F1 2012 Wheel -v- Pad; Alternative Solution for Pad

M Theory · May 28, 2013

There is a general belief that those using a wheel rig have a huge advantage over those of us using just a console control pad.

Looking at the wheels available, the good ones are a bit pricy. Wheel rigs can also be bulky, need cables; they need storage space; and if your console is in the room used by the rest of the household could dominate the room once set-up.

Though it won't help with braking or throttle sensitivity, I've found a relatively cheap and simple improvement to the steering on a control pad - potentially.

Occured to me the biggest problem with steering on a pad is the very small radius offered on the stick control. Simple solution, increase the radius without making it impossible to use. After trying to attach bottle tops and other insane bits of junk, I searched online. Nothing appeared on searches for devices related to racing. But there was a result for first person shooters. Although £12 is a bit pricy for two aluminium buttons it's a lot cheaper than a wheel; one of these on the steering stick increases the radius by 40%.

I bought mine from Amazon. Use the following search string:

Modsticks Lite XBox 360 Snap on Aluminium analogue extensions

ENDR · May 28, 2013

M Theory said:
Occured to me the biggest problem with steering on a pad is the very small radius offered on the stick control.

You'd be surprised by how much of an advantage that is in some corners, especially the sharp and fast ones (e.g. turn 1 in Silverstone or Hockenheim) - it takes a LOT less time to tilt the analog stick to full lock than to turn the wheel (even when set to just 180 degrees).

Graham Laing · May 28, 2013

Problem solved perhaps?

Roy Sutton · Jun 5, 2013

It shows that its all about making the best of what you have or can afford, and been comfortable with it. For example a wheel is so easy to damage, if your having to mount the wheel before use every time you want to race, then you could end up cross threading the bolt and we all know what that means. The other problem is the pedals and wheel wear rates over time. I might be one of the most unlucky people to own a wheel because I have gone through 4 wheels in the space of 3 years, i'm now on my 5th wheel. The first 3 wheels was down to the gear levers behind the wheel breaking or been slow to respond to my actions.

My previous wheel had both gear lever problems and then developed a pedal problem that started off with the brake pedal sticking (I had slower acceleration and top speed). By this point though I had adapted to using the buttons for changing gears and the brake levers for rear view and flicking through the car status screens. I figured a new wheel I may as well see if using the buttons over the gear levers for changing gears was loosing me time and so I got to testing that out only to find that the gear levers on this wheel are not perfect and after 15 laps around Brazil I started to find the downshift lever was starting to stick and then started skipping gears (up till that point though I was much faster than I had ever been on that track). So I changed back to the buttons and tested a few minutes ago at the Hocheniem track where I could only manage a time of 1:17.5 previously. Now I can get a time of 1:16.6 which is a big improvement.

Personally I would say that its more important to find something that you can feel confident, this in its self can mean the difference between a good lap and a slow lap (those who are already posting amazingly fast times, don't try something new, your fast enough.

). I can't afford a good wheel so mine are always what I call budget wheels, how much of an improvement the expensive wheels offer is something I don't know and won't find out for a very long time (if ever). But for me i'm very confident with this wheel now and feel that this is more important than spending vast amounts on something that might not work out as well for you.

I think what Codies should do (seeing that its possible) is to add some analogue extensions with there games so that the pad users get the best out of what they have as well (doubt they will do it though, because 3 years later and we're still waiting on dedicated servers). I just hope that CM don't make the steering more sensitive for the wheel users because they want pad users to have a better feel for the game (no offence to pad users, its fine as it is right now in F1 2012). But yeah comfort and confidence in what you have is the key to fast and consistent lap times.

M Theory · Aug 28, 2013

ENDR said:
You'd be surprised by how much of an advantage that is in some corners, especially the sharp and fast ones (e.g. turn 1 in Silverstone or Hockenheim) - it takes a LOT less time to tilt the analog stick to full lock than to turn the wheel (even when set to just 180 degrees).

Acknowledged. It's sometimes easy to spot a wheel user due to what looks like a "lazy" turn. However, that is not where the real advantage rests with them and it isn't something the mod stick on the pad can address. Very simply there is a conflict between braking with the forefinger of the left hand while steering with your left thumb. In most turns there is a huge advantage in being able to overlap braking and throttle into a turn. I find it impossible to get that right with the pad, so it leaves me straight braking into the beginning of the turn rather than into the apex. Wheel user can use their feet.