Manual Gears

I use a joypad with manual gears. If i'm not on manual then it feels like i'm not doing anything with the game, just accelerating and breaking which gets boring. Being able to downshift/upshift when and how you want adds quite a bit of speed - about 1 second in F1 2010 - making you more competitive with AI and doing TT.

+1. I play Forza 3 with manual gears on the Xbox with a pad. I agree that gears + clutch with a pad is near immpossible, but I have no problem with using my right thumb to switch gears.
 
Had been using auto gears with PS3 controller on F1 2010 (PC) but as SPARC said it's much more rewarding when using manual. Took me quite a while to get a decent rhythm but its all about really getting to know the circuit inside out and doing plenty of laps. Obviously a wheel is much more intuitive as its just like driving but don't have the space at the moment.
 
one thing you need to understand about gears is that each gear has a speed range
1st 0-30km
2nd 20-60km
3rd 50-90km
4th 80-130km
5th 120-180km

this is hypothetical since this changes from car to car. ie a peugeot 205 may be 20-60km range in 2nd gear whereas a ferrari could be 40-90km. you will need to familairaize yourself with the car you are using to understand what the power bands are.

in racing games change gear just before you reach it's limit. ie when the rpm needle gets into the red. some cars will allow you to go a few hundred rpm more. anyway you will hear the engine make a distinct noise at it is at it's max. the idea is to gear up just before that point.

for braking you want to reduce gears gradually to make the most of engine brake to help better breaking. if you downshift too quickly you will hear the gears make a high pitch noise. this is not ideal and in real life, you would damage the transmission. ie dont go into 1st if you are cornering at 60km, you should be in 2nd or 3rd depending on the car.

when you get familiar yourself with this then you can tune and change the gear ratios. ie make them longer so you reach higher top speed (drawback is less acceleartion, but important on tracks with long straights ie Indy 500)) or lower the gear ratio where you never reach that top speed on a track and never get to use 7th gear (ie Monaco)

dont buy a wheel just yet, learn to do this with controller. it's easy. can't understand those that say it's too hard for a controller? not that many buttons to use in racing games (most important are accelerate, brake, steer, gear up and down - unless one feels that windshield wipers, horns, and headlights are used a lot :P)

anyway practice, practice and you will get better - and you will crush the times with an auto tranny.
 
Thanks for the info.
Would you mind examining the video because I think a pro like some of you on ocuk are could really tell me what I'm doing wrong.
 
Shifting up to early and to fast and shifting down to fast.


this

you are a lot in 3rd at 4000rpm, you should be in a lower gear -> 2nd. you should shift up when the needle gets to about 6800-7000rpm.

the thing is on dirt/sand/snow tracks sometimes you want lower revs to increase traction and reduce wheel spin ;) but all other times push it to the red. basically you should be or close to the red rpm range as much as possible. you are racing push that engine for max performance
 
A good budget wheel is the Logitech Momo. Just bought myself a mint condition one off eBay for £43 delivered. Makes a world of difference. Manual gears with the paddles is such good fun. There isn't much in the way of rotation, but it's 1/5 the price of a G27, and in my opinion, it isn't 1/5 of the quality so...
 
I thought that some of the shifts were short shifts which I heard somewhere was good to do sometimes.
If you are playing a game which involves single seater racing like F12010 a short shift can sometimes be good but good throttle control would be better than short shifting.
 
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