the car was doing—in control or out, the wheel response was very believable. It was quite interesting to finally feel what it feels like in Forza when the tires on the Viper go too far beyond the region of grip—you could literally feel the transition from controlled forward motion, to the immediate need for wheel input. And even though the wheel was designed with Forza in mind--much like the DFP was Logitech’s contribution to the beauty of Gran Turismo 4—what I was feeling from it was still difficult to believe. But there was no question—Forza became a completely new game, and with its accurate physics, erratic wheel inputs will quickly lead to disaster. So far, so good. I unpacked the wheel, and began to examine the goods, so to speak. The wheel itself is well designed, and has a good feel to it. All of the XBOX controller buttons are represented, with the exception of the analog sticks. The analog stick buttons are present, however. The pedal unit is a nice surprise—I have yet to have the
—REFERENCE CARD. The documentation package includes a well produced reference card, detailing each setting and its function. The reverse side of the card explains how to alter each parameter of the wheel to the users’ preference. There are also four preset wheel configurations—many more can be found at Fanatec’s web site.
unit slip around, and the brake pedal has a spring that feels about twice as strong as the spring in the gas pedal, a nice touch and further along toward the goal of ‘believability’. A decent manual, detailing the important features of the wheel is also included. In a nice gesture by Fanatec, the manual can be freely downloaded at their site (http://www.fanatec.com/) for those interested may take a look for themselves without parting with a single dime. —FANATEC BUTTONS. The game pad is well represented, albeit without the analog capability of the L and R sticks. The ‘stick buttons’ are there as well as some very nice F1 style shifter paddles.
AUTOSIMSPORT – Volume 1 – Number 6
Plugging everything in was a snap— the wheel connects to the XBOX controller port, the pedals connect to the wheel, and the included power supply must also be plugged into the wheel. During power up, the wheel will automatically self calibrate by turning itself to the left and right extremes of motion. The wheel offers lap mount or table mount use options, and I opted for the table mount—I just don’t have a lot of lap to spare… Since I had been playing Forza quite a bit, I naturally started there. I selected the S3 default wheel setup as it has been specifically programmed for the game. In my opinion, it was the best driving experience I have had to date on the XBOX—with a transformation just this side of miraculous, the Speedster 3 is the answer to the prayers of those who have dreamed of a decent wheel solution for the XBOX, at least as far as Forza is concerned. As I switched cars in the game, the differing physics 12