Well done on making the jump!! To echo many others sentiments: It takes time…a lot of time (ie 3-6 months) to feel comfortable let alone fast. With each passing year I’ve gotten quicker and nowadays languish Top 10-50 across P Class. The first few years though (Fm3, Fm4) I was slow, it took time.
I’ve driven exclusively with a wheel for years, put me on a controller and i’m anywhere from 5-10 secs slower per lap
I’d recommend if you’ve got any previous forza’s to go and have a play with your wheel on them first. I think the wheel menu in 7 is overwhelming for new users, far too many parameters to change and get used to. Stick in a copy of 5 or 6 in and you’ll see you can only really change the degrees of rotation or the feedback strength, have a play on them games and you’ll soon get a natural feel, start the force feedback low at 30% and increase it up the from there (if you so desire). Then move back over onto 7 and try to mimic the feel, go on from there.
As for technique…
My mantra has always been ‘drive to minimize your mistakes’. You don’t want to be fighting the wheel, if you’re constantly fighting against it you’ll soon tire out and you’ll lose all the subtle nuances the wheel gives you. Some cars are much more labour intensive than others. I only race P Class so can’t comment on others, but after 10 laps in the Porsche 962 I feel it! 10 Laps in the Jag XJR-9 and it’s very light in comparison, this translates into you developing very nuanced ways to handle each car.
The age old debate of wheel vs controller is pointless in my eyes…I see equal amounts of players in the top 50 on either. Now I think there’s a grain of truth in saying it’s harder to get to the same level on a wheel as quickly, but once you’re there, it’s no different. That said, the cars handle differently across the two spectrum’s. A controller ‘tends’ to always give a much sharper corner turn in, and much more forgiving on the curbs. The wheel comes into to it’s own mid corner-exit, as you’re able to fine tune the driving line out the corner more effectively. You have a much wider range of movement to specifically dial in the perfect line out of the corner. On corner turn in, that wide range makes the sweet spot much harder to hit (remember you’re coming into the corner fast and sometimes under braking) compared to movement on the controller, which is also additionally compensated for by the game (think trying to cram 360 degrees of rotation into a 30 degree range of motion of a thumbstick).
Don’t underestimate time to be found under braking, most of my laptime I gain over people online I find is in the braking zone.
Get the braking spot on is crucial to setting up the rest of the corner, you don’t want to be fighting the wheel through the corner, you need to be smooth and in control as you hit that apex. This is what i mean by driving to minimize your mistakes. Every lap by every driver has mistakes, no matter how imperceptible they are. Ragging the car may look good, but it’s a time killer, you feel this through the wheel. If you’re fighting…you’re slow.
My final thing would be to say adjust your brake bias rearwards (ie 53% rearwards), I find that slight oversteer under braking helps pitch the car into the corner; whilst going through the corner you work out/dissipate the chassis stress and tire flex, via tiny micro ‘counter steering’ corrections. The micro corrections you make will eventually become automatic and unconsciously carried out. I’d recommend setting your brake pressures to 160% +, that way you don’t need to use the full range of travel on your brake pedal, I find hitting the exact braking sweet spot so much easier this way.
Best of luck with it
I’m running:
Thrustmaster Tx
Ferrari F1 Rim
T3PA Pedals
270 DOR
180% + Braking Pressures
Typically 53% Rearward Bias
