist ( pro mode ) and H shifter with clutch ? Newer PC sims might beat that in realistic physics, but I guess the feel and interaction with the physical pedal and wheel would be similar if not worse. Sega F355 pedals was one of the best I ever used, heel and toe were natural and almost felt like a real car ( you need to be able to do it in real car to be good in F355 )

I played NR2003, GPL, Geoff Crammond GP series and a bunch of rally sim with a wheel long ago, haven't played PC sims with a wheel since 2010.
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Yeah, see - That is indeed exactly why you responded about a moderator being needed. You have a personel agenda in regards to me over a single post. As if you needed to point that out mod was needed...

No, I've not played Sega F355. But, I regularly play iRacing and have been messing with RF2. Even with all the aids off - gasp (lol).

That's great that you've been playing sims since 2010, but it is irrelevant when you go make claims about PC + wheels, when you've never played the top tier sims.
 
I used the sticks on the DS3 and so the change-over to a wheel wasn't quite as bad as some have found. From memory, I was almost up to speed after a week and attempting the GT5 Vettel challenge. After two weeks, I was going faster than before.

As for counter-steering, I'm of the opinion that the wheel, a wheel, any wheel is never going to be as effective as the sticks on a DS3. With the DS3, you can instantly reverse from full-lock left to full-lock right and vice versa. There's just no way you can do that with a wheel, and so you become accustomed to avoiding those situations where instant-full-lock is necessary, or you adjust to being able to keep the car on the road with quick half-turns made with one hand on the wheel.

The fact that the wheel made the game just that much more realistic meant I was never tempted to go back to the DS3 ... although I do grab it again once every two weeks to get gold in the drift seasonals.
 
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Y'know I advise you to take test drives of FR or MR Cars on tracks you know very well and just aim not to go off the track at any point. Start with a slow car (im using an ae86 trueno the initial d version :P) and use it till you're confident you wont spin out anymore. This itself should take you a few days..
In the small experience ive had so far, ive understood that its extremely hard to recover off the grass with a wheel.. and also you might be pro at time trials but when you race with other cars actually there, they probably will stuff up your driving - just stick to your own line and brake points, the Ai are stupid >.>
 
I never used the DS3 or any handheld in any GT series driving sim, so I can only answer part of your question. There is zero doubt that the wheel is the best bet, and obviously the most accurate and realistic. Some of the other posters here probably already mentioned this, but once you get your head wrapped around the fact you are driving a SIM, instead of a PS game, you can imagine yourself behind the WHEEL of the car you're driving. And in most cases, switch to the cockpit view for max realism (although I do use roof view on the new tracks in GT6 I have not driven before to get a feel..there are some blind turns in there!). Best of luck...
 
I think it's safe to assume we all were pretty unsettled moving from ds3 to ffb wheel.

First wheel I bought was thrustmaster's red ferrari wheel, (linear resistance). It was an okay wheel. I was horrible with it though. I drove an s2000 around willow springs and spun every corner for a couple hours.

As I continued I got a bit of stability, but that of an 80 year old grandma.

I wasn't satisfied with the wheel (wanted force feedback) so I searched amazon and got a used df pro.

I repeated the spin out process for a week, but after that my skills started improving, and it felt natural.

I practiced handling counter steer and drifts/slides in the auto-cross like section of willow springs (to the left of the second to last corner) and never stopped from there.

Like others have said starting with a lower class car and working your way up is a great way to improve. It's also pretty freaking fun!! :)
 
BrodieBoi94
I think it's safe to assume we all were pretty unsettled moving from ds3 to ffb wheel.
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Not at all, as many others have said. The wheel and pedals are far more natural for people who have been driving real cars daily for decades. For myself (and many others), it took no adjustment whatsoever.

In contrast, the DS3 has got to be the most unnatural way to control a vehicle in anything pretending to be a simulation.
 

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