Are you faster with DS2 or DFP? For those who tried both only!!!!

[masterwsiokhege]

During long races with my friend ( Me -DFP, him -DS2) we came to the conclusion that DS2 lets you go faster as it makes driving on straights easier. I wonder if you ( those who tried both things) can agree with that? HAs anyone been comparing their times? And the best times on leaderbords are also achieved with DS2. Is it because it's more popular ( cheaper) or faster?

 

[the Interceptor]

I've always have been a DS2 guy, until I switched to a DFP about a good year ago. After all, I'm a tad faster with it now, compared to my previous DS2 times. It depends though. When I bought my DFP, I thought it would be a nice excercise to try and beat my gold license times again. The license where you drive the Mini on Tsukuba, I immediately beat my previous time by a huge amount. Here, it shows that you can control the steering much much better, thus losing less speed (and letting the driving aids sleep in this case) in the bends. The overall driving is more precise, which usually leads to a better lap time. It also depends on talent though, I guess some guys are just better with a DS2.

I remember that this has been discussed before. Try to find similar threads with the search function for more opinions.

Regards
the Interceptor

 

[Duke]

Interceptor gives a good, concise answer in all ways.

Overall, it ultimately comes down to the skill of the individual pilot and what method is most comfortable to that person. There is no "this method is always faster" answer here. I've had my butt handed to me in OLR by people driving an auto-trans car using the buttons and d-pad, whereas my replay using a similar setup would look like I was driving while stoned.

In GT3 I managed all golds using the dual analog sticks. In GT4 I was truly struggling and unhappy until I bought my DFP (that MINI One on Tsukuba instantly comes to mind as a gear-grinder). GT4 severely punishes over-controlling, and the wheel makes all the difference in smoothness. There are plenty of people who've golded everything in GT4 using the DS2, though, so as I said, it's the driver's preference in the end that really counts.

 

[Snyp]

In my case, I'm much faster with the DFP than the DS2 simply because I get better control over my braking and accelerating.

Though it's harder, indeed, to maintain the car in straight line when you have a "REAL" race car such as Minolta Toyota 88C-V or even Formula GT. There's a pain in the a** over 320 Km/h.

I think, too, that it really depends on the driver's ability.

 

[Dave A]

I'm a lot smoother with the DFP but I can lap a track in similar times with either. I just wear the tyres a lap or two earlier if I'm using the DS2.

 

[Milliethemutt]

I'm much faster with the DFP. I find the added accuracy in all controls is what does it for me. I also crash a hell of a lot less as I quite often had tank slapper moments with oversteer using the DS2.

 

[-Cheezman-]

I can't say I am faster with a DS2 or DFP (I have never really compared). However, with a DFP, my laps are much smoother, and more constant. I find it very hard to get precise throttle, brake, and steering control with the DS2.

So, I suppose I would be faster with the DFP, but, I can't say for fact because I never actually compared.

 

[AngelCreator]

I have never try to see which one I am faster with, but I would say DFP.
You may ask why, but I say that because I am smoother in the steering
with the DFP. I never had a problem with controlling the gas and brake
with the button's on the DS2, but steering was a pain in the butt.

 

[Hãt©h]

For me it is the diffrence between AT and MT. After 4 iterations of GT I am still no better at changing gears with a controller but using the paddles or shifter with the DFP and I'm much faster.

 

[Ignignoc N Err]

For me, DFP all the way in GT4. On GT3 it was DS2 all the way, though. Strange, no?

As has been said, it's all about preference, and in my personal case, the ability to finely control throttle, brake and steering (which I simply could not manage with the DS2) is invaluable. When I first switched to the DFP, I went through a stage of "Oh no, I suck again!" until I adapted. Now, I don't regret at all the $150 USD that I paid for my wheel.

 

[Mt. Lynx]

I don´t really care if I´m faster with a DS2 or DFP. The DFP is so much more fun and rewarding!

 

[BobK]

I'm definitely faster with the DFP. Smoothness is the big reason, also the ability to make tiny corrections with the steering and throttle.

At the time I bought my DFP I was still struggling to bronze some of the IB or IA licenses (I forget which). After a day or so getting used to the DFP I found it easier to silver many of the licenses with the DFP than it was to bronze them with the DS2.

 

[///MTechnik]

Way faster with the DFP due to smoothness and the fact that it's easier to carry over real-world driving instincts and such to the wheel than to my two thumbs. I find 10-15 seconds on the Ring easily when I switch from DS2 to DFP.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I tried using the DS2 once and I was horrible. I believe I was driving the Toyota GT-One at La Sarthe, I couldn't stop wobbling around on Mulsanne Straight.

 

[AngelCreator]

I believe I was driving the Toyota GT-One at La Sarthe, I couldn't stop wobbling around on Mulsanne Straight.

Yes alot of cars will do that on the track.

 

[crimson_menace]

I have both, but until I get a proper setup for ma DFP, I'll dominate with the DS2 any day of the week. The wheel-on-the-knees thing, and trying to not depress both pedals with my foot, make it very difficult to put up a proper time on any track.

So's it's the DS2 for now.

 

[D-Mind]

I drive way faster with DS2, always drove with the DS and DS2 and i tried to switch, but it doesn't work for me.

 

[Leonidae]

I had DFP, and I have to say that I had to re-learn the driving. due that process, I became way faster thanks to more precise steering, throttle and brake inputs. and now, with g25, i'm even better, since it's even more accurate tool than DFP.

 

[Duke]

I have both, but until I get a proper setup for ma DFP, I'll dominate with the DS2 any day of the week. The wheel-on-the-knees thing, and trying to not depress both pedals with my foot, make it very difficult to put up a proper time on any track.

In fact, that put me entirely off the wheel for GT3. I had a very nice Momo, brand new, but no comfortable, sturdy place to mount it, and it was no pleasure at all to drive. Having a solid mounting platform in a comfortable position means the difference between success and failure.

Check out the "Cheap Cockpit Alternatives" thread for some inexpensive driving setups.

 

[Torana XU-1]

I got GT4 for Christmas and bought a DFP on Boxing day. I got my licence in 1988 and I can't imagine using a DS2, it's just not how to drive a car. I can understand why kids would be happy to use a DS2, they dont know any better.

 

[dylansan]

I only used a DS2 for a little while, but I can tell by the way I drive now that I could never go back. Ever. It's not easy to be smooth, especially with the gas and brake. There's just too many reasons why it's worth getting a whell to play GT4.

 

[Firedragon]

I used the DS2 for more than 4 years playing GT3 and GT4, so I didn't really have any problems with exactly applying the throttle or the brakes. What I'm still not good in is steering. But I have a DFP now for about 2½ months and the precision of the steering and throttle or brake imput is simply amazing! Compared to the DS2 I'm not much quicker, generally because of I am really used to the DS2, but I can correct the little things much better and I think that helps me a lot.

 

[CRXnut]

only took me 2 days to beat my DS2 times after I got the wheel

 

[AngelCreator]

I used the DS2 for more than 4 years playing GT3 and GT4, so I didn't really have any problems with exactly applying the throttle or the brakes. What I'm still not good in is steering. But I have a DFP now for about 2½ months and the precision of the steering and throttle or brake imput is simply amazing! Compared to the DS2 I'm not much quicker, generally because of I am really used to the DS2, but I can correct the little things much better and I think that helps me a lot.

I was the same way.

 

[bedheadben]

I thought that the answer to this question for me be to simple to even require a question before I started thinking about it. I have a Driving Force (not pro) that I got at the same time as when I got GT4, when it came out. Ever since I have been driving with the wheel because I thought it was faster and it was just more fun. Sure, when I raced my friends a few times I would let them use the wheel because it's fun, and I would use the DS2. But then I started thinking, am I really faster with the DF than I am with the DS2? I decided to do a test to find out, that test was the 24 hour Nurb test with a BMW GTR Race. I started out with the wheel, and was getting times like 7'10, 7'05, 7'02. But I could have been a lot faster if I hadn't of kept going off the track, and to make things worse, the FF made it nearly impossible to recover when I had a wobble. I switched to the DS2 for a few laps, and amazingly, my times were around 6'30, consistently, and I went off the track way less often! I was greatly surprised by this, and because of it I now use my DS2 more often than my DF.

 

[AOS-]

never tried the DFP, but from watching vids of people doing it, you can achieve Precise and Instance oversteer input, instead of the DS2 where you hold down a direction and the steering gradually turns all the way. DFP, being a giant analog, allows smoother steering which already mentioned, puts the AIDS to sleep. However, again it IS preference. I tried using a wheel here and then but i just am too slow responsive when it coems to steering, im jsut too used to thumbs only on the D-PAD.

 

[Greycap]

I may collect a hoard of enemies by saying this. If you have used the DS2 for a long time and then switch to the DFP, which immediately gives you better lap times, you never were a really good DS2 player, period.

I myself used the controller for such a long time that I became pretty damn good with it... actually I got to a point in which I was able to gold every licence test and conquer every mission with it, with automatic transmission...

I then switched to the DFP and the entire thing had to be relearned from pretty much scratch, correcting even the slightest amount of oversteer was virtually impossible and so on. It took around two months of training to get back to the old level and one more month took me way beyond. So, the answer for me is that the DFP is faster but the DS2 is considerably easier, especially in long races.

- R -

 

[Biggles]

I have a slightly different spin on this.

I played Forza for a couple of years with the controller, always using behind car view because hood view resulted in ferocious oversteer with more powerful cars. It is amazing how precise you can get with a controller, but I think the effect is always somehow digital ( I also think Forza is a little more digital feeling than GT4).

When I started playing GT4, fairly recently, I started with a wheel from the very beginning (first the DFP, then the G25) always playing hood view. It immediately felt way more like real driving than Forza ever did: the gear shifts, throttle & brake, & especially the steering feel natural & intuitive (I guess analog) compared to using a controller.

In answer to the question: I've never even bothered with the DS2, but I do think it's possible to get very good with it: there is a precision to the buttons that with extreme repetition can yield very precise, fast times. But it will never truly emulate real driving.

 

[Tulok]

I have the same feeling about the comparison of GT and Forza, GT feels like its all coated with flour, so everything sorta feels like when your rub the flour onto a wooden cutting board. Forza on the other hand, feels a little more on track, like you cant really feel as much, and you don't have to be very touchy to start drifting. this is all with controllers, i have seen some DFP footage, and man i want one so bad, but hey, chances are I will never have a good racing wheel.

 

[Azuremen]

Ultimately, I am faster with the DFP when I am in slight practice with it. I'm plenty fast with the DS2 (I'm fairly competitive in the WRS with it), but the DFP just allows for the extra bit of precision, and greatly reduces steering input I have found, which always leads to a faster time.

I do find it a bit easier to drift with the DS2, just because of the unrealistic rate at which you can modify your steering angle. If the DFP had a larger wheel, rather than the mini wheel it does, it would probably be better...