I have the Thrustmaster 458 Spider wheel setup and recently played some laps with a controller.
For some bizarre reason I was lapping 3-5 seconds faster with the controller. I then went semi-scientific and played the same line/same track/same car on several tracks and was consistently faster w/the controller vs. the wheel…I much prefer the wheel, but the slower times are problematic for my ego!
Any ideas as to why the time difference?
all the fastest racers in forza use the controller.
the analog stick is much faster than a wheel to steer, and the gas and brake are literally at your fingertips.
so, assuming you understand the controls of a car (pedals and wheel), you can translate those physical actions faster and more precisely through finger triggers and a stick.
hope i explained that well enough.
I completely disagree and accept your challenge - come join me Friday night for some A class racing. I have all assist forced off in our lobby.
OP,
The wheel takes some getting use to. If you don’t already you should tune your own cars - controller vs wheel setups are different. You also need to adjust your DOR and deadzones properly. Once you get use to the wheel have the extra travel in the wheel and pedals really helps. I am extremely competitive with all my controller friends.
It was the accepted wisdom that (in the right hands) pad and wheel were more or less equal in previous editions of the game. Not so sure that this is the case with FM6. The level of difficulty with the wheel seems disproportionate this time around and the force feeback modelling is average at best. With the Fanatec wheel you get a range of on-wheel adjustments that can improve things somewhat, but overall - and with the other wheel choices in particular - I would give using a wheel in Forza a D- especially if your thing is driving on the limit.
It’s still the same - out of the box the wheel is not good but once setup it’s very good. I have no issue posting top 100 times with it - I have a couple tracks I’m top 10 in hardcore. Again the wheel has to have a good setup and configured properly to be competitive. Also takes some time and practice to adjust to the feel (took me a couple weeks back in Forza 4). I will never go back to a controller now.
I race friends with the same cars, specs and I see no disadvantage with the wheel.
You also don’t have to deal with the same level of feedback through the wheel on a controller, this is probably the biggest obstacle for me to overcome to get fast times on the wheel.
For me it’s even more pronounced in Horizon 2, especially off-road.
Unless you can’t use a controller for whatever reason the controller will always be faster. The game was designed around using a controller, I dont know why people are always suprised by this.
No it is not, it is just whatever the person is most used too. Worm for example can quite easily get into the top 10 on a wheel, as can others.
There’s people set world records using a wheel. On some tracks I’d say it’s not a disadvantage at all to use a wheel. That being said if it came to the crunch and there was a million dollar prize up for grabs I’d bet you anything the top times would be with a controller.
Wish t10 would seperate wheel users and game pad users on the leaderboards. At least let us be able to sort this or have a wheel indicator or game pad indicator next to the lap times. Thanks T10. !!!
I agree. Seperate wheel and pad leaderboards would go a long way to calm the pad vs. wheel controversy. Being on even ground makes a big difference in all sports. The way it is now, we have two teams playing each other using their own rules.
I’ve never though of video games as a “sport”, then again I still don’t. Everyone plays exactly the same game. The console ships with a controller so everybody has one and can choose to use it. Some people prefer a wheel. One is not better, faster, more difficult than the other. Where do you stop? A leaderboard for each car, by tune, by PI, by assists, by view, by input device?
It makes no difference - quick is quick.
I’m in two minds about this I don’t have a wheel be thinking of buying one as I believe I’ll be quicker with a wheel as I struggle to get the correct acc and braking response from triggers( to much gas or not enough brake) that I feel I could get from pedels
So I’ll be watching this tread closely before buying one
I don’t think there is a way for you to know which is better for you until you try. I guess it also depends on how good you are with a controller. I was average at best so I’m defintely quicker with the wheel, but I have read comments from people who never better their controller times.
Two things are certain though:
Two very good replies…
I drive better with a Wheel (TX/T3PA/TH8A) now… Without any assists… And I am quite competitive in all classes, and often win, or at least compete up front against full lobbies of League leaderboard racers.
But I definitely agree, that I was absolutely horrible at first and had to re-learn Driving at the lowest classes, and really LEARN good driving line, throttle/braking skills, and tuning. before I got back to being competitive…
Also, a good comfortable, and solid setup is essential. The rig exerts a lot of force, and can not be allowed to move around, and you should be comfortably in a natural position for Driving… Trust me, 5 hours of FFB at 100% while using both legs and ankles to Throttle., Brake, and Clutch, and one hand to shift (I use shifter for all but indy style cars — then paddles)… You will feel it in the morning… Way more than a bad case of “Sever Button Thumb” LOL!
Still, I will never go back… The Wheel in Forza 6 is incredible once you get it, It is soo much fun!
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I don’t think there is a way for you to know which is better for you until you try. I guess it also depends on how good you are with a controller. I was average at best so I’m defintely quicker with the wheel, but I have read comments from people who never better their controller times.
Two things are certain though:
This it’s the thing I drive in real life and I can’t put my knowlage in to act with a control other than pointing the car where I want at least with pedals I can do fluid movements on gas n brake
New question and to use pedals for gas n brake and control for steering if so I’m sorted lol
I’m much faster with a wheel than with a controller, but I’m used to drive a real car with a steering wheel and pedals 
I speculate that a lot of it has to do with the “realism” of the wheel setup that’s being used.
For example, I have the same wheel (458 spider) and rarely use it because my setup is second-rate; I use a computer chair, put the pedals on the ground, and use a folding tray table to mount the wheel. It is NOTHING close to what could be considered a “real” driving position. It’s too upright, the wheel is too close, and the angle of the pedals is not anywhere close to what it would be in a real car. Couple that with the fact that I can’t seem to get the wheel sensitivity settings right and the fact that the pedal base wants to move any time I apply pressure to a pedal, and my times suffer considerably because of it. I spend more mental energy concentrating on keeping the pedal base on the floor than I do on the race. On top of that, it’s a cheap $100 wheel.
My theory is if my setup could closer mimic the “real” driving position and if I could find a way to make the pedal base actually stay on the ground without having to use my left foot to keep it there, I’d have much better results with a wheel.
I could also suck with a wheel - there’s always that. But I don’t want to buy a $150 playseat (that I don’t have room for currently) in order to find out.
My two cents.
A part from pedels moving that’s how I drive anyway I like to hug the wheel I feel more in control of the car when I decide to boy racer
I’m 6’2 and I sit closer to the steering wheel than my 5’4 misses does just to give you a sense of how close I’m talking about
Drive in cockpit view with the controller then again with the wheel. You’ll notice that (depending on the corner/speed) full lock on the controller is only about 45* on the wheel. That’s because, when using a controller, the game automatically optimizes the slip angle of the tires. With the wheel you can get more precise control (as is evident on an oval track or long, sweeping turn) but just turning the wheel a smidge too far beyond the optimum slip angle will result in a total loss of traction of the front tires. What makes it more difficult is using a non-FFB wheel since you can’t actually feel the front tires start to lose grip. Personally, I feel using a wheel makes the game that much more immersive and engaging. Yeah, it is kind of frustrating running behind a pack of cars that are all smoking their front tires, yet gliding around turns like they are on rails, but it is a more rewarding experience when racing against others using wheels, that you know don’t have that extra assist from the console, and you are really testing each other while dealing with the same hurdles.