rec.autos.simulators

Drivers:

When you are driving a 3500+ car in BURNOUT such as a TOP FUEL or FUNNY
CAR dont be surprised if you have a problem driving it with a
THRUSTMASTER
PRODUCT.  When you have a DEAD SPOT as a by-product of a BUNGEE
system you have about 10 degrees of play.  Trying to drive a TOP FUEL
with
that DEAD SPOT is NO FUN!!!!

Don Wilshe

Maybe you should replace your bungee....

Later,
Buddha

What utility might that be? I've noticed in Burnout it does has some
steering problems for me and I'm using the Nascar Pro wheel.

Has anyone had problems steering with their T2?, I was just wondering
if Bethsda has improved the aweful "steering" that was in X-Car.

Thanks,
John

Hi Don,

I disagree with your dead spot theory.  Having removed the
cover from my T2 to clean the pot, I know that the steering
wheel is directly attached to the pot.  The bungee cord
is only used to center and provide tension for the wheel.

I have tried Burnout and noticed the steering is not sensitive
at all.  You have to turn lock-to-lock to get any response.
I'm not complaining, because driving a 3500+ car would be
too difficult with a large lock.  Small corrections are
all that should be neccessary with a good setup.

Jason.

I found the file in reference to the deadzone from DX5. Here is the address.

http://www.zcu.cz/ftp/mirrors-by-URL/ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win...
/

Hope it works.

It's nothing to do with the bungee, its a software issue. Any Win 95 game
which uses direct input will have a fixed 10 degree dead zone unless the
program allows you to change it. TOCA, for one, doesn't allow you to. There
is a utility called dxdzfix.zip which will patch the file dinput.dll to get
rid of the dead zone. This works perfectly for my thrustmaster GP1 wheel -
no dead zone at all. I can email the file if you want it. I don't know, by
the way, if burnout is a Win 95 game. Forgive me if this is totally
irrelevant!

I'm beginning to be get a little disappointed with my Pro.  I've only had it
for less than a month and it seems to be developing some play in the wheel
forwards and back.  I'm not talking about side to side as you turn the wheel.  
I mean if you take hold of the top of the wheel and push away from you and
then pull back, I'm getting about a six***th of an inch of travel.  This
wasn't there when I first started using it and I am not all that rough on my
turns of the wheel, quite light on the touch actually.  I think it's beginning
to show in driving because I am now finding it hard to hold a line between the
dotted line and the bottom line at Talladega in the turns.  The car wants to
dive down below the line onto the apron and when I ease up on the turn it
shoots back up above the dotted line.  I used to be able to hold this line
with ease.  Not sure what's going on here but, I'll give it a little more time
and see if it gets worse or stabalizes.

Dave

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

   You're not alone with this problem with your NASCAR Pro Wheel.
(*sigh*)  I'm very easy/gentle with mine, and yet I'm still getting
the exact same problem that you're describing... but I'm getting both
up & down and side-to-side "play" with mine.  It helps (only for a
short time) to tighten the***located behind the steering wheel on
the underneath side of the column.  My wheel was purchased new this
past Christmas, and hasn't been used *that* much.

  - Robert -

ICQ Pager: http://www.racesimcentral.net/
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

Time to do what I did. Thrustmaster is OK for light use, but if you
are going to spend the cash, spend a little more on a TSW2, which
costs about $200. It's built of steel and wood and feels incredibly
solid and is amazingly accurate.

Check it out...http://soli.inav.net/~thomas/

Regards,

Rick Carlson
TSW2 #4 owner

% >I'm beginning to be get a little disappointed with my Pro.  I've only had it
% >for less than a month and it seems to be developing some play in the wheel
% >forwards and back.  I'm not talking about side to side as you turn the wheel.  
% >I mean if you take hold of the top of the wheel and push away from you and
% >then pull back, I'm getting about a six***th of an inch of travel.  This
% >wasn't there when I first started using it and I am not all that rough on my
% >turns of the wheel, quite light on the touch actually.

% Dave,

%    You're not alone with this problem with your NASCAR Pro Wheel.
% (*sigh*)  I'm very easy/gentle with mine, and yet I'm still getting
% the exact same problem that you're describing... but I'm getting both
% up & down and side-to-side "play" with mine.  It helps (only for a
% short time) to tighten the***located behind the steering wheel on
% the underneath side of the column.  My wheel was purchased new this
% past Christmas, and hasn't been used *that* much.

Get some loc-tite (or is lock-tite) and use it on the screw.  Also
contact TM's repair department, as I understand there are some fixes for
the yoke getting sloppy (which may be what both of you are
experiencing).
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

% >   You're not alone with this problem with your NASCAR Pro Wheel.
% >(*sigh*)  I'm very easy/gentle with mine, and yet I'm still getting
% >the exact same problem that you're describing... but I'm getting both
% >up & down and side-to-side "play" with mine.  It helps (only for a
% >short time) to tighten the***located behind the steering wheel on
% >the underneath side of the column.  My wheel was purchased new this
% >past Christmas, and hasn't been used *that* much.
% >

% It's plastic and $125.  What do you expect?  They have the fancy aluminum wheel
% for $300 if you are looking for durability.    You can contact Thrustmaster and
% ask for their new and improved super-bungie.

Uh, just because it's "plastic" doesn't mean it's not well manufactured
(just ask Trevor of TSW <G>).  Anyway here is an old response from
Thrustmaster on the "Plastic" issue.

Subject:      Re: Steering wheel recommandation

Date:         1997/12/04

Newsgroups:   rec.autos.simulators

Well, not exactly "completely out of plastic".  The steering column/shaft and
supporting bushing are machined stainless steel.  We knew this would be an
area of great stress so we tried to beef it up.  For that matter, the base
plate on the pedals is metal as well - along with other misc hardware.

As for the broken part of the clamp (all these parts are made of nylon) we
found with some testing of the first production run that air bubbles had
gotten into the "t"bolt, plus some other minor issues.  These were quickly
corrected.  And, as always, we'll stand behind what we make.  Just let our
service people know and we'll either fix it or send you out new parts - for
free.  Also, as mentioned in some of the other follow up posts, when adjusting
the clamps, you just have to get close with the arms and the cam will do the
rest.  I have one of the first run of wheels and even after taking it on and
off my desk several times a day (job requirement - good lap times in TOCA) for
several months it has held up without a hitch.

In the end, we appreciate comments - good and bad - about our products.  It is
largely the comments relating to what people didn't like on our previous
wheels that led to the changes on the Nascar Pro.

Thanks,
Alan Smith
ThrustMaster, Inc.

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Well, maybe you don't expect much for your money but, to me, $125 is a decent
sum of money and I expect a product to last a little longer than a month
before I start to see problems.

Dave

http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/4340