I joined the direct drive wheel grand prix race (and ended up in last place)

64gigabyteram

Reverse groomer.
Another one of these threads after 3 months. I own a Moza R3 wheel now, after 2 weeks of waiting since i ordered it. This 2 week wait felt like forever, which makes me question if Amazon has spoilt me.
This was the first wheel I had ever purchased for playing racing games. I had been a controller guy up until just a couple hours ago, and it was a very transformative and cool experience.

At first, I felt like I had purchased an elaborate death trap. Even at 3.9 NM of force feedback the wheel yanks your arms around and all over the place like it's Soviet Russia and the wheel steers you. Steering this thing around in Assetto Corsa had me thinking I'd made a grave mistake. I was made pretty aware that these wheels will rip your arms off if not careful due to the massive force jump from belt and gear driven, but even with that I'm still shocked at how insane this wheel can be when it needs to throw out force.

After turning the settings down however to a more manageable level, I'd have an experience that completely changed the way I look at racing games. No more jerky turns or speedy throttle control response from fingers. I now am beholden to the whims of an actual car (sort of) when playing games heavily featuring cars, and it's honestly some of the most fun I've had playing games in a while.

I've only tested out 4 games- Assetto Corsa, BeamNG, Richard Burns Rally, and Daytona USA, which is the one I just finished. Daytona was the most transformative and honestly compelling since I effectively now have an arcade cab port of the game at home, minus the shifter which I could purchase later down the line.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty happy with my purchase. I'm going to use this thing in SO many games.
 
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I thought Direct 2 Drive went out of biz decades ago? Now they sponsor a race sim gran prix?

Imagine if you were an early digital adopter and spent big $$$ on D2D.
 
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I thought Direct 2 Drive went out of biz decades ago? Now they sponsor a race sim gran prix?

Imagine if you were an early digital adopter and spent big $$$ on D2D.
Nah, Direct Drive wheels are a new type of wheel technology where the wheel is connected directly to the motor. It has way more power than other traditional methods and is capable of slicing your arms open if you aren't careful.
 
Never really understood playing racing games with controller...

When using these wheels, do you generally play in first person camera perspective? Instead of "third person".

I don't play racing games, so not real sure what approach most people take.
 
Nah, Direct Drive wheels are a new type of wheel technology where the wheel is connected directly to the motor. It has way more power than other traditional methods and is capable of slicing your arms open if you aren't careful.
would be interested to know how it would 'slice your arms open' worst 'injury' I've had is a sore thumb and had a 20nm podium for about five years.
 
Another one of these threads after 3 months. I own a Moza R3 wheel now, after 2 weeks of waiting since i ordered it. This 2 week wait felt like forever, which makes me question if Amazon has spoilt me.
This was the first wheel I had ever purchased for playing racing games. I had been a controller guy up until just a couple hours ago, and it was a very transformative and cool experience.

At first, I felt like I had purchased an elaborate death trap. Even at 3.9 NM of force feedback the wheel yanks your arms around and all over the place like it's Soviet Russia and the wheel steers you. Steering this thing around in Assetto Corsa had me thinking I'd made a grave mistake. I was made pretty aware that these wheels will rip your arms off if not careful due to the massive force jump from belt and gear driven, but even with that I'm still shocked at how insane this wheel can be when it needs to throw out force.

Wow, I was coming in the thread about to say that Moza R3 is one of the weakest NM direct drive on the market.

I used my friend's Alpha mini at ~13NM and it was fine. They don't put force feedback to 100%, but the high NM means more granularity on the force feedback.

After turning the settings down however to a more manageable level, I'd have an experience that completely changed the way I look at racing games. No more jerky turns or speedy throttle control response from fingers. I now am beholden to the whims of an actual car (sort of) when playing games heavily featuring cars, and it's honestly some of the most fun I've had playing games in a while.

Yes! Direct wheel drives are game changers for racing. I'm jealous. I keep playing at my friend's but still don't have the place setup at home for it yet, in renovation..

I've only tested out 4 games- Assetto Corsa, BeamNG, Richard Burns Rally, and Daytona USA, which is the one I just finished. Daytona was the most transformative and honestly compelling since I effectively now have an arcade cab port of the game at home, minus the shifter which I could purchase later down the line.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty happy with my purchase. I'm going to use this thing in SO many games.

Automobilista 2 VR

do it jewish GIF


And inevitably iRacing when you'll want to get serious about it. Nothing really beats it imo. LeMans Ultimate, probably the best feeling hypercar driving in the business, better than ACC's GT3s.

Haven't played Wreckfest 2 yet but it looks fun as fuck



and EA WRC if you have it




My friend who has an insane rig doesn't play anything else now other than sim racing games. I fear the same would happen to me if I had a rig.
 
Automobilista 2 VR
I own the game actually! Uninstalled it a while ago unfortunately, but maybe when I get a VR headset I'll hop back on.

Iracing is planned but I'll have to get more money first- It's called iRacing because like any 'i' product it likes to siphon your money :messenger_angry_horns:
 
I own the game actually! Uninstalled it a while ago unfortunately, but maybe when I get a VR headset I'll hop back on.

Iracing is planned but I'll have to get more money first- It's called iRacing because like any 'i' product it likes to siphon your money :messenger_angry_horns:

Automobilista 2 even without VR is worth it but it also has the best VR support out of all racing games.

Yea iRacing is costly. From what I played though its the major league of racing. But that can wait. You have basically years of learning curves ahead of you. It's insanely competitive online. There's a reason you see the likes of Verstappen in iRacing leagues.
 
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How does it compare to the Thrustmaster T300 RS? It's one of the best wheels I've owned, though I upgraded it with Logitech G25 pedals because the Thrustmaster's are plastic crap. Wheel, though, is great.

I wish the skill ceiling in iRacing wouldn't be that high. I only have like four hours per week for racing. A simulation with great AI would be amazing, or an online cup for old timers who have more than one or two hobbies.
 
How does it compare to the Thrustmaster T300 RS? It's one of the best wheels I've owned, though I upgraded it with Logitech G25 pedals because the Thrustmaster's are plastic crap. Wheel, though, is great.
I can't say, as I don't own a T300. Someone made a short comparison video on those exact 2 wheels though

 
Whenever GT8 comes out I should really consider biting the bullet and just get a decent wheel like this, for how much I play the games it would definitely be worth it, even if I'm not exactly great at the games. This at $400 or whatever the price is isn't really that bad, but I know you can get pretty good wheels for as low as $200-300 as well.

Never really understood playing racing games with controller...

When using these wheels, do you generally play in first person camera perspective? Instead of "third person".

I don't play racing games, so not real sure what approach most people take.
For Gran Turismo at least you can use the controller like a wheel and physically turn it in the air to drive. It sounds weird to describe but it actually feels really really good once you get used to it - which admittantly did take a while.

Still not the same as an actual wheel, but a massive step up from a thumbstick.
 
Never really understood playing racing games with controller...
The DualSense is amazing for that (also for shooters). The haptic feedback is very precise, can be very subtle or very strong and is very gradually, so is the feedback on the triggers for braking and accelerating with increasing resistance when you start to lock up your tyres or they're starting to slip.

Back in the days of Grand Prix Legends we're using a Joystick until we had our first racing wheel (Microsoft Sidewinder) and it worked rather well because it gave you the granulary input needed for competitive driving. Analogue sticks are the same, just way shorte so it's more difficult to learn. But with the right training you can be very subtle and give very fine-detailed input there as well. Obviously it's not the same as using a wheel, but especially for quick short sessions and when you don't have permanent setup, it works very well.
 
I own the game actually! Uninstalled it a while ago unfortunately, but maybe when I get a VR headset I'll hop back on.

Iracing is planned but I'll have to get more money first- It's called iRacing because like any 'i' product it likes to siphon your money :messenger_angry_horns:
You can play for years on just a basic iRacing subscription. Tons of included content to keep you busy. Amazing AI to race against now as well.
 
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How does it compare to the Thrustmaster T300 RS? It's one of the best wheels I've owned, though I upgraded it with Logitech G25 pedals because the Thrustmaster's are plastic crap. Wheel, though, is great.

I wish the skill ceiling in iRacing wouldn't be that high. I only have like four hours per week for racing. A simulation with great AI would be amazing, or an online cup for old timers who have more than one or two hobbies.
Good thing about iRacing's match making is that it'll put you together with people that have a similar iRating and it's very good at doing so unless you're participating in a series that isn't very populated. Also the game as amazing AI in it now that are incredibly fun to race against.
 
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