Automatic vs. Manual gearbox

[BadNyga]

How much difference does it make to your times?
I am more of a casual driver with average times [4th stage of Championships now, played each with different class cars and managed so far up till '80rwd, B group now].
It's hard to give the manual a go for me, since the car lacks the feeling of torque and it's harder for me to feel the gears. Did it take you long to switch over and is it worth it?
I have paddles and H shifter on G27.

[BadNyga]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย RadeonX1950:

I use a clutch as a handbrake :P

I normally would as well, but I have my G27 mounted to a WheelstandPro [like this: http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/ludale1/G7_V2_Bigger.jpg ]with a pipe in the middle. That kind of obstructs the brake pedal access a bit, so i prefer to brake with the clutch.

BobRadar, I'm almost convinced... I was thinking that this would be the most realistic experience, that would allow me to progress real driving skills... Do you use a clutch in a real WRC car, or is it full sequential with just up/down stick [possibly a stupid question]?
Do you have your H shifter mounted on right or left?

[bobradar]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย r3pr3z3nt:

BobRadar, I'm almost convinced... I was thinking that this would be the most realistic experience, that would allow me to progress real driving skills... Do you use a clutch in a real WRC car, or is it full sequential with just up/down stick [possibly a stupid question]?
Do you have your H shifter mounted on right or left?

From what I've gathered, the clutch is still there in a sequential WRC car, but is not required for shifting. You can still use it to get your RPMs up and such. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Here's a picture of my current setup. Shifter on the right (using the sequential shifter that's mounted to the wheel as my handbrake) http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/425943914929401166/7C8DEB7345D0667FBCA797A6E83867DE56DD9994/

I've got a guide on how to make a DIY shifter here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=511497265

[dgeesio & ronMctube]

you will probably see auto rally cars in years to come. its getting closer each year.

i use auto and get top ten times daily. even had world records on some tracks.manual is better overall though.

[BadNyga]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bobradar:

From what I've gathered, the clutch is still there in a sequential WRC car, but is not required for shifting. You can still use it to get your RPMs up and such. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Here's a picture of my current setup. Shifter on the right (using the sequential shifter that's mounted to the wheel as my handbrake) http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/425943914929401166/7C8DEB7345D0667FBCA797A6E83867DE56DD9994/

I've got a guide on how to make a DIY shifter here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=511497265

I knew that there was something different about those WRC gearboxes, so thanks for explaining it.
Nice setup!
I think I'll just go with the advice to use the keyboard space for handbrake, and then I'll have the H shifter on the right. I can drive both no problem, but it's easier for me to steer with the left hand.
I'm still not sure about the clutch, but I guess I'll give it a go, since you didn't have any high-tech stuff in the likes of old rally cars like Fulvia, but you still had to drive it, without excuses...

[EDIT] I'm looking at that shifter of yours and it looks really sturdy. I can't see my logitech one lasting for long with that plastic stick...]

[BadNyga]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย dgeesio & ronMctube:

you will probably see auto rally cars in years to come. its getting closer each year.

i use auto and get top ten times daily. even had world records on some tracks.manual is better overall though.

I'm driving on auto so far and I was also able to get top tier times, but sometimes how the computer manages it is really stupid [like downshifting to upshift in a second, upshifting before a corner and similar] so I can easily see how I could get better with MANUAL. Auto is driveable if you extend the first and the third gear a bit.

[kobeshow]

dgeesio on automatic ? for real ? never would have thought !

[BadNyga]

Ok, to conclude, after few hours of testing the H shifter with clutch is the winner. It's still much worse than on automatic, I'm missing gears, stalling the engine, still getting used to the new handbrake and pedal assignment, but I can see how much control you can gain over the car, how much clutch helps with exiting corners and weight shifting, and so on. And the most important how much more satisfaction you get out of this game if you control that car fuller! :) I really feels more realistic now, and the times don't matter for me that much anymore... I actually went back to Lancia Fulvia, discarded current championships to go down a notch on the difficulty level and I'm learning to drive again!

Initially I tried the sequential paddles , then paddles with clutch override after finding out where it is [thanks guys!], but the paddles don't give you the sense of control, and they're really slow in comparison to manual, where you just shift to whatever gear you like. Plus it's easier to control the clutch on exits with manual.

Now, the only improvement I would like to see in this game is handbrake assignment. I find it the best on the gear paddles now, but I can only assign it to one - left or right. So sometimes it's hard to hit it. It would be great if the handbrake could be assigned to both gear paddles -- this way it would be much easier to use it depending if turning right or left.

[86TMH]

Good to hear you're enjoying it. I have my e-brake set to one of the buttons on the h-shifter, it comes second nature after a while and you're not falling over yourself like when it's assigned to a wheel button.

I do plan on buying a cheap joystick and using that as the e-brake