The Thustmaster is more than a capable wheel. The SMS forums are lit up with PC users who also awn an xbox and are complaining loudly about the lack of proper FFB on pCARS. It's pretty dramatic, actually. I agree, that Forza never gets it right (they try to simulate g-force with weight), but the slip angles and subtle loss of traction are great in FM5 and virtually non-existent in pCARS.
There are so many settings that I'm really not sure if it's a settings issue, it's my expectations from playing Forza too much, or whether there truly is a problem. Re: the last one, many many other TX users have complained (mostly ones that have a PC and can compare) so it can't be in my head. Basically, there is a lack of connection with the road. Certainly you can feel force...and certainly you can feel bumps, but things like turbo, under-steer, over-steer, gear shifts, and simple loss of traction do not translate well. Of course, this kills a video game. It's sort of like Shift2 all over again. 24 hours to find something that's decent, acceptable, and somewhat believable, but not what I'd imagine the game is anywhere near capable of.
So, I went back to Forza, and just like before on Forza 4, it feels WAAAY too heavy. The tracks have surface noise, but they all feel the same except for some good mapping. But the slip angles are far superior. You feel a progression of grip loss that is very fine. And you can feel this and know if it's front or back. You don't really feel this on pCARS. I got it to the point where I now have drop off under-steer and the ffb feels decent, but that's a far cry from what I imagined. Yet, in really thinking about how a real car drives and feels, it's closer to pCARS. I mean...you really DO lose traction all of a sudden, which is why most people don't dare to push it. And the cars aren't heavy. What I mean is...a DTM car will have the tendency to self center and turning the wheel isn't more difficult the further you go in radius. But in a video game, at least to simulate g-force, it is. Now, pCARS has both of these...more of a constant ffb through the turn, and a drop off in understeer. But there is still something missing. You don't feel a connection with the road. In a car, you do. It's like they just left the tire model out of the game. And it's not just me...the forums are lit up with this. So, I'm pretty sure it's a little bit of expectation and a little bit of not knowing what to adjust (although I followed every piece of avice from every singe source it seems....for countless variations and hours), but A LOT of explaining by SMS. When PC users who also have an xbox say it's broken, I trust them. I hope they acknowledge this issue and patch it soon.
What I had to do to get ANY feeling that understeer is happening is to turn Tire Force to 120 and FFB to 100 on both wheel and game, and then go 75% with Fx smoothing since the wheel feels like it's got a spring the size of Texas holding it in the center position. This should not be. Further, you can't feel the bumps unless you crank the last "f" setting almost all the way up.
It's Shift2 all over again.
