[NB: whilst I would love a wheel, and could afford one, I don't currently have space for one, just pre-empting the "get a wheel" responses... this may change at some point, though...] Xbox One Elite Controller Up to now I've been using an XBox One Elite controller with R3E. it's a great controller, build quality is excellent, really feels like a premium product and feels good in the hand with comfy rubber grips underneath. It has interchange-able metal thumbsticks of varying lengths, that attach with strong magnets (I've been using the longest one for greater control over steering), and these seem reasonably precise, though a little more resistance would have been nice. I found the thumbstick surface a little too slippery when steering, but a pair of Grip-Its has fixed that completely (would highly recommended). It has decent long triggers (though the right one takes a little longer to push until it starts activating than the left, though nothing like as bad as on the GPX below) with moderate resistance and they feel positioned just where your fingers would naturally be. Perhaps my favorite feature, is that it has (removable) paddles underneath that can be mapped to mirror pretty much any of the buttons on the controller (i.e. they don't add additional control, just mirror existing), I use these for gear shifting so don't need to use my thumb for that. I'm currently just using the paddles on the right for shifting (one for up, one for down), as found downshifting on the left paddle whilst also steering and braking on the left hand side tricky. I've also been experimenting with just using one right paddle for up shifting and the "A" button for quick down shifts, which also works well. I guess you could also use a paddle for an in/out clutch, but not sure that it's worth it(?) Nothing much to say about the A/B/X/Y buttons, they feel well-positioned and work in a reassuring manner. I like the fact that they're monochrome rather than coloured, like the standard controller buttons, looks a bit more "professional". The shoulder buttons have a reassuring (but quiet) click, and apparently have been improved over the original XBox One controller shoulder buttons (though I think more recent standard controllers that have the 3.5mm jack socket were also improved). The D-Pad is pretty good, at least compared to most other (non-Sony) gamepads I've tried and you have two D-Pad options, a metal cross, or a circular insert with raised edges (as in the photo above),which I prefer. the D-Pad gives a quiet click when depressed. The controller can be used in either wired mode (unlike the wireless XBox 360 controller where the wire is just for charging), or wireless, though I had to buy a the official Microsoft wireless adapter for it to work in wireless mode in Windows 10 (it's not Bluetooth like the Sony Dualshock 4) . Wireless operation is flawless, though, which hasn't always been the case for other wireless peripherals that I've used. You can buy a rechargeable battery pack for it, but I'm just using rechargeable AA batteries with it, as already had these and a charger for them. Battery life seems reasonably good, though. It also comes with a very nice carry case, with inserts for the paddles and thumbsticks that you're not using and space for a cable in the lid) One downside to the XBox One Elite controller (which would also apply to the standard controller), apart from the rather eye-watering price (I paid £120 - though that compares well to Scuf's modified controllers, which don't have the same overall build quality) are that R3E doesn't come with a default profile in R3E (it's not officially supported), though I just edited the Mouse and Keyboard profile with the settings @Paradox Agi provided on this page and they work very well (though you need to change the default steering lock or all cars, which I think is set to 8, to around 13). The biggest downside, though, is that Sector 3 have disabled all rumble feedback on the XBox One controller, as apparently this was causing some problems, due to bad Microsoft drivers, and they've said they won't support the controller properly until Microsoft sort this out. This is particularly galling as the XBox one controller actually has 4 separate rumble motors (the normal two in each handle, but also has "Impulse Trigger" motors, which can provide additional feedback - apparently this works very well in Forza 6 on an XBox One console, though I've not tried this). This means no slip effect feedback, which is a significant downside, as with just a gamepad, you really need all the feedback you can get in racing sims. I don't know whether rumble works with this gamepad in other sims, like Assetto Corsa, though, as I don't own it. It doesn't work in Euro Truck Simulator 2, though. Other than the lack of rumble feedback, though, I've found the controller to be great for R3E (and ETS2) and the sim is certainly playable with this gamepad. Thrustmaster GPX Lightback (Black Edition) I've recently purchased a Thrustmaster GPX Lightback (Black Edition) controller, as saw this was listed as being compatible for R3E, so there is a built-in profile for this and rumble effects are supported. I also wanted a spare controller for practicing at lunchtime at work (they're cool about this, fortunately). The build quality seems okay, but nothing like as nice as the XBox One Elite controller. The controller body is a matte black plastic, it feels pretty sold and reasonably non-slippy, but also feels a bit like a cheapish TV remote control. There is also an F1 Ferrari Edition available, which has a better (but glossy) shell material on top, and a satin rubber-effect underside, which apparently feels better, but I preferred the look of the more subdued black edition. I've now driven a few laps with the gamepad, here's a few observations: The rumble for the slip effect seems very useful , but I assume it's similar on the 360 and Dualshock 4 controllers. The default R3E profile FFB/rumble settings for this gamepad could probably with some tweaking to get the best out of this, though e.g. I'm not sure how useful the rumble for hitting the kerbs is, might be better to turn that off so you can focus on the slip effect rumble - you can hear and see when you're hitting the kerbs anyway. The thumbsticks are very accurate and have a little more resistance (compare to the XBox One gamepad), which I like, though are very short (bearing in mind I've been using the longest available magnetic stick on my XBox One Elite controller), so the amount of control I have compared to my XBox One Elite controller kind of balances out, though I guess you could use Kontol Freek stick extenders (assuming they would fit the GPX) to improve this further. In-game it does feel like steering is a little less jerky and smoother, than with my XBox One controller, though. The triggers have a firm resistance, which I mostly like, for greater control, though are perhaps a little too firm and I could see they might be tiring over a long race. The overall travel of the triggers is about the same as on the XBox One controller (which I think I think is more than on the Dualshock 4?), i.e. quite long (usually a good thing) - The biggest problem with the triggers is what @Paradox Ali noted here for two GPX gamepads he tried - the left one is fine and actuates quite soon after pressing (though still requires a bit of travel), but the right hand trigger doesn't do anything until pressed almost halfway down, which is definitely not good - it negates most of the benefits of the stiffer triggers and might be a deal-breaker (even for me) The shoulder buttons work well and feel re-assuring, but have a loud click (louder then the XBox One controller), which could be annoying. Mind you, these will barely get used when racing. The 4-way D-Pad is truly horrible, feels completely dead, and has no click. I've read some reviews that said it's better than the 360 controller's D-Pad - really? I'm not sure that's possible!. Though again, this isn't really used when racing. The A/B/X/Y buttons have a pretty good and reassuring feel, which is important, as will usually be used for gear shifting, though I found the position of the "X" button too be a bit too close to the right thumbstick, so tried swapping the down shift button to "A, which avoids your thumb hitting the stick, but this feels more awkward, so I swapped back. BTW I'm not very used to using buttons for gear shifting, as had got used to the paddles on the XBox One Elite controller, so using these felt a little odd anyway! I also should mention that the controller has LED lights that light up when depressing the triggers, to indicate how much you're pressing them. They're pretty useless, though, as you don't look at your controller when racing! You can turn them off, though. I'll try the GPX controller more in game, to see if I can get used to it, but the massive deadzone on the right trigger is looking likely to be a deal-breaker for me, so I might well send the controller back. It's a shame, as the precise, firm thumbsticks and stiffer triggers would otherwise be great for racing sims! Conclusions if the XBox One controller was better supported e.g. rumble effects were enabled and worked as they should, official profile provided etc., the XBox One Elite Controller would still be my number one controller. As it is, I may still need to look further afield for now - probably either the standard official Microsoft XBox 360 controller (wired), or the Sony Dualshock 4 controller (with the DS4Windows software), which has some neat tricks (see comments from @TheFlash in this thread)
BTW have also picked up a wired official Microsoft XBox 360 gamepad, will see how this compares, using the settings @Paradox Agi provided... I'll return either the Thrustmaster GPX or the XBox 360 gamepad, depending on which one seems work best for R3E
Hmmm, not really sure what to do here - the steering on the Thrustmaster GPX is much more precise than the XBox 360 controller, so it's less jerky to steer, but the large deadzone on the right trigger (throttle) makes it harder to control the throttle well after trying to accelerate after braking hard for a tight corner...
With the GPX I found it hard to accellerate in a soft way... first there's nothing, because of the trigger's deadzone, then suddenly force bumps in and makes me spin. I found out how this deadzone works. The gamepad's software seems to cause this on purpose, because it tries to compensate the deadzone by applying more force in the short travel directly after passing the deadzone. I found that in the testtools in ETS2, where the point of activation while pressing very slightly, directly results in much more throttle than on the left trigger. And, last but not least, the left trigger has a lower deadzone, but not a longer travel until full activation, because it applies full force at about 80-90% of travel, where the right trigger reacts later but uses the rest of it's physical travel. I think, as I had two of this GPX with exactly the same behaviour, this is a software impelemented feature, for what ever reason. I would have loved the GPX... it is nearly perfect except this deadzone stuff. But this point messes up the whole gamepad.
Think I'm inclined to agree, but will do a little more testing in-game to see if I find it any more usable in practice than the 360 gamepad or not. Having now used two gamepads (360 and GPX) for which rumble is supported, I have to say the slip effect rumbles make a huge difference to awareness when cornering, so don't think I can go back to the XBox One Elite controller until this is supported on that. I'm also going to try a medium height Kontrol Freek stick extender (their CQC model) on the 360 controller to see if this helps to gain some more precision over steering on that device, as found the longer stick options on the Xbox One Elite controller helped in that regard.
Tell me if these Kontrol Freeks bring some improvements. And, maybe take a photo, I'd like so see how these things are apllied to the sticks. Some more control could prevent me from buying another gamepad ever, since this is the only fault of the 360 controller these days. The newer PS/Xbox controller have to less feeling in sticks and triggers for my personal comfort, the old 360 pad provides that.
Will do. I should have the Kontrol Freek CQCs in a day or two, might even work better with the longer Kontrol Freek Ultras, though they might be to awkward/uncomfortable to use, so I'm going to try the medium-length CQCs first
I've now got the Kontrol Freek CQCs, they increase the height of the thumb sticks by a little over 6mm I think (the longer ULTRAs increase height by over 10mm, but I haven't bought these yet - might be too long for my small-ish hands). They're easy to fit, they just clip on with 3 prongs, but seem very secure. The pad surface is concave rubber-like material, like the original 360 pads, but a little larger and with more grippy dots. The CQCs don't restrict thumbstick movement or get in the way of any buttons. I've only tried them a little in-game, but they definitely seem to help with giving a little more control over steering. The difference is not massive, but is definitely noticeable, and I can't see any downsides, so I'll continue using them with my 360 controller. If you have larger hands the ULTRAs may be even better, I might still try them myself. I'll post photos soon.
I have rather small hands, I think. So, if I'm right, these CQCs are clipped on the original sticks? So there is not hassle removing the old ones or what ever? I should try them myself...
The original sticks remain, these just clip on and can be removed easily when you want, but won't come off when using them. Definitely worth a go, I think! Don't expect massive improvements, but the difference is still significant and I found they do help.
Here's some photos of the Kontrol Freek CQC in my left stick, the right stick just has a Grip-It on it, to improve grip, without changing the height. There are various UK suppliers for both. Grip-It close-up (right stick):
I noticed, you did not mention also, that on xbox one controller, brake/accel is also on same Z axis, meaning we cant brake/accel at same time, real shame windows 10 dont fix this.