Automobilista 2 Force Feedback - Overview & Recommendations

I am enjoying the New default FFB for the most part and think it feels better most of the time.
I have a couple of issues with it however.

Firstly, the FFB seems to reverse when tires leave the ground. I have experienced this in every car i'v driven since the update although more noticeable in certain cars. Seems to happen more regularly in lower downforce cars, particularly stiff cars like the SuperV8 and Sprint Car, but also can be felt on formula cars if you hit a big curb or leave the track and go bouncing through a gravel trap.

My other issue with it may be more personal or wheel related.
With the old default, although i found it quite loose or sloppy around the center, and felt it lacking in road detail, i did feel like i had more ability to catch slides. My instinctive reactions (guided by the FFB) were generally fairly accurate in both counter steering and in straightening the wheel at the correct time. With the New default i can still balance the throttle and steering on corner exits nicely, but when i do over step the mark and need to counter steer more then a small amount, say around 45 degrees rotation, i find my counter steering still to be satisfactory but and i am almost always late or just inaccurate with the straightening of the wheel. This issue I am struggling with now, i didn't even think of with the old default, it just felt natural.
I can only assume it is something with the FFB or at least it's interaction with my T500

 

I can confirm that I have the same issue when using New Default. You hit a bump, curb or rise and the FFB literally pulls the opposite way momentarily. I thought perhaps it was something I'd done since I've been messing with the custom FFB all weekend, but apparently not.

 

Also confirmed, and it happen to me also sometimes just when the car and track appear right after hitting the "Start' button. the car seems to "land" from few centimeters on the ground so the wheel goes violently full right or full left, far beyond the real lock of the car.

 

It’s changed, but IMO for the better. I still find it heavy-ish but it feels more lively now, like you can chuck it around a bit more than you used to be able to. All this is just subjective, but my laptimes have also improved

Also, I am loving this new FFB, I have a T150 set at 70/55/40 and it feels excellent (mainly tried the Super V8 so far).

 

FFB Top

 

I absolutely love the FFB, the cars feel amazing and are an absolute delight to drive. I find myself not even racing but just hotlapping. I've lost count of the number of times I've been so zoned into the car and track that I accidentally run out of fuel .

That in my opinion is a sign of a great sim...or an idiot XD.

However I do have a slight niggle with regards to straight line forces (no steering input) and I guess it's more noticeable because some of the feeling I'm missing is present in AMS1.
It seems that unless I apply a slight steering input on the straights, I barely feel any changes in road surface like bumps/undulations etc. I also find it doesn't matter whether I'm doing 160km/h or 290km/h, the slight FFB from bumps I have is constant and doesn't seem to scale with speed.

I'm not expecting the car to shake itself to pieces at high speed but I would expect in a relatively high DF car such as the AJR, that any rise or drop in the road surface would be more pronounced at greater speed whether you're turning or not.

It could be a very small deadzone with my wheel or it could be related to the physics somewhere. It just feels like there's no other loads affecting the car's tyres at speed other than it's own mass, unless there's steering input applied, no matter how slight.

It's a small niggle and to be honest most tracks are full of turns so it's not an issue but if more familiar bigger tracks arrive in the future, then perhaps this may become more noticeable.

Does anyone else experience this?

Aside from that I find it great and having a blast, almost 150 hours already

 

What wheel are you on Gordie? There's a minimum force setting available in the custom FFB file now, so it might be worth having a play with that to see if it helps with your central "deadzone". It defaults to 0.01 so 1%.

Bloody hell. I thought I had a lot! I'm only on 55 which is nothing compared to you...

 

I'm using a CSW 2.5 but I'm only assuming it's a deadzone as one of the reasons.
Do you know what I mean though, in comparison to AMS1. It's like if the track is slightly banked on one side, maybe only a degree or two, I'd expect to feel that push/pull effect on the wheel as per AMS1.
Do you feel those effects?
I've tried the minimal force but for me it just seems to amplify vibration/shock/bump forces but might give it another try.
Yeah, can't stop driving this, feels so good, lockdown laps

 

Different wheel (more different than one might imagine), but I had this same issue. Tried the min force and then got rid of it for the same reason as you. I was able to dial-out the issue with rebalancing of sliders. For me, after a trip around the world of different settings, I just needed to add a decent dollop of FX and leave all else alone compared to what had been optimized for 0.8.4. That may or may not work for you, but I suspect there will be settings that work. If you go towards the low end on FX and/or LFB, you risk exaggerated swings in forces, which includes the "sort-of-dead zone" in the middle.

 

Yeah I'll have a play with the settings some more. It feels great though in general, perhaps I'm over analysing it and looking for something that isn't implemented.

 

What are your ffb settings?

 

TS-PC Racer
New FFB profile (in game setting).
Please check out my config and leave your opinions.

In game setting:
GAIN: 43
LFB: 2
FX: 50
MSS: 1

In Windows TMaster menù setting:
Master Gain Setting: 60 (default)
Constant: 100 (default)
Periodic: 100 (default)
Spring: 75 (this reduces the "rubbery" rebound effect of the suspension from right to left)
Damper: 95 (little more direct movement on the sterring wheel)

Not much heavy, but you can feel all the road informations and you're able to "join" the
countersteering, without loose car control.

P.S.
remember to try this with the right tire temperature.

 

I'm currently using,
Gain: 76
LFB: 15-20
FX: 65

 

Hi Mate,
So I think I know what you mean and I know DD1 one isnt the same but it might be quite close in terms of settings etc. I can actually feel the ondulations etc. on the road and it scales with speed here. I made a quick video of a low speed FFB while going straight and not holding it (with a slight nudge into the corner), as soon as I accelerate more, it is MUCH more violent, I wouldnt be able to let go.

I do like it fairly strong, the Brands Hatch downhill T1 peaks my DD1 to about 15Nm in the Ultima.
This is on "new default" with 68 / 5-10 / 15 , so fairly low effects and lows compared to you? I dont use any damping or spring in Fanatec settings, only natural friction to make the steering less light when no high force is applied.

 

This happens especially with the MCR and Caterham 620R I’ve noticed

 

Thanks for that bud, that's interesting as I don't get that with my wheel, I get the initial feedback but then it's constant unless I add steering. What I have found with low LFB and low FX is that I get no tyre scrub or vibration when locking up. Too much LFB and I lose the feel from the rear so a higher FX with low LFB seems the right balance for this wheel.

I'll continue to adjust settings, thought I had it nailed too.

I'm going to end up buying a direct drive at some point now though xD

 

I was actually trying to decide between CSW and DD1. Coming from T300, in the end opted for DD as I liked sim racing enough to "make use" of the investment. I know a lot of people say the wheel doesnt matter much, but man coming from T300 there is absolutely no way I would drive anything else other than DD agian, it is literally night and day difference in the details and power its able to produce. Especially if you already have some CSW rims, DD1 might be a slightly "cheaper" option I only use club sport rims and they do fine.

 

I also feel this lack of FFB when going straight, the same bump take in curve or straight have a really different feedback (Kyalami T1 for example). I tried to play with minimum force 0.01 to 0.08 (my T500RS have a 8% deadzone) and didn't feel it react like I expect, at least compared to all other sims. With AMS2 it create lot of vibrations even at low speed, shock, etc. Not sure it work as intended...

Edit: Thinking out loud, possibly it's the engine vibration in FX which overreact to this push of the minimum force.

 

Ok so I did some testing and think I got the feeling too now, thanks for that !

Anyway, after testing custom/old/new I ended up playing with sliders.
When I set everything to 0, this was much more apparent. As soon as I go straight (especially in open wheelers) its super light and slight touch of the wheel makes the texture of the road suddenly "explode". So I did it the other way, set LFB to 80 and wow. Suddenly straight line road texture was felt more than in turns!

So with my DD1 I settled on 45 LFB (FX still around 10-15). Can someone test this on CSW? Im not sure what else could LFB change or if there are any negative effects but this really helped this deadzone feeling and suddenly the open wheelers feel a bit heavier which is great. Not sure what it does to the other cars though.

EDIT:
Ok so I paid a bit more attention and settled on 35 LFB, this feels like an almost perfect match of road feel between center and turning. Even Ultima is awesome and it didnt make it heavier (damped). Some modern Formula cars still feel generally light below 200kph but I dont know whether thats intenional maybe.

Thanks Gordie for bringing this up, I may have otherwise never played with this
Not sure if you would have the same results, definitely worth a test reducing FX even to 0 and bumping LFB up a lot

 

Oops, sorry about that
I think that's the right thing to do, find the balance in LFB and settle with it. From what I've noticed increasing LFB also increases/scales FX so what you have there is most likely a good balance between both.
I'll test it on the CSW but I fear I'll end up going round in circles and then on Friday/Saturday we'll get another update to FFB and have to start again, not that I mind of course, can't think of a better way to suppress my boredom atm