Equipment ... anything which made you faster ?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Stef van Remy, Dec 19, 2017.

  1. Stef van Remy

    Stef van Remy Guest

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    Heyho,

    every time I am seeing the pics or vids of cockpits/rigs I wonder if there could be something which could make me faster on the track for sure.
    By the way some of you (have seen the thread reagarding rigs) have done awesome work. My respect to all of you. The one building the Lotus F1 cockpit is completely done with this world :D;) but hey I love it.

    I am driving a T300RS with F1 steering wreath while sitting in a beanback (due to my bad back) and using my 16:9 TV.

    Is there anyone out there who can say for sure that some equipment made him faster rigth from the start with lasting effect ?
     
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  2. fischhaltefolie

    fischhaltefolie Well-Known Member

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    Imho you'll get the biggest push with a proper pedalset having a brakepedal with loadcell technique.
    No foam mode of a potentiometer pedal will give you the control you can achieve with this.
    Sadly those are expensive.
     
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  3. Thomas Friedrich

    Thomas Friedrich Well-Known Member

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    Two things made me faster, at least I think they are the reason. First and foremost the move to loadcell pedals made a huge difference. I use the Fanatec CSP V2 and it’s not the gas but the brake pedal. It makes me more confident. The next step for me will be the Heusinkveld Pro pedals. Pedals, that’s for me where it starts and where it ends, the most important component for Simracing.
    The second thing that makes me faster is VR. I can better estimate distances and the driving feels more natural overall.
    I can’t exactly name how much faster it makes me in seconds or tenth of a second... perhaps it’s just a feeling, but if I have to highlight things, this two are my points.
     
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  4. sbtm

    sbtm Well-Known Member

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    First thing that made me faster was changing from t3pa pedals to Fanatec csp v3

    Second thing was changing to VR. First time was strange but after some time laptimes were much more consistent and overall pace was getting better.
     
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  5. mr_belowski

    mr_belowski Well-Known Member Beta tester

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    Definitely vr
     
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  6. Eisprinzessin

    Eisprinzessin Well-Known Member

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  7. Not Lifting Off

    Not Lifting Off Well-Known Member

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    Loadcell brake, biggest single improvement for me without a doubt, followed not too closely by a nice Fanatec wheel, if i was going to recomend 1 thing to improve your racing experience and improve times, loadcell brake all day long.
     
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  8. heppsan

    heppsan Well-Known Member

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    +1
    No more guessing where the apexes are located!! :)
    + the driving just feels so natural in VR.:kissingheart:
     
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  9. Stef van Remy

    Stef van Remy Guest

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    So its the pedals and VR. I am asking myself if I want to spend all this money for gaining a second per lap...certainly ! :);)

    Any recommendation regarding the pedals ? I have a big lack of technical knowledge in terms of sim racing equipment due to the matter of fact that I want to race and not to tinker around ;) as I do that enough because of my hobby No. 1 flying RC helicopters.

    Are there any pedals to recommend for my T300RS and if so can these pedals beeing used for later updates like changing the wheel base to a Fanatec system ?

    Concerning the VR, what do you use ? Is the Oculus Rift the one to use ? What about wearing glases as I do ? As I am short-sighted I heard that some do not need their glases because the pic is so close to your eyes that it is sharp.
     
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  10. Thomas Friedrich

    Thomas Friedrich Well-Known Member

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    Regarding pedals, I recommend the Heusinkveld pedals or if you are a little more short on money, the Fanatec Clubsport pedals are Great too. Both are connected separately from the wheel to your PC, so no problem with changing wheels.

    To recommend VR headsets at the moment us a tough task. I think you can do nothing wrong with Vive or Rift. The recently released Microsoft headsets are good too, especially the Samsung Odyssey. All Microsoft headsets have a better resolution than Rift/Vive, but the Samsung one has an even better resolution, an IPD adjustment, most less SDE and (what I have read) the most comfortable headstrap. This would actually be the one I would buy. But note, it’s not officially sold in Europe, you have to import it. Overall it’s a tough task for recommending a headset, because there will be new (better) headsets conning next year, e.g. the Pimax 8k. With these headsets noone knows, when the will arrive ore if the quality is really that good as promised.... and we don’t know for sure what Oculus and HTC will do. So if you buy a headset know or at the beginning of next year, it could be outdated very soon. On the other hand, new tech or hardware is outdated soon anyway...
     
  11. Eisprinzessin

    Eisprinzessin Well-Known Member

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    Its not only gainng a second. Its mostly for gaining fun and feeling...
     
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  12. sbtm

    sbtm Well-Known Member

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    I have relatively big glasses and they fit under the rift, but now I have daily contact lenses for when I want to use the rift. More comfortable. And it's not true that you see the image clear without glasses. The displays are close to the eyes but it's definitely as blurred as looking into the distance. That's due to the lenses in front of the displays I guess.
     
  13. GooseCreature

    GooseCreature Well-Known Member

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    Anything that makes our little Princess happy is good by me!

    Clubsport V3's made the biggest single difference to me personally but (I use triple 27") getting my FOV just right has helped with my consistency, no end. Overall though, you won't beat pounding the laps out as the best improver out there, no matter what your equipment is (human brain can adapt to anything) putting in the track time is a winner, try joining a club and drive regularly against faster drivers, lap times will drop for sure! ;) If you can't be arsed, pedals! :D
     
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  14. James Cook

    James Cook Well-Known Member

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    A nice cup of tea.
     
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  15. Thomas Friedrich

    Thomas Friedrich Well-Known Member

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    I agree with @GooseCreature that you can’t ‚buy‘ good lap times, but you can buy hardware that supports you in being consistent and that makes you more confident. In my opinion buying high end hardware to ‚buy‘ success is the complete wrong way. I always bought hardware for my pleasure, comfort and the immersion. Lap times dropped automatically for me over the time... and yes, it’s all about racing time you spend.
     
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  16. Stef van Remy

    Stef van Remy Guest

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    DONE...0,2 sec on average per lap ;):D

    And well I think without indicating I am already fast. On Bathurst for ex I can run 2.05.xxx when I am in a real flow. But when I see that there are drivers up to 4 sec faster I can´t understand it. I can not find these seconds on the track so I wonder if it "could" be due to "better" equipment but it is also for sure I can/must improve my skills on all details.

    And for sure practice is what is all about at the end. But for Bathurst again I am pretty sure I know every single square millimeter by name AND nick ;)

    To be honest...I want to get as close as possible to the top drivers. Second is the first loser :confused::cool::D...no just kidding...
     
  17. DreamsKnight

    DreamsKnight Well-Known Member

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    -a rig, intended like something where you have pedals and wheel fixed, with a proper body position. it could be DIY or not, it's the same.
    -a brake pedal with something which give you progression (more you push, more it is hard) giving you the idea how much you are breaking. this is NOT the work of the load cell, but people think it is.
    -a monitor with a proper dimension, a proper position, and with the right FOV. this is why people say VR is better: vr is a monitor with a proper dimension, proper position and the right fov without understand what it means and without doing nothing.

    no more no less if we are speaking only about SPEED.
     
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  18. heppsan

    heppsan Well-Known Member

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    +1
    I would say that the T3PA brake cone mod worked as good as the CSL Elite LC pedals.
    The CSL's are higher quality, nicer, more stable and robust. But the brake feel is as good, and provide equal performance.
     
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  19. Heath

    Heath Well-Known Member

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    There is huge selection of hardware out there and degrees of quality, so it will come down to personal preference. But more to the point biggest gains wil come though bum on seat, lap after lap and most of all having fun.
     
  20. rbn

    rbn Well-Known Member

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    A good wheel with good FFB and with a large steering angle. (anything T300 or above)
    A good pedalset (T3PA with brake pedal and above)
    Good settings for wheel, fov also help.

    I can't really imagine that a loadcell brake pedal would improve my laptimes compared to a T3PA with brake mod.
    The reason is simple I can brake very exact every single lap because of the rubber stopper.
    A loadcell will do just that.

    I will eventually go loadcell and a better wheel, but not for improvement of my times, but more for the feel and realism.