I'm going to get a new wheel soon (throttles kidna broken and its a bit jerky on the current) and I was wandering, does force feedback make you faster? I'll probably get a FF wheel regardless but still want peoples opinions.

I would say yes, it gives you more feel for what the car is doing therefore you can drive more on the limit.

speaking from my experience, it does. i gained about 1s or more somewhere. u see it gives you feedback of what the car is doing. wheel withouth FF doesent, so u loose it more often. with FF ull be able to correct the car and feel when it looses grip so its a big advantage

Yes

yeh it does.

Force feedback ftw!

if i remember correctly, biggie never used force feedback.

I was faster without, but it's much more fun driving with Force Feedback

Yes it makes me faster since I get more feedback of what the car is doing and therefore makes me go faster becaus of the confidence boost

Quote from Biohazard :

if i remember correctly, biggie never used force feedback.

But biggie wasn't human, so we can't compare.

I've never tested a wheel with FFB

see, if biggie and flotch never ever used ffb, it cannot be necessary to be fast.
probably all comes down to talent and practice in the end.

Quote from Flotch :

I've never tested a wheel with FFB

What wheel u use?

You will be slower to start with but will get faster.

If you search on LFSworld Hotlaps from arrechee or elgar, you can see that they are really fast, and know this 2 guys, they don't use a wheel with a FF, they use a bad/cheap wheel without FF. So the wheel don't make you faster, YOU make faster a car

Quote from nesrulz :

What wheel u use?

microsoft sidewinder precision racing wheel (<= nice name ), bought in 2003 iirc
after 2 weeks, the pedals were broken
some monthes after, the 2 pseudo-paddle used to shift gears were broken too, and I cannot use them anymore

Quote from Not Sure :

Yes

are you sure?

ffb wheel or not, that doesn't make you faster. talent does.

I really can't say if I'm faster with ffb.....but it's surely a LOT more fun to drive with ffb

I can only say what it's like without FFB, and the biggest disadvantage is the lack of feel. You often have to sacrifice speed for stability, and you are never quite sure if you can plant the throttle early when coming out of a turn.

I'd say that FFB doesn't make you faster, not even the slightest bit. But it does make you more consistent, which ultimately helps you to tie together your best splits to show your real talent.

For me, FFB isn't really necessary but as i have trouble with consistency without it, i use it when I'm in a longer race, but turn it way down when I'm hotlaping to keep my neck muscles happy.

So, in the end, true talent lies within, not in the wheel, a good wheel with FFB just helps to get your talent out. It does not make you faster. Hat down to those who have never used FFB.

I think it's best to say using FFB won't make you faster, but not using it could make you slower.

Well, it makes me quicker, but that's just because I'm used to it being like that. Without it I overcompensate and the like.

Some people are probably quicker with it, others are faster without it... although using it won't automatically make you faster.

Best way I could put it is, have you ever driven an old American car 80's Cadillac Coupe De Ville (my dad had one) felt very disconnected, might as well drive the car with a chicken leg as sometimes you dont feel turning the wheel directly relates to turning the car. When I played a game without FFB I got that same feeling, I mean the wheel centers and all but immersion is gone, then you get complacent with your surroundings. When you run over dirt or skid your wheel will go slack and you instinctivly divert your concentration to getting back traction. Without FFB you may forget it and think you are fine when you are not.

With my dads Caddy, I never knew I was in control of that car, but that was how I thought all cars were back then, until he got a Datsun 280z.

You get a better feeling to the car with ffb. Thats why im driving quicker with it. But of course you just need to get used to it before its helping you somehow