I think what people complain about it the fact that LFS is striving for realism above all else, and anything other than a cockpit view doesn't fit that model.
Personally, I couldn't care less what view anybody uses, as long as they can see the cars around them and brake when necessary.

Each view has both positive and negative points for using it:
Cockpit
+ Most realistic, gives the feeling of immersion
- Not ideal for judging grip or any of the things we couldn't naturally see in a car

Wheels
+ Good for judging tire-related stuff, better for distance judging than some others
+ Helps some people's frame rates
- Some people would argue it gives an unfair advantage because you can actually see when your tires are losing grip
- Unrealistic, unless you happen to be a slug stuck on someone's bumper

Chase
+ Good for peripheral vision, good visibility all round
- No mirrors
- Sometimes distances can be harder to judge
- Unrealistic, unless you happen to be the rear passenger giraffe

I wouldn't 100% support the idea of forcing any particular view unless there was an important reason for it.

Quote from nihil :

Its a reasonable point, but you can't really see your bonnet in cockpit view either.

that depends on the can and your view distance

Quote from Nobo :

We already got some threads of this.
Even if there is still no Mirror for the chase view i still drive it, just get claustrophobia in cockpit
I know its unrealistic and i would like to change....but somehow not possible, like a smoker who cant give up smoking. Just a recommendation to all beginners, start in the cockpit

I have the same claustrophobiaGimme a mirror for chase cam.

I'm with doorman. I use 60% FOV, and I probably could change that as I can't see the speedo or tach due to my wheel blocking it. But if I need to see the gauges, I guess I just raise up and peer over the wheel.

I don't see how in-car view reduces the view to a third of the screen. I can't see any of the roof and very little of the a-pillar on the driver's side in-car.

Quote :

My feelings exactly, you have a steering wheel and a desk in front of you which are where the dashboard and interior would normally be, so why have another set of these "inside" the screen?

This is how I have my "cockpit" setup. The monitor sits as close to the wheel as allowed. I do have FOV setup to see the gauges (peeking over my wheel) because I don't have actual gauges. I concider the distance between the wheel and monitor the dash area.

Quote :

The counter-argument is that obviously in a real car you can't see the wheels and being able to see them allows you to place the car more easily than in real-life.

If you are looking at your wheels because it allows you to place them where you want, then you are looking at the wrong place. You want to be looking up ahead on the track at the corner exit or into the following corner, not where you are right now as in looking at your wheels.

Here's my analogy, for the new folks since this has last been brought up.

When learning to ride a motorcycle, you are taught to look where you want to go, not where you are going. The idea behind that is, you will go where you are looking. The example I use is a pothole in the road that you want to avoid. If you look at that pothole thinking "don't hit that, I want to go around it", there is a good chance you will hit it because subconciously you go where you are looking. If you want to avoid that pothole, then you look at the area beside the pothole and that is where you will go.

Same thing with racing. If you are looking through the turn and looking at the exit, then you don't have to worry about looking at the wheels to place them where you want to. When looking at the wheels, you are registering what is happening now. When you look past the turn at the exit and following straight, you are registering what the total outcome of driving the corner will be. Thus, you will place the wheels where they need to be in relation to how you want the exit to be rather than just placing them at the apex.

Sorry this does stray a bit off-topic, but I have to say that everytime I see someone post they use wheel view because they can see more accurately where to put the wheels in the corner.

Quote from harjun :

and....Which view do YOU race with?
I race with the Outer car view
You may Choose ONLY 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and how do you feel a car? like when it's on limit? i can't feel it when try to ride in outer car view (maybe if i use keyboard, but i use a wheel)

Quote from mrodgers :

If you are looking at your wheels because it allows you to place them where you want, then you are looking at the wrong place. You want to be looking up ahead on the track at the corner exit or into the following corner, not where you are right now as in looking at your wheels.

Well, I can agree to differ on everything else, but on this point I'm with you all the way Same with looking down your bonnet to the car in front - the quick road to 'target fixation'.

@Dajmin - very thorough, very eloquent. I just wish that people wouldn't confuse realism with the photographic image.

well....i guess in car wins

It says a lot about the realism of LFS that its the only sim I've played where its really feasable to play from in-car, indeed I find it a lot easier from in-car view.

In-car at 68° fov, though I can understand someone using wheels view if they have bad fps.

Quote from Crashgate3 :

It says a lot about the realism of LFS that its the only sim I've played where its really feasable to play from in-car, indeed I find it a lot easier from in-car view.

In netKar Pro you can only play from cockpit view..among the many things they got wrong, that is a decision the devs got very right indeed imo

Quote from nihil :

Well, I can agree to differ on everything else, but on this point I'm with you all the way Same with looking down your bonnet to the car in front - the quick road to 'target fixation'.

I almost used the term "target fixation" in that.

Quote from AndroidXP :

...though I can understand someone using wheels view if they have bad fps.

I did just that with my old PC. I hated the fact that I used wheels view as it was not as accurate feeling for me. I tended to "target fixate" () on the wheels when using it. But the difference of 50 FPS compared to 20 in-car forced me to wheels view. I was estatic when I got the new PC and was able to go to in-car view. My laptimes definitely were helped as was my consistancy because of the lack of "target fixation" and being able to focus my view farther up the track more easily.

Quote from tikshow :

and how do you feel a car? like when it's on limit? i can't feel it when try to ride in outer car view (maybe if i use keyboard, but i use a wheel)

Always ask me the same with people who drive in cockpit, because with the chase cam i exactly feel and see when the car uses grip or i have steered to less or to much. I think its just a habit thing.
Forcing me into cockpit i think i couldn't stand that...would mean searrch a new game or go back to real life ....i've heared of a few people who got the step out of here

hood view cause my desk is my cockpit

incar view isn't realistic cause your vheel + incar view wheel is weird......

Hood view for all

Quote from otolikos :

hood view cause my desk is my cockpit

I agree!

It sounds like from what's being said that many people are using in-car with a very low field of vision which puts you at the top of the steering wheel near to hood view anyway, rather than showing a large amount of the cockpit, so the two are very similar.

Having said that though setting the low FOV means everything looks really close together and appears to move really slowly (or is it the other way round?)

In-car view. Last time a poll like this came up I voted for the wheels view, but since switching to incar, using any other view just doesn't feel right.

Don't like lowering the FOV though, everything feels like it happens in slow-motion.

Quote from otolikos :

incar view isn't realistic cause your wheel + incar view wheel is weird......

Which is why i turn the in car wheel off.

I use incar view most of the time with the wheel turned on, but it matches my actual wheel so its okay.

Sometimes when im not in a particularly serious mood i use a custom T-Cam view, obviously only in formula cars though, in tintops though its always incar.

Always in car

Quote from otolikos :

hood view cause my desk is my cockpit

incar view isn't realistic cause your vheel + incar view wheel is weird......

Hood view for all

Not realistic, huh?

Quote from Cue-Ball :

Not realistic, huh?

NICE

Cockpit view for me!

I started out with cockpit view, then I got bored of LFS a bit and spiced things up by setting up roof or dashboard mounted cameras, now i'm starting to move back to cockpit again and i'm finding that the reduced visibility is very hard to adapt to, even though it's how I used to drive. In single seaters I preffer the roll bar view like Tigershark.

cockpit/incar with the steering wheel turned off.

Quote from Cue-Ball :

Not realistic, huh?

wow nice vid

Quote from Cue-Ball :

Not realistic, huh?

Amazing Scenes!

Now imagine you masked most of the screen so that you were just left with a 19" monitor sized rectangle in front of the driver. You're left with what I want on my 19" monitor, essentially leaving you with a bonnet cam, rather than squeezing the whole projected image down to fit. Does that make any sense?

The view i use is the one when on TV, just above the drivers head, when using the open wheels, Anything else and its onboard for me.

Quote from morcs :

Amazing Scenes!

Now imagine you masked most of the screen so that you were just left with a 19" monitor sized rectangle in front of the driver. You're left with what I want on my 19" monitor, essentially leaving you with a bonnet cam, rather than squeezing the whole projected image down to fit. Does that make any sense?

I understand what you're trying to say. Unfortunately, you would be practically driving blind. The biggest things about driving using in-car view are that it gives you a better idea where the car is. You can judge more closely how close you are to the car next to you. Also, in real life you have blind spots from the A/B/C pillars, the dash, the seats, etc. You can't recreate that using bonnet view or wheels view. Similar to flight sims that allow you to turn off the cockpit. In real life pilots have a very small field of view and it's the same thing with cars (tin tops, at least). Working around this isn't true to the experience, in my opinion.