Brake mod for Logitech G920

[Lars Rystedt]

Hi,

I have this bad habit of locking my brakes. I believe it is a combination of my right foot and the rubber piece that Logitech put under the pedal.
Will the GTEye brake mod help atleast some with that issue as the rubber is making the braking often (feels like it) a full stop and I either lock up or are not braking enough, in both cases I continue like a missile.
I looked at different solutions as soon as I noticed how stiff the brake was but haven't tried anything yet as it is still under warranty for another 1,5 year.
Adjusting sensitivity in the settings and brake pressure helps a bit but still I have difficulties to adjust how much pressure I can use without locking?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GTEYE-Brake...9-G920-Racing-Wheel-Upgrade-Mod-/161090295458

 

[UMC 22]

I have a similar mod for my G27 pedals. What the GTEye mod does is make your brake pedal harder and more progressive, similar to a real car. In other words, it gets harder to push the farther you push it. Once you get used to it, it can indeed help prevent locking the wheels and also gives you much finer control when modulating the brake. It's made a big difference for me and my driving.

One thing to note though, if you're a desk driver like me then you'll need to find a way to make sure your pedals and chair won't move, because of the increased force required.

 

[Lars Rystedt]

I have a similar mod for my G27 pedals. What the GTEye mod does is make your brake pedal harder and more progressive, similar to a real car. In other words, it gets harder to push the farther you push it. Once you get used to it, it can indeed help prevent locking the wheels and also gives you much finer control when modulating the brake. It's made a big difference for me and my driving.

One thing to note though, if you're a desk driver like me then you'll need to find a way to make sure your pedals and chair won't move, because of the increased force required.

I had that problem in the beginning, pushing myself away from the desk and had to tie my chair to the table. But I later got the Playseat Challenge so that is not a problem anymore and I is way more comfortable than an ordinary office chair!
Might order that spring after all then

 

[UMC 22]

I don't have room for a play seat, unfortunately. My pedals are shoved up against the wall and the gripper is surprisingly effective on this carpet. I had to bin my office chair with wheels in favour of a low, semi-comfortable dining chair. Hence why I never do endurance races...

Might order that spring after all then

I think it's a very worthwhile investment.

 

[Case_]

I would probably look into replacing the original rubber with something a bit softer first. Might be a lot cheaper than the GT Eye mod with similar results. In fact I'll be going that route fairly soon as I have G25 pedals on the way and I'll certainly be looking into ways to mod the brake

But then again I'm all about cheap improvised hacks

 

[UMC 22]

That's the thing, in this case I think a quality mod is worth the money if it can be spared. Cheap improvs can be useful, but a piece of rubber isn't going to be the same as a whole new spring with a completely different feel. My own mod came with a rubber block too, but it's the spring that makes the difference.

 

[Case_]

The rubber can "replace" the spring if "tuned" correctly IMO. And paying 20 euro for a simple spring (or 50 for the whole set of three) plus shipping... not a fan of this side of simracing mods.

But fair enough, it was just a suggestion, nothing more.

 

[UMC 22]

Well, compared to the ridiculous prices charged for most sim-racing hardware, 20 Euros is pocket change. For me, the £15 I spent on my mod was more than worth the extra control and enjoyment I'm getting. But I suppose value for money is different for everyone.

 

[Nick Hill]

Other than the wheel/pedals themselves, the best sim racing "investment" (ha, I should try selling my wife on that one sometime!) I've ever made was on a load cell mod for the brakes.

I got the Ricmotech loadcell mod for my T3PA Pro's (looks like they make a Logitech based one, too: https://www.ricmotech.com/Load_Cell_Upgrade_Kit_for_Logitech_G25_G27_Pedals_p/rmt-lc27.htm) a while back and, again, other than the wheel/pedals themselves, it's the only piece of kit I've added to my rig that's actually made me faster. The amount of control and finesse I command on my braking pressure is significantly better.

Your mileage may vary of course, but I would go for another load cell mod 10 times out of 10 if I had the chance again.

All that said, there are 1000's and 1000's of sim racers (most of whom are way faster than me) that are perfectly happy with potentiometer-brakes...I am just saying I personally could never go back (which I have confirmed by taking some laps with my son's G27 stock pedals - they now feel very cheesy and imprecise to me).

 

[UMC 22]

I'd love to go for load cells, to be honest. This is where cost does come into it for me though. I certainly think that load cells are worth it, but if I had that money lying around to spare then there are other things I need to put it towards which are possibly a bit more important. A new graphics card for example, or a wheel upgrade. I think I'd need a play seat too as the old carpet gripper probably wouldn't hack it!

 

[Lars Rystedt]

The rubber can "replace" the spring if "tuned" correctly IMO. And paying 20 euro for a simple spring (or 50 for the whole set of three) plus shipping... not a fan of this side of simracing mods.

But fair enough, it was just a suggestion, nothing more.

It was a good suggestion as I appreciate a lot. And every little euro saved is of importance to me.
@Ross Garland I do think that 20 euro is fair for a spring if it lives up to it's praise. Since I have been ill for quite some years now most of my savings are spent so even that small sum is quite substantial. And as I wrote to Martin I appreciate every advice and suggestion and as it was I who asked the question I am quite happy with both answers.

I more or less stumbled on the sensitivity setting in LGS which for G920 looks lot less detailed and can do less than for G25/27. But it had a sensitivity at 100% which, as I tried most other things, put down to 50% and suddenly my lock ups was gone.
I don't understand the sensitivity settings tbh, if it is speed of the pressure applied or amount/length pedal be pressed?

@nhill40 I've heard much about loadcell but have no clear idea what it really do, what I do know is that it is out of my price range for the moment. That said I appreciate your advice if not now it just might be something in the future.

 

[Case_]

I do think that 20 euro is fair for a spring if it lives up to it's praise.

This I definitely agree with, and it could certainly be a lot worse, it's still not *that* bad of a price (it might've come off harsher than I meant it), even if it is indeed still just a simple spring. I just can't imagine a simple spring to be that much better than what can be achieved by other and cheaper means. But that's also maybe part of the problem - I have to imagine as I have no direct experience with it.

Sensitivity AFAIK usually changes linearity of the brake applied. 100 % would, I believe, make the brakes be applied faster at the beginning of the pedal travel and then slower at the end of the travel, which is probably why it would help you with lockups, but it would also make smaller brake inputs harder to manage. I usually use something like 20 percent, so I have more pedal range available for smaller brake inputs and then, as the modded pedal pressure builds and it gets much harder to push the pedal further, the game is more sensitive to smaller differences in pedal position and it becomes easier to modulate the brakes in the final third or so of the pedal travel just by varying pressure (while the actual pedal position varies very little thanks to the mod), almost like on a load cell.

(I hope that description makes sense.)

 

[UMC 22]

Wow... sensitivity at 100% would certainly explain your lock ups! The default should be 50% which makes the pedal response linear. At Martin says, reducing it below 50% can be helpful too. Perhaps give that a try first as it's totally free of charge!

 

[Case_]

Oh, but I just noticed Lars probably means the sensitivity in the Logitech control panel, not in-game, which I have no idea how it works. I was talking about in-game sensitivity.

 

[UMC 22]

Oh, but I just noticed Lars probably means the sensitivity in the Logitech control panel, not in-game, which I have no idea how it works. I was talking about in-game sensitivity.

It's the same, above 50% makes it really sensitive at the start of the pedal, below 50% makes it more sensitive at the end of the pedal.

 

[Lars Rystedt]

It's the same, above 50% makes it really sensitive at the start of the pedal, below 50% makes it more sensitive at the end of the pedal.

I had to muck about quite a bit just to be able to brake at all with the default profile thats Raceroom creates. The rubber ducky thingie inside makes it next to impossible to have any braking in default if I so stood on top of it, so lower and upper deadzones was the only way to even get it any car to brake. And every advice I read was was not to change the default ingame which was at 50%. The LGS I never checked or atleast cant remember it so the 100% there comes from Logitech and not from me.
But its all good, learn new things every day!

 

[Lars Rystedt]

@Ross Garland & @Martin Fiala , your discussion about my problem makes much more sense to me than when I try to understand the descriptions myself!

 

[Case_]

The rubber ducky thingie inside makes it next to impossible to have any braking in default if I so stood on top of it, so lower and upper deadzones was the only way to even get it any car to brake.

I can't comment as I haven't had a chance to try the G29 pedals myself, but I usually hear good things about the included mod, at least from simracers. I've also seen a few mentions about the fact that it kinda needs to "break in" a bit and it feels better afterwards. But you should probably be past that phase, so maybe it really is just a bit too stiff for you. It is, after all, a quite subjective thing.

But I've also seen quite a few people mention they just removed the rubber and it felt better to them that way.

 

[Lars Rystedt]

I can't comment as I haven't had a chance to try the G29 pedals myself, but I usually hear good things about the included mod, at least from simracers. I've also seen a few mentions about the fact that it kinda needs to "break in" a bit and it feels better afterwards. But you should probably be past that phase, so maybe it really is just a bit too stiff for you. It is, after all, a quite subjective thing.

But I've also seen quite a few people mention they just removed the rubber and it felt better to them that way.

It might have soften a bit and come to think of it: I did get the wheel and pedals replaced and the pedals I got was stiffer than the set I sent back. So I just might have broken it in by now, still can push real hard without without really knowing how long it has traveled.
Either way, it feels different and better now!

 

[Case_]

Well, you can see your pedal input in most games including R3E in the controls setup menu, so you can test the sensitivity settings there and visually check its effect on the pedal input.

Also, to give you an example, when I tried to measure my DFGT brake mod, I had to apply about 40 kg of pressure to the brake pedal and I still wasn't at full input. The mod I'm using on T300 pedals right now is somewhat softer. But it's worth mentioning I'm not exactly small nor slim, that's something that definitely comes into play here.