Racing Games and me steering wheel

[floppybootstomp]

I have a Thrustmaster F430 steering wheel.

I've formed the opinion it was originally built for XP.

The latest driver from Thrustmaster for this wheel states it contains a Beta for Win 7.

Within Win 7 only two racing games worked with this wheel Flat Out and Live For Speed.

Some racing games that worked with the wheel in Vista would not work within Win 7.

I figured only being able to play 2 of more than 12 racing games I have was a bit of a waste so I transferred the wheel to my bedroom puter which has XP Pro SP3 as it's primary OS.

Here's the results of how the Thrustmaster F430 steering wheel performed with various racing games in Win XP:

Flat Out

Worked well though handling initially felt a bit woolly.

Track Mania Nations Forever

Did not recognise the wheel. Worked with Logitech cordless joypad but would not allow some commands to be mapped to some controls on the pad.

TOCA 3 Race Driver

Works well but a little sensitive.

Need For Speed Most Wanted

The game wouldn't even run with the wheel connected, all the menu options were constantly scrolling. This game runs ok without the wheel connected.

Need For Speed Underground 2

Works well.

Need For Speed Porsche 2000

Works well. I was very pleased about this as I love this game. Ten years old and the scenery is gorgeous.

Race Driver GRID

The wheel works very well indeed with GRID. It took a little getting used to but by the 4th lap I was getting real good at it. Something of a relief as using the wheel with GRID in both Vista and Win 7 rendered the game unplayable. At last I'm enjoying this almost three years old game.

Lego Racers

The same fault as NFS Most Wanted - constantly scrolling menu making the game unplayable with the wheel.

Driv3r

BSOD when install reached around 80% on two attempts to install. Don't know why. Gave up on it.

EA's Formula One 2002

This was a pleasant surprise, this game worked very well with the wheel and is very enjoyable. Great stuff.

Carmageddon 2 Carpocalypse Now

Won't run in XP either with or without the wheel connected even though the spec says it will run in XP.

Carmageddon TDR2000

Works well and good fun playing this again.

GTR Evolution

Works Well.

Race 07

Works well but it's virtually the same as GTR Evolution.

Live For Speed

Works very well indeed. This game is superb software imo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's about it. I have another 3 or 4 racing games, all quite old but haven't tried them.

If you're in the market for a steering wheel and using Win 7 as a gaming platform my advice would be NOT to buy the Thrustmaster F430 as from the above results it seems clear it was designed to work with older technology.

If you want a wheel do some research about compatibility issues with Win 7.

For myself I'm glad I'm actually getting some use out of it now and it's particularly cheered me up to finally enjoy GRID - it's great

 

[V_R]

I've got a Logitech G25 (Pay no attention to the price on their site its a lot cheaper anywhere else) running on Win7 x64. Works perfectly with any game i've tried so far. (Dirt 1+2, NFS:Shift etc)

Its not the cheapest, but it is very well made and is a dream to use.

I used to have a Logitech Driving Force GT (Originally for the PS2/3 and Gran Turismo) Which also works fine in Win 7, and can be had for less then £70 at Amazon which is a fine price IMO.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I have my eye on the G25, looks like a fine wheel, good to hear it works well for you V_R.

Have just been playing some more GRID and it's not quite as Hunky Dory a picture as I painted above, the handling depends very much on which car you get dealt for which race.

Most cars handle well but a Porsche saloon just wouldn't travel in a straight line, no matter how much I messed about with the advanced settings.

I think I'll conclude that the Thrustmaster F430 is flawed and although when it works well it's enjoyable this is more than offset by the frustration it causes in other areas.

Not recommended

 

[floppybootstomp]

Just done a quick search around and the G25 wasn't stocked anywhere I looked with one place stating stock was expected in April 2008. Wtf?

It would appear maybe the G25 is discontinued and has been superceeded by the G27 which is £300 at OCUK and £329 on Amazon.

That's a lot of money to pay for a toy steering wheel, lol

The Driving Force GT is readily available for seventy quid and may be an option. I've alway been happy with Logi products, have two of their cordless gamepads, Mk 1 and Mk II, a joystick and all my mice and keyboards.

 

[V_R]

Yeah i read about the G27, didn't realise it was to replace the G25 though, its not like its a straight up new version. its twice the price! lol

Just had a quick look too, its like looking for rocking horse poo aint it!?

Theres a few on the bay if you want to go down that road.

The DFGT is good, but the small shifter buttons on the back of the wheel are a bit of a pain.