I understand getting higher end brakes because being able to modulate your brakes consistently makes a very big difference in lap times. I understand for some, racing in VR has also improved their lap times.
With DD wheels what I typically hear is much less tangible. Forgetting the intangible liking how they feel, the comments about performance are typically, " I think I might have recovered from a slide with this direct drive wheel that I might not have with a belted wheelbase."
My point being that I've seen numerous graphs of people's performance in videos and on discord from people who upgraded their brakes or to VR and saw consistent improvement shortly after that upgrade, but I've never seen anything that correlated to a direct drive wheel. People say they think they can feel more nuances and they think they can maybe have slightly better control, but I've never seen anyone show results.
I'm not saying that I'll never get a direct drive wheelbase, but I don't see why they are way up on many people's list compared to say brakes that absolutely allow you to drive better.
I assume that the SimCube 2 and Fanatec DD wheelbases are pretty well shielded so they don't cause the EMI issues that some of the older OSW and Sim Cube wheel bases did.
When upgrading from my G27 to my CSW 2.5 (first using my Logitech pedals) I instantly shaved off 4 full seconds around the Nordschleife Endurance layout.
Same car, same settings etc.
I would think I was already at a good pace with an 8:15.xxx but with the CSW I could feel the increased grip and resistance due to the aero of the Lambo GT3 when reaching higher speeds.
It were the following spots I instantly went up a few tenths:
1. the uphill and downhill right handers in the middle sectors need a very precise turn in and they also cause instant oversteer when going over the bumps.
I could turn in more precisely and I could also feel the beginning of the oversteer better.
2. during the high speed corners like the entry right hander into "Schwalbenschwanz" I could feel the increased grip. The G27 always basically had the same resistance. Now I have headroom.
In that specific corner alone I got 0.4s quicker!
Summarized there are the following things that made me quicker when going from the cheap G27 to the CSW 2.5.
And I'll explain why a DD wheel wouldn't increase things further for me:
1. No deadzone, smoother turn in:
- the CSW has absolutely no deadzone. In fact the turn in is so tight and smooth that I need to add a bit of dampening to keep it controlled and not overly smooth/easy.
2. More dynamic, feeling the aero and grip levels:
- it's great but I already reduce the absolute dynamic by not using 100% strength. If I do, the spikes from the sims are too strong and make me less smooth. Might be realistic but I don't like getting my hands shaken violently when on the limit and fighting for the last bit of time!
3. Turning speed to make the wheel run into opposite lock when drifting/losing the rear end:
- this is really great! The G27 spun so slowly that you had to "throw" it when drifting. If I disable the dri-setting (dampening) on the CSW the wheel spins to swiftly that it kills my drift when letting go of it.
It has the great advantage of the wheel basically countersteering on its own before I can react.
So when I lose the rear the wheel will correct it and then I'll react and keep the car from going into pendulum mode.
To make it realistic, again, I have to set some slight dampening.
4. Fidelity, "filtering":
- I barely use the full amount of details with the CSW and usually tone it down a little to make details hit more gentle. Again, might be realistic to feel like grinding with your teeth across the tarmac but it surely doesn't make me faster to get the bones in my arms vibrating when speeding down the straights at Sebring in rF2.
So we have 4 points that are extremely improved compared the the G27 but which I tone down a little to make me fast and comfortable.
So the CSW 2.5 already goes a bit "too far" with the things it can deliver.
A DD wheel goes way beyond this but it only means that I would reduce things just more to bring it down to the same feeling.
It will, however, have more clarity while doing so but the question is whether or not the clarity will make a difference or maybe even feel worse.
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A friend of mine just upgraded from his T500 to the new Simucube Pro. He got slower because the center was dead.
What was missing?
The natural resistance of the belt, giving some resistance while going straight but basically disappearing once the FFB got the wheel moving.
He then added inertia, dampening, friction. Played around with reduced torques etc.
The clarity he said is awesome but he exactly described the same I did above:
It was too much to be really fast.
I also tested a TS-PC before buying the CSW 2.5 and I have to say the natural resistance while going straight with the TS-PC felt better than the CSW.
But the dynamic headroom and adjustability with the FEI and DRI settings convinced me to sacrifice the straight line feeling.
Now if you're saying that's all bullsh*t let me tell you something to justify what I've written:
In reality you have the 2 wheels with a caster angle constantly tightening and pushing against the center.
So you basically have no deadzone and get a really tight and solid feeling.
The equivalent would be two ffb motors that push against each other.
Oh wait, that's basically the Logitech G2X internals. And it just doesn't work because they will oscillate and result in need for a deadzone.
The solution would be a dynamic damper that gets pretty stiff for the center position.
But how would you still feel details?
In reality you have this really thick center force coming from the two front tyres pushing both into the straight line position but if the tyre gets a bit pushed to the left or right you instantly feel the details because the bump simply turns the tyre and overcomes the "caster-force".
So you would need some kind of damper-algorithm that reduces the dampening and lets the wheel go a bit left and right when getting ffb input.
If someone codes this stuff I'm all up for a DD wheel but until then I have to say a belt does a pretty good job at doing what the real tyres+caster angle do and it's why a TS-PC feels better when driving straight than the CSW 2.5!
