yeah and the reason for that is that the controller will give you optimal grip every time through a turn and lets you hang on the limit of slip angle even if you jam the stick all the way - it will only give you the max “optimal” turning angle - they removed this after FM2. In 2, you could easily over turn the wheels and not have optimal grip.
Anyway, with a wheel, you have to find the optimal limits yourself. This is why you’ll see dash cam footage of real drivers constantly making micro adjustments to the wheel going into and out of turns - they are defining the limit themselves! On controller, no such thing .
Anyway, a wheel for me is personally too much time and investment - I usually just dive into the game for a few mins and get back to life. So, controller is perfect. Cars handle beautifully although I do wish for the hidden aids to be removed for a more intuitive and challenging experience.
I play FM since FM2. Always was on top 100. I used to play with controller, as FM2,3,4,5,6 where very bad with wheel. Only thing that worked was drifting.
That said, since FM7 had a massive Update regarding FFB it was really nice to play. Now with the new FM23 i feel, that they have made a very very good job regarding driving physics. It might not be an ACC or iRacing, but it is very good with wheel.
Bear in mind, that you have to dial in everything depending what wheel you use.
The only thing though, i find not so good is the braking. There is no option to make your brake less sensitive. I’ve tried everything.
A loadcell brake pedal made all the difference for me. Up until Fanatec released the CSL Elite V1 pedals, I used a potentiometer on my brake pedal. Forza’s stock brakes are so touchy that if you don’t have precise braking, you will lock up early in the pedal travel. Once I got a loadcell brake, all my braking issues with Forza (and every other racing title I played) went away. Now I just use less strength if the brakes are touchy.
Look into a loadcell mod if you want to keep the Logitech pedals for a while. It’s a worthwhile investment for a Logitech setup. Plus most Logitech pedal mods are console friendly.
Here’s an installation video of Ricmotech’s loadcell for the Logitech G 25, 27, 29, 920, 923 pedals. Its a relatively easy installation process…
Since i made my comment, i’ve upgraded to Fanatec CSW 2.5 with P1 Xbox Wheel, SQ 1.5 Shifter, Handbrake and CSL Elite Loadcell pedals. I have to say, that i just have to adapt for the drifting, but the rest is just WOW. This game never felt this good with a Racing Wheel. I can get into Top 10 in Rivals using my wheel, that is something i could have never dreamed of. I was happy to keep the car on the track, but now every car and every stage of the upgrades feels different and makes the car feel different. One could argue about the game. A lot of stuff is missing, but at the end the core of the game feels right. Physics are on Point.
Controllers are easier to use due to simplicity, but wheels are logically better due to precision
Racing is about precision. Being right on the outside of the next turn, braking as late as possible without going off the line or locking up the wheels, cutting the corner perfectly, returning to throttle the earliest without going off the line, and so on
That’s much more easily accomplished with a wheel, due to how much more precise everything is
This topic is difficult if who uses the wheel doesn’t know what they are looking for and who uses controller doesn’t know anything of driving dynamics.
Id say its more about preference. The player needs to have precision more so than the type of controller they use. If you play something enough you can learn to use and be proficient with anything, keyboard, mouse, gamepad, joystick, wheel, guitar hero controller, it doesnt really matter.
Sure, you can be effective with anything. My point is, wheels and pedals are objectively more precise than controllers
The reason is because on a controller, moving your thumb 2mm could add 5% more steering lock or whatever. With a wheel, you can turn it far, far more for less lock, therefore being far more precise. That’s all
There’s also the counter-argument that it takes longer with a wheel to go lock-to-lock than it does with a controller. What the controller loses to the wheel in precision is made up for with its ability to quickly react and be effective especially through hairpins and tight, technical layouts.
That being said, give me a choice between the two and I’ll go for the wheel 9 times out of 10. I simply prefer the immersion.
In my experience, after playing from day one for one year with controller and 9 months with wheel, I think they are both fantastic.
It’s surprising in this game how the controller is well implemented. I played with steering setting in normal and ABS on. The precision you can achieve with a controller is quite good after proper training. When the car is losing grip, it’s very easy to control it.
Then I moved to a steering wheel and I spent months to learn, with no rush. It was a slow and very satisfying process. I’m playing with Steering setting in simulation and ABS off. Now after 9 months, I’ve got almost the Multiplayer ranking I had before (S 4850). I realized that a wheel requires much more attention to the tuning, since some cars might be undrivable without a proper tuning. Controlling the car when losing grip is much more complicated. At the beginning I used to do a lot of mistakes and get penalties, but now it’s going better. The overall experience with a wheel is really nice, so that I’m not able to play anymore with a controller. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow I am.
Bottom line, for me controller was very fun, but a wheel is much more. This game is fantastic in providing a good balance of performance between controller and wheel.
Yes they have the capability to be more precise. Id say the only place the wheel is truly superior to a gamepad is on ovals, due to this precision. On other types of tracks its rarely needed. But like i said it comes down to preference, i think they did a good job finally bringing the wheel up to par with the controller and both can be successful.
Admittedly, it’s not ALL about immersion for me. I’ve been using a wheel as my primary input for racing games for… going on 15 years now (I originally bought one for F1 2010 for the very reason that I felt I couldn’t be as precise as I wanted to be - skill issue lol). I’ve gotten so used to using a wheel, that to go back to a controller, I’m miles off the pace. I really only use it if I’m just messing around or if i quickly want to test something.
I also drive with a steering wheel, and the only advantage a steering wheel driver has over a controller driver is that when the tyres wear out, you’re much faster with a steering wheel. I caught up 2.5 seconds in Maple Valley and then crossed the finish line 1.5 seconds ahead of him, and that’s because he was driving with a controller. I drive in the TCR lobby almost every day and can say that there are some very fast drivers out there with controllers, and there are some who you don’t stand a chance against with a steering wheel. The BoP between steering wheel and controller is just perfect in FM. In GT7, it’s supposed to be completely different, with steering wheel drivers having a massive advantage.
Well things like this would need a little bit of testing before coming to a conclusion like that. I use both a controller and wheel and havent really noticed much of a difference when the tires are worn.
Gt7s disparity between wheel and controller comes down to the difference in friction. On a wheel you turn much slower and will most likely never go full lock. Controllers obviously have very little travel, almost every turn youll be hitting the boundries. Over the course of a race this increased friction adds up to more tire wear.
Forzas controller implementation is more controlled in how it works. Tire wear coincides with traction loss, whether front or rear. The boundries of wheels and controllers are the same, so when at the same speed they both have the same friction levels.
Then theres also the fact that tire wear is also unique to each player. A player with smoother inputs will undoubtedly have a tire advantage regardless of the type of controller they use.
I also think when using a wheel in this game i tend to be smoother, because when things go wrong on a wheel its much harder to correct than on a controller. Im sure most people would share this sentiment.
So its possible using a wheel could have tire wear benefits, but i havent noticed any. Ill try and do some testing and see if theres a discernible difference.
