Strange thing about my driving when getting a wheel

[gambleboyen]

I just got a DFGT wheel today and gave it a spin for the first time just now and I've noticed something quite perplexing.

I knew that when going from DS3 to a wheel, you kind of have to learn the game all over and that it'll take some time before I can manage the same times with the wheel as i do with the DS3.

And just as I thought jumping into some races, especially RWD cars, I was flailing about crashing every other turn and being utterly useless. Wow, this is going to be harder than I thought was my reaction.

Well, after doing some career races and failing badly at some seasonal events, I thought lets try Goodwood. Now there I have golded or silvered most events, except for two bronzes and the X2010 where I've not even finished the course (not even outside Bronze!). Ah what the hell lets try the X2010, a stupid uncontrollable car with no purpose, and see how bad it can go.

First attempt, I actually get to the finish line, 0.5 secs behind bronze. WTF? I've actually only got past the hard left turn once before, but then crashing in a wall in the narrow S turn. And now I get to the finish first attempt almost getting bronze? Let's try that again.

Second attempt, crash at the first corner. Oh well, was probably just an immense stroke of luck the first time then.

But third attempt. Silver. In a car I previously couldn't get round a corner. And with a wheel I'm having trouble controlling a Lancia with, now I'm getting silver on my third attempt with the X2010.

So for some reason driving sensible cars I just can't do with the wheel yet, but still I've gone from absolute useless and hating the X2010 to actually managing to drive it (at least up Goodwood).

I guess this will be fun, but I'm wondering if I should erase all progress and start over with the Honda Fit so I can learn the wheel from the start.

 

[UnshavenYapper]

Why erase all progress and start all over? just get some stock slow cars, both AWD RWD FWD MR, and practice, practice practice and more practice

 

[acjy1985]

As UnshavenYapper says, there is no need to start again as you can just re-run the events and pick your car accordingly. GT6 is my first GT with a wheel and I was utterly useless to begin with. You do get the hang of it fairly quickly though. Run some of the licence missions again or do some free runs in different cars so you can test the limits of both yourself and the cars. The karts and MR cars are also great a teaching you where the limits of your abilities are

 

[MatskiMonk]

Your experiences sound very similar to mine. Best part of 15 years with a controller, it basically is learning to drive the game all over again with the T500RS.

I'm using the '07 M3 at the Nordschliefe to get practice in, but I've yet to put in either a legal lap (normally end up on the grass getting penalised), or a lap that is sub 9 mins!!!

I've also made the jump from Auto to Manual, since I never bothered with Auto on the controller.

As for the X2010 it's definitely easier with a wheel, though I'm still running wide into the grass too much. Might decrease the rotation to 400° or something. Another thing I've noticed, is with the wheel it seems more forgiving about giving you barrier collision penalities when you just brush the wall/straw.

The thing is though... even though my lap times are hideous at the moment, it's completely transformed the game now, so I don't regret the money spent on the wheel.

 

[GregOr1971]

General rule > It will take some time to get used to wheel and some more time to get better (or not... ) than with gamepad Patience is key . When I switched from gamepad 2 wheel few years back , It took me 1 or 2 days just to get feeling about cars and a week+ to get at comparable times as I've had with gamepad. It Helps if you start with FF / AWD / FR cars then switch to some more hard 2 handle MRs. Also , using wheel is not necessary easier/faster than gamepad ,but sure gives you more immersion.

 

[Sturdy]

I had this when I got my first wheel with GT, it was a DFP with GT3. I had completed GT3 at the time, so had all the money and cars to play with and was very surprised at how much I sucked! Once you get the hang of it though, it's magnificent.

The next strange step was getting a G25. Despite driving a manual car in real life, for some reason when it came to using a clutch to change gears, my brain went to jelly for the first day of racing.

Could never go back now though, even have a racing seat and frame now, it's SO much fun!

 

[VBR]

The Goodwood events have SRF (Skid Recovery Force) forced on, that makes it much easier to control the cars. I presume you had SRF turned off in Career mode? That might explain why you found Goodwood so easy by comparison.

 

[loopyloogrrr]

Hmm my experience with the wheel was never a problem I've been using one for a couple of years and I could drive smoother and faster with one. I still use the ds3 for drift and the cone challenges were easier with the controller. That being said I've been driving for 5 years so maybe that made the switchover to wheel easy. Dfgt is a good wheel and I have been using g27 with a playsest for a year. You guys switching to wheel will enjoy it more I believe that ds3.

 

[gambleboyen]

The Goodwood events have SRF (Skid Recovery Force) forced on, that makes it much easier to control the cars. I presume you had SRF turned off in Career mode? That might explain why you found Goodwood so easy by comparison.

I actually don't know what the settings were like, but if SRF is off by default in career you're most likely right. I've never bothered with adjusting those types of settings.

Why erase all progress and start all over? just get some stock slow cars, both AWD RWD FWD MR, and practice, practice practice and more practice

Yeah you're right, but I'l probably jump into my Ferrari rather than my Golf now

Oh and I'm looking forward to trying the karts now. I never really enjoyed them with the DS3.

 

[NK]

Hi There,


After many moons of DualShocking, (all the way back to Porsche Challenge on the venerable PS1), I finally managed to persuade SWMBO that it was a really good idea indeed that 'we' invested in a wheel, and she'd be able to sit back and watch my lap times tumble.

After an exhaustive search and much mulling over various pros and cons, I eventually got a Fanatec GT3 RS V2 with accompanying CSR Elite pedals. This was around the end of Summer last year. The initial results where, disappointing. Having spent so long bashing buttons with varying degrees of success, I found that I lacked the finesse required when moving to a much more dynamic form of control.

My initial assumption that I'd streak to the top of various leader boards was flimsily based on a past life as a bit of a kart fiend, having clocked up many kilometres in the late 90's at various tracks, (many races at Kartplatz in Munich, the now defunct Streatham track in London, and a most memorable, if somewhat bruising 4 hour team endurance at the open air Spa Francorchamps kart circuit).

By equipping myself with a decent wheel and pedal set, I presumed that as I was aware that turning the wheel left or right would see me pointing in that direction, and by depressing either throttle or brake would in return produce the desired result, I'd be bathed in purple time splits.

This presumption proved to be ill-founded.

However, as has been mentioned in other posts, if you want to see a return on your investment and actually start to enjoy the immersion a wheel allows, it is a simple case of practice, rinse and repeat.

There is a world of difference between stabbing the X button or half pressing R2 around a tricky corner, and having the precision of a 3/8th depressed throttle pedal. The same applies to steering input.

Whilst there are always exceptions to the rule, moving from a DS3 to a wheel falls under the auspice of slowly-slowly-catchy-monkey. In other words, take a stab at the early licenses. They are by definition the easiest, and it's far simpler to handle a small hatchback than it is to manhandle a 787B around the Porsche curves...

Should the rerunning of the early licenses prove fruitful, I would take out a favoured vehicle to a favoured track in Arcade mode, have a race against the AI and see how that goes. With time and enough perseverance, you should come out the other side of the learning curve in reasonably short order.

With regard to Goodwood's finale, after numerous attempts I could hardly get past the second corner with the DS3. I think it was my 3rd or 4th attempt with the wheel that golded it.

One final thing. The physicality of using a wheel, and to an extent the pedals, should not be underestimated. Should you have a great deal of Force Feedback set on and you spend a number of hours at the helm, you will most likely be feeling a tad sore the next day. Your arms, shoulders, calf muscles and various regions of your back might not be terribly appreciative of your exertions. Do not fret, as it will pass. Like most things in life, precision has a price to pay... It is very reminiscent of my karting days. Now if only I could start to see those purple split times!

Best of luck with your new wheel. 👍


Cheers.

 

[HBR-Roadhog]

The hardest thing when switching to a wheel is learning to counter steer properly. My method that helped me the most was to get in a high powered RWD car with no aides other than ABS and take it to a twisty track then just stay at it until I could get a lap at speed without spinning out. It took a couple of hours but after that I did not have much problem.

Another very important thing is position of the wheel and pedals. If the wheel or pedals is to close or to far away, to high or to low it can cause problems such as leg cramps, back pain and so on.

I found the X1 very easy to do on Goodwood which surprised me as that car was very hard to drive with a wheel on GT5. I think I got Silver on the first run then went off track a couple of times trying to go a bit faster and then got gold on the second full run. The R18 was quite a bit harder than the X1 which was a big surprise

Enjoy your wheel

 

[TenEightyOne]

No need to start again... but if you want to then you should

To be perfectly honest you'll get the best practice in online lobbies (preferably with people you know) where the grip is much more realistic. Players who are new to the wheel often find the offline->online jump harder than the inital DS3->wheel transition.

 

[stb155]

But third attempt. Silver. In a car I previously couldn't get round a corner. And with a wheel I'm having trouble controlling a Lancia with, now I'm getting silver on my third attempt with the X2010.

This is normal.

Wheel gives you a advantage in cars that are very sensitive to steering inputs but a disadvantage with cars that need full opposite lock often.

The trick with the X2010 using DS3 is using HIGH steering sensitivity setting (i usually use +2-4, in the X i put it to +7 i think) and be VERY careful with how much you steer.

The trick with the wheel and cars like the lancia is never to get in the situation where you need big opposite lock, so always careful with the power, no big slides, no red tires, no jumping on the brake and turning at the same time.
Always careful and smooth with the inputs.


Where the wheels really starts to make fun is when you start to drive without all aids (including ABS and of corse SRF).

 

[gambleboyen]

This is normal.

Wheel gives you a advantage in cars that are very sensitive to steering inputs but a disadvantage with cars that need full opposite lock often.

But opposite lock is so much more fun with a wheel! It's a shame it's diffucult to manage right with a wheel with 900 deg steering.