I see a lot of new wheel buyers here (welcome to the dark side
). Just some general tips to help ease the transition, as well as expected timeframes for your laptimes to "transfer" over:
Preparation
- Start off with a game you know well, a car you know well and a track you know well. For me it was GT5P Integra at High Speed Ring. Yes, the more basic the better.
- Leave the FFB settings default. Obviously pick a game with good FFB so it's manageable at default settings. I don't advice arcade/simcades. AC and GT are good examples of decent FFB without much tinkering. PCARS is a nightmare on default.
- Seat and arm position is important. Pick a comfortable position where all controls are within easy reach. Make sure you have enough space around you for countersteering maneuvers. Also make sure everything is bolted on tight (or clamped at least). Make sure table is sturdy and doesn't move (you will use more force than you think).
First Lap
- First lap out, try not to use too many aids (at least use as much as you usually do on the pad). It's tempting to make it easy, but it will just slow down your learning process and you have to unlearn bad habits later.
- Take first lap slow and SMOOTH. It's ok not to go 100% full throttle immediately. Just try to get used to the sensations of FFB and grip. Try to explore the controls range (accel/brake/steer). If you have driven in real life, it's useful to try and imagine the g-forces acting on your body. For me it helps finding the limits of grip.
- I can tell you your biggest difficulty will be
countersteering. So don't try to drift please. That will come later, I promise.
- Your 2nd and 3rd difficulty will be
judging brake pressure & figuring out
how much to turn the wheel.
- Brake pressure, unless you have a load cell, will only come from practice. If the game has brake travel indicators use it.
- Steering angle, trust me, if you take a right line you don't need more than 90 degree to either side. Most beginners use wayyy too much rotation. Use as little as possible while still making the corner.
Practice
- Once you've driven 10 or so laps, try a slightly faster car. For me, I used Integra > Evo X > 350Z > Lotus Elise (going from easy FF > 4WD > FR > MR). Use the same track for all these. Drive 10 laps each (or until you can drive without crash/spinout - remember, don't try to drift yet).
- Next try touring cars with downforce. Again go from FF, 4WD, FR, MR.
- Next if you're feeling adventurous try higher end racecars like LMPs and Formulas (I suggest leaving this to the 2nd or 3rd session).
- Rinse and repeat with another more difficult track.
- You can start tinkering with FFB at this point if you feel comfortable. Generally I don't advise super strong FFB. There's nothing macho about it. You just need enough force to feel over/understeer. Anything more is just going to make you slower when countersteering (see below).
- I spent about 1 month on this phase until I can say I'm more comfortable with a wheel than a pad.
Catching Slides
- After a month you can begin countersteering practice. Pick a low power RWD car, fit the crappiest tyres, and pick a track with consecutive esses. For me, I picked the Cappuccino at Suzuka East.
- Don't try to drift intentionally, just drive and when you oversteer try to catch the slide.
- There are 2 things you need to get right: steering angle and rotation speed. Most newbies counter too little and too late.
- For most slides, you need around 90-100 degree counter AND BACK to straight in about half a second, maybe less. Yes, it's a quick and violent maneuver.
- If you don't get it first try, I suggest watching online vids of people countersteering. Not just games, but IRL too. The Yellowbird video at Nurb is a good one. That'll help you get the "feel". I liken it to a tight rubber band connecting your car's rear end to your steering. The more it goes out of line, the more and quicker counter you need. Once it starts correcting, you need to rotate back at the same rate too.
- It took me about
6 months to get comfortable countering (meaning I can comfortable catch 99% of slides in any car without spinning out).
Drifting
- Finally, if you want, you can try drifting. IMO car setup is a lot more important with wheel drifting than controller drifting. Also how you hold the wheel, and how comfortable you are in letting it go when spinning and catching it. I can't recommend tips because this is personal for everyone. Just trial & error and find out what works the most natural for you.
- Personally, I'm not the greatest drifter myself, so someone more qualified can probably teach you more. My advice is to look up online vids. This is the one that helped me massively:
- Just like countersteer, there is a "feel" you need to get. The difference is instead of correcting slides, you want to maintain it. This needs 3 things: steering angle, rotation speed AND throttle position.
- Unfortunately the only advice I can give is practice, practice, practice. Unless you're a pro, but you won't be reading this then.
- Sidenote: unlike circuit driving, you want WEAKER FFB for drift. As weak as it allows with you still feeling the car's over/understeer. This is to help you rotate the wheel faster. In GT6 I use FFB 5 for normal driving, and FFB 1 for drift.
- It took me another
6 months to be a reasonable drifter. But even now I still drift better with a pad than a wheel
Moving On
- In total, it took me about one year to be consistently as quick with a wheel as I was with a pad. That was 7 years ago. Now my best wheel times are around 1.5 seconds faster than my pad times, BUT big difference is I get there within fewer laps and I can be more consistent longer with a wheel. Also I was around 3.5-4 seconds off top alien times when I started. It is MUCH easier to improve if you are off by a larger margin. Diminishing returns you see.
- Other stuff like rallies are best left later. You need quick corrections and reflexes all the time in rally so you need to master asphalt first.
- Anything else, you will just get better with practice, there's no other way really. If you drive IRL it might seem totally different at first. With time you'll start to see similarities and your real and sim driving will get closer to each other
And going back full circle to the start, your "g-force imagination" will get better and better. This is the most difficult part to bridge between sim racing and real life, I think.
Good luck and most importantly, have fun! Getting a wheel is the best investment for sim racing that you will possibly make 👍