Had my first drive with a wheel........wow

[GTR365]

I have owned & used only G29; I still use it & still love it. I transitioned while GT6 was the current iteration. I found the adaptation to driving with a wheel to be very natural. I remember having few issues & within no more than a couple weeks became more competent, faster & more consistent using a wheel than ever with a DS3 controller.

My advice echos a few here & contradicts a few others. For consistency & quick pace (assuming these are your desire), you must attain muscle memory for your inputs for a new controller. For using a wheel, these are very different requiring more physical movement. However the muscles involved are much larger & stronger allowing you (while having to exert more energy & motion) to have much more control, especially because the range of motion is greater thereby increasing the resolution of your input. You will require much practice before your motions become more automatic. You must concentrate on committing good, smooth movements to memory, not bad & jerky. Avoid trying to extract that from a car which the car cannot give. This last point relates to my next piece of advice.

Start slow. Don't try to be great before you're good. You really should leave your wheel set to default. Resist the temptation to effectively trim the rack. 900° is close to stock on many passenger vehicles; lock to lock radius for race cars, like the gear stack, varies depending on the track. I suggest choosing a car with very modest capability; power below 200hp, rear wheel drive, comfort soft or sports hard tires, default vehicle tuning settings, ABS weak & all other aids zero. You need to be the chief cause of car motion; don't let the game drive the car for you. You must learn to own both the successes & the failures of your driving. I think I saw suggested a Mazda Miata.
You also want to begin in quiet isolation on track without distraction from pressure of competition or even other drivers. In Arcade Mode Time Trial, select a simple track with which you are familiar & just do a couple dozen laps. Don't press, just drive. Like someone said, just move the car around. Provide inputs & confirm how the vehicle responds visually/aurally & through the wheel how it feels. How does the car behave when steering in differing amounts left then right repeatedly? How does the car react under a variety of positive/negative longitudinal acceleration inputs, i.e., gas & brake. Discover what your wheel can do for the car before you find out what it can't.

Like with the controller, you'll get better & faster. I suspect using your wheel will feel natural very soon & the entire experience will be more immersive than before.


Practice, always practice...

 

[O604]

Someone (I know there are many talented people out there capable) should make a YouTube video on this subject. Covering the differences between wheel and DS4. And tips transitioning from one to another. I think it helps seeing it somehow.

Watched this one before but it's for another game and the goal seems to be drifting. Some of it still applies.

 

[hairless_ape]

Just about every fast driver I know has their wheel rotation set to 360. I find that a little twitchy, because I get very little practice, so I usually have mine set to 450.

 

[Lost Sheltie]

I have never adjusted the settings on my T150, so they are still in whatever the game decided when I plugged it in 1st time. I am a great believer in the idea that it is the idiot on the end of the tool that makes the most difference, so I just left it.

As to the change between pad and wheel, it probably did take me a few weeks to get up to speed, but I am definitely faster on the wheel, and it hurts my RSI less (the main reason I got a wheel). Just keep playing and you will adjust, it will take a bit of time.

 

[joost_wentink]

I have owned & used only G29; I still use it & still love it. I transitioned while GT6 was the current iteration. I found the adaptation to driving with a wheel to be very natural. I remember having few issues & within no more than a couple weeks became more competent, faster & more consistent using a wheel than ever with a DS3 controller.

My advice echos a few here & contradicts a few others. For consistency & quick pace (assuming these are your desire), you must attain muscle memory for your inputs for a new controller. For using a wheel, these are very different requiring more physical movement. However the muscles involved are much larger & stronger allowing you (while having to exert more energy & motion) to have much more control, especially because the range of motion is greater thereby increasing the resolution of your input. You will require much practice before your motions become more automatic. You must concentrate on committing good, smooth movements to memory, not bad & jerky. Avoid trying to extract that from a car which the car cannot give. This last point relates to my next piece of advice.

Start slow. Don't try to be great before you're good. You really should leave your wheel set to default. Resist the temptation to effectively trim the rack. 900° is close to stock on many passenger vehicles; lock to lock radius for race cars, like the gear stack, varies depending on the track. I suggest choosing a car with very modest capability; power below 200hp, rear wheel drive, comfort soft or sports hard tires, default vehicle tuning settings, ABS weak & all other aids zero. You need to be the chief cause of car motion; don't let the game drive the car for you. You must learn to own both the successes & the failures of your driving. I think I saw suggested a Mazda Miata.
You also want to begin in quiet isolation on track without distraction from pressure of competition or even other drivers. In Arcade Mode Time Trial, select a simple track with which you are familiar & just do a couple dozen laps. Don't press, just drive. Like someone said, just move the car around. Provide inputs & confirm how the vehicle responds visually/aurally & through the wheel how it feels. How does the car behave when steering in differing amounts left then right repeatedly? How does the car react under a variety of positive/negative longitudinal acceleration inputs, i.e., gas & brake. Discover what your wheel can do for the car before you find out what it can't.

Like with the controller, you'll get better & faster. I suspect using your wheel will feel natural very soon & the entire experience will be more immersive than before.


Practice, always practice...

Perfectly said! Excellent!

 

[RaistlinMP44]

Every person has a different learning curve.

Getting a t150 with t3pa pedals took me a weekend of practice before I felt confident enough to jump on a gran turismo daily race (Bathurst with a gt4 car). Well I had 2 race wins.

Trail braking on that steep SS (you know the one I am talking about) was A LOT easier with the pedals than the ds4.

Another area that the wheel/pedals helps is that you can keep the car to rotate in a corner a million times easier and preserve the tyres.

But honestly the best part is that playing racing games with a steering wheel is more fun. Even the more arcade games.

 

[NevilleNobody]

Sorry been away for a month as life has intervened.

Gave it a whirl last night and man, I am abysmal, i cannot keep it on the track, i have absolutely zero feeling for what the car will do, zero. It does improve when i set lock to the second lowest setting as i find default way, way too loosey goosey and way too much turning of the wheel get around a corner.

But man, i cannot do a lap, just all over the place, complete nightmare. About to throw in the towel.

 

[Pearl Jam]

Sorry been away for a month as life has intervened.

Gave it a whirl last night and man, I am abysmal, i cannot keep it on the track, i have absolutely zero feeling for what the car will do, zero. It does improve when i set lock to the second lowest setting as i find default way, way too loosey goosey and way too much turning of the wheel get around a corner.

But man, i cannot do a lap, just all over the place, complete nightmare. About to throw in the towel.

I would really keep at it if I were you, I had been using a pad/controller for well over 30 yrs of gaming up until a few weeks ago when I finally purchased a G29 and Playseat..the first few days were horrendous and I thought I’d made a huge mistake, but suddenly it’ll click and you’ll understand why everyone says they can never go back to a controller again, I know I’ll never use one again..
I’m now just a couple of seconds off my best DS4 times and getting faster each time I use it..I guess people have different learning curves but I really hope you persevere and get the enjoyment a wheel can bring

 

[NevilleNobody]

I'll give it another go or two but wow. I cannot feel the loss of grip, have no sense of understeer, when i lift off the brakes i get chronic lift oversteer, i cannot feel when i brake too late until overshoot and therefore often brake too early. It's a mess.

 

[Slapped]

I cannot feel the loss of grip, have no sense of understeer,

If we're talking about GTS then it's not the wheel that's the problem, it's the games implementation of FFB. You simply do not feel the understeer in GTS other than a slight rattle, which doesn't give you the info that you need. On understeer the wheel should lighten up, but you don't feel that in GTS.

when i lift off the brakes i get chronic lift oversteer,

Yep, the braking and turning is pushing the front tires beyond their grip level, therefore you get understeer. When you ease off the brakes the grip returns to the fronts and the weight balance of the car shifts forwards causing the rears to have less grip, therefore oversteer. What you've discovered is trail-braking and is exactly how you get a car to turn well into a corner, and basically the only way you can get a rear engined Porsche to corner well at speed.

It's tricky to get, but once you've got it it brings a smile to your face.

 

[daan]

Are you still ignoring the advice to use a slow(er) car?

 

[GTR365]

Are you still ignoring the advice to use a slow(er) car?

My perpetual advice for early driving skill improvement, "Learn what your car will do before you find out what it won't do."

This will serve you well as GTS plans to introduce mandatory crash damage repair fees in next update requiring in-game credits. You'll be in debt if you keep bangin'. (OK, I'm dreaming about this, but it would tame the Wreck It Ralphs in our universe)

 

[DPereira_2909]

My G29 arrived yesterday and I'm up to speed already I think, matched most of my times, and my ideal time in time trial would put me in the top 50.
It's my first wheel on the PS4 but I used to have a Driving Force GT for the PS3. I don't know maybe I'm just really versatile lol.

One problem I have is not feeling the kerbs, the grass or collisions on the FFB most of the time. Is this normal or do my settings/wheel have a problem?

 

[Slapped]

One problem I have is not feeling the kerbs, the grass or collisions on the FFB most of the time. Is this normal or do my settings/wheel have a problem?

It's been a while since I touched GTS. However a while ago I thought I had the same problem, but then I realised that if you touch the kerbs at the apex you don't really feel them, but if you touch the kerbs on the outside then you do feel them. The explanation is actually quite simple. When cornering the weight of the car shifts to the outside, and therefore the force is on the outside tyres, hence if you touch the kerb on the inside then you'll feel little or nothing. Touch the kerb on the outside however, and then you'll feel it.

Bear in mind that the FFB from GTS is rather muted compared to other driving games such as PC2 or AC.

 

[NevilleNobody]

Are you still ignoring the advice to use a slow(er) car?

I have tried a few, makes nondofference and the downforce gt cars are the ones I am kost comfortable with.

It's a moot point right now as my t150 has died, it's not getting any power so either the ac adapter has failed on the female ac connector on the unit itself has died. Just great. Great.

 

[Pigems]

I have tried a few, makes nondofference and the downforce gt cars are the ones I am kost comfortable with.

It's a moot point right now as my t150 has died, it's not getting any power so either the ac adapter has failed on the female ac connector on the unit itself has died. Just great. Great.

That sucks Man, I hope it’s just something simple. Did you update the software since getting it? I’ve heard the older versions were not very good. What FFB Torque/Sensitivity settings are you using?

 

[NevilleNobody]

Yep hit her going. Seems fine.

No firmware update yet, need to get on that.

Using sensitivity 7 and torque 2. Had torque way too high so was feeling nothing due to overload, much better lower I find.

Did some laps around seaside, getting quicker for sure but extremely inconsistent. With a pad I qualified in group 4 with a 47.4. I ran a 49.1 with and optimal of 47.9.

 

[Groundfish]

Personally, I used wheel because I had not played a racing game since original ridge racer ps1. I bought t80 for gt sport when I got the game as a gift.
Hooked immediately.
Upgraded to ffb wheel t300 after about a month and a half.
Hooked.
Ended up gettin a chance for some Fanatec stuff from a friend who does sim serious.
For me,
It was about what I was used to. I wasn’t a gamer at all, controller was impossible. Wheel was more natural
But, left foot brake will never happen in my world, so there’s that, my point is.

I think whatever a person is used to will be very very difficult to change. My honest opinion is you can do a fast lap either way, controller may even be an advantage over one lap. My experience is that a wheel gives consistency both in fast times and less ‘moments’ that’s what I observed over my time spent in sport mode.

I love this tech with a ffb wheel and pedals, I play dr2 less, but it’s a great counterpoint to roadracing and more single player friendly when you kinda want to turn off the world and just drive without anyone seeing when you ram into a tree, or don’t feel like battling live competition.

For me driving a car doesn’t make sense on a controller, but for a skilled gamer it might be opposite, all about having fun and competing when in the mood imo. Personally I recommend a wheel, but then again I never had to experience trying to use one AFTER already being quick on controller. To me that’s kinda like me tryin to left foot brake...

 

[Ashthebash]

Yep hit her going. Seems fine.

No firmware update yet, need to get on that.

Using sensitivity 7 and torque 2. Had torque way too high so was feeling nothing due to overload, much better lower I find.

Did some laps around seaside, getting quicker for sure but extremely inconsistent. With a pad I qualified in group 4 with a 47.4. I ran a 49.1 with and optimal of 47.9.

It'll come, trust me just stick with it. There was a time not long after I bought my TGT that I thought it was a total waste of time and money and I may as well sell it. Now I think it's the some of the best money I've ever spent.

If you were to go back to the first time you played GT with a controller and compare it to how you are now, I'd bet you're much closer with the wheel than you were the first time you picked up that controller. You've had chance to hone your skills on the controller but now you just need to readjust. Once you're used to it you'll be well away 👍

 

[kilesa4568]

getting quicker for sure but extremely inconsistent

Consistency spread over 5 laps is a lot quicker than 4 messy laps with only 1 decent lap time.

Slow down and give yourself a chance to learn at an easier pace.

 

[NevilleNobody]

It's harder to drive slowly than normal speed as i second guess my turn in points and braking points, easier to be in the rhythm i am familiar with. I am not at 10/10ths by any means.

 

[Groundfish]

It's harder to drive slowly than normal speed as i second guess my turn in points and braking points, easier to be in the rhythm i am familiar with. I am not at 10/10ths by any means.

It might seem like a step backwards, but I’d say even though you already know the tracks and lines try turning on the driving line and tcs at 3 on like gr3.
Maybe even give cockpit cam a shot as well in game you can hit pause and go to advanced settings and it has some range of view adjustment.
After time you will get used to ffb and drive by feel of it. You’ll be able to grasp what force feedback is telling you but it takes time.
On tcs it’s very much tied to steering angle, driving with it on on say the amg the object is to lap well on the driving line and be aggressive on exit throttle but without just flooring it and causing it to kick in and slow you down.
The yellow line helps because if you are braking before apex and getting on throttle good at or just post apex it makes it easier to have tcs not kick in or find that point where it’s too much throttle and it kicks in and wrecks your exit without lighting up the rears.
This line really helps with minimizing steering angle.
I’d suggest using default rotation.
If you like quicker steering change cars. Mr usually means quick steering.
To test tcs just try diff sections floored with big steering angle and then try the minimum steering angle possible and progressive throttle.
I know it’s prob frustrating for a fast pad player to have to slow down AT FIRST.
Once you get a better handle into your brain it gets way better and it’s very deep down the road, very very challenging to master.
The ideal wheel use for consistent good race pace is smooth progressive turn in and max steering angle at APEX and releasing the car to exit.
I hope you stick with it. My way is use tcs just try to not have it kick in.
I know it seems remedial for you to turn on aids, but I think they can really help.
I use those features a lot.
For those who think I am smoking crack gr234 you can flat the uphill esses at seaside at tcs 3.
I only just realized this before I ran zero because slipping there or tcs kicking in wrecks the laptime.
Maggiore GP gr3 is a good example of advantage of driving line. Gr3 tcs default if you hold that line you can learn to run super consistent racepace laps that are pretty impossible to pass, and plenty quick.
If you can get good at getting consistent quick times and not having tcs kick in you’ll be good.
Progressive use of wheel, brake and throttle.


Good luck!

 

[Kudos00]

It's harder to drive slowly than normal speed as i second guess my turn in points and braking points, easier to be in the rhythm i am familiar with. I am not at 10/10ths by any means.

Throw the car around and figure out its limitations. Watch a time trial replay and see what other people are doing in that particular car that you didn't know about. Watch from the interior view and then to the view of your choice. That's what I do when I need the help.

 

[kilesa4568]

It's harder to drive slowly than normal speed as i second guess my turn in points and braking points, easier to be in the rhythm i am familiar with. I am not at 10/10ths by any means.

I had to go all the way back to basics to learn mine as 20 years on a pad didn't help in the slightest. It's a completely different discipline.

Driving slower and more methodically helped me learn a lot quicker as the cues are much easier to pick up and learn from. I found road cars especially good as I could mess with the weight transfer to trigger the feedback cues whenever I want them and even to learn to preempt them before they actually happen. They've also got a much wider limit than race cars so you can throw them around.

There's nothing wrong with how you're learning as you'll still be a better driver in the end but jumping in at the deep end isn't always the way to go. It sounds like it's a lot more frustrating than it should be.

 

[Kudos00]

Drive steady. Keep the wheel turned to one side and don't go back and forth in a way that'll upset the balance. Keep it fluid until you learn to drive on the limit. Usually, you'll need to take corners with the gas pedal partially pressed (not more than halfway).

I had to go all the way back to basics to learn mine as 20 years on a pad didn't help in the slightest. It's a completely different discipline.

Driving slower and more methodically helped me learn a lot quicker as the cues are much easier to pick up and learn from. I found road cars especially good as I could mess with the weight transfer to trigger the feedback cues whenever I want them and even to learn to preempt them before they actually happen. They've also got a much wider limit than race cars so you can throw them around.

There's nothing wrong with how you're learning as you'll still be a better driver in the end but jumping in at the deep end isn't always the way to go. It sounds like it's a lot more frustrating than it should be.

Would adding weight and lowering power be a good idea? I would think using a heavy car would make for a good learning process. The Lexus RC-F comes to mind.



And another thing. If you keep going off track, turn on the braking and steering assists. Don't leave it on, just use it to get a better sense of how fast you should or can be taking corners.

 

[kilesa4568]

Would adding weight and lowering power be a good idea? I would think using a heavy car would make for a good learning process. The Lexus RC-F comes to mind.

There's plenty of drivetrain/weight/power choices so I don't see the need to mess with them. There's a couple of stand out low weight and power cars with the old Alpine and Stratos but really good 'trainer' cars are the Miata TC and Clio V6. Just don't use too much tyre as that can hide a lot of the car's character.

 

[Trone_Colby]

Some people may cringe but I have my torque at 10 and Sensitivity at 1 on my t150. I feel everything on this setting lol

 

[Groundfish]

The Stratos!
I forgot to buy it! Forgot it was in the game! The Alpine a110 at Tsukuba will teach a lot. Thanks for reminding me Lancia Stratos is a favorite of mine in dr2!
A stock yota 2000 gt is great also very softly sprung it will show you about weight balance
I would leave bb alone on all cars as well.

 

[KaiB]

My G29 arrived yesterday and I'm up to speed already I think, matched most of my times, and my ideal time in time trial would put me in the top 50.
It's my first wheel on the PS4 but I used to have a Driving Force GT for the PS3. I don't know maybe I'm just really versatile lol.

One problem I have is not feeling the kerbs, the grass or collisions on the FFB most of the time. Is this normal or do my settings/wheel have a problem?

Same here 1 week playing on G29, there is no problem with your wheel, i had problems in the 1st hour to adapt cause i though the wheel could "transfer" all road info to me but it doesn´t work that way.

After 6 hours i could get near my fastest times on Ds4 and after a day i could match them and in some cases i got faster after a week i only need to pratice half and hour to get decent times.

People must know that you must train your eyes also the wheel don´t drive by it self, after you senses are tuned up again the wheel will be lot more enjoyable.

I recommend you guys to drive in Nurburgring in a gr1 can like mazda 787b, it´s the track were the FFB work better and it´s a blast to drive that gr1 monters, makes sense FFb work better on this track cause the setup of all track really push physics, even in RL driving it´s smoth why would be diferent if you drive a car in a very polished racing track, drive in Nurburging and than tell me how you feel .

For people that know how to drive in real life it´s also easier to adapt to a wheel for the simple fact that you have muscle memory and cordination, and you know how physics work. One simple law it´s to brake before kerb and not during so you can arrive at kerb with the car controled and then gradually acelerate to exit fast.
If people that don´t have the basic notions of how to drive they will have harder life to adapt, first learn the basics and make slow laps to learn and get the feel only after you dominate that you can start to think and push more complex techniques.

 

[doblocruiser]

Stick to it, use a slower fwd or rwd car (n100) or Gr4 and use the cockpit view. Take a course like Brands Hatch Indy and slowly drive in the middle of the track. Go faster step by step and move in small steps to the ideal racing line. It'll come

I know it is GT but if you want the best feedback and driving experience in general then I'd say buy AC. Here you properly learn and feel the wheel. The feedback is unmatched and it simply gives a great sensation of actually driving a car. I think personally it should suit anyone that wants to startout with a wheel. No pun intended to any other racing game!