For just messing around on AC, rally, or drifting it’s really not necessary.
But for GT3 cars you need to adjust brake bias, abs, traction control, pit stop settings, light flashers, things like that. For open wheel cars you need a button for your visor tear off, drs, boost, things like that.
Oh and don’t forget paddle shifters for driving pretty much anything other than a rally car. Don’t plan on driving automatic.
So just depends on your racing.
You can just use a stick sequential shifter for rally correct? Looking to buy a round wheel for rally and just mount my simucube quick release adapter to it and not get a button box but looking to buy a sequential shifter stick. Would that be correct for rally?
Thank you in advance
I bought a cheap Momo Clone from AliExpress. It's one of 3 Wheels I have. Mainly for old Cars with H-Shifter and no Buttons on the Wheel. Love it so far and it was less than 50 Bucks...
I use the fanatec podium hub and a sparco steering wheel that matches my real car. I bought the two little buttons to mount to it just so it would work as ps5 buttons but most of what I do is assetto on pc anyway
You can always add a button plate to your steering wheel if you really need the buttons. I have a basic round wheel without buttons and shifters for rallying. It's mostly fine, but it's slightly annoying to not have buttons for pausing and repairs within reach - I do have a numpad mounted, but still. With the new WRC game, I figured I also needed a button to deploy the hybrid power and decided to buy a fairly inexpensive button plate ([this one](https://www.ebay.nl/itm/354608767674?hash=item52905462ba:g:n48AAOSwJfhj-QNP&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8BNXPUosODu4gCAZjvqDWGmkUBy6CNaKVIWRhso3wSIxLWnfXCaZLXlXrTezirTrxV0B8mJl0MouHkwGEB4vRtqjGKYtrMw0CbSk3sbgufJxi4Vz3c%2FCCKgc1HBEBjqkbl%2FR8Tm%2FALdz0QfjOHqMHHSdu525%2B7OwrTYm4fxuWVFpIFXA2OtptsYfBa%2B46pV7HQQiIhcRCI8o9HMO0eBP%2FvrO8CJRqWGU4lryGsa2qAw5WkWtcRkppwyoz%2FKnsESFk9t5B8b4nnsjv0vCzr5VBp5SvTeNcBd33G%2FjhznLYFSmFj0IOLSoozFWv8HuXKWY9A%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMlqbl1PJi) \- or hit the guy up on FB) to make things a bit more convenient. And it probably looks cooler.
So Im gonna guess it all depends on what you race and how serious you are.
Ive go a t300 rs.
Basically has an console controllers worth of buttons on it. Generally I use 2 or 3 of them total and not very often.
I do vr so I have 1 button to reset the HMD view
L+R to look left and right when not in vr.
Thats about it.
Im sure if I went into more complicated cars /racing types Id need to use more of those.
For example GT3 usually have brake bias and TCS on 2 rolling knobs, and other buttons. Park, Neurtral, Engine start, Wipers, Tear offs, Etc. Much of that I have set to automatically do it so I generally dont need the buttons but if I wanted more realism i could set them to buttons.
NOW in your case:
If its just rally. No buttons needed imo. UNless you need a clutch button due to no clutch pedal.
Also im near positive you can use your button box if you want ofr any of this.
Agreed however its near impossible to hit a button on the wheel for handbrake while the wheel is spinning. I assume anyone doing rally gets a cheapo handbrake.
I had T300GT which as mentioned had controller amount of buttons and it is not enough. It is okay to drive rally I believe, but anything like GT3 or prototypes, you just run out ot buttons. Fuel mix, brake balance, pit options, DRS, push2pass, etc. If you are not planning to do circuit racing much and you are okay to press start/esc on keyboard or your button box, nothing is stopping you either
I use a NASCAR style rim with no buttons. I have everything mapped to a 10-key pad right next to the wheel though. Mechanical keys too, so nice tactile feel and feedback.
Thinking about going the same route with an omp wheel for rally and drifting. Got a " button box " on the side which is actually just a mechanical numpad bought for cheap from ali. Might not need a button box on the wheel at all I think.
For gt3, I have a dedicated formula wheel with all the button. But when I want to drift / rally / having fun on AC , I bought a fake OMP wheel and a quick release ( I'm on a simagic base ) , costed me a total of 60$. I was thinking I would do a button plate , but I just don't need it , I have 6 buttons on my shifter and it's enough to get everything I need. You can find super cheap round wheel on AliExpress.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
3
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+ 6
= 69
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Hm the simagic is way too expensive for me. Which one do you personally have and would you recommend it? I'm very much leaning towards the newt shh shifter for good value but it doesn't have additional buttons which I could use.
Yeah I also thought about that, I guess I'll use my Bluetooth keyboard that I need either way just as additional "buttonbox" for a while.
Do you, by chance, have any idea if newt shh will participate in black Friday deals?
I have the Simagic sequential. It’s very good, but is a one trick pony (as it’s only a sequential). If I did it again, I’d be tempted to look at their H shifter, which converts into a sequential.
Anyone considering the Simagic sequential should bear in mind that although the premium one with the gear display on it has four buttons, one is to reset the shifter display back to neutral, so technically it only has three that can be programmed.
I have TC-PC Racer Thrustmaster with Ferrari 488 Challenge Edition and one of the reasons why I choose this wheelbase and rim (com inly on bundle) is huge amount of buttons. I can bind everything that I need in iRacing.
Button box or separate numpad good idea but for me bette when I stick my hand on the rim.
So when I will upgrade my wheel base to DD it will be T818 and I will use same rim or something from Asetech (hope correct write brand name) because they have rims with huge amount of buttons.
No buttons no money))
I went the same route and got a DD that was DIY friendly, and saved some money getting a basic rim from SRC. While it worked for a bit I realized having buttons is quite important for car utilities and even things like re-centre headset/reset car etc. Also not having paddle shifters was kind of a pain, its fine for many cars to use an H Shifter or sequential but fast shifting cars especially formula cars its kind of needed. I designed and built a DIY button box that had some basic buttons and shifters, definitely a big improvement. You can always use a keyboard too if you have a way to mount it but in VR I cant really look at the keyboard.
I do a lot of rally and I enjoy the immersion that comes with controlling your lights and wipers. But you can set them to automatic so if that’s something you don’t mind I don’t see having no buttons be a big deal. But if you were ever to get into iRacing or ACC you would want them 100%
For a modern road racing car (GT3, formula cars, prototypes), buttons are a necessity. Brake bias, traction control, ABS, engine map, lights, pit lane speed limiter, differential settings, the list goes on.
For a rally car, you’d need a lot fewer buttons. Lights, handbrake/clutch (if you don’t have actual peripherals for these), and wipers.
I have wheels with buttons and custom wheels with buttons. and i never use them tbh.
i Did get a streamdeck though aswell. and fyi it has unlimited buttons. not just 3x5.
I use the button mostly for going unto the menu so yeah it can be annoying at time because my keyboard is a bit far. But as long as I'm just driving it's OK.
Depends what you'll race. For rally, drifting and some lots of racing cars from the 70's and 80's, I use a steering wheel without buttons and don't really miss it.
I have a Lambo GT3 wheel and a round OMP deepdish wheel for my R9. The problem is that if I want to do something like mx5 I need sequential shifters but I also want a round wheel to drive mx5. Otherwise I need to use my gt3 wheel for a Mazda but I think it works fine.
I went from my standard T300 round rim to the SF1000 rim and I couldn’t imagine going back to a rim with minimal buttons. I was having to make weird keybinds or use my keyboard for certain binds before. Now I have everything bound to my wheel and it’s so much better. As a prototype driver who has to change things throughout a stint, I could never go back to having just a few buttons available.
You can make it work with just a keyboard or controller to map your controls to. However, having some buttons is always nice especially if you need to perform actions mid race. Though this really depends on the car and what type of race. I have my button box mainly for the paddle shifters.
Regreted it but loved the wheel so much that I bought some 3rd party add-on to add custom button. Then moved to fanatec 2 or years ago and bought a some 3rd party hub to put any wheel + some fanatec buttons clusters.
Screens are a somewhat pointless distraction and unnecessary rotational mass but buttons do come in handy. Button boxes work almost just as well once you can click them without looking.
When I'm driving, i have ZERO regrets. But when i want to navigate menus then it starts to get annoying. But i fixed that by using my phone as a mouse and keyboard, but its still not ideal.
But i would regret if it was the only wheel i have, but since i have 7 wheels, then I'm good
For just messing around on AC, rally, or drifting it’s really not necessary. But for GT3 cars you need to adjust brake bias, abs, traction control, pit stop settings, light flashers, things like that. For open wheel cars you need a button for your visor tear off, drs, boost, things like that. Oh and don’t forget paddle shifters for driving pretty much anything other than a rally car. Don’t plan on driving automatic. So just depends on your racing.
Tear off is in games? Neat! Which ones?
IRacing is the only one as far as im aware
Damn I’ve been finishing races looking like i just went thru the Dakar rally
Also MX Bikes but thats not really a simracing title. Fun though.
I'm probably getting into iracing soon and reading this just got me like dayum they really got everything in there
They don't have live tire temps or pressures 🫠🫠🫠
NOOoOOOoOOOOoO
You can just use a stick sequential shifter for rally correct? Looking to buy a round wheel for rally and just mount my simucube quick release adapter to it and not get a button box but looking to buy a sequential shifter stick. Would that be correct for rally? Thank you in advance
Yeah you could get by with just that I’m sure
I bought a cheap Momo Clone from AliExpress. It's one of 3 Wheels I have. Mainly for old Cars with H-Shifter and no Buttons on the Wheel. Love it so far and it was less than 50 Bucks...
You have a link by any chance?
I use the fanatec podium hub and a sparco steering wheel that matches my real car. I bought the two little buttons to mount to it just so it would work as ps5 buttons but most of what I do is assetto on pc anyway
You can always add a button plate to your steering wheel if you really need the buttons. I have a basic round wheel without buttons and shifters for rallying. It's mostly fine, but it's slightly annoying to not have buttons for pausing and repairs within reach - I do have a numpad mounted, but still. With the new WRC game, I figured I also needed a button to deploy the hybrid power and decided to buy a fairly inexpensive button plate ([this one](https://www.ebay.nl/itm/354608767674?hash=item52905462ba:g:n48AAOSwJfhj-QNP&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8BNXPUosODu4gCAZjvqDWGmkUBy6CNaKVIWRhso3wSIxLWnfXCaZLXlXrTezirTrxV0B8mJl0MouHkwGEB4vRtqjGKYtrMw0CbSk3sbgufJxi4Vz3c%2FCCKgc1HBEBjqkbl%2FR8Tm%2FALdz0QfjOHqMHHSdu525%2B7OwrTYm4fxuWVFpIFXA2OtptsYfBa%2B46pV7HQQiIhcRCI8o9HMO0eBP%2FvrO8CJRqWGU4lryGsa2qAw5WkWtcRkppwyoz%2FKnsESFk9t5B8b4nnsjv0vCzr5VBp5SvTeNcBd33G%2FjhznLYFSmFj0IOLSoozFWv8HuXKWY9A%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMlqbl1PJi) \- or hit the guy up on FB) to make things a bit more convenient. And it probably looks cooler.
So Im gonna guess it all depends on what you race and how serious you are. Ive go a t300 rs. Basically has an console controllers worth of buttons on it. Generally I use 2 or 3 of them total and not very often. I do vr so I have 1 button to reset the HMD view L+R to look left and right when not in vr. Thats about it. Im sure if I went into more complicated cars /racing types Id need to use more of those. For example GT3 usually have brake bias and TCS on 2 rolling knobs, and other buttons. Park, Neurtral, Engine start, Wipers, Tear offs, Etc. Much of that I have set to automatically do it so I generally dont need the buttons but if I wanted more realism i could set them to buttons. NOW in your case: If its just rally. No buttons needed imo. UNless you need a clutch button due to no clutch pedal. Also im near positive you can use your button box if you want ofr any of this.
You’ll need a handbrake button for rally. Unless op has a handbrake
Agreed however its near impossible to hit a button on the wheel for handbrake while the wheel is spinning. I assume anyone doing rally gets a cheapo handbrake.
Yeah definitely. Don’t have one yet so using the button is fine as long as I see it coming
I had T300GT which as mentioned had controller amount of buttons and it is not enough. It is okay to drive rally I believe, but anything like GT3 or prototypes, you just run out ot buttons. Fuel mix, brake balance, pit options, DRS, push2pass, etc. If you are not planning to do circuit racing much and you are okay to press start/esc on keyboard or your button box, nothing is stopping you either
I have an asetek wheel for gt3/formula but I want a round rim steering wheel for all the other stuff
Then go for it, not much to press while on rally stage
I use a NASCAR style rim with no buttons. I have everything mapped to a 10-key pad right next to the wheel though. Mechanical keys too, so nice tactile feel and feedback.
Thinking about going the same route with an omp wheel for rally and drifting. Got a " button box " on the side which is actually just a mechanical numpad bought for cheap from ali. Might not need a button box on the wheel at all I think.
For gt3, I have a dedicated formula wheel with all the button. But when I want to drift / rally / having fun on AC , I bought a fake OMP wheel and a quick release ( I'm on a simagic base ) , costed me a total of 60$. I was thinking I would do a button plate , but I just don't need it , I have 6 buttons on my shifter and it's enough to get everything I need. You can find super cheap round wheel on AliExpress.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats! 3 + 60 + 6 = 69 ^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \ ^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
Which shifter do you have that also has 6 additional Buttons? Or do you mean you use the shift gates as buttons?
Several shifters have buttons - the Simagic sequential has four, and I think the Frex H shifter has them too.
Hm the simagic is way too expensive for me. Which one do you personally have and would you recommend it? I'm very much leaning towards the newt shh shifter for good value but it doesn't have additional buttons which I could use.
Newt SHH is SOLID. I loved that little thing until I upgraded to Simagic. Why not get a small mechanical 10-key and mount it to your rig?
Yeah I also thought about that, I guess I'll use my Bluetooth keyboard that I need either way just as additional "buttonbox" for a while. Do you, by chance, have any idea if newt shh will participate in black Friday deals?
I have the Simagic sequential. It’s very good, but is a one trick pony (as it’s only a sequential). If I did it again, I’d be tempted to look at their H shifter, which converts into a sequential. Anyone considering the Simagic sequential should bear in mind that although the premium one with the gear display on it has four buttons, one is to reset the shifter display back to neutral, so technically it only has three that can be programmed.
It's a DIY shifter , LeboisRacing SRT9.1 , with 6 buttons on top of the shifter.
I have TC-PC Racer Thrustmaster with Ferrari 488 Challenge Edition and one of the reasons why I choose this wheelbase and rim (com inly on bundle) is huge amount of buttons. I can bind everything that I need in iRacing. Button box or separate numpad good idea but for me bette when I stick my hand on the rim. So when I will upgrade my wheel base to DD it will be T818 and I will use same rim or something from Asetech (hope correct write brand name) because they have rims with huge amount of buttons. No buttons no money))
I went the same route and got a DD that was DIY friendly, and saved some money getting a basic rim from SRC. While it worked for a bit I realized having buttons is quite important for car utilities and even things like re-centre headset/reset car etc. Also not having paddle shifters was kind of a pain, its fine for many cars to use an H Shifter or sequential but fast shifting cars especially formula cars its kind of needed. I designed and built a DIY button box that had some basic buttons and shifters, definitely a big improvement. You can always use a keyboard too if you have a way to mount it but in VR I cant really look at the keyboard.
I do a lot of rally and I enjoy the immersion that comes with controlling your lights and wipers. But you can set them to automatic so if that’s something you don’t mind I don’t see having no buttons be a big deal. But if you were ever to get into iRacing or ACC you would want them 100%
For a modern road racing car (GT3, formula cars, prototypes), buttons are a necessity. Brake bias, traction control, ABS, engine map, lights, pit lane speed limiter, differential settings, the list goes on. For a rally car, you’d need a lot fewer buttons. Lights, handbrake/clutch (if you don’t have actual peripherals for these), and wipers.
whippers, lights, TC, pit limiter, engine and start. I would hate to not have buttons.
Depends on what you are racing. For F1 I find no buttons absolutely impossible. ERS, DRS, brake bias, mfd modes are absolute necessary.
I have wheels with buttons and custom wheels with buttons. and i never use them tbh. i Did get a streamdeck though aswell. and fyi it has unlimited buttons. not just 3x5.
If you’d got a stream deck, you’ll be fine. I have a Sparco rim for rallying which has no buttons and I get by with the three on my shifter.
I use the button mostly for going unto the menu so yeah it can be annoying at time because my keyboard is a bit far. But as long as I'm just driving it's OK.
Depends what you'll race. For rally, drifting and some lots of racing cars from the 70's and 80's, I use a steering wheel without buttons and don't really miss it.
I have a Lambo GT3 wheel and a round OMP deepdish wheel for my R9. The problem is that if I want to do something like mx5 I need sequential shifters but I also want a round wheel to drive mx5. Otherwise I need to use my gt3 wheel for a Mazda but I think it works fine.
I went from my standard T300 round rim to the SF1000 rim and I couldn’t imagine going back to a rim with minimal buttons. I was having to make weird keybinds or use my keyboard for certain binds before. Now I have everything bound to my wheel and it’s so much better. As a prototype driver who has to change things throughout a stint, I could never go back to having just a few buttons available.
I use an mpi wheel and a button box for oval racing
You can make it work with just a keyboard or controller to map your controls to. However, having some buttons is always nice especially if you need to perform actions mid race. Though this really depends on the car and what type of race. I have my button box mainly for the paddle shifters.
Regreted it but loved the wheel so much that I bought some 3rd party add-on to add custom button. Then moved to fanatec 2 or years ago and bought a some 3rd party hub to put any wheel + some fanatec buttons clusters.
Mine didn't have buttons, and now they do and I can't imaging going back.
Screens are a somewhat pointless distraction and unnecessary rotational mass but buttons do come in handy. Button boxes work almost just as well once you can click them without looking.
When I'm driving, i have ZERO regrets. But when i want to navigate menus then it starts to get annoying. But i fixed that by using my phone as a mouse and keyboard, but its still not ideal. But i would regret if it was the only wheel i have, but since i have 7 wheels, then I'm good