Opinions please on GT vs Formula Rims

[G-Slev]

What it says in the title really. I am saving up for a new wheelbase and rim having bought some V3 pedals a few months back. I am going to go fanatec. I currently have a G29.

I mostly drive in AC, ACC and RF2 - a mixture of endurance racing with some historic stuff and occasional formula racing.

It's rare that I do more than a full rotation with my wheel, but my thinking is that I can use a GT type wheel for everything, but I can only use a formula wheel for some things, so it is a lot less versatile.

I do like the look of the Formula V2 (though I have three DIY button boxes, so I am not short of buttons...). I don't like the look of the universal hub - I hear bad things about them failing and being creaky in use - plus they don't strike me as particularly good value.

So I am wondering whether the best compromise is to go with the BMW wheel - it has the haptic motors in the V2, and whilst it doesn't have as many buttons, I do hear good things about it.

So my question is, do you use a formula or GT type wheel, and what do you consider to be the pros and cons of both?

(wife allowing, I may just save up for both. #mustbuymoresimracing gear #itonlycostatenner)

(admins - might be a good topic for a weekly vote if it hasn't been done before)

 

[BrightCandle]

I went from a T300 to a TS-PC Racer and went from a complete rim to a partial formula-style rim. What I realised is that if you have just one rim it should be a complete circle/D shape. There are rare circumstances when you want more rotation than the usual 360 in cars and that is perfectly fine on a normal rim but it's not very practical on a formula rim. You can get away with a formula rim for almost everything other than drifting but if you do occasionally do something "old car" it can be a problem.

The other aspect beyond just the degrees of turning is the diameter of the rim. Formula rims tend to be a bit smaller and this makes certain types of cars a bit harder to drive than they would otherwise be. It also tends to make the FFB a little stronger and snappier than it would be for those vehicles, both because the diameter is smaller and the weight is usually more central. The big obvious choice is trying to drive 70s formula cars. They had big wheels and used tiny movements, they are quite a bit harder to drive on small-diameter wheels, it is an example where the formula rim style isn't a problem for rotation but really does make feel and control harder.

In my experience what you want to do is go for a button filled complete circle/D shape wheel if you intend it to be the only wheel you have. You want as many buttons as possible because the more complex cars have a lot of stuff needing mapping to be competitive and you may yet become one of those people that shifts the brake balance back and forth and the rollbar stiffness per corner. But understand the buttons will be harder to get to so certain cars like LMP1 may be quite hard to map ideally. Its a pure utility approach as it will never be correct for any given car but it will rarely fall short of making certain scenarios too hard to do well.

 

[GuitarTech]

Get both, with QR on both. Then you always have the right rim for the car you're driving. I have three wheels altogether, all with QR. Only takes a few seconds to change them, with a bit of practice you can change them even when you're wearing a VR headset.

 

[G-Slev]

Get both, with QR on both. Then you always have the right rim for the car you're driving. I have three wheels altogether, all with QR. Only takes a few seconds to change them, with a bit of practice you can change them even when you're wearing a VR headset.

True. And get the GT rim first presumably?

 

[Emery]

Both would be my vote. Like the OP, if you can only have just one and drive the cars listed, then a full rim is the obvious choice... and that's what I did 5 years ago. Keep meaning to add a formula rim, but other priorities keep jumping the queue (oh, look, an RTX 3090!).

 

[GuitarTech]

Both would be my vote. Like the OP, if you can only have just one and drive the cars listed, then a full rim is the obvious choice... and that's what I did 5 years ago. Keep meaning to add a formula rim, but other priorities keep jumping the queue (oh, look, an RTX 3090!).

Depends what you drive: for example, all the GT3s use an open wheel, except for the Porsche. But if you can only afford to buy one, then buy the round wheel. If a car has an open wheel, you can substitute it for a GT style wheel. The other way round is more difficult. I've decided that a 3080 is good enough: here in Germany a 3090 costs over a grand more than a 3080

 

[Emery]

I've decided that a 3080 is good enough: here in Germany a 3090 costs over a grand more than a 3080

I know, right? Don't get me started! UPS will deliver mine on Monday and you're bound to see a string of posts as I play with it...

Just to stay on topic: GT3s weren't so heavily into the formula wheels when GT3s first started popping up in simracing, around the time I bought my current wheel. I think McLaren led the way into formula wheels, but I could be wrong.

 

[BrightCandle]

The partial wheels solve a problem we don't really have in sim racing, that of airflow and space. We might want them for immersion's sake or maybe to get our giant TV as close as possible and not have the rim block part of the screen but fundamentally we have different concerns to the real world. By the time I put my VR headset on I can't tell the difference until I reach for something that isn't there anyway.

 

[TShrimp]

Depends what you drive: for example, all the GT3s use an open wheel, except for the Porsche. But if you can only afford to buy one, then buy the round wheel. If a car has an open wheel, you can substitute it for a GT style wheel. The other way round is more difficult. I've decided that a 3080 is good enough: here in Germany a 3090 costs over a grand more than a 3080

I thought the 3080 and 3090 where myths. Kind of like the Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster .

 

[GuitarTech]

I thought the 3080 and 3090 where myths. Kind of like the Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster .

Here in Germany there are a few 3090s for sale, for €1900 , and a few 3070s. The 3080 is not available anywhere, you can pre-order them at some places, but I'm not parting with my money until I'm sure that they're not vapourware. At my favorite supplier (alternate.de), it just says "Liefertermin unbekannt"' which means they don't even have a delivery date.
I look there at least twice a day, I'm sure they will want to have them on the market for the Christmas business if it's at all possible.
In the meantime I"m playing AMS2 a lot, and rF2 at reduced detail, using VR. In pancake mode I could drive at full detail, but I'd rather drive with reduced detail in VR, once you've used VR, a flat screen just looks so, well... Flat.

 

[DirkW]

I only drive in VR and use a round wheel. In VR it looks like a Formula wheel anyways when I drive formula. Also, I only use one and only wheel because I need to memorize the buttons because I don't see them. Lastly, in sharp corners it is very comfortable and gives better control to grab the wheel on the top with one hand, instead of bending the wrist.