rec.autos.simulators

I'm looking into a Formula Force wheel and pedals and would like to know if
anyone out there has one and would like to give a small review here for all
of us to see.

I'm currently using a Thrustmaster Nascar Pro wheel. I'm not disappointed
with the wheel,  Just Guillemot who bought the company.  They are a bunch of
thieves.  Charged me $20 bucks for springs and never sent them.  I ended up
making my own.  Anyhow....

Any info appreciated.

Yes, someone should post a small review.  I've been reading this group for
months and everyone has been strangely silent on this wheel.  Has anyone
actually purchased one?  Doesn't look like it.

As long as were on the subject.  Does anyone know of a good search engine
for newsgroups and the web?  What I would like to see is somewhere where I
can type in a few keywords and find relevant info on subjects on which I
want info.  This could the killer app for this internet... I know it's early
in it's life, but if you could search for info, this internet could have a
huge impact on our future!

     I made the same exact switch just before Christmas.  Had lots of
fun with the Nascar Pro but wanted something different - so I tried
the Guillemot Ferrari wheel.  
     I did not like it. The pedals had an upper pivot point and a
lower one and I just didn't feel like I had much "feel" from the
pedals.  The gearchange paddles felt very flimsy and didn't give much
tactile feedback.  They would probably have a decent wheel if they
would fix those two problems.  I don't know why they didn't just use
the Nascar Pro pedals.  
     The previous Thrustmaster company was always very helpful.  Sent
me a set of springs for free once.  Also sent me a whole wheel
assembly to replace mine when one of the buttons quit 3 weeks after
purchase (the wires to the buttons are ridiculously tiny).  Getting
Guillemot via phone is nearly impossible but I had excellent results
via email.  While I had the Ferrari wheel I also purchased a Wingman
Formula Force.  
     It was no contest.  I love the Wingman.  Would be neat if it had
a gearshift though - although I rarely used it on the Nascar Pro
anyway. The force feedback effects are great!  (Stronger than in the
Ferrari wheel but I never messed with the Ferrari's settings.)  In
GPL, you really do get a feel for what the car is doing.  Viper is
also good for that.  MGPRS2 is also neat - mostly for when you clip
the curbs.  The entire wheel feels very durable.  The gearchang
paddles give excellent feedback and appear well made.  The clamp
system is excellent - far better than the Nascar Pro.  The wheel
appears to be the same size as the Nascar Pro's.  It has slighly
thicker padding though.  It has four buttons on the wheel itself,
which I believe are programmable - although I've not done that yet.
They are handy for games like GPL where you can look left, look right,
use the clutch, etc. with the buttons.  I even like the pedals,
although they don't look like much and don't seem as well built as the
wheel.  I love the built in "dead pedal" (footrest) it has.  
     I have not tried any other force feedback wheels other than the
Wingman and the Ferrari though.  (I tried Microsoft's in a store a
while ago and didn't care for it.)  I have used Logitech mice for
several years and really like them.  They have always been extremely
well made.  Now I gotta get a force feedback joystick to replace my
old reliable CH Flightstick Pro...  
     (Of the four cars my wife and I drive, only two have "dead
pedals".  And they're both Japanese (Miata and Accord).  The other
two, USA manufacturers - Crown Vic and F150 4X4 don't have them.  I'm
not much for new laws but maybe it would be a good idea to make them
mandatory!  :-)

--bud--

I forgot to add that my Wingman FF came with a copy of Sports Car GT.
It's a fun racing simulation which seems to be pretty popular on this
newsgroup.

--bud--

There have been a fair number of reviews of the Logitech posted on this group.
I wrote a fairly lengthy one back in November.  For how to find it, read below.

Are you familiar with deja news?  It sounds like this is exactly what you
want.  Go to http://www.deja.com and navigate to "Power Search".  There you can
target your search on newsgroup articles, listing such things as keywords,
which groups to search, a range of dates, authors,  etc.  The article that I
wrote about the Logitech wheel was titled "My New Logitech Wheel - 1st
Impressions", dated 11/16/99.

You should also check out Alison Hine's review of the Logitech on her excellent
GPL site -
http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/force.htm#logiff

Eric Cote also has an excellent Logitech guide, although it just moved and
I don't know the new URL.

Hope this helps,

Dave Ewing

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David A. Ewing

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