I play LFS a lot with gamepad. This has to do with the fact pads are rather easy to set up and use, I don't have the keyboard or the wheel in the way, etc.

However, I've noticed this makes me perhaps rely too much on steering corrections - while a gamepad limits the precision you can steer with, it allows for really fast countering when you steer too sharp, up to the point where it could perhaps be considered unfair.

So, perhaps I should be trying my wheel again. While there's never 100% realism, it should add a bit to it, and LFS here is a simulation after all.

The wheel I have though, is rather ancient. It's a Formula T2 from Thrustmaster. Would it still be good to go with that, or is it so outdated that even a pad would be better? It´s missing force feedback ofcourse, but other than that - are current wheels a whole lot better overall, and should I go with a new one? ...or maybe, I should get used to this wheel again first before getting a newer one, if that´s needed (I tried the old wheel very briefly a while ago, and I made a lot of mistakes, allthough that was with the RaceAbout, perhaps not the easiest car in the game)?

I´m looking forward to some suggestions

If you have a wheel that works....USE IT!

If it doesn't feel right try playing with the settings, like wheel turn, wheel turn compensaion and deadzones. Just mess with them til you get a better feeling.

OR

If you have the cash buy a new one.

Always go with a wheel if you have one.
Sure, a new wheel with FF would add a lot more to your experience and driving. But you could start with getting used to driving with this wheel and buy a new one later.
And the RA is just about the hardest car to drive, so that is probably not a good car to start with

You are seriously missing out on a huge part of LFS if you don't have FFB though.

Just retired my MS Sidewinder (non FFB) in favour of a joypad - at least until I can afford a FFB wheel. Main problem with the MS wheel was that it would constantly lose steering centre during a race.

Going to save up for a "proper" wheel.

Quote from Hog700 :

Just retired my MS Sidewinder (non FFB) in favour of a joypad - at least until I can afford a FFB wheel. Main problem with the MS wheel was that it would constantly lose steering centre during a race.

Going to save up for a "proper" wheel.

was having the same problem with my momo force. thankfully new drivers corrected it. VERY annoying.

I say go with a wheel. If you've got $40 you can pick one up on ebay. My old man actually just got one so he can start playing LFS

I use a momo black, and lately, it has been losing centre if I counter-steer quickly; this problem seems limited to LFS, and I'm not the only one who experiences it Anyhow, I feel this has made my driving smoother, in that I really have to anticipate a slide - I really can't afford any mistakes under brakes.
I've often thought, as far as quick countersteering goes, jopystick/gamepad has an advantage over wheels. Of course, an FFB wheel also has an advantage, in that it helps you feel when the slide will begin... well, theoretically

Blah blah, i think if you wanna get serious, get the g25... I'm gonna :cyclops:

Quote from joen :

Always go with a wheel if you have one.
Sure, a new wheel with FF would add a lot more to your experience and driving. But you could start with getting used to driving with this wheel and buy a new one later.
And the RA is just about the hardest car to drive, so that is probably not a good car to start with

yeah, the RA is really hard... with a gamepad I can correct steering errors but it feels like cheating...
I think I'll be taking the recommendations here and set up the old T2 again... that thing comes from the Grand Prix 2 era, though ...well, it seems to be pretty durable, at least.
That's a bit of the problem with getting a new wheel - I'd want a real good one, but my PC is already 3 years old.... I'd prefer to wait a while and do everything (pc upgrade, a good wheel, etc) at once. I could get a cheaper wheel, but my experience with cheaper brand wheels is generally bad.

I just wish they'd bring back the MOMO Red....I keep gettingworried mines gona die someday

Quote from Goop :

I use a momo black, and lately, it has been losing centre if I counter-steer quickly; this problem seems limited to LFS, and I'm not the only one who experiences it Anyhow, I feel this has made my driving smoother, in that I really have to anticipate a slide - I really can't afford any mistakes under brakes.
I've often thought, as far as quick countersteering goes, jopystick/gamepad has an advantage over wheels. Of course, an FFB wheel also has an advantage, in that it helps you feel when the slide will begin... well, theoretically

Blah blah, i think if you wanna get serious, get the g25... I'm gonna :cyclops:

Try using fixed calibration. Quick movements can make the pots spike, and that may throw off the calibration.

thanks. I had tried that, didn't help in the least

Quote from Goop :

thanks. I had tried that, didn't help in the least

Hi Goop I have experianced the same prob along time back

You have installed the centering fix from www.wingmanteam.com ?

Maybe you have forces too high (sounds silly but it made a difference for me, check your windows controller settings are correct)

Also I do an ingame recal everytime I start LFS seems to help with this kind of thing.

SD.

this is my suggestion by priorities:

1) very good expensive wheel (dfp, whatever...)
2) cheap laser mouse + keyboard (i strongly suggest the Trust MI6200 laser mouse: is very cheap and very, very precise and robust)
3) good analog joystick
4) bad wheel (microsoft sidewinder, etc.)
5) keyboard
6) gamepads

so, yes try your wheel more, compare it to mouse to see if it is a good or bad wheel, use an easy car like xfg, fox, fxr...i'd suggest fox because it is rwd like most lfs cars, but it is the easiest one, if you feel it is too easy then try fo8 or fzr

Quote from Honey :

this is my suggestion by priorities:

1) very good expensive wheel (dfp, whatever...)
2) cheap laser mouse + keyboard (i strongly suggest the Trust MI6200 laser mouse: is very cheap and very, very precise and robust)
3) good analog joystick
4) bad wheel (microsoft sidewinder, etc.)
5) keyboard
6) gamepads

so, yes try your wheel more, compare it to mouse to see if it is a good or bad wheel, use an easy car like xfg, fox, fxr...i'd suggest fox because it is rwd like most lfs cars, but it is the easiest one, if you feel it is too easy then try fo8 or fzr

I'd like to say that the pad I'm using is a thrustmaster dual power pad.... it has fairly large analog sticks (with more precision than most out there)... it's definately better than a keyboard, but again, even though I've set analog steer smooth to 70 (if I set it any higher the lag between steering and reaction on-screen is too large and the game becomes rather uncontrollable), it still seems I can do ridiculously fast steering corrections with a pad.

As for using a mouse in a racer... I really can't stand that.

By the way... at the time it was new, the Thrustmaster wheel I have (Formula T2) wasn't cheap at all... but, if anyone remembers it, how would it compare with cheap wheels nowadays?
(btw. there's one thing that's sucky about it and that's the weird little up/down shifter - I'd prefer shift buttons on the wheel, or ultimately, a manual shifter).

I've finally set up that wheel again... takes some getting used to, but it seems nice. I tried the FOX, as Honey suggested, and that was easy, and drove well.

I did try the RA too, and I'm slower with it now, but if things turn out correctly that ought to be temporary; I can't pull the usual gamepad tricks now (like, when the car starts to spin you can immediately get out of that by doing a full turn in opposite direction, then centering in a split-second) so I'm 'forced' to drive it more smoothly , and also more carefully.

The precision with the wheel is of course tons better than the thumbsticks on an analog pad.

In my initial wheel setup, I haven't changed much from how the gamepad was set up. The settings can be seen in the attachment. Also, analog steer smooth I left at 70, because it removes a lot of visual "trembling".
Any suggestions for possible improvements in this setup?
One thing I noticed is that the center area of the wheel is pretty accurate, but it's also small. Maybe that just needs getting used to as well, but if anyone has some good suggestions for the wheel setup, I'm all ears

i'm glad to hear you solved your problem.
about the center area, try to play with "steer center reduction" (i'd suggest 0.60) and "wheel turn compensation" (i'd suggest 1.0).

imo you should try lower values for smooth compensation, but that depends a lot on your taste and wheel...the reason i suggest low values is because high values introduce a delay in wheel response (it's math, not an lfs or wheel issue).