Bill.
>Just what exactly is wheel lock? After reading the page in the manual
>on wheel lock over several times, and testing several settings, I
>still can't seem to figure out just what wheel lock does. My guess is
>that it affects how quickly a car turns, all other things being equal.
>Hopefully someone out there can correct me if I'm wrong.
>Bill.
> >Just what exactly is wheel lock? After reading the page in the manual
> Wheel lock is how far left and right your front wheels can turn.
Mike
Wheel lock controls how far the front wheels turn (in degrees) from one
lock on the steering box to the other. With a smaller amount of wheel
lock, you will have to turn the wheel farther to get a desired response
(or in my case hold down the directional key, as I'm too broke to afford
a steering wheel package), while with more lock, the same response will
come much sooner as you turn the wheel. As you play around with
different settings, be careful not too adjust too far, or you'll find
yourself staring at either the wall on the outside or the grass on the
inside.
I picked up my lap speeds at Talladega by lowering my wheel lock,
because I was *smoother* thru the turns, thus losing less rpms and
pure speed. Hope that helped some.
If I'm wrong, I'm sure I'll be flamed :)
Professional Consultant
>> >Just what exactly is wheel lock? After reading the page in the manual
>> Wheel lock is how far left and right your front wheels can turn.
>What it affects is the sensitivity of the car to the steering device you
>use. By using less wheel lock the car is more sensitive to your
>steering input in a turn (you'll turn more for an equal amount of
>input). The danger in using to little lock is that you can easily
>oversteer the car and overcorrect (not to metion turning around after a
>crash will take longer). The danger in using too much lock is the loss
>of precision during a turn.
>Mike
The manual really doesn't do much of a job explaining some of these
elements to car setups. I guess Papyrus assumed I would be a real
NASCAR junkie.
Thanks again for your help (and everyone else's).
Bill.
> >> (Crankster) writes:
> >> >Just what exactly is wheel lock? After reading the page in the manual
> >> Wheel lock is how far left and right your front wheels can turn.
> >What it affects is the sensitivity of the car to the steering device you
> >use. By using less wheel lock the car is more sensitive to your
> >steering input in a turn (you'll turn more for an equal amount of
> >input). The danger in using to little lock is that you can easily
> >oversteer the car and overcorrect (not to metion turning around after a
> >crash will take longer). The danger in using too much lock is the loss
> >of precision during a turn.
> >Mike
> Thanks Mike, but shouldn't that be "...using MORE wheel lock the car
> is more sensitive to your steering input"? All I know when I increase
> wheel lock from 10% to 15%, the red cone graphic gets larger, implying
> to me that I can turn more with the same input.
No, but they figured (probably correctly) that you would become one! I
know that's how it worked for me!
You are most welcome.
Mike
Or am I just being stupid and imagining things?!?
Andy
>>No, actually it is more responsive to your commands with *less* lock.
If
>>the throw of your joystick is considered a -10 to +10 band with 0 as
>>center and you hiccup to -3 with a low steering lock the car will
attempt
>>to join with the inner wall. Very bad. With more lock and the same
>>hiccup, the wheels barely start to turn. In short, less lock yields
high
>>sensitivity while more lock yields smoothness (as long as you don't go
>>too far). Once you find an acceptable amount of lock, don't bother
>>changing it. It doesn't really do much for the performance of the car
>>provided it isn't wildly out of position.
>This really doesn't sound right to me. I run with less lock (5
>degrees) on fast ovals like Talladega as I don't need to turn so much
>and this makes my cornering smoother. At somewhere like Bristol I run
>with more lock (18 degrees) as I need to turn more for the sharper
>turns...
>Or am I just being stupid and imagining things?!?
>Andy
On the other hand, I'm having problems being competitive with the
computer opponents at 100% speed (I ruled at 95%), but I doubt wheel lock
has much to do with that.
--
Ralf Grisard
LEXIS-NEXIS, Technical Communications, P.O. Box 933, Dayton, OH 45401
voice: 513-865-7314 fax: 513-865-1655
Think of it this way: the steering lock value represents the extent of
wheel deflection for a given amount of control input. The larger the
value, the greater the wheel deflection.
Mike.
Thus:
high wheel lock = sensitive steering response
low wheel lock = less sensitive
--
Eric T. Busch
Emory University
