What's a good wheel?

Sage · Post by **Sage** » Thu May 27, 2004 10:13 am

Anyone know of the good racing wheels around? I'm thinking of getting one of those bitches for my birthday... with pedals & stuff.

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Thu May 27, 2004 10:17 am

The one that comes attached to a Shelby Cobra is my favorite

Seriously though, the microsoft hardware is pretty good even though they are getting out of the hardware business.I've got a Sidewinder wheel/pedal set up and I'd buy another one if the one I have ever broke....

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Thu May 27, 2004 11:04 am

I prefer the round kind. However, I hear that square is nice, too

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Vindicator · Post by **Vindicator** » Thu May 27, 2004 11:35 am

My friend has a Logitech force feedback wheel and its really nice, better than my MS racing wheel (non-ff).

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Thu May 27, 2004 1:43 pm

Be carefull w/ the Logitech wheels -- they are equipped w/ the same POS potentiometers LT uses in the Freedom & 3D sticks ("Only Microsoft and Saitek have absolutely solved the problem of wear, by using a digital potentiometer instead"). Check the LT forums for problem reports.

Joysticks and Wheels: The Winter 2002 Collection
Driving Is Much Easier With A Steering Wheel!

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu May 27, 2004 1:45 pm

My Logitech wheel seems well made. I bought it before the New Logi sticks came out tho'.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Thu May 27, 2004 2:17 pm

Logitech MOMO wheels or if you can find a MS sidewinder FF wheel (i have one) it is a blast. MS stopped making gaming hardware so it may be hard to find.

VaussBait · Post by **VaussBait** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:50 pm

I have the Thrustmaster "NASCAR" FF wheel. I like it because it has both paddle and stick shifters. The pedals are a little light so I find myself holding the base down with my left foot. Force feedback is good and strong when i dial it up.

The only downside is there is no clutch pedal...just brake and accelerator...

my $0.02

-Vauss OUT

Admiral LSD · Post by **Admiral LSD** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:56 pm

I have an original Logitech Wingman Formula stashed away in my TV cabinet. It fell into disuse first because I didn't have the desk space to support it and now because the only game really worth using it for, Need for Speed 3, doesn't seem to want to work right any more.

The wheel has a good solid feel, unlike the crappy hollow plastic wheels used on the later Logitechs and other manufacturers wheels. Only real problem I have with it (and this isn't just limited to the Logitech, lots of other wheels I've tried have the same problem) is the action doesn't really feel "natural" enough. In a real car there are a number of different factors that give the steering wheel a certain degree of resistance and weight and the PC wheels don't really replicate this well enough. This is very much a personal thing though.

Unfortunately, both it and the force-feedback model were dropped in favour of cheaper replacements with the crappy hollow plastic wheels.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Fri May 28, 2004 7:30 am

Wait a sec..doesn't Logitech make Thrustmaster? 'cause that's what I have Thrustmaster NASCAR series.

The pedals are definitely too light, so what I did was pop the bottom off, pulled those padded feet off, and ran 1/2 #8 bolts throught the backplate so now instead of the 4 pads at the corners, I have 4 bolt-tip nubs. (Think of big speaker stands, where they have the sharp 'feet' to go through the rug into the floor. Same concept.) It holds quite well to the ground.
Then, I took apart a few old phones, which are loaded with lead weights (to make the phone seem substantial) and glued them to the front of the backplate (where your heel rests) for counterweight when you press a pedal, and put it all back together.
You can't tell it's been modified unless you flip it over, and see the 4 bolts instead of feet. And it doenst' slide, at all, with those bolts, and it doens't pop up under your foot when you stomp the brakes.

bash · Post by **bash** » Fri May 28, 2004 7:37 am

Check out my setup.

http://www.mainax.com/movies/simulator_700kbps.wmv

I wish!

s. · Post by s. » Fri May 28, 2004 7:50 am

I use thrustmaster pedals and yes they're to light so I tried what Testy does but it trashed my carpet. I ended up getting a piece of plywood (so I could adjust leg length) fastening it to it and running a wire (Stiff) from each corner(the 2 closest to the chair)and wrapping the wire around the leg of my chair, its worked for the past 3 yrs with no probs no slips.

scrode

VaussBait · Post by **VaussBait** » Fri May 28, 2004 3:13 pm

Testiculese wrote:Wait a sec..doesn't Logitech make Thrustmaster? 'cause that's what I have Thrustmaster NASCAR series.

Not that I know... TM was TM until a few years ago. Now it's Guillemot.

-Vauss OUT

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Fri May 28, 2004 4:25 pm

Bash that's way cool but it probably costs more than a real car!

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon May 31, 2004 4:47 am

sage, if you end up getting a MS FF wheel, don't get a gameport one, make sure it's USB.

i have the gameport MS SWFF wheel and you can't use the forcefeedback in win2k (prolly not winXP either). i wish i had a USB one.

also i recommend getting one with the gear stick on the side, not those gear buttons behind the wheel. because if you want to use the gear buttons you have to keep your hands on the wheel in the same place, you can't turn the wheel like a normal car (hand over hand), but you must have constant racing grip instead

.

Sage · Post by **Sage** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:28 pm

thanks for the infos guys. and roid, can't you get one of those Gameport USB converter thingies? one of those came with my sidewinder pro that I don't use anymore...

i found this one which looks gud but it's for ★■◆●ing PS2...
CLICK HERE

and then there's these bitches, oh yeh
CLICK HERE

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:03 am

i don't think the adapter will help any sage. it's more of a driver problem, and to tell the truth i think MS refuses to fix these problems to force you to upgrade your OS and/or gaming hardware.
(they did it with the SW3Dpro too, i refuse to believe that there was no way to get it running in win98, but now you gotta upgrade to win2k or XP to use it.)

basically don't rely on MS when it comes to making things work that arn't easy. in otherwords: if your gonna get something from MS, make sure it's USB. that cuts out a lot of possible future driver problems right there.

USB devices are more plug and play. i'd trust USB support more than gameport support nowdays.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:38 pm

Bash - that is very cool - but they designed it all wrong. Jebus H Chribt - you can't drive an F1 car with no 5-point belt on!!

They could simulate 1G only, but to do that, you'd have to be able to tip the thing completely on it's nose, on it's back, and 90 degrees left and right.

I appreciate the lengths they've gone to - but wonder why they only wanted to generate some movement, as opposed to some real forces. Fairly sure racing drivers got no time to chew gum either. LOL

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:01 pm

I have the USB MSFF wheel and I have no problems driving with it. I use the paddle shifters to up/down shift also. I set the deadzone at about 1/2 so I don't have to turn the wheel 180 degrees for my car to do a u-turn.