Wheel play is an important on racing games. A thread for those who play with the DFP

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Slippery

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I know that nobody should take videogame racing games seriously. But sometimes, I think it is ok to bend the rules. Take for example, playing GT4 with the DFP.

While playing GT4 I've noticed the way I handle the wheel, especially when turning. Allow me to explain it to you. When I turn with the wheel from right to left, my right hand goes as far as 9 o'clock while my left one stays at 12 o'clock making like a cross with my own hands (the same thing happens when I turn the wheel from left to right, only both hands change positions).

Now, for some reason I drive the same way in real life, and everytime my father sees me driving, the ride turns into yelling. "Why do you handle the wheel like that?. You can lose control of the wheel!"

The weird thing is that has never happened to me (fortunately). For some reason, everytime I turn my hands subsconciously take that position, and the maneuver always goes smooth without getting messed up.

Now look at this video.

Yes, the video is awesome, but notice how he turns. First he moves the wheel with his right hand while the left one holds what he currently has. Both hands never cross position.

Now tell me. Am I doing it wrong? or maybe it is the fact that I play GT4 so many times that the way I play has almost become one with me, even when I drive in real life?
 
It'd be nice if the video worked. But I don't even know what I'm doing with my hands while I drive. It just works. All I know is that while going straight my hands always return to the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock position so that my thumbs are on the cross bar.
 
I think what you're doing is wrong an dangerous for road use. With your hands crossed you can't apply any more turn. What if you need to quickly? CRASH!

I think that wheel shuffle (move left hand, move right hand, move left hand...) is a load of crap, but you should always try and keep your hands at 9 & 3 or 10 & 2, that way if you need to you can apply more or less turn quickly.

I think a trip to the driving instructor might help you with your steering technique. :)

PS: Drive the DFP any way you want, you ain't gonna hurt no-one like that, but an automobile on a road is a serious thing, and needs to be done seriously.
 
nismo4life
try drifting with the dfp.....i burned my palms...
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I have motorcycles gloves (don't have a motorcycle :lol: ) so I think the burning won't be a problem to me.

I have never had interest in drifting until now. But that can be reserved to another thread.
 
I dont have a DFP...yet, but when driving my real truck I cant remember ever passing the wheel between my hands (like that Zonda driver). I always find myself palming it around, but only at low speeds. Usually moving at a fair clip I keep a good grip on the wheel...matter of fact, last time I 'passed the wheel' was when I was in the instructors car getting my permit.
 
Slippery
...When I turn with the wheel from right to left, my right hand goes as far as 9 o'clock while my left one stays at 12 o'clock making like a cross with my own hands (the same thing happens when I turn the wheel from left to right, only both hands change positions).

Now, for some reason I drive the same way in real life, and everytime my father sees me driving, the ride turns into yelling. "Why do you handle the wheel like that?. You can lose control of the wheel!"...Now tell me. Am I doing it wrong? or maybe it is the fact that I play GT4 so many times that the way I play has almost become one with me, even when I drive in real life?
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It's called "hand-over-hand" steering. It's a common "racing" technique, which is not "totally" out of place when driving on the street...depending on the car and conditions. Its the reason why "I" bought a 300mm steering wheel for my "tuned" Corrado...which is not much wider than the DFP wheel. I always drive using "hand-over-hand" for slow corners on the road, and parking lots. It's suits me fine based on "my" steering ratio and suspension setup (adustable coilovers and larger swaybars).

I "don't feel safe" driving my newer GTI as I can't employ that techniqe because the wheel has a much wider diameter, and the steering is much less responsive. In an emergency situation, at 5'3", I don't have enough leverage to manipulate the wheel enough in a short amount of time (i.e. going opposite lock). Even if I "feed" the wheel through my hands, because the wheel is soo wide, I wind up hitting my legs with my hands.

Is it wrong to drive the way you are? It depends.

Drive safe.
👍
 
colnago
It's called "hand-over-hand" steering. It's a common "racing" technique, which is not "totally" out of place when driving on the street...depending on the car and conditions. Its the reason why "I" bought a 300mm steering wheel for my "tuned" Corrado...which is not much wider than the DFP wheel. I always drive using "hand-over-hand" for slow corners on the road, and parking lots. It's suits me fine based on "my" steering ratio and suspension setup (adustable coilovers and larger swaybars).

I "don't feel safe" driving my newer GTI as I can't employ that techniqe because the wheel has a much wider diameter, and the steering is much less responsive. In an emergency situation, at 5'3", I don't have enough leverage to manipulate the wheel enough in a short amount of time (i.e. going opposite lock). Even if I "feed" the wheel through my hands, because the wheel is soo wide, I wind up hitting my legs with my hands.

Is it wrong to drive the way you are? It depends.

Drive safe.
👍
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Nice to see another V-dubber out there. What kind of Corrado do you have? What kind of GTI? As my name states I have a 95 VR6. I wish I could change the wheel on my GTI but I have an airbag...... :indiff:

Now back on topic. I know that I dont cross my hands when I drive and I wouldnt call it wrong, maybe just a little unsafe in a sticky situation.
 
95GTIVR6
Nice to see another V-dubber out there. What kind of Corrado do you have? What kind of GTI? As my name states I have a 95 VR6. I wish I could change the wheel on my GTI but I have an airbag...... :indiff:

Now back on topic. I know that I dont cross my hands when I drive and I wouldnt call it wrong, maybe just a little unsafe in a sticky situation.
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Corrado - 1.9L, 9:1, (forged internals, et. al.) '92 G60
GTI - 20th Ann.

You can get aftermarket wheels w/airbags...or you could just disable it. I'm sure it's "possible", but you'd lose the extra protection. Raid makes aftermarket wheels with bags.

Back on topic...again, it really depends the amount of control you have over your car should dictate which driving style to employ.
 
My A4 has excellent steering and handling and I have to admit I rarely use hand over hand - definately not at high speeds though; usually, but depending on conditions, when turning left I'll let my right hand get all the way around to 8 or 7 o'clock, but when I do that I'll slide my left hand down to 6 o'clock, underneath, so my arms aren't crossed. (opposite times and positions of course for turning right ;) )

In the parking lot and for slow sharp turns I can usually palm it all the way around as needed with the heel of my right hand.

But I agree with pretty much everybody that getting your arms totally crossed up is dangerous, it's better IMHO to have them side by side (i.e. slide the one hand a little further down the wheel if you're turning sharp rather than crossing it over).

As we've all seen, the FF on a DFP is NOTHING like RL, you might be able to hold the DFP in place, but out on the road if it snaps back, you'll break your arms - and remember, PD says buckle up and use your turn signals 👍

UMP
 
So are you saying in RL conditions, if the wheel snaps back you can't force it the other way at all, and that it's just too strong? I would've thought the power steering would be strong enough to prevent the wheel from breaking your arms.

I find the FF on the DFP can make it extremely difficult to turn the wheel, sometimes to the point where I can only turn it very slowly even when using both my arms.

There's no doubt the DFP isn't 100% accurate to RL but you gotta admit it's pretty close and does a brilliant job of recreating the forces and is 100% better than no FF.

As for the turning method, I use the hand over hand in the game and in RL, and also the one-hand palming method in RL.

Happy motoring!
 
Have a look at the following

Steering Techniques

Its a discussion about various steering techniques by a guy called Julian Smith from a Uk company called "Ride Drive" who provide performance driver training in the UK.

I have had the pleasure of being trained by them and the steering techniques they use (discussed in the link) is excellent and one I always use. My job involved a good 30,000 miles of driving each year and not only does it allow for (in my opinion) the maximum level of control to be maintained, but it is also one of the least exhausting.

Ride Drive Ltd

Regards

Scaff
 
I always keep my hands at 9 and 3, even while going into the Capri hairpins. A strategy many F1 drivers used was to steer as less as possible. In Stirling Moss's opinion, the steering wheel is a brake. Instead of steering late and hard, I steer early and gradually. However, this forces me to trail brake, since I'm often on a constantly curved racing line, even on straights. After 6 years of practice though, I think I can cope with it. :cool:
 
I have the DFP but don't use it for GT4 because with GT4 it's ****. You can't drive fast in a straight line, the whee's slamming from side to side as soon as you pick up speed and you can't stop it even with low FF. I'm sorry but thats balls and doesn't happen in real life. As for a wheel snapping to the side in real life, you can control it if the car has power steering. If not then it depends at the speed you're going, the faster you are the lighter the wheel gets, so if you're doing 100Mph in a big, big scid pan and it snaps round you should be able to turn it the other way and counter it without power steering, if it's slower say under 15Mph then maybe not, but theres less chance of it snapping round violently at that speed anyway.
 
Ikari_San
So are you saying in RL conditions, if the wheel snaps back you can't force it the other way at all, and that it's just too strong? I would've thought the power steering would be strong enough to prevent the wheel from breaking your arms.

I find the FF on the DFP can make it extremely difficult to turn the wheel, sometimes to the point where I can only turn it very slowly even when using both my arms.

There's no doubt the DFP isn't 100% accurate to RL but you gotta admit it's pretty close and does a brilliant job of recreating the forces and is 100% better than no FF.

As for the turning method, I use the hand over hand in the game and in RL, and also the one-hand palming method in RL.

Happy motoring!
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Only under extreme conditions of course...generally you'll be ok.
 
O.K. Here's the deal. I have a '86 300zx, and I drive mountain roads constantly and I dive them like the dude in the Zonda in the video. When it rains I take every turn sideways (sometimes I do it in the dry, but it's bad for the tires) I've been doing this for 2 1/2 years now. During all time I have only lost the wheel once (didn't amount to anything) and I rarely spin out.

The way I handle the wheel on the DFP and in Real Life is: Going down the straight I hold the wheel at 9 and 3. When taking a right hand turn I don't move my hands from that position until the wheel is at 90 degrees. Once it gets to 90 degrees I take my right hand and move it over the left to the top of the wheel (as the wheel continues to 180 degrees) As soon as my right has a grip (at 180 deg.) I take my left over my right and move it to the top. Every 90 deg. I take the hand that's lower on the wheel and move it to the top. This is what I call "hand over hand"

As for drifting there is a technique called a flick. It is used when the back end steps out VERY QUICKLY and the wheel moves too fast for hand over hand to be effective. Say were going to drift a right hander. What you do is turn the wheel slightly to the right to initiate the drift, then THROW the wheel to the left as hard as you can and just let it spin until you feel that the car is balanced. Once balance is near you grab the wheel as strong as possible with both hands in the 9 and 3 position and then move the wheel as necessary.

When I lost the wheel it was because I tried hand over handing when I should have flicked it and it knocked my hands out of the way and it took me a sec to get them back. The car just corrected itself and stayed on the road in the lane so nothing really came of it.
 
Ikari_San
So are you saying in RL conditions, if the wheel snaps back you can't force it the other way at all, and that it's just too strong? I would've thought the power steering would be strong enough to prevent the wheel from breaking your arms.

I find the FF on the DFP can make it extremely difficult to turn the wheel, sometimes to the point where I can only turn it very slowly even when using both my arms.
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In a crash involving any front part of the vehicle the steering wheel will be ripped from your hands. TRUST ME.

Another car hitting the left front of your car at 20mph+ will try and force your wheel into your engine bay. This will rip the steering wheel from your hands no doubt.

A few words of advice:

NEVER EVER drive with fingers/thumbs inside the steering wheel. Always keep your thumbs rested on the rim, not wrapped inside. If that steering wheel kicks back, the spokes can easily dislocate your thumbs. Very sore!
Also, if you have an airbag (which most cars do these days) then don't cross your arms over the steering wheel. If the airbag goes off it'll break your arms and fling them into your face, breaking that as well.

You've been warned...

:)
 
ferrari_chris
In a crash involving any front part of the vehicle the steering wheel will be ripped from your hands. TRUST ME.

Another car hitting the left front of your car at 20mph+ will try and force your wheel into your engine bay. This will rip the steering wheel from your hands no doubt.

A few words of advice:

NEVER EVER drive with fingers/thumbs inside the steering wheel. Always keep your thumbs rested on the rim, not wrapped inside. If that steering wheel kicks back, the spokes can easily dislocate your thumbs. Very sore!
Also, if you have an airbag (which most cars do these days) then don't cross your arms over the steering wheel. If the airbag goes off it'll break your arms and fling them into your face, breaking that as well.

You've been warned...

:)
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I remember seeing a steering wheel from a crashed car and the wheel was bent inwards at 10 and 2 where the driver's arms had been pushed forward into the wheel, ouch!

The worst result is when the driver isn't wearing a seatbelt and slides under the steering wheel into the leg space and the wheel pins them to the seat!

Also, those "Speed Heads" guys in the Zonda video are a bunch of twits, using real roads as a test course, they should just hire out a real test course for their testing.
 
Is DFP? the controler or what i dont understand.

if it is i good with that i play with only and i drift with that too its easy if you are you to it.
 
Sanjko
Is DFP? the controler or what i dont understand.

if it is i good with that i play with only and i drift with that too its easy if you are you to it.
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DFP = Driving Force Pro (steering wheel)
DS2 = DualShock 2 (controler)

UMP
 
Ikari_San
The worst result is when the driver isn't wearing a seatbelt and slides under the steering wheel into the leg space and the wheel pins them to the seat!
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If you don't wear your seatbelt then what can they expect. Anyone who doesn't wear is just asking for an injury...
 
rsmithdrift
Yeah, he's doing it right. Your arms should never cross.
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This technique of crossing arms is only acceptable in single seaters, because once your arms are crossed you can't steer any further anyway !

PhM
 
Well, I am reporting back to say that my wheelplay is improving. I rarely cross my hands now. I drive the way it is shown on the video.

I even drove the Alfa Romeo Race car around the Nurb in the Deustche (sp) championship in the European Hall and ended up fourth place (qualified fourth place, so I really didn't lost a place). I did it in 7'21.
 
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