Using a controller I am almost at DR A but now I find myself racing against semi professional youtubers and people who, according to their profile, use € 1.200 steering wheels. From this point onward I am probably destined to trying to avoid lagging Russians in the middle of the pack, not winning any races. Kinda miss being DR E, winning 5 lap races on Laguna Seca by 20 seconds. 😭
Yeah I am at this crossroad now, either accepting my current level with the controller or investing in a sim rig and trying to see what I can do. For sure playing with a wheel should be more fun. But when you add it up its quite a big investment because I don't want to have a sim rig in the living room. So I also need a new screen and another PS5. So I don't know yet.
Yeah for sure I won't be #1 in the world when I switch to wheel, but I feel like I am hitting my limitations with the controller. I'll look into putting a budget sim setup together.
As someone who is transitioning from a high A (like one pixel from A+) DR on a controller to a wheel, I will caution both your expectations and your budget aspirations.
Now I used a D-Pad and the buttons, not the triggers and the sticks so it's a COMPLETELY different style of driving and it is far, far trickier to get on the gas quickly with a wheel as the controller is set up for ease of use. I suspect if you are using triggers/stick (i assume you are) this transition will be somewhat easier. As noted earlier, I had my first "real" race (Race B or C) last night and was just not able to run in the top split that my DR had me in, guys just vanished up the road.
I do hear you on being stuck in that weird place, you keep a nice strong SR so consistently get placed in the top split but you just do not have the pace and at best you may wrangle a podium once a week.... maybe. It can be discouraging and honestly tempting to tank SR for a while just to get away from the top split and qualify above P10.
In regards to a rig/wheel, you really need to consider the investment and the hassle. The first issue is space, i tried a foldable jobbie with a cheap T150 and it was a disaster, i finally succumbed and bought a used GT Omega Titan rig and a DD Pro new on black friday sale as used prices were very high. I highly, highly, highly recommend the Titan if you have the space, mine is on castors so i wheel it away each night. It looks great, solid as a rock and generally ticks every box imaginable. Wonderful, wonderful kit.
For a wheel, I decided to take the dive into DD, if budget is a concern maybe look for a cheap used wheel BUT remember it is like SLR cameras, you're buying into an ecosystem and changing gets expensive, also pedals matter too. I tossed around the idea of just getting a used T300 or something but i'd also have TM pedals etc etc and changing to Fanatec or Logitech would cost even more money, you are best to pick a lane and commit to some degree so i went with Fanatec for the large ecosystem and the poor quality of the bundled T598 steering wheel put me off TM.
In saying all that and despite the pace deficit, I am glad I switched as it is just more immersive. Again, dpad is very fake feeling so long corners were terrible and driving on banking or the last corner at Interlagos with a wheel is a revelation, really feels great and fun but i would caution spending money to go faster because you may find you don't.