Ok, initial review of the rig. Keep in mind that I haven't tweaked anything yet.
My first impression of the rig was:
1. Wheel looked really cool, but I was a bit underwhelmed in person by the plastic in the wheel itself. First thing I'm going to do is either put some hockey tape around that sucker or maybe a wheel wrap. At GT5 setting of 7 on the force feedback and the wheel settings on default, this wheel is a lot to handle. It's a heck of a workout. My shoulders felt about the same as when I get off the track IRL after a couple of sessions with you guys last night. My one concern there is the plastic mounts. I will probably have to use the hard mounts on this thing eventually to keep it steady. But all of that is a good thing.
2. The pedals are heavy duty and very nice. Fit and finish are spectacular. I have two basic gripes though. First, the clutch pedal is too progressive, makes it hard to hold it half way if you're trying to feather the clutch. I'm going to see if I can find a way to adjust that. The next thing is the brake pedal. I did some testing this morning on the way to work, and I would say that the default setting on that thing is very realistic. It takes about the same amount of pressure to apply 100% braking on the pedals as in real life. However, because they are not mounted the same as in a car, I was actually lifting the whole footboard when I was braking hard. The front of the unit was coming off the floor and I was having to ease up on my braking to keep it from flipping over even with the brake sensitivity on the highest setting. This caused me to over drive several corners. So I also need to learn how to make that pedal a tad softer.
3. The rig out of the box is not PS3 compatible. I had to do quite a bit of research and trial and error to figure out how to get GT5 to recognize everything. The wheel has to be put into "PS3 Mode" by putting it into PC mode and then holding two buttons simultaneously. And, it appears that you have to do this a certain way, like before you start GT5 or something, or else the game doesn't detect everything. I need another night of playing around with it to nail this down and figure out when it works and when it doesn't. That's kind of a pain.
I think with time, I'll learn how to tweak the rig a bit and that will solve some of the issues. I think for most people who only play GT5 on the PS3, this setup is probably overkill. Again, that's my initial reaction. I may change my mind after more seat time. We'll see.
Tonight I'm going to try the rig on iRacing and see if that game brings more of the rig into play.
MX
