More Force RS

Foot Feel

The pedals on this thing are the stiffest that I have felt, stiffer than on many real cars as well. The clutch travel is shorter than what you may be used to on a real car, but most programs only see the clutch as a simple on or off; World Sports Cars and Motor City Online will be the first to support the full analog range of the clutch. The assembly for these pedals is also huge and heavy, so it won't be slipping away from you easily. The stock pedals are your traditional two-pedal setup. In contrast to the rotational motion of the other pedals, it has an almost linear motion as the radius of the axis of rotation is greater than the other wheels. The motion, unfortunately isn't very smooth compared to the optional clutch model.

Different Overlays available

The included pedals

The leather wrapped wheel is nice, but the leather feels a little cheap and the wheel looks like it came straight out of Interstate '76. This is where technology really shines through however; the belt driven mechanism (the same type of system used in professional driving simulators) makes for a very progressive and smooth force feedback feel. The action of the force feedback is silent, and the heft of the wheel provides great stability when you are carving through the turns. Moreover, while most force feedback wheels are limited to around 210 degrees of motion, the Force RS has 270 degrees.

You'll need to heel-toe

Strong clutch resistance

What a difference an analog clutch makes

To be honest, I initially thought the clutch and shifter were gimmicks at best, but I was wrong. The addition of the clutch and shifter make driving much more realistic and fun. It takes you away from the age-old "floor the accelerator and ignore the brake" driving technique and back to really considering what you are doing with your feet while racing. Act-Labs's software is also top-notch allowing you to enable "on/off" clutch functionality and direct shifting in nearly every popular and not-so-popular racing game.

Unfortunately, the biggest disadvantage of the Act-Labs wheel is that it doesn't yet support the PS2 and Gran Turismo 3, which is arguably the best game that integrates force feedback. Given the upgrade packs that are available, we expect this to change in the near future.