Automatic, Manual, Clutch manual.. What's the difference? | Wreckfest

A short video today explaining the differences between gear options in Wreckfest, this is a fairly contested subject in wreckfest, some die by it, and some say it's pointless learning because it's not enough difference to actually make a difference, and then they get lapped.

[@Dunkelzeitgeist]

Just watched your full car review lists, loved it, I'm an absolute mad lad and strictly use half aids with manual clutch on a steering wheel, it's Hella hard but fun asf

[@Slakass55]

Wanted to thank you for posting this comparison as this has helped me greatly. Having two PCs with WF installed, one with a racing wheel the other with an Xbox joystick, I tend to use manual with the racing wheel (it has a handy gear selector beside the wheel) and when playing on the other PC with the controller I had been using it in auto, mostly for simplicity sake and also due it being a bit awkward using the buttons to switch gears. I know that in real life manual is not only faster and more economical, it’s also 1000x more fun, which is why all of our vehicles have a clutch. I was never competitive when using auto and hardly played online due to always being last. FYI I use the PC with the controller mostly as WF seems to be more suitable than with a racing wheel. However you have opened my eyes to the importance of not only using manual with the controller, but also using the clutch. To see if what you claim holds water I embarked on some extensive testing. I tried around 8 vehicles on the long oval track and followed the same line as best as possible, for a few laps. Tried this with the xbox controller in auto, manual, manual with clutch. And sure enough there is a clear penalty one pays for using auto. Not only does it go well into the red line before switching gears, the gear change is slow. My hours long testing showed that manual was definitely faster than auto. And manual with clutch was by far the fastest option. This is multiplied on snow, where you may want to switch to a higher gear earlier, in order to better control the car. Seeing how it's December and the Tournament is taking place in snow, I have far better car control (just as in real life when driving on snow). So for anyone reading this and wondering if it’s worth it to switch to manual with clutch, IT IS. That is, unless you don’t mind staying in the dust of others in online play. And as Slayer says, once you get used to it, it becomes natural - just like with a real vehicle. I made the switch last week and now I wouldn’t dream of driving in auto again. Still trying to get used to hand braking as it gets cramped with the controller, but working on it. I really enjoy your videos and they are a goldmine of great info. For anyone wanting to get faster in WF, I can’t recommend Slayer’s tutorials enough. Again, big thanks for your contribution to the community.

[@kijekuyo9494]

You're one of the few KZbinrs that actually gives advice for Wreckfest. I appreciate it. Is there a way to use a clutch when playing with steering wheel and only two pedals? It would cost me over $100 to get the third pedal. I like shifting (my first few real-life cars were all manuals), but I get equal or even better lap times with auto over manual/no clutch in Wreckfest.

[@slayerofmidgets3201]

I would stick to a button for clutch if I were you, something you can access with one hand while shifting with the other, maybe dpad, or paddles if you've got a seperate shifter, I have a driving force gt wheel which I play wreckfest with occasionally and it's really hard though, but I think that's how it's setup

[@levelup6243]

Just use UCR (universal control remapper) and vjoy to bind your gear up and gear down paddles to an analogue input on your virtual joystick. Then you can set clutch to that same analogue input in WF. That way you can just use the paddles, and the clutch will engage and disengage automatically when you shift up or down.

[@kijekuyo9494]

@@levelup6243 Will that reduce the delay in the shift time?

[@levelup6243]

@@kijekuyo9494 yes, gear changes will be the same as using manual with analogue clutch so will be pretty much instant

[@kijekuyo9494]

@@slayerofmidgets3201 Thanks for your response. In a real car, an advantage of a clutch is the ability to ease on the power while changing gears. Does the on-off nature of buttons still give an advantage when shifting in WF?

[@LandsPlanes]

Thanks for the video. Which setup is for you the faster?

[@drewndaberetta]

i mapped clutch to "X" and shift up to "O" and shift down to "square" i can press both clutch and up or down at the same time with my thumb. Do you think this method is on par with your analog clutch setup? or should i focus on learning the stick shifting to improve?

[@PurpleBossonius]

one biggest problem I see is, none of those mere fraction of seconds of advantage will matter, when you get shoved into a wall or pit maneuvered right off the start (trust me, it definitely happens in online lobby, even in so called "clean racing" servers

[@trava0477]

I've just started playing following your advices, but I noticed that if I race online, my ping (i play from ps4, my ping is not like a PC one) slows a lot the clutch. Like: everytime i'm changing gear and pressing the clutch, after I've actually changed the gear and simultaneously left the clutch, it goes anyway at limiter for like 0.200/0.300 seconds, losing time and positions. Can I fix it or it's my problem?

[@tecno4u31]

Which is the best setup?

[@slayerofmidgets3201]

Note that at 5:41 i overlay each lap with them labelled, automatic and manual are flipped, guess I got the laps mixed up

[@vjollila96]

im with wheel and pedals and use clutch shift with stick because it feels proper with these kind of cars I probably would also want to use cockpit cam but it puts me to disadvantage with chaotic game as wreckfest is

[@Gratitude6ixty9ine]

If you drive manual with clutch change the buttons to preset #9 and itll be just like forza RB clutch X shift down , B shift up

[@johncraib5777]

I can’t change my controls on ps5 there are only presets? Can u help me change it to custom and/or which preset is best to use? Thanks

[@slayerofmidgets3201]

I don't know anything about wreckfest on ps5, but if you're in online it should be in your difficulty settings, and if you're in single player go into a race and it'll be under difficulty again, if you mean actually binding a button to clutch then go into a race and pause, then go settings and controls, you can do the same on pc from the main menu if you go to misc, it'll be one over from the garage aside from that I have no idea what to suggest, I don't have, and have never played wreckfest on console

[@johncraib5777]

@@slayerofmidgets3201 thanks very much bro, I used preset 2 so L1 clutch and then square gear up x gear down and I’ve got the hang of it pretty quickly and the difference is noticeable for sure I change the clutch saturation and dead zone like you said also, love your content bro especially the wreckfest vids! You are the only person on KZbin giving worthwhile advice for wreckfest and your vids are well explained! Keep it up bro

[@retrosniperrus]

I use manual in all racing games if possible. Sometimes its safe to drive on 3rd gear while all crashed at 4 and 5

[@leweyhammy2512]

I find Left stick down for Clutch and X for gear up and Square for Down is fast easy and comfy

[@Slakass55]

And how do you steer??

[@dillon348]

Do you use stability control?

[@slayerofmidgets3201]

Yeah, if I'm in my super venom ill always have half, or full if I'm in higher classes, I only turn it off for fwd and when I'm feeling sketchy

[@dillon348]

Ok thanks! I always wondered if the fastest drivers where using it or not. Love your Channel man 👍🏼

[@samuelele]

I just wanna say that I have a pb of 1:18 on that track😉

[@bestertyp6087]

Why you dont just shift with automatic? I drive like that since the beginning and Iam still faster than everyone else.

[@slayerofmidgets3201]

I used to do that too, but there's a couple of issues with it, if you shift early it might shift back for you, which loses lots of time, even if you're in a better place to do so and you don't get the flatshift speed boost from clutch manual which is quite a lot faster, as you see in the video

[@bestertyp6087]

@@slayerofmidgets3201 I know. But you get used to it, to avoid it. Also when I got Bumped or Crash into a corner, I need 40 years to down Shift with manual. Thats annoying..

[@slayerofmidgets3201]

@@bestertyp6087 honestly I'm not really sure it's much faster at all in those situations, muscle memory puts me in second every time I get spun, and once I'm outta the spin I'm garunteed to be quicker than the opponents because clutch manual is just so much faster everywhere