Just my two cents on the Thrustmaster RGT + Clutch, as I feel they might be useful especially now that Logitech is trying to bleed us all dry again with the G27 *cue Logifanbois*...
Just got mine, it worked as soon as plugged but without the FF, which was quickly fixed with the provided drivers, despite my system being somewhat exotic (Win 2k Pro).The FF works quite well, despite being a tad slow, it's strong and quiet, which I appreciate, I hope I can make it faster through tweaking of driver settings. The feeling is quite good, it clamps well and doesn't seem too fragile, but as many said, the paddles don't seem very sturdy, yet there's no need to squeeze'em like mad, I strongly suspect they break less with a little anger management
.
The pedal rack doesn't slide on my carpeting when pushed, which is a good point, but it is not stable when practicing heel and toe, as it would need to be extended quite further in front of the pedal axis, which will force me to change its position, as having it horizontal just can't work, I'll probably put a brick or two under the front part of the rack. At least they are close enough for correct heel and toe. The repositioning thingie seems like a gimmick, though.
I had to put two large rubber bands at the base of the knob in order to use it appropriately (heheh...), because it used to downshift just after the upshift if I released it carelessly and it rebounded, it was very annoying, but the problem's solved.
I had bought it hoping against all odds it would allow me to practice both analogic clutch AND handbrake. Of course, it won't, because the 5th analogic axis needed to do so is only available using the analogic paddle mode, which would force me to assign the clutch to an awkward paddle position. This is really infuriating for me, but I kinda expected it. I'm thinking about tweaking it some way to allow what I want, but it's certainly not gonna be easy.
Another problem I encountered is that there is a duplicate buttons problem. Instead of duplicating the digital paddles into the sequential shifter, which would have been quite logical, and would have avoided me the constant button remapping whenever I change from stick to paddle cars, they duplicated the two lower wheel buttons into the buttons found at the base of the shifter's knob, which effectively suppresses two very useful buttons, and I find that a real shame, as it's one of the wheel's strong points against the G25.
The little console-type D-pad is quite useful, but it seems the buttons cease working when squeezed too hard, which might be a problem on the long run.
I don't feel an anormous need for more degrees, as 270 are quite enough for me now, it's already an enormous change from my XboX pad, I tell ya... Of course, the precision is far greater, and I feel it's more a problem of having to fight the FF than an inherent lack of precision. Despite my being adaptive, I'm having a lot of trouble synching everything that needs to be done, so I suppose I'll just have to train some more. The bottom line is I'm a lot slower for the moment, and I suppose it's quite normal.
The other strong point is of course the price, it's a total bargain ! And the fact that despite its price, the G25 (and probably the G27) still has recurrent problems and fragilities doesn't encourage me to buy one. I would never fork out that amount of cash for anything less than flawless, so, sorry logitech, even the G27 won't be enough, and its ridiculous price won't help.
All in all, I'm quite happy about this purchase, and hope it'll stay that way
I'd just like Thrustmaster to make an updated version, as it could be a huge success against the G27.
Thanks for reading, now let's go practice some more