After playing the Forza 2 demo and seeing how realistic the handling is, I decided to get a wheel to really bring forth the realism.
First of all, unpacking requires some brain power esp. since I did not want to demolish the box in case I need to return it. After that mess, I finally got my hands on the wheel. The thickness of the wheel was good but it's quite small. Much too small for my hands but that's something I could adapt to in time. So I tried to use it on my lap. Horrible idea. I quickly moved the 360 to the PC Monitor (dell 2405 component hookup), latched the assembly onto the desk and locked the wheel into place. Had the pedals braced up towards the back of the desk so they didn't move.
Now it was testing time! Fired up the demo and got right into a race with a Z06 with TCS off. This did not go well. The wheel was not realistic in any sense that I'd hoped. First of all there was a lot of play but it was only to the right. So from 12 - 1 o'clock I had free play and steering only after that. Turning left there was no play. This clearly made corrections a pain as I'd have to try and compensate for the play to the right but no play to the left. I'm sure this can be adjusted but this wasn't the biggest issue. The bigger problem: steering inputs were slow to react and you simply could not flick the wheel fast for a quick correction due to the resistance and the slow movement the wheel allowed. The wheel also didn't not respond to very well to minute corrections in order to control understeer.
Then we move onto the pedals. 40% application on the brake pedal = 100% in game. The gas isn't as bad but still suffers from inconsistant travel vs input. There is no feedback in the pedals. Both controls are simply very difficult to modulate.
After reading that you'll be allowed to adjust the wheel, I figured let's try PGR3 to see if these issues only exist in Forza2 demo due to lack of calibration. So I fired up good ole PGR3. Now the offcenter part was fixed and dead center was expected. The play existed about only about 30mins increments of a clock but more importantly even on both sides which is tolerable and realistic. So far, so good! right!?
Wrong. The lag in input and the wheels inability to respond to quick transitions reared their ugly heads right away. So after about 1:20mins of Forza2 and PGR3 for about 40mins, I put disassembled the wheel from the computer desk. I went looking for realism and ended up with a highly compromised solution which wanted me to adapt considerably. I don't think I'm ready for that.
I'll play with it some more this weekend but it'll likely be going back. To make up the disappointment, I'll use the money to do another trackday before selling the car. Can't beat that level of realism
First of all, unpacking requires some brain power esp. since I did not want to demolish the box in case I need to return it. After that mess, I finally got my hands on the wheel. The thickness of the wheel was good but it's quite small. Much too small for my hands but that's something I could adapt to in time. So I tried to use it on my lap. Horrible idea. I quickly moved the 360 to the PC Monitor (dell 2405 component hookup), latched the assembly onto the desk and locked the wheel into place. Had the pedals braced up towards the back of the desk so they didn't move.
Now it was testing time! Fired up the demo and got right into a race with a Z06 with TCS off. This did not go well. The wheel was not realistic in any sense that I'd hoped. First of all there was a lot of play but it was only to the right. So from 12 - 1 o'clock I had free play and steering only after that. Turning left there was no play. This clearly made corrections a pain as I'd have to try and compensate for the play to the right but no play to the left. I'm sure this can be adjusted but this wasn't the biggest issue. The bigger problem: steering inputs were slow to react and you simply could not flick the wheel fast for a quick correction due to the resistance and the slow movement the wheel allowed. The wheel also didn't not respond to very well to minute corrections in order to control understeer.
Then we move onto the pedals. 40% application on the brake pedal = 100% in game. The gas isn't as bad but still suffers from inconsistant travel vs input. There is no feedback in the pedals. Both controls are simply very difficult to modulate.
After reading that you'll be allowed to adjust the wheel, I figured let's try PGR3 to see if these issues only exist in Forza2 demo due to lack of calibration. So I fired up good ole PGR3. Now the offcenter part was fixed and dead center was expected. The play existed about only about 30mins increments of a clock but more importantly even on both sides which is tolerable and realistic. So far, so good! right!?
Wrong. The lag in input and the wheels inability to respond to quick transitions reared their ugly heads right away. So after about 1:20mins of Forza2 and PGR3 for about 40mins, I put disassembled the wheel from the computer desk. I went looking for realism and ended up with a highly compromised solution which wanted me to adapt considerably. I don't think I'm ready for that.
I'll play with it some more this weekend but it'll likely be going back. To make up the disappointment, I'll use the money to do another trackday before selling the car. Can't beat that level of realism
