Wheels, shifters, and pedals

[mindsignals]

At present, I play with a PS4 controller on the PC. I'm hoping by the end of the year to get a wheel, shifter, and pedals, specifically for DiRT Rally. If it works with other games, great, but that's not my priority. RBRSR, Project Cars, and Assetto Corsa (and probably DiRT 3 at some point) don't see much time because I find myself coming back to this sim very often.

I use manual sequential shifting on the controller (and would want it to be manual of some type requiring use of a shifter).

I haven't given cost much thought but probably mid-level unless I can secure a good used set from someone looking to upgrade their present outfit. I'd really love some input on what people have and use specifically with DiRT Rally. The more realistic I can make it, the more I enjoy and immerse myself in it.

[D_Lex]

I'm using a Logitech Driving Force Pro GT. It's not the best, the pedals are especially flimsy, but it was the best compromise between quality and cost when I picked it up.

I have better gear for flight simming, and generally speaking I've been happiest with Thrustmaster and CH products.

Although, I have Saitek rudder pedals, and they're alright, so I might consider driving pedals from them. (The toe brakes on the rudder pedals don't have enough travel for a driving game.)

Anyone know if Drift Rally supports an analog axis for the handbrake? Or is it only on/off?

I think you'd have to DIY here -- the only USB handbrake I see advertised seems to be vaporware -- but I can't imagine it'd be all that hard to do with something like an arduino plus string pot, load cell or hall sensor attached to a simple dowel hinge and spring mechanism. (Or an actual aftermarket racing handbrake bolted to a base, if you want to be polished about it.)

Or there's the option to bungee cord an old joystick to your desk chair, make a cardboard shroud for the shaft to restrict its deflection to half of one of the axes, and call it a day.

[mindsignals]

I'm glad you mentioned that...how do people with these setups handle the handbrake? Is that a separate component or is it usually embedded in some manner on the wheel or shifter?

[davidcommons]

started with a DFGT, upgraded to a G27 and just changed to a T500rs + TH8a shifter.
I can say without doubt that all are awesome wheels, you wont go far wrong with any of those just pick whichever fits your budget,
there are many mod and upgrade kits for all f them..
on the handbrake issue, there are plenty of them to choose from if you do the searching but they are hellish expensive, personally I assign the right shift paddle and it works well.

[Mukatahren]

G25 still going strong, bought it when they first came out. Shifter is holding up well despite being well-used in every sim over the past several years.

[DickDastardly]

I use the g27, cant fault it, i use a button on the wheel as the handbrake, you never hardly need to use the handbrake though since physics v2 cos its now a lot easier to get your scandinavin flick on, i dont know how any1 can play this game withought a wheel, it must be like trying to whack off while in a straight jacket 😁

[Simon said EAT DUST PLAYER_1 !]

just ordered this new offering from Thrustmaster to replace my aging G25:
http://www.thrustmaster.com/de_DE/produkte/t300-ferrari-integral-racing-wheel-alcantara-edition
it is a bit pricey, since unfortunately: Sony takes a cut for themselves, giving it the official license-approval for the PS4 in return.

The Thrustmaster's "TX"-wheel does the same for the xbox. Unfortunately: they do not sell anything of this quality-level without an attached licensing-agreement. Which means: we PC-only racers pay more for an element of compatibility that we should not have to care about. We PAY for stuff we won't ever USE.

Logitech wheels? The same deal. They tell the press that "their G27 was really more of a PC-wheel" ... yet that thing worked perfectly on the Playstation, as well -- with the exception of one or two buttons needed for stand-alone menu-navigation. Big deal: just reach for the default controller for those menus(...)

Thing is: without the games-consoles, there would not be one single 900° / 1080° DOR ffb-wheel on the market, today.

The irony in that is really funny! The "Logitech Driving Force Pro" was... ...the official "Gran-Turismo 4"-wheel. It was what got it all started. Horrible piece of cr_p - but the industry's first, nevertheless! (not the same as the much better successor: driving-force GT)


You really want to make your experience with PC-simulators match the real experience as closely as possible?
I've got two videos for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVLr7hhs9A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnugyXhVsZI

Not my kind of price-range. But you get the picture!

Should you think about motion-platforms, a few thoughts on that from Niels:
https://youtu.be/cIw0pakTFFA

[J.B.H. McCrash (Pike107)]

Originally posted by davidcommons:

started with a DFGT, upgraded to a G27 and just changed to a T500rs + TH8a shifter.
I can say without doubt that all are awesome wheels, you wont go far wrong with any of those just pick whichever fits your budget,
there are many mod and upgrade kits for all f them..
on the handbrake issue, there are plenty of them to choose from if you do the searching but they are hellish expensive, personally I assign the right shift paddle and it works well.

+1 I had the g27 now I have the T500rs aswell + the TH8a shifter. As the handbrake in sequential cars I use the TH8a because it has a handbrake option. In other cars I use a button on the steering wheel if I have to use the shifter itself.

G27 is a great wheel but the t500rs has a better feeling to it because the force feedback works trough the whole wheel without the little deadzone the g27 has. And the position meter of the g27 pedals can get wonky after about 5 years of intesive use thats why I bought the T500rs.

[MagicMop]

I started with a MOMO which was fantastic and a substantial upgrade from a controller. I then scored an as-new G25 for super cheap and its been a nice upgrade from the MOMO - but nowhere near as big a leap as from controller to wheel.

I guess the point is - even if you grab a wheel on the low end of the scale, you should still have a pretty sweet experience compared to your controller.

[Simon said EAT DUST PLAYER_1 !]

ah forgot to add:

I have already received my TH8A-shifter and been using it with D.R. as well as Assetto Corsa for the past 2 weeks, already: beautiful piece of functional engineering. A glorified joystick with a driver-software that let's it behave as if it was a shifter. And it saves the settings to the device so theoretically: once set-up it will remember what it is, even when connecting e.g. to a Linux-box (still have to try that out, just an educated guess)

Does it replicate the real feel of a real stick-shift? No. I do not know of any consumer-product that does. Because: grinding-gears has not been implemented in those. As much as cold gearbox-oil isn't simulated, yet either. BUT it really is a good implementation for an h-shifter. Sadly you'll have to get out the screw-driver / hex-tool in order to change between h-gate and sequential-mode (and re-map the driver-settings, accordingly). But at least: there is this option. And it is provided with no additional cost involved, in the original box.