rec.autos.simulators

by **Ken MacKa** » Fri, 15 Jun 2001 03:21:51

Been wanting to try FF so I ordered a slightly used interact V4 wheel
the other day (yes I know it got mixed reviews but it was very cheap).
But I have since found out that the gas and brake are on a single axis
;( (none of the d*&^ reviews mentioned this!). It connects to the
gameport so it should be possible to rewire the brake and gas for dual
axis. I would like to know if anyone has tried this with a V4, and if
so, how difficult was it to do (were there any driver/software issues)?
I'm familiar with wiring to the gameport from building my own wheel.

Thanks
Ken <waiting for the wheel to arrive so he can try FF in GPL>

by **nix** » Fri, 15 Jun 2001 10:34:16

Seems like there was a site at one time that had diagrams for
conversion to split axis (Lews?). I can't seem to find it, but you
might check Eagle Woman's page for a link...this has been a couple of
years ago.

Having said that, I used a V4 for about 18 months, and actually wore
out the accel and brake pots. I loved the wheel at the time, the ff
was so stiff and you could really feel the slides in GPL. Then, I
bought a LWFF refurb, just to have it around, because of all the folks
talking about how great it was. I tried it, and haven't picked up the
V4 since, except once just to see the difference in lap times. I was
consistently 2-3 seconds slower in GP3 with the V4. I just doesn't
have the precision of the LWFF. Plus, the paddles are annoying linked
to button 13 and 14, which many games cannot handle. But, it's a
well-made wheel, pretty sturdy with metal paddles and a lot of heft.
The ff is probably still the strongest on the market.

On Wed, 13 Jun 2001 18:21:51 GMT, Ken MacKay

>Been wanting to try FF so I ordered a slightly used interact V4 wheel
>the other day (yes I know it got mixed reviews but it was very cheap).
>But I have since found out that the gas and brake are on a single axis
>;( (none of the d*&^ reviews mentioned this!). It connects to the
>gameport so it should be possible to rewire the brake and gas for dual
>axis. I would like to know if anyone has tried this with a V4, and if
>so, how difficult was it to do (were there any driver/software issues)?
>I'm familiar with wiring to the gameport from building my own wheel.

>Thanks
>Ken <waiting for the wheel to arrive so he can try FF in GPL>

by **Ken MacKa** » Fri, 15 Jun 2001 20:26:13

Thanks nixx. I have a couple places bookmarked that show how to do split
axis, Lew's Wheels is one of the better ones; wired my current pedals so
they will switch between single and dual. The wiring shouldn't be too hard,
its the drivers/software side of things that I'm unsure about.

Sounds like the V4 will be good enough to see if I like the FF effects. If
FF is worth it to me them maybe I'll look for a LWFF or an Act Labs wheel.
Kinda kicking myself now for not picking up one of the justdeals LWFF when
they had them, they are going on ebay now for more than double the justdeals
price (and about triple what I paid for the V4). Also sounds like the V4 is
a good base to improve upon, maybe it can be rebuilt to get the precision
better (everyone needs a hobby.... right?)

Ken

> Seems like there was a site at one time that had diagrams for
> conversion to split axis (Lews?). I can't seem to find it, but you
> might check Eagle Woman's page for a link...this has been a couple of
> years ago.

> Having said that, I used a V4 for about 18 months, and actually wore
> out the accel and brake pots. I loved the wheel at the time, the ff
> was so stiff and you could really feel the slides in GPL. Then, I
> bought a LWFF refurb, just to have it around, because of all the folks
> talking about how great it was. I tried it, and haven't picked up the
> V4 since, except once just to see the difference in lap times. I was
> consistently 2-3 seconds slower in GP3 with the V4. I just doesn't
> have the precision of the LWFF. Plus, the paddles are annoying linked
> to button 13 and 14, which many games cannot handle. But, it's a
> well-made wheel, pretty sturdy with metal paddles and a lot of heft.
> The ff is probably still the strongest on the market.

> On Wed, 13 Jun 2001 18:21:51 GMT, Ken MacKay

> >Been wanting to try FF so I ordered a slightly used interact V4 wheel
> >the other day (yes I know it got mixed reviews but it was very cheap).
> >But I have since found out that the gas and brake are on a single axis
> >;( (none of the d*&^ reviews mentioned this!). It connects to the
> >gameport so it should be possible to rewire the brake and gas for dual
> >axis. I would like to know if anyone has tried this with a V4, and if
> >so, how difficult was it to do (were there any driver/software issues)?
> >I'm familiar with wiring to the gameport from building my own wheel.

> >Thanks
> >Ken <waiting for the wheel to arrive so he can try FF in GPL>

by **nix** » Sat, 16 Jun 2001 07:10:01

Good luck to you Ken. If you do get it working, give me a holler at

came out, and I could never really figure out why. The pedals, in
particular, are pretty good, having a nice long throw and decent
resistance. I tried to figure out a way to wire the paddles to
buttons 1 and 2, but gave up. Now, if you could just figure out how
to incorporate those strong ff motors into your homemade wheel with a
more accurate pot, you'd be in business. It could very well be that
my steering pot was worn out, causing the imprecision.

On Thu, 14 Jun 2001 11:26:13 GMT, Ken MacKay

>Thanks nixx. I have a couple places bookmarked that show how to do split
>axis, Lew's Wheels is one of the better ones; wired my current pedals so
>they will switch between single and dual. The wiring shouldn't be too hard,
>its the drivers/software side of things that I'm unsure about.

>Sounds like the V4 will be good enough to see if I like the FF effects. If
>FF is worth it to me them maybe I'll look for a LWFF or an Act Labs wheel.
>Kinda kicking myself now for not picking up one of the justdeals LWFF when
>they had them, they are going on ebay now for more than double the justdeals
>price (and about triple what I paid for the V4). Also sounds like the V4 is
>a good base to improve upon, maybe it can be rebuilt to get the precision
>better (everyone needs a hobby.... right?)

>Ken

rec.autos.simulators

Interact V4 wheel: pedal split axis mod?

Interact V4 wheel: pedal split axis mod?

Interact V4 wheel: pedal split axis mod?

Interact V4 wheel: pedal split axis mod?

Interact V4 wheel: pedal split axis mod?