THRUSTMASTER'S DEAD SPOT DOESNT FAIR WELL FOR BURNOUT'S TOP FUEL CLASS!!!

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....

Quoted text (11 lines)

> 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

Not having played Burnout I don't know so please ignore my ignorance. Is it a Win 95 game or can it be run in a DOS box in Win 95? If so, then there is a utility floating around the Web that gets rid of the dead zone that's inherent in Win 95 games. The utility makes NFS2SE and CPR better games by removing the dead zone. Yes, I said CPR. Actually, I've found CPR to be decent with the Glide patch from Tony Gaylord. ;-) Anyway, the dead zone patch is out there somewhere if you just do a little lookin'. 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.

Quoted text (11 lines)

>Not having played Burnout I don't know so please ignore my ignorance. Is >it a Win 95 game or can it be run in a DOS box in Win 95? If so, then >there is a utility floating around the Web that gets rid of the dead >zone that's inherent in Win 95 games. The utility makes NFS2SE and CPR >better games by removing the dead zone. Yes, I said CPR. Actually, I've >found CPR to be decent with the Glide patch from Tony Gaylord. ;-) >Anyway, the dead zone patch is out there somewhere if you just do a >little lookin'. >Later, >Buddha

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.

Quoted text (11 lines)

> 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

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.

Quoted text (8 lines)

>>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

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 [link lost in import]

Quoted text (7 lines)

>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. - Robert - ICQ Pager: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/325605 [link lost in import]

Quoted text (19 lines)

>>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. > - Robert -

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.

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). [link lost in import] -- **************************** 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