Steering wheel Vs controller

Forza Motorsport Legacy Motorsport FM7 Discussion
1

I’ve tried 2 steering wheels over the years and simply can’t get to grips with it even though I’ve been driving for 16 years now geez I must be getting old but with a standard controller I do quite well and I’m even 12 th record holder for road America R3 homosapien last time I looked
What I’m interested in is people who use steering wheels are
how do you manage to use a wheel when it’s nothing like driving ? And is there a real advantage that you can’t do with a normal controller ?

I’d also like to know if there’s others like me who stick with a standard controller but keeps up with the best

Was also contemplating modifying a controller with a longer accelerator trigger for more control with no traction control anyone done this? Or one you can just buy?

2

I use a wheel sometimes and while i get the better times with a controller im constantly improving on the wheel. While the force feed back on forza isn’t a 100% simulation of real world steering i think the biggest thing for most people is that the body roll is sent through the wheel as opposed to feeling it with your body as you would in a real car. That can trow some people off. Think of it this way I drive some track cars irl and for the year I’ve had my wheel only recently have I been able to get close using a wheel on forza to what i can do irl. Long story short, practice makes perfect.

3

Everybody here looks to be using a controller:

4

I’ve used the wheel so long,i can’t drive with the controller anymore,the wheel is so much more fun!!

5

I’ve hated wheels for racing games since Pole Position. No matter how fancy they got in arcades over the years, they left me wishing I had a proper controller. Thus I’ve never seen the point in wasting money on an overpriced niche controller which may not work with any given game for a home system.

6

I wish I can play with a controller, I really do, but I can’t.
The only way I can play these games is with a wheel and in cockpit view. I can’t even drive in chase cam.
Sometimes I would rather lie on my bed with a controller than having to sit in front of the TV sweating while I steer vigorously.
In the end, everyone’s just different.

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7

From my experience over years playing simulators on pc since Nascar 2003 there is no game with 100% simulation of real world steering also because you need more feedback in game to let you know what’s happening on your car.
I only play with wheel and my times with wheel are better than my times with joy pad but that only cause at moment I spent last years playing more with wheel than with controller…

8

I numbered your post to facilitate an easy response.

  1. Probably fun factor and pretending to be doing something you can’t do in real life. I started on a wheel as a kid and that’s why I liked it. When I got the Xbox 360 I didn’t bother with a wheel because they were expensive and I knew my parents would just laugh.

  2. No. Controller is faster by in large. That doesn’t mean wheel is slow. There are some elite players using a wheel. Once you find those sweet spot settings, a wheel user can do well. I know for sure that one wheel player made it to live streamed esport races many times.

  3. Yes. Practically ever guy you see topping the leaderboard is on the controller.

  4. Buy an elite controller. Not sure what all you can do with it but I do know you can adjust settings to where you practically never lock up. May also work for traction but I have no idea. Too expensive for me.

9

Well everyone has a deferent interpretation of what is realistic and what isn’t, I myself was driving on forza on a wheel long before I had a car or a licence. It helped me a great deal when I actually got behind the wheel of a real car (first car I ever drove was a manual VE SS holden commodore) the only thing I had slight issue with was clutch smoothness, as in forza you never need to practice this, although after driving for real once (for a total of about 20 minutes, I was getting used to it) , I went back to the games and practiced it. It was more difficult in the game because there is no feel in the clutch pedal, and you cannot feel the car starting to move with your butt. But even so my next driving was done a long time later with an instructor and about 2 minutes in he asked me “so how long have you been driving for? You seem to have everything down pat” and when I told him I had about 20 minutes behond the wheel he was stunned, he then asked me “so how did you learn to drive?”, video games I told him, and he was amazed that I could drive better than most of his students that had hours and hours behind the wheel.

Sorry for dragging on but my point is casual driving is quite good and pretty accurate IMO(edit: when you can rationalise what is going to be missing from the real world, g-forces) and having a very basic understanding of vehicle dynamics I think even when you start pushing the car I feel like it is quite logical and believable with how most cars behave, but this can largely depend on how you set the wheel up.

The only real advantage of using a wheel is you can make the car change directions faster, that’s it. It takes a great deal of concentration and coordination to be fast on the wheel, but the immersion from this is much better.

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10

A wheel is not like driving? But it is very much so, especially once you’ve spent time to learn it.

Back in 2012, my wife treated me to laps on a race course with an instructor for our 25th wedding anniversary. She got her anniversary with a Celine Dion concert. The car was a race-prepared Porsche 991 GT3 (I think), and the instructor said he would guide me on the paddle shifting (integrated clutch) as I drove.

By the second turn he said he wasn’t going to call the shifting points or brake areas because I’d obviously had training with paddle shifting. I said “Nope. Forza Motorsport” and he said he and others back in the office play the game.

We ended up in about a 45-minute session with the instructors and me reviewing Forza Motorsport. Wheel use - even without a “racing pod” for all the “feel” you get behind the wheel in a real car - is very, very similar. They had a single setup in a room off the office with a wheel and Forza Motorsport, and the guys said they used that to “train” on the various tracks instead for spending big bucks for travel and course rentals to prepare for a race.

He said all their people used the wheel, not a controller.

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11

I’ve been driving for 26 years now and not once have I ever gone to work using a controller while parasailing behind my car :wink:

I can’t race with a controller in Forza Motorsport - wheel and cockpit view 100% - but in Horizon I can and do roam around with a controller and parachute.

12

I only have racing games on my Xbox and I own a Thrustmaster wheel and I almost never use the controller. Despite being really bad with the controller, if I get a clean lap in, it’s usually right up there with my times on the wheel, without doing any practice with the controller. I notice that cars like to slide a lot more, when using the wheel, but with the wheel you can also drive more precisely. The wheel has its advantages and disadvantages, I think.

13

I like a good wheel set up but I have a bad back so now my old racing seat collects dust. ( FM3 and FM4 days )
I switched to the Elite controller last year and am very happy with that purchase as the customization helped me improve my times.

14

I hate trying to control a race car with a controller. Give me a good wheel, pedal and shift setup any day. I had a great Fanatec wheel for the 360 but the Xbox One changed the peripheral support and now will not support it. It was wonderful and immersive to have that wheel in my hand, hammer on that gas and hit the clutch to grab that higher gear. You just don’t get that feeling with the controller. I always thought it was easier to make minor steering adjustments and hold a turn in a long sweeper easier than with a controller. The controller just feels to twitchy to me.

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15

So sounds like years of practice to be used to a wheel or use a wheel from 1st time racing
I’ve been racing since 360 was launched with forza 2 with just a controller that’s how many years of experience I’ll have to rewrite with a wheel ( just remembered the prototype class in forza 2 miss them )
So if I was to get a wheel which is the best without spending silly money what would anyone recommend ?

16

No,not years,but after a solid month,you would have a good feel for it.

17

Asuming your on the xbox console, Logitec has the cheapest offering I believe with the g920, but if you want something that you can upgrade in a modular fashion then the next step up is the Thrustmaster range. Starting with the TMX (non changeable wheel rim) or TX 458 (changeable rims). Fanatec is more expensive, but you do get some nice features with them like the on board wheel tuning, I think they have a much broader range of upgrade paths too but you will pay top dollar for it.

18

It doesn’t take years. But you really have to ask yourself which control would you rather want to use.

This is the first game I’ve played after buying a wheel, The Crew. It’s a year ago, so I’m exactly 1 year with a wheel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Dj-2e9gNE

I drove with automatic transmission and partial assists with left foot braking, yes all the telltale signs of a newb. You don’t need to do everything at once, just start easy.
I was slamming into walls, wall riding on turns, and cutting corners.

All I wanted to do was turn a steering wheel and have fun. The Crew was the perfect game to get me started, probably even more so than FH3, with it’s large map and wide open roads.
I think it was actually fortuitous that I didn’t start with something that demanded more technical skills, allowing me to accustom myself to the wheel more easily while having fun, since I’m not worrying about my skill and failing at the same time.

But then I didn’t want to waste my wheel, since these things are not exactly cheap. So I started playing Project Cars and Forza 6 Apex.
I still ran automatic transmission, but always flooring the accelerator got me nowhere, whereas it always worked in The Crew, so I started to naturally learn throttle control and gentle steering.

Started to think I was getting better. Then I tried Dirt 3, promptly uninstalled.
Then I bought FH3, and I got to go fast again like in The Crew, only difference was I was driving better after playing Project Cars and 6 Apex.

After much fun, I went into Assetto Corsa, where I really learnt a lot about the difference of driving fast powerful cars.
Then I got conceited again and tried Dirt Rally. Promptly uninstalled.

It’s all a process. If you want to get good at one game, it doesn’t take long at all. And drive at your own pace, with assists or without.
Just keep learning. Not only practicing with a wheel, I dare say every game I’ve tried taught me something different. I actually enjoy playing Dirt 4 now and have a new found liking for rally cars.

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19

Perhaps two weeks of practice with a wheel, and people have it under control. It is different, and as I’ve said before, if you’re new to a wheel just be patient, start with the lower class cars, and don’t worry about winning.

Strictly pay attention to running the proper lines through corners, keeping calm if something happens, and then do it again. When you finally complete a race (win or lose) and it felt easy, that’s when you can move up in class with a faster, more demanding vehicle.

Run as quickly as you can, with minimal braking. Slamming your brakes will result in lock-up of all four wheels and zero control of the vehicle. Small, gentle moves, and you’ll get it under control more quickly, and then it really becomes fun.

1 Like
20

i have F12017, Assetto, rF2, Raceroom, iRacing, FOrza 7, Dirt 4, Dirt rally, WRC7, the crew, Forza horizon 3 and many mores, and with a wheel Forza 7 is awesome (thx to emuwheel) for roads cars and GT Forza cars, for F1, it’s awfull.