Bit the bullet last night and purchased, with just over eight hours played there's no regrets... Was a little bit tense after reading a post saying the standalone G27 pedals with Leo Bodnar adaptor wasn't working. Can gladly report my G27 pedals with Richmotec LCv2 w/Bodnar adaptor, G27 h-shifter w/Bodnar adaptor and 3D printed sequential shifter w/Bodnar BBI are all recognised and working.
Anyhow, after a few hours trying Rally, WRX, Buggies and just being a hooligan in Free Play. I felt the FFB through the T500RS wasn't being very communicative of the cars attitude. Took a look at my DR settings, mirrored them with D4 and tweaked them a little. Now getting more feel for the cars behaviour, though there's still something a touch off with the FFB.
The apparent level of grip has certainly increased from DR. With D4, I get an good sense of how the cars inertia/weight is affecting the car. I'm driving at a point where I can tell I'm at the edge of available grip, the car gets squirmy but is still going where it's pointed (just). A step to far, and all that misguided inertia hits home hard...
Only problem... that FFB feeling (rally predominately)... On that fine raged edge of relative grip, I'm not able tell if that was a slide or just a shift in the cars weight. Most slides are accompanied by a nice tyre screech or crunch of gravel. I've been getting what felt like weight transfer (no tyre sounds), only to loose control because I've not countered a tail-end slide... What ever's going on, the feeling of a slide isn't being communicated very well.
For me, the change in the D4's physics (surface contact, tyre modelling, chassis, aero etc) now makes the cars handle(feel) more like they would in Assetto Corsa or rF2... If your good at drifting a car there, you'll have no problems in D4. The WRX cars are almost identical to DR, and are well dialled in by default. There's a touch more grip, but this makes being a complete hooligan easier IMO. Landsrush... oh my.. high power, low weight and rear wheel drive... my nemesis in so many ways, but hugely fun
Think over all, I'm quite happy with D4, it does need some minor tweaking here and there. It isn't a successor to DR, but it is a massive step up from D3. It's a more cohesive whole than D3 ever was, and has non of that Monster / Red Bull sugar rush induced buzz that permeated through the experience. I like the career mode better than DR's, with sponsors, team liveries etc. More RX tracks and Landrush too... not to shabby a show, CodeMasters.