01-12-2012, 05:22 PM
well I was going to post a review, but I'll just do it half assed now. :wink:
If you want a wheel in the $100-$120 range, there's two good choices. Most people on the iRacing forum recommend the Driving Force GT
![[Image: yhst-24738727583679_2086_400329__68122_zoom.jpg]](http://www.egagroupusa.com/product_images/c/586/yhst-24738727583679_2086_400329__68122_zoom.jpg)
It's a 900 deg wheel and many say the force feedback is as good, if not arguably better than the G25 or G27 (which are kind of the default good choice for a serious sim). The pedals pretty much suck for two reasons. One, no clutch. Two, they're cheap. Many recommend starting with it then upgrading the pedals to something fancy later.
Because i have to be different, I went with the Thrustmaster RGT
![[Image: thrustmaster-rgt-ffb-clutch.jpg]](http://gameaccess.co.uk/2906-429-large/thrustmaster-rgt-ffb-clutch.jpg)
It's only a 270 deg wheel, which is why some don't consider it seriously. And it's a small wheel, like 10in dia I think? To me 270 deg is enough, and WAY more betterer than using a stick. If I wanted to drift or play an offroad sim or like, taxi driver parking sim?, sure, it would be limiting. But the size, to me, was a bonus so it takes up a little less space. And you get a clutch pedal. Unfortunately, it appears the manufacturer has recently switched to plastic pedals (which I got too), rather than the metal ones shown in pics, but they're pretty thick, and I don't play with my shoes on, so I think they'll last.
With either wheel (and with the G25 / G27 as well), the brake is unacceptably suck out of the box. It's just position based like the throttle and clutch, and the manufacturers for whatever reason don't even try to give it any sort of progressive feel to make up for it. So you secure a peice of rubber, old sandal, bumpstop, in my case a piece of vacuum hose behind it, calibrate and set it up it with that in place, and then it feels pretty good and you can heel toe pretty convincingly and such.
Overall, I'm happy with the RGT. Right now, the wheel is a little notchy, I can feel the gear/belt doing its thing in there when I'm thinking about it. I'm told it fades as it breaks in, and at speed I don't think about it. As expected, the 270 deg limit is 99% a non-issue (there's ONE hairpin at suzuka that's a little odd in tin-tops but ok in open wheel), and the pedals are good enough.
The last kind of funny part is that I've had this set up since christmas and have yet to get back to my gamepad laptimes. It's a little frustrating. Hey, I've been playing GT1,2,3,4 and other sims with a gamepad for 15 years. But the immersion is worth it. It's definitely better in traffic, driving offline, or getting bumped, but worse in correcting a little slide as my arms aren't as fast as my thumb. I have confidence I'll get back. And I don't feel like it's screwing up my real driving.
I built a sweet wooden stand for it all to raise it up from desk level, give the keyboard some room, and get the monitor as close to me as possible:
![[Image: iracingsetup.jpg]](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e19/ecpreston/iracingsetup.jpg)
If you want a wheel in the $100-$120 range, there's two good choices. Most people on the iRacing forum recommend the Driving Force GT
It's a 900 deg wheel and many say the force feedback is as good, if not arguably better than the G25 or G27 (which are kind of the default good choice for a serious sim). The pedals pretty much suck for two reasons. One, no clutch. Two, they're cheap. Many recommend starting with it then upgrading the pedals to something fancy later.
Because i have to be different, I went with the Thrustmaster RGT
It's only a 270 deg wheel, which is why some don't consider it seriously. And it's a small wheel, like 10in dia I think? To me 270 deg is enough, and WAY more betterer than using a stick. If I wanted to drift or play an offroad sim or like, taxi driver parking sim?, sure, it would be limiting. But the size, to me, was a bonus so it takes up a little less space. And you get a clutch pedal. Unfortunately, it appears the manufacturer has recently switched to plastic pedals (which I got too), rather than the metal ones shown in pics, but they're pretty thick, and I don't play with my shoes on, so I think they'll last.
With either wheel (and with the G25 / G27 as well), the brake is unacceptably suck out of the box. It's just position based like the throttle and clutch, and the manufacturers for whatever reason don't even try to give it any sort of progressive feel to make up for it. So you secure a peice of rubber, old sandal, bumpstop, in my case a piece of vacuum hose behind it, calibrate and set it up it with that in place, and then it feels pretty good and you can heel toe pretty convincingly and such.
Overall, I'm happy with the RGT. Right now, the wheel is a little notchy, I can feel the gear/belt doing its thing in there when I'm thinking about it. I'm told it fades as it breaks in, and at speed I don't think about it. As expected, the 270 deg limit is 99% a non-issue (there's ONE hairpin at suzuka that's a little odd in tin-tops but ok in open wheel), and the pedals are good enough.
The last kind of funny part is that I've had this set up since christmas and have yet to get back to my gamepad laptimes. It's a little frustrating. Hey, I've been playing GT1,2,3,4 and other sims with a gamepad for 15 years. But the immersion is worth it. It's definitely better in traffic, driving offline, or getting bumped, but worse in correcting a little slide as my arms aren't as fast as my thumb. I have confidence I'll get back. And I don't feel like it's screwing up my real driving.
I built a sweet wooden stand for it all to raise it up from desk level, give the keyboard some room, and get the monitor as close to me as possible:
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a van is a good guy with a van