I Stopped Using High FFB in SimRacing!

There is always a lot of controversial around the perfect FFB settings. This is my take and why I am using quite the low FFB strength.
In the end it's your own preference so use what YOU feel most comfortable with!
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#SimRacing #ForceFeedback #iRacing

Many people believe that increasing FFB strength is increasing the amount of texture you can feel. This is a partial truth. You can only get as much texture as the signal (game, system and algorithm) is available. Increase in FFB makes the signal more apparent but its does not give you more signal or more texture (bit rate) if none is available. What high NM wheels do give you are higher peeks without the saturation that you get with lower wheels. It's a balance, and exploring both the high and low side of FFB is important.

[@kinsellakp]

Ultimately you will probably end up playing around what a CSL dd outputs. Especially if you are driving long stints and trying to get a bunch of practice in. Anything higher than about 8nm is hard to do for 4 or 5 hours. Also unless you're specifically driving vintage stuff or non f1 open wheelers, all modern cars have power steering and output 8nm or less to the steering wheel.

[@m4dalex478]

I have been thinking about this for quite some time now. The idea is that you need to find a balance between keeping unnecessary information out of your FFB (Like harmless road bumps) and keeping useful information in your FFB like the rear end starting to step out, or understeer. Lowering the FFB and using damping and inertia will help you, but it is always about finding the balance. Only lowering the FFB has not been enough for me to get the FFB I want. It always depends on your wheelbase and personal preference, but in the end of the day, you want to have the confidence that you can react on time and accurately when something does go wrong and also not struggle coming out of bumpy and/or high load corners. If you struggle and react to not useful information you are indeed slower.

[@MoritzLoehner]

Couldn’t have said it any better! ☝🏻

[@randomcallsign]

invaluable

[@slowinfastout]

I have always tried to find a FFB setting that best represents the real deal. So not too strong but also not too weak as modern race cars mostly have power steering. However, i recently increased my ffb and i found even more detail in the steering as before. I guess that is and always will be individual liking

[@WaskiLP]

So your telling me my 8NM CSL DD is absolutely fine and I shouldn't tell myself that I need to F my bank account for a high end DD?!😂

[@MoritzLoehner]

Yes and no. The CSL DD is very good but it won’t give you the details a DD can. Although I have it turned down quite a lot due to the bigger range of the VRS DD it displays more details in better accuracy.

[@hugov836]

@@MoritzLoehner Agree. I recently went from CSL DD to VRS and even at 8 Nm there's a huge difference between them, much bigger than I ever imagined it could be.

[@WaskiLP]

Well, rip my christmas money then :D

[@kinsellakp]

​@@WaskiLPKeep in mind that everyone that will tell you that their new 2k dd base was 10x better than their csl dd. Is also justifying to themselves that they spent 2k. I have a DD1 and my friend has a CSL DD at 8nm I can't tell them apart. He runs his motor at 80% most of the time mine is

[@Max__apex]

I went from csl dd to a high end DD WITH 22nm….. the 8nm you should be flying and you will not be flying if ur not quick. Going to 15nm will not make u faster. Maybe 0.2 seconds maximum but once u get up to then 0.1-0 seconda

[@daytto79]

it is not the FFb that must be lowered, but the speed of increasing the clipping to reduce violent jolts

[@yanushkowalsky1402]

I agree completely. I drive thrustmaster t150 on daily basis so I didn't really have a choice of strong ffb anyway. Later when I tried CSL DD 8nm I didn't like the fact that I need to struggle with the wheel for no benefit of the laptime. I use ffb to find the optimal grip but setting ffb too high makes it hard to smoothly react. I tuned down 8nm to 45% and it allowed me to drive aggressively in mazda.

[@myweirdtaste8090]

When I'm mastering a mix I go for relatively low monitoring level. When i wanna dance in the discothek to the song I mixed, i enjoy it loud.I guess being an e-sport sim racer at work I'd go for the lower volume.

[@twistedbdo5755]

I use low ffb because I'm weak (seriously)

[@hugov836]

What smoothing and slew rate do you use in VRS? And are you still on 0/0/0 filter wise? Thanks for the excellent advice and explanation!

[@MoritzLoehner]

No smoothing, slew rate is on performance.

[@wbeel]

Im using a moza r5, the force is perfect for me. Only reason I want a higher base is to prevent clipping in high load corners

[@KeithSSV]

I currently use a r5 the nm is perfect for me also but I just purchased a alpha mini for more head room.

[@seoskimi5872]

Which game? It was only getting hot and sometimes clipping in ACC. In rfactor 2 it doesn't clip in corners even on high ffb settings (config file adjusted to 5.5nm)

[@wbeel]

@@seoskimi5872 acc, ac and f123 Not that much clipping in acc, more in ac and f1 games

[@LyroLife]

I use like 3-5 %

[@zzmadd]

That's basically like 75/80% of a 10nm wheel. I'd like to upgrade to a powerful wheel but just to use it at 40%. away from clipping and heating, enjoying the cleanest of the signals.

[@ArconianSims]

How do you get 75-80%? The game should deliver 34Nm of force to reach 8nm with Moritz's settings. I don't think that GT4s with power steering require such forces. It's probably 20-25 Nm in VERY high load corners.

[@DanielOliverRacing]

is it a good idea to maybe turn up the kerb and/or other effects in lower ffb wheels? I had someone tell me this recently too. I actually had my wheels so strong - as much as possible to not clip, but someone whos driven certain cars irl had me turn it down to be more realistic but i feel ive lost some of the detail..

[@JohnnyEMatos]

I stop lowering it only if I lose essential signals

[@jinglesmcgee7256]

after I saw Owen Caryl with the wrong settings (non-linear) with his DD base I laughed but I have tendinitis and tried it with lower FFB and now I just drive my SC Pro with like 9.5Nm and non-linear and get all the detail I need to feel the limit of the LMP3 where it would have to be jacked to feel what the hell the car was doing on the limit before

[@hugov836]

Where did you see Owen Caryl using non-linear? I had to use non-linear with Fanatec 8 Nm but don't find it necessary with VRS, even at something like 8-10 Nm. Then there's also a linearity setting in the VRS software, which I think is available in SC as well, not only iRacing.

[@jinglesmcgee7256]

​​⁠​​⁠whenever he showed his settings we laughed at them because of that setting and some other stuff. He said he tried to go linear and just felt nothing so never went to linear. Makes sense. @@hugov836

[@dedge12858]

Welcome to G29 life.

[@Smoked_Cheddar]

I use FFBclip in assetto corsa. Game changer for my g29

[@dedge12858]

@@Smoked_Cheddar Oh, interesting. Will look that up. Thanks!

[@sholaxfpv]

I dont think so … In RL for example u have no power steering in F3 or indycar… I tested a lot and iam driving better on the limit with the high ffb (using VRS DD since 3 years now)

[@PeterBee911]

Makes sense! Although, won't it prevent you from feeling the rear stepping out?

[@MoritzLoehner]

It's not completely off. I still feel absolutely everything just not that it pushes my steering wheel towards one side without me being able to hold against it.

[@wbeel]

Tell that to the g29 users ;)

[@mattiqe1484]

I want to try this and I have a question. Should I just lower FFB gain in game? (Acc in my case) or also change something in the profile? Im using Moza r9

[@MoritzLoehner]

Lower it in game

[@mattiqe1484]

@@MoritzLoehner got it, thanks for the answer

[@doot6516]

bro what? am i doing something wrong? 85nm seems high af lmfaO

[@Max__apex]

That’s 85nm mapped on to 20nm …… so real force of 15nm from car will be 15x 20/85 which is about 3.5nm normally conrneting force

[@LaJiahao]

Man's muscles are gonna shrink 😂

[@phenrysmueller3597]

But "chilling" is not racing and the mass of the car is lost with low ffb. everyone can use what he wants but i need 50 - 60 % of my Podium FFB for real feelings.

[@MoritzLoehner]

You achieve your best performance when you are relaxed, literally. Doesn’t matter if it’s in the real car or in the sim. If you want realistic steering wheel behavior in GT cars then a low amount of FFB is realistic. But in real life you get more feeling via the arse so in the sim you have to get it through the steering wheel and if that means you need higher FFB for yourself then that’s perfectly fine as well.

[@phenrysmueller3597]

@@MoritzLoehner Of course it's a matter of practice, but the few times I've been on the real racetrack so far I've never been relaxed. Even online I can't say that I'm relaxed about it, even though I've been racing online since GTR1...

[@hugov836]

​@@phenrysmueller3597He likely means "relaxed" in the same way a boxer is "relaxed". Relaxed, precise and snappy. Being tense is rarely recommended anywhere, if ever at all.

[@Aro3o6]

low ffb direct drive is like a monitor with high refresh rate low resolution, imo. dd wheels doesnt have to be crazy with ffb strength, i think its more to make use of its insane response

[@MoritzLoehner]

Even if I don't use all of the strength a good DD still can give you more details even if the forces are not that strong in general.

[@paulyskidda387]

12nm is the sweet spot