Best products from r/pcars

Logitech G29 - good value for money, tried and tested tech but it is a bit old being gear driven and can be a bit ratchety compared to a belt driven wheel if you care about these minor things. Pedals included are good especially at the G29 price point. Basically you can't go wrong here.

Thrustmaster T300 with standard pedals

T300RS with T3PA pedals - A bit more expensive than the logitech G29 and Thrustmaster have their fair share of horror stories regarding product defects but over all it's a solid wheel base for the majority. The T300 wheel base is a good wheel of choice for sim racing as It's belt driven so the steering is somewhat smoother and you have the modular steering rim option, just make sure to get a T300 package that comes with the T3PA or T3PA pro pedals. There's also the T150 which is a great starter wheel if you want a cheaper option than the T300 but you won't be able to take advantage of Thrustmasters modular wheel system in future and again, the standard pedals included aren't great.

Fanatec CSL Elite - Not wanting to leave the most expensive "starter" wheel base option out... The Fanatec CSL Elite wheel base for the PS4 will come close to blowing your budget of $500 and doesn't include pedals but it's another option on the table if you are interested in splashing the cash :).

I recommend to check ebay and any other buy/sell websites that you know if you're happy to buy used in case anyone who bought a nice sim rig or wheel and didn't like sim racing as much as they thought and are selling good kit for cheap. Happens more than you'd think!

Hopefully this helps somewhat and you can stay below that $500 mark.

Just a brief overview/summary of 3 main concepts to understand that can improve your car control & competitiveness in motorport games:

1. Weight Transfer
   • when accelerating, a bigger portion of the car's weight transfers rearward onto the back tires (squat) & off of the front tires
   • when braking/decelerating, a bigger portion of the car's weight transfers forward onto the front tires (dive) & off of the rear tires
   • when turning left, a bigger portion of the car's weight transfers laterally onto the right (outside) tires & off of the left (inside) tires
   • when turning right, a bigger portion of the car's weight transfers laterally onto the left (outside) tires & off of the right (inside) tires
   • when accelerating & turning simultaneously, a much bigger portion of the car's weight transfers onto the rear outside tire (which can sometimes cause a spin-out)
   • when braking/decelerating & turning simultaneously, a much bigger portion of the car's weight transfers onto the front outside tire (which can sometimes cause a spin and/or cause the car to plow straight through the turn off the track & into a wall)
   • oversteer (turning too much) & understeer (not turning enough) are usually caused by an imbalance of too much lateral weight transfer at one end of the car without enough corresponding lateral weight transfer at the opposite end of the car
   • cars with different engine placement (front-mounted, mid-engine, & rear-engine) and different powertrains (front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, & all-wheel drive) behave differently due to the engine's position & which wheels are powered influencing how the car reacts when weight transfers
   • changing a car's tuning settings is often done specifically to alter how a car behaves when weight transfers
   • your manipulation of the car's inputs while driving (throttle, brake, & steering), along with the car's configuration & setup, and the track's conditions, all affect when, where, how fast, & how much of the car's weight transfers
   
   
2. Tires & Grip
   Your car's ability to go anywhere depends entirely on the quality of the contact between the tires & the road. Each tire's ability to do what you want at a given time (grab traction while turning, slow your car under braking, and/or transfer engine power to the road when accelerating) is dependent upon things like:
   • the surface
   • the tire type/compound
   • the amount of surface contact area the tire has (contact patch)
   • temperatures
   • the forces pushing on the tire (vertically, laterally, & forward/momentum) in that moment
   • the amount of rotational engine power/torque going to the tire
   ...Too much or too little of anything (weight, heat, power, etc.) on a tire can greatly reduce (or completely eliminate) the tire's ability to perform.
   
   
3. The Racing Line
   The fastest path around a track, which, through each turn, includes things like:
   • braking point
   • turn-in point / corner entry
   • apex
   • track-out / corner exit
   
   Weight transfer, tires & grip, and the racing line are inter-related & all play into each other. Many challenges you might encounter with oversteer, understeer, grip, & lap times are caused by - and can therefore also be alleviated by - how your driving (when & how much throttle, braking, steering input you apply) and your car's setup affect the way weight transfers onto & off of your tires in an effort to keep more of your momentum flowing through the optimal path.
   
   Of course, this short list is not complete coverage, but just some quick nuggets to hopefully get you started & provide a taste of the types of topics involved in the study of high performance driving. If you feel like diving deeper into it, here are some links to more (& better) info:
   
   • DrivingFast.net
   • TurnFast.com
   • iRacing Racing School YouTube playlist
   • "Ultimate Speed Secrets: The Complete Guide to High-Performance and Race Driving" by Ross Bentley
   
   Good luck & have fun.

I know this is a bit over your budget but go with T300 RS wheel for $298 (maybe you can find it cheaper somewhere) and go with [Fanatec ClubSport V3 pedals] (https://www.fanatec.com/us-en/pedals/clubsport-pedals-v3-usa.html) for $299. IMHO, pedals are way more important than a wheel. I have Logitech G29 and I upgraded my pedals to Fanatec ClubSport V3 and omg, what a difference. It's so much more consistent and better with good set of pedals. Also, the feel of brakes and accelerator is so much more better and the clutch is somewhat 50% close to a real car, which is far better feel than any other set of pedals out there for this price category.

Hello fellow racers,

(TL;DR down below)

This build was done in over the course of two days and roughly 21 minutes. Mostly due to other obligations but some planning and testing was done.

The labels I printed myself on a DYMO LT-100H, I also ordered an off brand pack of extra colors to bring some life to the project. The “button box” is a ROTTAT 22-key Numeric Keypad and was the most expensive part of the project.

In the little time that I’ve used it so far I enjoy the mechanical nature of the keys. Since I wear headphones when I play I like that I can feel when I’ve pressed the key. It adds a little extra pizzazz if you will and gives it a seemingly heavier stroke. The biggest con is programming it to the game, some of the keys are not usable with num-lock on/off. So it took some thinking to determine what I would want for the different “states” that I could enable with the num-lock key.



TL;DR $48.26 if you already own scissors, it’s cool so far and I’m happy with it.

For nr 1 I am pretty sure Microsoft had a free floating steering wheel on Xbox 360.. Looked like two høns with triggers at the back, that you had to hold mid air and turn left or right.

It was pretty terrible!

https://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Wireless-Speed-Wheel/dp/B0050SY0L2

You may want to try something like this.

This transmits an ethernet signal to run over power lines in a home. The latency is usually much better than wifi and these work very well in most homes. Get one from a place with a good return policy and try it out.

Also I just picked the first one I saw to link, I'm not necessarily recommending that particluar one.

Yeah, I have my monitors mounted to my desk with this guy. It's stable enough, and has a super small footprint on the desk, which was important to me.

I used one of these for a long time until I got my rig. Folded the legs up and slide it under the couch when not in use. It was super stable.

Cosco 20" x 48" Vinyl Top Folding Table https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SY2RA7M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_D6vZzbWY9ASYB

sure thing, I'm in the UK so links are for UK shops

T300RS - you can choose your wheel too, little cheaper with GTE rim but ultimately the same wheel
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrustmaster-Official-Force-Feedback-wheel/dp/B00NOJJPZU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418413732&sr=8-1&keywords=t300rs

T3PA Pedals
http://shop.thrustmaster.com/en_gb/pc/t3pa.html

TH8A Stick - Out of stock just about everywhere at the minute but I pre-ordered at Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrustmaster-TH8A-Shifter-PS4-Xbox/dp/B005L0Z2BQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418413837&sr=8-1&keywords=th8a

or

http://shop.thrustmaster.com/en_gb/pc/th8a-shifter-add-on.html

Wheel Stand Pro - comes with all plates and mounts for everything above
http://wheelstandpro.com/products/wheel-stand-pro-for-thrustmaster-tx-racing-wheel-deluxe-v2

Total Cost
£571.46

Realistically however you can get away with just the wheel on its own clamped to as desk or something if budget is an issue. the pedals it comes with are ok but I had some foam down the back of the brake to add a little resistance

I think I speak for general opinion when I say the "best" wheel that balances features and price is the G27 ($250 on Amazon) h-gate plus sequential plus paddles, 3 pedals, etc. Want to spend less? Driving force gt ($100-$200ish, search new/used on amazon or ebay). A thousand(ish)? T500rs (plus optional shifter). Want to drop a couple grand? Check out the clubsport website.

EDIT: Grabbed my laptop, found some prices

Get the tmx pro with the better pedals and conical brake mod. On sale today for over 100.00 off!! https://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-VG-TMX-PRO-Racing-Wheel/dp/B01N9K9N33?th=1

I think I might try that Driving Force GT out after doing some research.. not too expensive, but not cheap either. This is the one you're speaking of right?

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-PlayStation-Driving-Force-Racing-3/dp/B0015HYPOO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1422286204&sr=1-1&keywords=Driving+force+gt

$9 shipped! What a deal. https://www.amazon.com/Numeric-Jelly-Comb-Portable-Computer/dp/B01E8TTWZ2/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=usb+number+pad&qid=1563428453&s=gateway&sr=8-3