Act Labs Clutch Perf Pedals & GPL Shifter Review April 08, 2002 Alan Dang

Introduction

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While the PC racing community is smaller than first person shooter community, PC racers are no less demanding when it comes to hardware and their desire for the best. As PC racing games are returning to the mainstream again, we can take advantage of force feedback steering wheels that were once only toys for the most dedicated racers. Today we’ll be looking at a unique upgrade for PC racing, Act-Labs’ exotic Clutch Performance Pedals and GPL USB Shifter.

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Why Manual?

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The Real-World

For anyone driving in a metropolitan city with stop-and-go traffic, it’s infinitely more practical to go with an automatic transmission. In the gaming world, everything is different. We’re not looking to simulate our daily routine, but instead satisfy our need for speed. The actual process of shifting and thinking when to shift gets you much more immersed in any racing game. The tendency to just stand on the gas is immediately gone as you practice your double clutching shifts. As you enter a corner you are thinking about being in the appropriate gear so you have enough power to pull you out of the turn. All this makes for a greater emotional attachment to the game.

With this in mind, Act Labs developed its direct shifter upgrade for the Force RS setup back in 1999. Based upon consumer demand, they later developed the GPL Shifter which is an independent USB controller for use with any steering wheel of your choice. The primary limitation of this setup in general is the lack of visceral feedback compared to a real manual transmission car. You don’t get the sudden jerk of an ill-timed shift or the stutter of and shaking of the car when your clutch release isn’t quite so smooth. You don’t get the sensation of your car slipping on a steep San Francisco hill as you struggle to control three pedals with only two feet. That said, the Act Labs setup can be used to tune your mindset into one for driving a manual transmission car. For simulations it would be hard to find anything better than this.

Is Manual Really Better?

In real life we know that manual transmission cars tend to be faster. The reasons for this are multiple: manual transmissions tend to be lighter, have less power train loss, more gear ratios, and quicker inter-gear shifts than their automatic counterparts. These advantages often are not paralleled in games, so you may not always get those faster lap times with the manual shifter versus just using a tiptronic style method of shifting. Actually some of the best transmissions in real cars are the sequential manual transmissions that use a clutch… and continuously variable transmissions are catching up. If you think about it, the technology of the manual transmission is nowhere near as advanced as the automatics of today. The real reason manual transmissions remain popular is that they help to involve the driver, making driving an activity in itself not merely a means to get from point A to B.

Logically the next question that follows is how this manual shifter and wheel can benefit you. Beyond the obvious bragging rights, even your old car racing games will take along a greater level of realism and excitement. Not surprisingly your initial lap times may be slower but that only reminds you of how little you were involved in the game. Coordinating both hands and both feet in a racing environment is more difficult that it appears.

SIDEBAR: The Lancer Evolution VII is coming out to the United States next year.

GPL Shifter

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Shifter Performance

The resistance of the shifter is about average compared to a real car with average throw lengths. You can actually replace the shift knob with one that may more accurately reflect your personality, just like you can in your own car. Just as we have five speed manuals as well as six speed manual transmissions, Act-Labs shifters can be adapted with a few shifter gates that range from the simple two-gate tiptronic style to the complex seven gears plus reverse that you may find on the World Rally Circuit. Out of the box, the GPL Shifter is equipped with a metal 7-gear + reverse layout and two plastic overlays for a 6 gear+reverse and tiptronic setup. The 6 gear overlay pops off a bit too easily for our tastes, but the tiptronic setup works well. There’s no reason why you can’t play a 4-gear game out of the box, those of you who insist on a more aesthetically pleasing 4+R or 5+R setup can get new steel plates for an additional $6 each.

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Clutch Performance Pedals

Act-Labs helps to increase your level of involvement by making the pedals rather stiff with a realistic amount of pedal travel. You won’t be able to use just your distal toe muscles to control the car. We are talking about a decent workout of your calves with this setup. Compared to other pedals on the market, the Act-Labs uses a much more substantial base so your pedals won’t slowly drift away from your feet as you play. Instead of resting you heel against the carpet as with other pedals, you rest your heels on a thick rubber mat that helps to stabilize the pedals and that also resembles the all-season mats you see advertised at the back of car magazines. The pedals are floor mounted so this may be different from the suspended pedals that you may find in your own car, unless you drive a Porsche or a bus. It is possible to do heel-toe pedal action on these pedals because the pedals where designed to that, although with some big shoes it does become rather difficult.

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Software Support

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The driver support from Act Labs is nothing short of perfect. After so much frustration with video card drivers and sound card drivers, it’s refreshing to see ultra stable software powering Act Labs’ upgrades whether you’re running Win9x, Win2K, or WinXP. Both products are viewed by the PC as independent USB controllers allowing easy configuration in most games. Despite Act-Labs’ somewhat smaller market, PC racing developers have widely embraced the GPL Shifter. Most new racing games already have native support for the Act Labs shifter however your enjoyment doesn’t have to end there. Act-Labs’ software can also emulate transparent direct shifting for dozens of older racing games ranging from popular titles such as Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed to more esoteric titles such as Sierra’s Driver’s Education. All of the racing games in our collection were on Act Labs’ list of supported titles, and the experience of playing these old favorites with direct shifting support is exhilarating.

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Final Verdict

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FiringSquad says:

Both of these products are crowns of hardware engineering talent. The shifter feels comparable to a real shifter, and pedals have a hefty base and strong resistance to them. Unfortunately, both of these products are also contingent on software support. This made it incredibly difficult to come up with the final verdict. I stepped away from the article to give myself more time to think and then came back, hoping that the time away would give me a better picture of the increasing software support and of the product. Only after four months of deliberating did I decide how to end this review.

GPL USB Shifter:

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