GPL...brake pedal improvement.

Someone here mentioned using a tennis ball behind the brake pedal to raise the force and improve the feel. Soooo, I made a wood platform for a Thrustmaster Nascar Pro wheel/pedal. THIS IS GREAT! I don't have to devote so much concentration on brake pedal position to keep from locking wheels in GPL. Brake load at the tire is now a lot more a fuction of pedal force. I can focus more on turning in to the turn. Too bad GPL doesn't support FF steering. Marty

Did the same thing, sort of, with the Thrustmaster GP1. You don't even need to take the controller apart.. here's how: I cut a 1/2" piece off an old guitar capo's *** bar, and put a piece of (thin) double sided tape on one side (to hold it in place. Then, I put it underneath the brake paddle, right against the spring.. The capo *** was the perfect density and size (about 1/2" thick). Plus, it has a 1'8" hole in the center that allows the top half of the *** to compress easier during the first 3/4 of the paddle travel, where the brake paddle suddenly gets quite 'hard'. This gives it an ideal and very realistic 'brake pedal' like feel! Best Regd's from =rez= ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -

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>Someone here mentioned using a tennis ball behind the brake pedal to >raise the force and improve the feel. Soooo, I made a wood platform for >a Thrustmaster Nascar Pro wheel/pedal. >THIS IS GREAT! I don't have to devote so much concentration on brake >pedal position to keep from locking wheels in GPL. Brake load at the >tire is now a lot more a fuction of pedal force. I can focus more on >turning in to the turn. >Too bad GPL doesn't support FF steering. >Marty

I found a tennis ball a bit hard myself however a piece of high density foam from a furniture maker works perfect. Todd.

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>Someone here mentioned using a tennis ball behind the brake pedal to >raise the force and improve the feel. Soooo, I made a wood platform for >a Thrustmaster Nascar Pro wheel/pedal. >THIS IS GREAT! I don't have to devote so much concentration on brake >pedal position to keep from locking wheels in GPL. Brake load at the >tire is now a lot more a fuction of pedal force. I can focus more on >turning in to the turn. >Too bad GPL doesn't support FF steering. >Marty

Yes.. I tried the tennis ball method a month or two ago.. (posted here), and also found the tennis ball, as is, to have too little compression. The secret?.. with a knife, cut a slit in one side of the tennis ball, about 1.5 inches long. Just a slit will do fine. Keep cutting until the ball has some "give" to it. Now my brake pedal feels like the real thing (damn close, anyhow). I've got a bit (1/4 inch) of free travel(as the pedal shaft presses into the now "softened" tennis ball, then as I continue to press, I get progressive resistance for about 1/2 inch. When I really squeeze the heck out of the pedal, I get maybe 1/6 of an inch extra travel, but you can sure feel it! (Just make sure you really squeeze hard during calibration.) With my T2 pedal set (which I have proped against two small planks of wood under my desk (one as a spacer between the wall and the pedals so they don't slide away from me(!), and the other about 1 1/2 inches thick to give the pedal base some angle, so the pedal travel is more "natural"), I put the tennis ball behind the brake pedal, so it sits on that flat "lip" at the back of the base. Take some duct tape, and wrap it from one side of the base (ie: from left to right), around the tennis, and just around onto the next side (enough so that it sticks). Then I added a small strip from the base, up over the tennis ball onto the top, just to the left of the brake pedal's shaft (again, just enough so that it sticks well). Then added another strip left-to-right for re-enforcement. My lap times dropped about 2 seconds/lap by doing this.. The brakes are just so much better. I don't know what the brakes feel like in one of those thousand-dollar Hyperstimulators, but I'll tell you, this little tip makes my pedals feel like what I imagine they may be like. If I didn't know what was hiding underneath my desk (the T2), I'd have said it was a fairly high-quality pedal set! (call me crazy!) Try it! doktorB http://webhome.idirect.com/~drbryan/gpl For the GPL demo track files(Watkins Glen AND Monza), FAQs,demo help, release date updates, and more! new: **"The Grandstand" - GPL Meeting Place for Chat & Online Races** * GPL System Performace Test * Poll-of-the-Week: What's makes GPL so great? ----- >I found a tennis ball a bit hard myself however a piece of high density foam >from a furniture maker works perfect.

Your'e welcome, I have moved from the tennis ball to a *** bumper from a mountain bike suspension fork but I think I preffered the ball for it's air pressure effect. Did you do something similar to the throttle? just softer. John

I can see why the *** isn't as good as the tennis ball. My thought with the ball was to find something that would use air as the primary spring force on the brake petal. Compressing air is alot like the mechanical flexing of the brake system in a real car. Because the brake is so much stiffer now I'm thinking of swapping one of the springs with the throttle to stiffen it. Marty

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> Your'e welcome, I have moved from the tennis ball to a *** bumper > from a > mountain bike suspension fork but I think I preffered the ball for > it's air > pressure effect. Did you do something similar to the throttle? just > softer. > John > > Someone here mentioned using a tennis ball behind the brake pedal to > > raise the force and improve the feel. Soooo, I made a wood platform > for > > a Thrustmaster Nascar Pro wheel/pedal.