NEWS
00:03:35 Thrustmaster TS-PC Racer Ferrari 488 Challenge Announced
00:11:06 Asus Bezel Free Triple Screen Kit from CES
00:14:41 DICE Awards “Racing Game of the Year” Snubbery
00:20:58 Chili Bowl Coming to iRacing
00:24:41 AI Coming to iRacing
00:39:53 Dakar 18 Announced

TL;DR REVIEW
00:42:44 Tobii Eye Tracker 4C

THE CONVERSATION
00:49:46 The eRacing Relevance Struggle

HAPPENINGS
01:18:04 GPU Upgrade Before GPU Market Went Mad
01:22:10 Happenings Here

The post This Week Inside Sim Racing – 01.14.2018 appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

Sim Racing Products Available at Ricmotech

PRO – DIAMETER

The 30 cm diameter of the CSL Elite really is the perfect size for an all around wheel like this.  Due to its price point, there’s a good chance the CSL Elite is the only wheel you’ll have so it needs to be a “jack of all trades.”  This is what the 30 cm diameter accomplishes.  It’s big enough to work with production cars and stock cars but small enough to work with open wheel and GT cars.

PRO – RIM

The alcantara wrapped rim is a major upgrade from the old CSL Elite (now just CSL) wheel.  The old, hard, rubber wrapped rim wasn’t very inviting.  On the other hand, the new rim is very inviting with nice alcantara around the entire rim – in comparison to the alcantara and leather PS4 CSL – and the right amount of padding underneath.

If we have one minor gripe, it’s that the rim is on the thinner side.  A little thicker bolsters to hold onto would be nice.

PRO – WEIGHT

Wheel weight saps force feedback.  It’s less of a concern as you move up in wheel base strength but it’s still something to keep in mind.  Well, the new CSL Elite’s weight is not a concern.  Coming in at 970 g (2.138 lbs), the new CSL only sheds 200 g off of the old CSL – most likely due to the rim’s material change – but it sure feels a lot lighter.  This results in a nimble wheel with no perceivable lose of force feedback due to its weight.

PRO – SWAPPABLE BUTTONS

Like the PlayStation 4 version of the CSL Elite, the new Xbox wheel receives swappable buttons as well.  They’re still not the easiest to remove but it’s nice to have other button options when you race on the PC.

PRO – COMPATIBILITY

The CSL Elite Steering Wheel for the Xbox One (and PC) is designed to be used with the CSL Elite Wheel BASE for the Xbox One (in Fanatec-land, Steering Wheel + Base = “Racing Wheel”).  But, the new CSL Elite wheel has a party trick up it’s sleeve.  It can turn the PS4 version of the CSL Elite wheel base into an Xbox One compatible racing wheel.

This is a big deal because Sony and Microsoft – understandably – don’t play nice with each other, leading to PS4 compatible wheel bases or Xbox One compatible wheel bases.  The CSL Elite wheel changes this.  Thanks to the wheel, you can pick up the PS4 compatible CSL Elite racing wheel and the CSL Elite steering wheel for the Xbox One and be able to go back and forth between consoles with just a switch of the USB cord, steering wheel and push of the “Mode” button on the PS4 wheel base.

That’s pretty slick and a big plus to those who play both sides of the console fence.

NEUTRAL – SHAPE

The round shape of the CSL Elite steering wheel has it’s pros and cons.  On the pros side, it allows the wheel to be used with any type of car.  On the cons side, there are cars where the round rim does feel out of place, like when running open wheel cars.  It just is what it is for this kind of wheel that is trying to be accessible no matter what form of racing gets you going.

NEUTRAL – PADDLE SHIFTERS

Besides the heavy, hard, rubber wrapped rim, there was one other major con of the original CSL Elite steering wheel, the paddle shifters.  They were just mushy, with no semblance of a positive click.

This issue has been corrected in the new steering wheel.  The new wheel features “Snapdome(!)” paddle shifters that now provide some positive – audible – feedback.  The throw of the paddles still starts out on the mushy side but they finish with a click.  We still wouldn’t qualify them as great – or even good – but they are at least passable now.

NEUTRAL – SEMI QUICK RELEASE

The semi-quick release system of Fanatec’s CSL line continues on with the new CSL Elite steering wheel.  The system continues to have the same pros and cons it’s always had.  On the pros side, it’s simple and not as expensive and heavy as the Universal Racing Hub’s actual quick release system.  On the cons side, the bolt it utilizes is still keen to escape and potentially be lost.

NEUTRAL – PRICE

The CSL Elite Steering Wheel sells for $170 (€180).  This is spot on for the quality of the wheel.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The new CSL Elite Steering Wheel P1 for the Xbox One from Fanatec is a solid wheel.  It corrects the major complaints we had about the original wheel and thus really does nothing wrong.  It’s also particularly appealing if you spend your time jumping between the Ps4 and Xbox One.  Does it feel super special or high end?  No.  But that isn’t the objective of the wheel.  It’s objective is to provide a solid all around wheel no matter what system you race on and it succeeds at just that.

The post Fanatec CSL Elite Steering Wheel P1 for the Xbox One Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

But that is now a thing of the past.  Thanks to the latest RaceRoom update, proper triple screen support has arrived.  On top of that a boatload of other updates arrived as well, which gave us plenty to talk about around the most famous racing mountain in the world.

The post RaceRoom Gets Triple Screen Support (and Other Updates) appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

Sim Racing Products Available at Ricmotech

PRO – AESTHETICS

Have we mentioned yet how good the Evolve looks? Racing simulator aesthetics can be subjective but we are big fans of the minimalistic look of the Evolve. Every part looks purposeful and is made out of / finished in some of the best paint / powder coating in the industry.

PRO – STABILITY

On camera, the Evolve shows some movement. The wheel deck does wonder a little, the pedal deck shows a little flex towards the top and the seat also has a little deflection. But in use, the Evolve feels very solid. During standard use with a range of wheels from the Thrustmaster TS-XW to Fanatec CSL Elite to SimXperience AccuForce, I never noticed any of the movement.

Yes, if you want to make the wheel deck move, you can. But in normal driving conditions, I never detected any movement.

PRO – PARTY TRICKS

For lack of a better label, the Evolve posses a couple cool – and handy – party tricks. First, there are two casters on the front of the rig that allows you to easily move it by yourself (although it should be noted that the small casters might not work great on carpet). Every simulator should either come with casters or have it as an option.

Second, the front of the rig can pivot up, allowing you to save some space when not racing. I did find this pivot action can cause the bottom frame to not entirely rest flat on the ground but the adjustable rubber feet on the bottom take care of this issue, leveling the rig.

NEUTRAL – SEAT

I love the seat on the Evolve. The carbon fiber on the seat is really well done. It has an excellent tool surface finish and even visible details like the ply buildups at the hardware points.

I also found the seat comfortable for long periods of time. At first I struggled with the fixed seat because I’m a “gangsta lean” driver myself, and the very upright position was bothering my lower back. But then I placed the front seat bolt to the middle of three hole locations (I already had the back bolt at the bottom location) and this gave me the right amount of lean to make me happy. Since then, I’ve enjoyed the “fall in and hold you close” nature of the deep seat.

So if I like it so much, why do we have it it the NEUTRAL category? Because this is a one size seat.

The Evolve’s seat is about as tight on me as I would want any sim racing seat to be. The issue is I’m 5’6”, and according to the interwebs, that puts me at about the 5th percentile for height of male American adults. So if this seat fits a – relatively skinny – 5% male nicely, what does it do to someone in the 50th percentile? Or 80th? Or even as low as 25th?

Well, I found out. I had some friends over one night and I had them try out the Evolve. My friend Steven, who is 6’2” and in much better shape than me, said that while he could fit, it was tight on his hips and he couldn’t race like that for a long time.

You can remove the padding pieces from the rig, but once you do that you’re left with fabric wrapped carbon fiber, which isn’t very comfy.

So while I’ve grown to really like the seat in both form and function, I think there’s going to be a vast swath of folks out there that just won’t fit in it, which isn’t good.

NEUTRAL – WHEEL DECK

On the positive side, the wheel deck on the Evolve has no problem accepting any wheel out there. It even has the front third hole for Fanatec wheel bases, although it’s only accessible when you run the wheel deck in the most forward position. If you try to push it back, the bolt hits the wheel deck assembly’s frame.

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of some frustrating design elements of the Evolve.

Unlike most wheel decks that just have a deck attached to the frame, the Evolve uses a three piece box approach. There’s pros and cons to this design. You get a good amount of tilt options thanks to the outside box rotating between the frame and the smaller inside box’s angle adjusting inside the big box. One thing of note though, the inside box’s angle is fairly limited because the front of it only aligns with two of the four holes at anytime. Besides further angle options, the inside box can also be raised up, giving you height adjustment which is very handy.

Another unique characteristic is that the wheel deck plate is actually designed to be removed. At first blush I thought this was a great idea. Avoiding the awkward acrobatics of securing a wheel to the wheel deck sounded great. But you still have to put it on the rig and this process is even more awkward. Due to the design, you have to squeeze your hands into the box assembly and turn the knobs that go onto the plate’s welded on threads. It’s barely doable, especially when the wheel isn’t at one of the higher positions.

CON – PEDAL PLATE

On to the pedal plate and it’s a similar – but much more frustrating – story. The knobs needed to tighten the two piece design are under the pedal plate, instead of being in an accessible spot on the side like pretty much every other simulator out there, so it forces you to awkwardly tilt the Evolve on it’s side and have it rest on you while you frantically snug the pedal plate down to the tilt adjustment carriage under it.

I mean…most people don’t change out their hardware that much but if you ever need to adjust the pedal’s position, you’re going to be diving under the rig to do so, which really sucks.

Maybe the idea was that you would hinge the front half of the Evolve up to adjust the pedals but for me and many of people out there, that just isn’t feasible with our rig setup. Just easier to go under it.

As for pedal plate compatibility, there’s also a couple issues. While it accepts most pedals, I found that the Fanatec CSL Elite’s are too wide for the plate. In fact, the Fanatec ClubSport Pedals V3 just fit on the plate and I had to wedge them between the pedal plate feet.

On top of that, adjustability on the plate is limited for some pedals. The Thrustmater T3PA pedals have two hole positions that they align with, giving you some up down adjustability. The Fanatec ClubSport Pedals V3 on the other hand only have one position on the plate.

You can slide the entire plate up and down thanks to the groves on the tilt carriage under it but I struggled to get them in the exact position I liked.

I also struggled getting the Fanatec ClubSport V3 pedals to the angle I wanted. I started with the tilt carriage at the middle hole position but my right foot kept sliding up the pedal. So then I went to move it to the top – highest angle – position but I couldn’t because the front of the pedal plate would hit the frame plate that runs under your feet. Ugh.

CON – INSTRUCTIONS

At first flip through the instructions looked great. Lots of images are always good. But once I started building, that impression quickly flipped.

First, some instructions aren’t correct. The instructions to install the red mesh inserts have the bolts going the wrong direction. Minor, but a silly mistake if you aren’t paying attention. Then there’s the accuracy of the drawings. The knobs in the instructions are different looking from the knobs you get, and when there are two different types of knobs in the box, this gets confusing. Also – sans one page – none of the images show washers, yet there are a bunch of washers in the box. So that becomes a guessing game. Pro tip, use washers everywhere. The written instructions aren’t much help either, and for a simulator with as many parts as the Evolve has, this is an issue.

Lastly, there’s a lot of images of knobs in the instructions, but nothing about all those extra M8 bolts in the box…which brings us to our next subject.

CON – KNOBS

F**k knobs. After losing many hours of my life messing around with them, I have zero clue why they are even in the box. Following the instructions, I used only knobs to secure the wheel and pedal assemblies. What a disaster that turned out to be.

No matter how hard I turned them, they would all loosen up while driving. I eventually contacted Sparco because I had a gap between the wheel deck box and the frame uprights that just didn’t seem right and they told me to scrap the knobs and use the included M8 bolts. So I did that and wouldn’t you know I could tighten the pieces together and they wouldn’t loosen up while driving.

As I went on I would remove one set of knobs at a time as it became obvious that none of them worked. I also discovered during this transition that while Sparco includes enough M8 bolts, they don’t include enough washers and nuts and I had to dive into my own collection to finish out the knob purge.

Unfortunately, there were casualties along the way. In my attempt to get the knobs to work, I broke off one of the three threaded studs on both the wheel deck and pedal plate. Apparently my many re-tightens was too much for them and displayed not only the flaw of using knobs, but using welded threaded studs instead of bolts. Now I’m down to two points of contact on each but they seem to be doing the job once I switched to the washer + nut.

Which brings us back to the Pro’s section of the review. Once I removed all the knobs, the Evolve felt solid and nothing loosened up. Again, I have no idea why they are in the box but if you do purchase the Evolve, just throw them away and pick up six more M8 washers and nuts.

CON – ACCESSORIES

The Evolve is currently a very stripped down simulator. It does not have an h-pattern shifter mount – a standard feature in the industry – or less standard accessories like handbrake mount, keyboard tray, monitor mount and transducer mount.

Speaking with Sparco earlier this year, they told me that accessories like these are coming, but without a timeframe at this time, it’s hard to say when and could be a deal breaker for some customers. Plus, that means more money to spend on an already not inexpensive rig…

CON – PRICE

Just because something is $1,300 doesn’t necessarily mean it’s expensive. It just means that the product has to justify the price. Unfortunately the Evolve doesn’t do this.

If the Evolve was a kickass experience, then I think it would be worth the money, even sans the accessories. It looks like a million bucks, has a carbon fiber seat that isn’t inexpensive and of course carries the Sparco name – which whether we like to admit it or not – adds some “want” deep down in our hearts.

But as we’ve seen in this review, it hasn’t been a kickass experience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Sparco Evolve is a tough product to recommend. If you eliminate all the knob issues we had – since you’ve watched this review and now know what to do – and even the diving under the rig part to change and adjust pedals since that should become less of an issue once you’re happy with the position, then there’s a chance you could have a good experience. But unfortunately, I think a lot of variables have to line up to have a positive experience.

Take my experience for example. I’m short and relatively skinny – less so these days – and I was able to fit in the seat comfortably. I was also able to adjust all the wheels to my liking with the wheel deck box and appreciated that I could raise the height of them. As for the pedals, I had no issue finding a comfortable location and angle for the Thrustmaster T3PA pedals. But when it came to the Fanatec ClubSport Pedals V3’s, I wasn’t able to find a comfortable position with my short legs because the frame gets in the way of the pedal plate when you move it in and try to add angle.

Now take someone taller, like my friend, and I bet the pedal plate wouldn’t be an issue because it would be in front of the frame. But, he was uncomfortable in the tight seat.

So if it doesn’t work for a short person with short legs and doesn’t work for a tallish person who works out a bunch, then who does it work for? A thin average height person? And that’s average height in the US, maybe not for your country.

I appreciate the different take on the simulator from Sparco. I love the look, the carbon fiber seat, the included casters, the rigidity of it, the fact that it doesn’t take up much space. But not only are there big issues that we’ve noted, there are potentially more nuanced ones like, “Do you prefer driving open wheel cars versus GT cars?” If yes, then the very upright GT seating position might not be for you.

By the time you tally all of these – and potential – issues up, we find the Sparco Evolve simulator to be a tough sell.

The post Sparco Evolve Racing Simulator Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

This brings us to the Renovatio SRD-R3 Digital Dash Display. Featuring not only critical car information, but race information as well, the SRD-R3 display vies to give you all information you need in a compact, no fuss, package.

Does it succeed? That’s what we’re here to find out.

Sim Racing Products Available at Ricmotech

PRO – DESIGN

The Renovatio SRD-R3 is packaged really well. Coming in at 113 x 68 x 14mm, it nicely walks the line between big enough to see but not too big to be difficult to mount / see. The curved shape also helps to make sure the wheel doesn’t block any of the screen.

Materials wise, the screen is clear and bright, the rubber-like coated frame feels nice to the touch, and the clear back gives you a sneak peak of what’s going on inside.

Speaking of the back, it features a mini USB port and two M2.5 threaded holes. The location of the USB could be good or bad depending on how you mount it. For me and my custom mounting solution, I preferred it versus a bottom mount. For Darin – who had this unit before me – the USB port got in the way of the velcro attachment route he went with. In the end, I do think the center back position is the better way to go.

The display comes with a long USB cable that shouldn’t have any issue reaching your PC, but if you decide to do something different, you can go to Renovatio’s website and choose from a nice selection of alternative USB cables.

PRO – MOUNTING

Lets dive further into mounting the display. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest challenges of a stand alone accessory. Thankfully, Renovatio goes to good lengths to ease this issue.

As we mentioned earlier, the display has two threaded hard mounts. Although having hard mounts might be a no brainer, there are products like displays and button boxes out there that don’t have these and it can make mounting a real challenge. If I do have one critic, it’s using M2.5 bolts, a size so small that I couldn’t find them at any of my local hardware stores. I ended up going the imperial route and buying 2/56 x ½ inch bolts with #2 washers that seemed to do the trick.

Besides just having threaded holes, Renovatio also offers Wheel Mounting Kits (WMK) for the Logitech G27/29, Fanatec CSR and all versions of the Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base. This is nice to see as a lot of accessory manufactures gloss over this detail.

If you have a Thrustmaster T300 / TX or TS-PC / TS-XW, then there is a wheel mounting kit offered from Ricmotech.

But since I wanted to mount the SRD-R3 to my SimXperience AccuForce V2 wheel, I went the custom route. For about $10 I was able to accomplish this thanks the the design of the AccuForce wheel button box. I cut out a piece of wood for a backing plate. Attached it to two non-threaded holes that were designed with the idea of you using them for a backing plate. Then I made it black with a black Sharpie marker and attached the display. Then I got a short USB cable I had and ran it to the USB port on the wheel button box.

By the way, in our review of the AccuForce V2, I wondered out loud the need for a USB port on the back of the wheel button box and why the controller needed a second USB cable to the PC. Well now I know why, the USB is for a display and the second USB cable powers said USB port. And now that I know this and use it, I’m very happy for it, because I think this design turned out really slick

PRO – SRD-M3 GAMING SOFTWARE

The SRD-M3 Gaming Software that comes with the SRD-R3 dash is really well done. It’s easy to install, has a good User Guide right there for questions, allows you to pick and choose game plugins, gives you a good number of dash options on an easy to follow screen and allows you to save your configurations. It also gets updated fairly often which is important in a third party software like this.

Besides configuring the dashboard, the SRD-M3 software also has two other tricks, vDashboard and vTelemetry.

vDashboard is a digital dash on your monitor that is nicely laid out and has options like adjusting gauge colors and angle of tachometer. It’s nice but I didn’t find much use for it with the SRD-R3 digital dash blocking its view. You can move it to the side but looks a little odd there.

I did enjoy exploring vTelemetry. It’s not the most dynamic telemetry tool but it does allow you to see a breakdown of your laps, with speed, RPM, steering angle, throttle and brake inputs, etc. I found it useful to analyze how well I was maximizing my braking.

If I do have one minor complaint it’s that you need to launch the game from the software to have the dash work, at least when you first fire up the game. I was able to play the game, exit, then go back in again without having to launch from the SRD-M3 dashboard.

This is a complaint because issues can arise when you have multiple softwares that require you to launch the game from them….an issue I experienced.

Every time I launched Sim Commander 4 for my AccuForce V2, it would shut down the SRD-M3 software that was trying to connect at the same time. Oddly enough, Darin didn’t have this issue running the same hardware and software, but after a lot of problem solving we eventually threw in the towel and found a work around. The work around for me was firing up the game via Sim Commander 4 – like always – then alt-tabing while in-game and running the “check” mode in the display software to bring the display to life. After that it worked fine.

Not ideal but one of those things when you have two pieces of software fighting each other.

NEUTRAL – FUNCTION

When it comes to actually using the SRD-R3, there’s good and bad.

On the positive side, there’s a lot of good information there such as gear, speed, lap time, fuel left and sector splits. And if you want different information like water temperature, position, live gap time, flags, if you’re in DRS zone and more, you can do that in the Dashboard Configuration.

Where things start to go a little sideways is when it comes to shift points. The dash has 16 white LED’s showing the full RPM range, then 6 configurable purple LED’s up top. The issue is, with the all the LED’s being either white or purple, it’s hard to tell when to shift.

While it’s easy for you at home to see when I should shift with the camera focused on the dashboard, when you’re actually driving you aren’t looking at the dashboard, you’re watching the road and only catching the lights in your peripheral vision.

This is why pretty much all racing cars use some combo of green, yellow, red and blue lights to make it easy for the driver to see where they’re at in the rev band. Without this differentiation – as I found out with the SRD-R3 – it can be tough.

To improve the situation I tried a couple things. First I turned the brightness level all the way down to try to differentiate the white LED’s in the rev band. This did help a bit – the band is made up of three different size LED’s, so there was an attempt to differentiate them – but it still didn’t help enough. Plus, while driving it’s really hard to tell if the RPM band is at the last LED, or second to last…or third to last. You don’t have time to count out sixteen lights.

This left the full RPM guage pretty useless.

As for the top 6 purple RPM LED’s, at first I didn’t have much more confidence in them. The default “Full range” setting in the Dashboard Configuration had all 6 of them on pretty much all the time. Not very helpful.

But then I played around with the options and started to make progress. A few of the standard profiles worked well out of the box. The “Green and red” profile – although all the lights are purple, the software labels them as green, red and blue”…go figure – worked well on the Pro Mazda in iRacing. I also found the “F1 Progressive” setting to work well with – you guessed it – the 2017 Ferrari F1 car in Assetto Corsa. The lights would turn on as you would expect they should and the last one lite up lower in the rev range, the ideal spot to shift for current F1 power units.

But outside of those examples, I spent a lot of time manually adjusting the rev light points and saving it as a profile for that car. This process works but it’s kind of annoying to do for every car and the slider to adjust when the light comes on isn’t as accurate as I would like. It pretty much always skips two or three numbers, and when there is a difference between the light coming on at 92 vs 93, this matters. Would be nice if you could just type in the number yourself.

I also played with some other shift indicators on the SRD-R3. I changed one of the “Alarm” lights to “RPM red zone.” I did this because this light is red and I thought the different color would help. The red light is more noticeable but on many cars you are already hitting the rev chip by the time it comes on, making it not very useful.

I also played with the audio “Gear shift” beeps that the display can give out. At times I felt like they were pretty accurate, other times not so much. Plus with me using my speakers for game sounds and headset for voice talk, hearing the beep is near impossible.

In the end, I was able to get the top purple LED rev lights to assist me. Selecting “Red and blue” profile and manually adjusting the final two lights to come on at the car’s shift light seemed to be the best way to catch the purple LED’s out of my peripheral vision. But I’d be lying if it wasn’t a bit of a strain keeping my eyes on the road, while at the same time trying to catch if a little light had come on.

NEUTRAL – PRICE

While 159.00€ isn’t cheap, it’s in the ballpark of other displays and a lot cheaper than its previous price of 229.00€. What is well priced are the mounting kits which only cost 10€ when bundled with the display. Also, it’s 34.90€ by itself which isn’t terrible either.

Lastly of note, the SRD-R3 comes with a two year warranty.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I prefer using the Renovatio SRD-R3 Digital Dash Display versus not. In the pursuit of having the most realistic seating position and field of view with my setup, there are many times when it’s not possible for me to see the car’s digital display. Other times it requires me to keep the in-game wheel on in cars with wheel mounted telemetry, even though I’d prefer to turn it off. Thus, having a digital dash is helpful.

Is the Renovatio SRD-R3 as helpful as I’d like it to be? Not entirely. My biggest pain point of not being able to see the in-game dash is not seeing the rev lights. And while I eventually got it calibrated to a point where the top LED’s did help, it took more work and concentration than I had hoped. It’s just tough to have rev lights that don’t change color when you’re focused on racing.

Beyond the rev lights, I’m happy with everything else. It looks good and is perfectly sized to be mounted on my wheel or a wheel base with one of the optional mounts. Its nice to know the gear, fuel levels, lap times, etc. I also like the software despite the work around I needed for the AccuForce.

Is my sim racing life better with it? Yes.

But despite that, I’m left a little disappointed at what it could be with something as simple as using different color LED’s, or even using RGB LED’s as that becomes more of a thing. If it had that change, then this display would be a no question recommendation. But for now, I understand if you have reservations.

The post Renovatio SRD-R3 Digital Data Display Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

While the Rally Wheel Add-on Sparco R383 Mod is suppose to be a replica, it sure doesn’t feel like it. It comes in at a full 33 cm (13 inches) in diameter. Its thick rim is covered in suede with the right amount of padding underneath to keep you comfortable but in control. It’s also really sturdy feeling, resisting our best efforts to twist and bend it.

Sim Racing Products Available at Ricmotech

PRO – FUNCTION

While the name suggests that the R383 Mod is best suited for rally racing, it also does another form of racing exceptionally well, oval racing. At both disciplines, the R383 Mod is fantastic.

For rally racing, the large, round, rim is ideal. The larger rim helps to keep your hands steady – as steady as they can be in rally racing – and the round shape makes it so your hand can slide on the rim and never lose contact due to a flat bottom or top.

Like in rally racing, the large diameter also assists you in oval racing. Oval racing is all about “quiet hands,” allowing your feet to steer the car. Having quiet hands is much easier with a 33 cm rim then a 28 cm one. Another plus is the rim’s thickness. Not only does the rim keep you from death gripping your wheel – no matter the racing discipline – but in oval racing you can really lean on it and use it to help keep your hands steady.

When we reviewed the R383’s brethren, the Sparco P310 Competition wheel, we thought that it was a fantastic all around wheel and could handle cars from open wheel to oval. And while we still think it can, the R383 clearly showed us that it’s better when it comes to rally and oval racing.

NEUTRAL – BUTTON BOX

The button box on the R383 utilizes the same heavy duty plastic that all Thrustmaster wheels use but this time it features a nice looking carbon fiber pattern on the front. Out back is the usual Thrustmaster semi-quick release system that allows the R383 to be attached to all the wheel bases in the Thrustmaster Ecosystem. This includes the T300, TX, T500, TS-PC Racer, TS-XW Racer and T-GT.

The R383 features 9 action buttons, which is an average number of buttons for a sim racing wheel these days. The buttons are the same as the P310 Competition’s, meaning they are concave shaped and have a positive click. What isn’t the same is the color scheme, with the buttons coming in black, white, yellow and orange. While I appreciate the seasonal color for this time of year, I would have preferred to see the Sparco Red and Black color scheme from the P310 wheel and TS-XW Racer wheel base.

Back to P310 similarities, the R383 uses the same coned shaped d-pad with push function, and like on the P310, it has its pros and cons. On the pros side, the stealthy cone shaped d-pad is a neat design. On the con side, it can be a bit tricky to use. You have to be very positive with your left, right, up, down inputs or you can accidently select the wrong function.

The paddle shifters also carry over from the P310, which is a good thing. They’re metallic, nicely shaped, tall (13 cm / 5 inches) and can be moved in and out to fit the user’s finger reach. And while they don’t have the most positive click we have ever felt, it is far from bad and solid for the price point.

NEUTRAL – PRICE

Speaking of price, the R383 is priced perfectly. At $199.99 (£179.99) the wheel isn’t a steal but isn’t overpriced. It’s priced exactly where it should be for what you get.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We’re surprised how impressed we are with the Rally Wheel Add-on Sparco R383 Mod. While the P310 Competition might be the flashier of the two Sparco / Thrustmaster wheels, when it comes to rally and oval racing, the R383 is the way to go.

The wheel is just so well designed for those disciplines. 33 cm isn’t too big or too small. The thick suede rim is comfortable but gives you leverage. The wheel feels super solid. It’s just an all around good package.

We really don’t have anything bad to say about it, i.e. no CONS. Sure, the Fall color scheme isn’t our favorite and you have to be careful with the d-pad, but those are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

In the end, if you are a rally and/or oval sim racer and have a Thrustmaster wheel base, or are thinking of getting one, this is the best wheel for the job.

The post Thrustmaster Rally Wheel Add-on Sparco R383 Mod Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

No, the T-GT is not a direct drive wheel, a rumor that had legs thanks to lost in translation comments from GT Creator Kaz. But it is the best wheel base that Thrustmaster has ever made.

While Thrustmaster wheels usually sacrifice some smoothness for road feel, the T-GT does not. It is a fair amount smoother than the previous smoothest wheel, the TS-PC / TS-XW Racer twins, and you rarely feel any bumps or cogs when you turn the wheel. It accomplishes this without deadening the feel either, giving you the best of both worlds, detail and smoothness.

As for force feedback, it is also a step up from the TS Racer twins. We drove the T-GT and TS-XW back-to-back – with the Sparco P310 Competition wheel on the T-GT to eliminate the effect of a smaller diameter wheel – and the T-GT’s force feedback was about 20% stronger. The bump in force feedback isn’t nearly as notable as the smoothness, but it is an improvement nonetheless.

And if you’re curious, the force feedback difference between the 28 cm T-GT wheel and the – easier to turn – 31 cm Sparco P310 Competition wheel wasn’t much, which goes to show you the strength of the T-GT wheel base.

Sim Racing Products Available at Ricmotech

PRO – GRAN TURISMO SPORT INTEGRATION

Clearly the T-GT is the official wheel of Gran Turismo Sport and we’re not just saying that because it has a big “GT” logo on it. While all the standard PS4 controller buttons make their way to any compatible PS4 wheel, none of them have both the left and right sticks. The “mini sticks” on the wheel not only give you another way to navigate, but more usefully, make painting and taking pictures much easier than any other wheel. Without the T-GT, you’re better off going to the PS4 controller to paint or take photos.

But outside of that, what else does the T-GT offer for GT Sport? Depth Feedback. Depth Feedback adds suspension and vibration effects via the steering column. It’s a pretty cool effect. As the car speeds up or goes over rumble strips there’s a low frequency vibration that you not only feel in your hands but – if you have a simulator – can feel through your seat and pedal plate. I was very impressed how well the sensation was felt across my entire Next Level Racing F1GT rig. It’s very SimXperience SimVibe like – albeit not as strong – but doesn’t require you to get a PC and all the other peripherals needed.

For Depth Feedback to work the wheel must be in “GT” mode and GT Sport is the only game that features it. Hopefully this effect can be supported in other titles in the future because it’s certainly a cool sensation, but for now, a GT Sport exclusive.

NEUTRAL – WHEEL BASE DESIGN

T-GT wheel base design is functional, but not very exciting. It’s smaller and lighter than the TS Racer twins, which is nice for a PS4 compatible wheel that might be getting moved around a lot. It has a nice metal base with padded feet that can be secured via the included clamp or INCLUDED M6 bolts and round feet for them as well. It’s nice to finally see a wheel come with bolts, saving customers from having to run to the hardware store when their new baby arrives. Lastly of note, is an I/O featuring modular power, USB, pedal and shifter connections.

So while that is all good, the T-GT isn’t the most exciting looking wheel base out there. The casing is entirely made of black plastic sans some metallic mesh for cooling. The rounded, non-symmetric, shape isn’t awful but isn’t the prettiest either. The most interesting design element of the wheel base is actually the part you’ll see the least, the Depth Feedback transducer on the back.

All-in-all it’s a just okay looking, especially when next to the TS Racer siblings with their angular design and metal inserts.

NEUTRAL – OPTIONS & SETTINGS

The options and settings for the T-GT mirror all the other Thrustmaster wheels. You can change the degrees of rotation on the fly by pressing the “Mode” button and left or right d-pad at the same time to increase or decrease it by set increments such as 360, 540, 720, 900 degrees. This comes in handy for games like GT Sport that do not have any degrees of rotation adjustment.

Outside of that are the usual setting in the Thrustmaster Control Panel. We were able to up the force feedback strength to 100% without any issues from the default of 75%. And Public Service Announcement, even if you only plan to use the wheel on the PS4, hooking it up to the PC, adjusting settings and installing the latest firmware and driver is a good idea.

NEUTRAL – STEERING WHEEL

The T-GT steering wheel is a mixed bag.

On the positive side, all those buttons are awesome. There are 12 push buttons (not including the PS button), d-pad, 2-mini sticks and – my personal favorite – 4 machined aluminum rotary selectors with 12 positions and push function. All the buttons have a nice resistance to them, particularly the L2, R2, Share, and Options buttons, and the rotary selectors feel great to the touch and are very positive in both rotation and push function.

I loved being able to toggle through the bottom right menu in GT Sport by pressing the bottom right rotary selector and then rotating it to adjust things like ABS, Traction Control and Fuel Usage. Outside of GT Sport – which quite frankly didn’t utilize all the buttons – and to PC land, the amount of buttons on the T-GT might give you pause if you were thinking about picking up a button box. Between the number and variety of buttons, only the most complicated cars – like modern F1 cars – might demand more buttons. Outside of that, there are plenty enough buttons to map.

On the not so positive side, the 28 cm leather wrapped rim is an issue. The 28 cm rim just looks and feels small. If it was an F1 like rim, I think I could live with 28 cm. But for a traditional shaped wheel, I want it to be at least 30 cm in diameter.

Oddly enough, in speaking with Thrustmaster at E3, the 28 cm diameter was a pushed from Polyphony themselves. Maybe they wanted to maximize force feedback strength? Either way, it feels small.

Also not helping the size issue is the feel of the rim. After some really great, meaty and supportive, rims from Thrustmaster such as the 599XX Evo 30, TS-PC Racer rim, and Sparco P310 Competition, the T-GT rim feels underwhelming. While the leather is nice, there isn’t much padding underneath it, making the rim a bit hard and not nearly as meaty as I would like. Also not helping the feel is the silver plastic accent on the bottom. There are countersunk bolts on the backside of the rim securing the silver accent piece. When you’re driving your fingers touch the top bolt hole and that doesn’t feel great.

Then there’s the question of the piece from a design standpoint. I don’t think the T-GT is a bad looking wheel but I think it would look more high end without the plastic silver accent and large GT branded center hub. These plastic pieces take away from the quality materials such as the leather on the rim, the metal wheel spokes and the nicely machined rotary selectors.

NEUTRAL – PEDALS

The T3PGT pedals are fine for their price, but aren’t nearly to the level of the T-GT wheel. Having a bundle that allows you to race out of the box is good, and the pedals, with the conical brake mod installed are good enough to get the job done. But for a wheel of the T-GT quality and price, nicer – load cell – pedals are needed. A load cell brake pedal that translates how much pressure you apply to the brake, rather than how much distance the brake has traveled, is just so much more intuitive and better feeling. It is a must at this price point.

CON – PRICE

Which brings us to price. For as nice as the T-GT wheel base is and how slickly it’s integrated into GT Sport, $800 is a lot of money for a package that has okay pedals and 28 cm rim. For that kind of money there needs to be a very high quality experience across the board from wheel base to wheel to pedals, and while the wheel base possess that quality, the other two components do not.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you’re ride or die for GT Sport, then the T-GT is worth giving a look. The buttons provide you the most user friendly experience out there and the vibration that Depth Feedback sends through your rig is really cool and well done.

But outside of GT Sport, the T-GT becomes a much harder sell. The steering wheel is just too small. It’s a disappointing design choice by Polyphony, especially in lieu of our testing in which the larger diameter P310 Competition wheel only slightly reduced the force feedback of the base.

The pedals are also an issue. For the price and quality of the wheel, the brake pedal needs to have a load cell. Sure the T3PGT’s are competent, but I certainly struggled going back to pedals that just measure distance traveled.

And while the T-GT wheel base is the best wheel base Thrustmaster has ever made, it’s not a big enough step up to overlook the steering wheel, pedals, and most of all, $800 price tag. If it was in the $500-600’s range, then some of these issues could possibly be forgiven. But at it’s current price, the T-GT is really asking, “How much of a GT Sport fan are you?”

The post Thrustmaster T-GT Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

As this past weekends F1 USGP showed, when there are no (wrecking) consequences to going out of bounds, drivers are going to abuse track limits any chance they get.  So in this episode, we try to put out some reasonable solutions to a problem that isn’t going away anytime soon.

The post F1 Track Limits Suck – Real Racing Talk appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

F1GT Simulator Provided by Next Level Racing

PRO – UI

I’ll admit that we – Billy Strange and I – were split on UI. I really like the car / art focus and found navigation – once I knew what was behind each icon – to be very intuitive. Billy also liked the art style but didn’t care for the navigation.

As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but since I’m writing this review, I’m putting it as a Pro.

The whole package is just attractive, simple and relatively snappy. Plus it’s one of the few games you don’t mind stepping away from for a minute because you’ll be greeted with beautiful images and cinematic videos upon your return.

PRO – GRAPHICS

While I can understand some push back on the UI, if you think Gran Turismo Sport is anything but beautiful, you are out of your mind. From the most gorgeous intro video you’ve ever seen, to the UI, to the loading screens, to the race and to the replay, Gran Turismo Sport’s graphics and art style are on point.

The transformation from E3 2016 to E3 2017 to now is impressive. At E3 2016 Gran Turismo Sport was a mess of jagged lines and okay – but not great – textures and shaders. But fast forward to today and the release version Gran Turismo Sport is way more than okay.

Thanks to a move to physics based rendering the lighting is second to none. The depth of field captured on a flat screen is so good that it’s borderline distracting. A number of times I caught myself gawking over the 3-D effect of the interior and the tree line off in the distance instead of focusing on the race. The ability for the graphics engine to – nearly – remove all jagged lines thanks to some sort of motion blur effect versus raw computing power feels like black magic.

And we’re talking a standard PlayStation 4 here, not a Pro or even gaming PC.

Speaking of the standard PS4, it pushed out these graphics with not much frames per second (fps) drama. I noticed a few times when the game pictured slowed down a bit, but for the most part, both the racing seemed to stick around the 60 fps level.

As for the PS4 Pro that Billy has, playing on a Pro gives you the option to play on “Performance” or “Quality” modes. Performance tones down the graphics slightly to guarantee that the game runs at 60 fps locked, while Quality allows you to lose out on some fps here and there in the pursuit of all the eye candy.

The PS4 Pro also allows you to play in 4K with HDR, something we weren’t able to experience ourselves, but based on what we’ve seen out on the interwebs, looks to also be impressive.

Now is it all sunshine and unicorns for the graphics? No.

The interior windshield reflections are WAY too strong and comically bad on some cars. The reflection is so bad on the McLaren 650s GT3 that for a bit I thought the vents I was seeing where part of the roof design, not just a reflection of the dash below. Many other cars suffer from the same problem, while the rest are just too strong.

Leaving the track, the cut scenes that show the virtual cars driving real world roads can be very cringe at times. Some of them are done pretty well, but a lot of them aren’t and just look odd. If you want to show the cars driving in beautiful environments, just make the environments. Based on everything else we’ve seen in the game, they should be plenty good enough.

But besides those two cons, graphics are a home run and leave us just watching lap after lap captivated.

PRO – PHOTO MODE

Okay Kaz, you win. I like taking photos in GT Sport. After sitting through multiple E3 presentations that talked extensively about something that I thought I couldn’t care less about, I was ready to turn and burn the page on photos.

But, then I tried it. And I liked it. A lot.

You can capture some truly stunning photos. Between the graphics engine and options / ease of use, taking pictures in GT Sport is a painless, enjoyable experience.

PRO – LIVERY EDITOR

Like photo mode, the livery editor is comprehensive and intuitive to use. Between logos and graphics, some truly amazing liveries can be created, and already have been during the game’s demo. If you race with a wheel, you probably want to whip out the PS4 controller so you can utilize the sticks (unless you have the Thrustmaster T-GT). But outside of that, the livery editor is another satisfying addition to the game.

PRO – PERKS

Perks are in games to keep players going and this is no exception in GT Sport. “Daily Workout” pushes you to show up every day and race instead of spending your time trolling the GT Planet forums.

“Mileage Bonus” also rewards you for making laps by allowing you to trade miles driven in for things such as cars, helmet liveries, or paint colors. You can also upgrade your cars – increase horsepower, decrease weight – by using miles, the only way you can update your cars in GT Sport.

It’s a small detail but we appreciate the effort to keep you racing daily and do think that it’s going to compel people to fire up their PS4.

PRO – MULTIPLAYER

The entire premise of Gran Turismo Sport is racing online, and it hits it out of the park. The first part of the equation is the unabashed copying of the iRacing driver and safety rating. Do well, move up on the E-D-C-B-A-S “Driver Rating” scale. Race clean, gain “Sportsmanship Points” which are then applied to your Driver Rating.

The online matchmaking system only places you into races with people that have the same, or close to the same, Driver Rating. In our experience, races may feature two ratings such as A and B or C and D. This resulted in us competing against other drivers who were legitimately trying to race hard and clean, and not just out there running a muck.

But even though the new Safety Rating is nice, it wouldn’t be enough without one more element, ghosting. GT Sport will “ghost” cars that go spinning or even fly into the corner too hard. This element has saved my race and others many times, and the game is very good at predicting when ghosting should be applied.

The ghosting effect is set higher for races with D and lower rated drivers, decreases in races with A, B and C drivers and is actually turned off for the highest rated S drivers. This tiering of the ghosting effect is perfect.

Outside of the Driver Rating – but equally important – is track limit penalties. If you cut a corner, the game will give you a slow down penalty. The longer you take to serve the penalty, the more severe it becomes. Don’t serve the penalty during the race? Then a time penalty will be added post race. Again, another element that is very well thought out and executed.

So while Gran Turismo Sport does a great job of keeping drivers in-check in races, what about the process of joining races? This process is also well executed.

There are three short races that go off at the top of every hour, top of the hour, 20 after and 40 after, that allowed you to jump from one to another without ever having to take a break from racing.

You can also qualify for each race at anytime, and once you set a qualifying time, that time is good for the entire week that the track is used. Just make sure you’re not in a qualifying session when the race kicks off or you’ll miss it because there’s no countdown clock, something I’d like to see changed.

But if you do jump into a race session, which opens 15 minutes before the race starts, there is enough time to set some qualifying laps before the race starts.

Another thing that is interesting with online racing is the choice of cars. Some races – so far only the N300 group only – make you use the cars in your garage, as you’re accustomed to with GT. But the other online races skip your garage and just give you a choice of cars from that group to pick from.

This new approach leaves us a little split on whether or not this is a good thing because it takes the game element of earning cars out of the game but it does allow you to drive what you want and it creates a very diverse and cool looking field.

The game also applies balance of performance (BOP) to the cars, making it so very different cars can competitively race against one another. It’s a little early to declare if the BOP is perfect but so far in our experience of driving, and driving against many different cars, the field seems pretty balanced.

And speaking of the field, 24 car fields online is impressive. Not only is it 24 car max field but the fields actually have 22 or 23 people to race against with similar skills to yours thanks to the popularity of Gran Turismo.

This is one of the most exciting things about the game.

While “sim” racing titles are vying to get their much smaller user base to come online and race – and dividing them up severely at times across different racing series – GT Sport is going to have a HUGE user base that will all be piling into one, or maybe a few, races. This means that fields will not only be full but full with people that are at your skill level, making for much better racing.

And so far we’ve only covered the “Sport” part of the game, we haven’t even talked about online “Lobbies.”

Players can set up or join custom lobbies. The lobbies are easy to setup and allow you to adjust everything you need to to create a good experience. Set number of laps, time, what Driver Rating you have to have, whether to have it be open or closed to friends, class of car, open or fixed setups, BOP, time of day, damage, tire wear, fuel usage rate, etc. If the Sport races aren’t getting it done for you, the Lobby should, especially with the new Driver Rating and ghosting effect keeping things in-check. The only downside we see is the max field size of 16 cars, which is a bit of a let down compared to the 24 you can have in Sport.

If there was one thing that Gran Turismo had to do right, it was online racing, and – for the most part – it’s doing a really good job. If we have one minor gripe, we’re not in love with running the same track for an entire week. The GT Sport Demo only ran at the same track for 24 hours and the changeover of tracks during the week was fun. But for the final game, Polyphony is only changing out tracks every Tuesday, which can leave you running tracks that you don’t care for – any of the ovals for us – for an entire week.  This could result in people sitting out the week, and for a game that’s about showing up daily, that’s not good. So in the name of getting folks to show up every single day, we think going the 24 hour route would be better.

Outside of that change, we are excited to see where the online Sport play goes. We can already see the FIA GT Nations Cup, GT Manufacturer Series and Polyphony Digital Championship scheduled for November, and it will be interesting to see what else gets scheduled. Could we see other, longer, open races? Will multiple races run at the same time? Will they have special one off races?

Time will tell, but there are a lot of cool things that can be done from here thanks to the system.

NEUTRAL – CAMPAIGN

The biggest casualty of the online focused GT Sport is Campaign mode. “Driving School, Mission Challenge and Circuit Experience” aren’t bad, but aren’t the most compelling.

To some degree, Driving School and Mission Challenge is the mixed bag it’s always been in the GT series. Some events are painfully easy and boring. Others are really challenging and take multiple attempts just to pass.

At the very least, Campaign is still a good way to pick up bonus cars, miles and credits.

Lets face it, Gran Turismo Sport isn’t the GT – insert number – of your childhood. Campaign is a shadow of its former self, and replaced with something that has compelling moments, but isn’t the staple of the game. It will be a major turnoff to some, and a non-issue to others.

NEUTRAL – CARS

The car list in GT Sport is going to be polarizing. With 162 cars, a fraction of the 1197 in Gran Turismo 6, it is a significant reduction.

But I would argue it’s a good thing. 162 cars is still a lot of cars. And do we really need 35 different R32 Skyline’s? How do you put the same time and effort into 1,000 cars, or 600 cars, or 300 cars? You don’t.

I rather see less cars that are done well than a bunch of cars with some done well and the rest not.

On the other hand, I do understand that a lot of you play these games for the car collecting element and that won’t nearly be as present here.

As for the cars that are in game, I like what I see, and I am impressed a lot by the fantasy race cars. I usually don’t like fantasy cars but the Group 3 and 4 fantasy cars look like they could be the real thing and make for very interesting looking online fields.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of “Vision GT” cars that muddy up the water in the prototype group thanks to them looking woefully out of placed compared to the sweet real life LMP1 cars. Would love to see them separated from the real life prototypes and put into their own group.

NEUTRAL – AI

The AI in GT Sport’s Arcade mode isn’t bad but isn’t great, which considering the amount of bad AI in racing games today, isn’t a slant against them. They don’t race you super hard, but if you make a mistake, they will pounce and they don’t do anything real stupid like create giant – realism breaking – pileups.

AI comes in three speeds, “Beginner, Intermediate and Professional” which is quickly becoming a dated way to set up AI. It would have been nice to see a 1-10 slider or even a 70-115 slider to give you more speeds to race against. We say this because in short “Professional” races, the AI isn’t that hard. Oddly though, they do become more challenging in longer races, so the game might be adjusting their speed depending on the length of race, even with the same AI settings?

Either way, more options for AI speed would be nice but at least they aren’t out there ruining your race.

NEUTRAL – IN CAR SETTINGS

Unlike past GT games, all the cars in GT Sport have interior views and there are pros and cons.

On the plus side, the interiors are nicely done – except for those windshield reflections – and you can move the seat up / down and forward / back. Unfortunately, you can only do this by pausing while in the car and changing the view in “Advanced Options”. It would be nice to see Polyphony add button mapping support so we could make this key adjustment on the fly.

Another thing of note inside the car is the heads up display. Besides the low quality looking track outline, the heads up display (HUD) looks pretty nice. The issue is – like AI – it’s very restricted on options. HUD comes in three different flavors, “Off, Race Info Only, and Display All.” Race Info Only tells you very little, while Display All fills your screen with more stuff than you need.

I don’t want the track outline. I don’t want the super annoying suggest gear that flashes red every corner. As Kimi would say, “Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing!” For the most part, I don’t want any of the info about the car at the bottom center of the screen.

I want the race information and the options in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. And speaking of those options – which includes helpful things like sector times, ABS / Traction Control / Fuel Maps – it also contains radar.

While I’m glad there’s something to help let me know where the cars are at around me – especially in cars without rear cameras since the mirrors are usually outside the field of view – I can’t help to think that there’s a better way. In the middle of an intense race, it’s hard to look down towards the radar and take my eyes off of the track. A system – like a lot of other games use – that utilizes arrows on the entire screen would be much more helpful.

NEUTRAL – TRACKS

The tracks in GT Sport are well done. The real world tracks feel and look faithful to their real world counterparts and there are some really fun fantasy tracks that not only steal corners and sections from real world tracks, but feel like they could be real tracks. The tracks also have a good atmosphere to them, between the fantastic looking pitroad and people models to the gorgeous skies and lighting.

But there’s a but.

There aren’t enough tracks. There are 17 locations and 40 variants. This doesn’t sound bad, but once you start digging into these figures, the picture turns less rosey.

11 of those variants are the reverse version, a lazy tactic that really doesn’t work on a number of tracks. 3 locations – 6 variants – are off road, which means 13 locations for asphalt and only three for off road. Of those 13 locations, two are ovals, which have always been an awkward waste of space in the GT series and continue that tradition here. This brings us to 11 locations, with only 6 of the locations being from the real world.

Keep in mind, this is at a time when more and more games are offering the best real tracks from around the world. There’s nothing wrong with the fantasy tracks, but if you’re real world count isn’t over 15, then you’re behind.

Plus, while the online function is great, will people get tired of the lack of variety? Possibly, only time will tell.

Time will also only tell what Polyphony’s plan is for future tracks and possibly DLC. They now have the exclusive license to Pikes Peak, so we assume we’ll be seeing that in the future. Outside of that, anyone’s guess.

NEUTRAL – TIME OF DAY & WEATHER

GT Sport lets you choose between six and eight times of day depending on location, with fixed weather conditions for each time slot. The options are nice but the weather conditions being tied to time of day, and no real time progression, makes it a middling experience, so that’s how we score it.

NEUTRAL – DAMAGE

Yay GT has damage! Sort of… While it’s nice to finally see damage in a GT game, it’s a mixed bag of both visual and mechanical execution. Visually, the cars will scratch, break headlamps and show minor dents but you can’t really deform and break them apart. Mechanically, if you do ram into someone or something hard, you can cause damage to your car and it won’t hit top speed. Whether or not you received mechanical damage seemed a bit inconsistent, allowing me to get away with hard contact at times but not all the time.

So while it’s good to see some consequence to your raming ways – especially when playing offline against AI that don’t ghost – there’s still a lot more to be desired.

NEUTRAL – SOUND

We’re not driving a vacuum cleaner anymore! The car sounds are much improved over Gran Turismo 6, but that doesn’t mean they’re class leading. The engine notes are much more believable and less electronic – or vacuum like – but they do have an odd mix to them that makes it tough to tell what exactly the car is doing. Is it time to shift? Are the tires about to break loose as you put power down? It’s hard to tell.

The tire sound is also odd in that the onset of the – still kind of annoying – tire squeal doesn’t mean that the car is about to spin, just that you’re driving it hard but you can still go harder. This makes finding the limit tougher and different from pretty much every other racing game out there.

On the very positive side, the chassis flex as you go over curbs sounds great and we are suckers for the classic GT menu sounds and awesome music.

NEUTRAL – PHYSICS

We had a lot of discussion about how to categorize physics. The physics in GT Sport are much improved, and if we are judging the game from a “simcade” angle, we would probably put it in the Pro category. But judging it against all the other racing games that are out there, including others you can get on the PS4, the physics fall into our Neutral category.

On the positive side, the cars feel very good up to the edge. Drive them at 90% and the cars behave in a believable fashion based off their weight, center of gravity, power and tire choice. But once you start to really hustle the cars – as you do when racing – the physics shortcomings start to creep in.

The all important tire flex that has become a hallmark in our discussions these days really isn’t present. This leaves you with an on top of the track feel and no way to tell that the car is building up to break traction. It just does. And once it does, you’re all hands and elbows to save it.

Similar phenomenon also happens with braking. I found it really hard to find the limit, between not enough brake and locking up the tires.

All of this equaled up to a change in how you drive. You really can’t push the cars in GT Sport, even higher performing cars like the GT3’s and prototypes. You have to be smooth with your braking and throttle and you have to really hit your marks to put as little steering angle into the car as possible. And while these driving techniques are hallmarks of any good driver, they’re highlighted in GT Sport to the nth degree. It just doesn’t allow you to take a high performance car by the scruff of the neck and drive the hell out of it.

You also have to adjust your usual car settings. While I usually wouldn’t run traction control, turning it off is a death sentence in a lot of cars. The default setting of 3 isn’t bad but we found 2 to be the best in most cars.

Once you do make these changes to your settings and driving style, you can enjoy the racing and be quick in GT Sport. But it is an adjustment, especially for those of us who drive other racing games.

NEUTRAL – FORCE FEEDBACK

Like physics, force feedback falls into a middle area as well. While it can be surprisingly strong, it’s not the most detailed.

Under “Advanced Settings” in “Driving Options” the game gives you three sliders to adjust, “Controller Steering Sensitivity, Force Feedback Max Torque and Force Feedback Sensitivity.” Controller Steering Sensitivity is for wireless controllers, so we’ll skip that and talk about the Force Feedback settings.

Force Feedback Max Torque is, how much resistance do you want the wheel to have? Turning it up gives you strength but sacrifices detail. Going down has the opposite effect. For me driving with the new Thrustmaster T-GT – the official wheel of GT Sport – I found the middle ground setting of 5 to be the best. Below 5 the force feedback was lighter than I cared for and didn’t really give me much more detail. Above 5 the wheel would get surprisingly heavy but would lose a lot of detail. So like most things in life, sticking to the middle was the best way to go.

Speaking of the T-GT, the wheel was clearly developed for GT Sport with all the buttons needed, including sticks that make things like painting liveries easier. It also exhibits this low vibration that correlates with what’s happening on screen in GT Sport. The low rumble makes my entire Next Level Racing F1GT simulator lightly vibrate and acts like a transducer using SimXperience SimVibe on the PC. It’s pretty wild, but we’ll talk more about that later in our review of the wheel.

Back to force feedback. It’s part of the three sided triangle that has you driving GT Sport more with your eyes then with your hands. Between sounds that aren’t very descriptive, physics that make you feel on top of the track, and force feedback that isn’t giving your hands the entire story, your left depending on you eyes for where to brake, how much to brake, where to turn and where to get back on the gas. It’s more memory than reaction, which doesn’t bury the game, but doesn’t elevate it either.

CON – ALWAYS ONLINE

The only con we have – and one many of you experienced during the demo – is GT Sport always being online. While Polyphony claimed this was great – and there’s nothing wrong with it when it works – it’s not so great when the server has issues.

When the server is down, you can only play in Arcade mode and any progress you make isn’t saved. Obviously, this is far from ideal.

If the game wasn’t built like this, it would save locally, then update the next time you were online. But alas this isn’t the case, and considering not only the downtime a lot of you experienced during the demo but the downtime we experienced trying to review the release version of the game, this has been – and could be – a major issue going forward.

You only get one chance to make a good impression and we certainly have our concerns about the stability of the game’s server, especially at launch.

FINAL THOUGHTS

At the top I stated that, on paper, we shouldn’t be too excited about Gran Turismo Sport. I said this because we ended up with way more Neutral attributes than Pros. But – as we’ve seen with other racing games we’ve reviewed recently – you don’t necessarily need a lot of Pros to have a good game. You just need a key attribute or two to be done really well, and as long as no major Cons are present to derail those attributes, they can carry a game.

Multiplayer carries Gran Turismo Sport. Multiplayer makes me like this game WAY more than I thought I would have thought.

I drove GT Sport at the last two E3’s and it was just okay. I wasn’t blown away by the graphics, or how the cars drove or how they felt with a wheel. But looking back at both those shows, I did have some pretty good multiplayer races.

Now that the final game is here and some of the things that weren’t polished at E3 – like the graphics and the ghosting system – are, it’s really impressive. I am very surprised how much I enjoy the game and want to keep playing.

There are certainly areas for improvement in GT Sport. A tire model with sidewall flex. Force feedback that transfers more of the road surface detail to you. More informative sound. More real world tracks. More AI difficulty options. More HUD options, and much more.

The wish list isn’t short.

But even with that wish list, the pickup and race online ability of Gran Turismo Sport is second to none and I really look forward to seeing how they build upon this excellent online foundation going forward.

The post Gran Turismo Sport Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

For this Test Drive we took the McLaren 650S – spoiler, the first car you win in-game – for an 8 lap race around Dragon Trail at dusk against 19 AI cars set to the highest difficulty level.  As you’ll see, they didn’t do too bad of a job holding their own (better than the Gr.4 race we did earlier in the day…) on the pretty entertaining fantasy track (although they could be quicker in a few corners).

Plus, now that we have the official wheel of Gran Turismo Sport, the Thrustmaster T-GT, so we decided to hook that up and give some initial thoughts on it as well.

The post Gran Turismo Sport Demo Test Drive with Thrustmaster T-GT appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

A full fledged Forza Motorsport on the PC?  Awesome!

But is it?

That’s what we’re here to find out.  Does Forza Motorsport 7 need to be the most realistic sim experience ever?  No, it’s Forza.  But it does need to have cars that are entertaining and unique to drive and a gaming progression that is challenging but doesn’t grind you down into a pile of frustration.

Sound fair?  Good, lets get into it.

PROS
02:48 Dash Cam
03:40 Career Progression
04:21 No Intro Race
04:46 Graphics
06:18 Car Selection
06:44 Track Selection
07:27 Audio Options
07:54 Force Feedback Options
08:23 Damage
08:47 Things Not Changed from FM6
09:13 Specialty Dealer
09:50 Adjustable Career Race Length
10:26 Presentation & UI

NEUTRAL
11:18 Driving
15:57 Force Feedback
16:51 Prize Crates
18:25 Car Acquisition
19:51 Sound

CONS
20:58 AI
23:48 PC Optimization
25:28 Mandatory Career Races
27:11 No Throttle & Brake Sensitivity Adjustment
27:49 Camera Issues
28:45 H-Pattern Shifter
29:20 VIP Controversy

FINAL THOUGHTS
31:35 Forza Motorsport 7

The post Forza Motorsport 7 Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.

Does the addition of a real- honest-to-God-racing wheel push the TS-XW Racer over the top? Lets find out.

PRO – DESIGN

We liked the design of the TS-PC Racer so we like the design of the TS-XW Racer. The base is quality feeling with a metal bottom that continues to the back and thick plastic sides. Visually, the TS-XW Racer sets itself apart with beautiful candy apple red accents and of course the Xbox One button on the front. The back I/O panel features a fan, modular power and USB connections, and connections for the included Thrustmaster T3PA pedals and optional TH8A shifter.

You also can’t talk design without mentioning the turbocharger shaped power supply that is fun, has holes that you can take advantage of for mounting, and comes with a much longer power cable than the one that arrived with the TS-PC Racer.

All-in-all, the TS-XW Racer design is the TS-PC Racer with red accents, and that’s not a bad thing.

PRO – FORCE FEEDBACK & SMOOTHNESS

Keeping with the theme, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” the TS-XW Racer has the same force feedback strength and smoothness as the TS-PC Racer. This means it’s stronger – about 50% if we had to put a number to it – and smoother than the mid-range Thrustmaster T300 and TX wheels, but it still has a familiar feel.

The belt drive is noticeable – thus “familiar,” – but consistent through the turn and there is enough force feedback strength to compensate for the larger diameter wheel.

Unlike in the past when you were best to run Thrustmaster wheels turned down a bit, the TS-XW Racer has no problem being ran at 100% force feedback strength in the Thrustmaster profile. At 100% the force feedback strength is detailed and strong enough to translate what the car is doing to your hands.

The wheel base has a nice buttoned up feel to it, with no odd creaks or cracks while driving, giving it a quality feel. We also didn’t notice any slipping of the belt drive over long runs, a good sign and an issue that is becoming more and more a thing of the past in sim racing across the board.

Like the TS-PC Racer, the TS-XW is enjoyable to drive and only enhanced by our next topic.

PRO – SPARCO WHEEL

Unsurprisingly, the Sparco P310 Competition Mod wheel is the star of the show. Coming in at 31 cm in diameter and featuring a flat top and bottom, this might be the best “all around” wheel out there. Thanks to the design and size I felt comfortable driving any type of car with it, from GT to open wheel to stock cars. It really is the perfect compromise.

The wheel feels nice to the touch thanks to the suede wrap that has just the right amount of cushioning to keep you comfortable but in control. I also really like how the rim’s thickness and how it tapers in where you thumbs go, creating a nice pocket for you to leverage on.

I mean, it’s like these Sparco guys actually know what they’re doing!

Beyond the Sparco rim, the wheel features 9 buttons and d-pad with push function. The buttons are a refreshing departure from past Thrustmaster buttons with a concave shape and more positive spring back. You also get stickers with the wheel to relabel the buttons if you like.  I do like the how the d-pad stick is almost hidden thanks to its design, but it is easy for you to accidentally push in the wrong direction so you have to be very sure of your inputs.

Something else that’s a first for Thrustmaster wheels are the adjustable paddle shifters. There are two sets of holes that allow you to move them in and out depending on your finger reach and it’s a nice detail to the nicely shaped paddles.

What hasn’t changed – and for the better – is the Thrustmaster universal semi-quick release system that allows you to use any Thrustmaster wheel with the wheel base.

In the end, the Sparco P310 Competition Mod wheel did not disappoint. It looks great, feels great, and is one of the best all around wheels out there no matter what you drive.

NEUTRAL – PEDALS

In isolation, the T3PA pedals are good for the price. For at or around $100 you get three pedals with a brake pedal that features the rubber “conical brake mode” that provides some resistance to the pedal’s travel and makes it feel more believable.

The issue is, we’re not in isolation. While the T3PA’s felt at home being bundled with the T300 or TX wheels, it feels pretty outgunned when bundled with the TS-XW Racer. For the quality of the wheel and wheel base, it should really be bundled with load cell pedals.

Unlike pedals that use potentiometers to measure the distance the pedal has traveled to register the input in game, load cell pedals – and by load cell pedals we mean the brake – measures the amount of pressure you are applying to the pedal. This makes the pedal feel much more realistic and gives you more control.

The issue is, Thrustmaster doesn’t have any load cell pedals.

This means we are left with the – not bad but not great – T3PA pedals. Is it nice to have a full package for those who need a wheel and pedals? Sure. But considering the price point, I’m not sure how many people will fall into this category.

NEUTRAL – PRICE

Which brings us to our next topic, price. Originally, I was going to list the price as a con. $650 is a lot for a package that doesn’t include a load cell brake. But then I stepped back and did some research.

The Sparco P310 Competition Mod rim retails for $250. $250 just for the rim!

This got me thinking, “How much time and money would it take to buy a P310 rim and mod it to have buttons, paddle shifters and mount to the wheel base?” I came up with way more hours than I care – or have – to spend and at least another $100-200, which is inline with other custom wheel’s such as Ricmotech’s MOMO Mod 31 Thrustmaster Add-On wheel that retails for $450.

So when a do-it-yourself rim of questionable fit-and-finish quality costs $400-ish and time you don’t have, the $650 turn-key price tag suddenly doesn’t sound so bad.

CON – THE BUNDLE

In the lead up to this review, the most asked question we received from the community was, “Will they sell the Sparco wheel separately?” I emailed this question to Thrustmaster and the answer was, “No.”

Like a lot of you out there, I would like to see it sold seperately. For people that already have Thrustmaster wheel and pedals, or just a Thrustmaster wheel, it’s a tough ask to have them buy pieces they don’t need.

With that said, I do understand Thrustmaster’s reasoning behind bundling. First, it offers an all-in-one solution for those who don’t have a wheel and pedals, especially those on the Xbox One. Second, the bundling might be masking the “sticker shock” of the Sparco wheel.

As we mused earlier, if the Sparco rim by itself retails for $250, how much would a functioning sim racing version retail for? Are customers ready to see a three digit number that starts with a 2….or a 3? Especially when the current most expensive wheel – the 599XX Evo 30 – retails for $180.

But even if that is indeed a concern, I think the P310 wheel should be offered by itself. And who knows, maybe that is the plan for it down the road? One thing that does give me some hope is that there’s another Sparco Thrustmaster wheel coming, the R383, and we haven’t heard anything about it being bundled. So if the R383 is released as an add-on wheel, maybe there’s hope for the P310 down the line.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If I could sum up the Thrustmaster TS-XW Racer in one sentence, it would go like this. The T3PA pedals are okay, the TS-XW wheel base is good and the Sparco P310 Competition Mod wheel is great.

This conclusion makes it an interesting package to recommend. On one hand you’re getting a deal considering the cost of just Sparco P310 Competition Mod rim. On the other hand, you’re paying $650 and just getting okay pedals whether you need them or not.

The answer to whether or not you should buy this bundle depends on your want of the wheel and your situation. If you want a genuine Sparco wheel that’s a one stop shop no matter what you race – aka saving you money not having to buy other wheels – then it’s not going to get better than this. If you are looking for the whole racing package, then you either need to be prepared to (potentially) spend more money on load cell pedals – and adapter if you’re racing on the Xbox One – or pass and go a different route.  But if you want that authentic feeling experience via your hands, then the Sparco P310 Competition Mod certainly offers that.

The post Thrustmaster TS-XW Racer Sparco P310 Competition Mod Review appeared first on Inside Sim Racing.