rec.autos.simulators

Thinking about buying my first wheel and pedals, can anyone who is using
the Thrustmaster Nascar Pro wheel tell me how it works with GPL and
other sims?  Thanks in advance to those who respond.

Works great. GPL supports seperate pedals which allows for trailbraking.
Nascar2 and most others use combined pedals. There is a switch on the pedals
and you must reboot when going from sim to sim. As soon as you get one call
TM and get some replacement springs for the pedals. Have fun!

I have a TM Nascar Pro wheel/pedal set.  Works perfect in N2, ICR2, NFS3, GPL,
and anything else I've needed it for.  

My springs lasted approx 1 year and it took TM only 7 days to get me
replacements after I requested them from their web site.  

Overall, I am very satisfied.  I do not hold much stock in force feedback so I
probably will not jump on the next version due out around the holidays.

I paid $149 for mine originally but now they are selling for $99 at CompUSA and
probably lower at other locations.

Andrew
San Diego

I can't recommend TM's wheels unless you're really hard up for the
cash.  I have a T2 and two NPros.  All of them have something wrong
with them.  The two NASCAR Pro's both lost one of the wheel buttons
within the first couple of weeks.  I don't feel like opening and doing
wiring checks on them.  The T2's potentiometers are going and I don't
feel like soldering on new ones all the time.  The springs are bungees
which develop a dead spot.  But most importantly, the pedal feel and
wheel accuracy is just not there over the long haul, particularly for
a sim like GPL.  My recommendation is the TSW2.  I know there's some
sticker shock associated with these wheels, but unless your use of the
wheel is casual and infrequent, you're going to wish you had a better
wheel.  I thought the TM's felt pretty good (which is why I stayed
with them), but after using a TSW for a couple of days, I was taking
2-3 seconds off my best laps in GPL because of the pinpoint precision
of the controls, and I was having a MUCH easier time catching and
recovering the car, which meant less offs.  Most noticeable was at
Mosport.  With the TM wheels, the brake was too vague and
unpredictable and I would go off a lot in that 2nd to last right turn
after jumping the hill.  Now I go off maybe one time out of 10, and
only because I'm pushing my own limits.

Before you buy a wheel, think long and hard about how often you intend
to use it.  If you're serious about racing sims, get the TSW2.

Randy Magruder
http://members.home.com/rmagruder

What is trailbraking?