My 'racing game' portfolio in 2003 consisted of Viper Racing, Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed, Grand Prix 2. I tried Grand Prix Legends which was too damn hard. I had one of the early Microsoft Sidewynder FFB wheels to race with.

Then out came the LFS 01A Beta. It was fantastic and moved the goalpoasts from 'game' to 'sim'. I bought the ACT Labs ForceRS, 'Performance Pedals' with clutch and H-shifter. I remember practicing clutch control in anticipation of my first driving lesson on Viper Racing!

I have always kept an eye on LFS development and felt rather sad that S3 never came to be. I licensed S1 in 2005 and S2 as soon as it came out, but lost interest in racing sims in general as life got busy and I got more of a fix tinkering with real cars. Since then I've built a career, started my own business, bought a house and refurbished most of it, got married and had 3 kids! The ACT-Labs collected dust all that time... until Christmas break.

I see the poor wheel coated in dust in the attic. My oldest boy is 5 and I thought he might like to see Daddy's old toy... his eyes lit up as it come down with the Christmas decorations. I plugged it in, all came to life but the limp pedals weren't returning properly. A few trips to the garage and I managed to get the springs bodged. Then there were no Win7 drivers for the wheel... after some searching I found a copy of some modded drivers that work. Awesome!

Naturally I had to set up LFS on my office desktop. My 5yr old loved picking a car and circuit and 'practicing his driving' - he's really getting the hang of it. I do the pedals but he is learning to use paddle shifters with auto-clutch! My 4yr old is also keen and has a natural knack of catching slides, time to get him karting! Or perhaps not - he tends to just mow down cones most of the time.

Now the problem is I'm getting a bit addicted. I bought a copy of Assetto Corsa and without starting any debate, it is an incredible Sim with a level of realism that really got my attention. But I just can't quite get into it due to the limitations of my 270deg wheel, the cars feel great until you overstep it a bit and then it's in a wall. Back to LFS - I really enjoyed starting to have a play with some of the S2 cars and tracks! The RWD cars that I found too hard to drive fast 10 years ago are suddenly driveable - which suggests my real-world experience counts for something. It seemed to work a lot better with my wheel too, with its limited lock - I could still catch the car and rescue it when over-driven or the back kicked out.

LFS is a step behind AC both visually and 'feel', but it has its own charm - the kids will only play LFS - and the more I explore it the better it feels. I like the cars & track choice; for 'real-life' experience there are other titles with huge development resources but LFS offers something a little unique. I'd compare LFS to karting (accessible & casual) where as AC is more like a trackday (need to be in the right zone). It is incredible what has been achieved by 3 guys, and quite frankly if they release a modest update this year and give it an 'S3' stamp then I will happily pay for it! I'm quite surprised they didn't stop a few years back to be honest and deserve much kudos for keeping with it.

So where now? I really want to get a better wheel set-up. If I can find my USB adapter to run the ACT-Labs pedals and shifter separately I want to pair it with a £2-300 wheel. I think AC would come into its own and I'll get the best of of LFS too. The T300 looks pretty good - any experiences of this? This would eventually be the kids... if I really get into sim racing I'll kit out with a Fanatec or Accuforce. I'm also intrigued by the Oculus Rift support and would consider a DK2 as well, just not convinced - would love to demo on and see for myself!

Anyway enough rambling, I hope to get a more enjoyable set-up very soon and see you on an LFS server for some hotlapping soon...

FWIW, I had an Act Labs Force RS, and it's utter rubbish compared to a Logitech G25/G27, let alone the more expensive options.

Get a G27, I think in your country it's about 218 pounds.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CM2R1GA/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1/275-7654515-5682724?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_r=0STV8CBYPPCDBTH2B3YH&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_i=B002PHN5W6

You won't find any better wheels for that money. And if you just want to have some fun with public driving on cargame or doing some fun leagues like the Rony's tuesday races or AWD Winter Series it's the best option for you.

And if you will get more into serious Simracing at some point, you will always buy a Thrustmaster T500 or some Fanatec wheel base with different rims etc, a rig and so on.....

But for now the G27 should suit you perfectly (Don't forget there's also the possibility to mod the G27, watch a few youtube vids for that...although I would only do this if it runs out of warranty).

Quote from Ross Burton :

The RWD cars that I found too hard to drive fast 10 years ago are suddenly driveable - which suggests my real-world experience counts for something. It seemed to work a lot better with my wheel too, with its limited lock - I could still catch the car and rescue it when over-driven or the back kicked out.

Depending on when you stopped playing, it's possible you missed the last physics updates in 2006 and 2007 that made the tyres much more forgiving.

Quote from Timo1992 :

And if you just want to have some fun with public driving on cargame or doing some fun leagues like the Rony's tuesday races or AWD Winter Series it's the best option for you.

Thanks for the advertisement,I'll add another option if there is interest for more casual-like events - Torsdagsrace. Since there is no calender in the new forum version,some Czech dude made a temporary calender for better overwiev of various events in LFS: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nk37fk5rjvkak5c6pmjfm3u4v0%40group.calendar.google.com

Congrats Scumbagwen!

An FZ2 league would be a great thing as well imo

Definitely go for the T300RS, walks all over a G27, I run a T500RS myself and it is great, fast, wheel feels great, it's quiet and the force is way way more accurate and sharp.

Hey, I loved to hear this story. You put a smile on my face. Please, be the dad I always dreamed with .

Well, the wheel you are looking for will depend of what you want to use it for (obviously simracing I guess... huh). It's always good to consider that G27 never felt bad, it's good enough for a really good price, and it's decent enough for starting at simracing. Though, Fanatec wheels will feel much better, there's a reason why they are more expensive. I highly recommend them for your use at least, an adult hungry of simracing. They make the big difference with the rest in my opinion. Now, considering your kids, I'd go for something cheap for them, like a G27, or even cheaper, like a Driving Force GT. Comes with a sequential shifter, shift paddles and no clutch. It feels very similar to the G27.

Quote from Ross Burton :

LFS is a step behind AC both visually and 'feel', but it has its own charm - the kids will only play LFS - and the more I explore it the better it feels. I like the cars & track choice; for 'real-life' experience there are other titles with huge development resources but LFS offers something a little unique. I'd compare LFS to karting (accessible & casual) where as AC is more like a trackday (need to be in the right zone). It is incredible what has been achieved by 3 guys, and quite frankly if they release a modest update this year and give it an 'S3' stamp then I will happily pay for it! I'm quite surprised they didn't stop a few years back to be honest and deserve much kudos for keeping with it.

I agree with you, LFS just has that natural feel to it. A few more tracks would be great though, the car selection is fine. Don't need 1,000 different hatchbacks.

Quote from petercollins :

Don't need 1,000 different hatchbacks.

Unless you're making a Gran Turismo game, in which case you need every variation of the Nissan Skyline ever made.

This is the Kiwi R34 hatch version, I assume this is the R34 your looking for.............
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfK1wr7FHlQ
(My home track as well, check the SPC Tools logo, familiar or wot ???? )

Quote from Forbin :

Quote from petercollins :

Don't need 1,000 different hatchbacks.

Unless you're making a Gran Turismo game, in which case you need every variation of the Nissan Skyline ever made.

..or pre-S3 LFS with mostly I4's.

Quote from Breizh :

Quote from Forbin :

Quote from petercollins :

Don't need 1,000 different hatchbacks.

Unless you're making a Gran Turismo game, in which case you need every variation of the Nissan Skyline ever made.

..or pre-S3 LFS with mostly I4's.

I4 NA: 8
I4 Turbo: 5
F4 Turbo: 2
I6: 1
F6: 2
V8: 2

http://en.lfsmanual.net/wiki/Cars

Yup. Twice as many 4 bangers as anything else. The FXR doesn't really count, not being FWD. The ... whatever the 2L FWD boxer's called, that's just another variation on the same theme. 4 cylinder, FWD, low displacement, economically priced car. The RAC's also a 4 cylinder, and itself isn't displeasing. But it is yet another 4 cylinder in spite of the platform being an opportunity to add variety. I guess it was more exotic to have the RAC than e.g. a Ferrari or other MR like it.

There's good reasons for each 4 cylinder, but altogether they still add up to a 4 cylinder ghetto.

I4s were the right choices for the 2 stages we bought :
S1 : road cars
S2 : race cars based on the road cars from S1 + formula cars (including a small one : the XR one ...)

For both philosophy, I4s are fully in the scope.

Let's guess for S3 we will get a faster class that will not use less than 6 cylinders (personnal wish list)

Cool story, bro, Being a father of 3 doesn't keep you from racing. and I agree with what you said about real-world experience would be a huge factor in handling "hard-to-drive" cars during your teens. Any F1 fans there? Please check this site - http://www.dafabetsports.com/en/formula1