GPL/Wheel suggestions....

After a long hiatus, I'm getting the itch to return to sim racing (and GPL). I used to play GPL daily until my Nascar Pro wheel broke, and against my better judgement I think I'm ready to return to my old addiction. :) First, how's the GPL community doing? From the amount of posts I see on this group, it still looks good. More importantly, hows the online GPL community doing? Still lots of people racing? I'm dreading having to work myself back up to speed (not to mention relearning the Ring), but the itch is returning. Also, any GPL dedicated pages still around? All the ones I had are no longer updated. Second, I need a new wheel. I'm doing some research about whats new in steering wheels nowadays, but I need some suggestions for a good wheel. What I need is: a wheel that's gonna last more than 6 months. I've had 3 thrustmaster wheels, and they all breakdown, and eventually even after replacing springs and cords they all fail. I'm willing to pay for a good wheel (although I saw one that was $800, a bit more than I'm willing to shell out for). Also important would be a couple buttons on the wheel for shifting purposes. Paddles or a "shift-nob" would work, but I'd really prefer buttons on the wheel. Force feedback isn't important (actually I could care less about FF, when they invent something that pushes my butt into the seat with the g-forces then I'll get excited). -Bahnzo Remove SPAMFREE from email address to reply.

The best value for a heavy duty wheel (at around $225) is the TSW2. Lifetime warranty so breakdowns be gone! You can even grab one with a clutch for GPL. On the high end you can go with a momo wheel and pedals for around $1000. They also make heavy duty pedals-only units that work with the FF wheels listed below. Most FF wheels have average to poor pedals so this is quite a nice option. www.thomas-superwheel.com Don't dismiss FF so quickly, it's outstanding in GPL. You can feel the loss of grip, weight shift, etc. My FF wheel of choice is the Logitech Wingman Formula Force. Very good feel with nice paddle shifters. Unfortunately, the pedals are too light for most GPL fans so many people use other pedals (CH flight pedals for example). Cost is around $120. www.logitech.com Another hot FF wheel is ACT LABS Force RS since it has an optional gated shifter which works in GPL (imagine you can shift from 4th to 1st in one move). It's around $190 with the shifter. Without shifter it's $160 and you shift using the paddles. www.act-labs.com Happy hunting. -- Joe Marques Please remove "NO SPAM" to e-mail me. "Bahnzo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8o1qek$2brh$[email hidden]... > After a long hiatus, I'm getting the itch to return to sim racing (and GPL). I > used to play GPL daily until my Nascar Pro wheel broke, and against my better > judgement I think I'm ready to return to my old addiction. :) > > First, how's the GPL community doing? From the amount of posts I see on this > group, it still looks good. More importantly, hows the online GPL community > doing? Still lots of people racing? I'm dreading having to work myself back up > to speed (not to mention relearning the Ring), but the itch is returning. > Also, any GPL dedicated pages still around? All the ones I had are no longer > updated. > > Second, I need a new wheel. I'm doing some research about whats new in > steering wheels nowadays, but I need some suggestions for a good wheel. > > What I need is: a wheel that's gonna last more than 6 months. I've had 3 > thrustmaster wheels, and they all breakdown, and eventually even after > replacing springs and cords they all fail. I'm willing to pay for a good wheel > (although I saw one that was $800, a bit more than I'm willing to shell out > for). Also important would be a couple buttons on the wheel for shifting > purposes. Paddles or a "shift-nob" would work, but I'd really prefer buttons > on the wheel. > > Force feedback isn't important (actually I could care less about FF, when they > invent something that pushes my butt into the seat with the g-forces then I'll > get excited). > > -Bahnzo > > Remove SPAMFREE from email address to reply.

Don't dismiss FF so quickly. I don't know how long it's been since you've played GPL, but the 1.2 patch added Force Feedback, and I feel it's added quite a bit to GPL. Bahnzo wrote:

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> After a long hiatus, I'm getting the itch to return to sim racing (and GPL). I > used to play GPL daily until my Nascar Pro wheel broke, and against my better > judgement I think I'm ready to return to my old addiction. :) > > First, how's the GPL community doing? From the amount of posts I see on this > group, it still looks good. More importantly, hows the online GPL community > doing? Still lots of people racing? I'm dreading having to work myself back up > to speed (not to mention relearning the Ring), but the itch is returning. > Also, any GPL dedicated pages still around? All the ones I had are no longer > updated. > > Second, I need a new wheel. I'm doing some research about whats new in > steering wheels nowadays, but I need some suggestions for a good wheel. > > What I need is: a wheel that's gonna last more than 6 months. I've had 3 > thrustmaster wheels, and they all breakdown, and eventually even after > replacing springs and cords they all fail. I'm willing to pay for a good wheel > (although I saw one that was $800, a bit more than I'm willing to shell out > for). Also important would be a couple buttons on the wheel for shifting > purposes. Paddles or a "shift-nob" would work, but I'd really prefer buttons > on the wheel. > > Force feedback isn't important (actually I could care less about FF, when they > invent something that pushes my butt into the seat with the g-forces then I'll > get excited). > > -Bahnzo > > Remove SPAMFREE from email address to reply.

Besides the Logitech and ACT Labs unit you should also check out the Guillemot Ferrari FF wheel. I works for me in GPL Marko Bahnzo <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8o1qek$2brh$[email hidden]... > After a long hiatus, I'm getting the itch to return to sim racing (andGPL). I > used to play GPL daily until my Nascar Pro wheel broke, and against mybetter > judgement I think I'm ready to return to my old addiction. :) > > First, how's the GPL community doing? From the amount of posts I see onthis > group, it still looks good. More importantly, hows the online GPLcommunity > doing? Still lots of people racing? I'm dreading having to work myselfback up > to speed (not to mention relearning the Ring), but the itch is returning. > Also, any GPL dedicated pages still around? All the ones I had are nolonger

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> updated. > > Second, I need a new wheel. I'm doing some research about whats new in > steering wheels nowadays, but I need some suggestions for a good wheel. > > What I need is: a wheel that's gonna last more than 6 months. I've had 3 > thrustmaster wheels, and they all breakdown, and eventually even after > replacing springs and cords they all fail. I'm willing to pay for a good

wheel > (although I saw one that was $800, a bit more than I'm willing to shellout > for). Also important would be a couple buttons on the wheel for shifting > purposes. Paddles or a "shift-nob" would work, but I'd really preferbuttons > on the wheel. > > Force feedback isn't important (actually I could care less about FF, whenthey > invent something that pushes my butt into the seat with the g-forces thenI'll > get excited). > > -Bahnzo > > Remove SPAMFREE from email address to reply.

"Joe Marques" <Joe"NO_SPAM"[email hidden]> wrote

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> > Another hot FF wheel is ACT LABS Force RS since it has an optional gated > shifter which works in GPL (imagine you can shift from 4th to 1st in one > move). It's around $190 with the shifter. Without shifter it's $160 and > you shift using the paddles. > > www.act-labs.com

I would agree that the Act Labs Force RS is a good wheel for GPL. The only thing you said that was incorrect is that the shifter does not work in free shifting mode in GPL. You have to use "legacy " mode which is like a sequential gear box, push one direction for down shift and pull in the other for up shift. Personally I think this method of shifting is superior to paddle or button shifting, although I wish Papy would patch GPL to support free shifting. It adds to the emersion level of the sim although it does make the sim more difficult. I also have a Logitech Wingman Formula Force (LWFF) but use the Force RS in preference because I feel it is a better quality wheel. It is also good to be able to free shift in sims such as Rally Championship 2000, Nascar Heat and Nascar 3. Cheers Phil -- F1 GPL Handicap: +60.36 secs F2 GPL Handicap: +147.17 secs http://www.youpies.co.uk

Thanks for the correction. I thought GPL of all games would have been patched for the shifter. I guess I assumed too much since papy patched the other games. We all know what happens when we assume ;-). -- Joe Marques Please remove "NO SPAM" to e-mail me. "Phil Lee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:hp4p5.127$[email hidden]... > "Joe Marques" <Joe"NO_SPAM"[email hidden]> wrote > > > > > Another hot FF wheel is ACT LABS Force RS since it has an optional gated > > shifter which works in GPL (imagine you can shift from 4th to 1st in one > > move). It's around $190 with the shifter. Without shifter it's $160 and > > you shift using the paddles. > > > > www.act-labs.com > > I would agree that the Act Labs Force RS is a good wheel for GPL. The only > thing you said that was incorrect is that the shifter does not work in free > shifting mode in GPL. You have to use "legacy " mode which is like a > sequential gear box, push one direction for down shift and pull in the other > for up shift. Personally I think this method of shifting is superior to > paddle or button shifting, although I wish Papy would patch GPL to support > free shifting. It adds to the emersion level of the sim although it does > make the sim more difficult. > > I also have a Logitech Wingman Formula Force (LWFF) but use the Force RS in > preference because I feel it is a better quality wheel. It is also good to > be able to free shift in sims such as Rally Championship 2000, Nascar Heat > and Nascar 3. > > Cheers > > Phil > > -- > F1 GPL Handicap: +60.36 secs > F2 GPL Handicap: +147.17 secs > > http://www.youpies.co.uk > >