Widescreen Gaming Forum

As for H shifters and clutches, it depends what type of games you play. Most of the more popular SIMs now support it and even some arcade SIM hybrids, but arcade specific and/or older titles often don't. Honestly though, most don't buy a $300 wheel set unless they're hardcore into SIMs, but some spend that much because they don't like how crappy the pedal pots are on the $100 sets.

I'm not really into the very accurate sim's. Games wise I love the likes of Forza, I'm looking forward to playing NFS:Shift when I get around to it. I like the realism factor, but I like it to come along with shiny new graphics and a good feeling of speed.

EDIT: I've just read that NFS:Shift and and GT5 both support the clutch... that's pretty interesting to know!!

This time next year I'll be looking into getting a Lotus Exige to replace my car. I'd like to get a bit more experience with my car first though, before moving onto something as quick as the Lotus.

Yea, Lotus is a pretty sweet car at the cost of Comfort and Safety if you get mowed down by a SUV/Truck/Semi(aka Lorry) because of the fiberglass body and Aluminum frame it isn't the strongest, also sorta expensive but they depreciate so fast by people realizing the pain to get in and out of them =P, now its just a matter of can I fit in one (6'4" - 1.93m) Not horrible milage either, exige is something like 22MPG, I sorta like the Porsche Cayman S also 300HP, 22MPG also, EVO gets like 18

Those club racing ones look really nice, my Momo is decent, it isn't as precise as I would like and the force feedback is a bit finicky which is a bit annoying.

Yea, Lotus is a pretty sweet car at the cost of Comfort and Safety if you get mowed down by a SUV/Truck/Semi(aka Lorry) because of the fiberglass body and Aluminum frame it isn't the strongest, also sorta expensive but they depreciate so fast by people realizing the pain to get in and out of them =P, now its just a matter of can I fit in one (6'4" - 1.93m) Not horrible milage either, exige is something like 22MPG, I sorta like the Porsche Cayman S also 300HP, 22MPG also, EVO gets like 18

Those club racing ones look really nice, my Momo is decent, it isn't as precise as I would like and the force feedback is a bit finicky which is a bit annoying.

Yeah they say the aluminum frame is pretty strong, but because of the height of the thing, you really don't want to end up going underneath a truck as your head will be around the height of their bumper...

Comfort isn't a massive issue for me, I don't commute to work (i walk!) so it'll just be for track use and odd road trip. Based on UK petrol, I should do better than with my current Fiesta. The fiesta gets around 34mpg on motorways, while the Lotus gets upwards of 40mpg (so long as you keep below that camshaft change threshold).

The Cayman S is very nice too but I've always had a thing for Lotus cars, ever since I had Lotus Turbo Challenge II on my Amiga when I was 8 :).

They seem to keep the value well on the used market. I certainly wouldn't buy a new one though!

I'm only 5'8" so fitting in there shouldn't be a problem :)

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Yeah I think the games can be very handy to get a feel for a track. It was pretty useful going over the Nurburgring in Forza 2 before actually tackling it in real life (even more useful is that Forza helps you with the racing lines too, which was handy in some of the more tricky corners). That said, remembering 13 miles of track wasn't really possible the first time round!

What sort of car are you using at the moment?
(Here's a quick pic of mine from Nurburg http://www.nurburgringphotos.com/details.php?gid=20090815&sgid=&pid=48190)

The Esprit is my all time favorite car too :). I'd love to get the Esprit V8 SE, but I fear it would cost far too much to run, and I think I'd feel guilty throwing it around a track knowing that there aren't too many of them around! I think the Exige would be a good choice as there really isn't anything on there that isn't needed. I think I would invest in a rollcage though....

I was using my normal road tires, some Pirelli P-Zero Nero's. They were £100 a wheel and I wore the front two out, and wore the rears down too (my car is front wheel drive so the fronts took the worst of it!). It was a little annoying as I'd only bought them not long before, just for road use.

I'm looking forward to playing NFS:Shift when I get around to it. I like the realism factor, but I like it to come along with shiny new graphics and a good feeling of speed.

Well I've been able to play some of Shift, unfortunately it started crashing after entering any race after a while, so I may have to wait until I build a better system to finish it. The car handling and graphics are far more realistic than in any other NFS title, but the game overall is far from realistic.

Though it's not a very accurate SIM as you put it, it does throw wreckless arcade elements in with somewhat SIM-like handling, which has many players frustrated. The main thing is whether you consider it fun to play or not, but you may want to try the demo before you buy.

[quote]I'm looking forward to playing NFS:Shift when I get around to it. I like the realism factor, but I like it to come along with shiny new graphics and a good feeling of speed.

Well I've been able to play some of Shift, unfortunately it started crashing after entering any race after a while, so I may have to wait until I build a better system to finish it. The car handling and graphics are far more realistic than in any other NFS title, but the game overall is far from realistic.

Though it's not a very accurate SIM as you put it, it does throw wreckless arcade elements in with somewhat SIM-like handling, which has many players frustrated. The main thing is whether you consider it fun to play or not, but you may want to try the demo before you buy.

With a NFS game I didn't really expect realistic handling, but the game looks like it's got the tracks spot on. Afterall, who expected an NFS game to be realistic?

I've downloaded the demo for my 360 last night so I'll give it a shot when I'm home from work!

Yea, when I play NFS games I take the realism with a large grain of salt. For instance in most wanted, a fat Lambo had a tighter turning radius and better handling than an equally specced elise...

The lotus can really get 40MPG? granted its your mpg, for me it would be like 33 which is what I expected it would get if you didn't push it.. EPA says like 23 or something combined city and highway, but they include running AC and probably running 4 second acceleration times instead of a more realistic time, so 33 is probably possible (sounds like second cam is at 4.5krpm.

Practicality is like none with its trunk that is like as big as a sheet of paper ;)

One thing I like about the cayman over the carerra is that it has the standard porsche front trunk, but also a back trunk because the engine is infront of the back wheels and basically right behind the front seats.

http://i.pbase.com/v3/57/440357/2/49478421.TrunkfromOutside.jpg

Yea, when I play NFS games I take the realism with a large grain of salt. For instance in most wanted, a fat Lambo had a tighter turning radius and better handling than an equally specced elise...

The lotus can really get 40MPG? granted its your mpg, for me it would be like 33 which is what I expected it would get if you didn't push it.. EPA says like 23 or something combined city and highway, but they include running AC and probably running 4 second acceleration times instead of a more realistic time, so 33 is probably possible (sounds like second cam is at 4.5krpm.

Practicality is like none with its trunk that is like as big as a sheet of paper ;)

One thing I like about the cayman over the carerra is that it has the standard porsche front trunk, but also a back trunk because the engine is infront of the back wheels and basically right behind the front seats.

http://i.pbase.com/v3/57/440357/2/49478421.TrunkfromOutside.jpg

I've always thought the US economy ratings were a bit strange, I'm really not sure how they're measured. It must be a lot more than just the octane rating. I know over here the mpg ratings are best case scenario, and you'd have to work very hard to get those kind of ratings, I guess they stress the cars a bit more for a more realistic rating.

That said, if I'm trying to save petrol, I drive in an entirely different way!

I was talking to a guy with an Exige Cup at the Nurburgring and I said I managed to get 38mpg on my way down (which I was very impressed with!), and he said he'd managed over 45! You're talking motorway driving there though, lots of constant cruising (it's still only a 1.8 engine in a light car so it wouldn't surprise me too much).

I agree about the Cayman, the mid-engined layout helps the handling a lot, much better than that unwieldy rear engined 911. Lots of tuners claim the Cayman can be far quicker than the 911, but Porsche refuse to acknowledge it, and in many racer, refuse to give drivers any support when they choose to use a Cayman instead of a 911. I'd still love a GT3 RS though :).

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