How to set up your steering wheel for Stock Car Extreme

[Renato Simioni]

Steering wheel alignment with in-game wheels & eliminating steering lag

To match your steering rotation with the in-game steering wheel rotation, just make sure your "GRAPHICAL STEERING WHEEL RANGE" setting in CONTROLS menu matches your controller setting - be that 180, 270, 540, 900 or whatever - this setting affects the in-game graphical steering wheel rotation only. If the controller setting and this in-game setting are the same, both graphical and controller wheels steering position will match 1:1.

If the controller setting and in-game steering wheel rotation are the same but they are still not aligning all the time or lagging, check that:

- steering help is switched off;
- speed sensitivity slider in CONTROLS > CONTROLLER 2 menu is at 0%;
- your FPS performance is over 60 FPS;
- VSync is switched off.

Setting up the correct steering ratio

For controlling the car you also need to ensure the steering ratio is correct. This is the ratio between your controller steering rotation and in-game steering lock (the maximum angle the front wheels will turn, set from the Garage menu).

Default steering lock for all cars is 14 degrees, which is suitable for 270º of steering rotation from your controller. You can achieve better & more realistic steering ratio by setting steering rotation & steering lock as below:

-For the formula cars, MR18, Marcas and the StockV8s, set your controller rotation to 450-540 degrees, and steering lock to 18-24 degrees;

-For the Camaro, Opala and Mini set steering rotation to 900º, and steering lock to 30-33 degrees;

-For the karts, set steering to 180º, keeping default steering lock of 16 degrees.

Keep in mind that the steering rotation that is relevant to steering ratio is from your controller profile - the steering rotation you can set from the CONTROLS menu is just for the graphical steering wheel.


Force Feedback settings

Logitech G25 / G27

(sorry for portuguese but should be self-explanatory)

As described above, 270 degrees of rotation is suitable for the default steering lock in all cars. It is recommended however that this setting is adjusted to what is more suitable for each car, which will require re-adjusting this setting both in Logitech profile as well as the "GRAPHICAL STEERING WHEEL RANGE" in the Controls menu.

You don´t necessarily have to access the Logitech profile to change wheel rotation with the G25 / G27 - you can do it from the controller itself, by holding the two middle red buttons and press one of the following:

Top: 240 degrees

Right: 670 degrees

Left: 450 degrees

Bottom: 900 degrees

Apparently this also will work for the DFGT, but obviously the settings and buttons to press are different.

In-game there is no secret - just use the settings from the default G25 / G27 profiles, making sure
FFB effects is set to Low and strentgh to -100% . Adjust "GRAPHICAL STEERING WHEEL RANGE" to match your Logitech profile setting:

(Not that the "HEAD MOVEMENT / LOOK AHEAD / EXAGGERATE YAW sliders are for the view movement in-cockpit, not related to the actual controller setting. Digital rates are relevant for keyboards / gamepad users)

There is naturally a degree of of personal taste to these settings - you may increase centering force for example if you prefer more resistance from the wheel around the center, or you may increase FFB effects in-game from LOW to add canned effects, but these settings should provide the purest FFB.

Settings for TM T500 RS & Fanatec CSR V1/V2 will follow up shortly.

 

[xnorb]

Ya, the damn old rattling of the kerbs.
Can't even join Teamspeak because of it being so loud.

 

[Mauricio Vittorazzi]

Ya, the damn old rattling of the kerbs.
Can't even join Teamspeak because of it being so loud.

Just got my G27. The settings posted here both from you guys and Reiza works like a charm. Just need to find a confortable FFB strength. Sometimes it seems that the wheel will tear my table into pieces.

Looks like I'll need to get to the gym and work out a little to take control over this beast.

 

[Zzyzx]

Quick question about FFB: I have a G27 with a couple of years in it. I use it with the recommended settings in the first post.

Thing is: the FFB is excelent, but the wheel rattles so much on kerbs! It is not a problem of the FFB, but the wheel itself, because of the gearing (instead of the newer wheels, with bands).

Is there any way to reduce a bit that specific effect? I could just lower the general FFB strength, but that is not exactly what I would like to obtain.


Thanks in advance

The curb effect is the 'Periodic' slider in your profiler. Just turn it down a bit. The 'Constant' slider is more to do with the overall wheel weight.

 

[Slalom823]

The curb effect is the 'Periodic' slider in your profiler. Just turn it down a bit. The 'Constant' slider is more to do with the overall wheel weight.

I do not see those sliders, is this the logitech profiler you are referring to?

 

[Zzyzx]

I do not see those sliders, is this the logitech profiler you are referring to?

Sorry those are from the Thrustmaster profiler. I thought you had them in the Logitech one too.

You can't change the "Periodic" setting inside GSCE so you will have to use the RealFeel hotkeys because that is what GSCE uses. If you look at this thread, in the top post he shows a picture of what the keys are:
http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/614-rFactor-Better-FFB-Tutorial

They are the number keys on your number pad on the right end of your keyboard. I would suggest playing with the Softer FF Response keys or the More Smoothing key.

Hope that helps.

 

[Paul Murphy]

I continue to have problems matching my actual rotation with the in-game rotation. I've followed all the steps outlined above, using the same rotation in my controller settings (both in my DFGT profiler and in my user data controller .ini file) and rotation in-game, and my speed sensitivity is zero, steering help off, and frame rate way above 60.

Much earlier, when I first bought GSC 2013 I was able to match my rotation; did something change in the way this is done along the way?

Any other ideas at all would be very appreciated. Otherwise, I'll just keep the in-game wheel switched off, heh.

 

[P*Funk]

Make sure all the assists are off.

 

[Spinelli]

Ok, let me get this straight...

All the cars have the perfect/correct steering lock already set in each's default garage setup assuming we're using 240 degrees lock for our real-life wheel? Correct?

So if I want to use 480 degrees of physical lock on my real-life wheel, then I just double whichever cars' default garage lock is and that'll keep the proper overall steering ratio for each car? Or if I use 720 degreees of real-life lock then I just triple whatever each cars' default garage setup lock is? Etc. Etc.?? Another example: If we use 900 degrees of real-life lock then each car's in-game default lock should be multiplied by 3.75 (since 240*3.75=900), correct?

Basically, every car in game has the "perfect"/proper steering ratio already setup in the default garage-screen setup according to a real-life-wheel setting of 240 degrees. Correct?

 

[Slalom823]

From my understanding that is not correct. I believe that reiza has mentioned a 270 degree rotation can work with each car if needed. My view on that is that is because some entry level wheels only rotate 270, and they are saying it can work. The lock for most cars is well off being too low, but not because it is the correct ratio with the real life cars.

The first page of this thread has some of the more accurate lock and wheel rotation settings on it.

 

[P*Funk]

Steering ratio is found by taking half the wheel rotation and dividing it by the steering lock. You can reverse this by multiplying the steering ratio by the known lock. So if I'm using a 12:1 steering ratio and I'm using 17 degrees of lock lets say then I can do the following:

12*17=204
204*2=408

With a bit of healthy rounding you end up with a 12:1 ratio with 17 lock using a wheel rotation of 400 degrees. If you want to use the same ratio with 540' of rotation:

540/2=270
270/12=22.5 lock

or in your case 480':

480/2=240
240/12=20 lock

So you can work the math either to find the right rotation for a given lock if you know the ratio or you can determine the ratio by using a lock and rotation combination. If you want to use one rotation for multiple cars then you can figure out the ratio to use with each and determine the lock that corresponds to that fixed steering rotation.

Generally I drive in the 12:1 or 13:1 ratio. Open wheel race cars tend towards the lower end of ratio while closed wheel often goes to a higher ratio but really its about driver preference. This thread quotes some numbers, take them as you will as I've not checked them: http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199846&highlight=steering+ratio

This is a nice shortcut to save the math. http://steeringlockratiocalculator.com/

 

[Brandon Wright]

I have massive problems with the FFB in this sim (using a T300RS). The formula cars have no force to the feedback at all, I can feel some bumps but there's no weight to the wheel, almost like it's been unplugged from the power source. Tin-top cars felt ok, but last night I fired up GSCE and now those cars feel weird. I got no feedback from the bumps in the road or the kerbs, and when turning the wheel would get very light once it turns past more than 45 degrees in either direction. It didn't feel like this a few nights ago. I tired various rotation degrees in the profiler and steering locks in the garage, made no difference and I couldn't even feel much difference between the settings (i.e. 540 degrees felt the same as 900 degrees). Very frustrating.

 

[Spinelli]

From my understanding that is not correct. I believe that reiza has mentioned a 270 degree rotation can work with each car if needed. My view on that is that is because some entry level wheels only rotate 270, and they are saying it can work. The lock for most cars is well off being too low, but not because it is the correct ratio with the real life cars.

The first page of this thread has some of the more accurate lock and wheel rotation settings on it.

I see. I wonder why Rieza just don't set the proper steering lock/ratio for every single car in the game? Just set the default lock as if the player uses 240 degrees, or 270, or 540, or whatever. I know they are trying to code-in an update that will set it all automatically like most games nowadays, but until then, I can't see why they wouldn't do it this way...

 

[Slalom823]

One reason they may not do it as with many race cars they can be changed or adjusted. I don't mind if they put a standard and correct default in, but I would be dissapointed if they took away our ability to change it.

 

[P*Funk]

I prefer it as is. I'm not nearly as interested in the "authentic" steering ratio of a car as much as I'm interested in the ability to adjust it to my preference. Through this experimentation I've learned a lot more than if I simply had it automatically dialed in. When I play iRacing I don't actually know what the steering rotation and wheel lock of a car is. Its invisible to me whereas in SCE I know because I set it and so I've learned through experimentation how different ratios feel with different types of cars.

Convenience is in my opinion a benefit I don't much relish compared to losing this great lesson that goes with these customization options. I know many would take my object lesson and tell me to stick it up my ass in favour of some convenience but as long as Reiza implements their auto steering ratio thingie in a way that lets me adjust it as I've done so in the past then I will be happy either way.

 

[Zzyzx]

Steering ratio is found by taking half the wheel rotation and dividing it by the steering lock. You can reverse this by multiplying the steering ratio by the known lock. So if I'm using a 12:1 steering ratio and I'm using 17 degrees of lock lets say then I can do the following:

12*17=204
204*2=408

With a bit of healthy rounding you end up with a 12:1 ratio with 17 lock using a wheel rotation of 400 degrees. If you want to use the same ratio with 540' of rotation:

540/2=270
270/12=22.5 lock

or in your case 480':

480/2=240
240/12=20 lock

So you can work the math either to find the right rotation for a given lock if you know the ratio or you can determine the ratio by using a lock and rotation combination. If you want to use one rotation for multiple cars then you can figure out the ratio to use with each and determine the lock that corresponds to that fixed steering rotation.

Generally I drive in the 12:1 or 13:1 ratio. Open wheel race cars tend towards the lower end of ratio while closed wheel often goes to a higher ratio but really its about driver preference. This thread quotes some numbers, take them as you will as I've not checked them: http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199846&highlight=steering+ratio

This is a nice shortcut to save the math. http://steeringlockratiocalculator.com/

Or you can just square root the overall rotation:
sqrt of 900 = 30
sqrt of 540 = 23.2 (so use 23 or 24)

etc...

 

[Alex Franchini]

This might be a bit of a dumb question, but: how does it handle with a 270 degree wheel? I'm asking because I'm considering a T100 as an entry level FFB wheel.
I think I could live with the low wheel rotation, but I have no idea if it's bearable.
My old 360 Modena doesn't have FFB and is only 180°, but it's kinda fun for a 15 year old wheel that's literally falling apart.

 

[P*Funk]

If you can afford it I'd say you should just go for something with greater range. I got a DFGT used on craigslist for $50 and its fantastic with 900' rotation.

 

[Alex Franchini]

If you can afford it I'd say you should just go for something with greater range. I got a DFGT used on craigslist for $50 and its fantastic with 900' rotation.

That sounds like the sensible choice. Where I live, though, DFGT go for double that sum in Euros.

 

[P*Funk]

Well there is the obvious regional market thing both in retail and used. North America has its own general trends that seem to hold true, I'm not sure how that holds up in the EU. Maybe DFGTs were never popular enough in Europe to be so prolific on the used market at such a low price point.

 

[Alex Franchini]

Well there is the obvious regional market thing both in retail and used. North America has its own general trends that seem to hold true, I'm not sure how that holds up in the EU. Maybe DFGTs were never popular enough in Europe to be so prolific on the used market at such a low price point.

Oh, just remembered that since I might be moving to North America another thing to consider is the power supply. No use in buying a wheel now that I won't be able to use in some months.

Anyway yeah, it's pretty much a tie between the T100 and used DFGT, same price point.