>>I have seen the Thrustmaster T1 but was not too impressed - no
>>semi-automatic gearbox, and I didn't like the wheel design.
>>The ARP ( is that right? ) from Simulation Systems sounds quite
>>good - if anyone has any experience of using one then please tell
>>me about it. In particular, I will want to play F1GP, IndyCar and
>>NASCAR with it - are the 'pots' accurate, what is the general feel
>>and do the gear switches work O.K.???
>I was convinced to shell out the extra cash for an ACP after returning the T1
>after only one day of use, and there's NO way I'd go back to joystick racing
>now.. it is a TERRIFIC wheel. If you want information on the ACP, call Mike
>Shiflett at 1-800-647-7623 ext. 13.
I've got quite an array of stuff now. I have a cheapo joystick, a pretty
good one (Wingman Extreme), a yoke (very temporary), a Thrustmaster T1,
and the Simulation Systems ACP. First, for serious racing, ditch the
cheapo joysticks. The yoke (an Addison 'The Controller') is somewhat
better than a cheap joystick and not as good as the Wingman Extreme stick
(which is pretty good, but also not cheap at $50 or so). the Wingman
Extreme has enough buttons that you can do manual shift up and down
in addition to braking, which is important on road courses (ie F1GP
or ICR). All of these are in a completely different class than the wheels.
For oval racing, I think the Thrustmaster T1 is the best. It uses right-foot
braking, has a semi-auto stick shift (meaning that it's really a stick that
is off to the side), and has FAR better control than any of the sticks or
yokes (I've also used a CH Flight Yoke, it is near the same as the Wingman).
Quantitatively I can turn consistent laps around 239 mph at Michigan (IndyCar
of course, not NASCAR) even with the Ilmor engine - but only when I use one
of the wheels. I can do low 239s with the Wingman but NOT with the others;
the Addision yoke is really pretty bad - I couldn't manage to beat 238.2
with it in a fair amount of trying, while I pulled off a 240.413 with my T1.
The disadvantage of the T1 is that it is pretty hard to shift frequently,
as is required on road courses, and of course the well-known issues with
pedal springs. If you are primarily or exclusively a NASCAR driver, I
think the T1 is for you.
The ACP is also a VERY good wheel - I did 240.00x with it almost right out
of the box. It has the *MAJOR* advantage (to me) that it has semi-auto
gearshift buttons right on the wheel - you can shift up or down without
losing control, even shifting a lot for the (very) tight gearing I use
at Laguna Seca. *HOWEVER* less-than-fanatical racers will discover that
the LEFT-FOOT BRAKING is quite foreign, and that alone loses me ~3 seconds
at Laguna Seca so far. It is also not what real ICR or NASCAR drivers
are doing - F1 bigots (especially McLaren fans) will feel right at home though.
My personal preference would be a T1 with gearshifts on the wheel or
column, but that doesn't really exist right now as far as I know. (I have
sort of *made* it by using the right-foot-braking T1 pedal unit with the
ACP wheel unit, but that's a $250 solution...) I drive mostly IndyCar.
I had maintainance issues with both the T1 and the ACP - I broke the T1
springs like everyone else, and my ACP arrived with shipping damage. Both
companies were VERY good about dealing with the problems.
If you drop the $115 for the T1 or the $150 (gasp) for the ACP (these
are the discount mailorder prices from Chips & Bits), do yourself a favor
and get a *quality* game card. I have discovered from experience and
a bit of testing that most of the sound boards with integrated game ports
are subject to a pretty fair amount of thermal drift. (I can cheat to
some degree, since I work for a computer vendor where I can find experts
on such things.) I have a Cardinal Jazz SB-16 compatible in a Gateway 2000
and find that it drifts horribly; it is aggravated by the fact that it
is delivered from Gateway mounted 3/8" above my 486 cpu, but even moving
it in the box didn't stop the problem. I tried the SoundBlaster AWE-32
that I have in my P90 at work, and discovered that it too is thermally
sensitive, albeit somewhat less so. After major frustration with my
Jazz card, I broke down and got a Thrustmaster ACM game card, and have
discovered that it is nearly 100% insensitive to thermal drift - which
is precisely what Thrustmaster claims. I paid $29.95 for my ACM card,
which is steep for a game card but cheap compared to the wheels.
Any questions, please ask.
--
Brian Wong Product Marketing Engineering
