Had a chance to put a good few hours into the new physics over the weekend, did about 500 miles with the wheel (Logitech G Pro) and about 300 miles with the controller (just doing some dull grinding).
For context, I don't use any online tunes, so haven't been running comical rake or any other hacks to make the cars fast, I tend to just use the default setups and get used to the car, with occasional softening of the rear to tame snappy oversteer. I also run ABS on Weak, or will occasionally run with it off as it's good fun. I get the impression some of the tune 'hacks' and ABS on Default is possibly influencing how people experience the new physics, but obviously that's entirely unproven.
Wheel:
I'm already very used to the changes, so it's actually a struggle to make what I feel are objective observations. None the less, here were my first impressions when trying out the update:
FFB felt lighter. I run strength 10 in GT7 and wheel set at 8.5Nm. I upped the wheel to 11Nm and it now feels as it did before, but more varied between tyre grip levels, will touch on this in a bit.
Going light on understeer is very obvious, and appreciated. It felt a little too stark initially, but I was overdriving due to old habits.
The riding up kerb / dropping a wheel off the edge of the track (was initialy testing at Tsukuba) seems to have gone. As in, before I felt like there was more of a tug in the steering when you dropped a wheel off the edge of the track or initially bumped up a kerb.
Countersteer felt 'different' once in a stable drift, neither better nor worse really, it felt like there was perhaps more information being given.
Snap oversteer moments are more catchable in race cars than before.
The relationship between throttle -> weight transfer -> understeer seems more pronounced than before.
So my overall impression is that the general driving style is a bit more nuanced now, it requires smoother and more balanced inputs. I don't think the braking is worse, I've done a LOT of laps of Spa in the WTC800, so know my braking points pretty well, and I think they're all still hittable, just some of them are harder if they involve trail braking whilst still under high brake force.
Best example I'd say is into turn 12 (the right hander after Pouhon), I brake basically at the 50m board in Grp 3 cars, and now found myself creeping back a little earlier to keep it consistent, because getting the balance between brake force and steering angle is harder now, it's easier to ask too much with the brakes and thus understeer. This is communciated in the wheel though, and for me after a few hundred miles I can't even remember how it felt before, it feels natural and enjoyable, and I really just feel the benefit of the extra depth of info given by the understeer 'ligthening' effect that's now represented.
In terms of FFB strength, I upped it from 8.5Nm to 11Nm (on the G Pro wheel), it's remained at strength 10 sensitivity 1 in game the whole time. It feels like an even more tactile sensation of the different grip levels between the tyres, I do a lot of road car racing on Comfort Softs as well as the inevitable enduro grinding on Racing Hards, but now it feels even more obviously different, even between say the Racing Medium and Racing Soft, there's physically a little more resistance on the Softs, it's very pleasing and feels like there's a wider bandwidth than before.
If anyone on a wheel feels it's too light, I'd personal recommend my own personal recalibration procedure, which is to do the Tsukuba time trial in the rainy afternoon setting and just keep lapping until it's completely dry (30 - 40 laps). You'll get used to the super lightweight wet feel, and then will feel the weight building up as the track dries, and by the end of it the wheel feels quite heavy with grip, it's great.
Controller:
Not as much to say here, again I found the trail braking balance required more finesse to get right, but really beyond that, it felt 'fine'.
As others have covered, the tyres last forever in comparison, except the intermediates which basically melt if it's dry! Boncing over kerbs feels much more stable, although the weird flat green bits on the outside of Pouhon can still seemingly just lift the car up and throw it off sideways.
