Red Momo --> cheap G25 = unexpected laptime improvement

I cracked this week and bought a G25 for 99 of our UK pounds (coming to a devalued
currency shop near you any day now!) I'd been waiting for the 27 to be reviewed,
but this price was far too good to miss. It's 50ukp less than I paid for the Momo
about, er... seven years ago? Something like that anyway.

The G25 landed on my desk yesterday and although I'm having some difficult
adjusting, I'm also getting some faster laptimes in my 'benchmark' combination of
iRacing Solstice <fx:spit!> at Lime Rock.

I was horribly slow there before, and had no fun at all driving the Solstice. But
with the G25 something really strange happened. My previous best laptime was
something like 1:05.5, but in races and normal practice I was lucky to see 1:06
consistently, and it was never any fun to drive that slowly compared to the average
iRacer.

The G25, however, changed the experience completely. More so than I'd ever expected.
All of a sudden I can catch oversteer more regularly, and... well, I was just
enjoying the whole experience of pushing harder! It was really rather startling,
especially in a car I've grown to loathe. In my last practise session I drove five
laps in a row under 1:05, with a cluster of laps at 1.046. Not alien territory, but
certainly competitive if I can keep that up.

In a recent Opinion Nation http://radio.psrtv.com/ they had a discussion about
pointlessly chasing 'perfect' hardware. I generally agreed with their line that
it's usually a waste of money. Unless you have a serious problem the most important
factor is always the driver.

But while that may still be true, it appears that my Red Momo's pedals and wheel --
while working perfectly as far as I could tell -- were further from ideal than I
realised. The stiffer pedals certainly make a difference to my braking (sometimes
in a bad way at the moment!) but it's the steering which is definitely helping most.
By calibrating to use most of the wheel's range I can catch and control situations
which were completely beyond my abilities before with the Red Momo.

It's come as a bit of a shock that I might soon be able to drag myself up the bell
curve of ability from slower than continental drift towards competitively sluggish.

Whether that will actually happen after this burst of enthusiasm remains to be seen.
But for the time being it's fun trying and has almost certainly persuaded me to
take another chunk of subscription out at iRacing. The driving experience with a
G25 is just so satisfying. I may even <fx:music from Psycho> join some Solstice
races.

Andrew McP

I recommend the Nixim brake mod. It makes a huge difference
http://www.nixim.com/cart/index.php?...od&productId=3

"Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
...
>I cracked this week and bought a G25 for 99 of our UK pounds (coming to a
>devalued
> currency shop near you any day now!) I'd been waiting for the 27 to be
> reviewed,
> but this price was far too good to miss. It's 50ukp less than I paid for
> the Momo
> about, er... seven years ago? Something like that anyway.
>
> The G25 landed on my desk yesterday and although I'm having some difficult
> adjusting, I'm also getting some faster laptimes in my 'benchmark'
> combination of
> iRacing Solstice <fx:spit!> at Lime Rock.
>
> I was horribly slow there before, and had no fun at all driving the
> Solstice. But
> with the G25 something really strange happened. My previous best laptime
> was
> something like 1:05.5, but in races and normal practice I was lucky to see
> 1:06
> consistently, and it was never any fun to drive that slowly compared to
> the average
> iRacer.
>
> The G25, however, changed the experience completely. More so than I'd ever
> expected.
> All of a sudden I can catch oversteer more regularly, and... well, I was
> just
> enjoying the whole experience of pushing harder! It was really rather
> startling,
> especially in a car I've grown to loathe. In my last practise session I
> drove five
> laps in a row under 1:05, with a cluster of laps at 1.046. Not alien
> territory, but
> certainly competitive if I can keep that up.
>
> In a recent Opinion Nation http://radio.psrtv.com/ they had a discussion
> about
> pointlessly chasing 'perfect' hardware. I generally agreed with their line
> that
> it's usually a waste of money. Unless you have a serious problem the most
> important
> factor is always the driver.
>
> But while that may still be true, it appears that my Red Momo's pedals and
> wheel --
> while working perfectly as far as I could tell -- were further from ideal
> than I
> realised. The stiffer pedals certainly make a difference to my braking
> (sometimes
> in a bad way at the moment!) but it's the steering which is definitely
> helping most.
> By calibrating to use most of the wheel's range I can catch and control
> situations
> which were completely beyond my abilities before with the Red Momo.
>
> It's come as a bit of a shock that I might soon be able to drag myself up
> the bell
> curve of ability from slower than continental drift towards competitively
> sluggish.
>
> Whether that will actually happen after this burst of enthusiasm remains
> to be seen.
> But for the time being it's fun trying and has almost certainly persuaded
> me to
> take another chunk of subscription out at iRacing. The driving experience
> with a
> G25 is just so satisfying. I may even <fx:music from Psycho> join some
> Solstice
> races.
>
> Andrew McP
>

"Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
...
>I cracked this week and bought a G25 for 99 of our UK pounds (coming to a
>devalued
> currency shop near you any day now!) I'd been waiting for the 27 to be
> reviewed,
> but this price was far too good to miss. It's 50ukp less than I paid for
> the Momo
> about, er... seven years ago? Something like that anyway.
>
> The G25 landed on my desk yesterday and although I'm having some difficult
> adjusting, I'm also getting some faster laptimes in my 'benchmark'
> combination of
> iRacing Solstice <fx:spit!> at Lime Rock.
>
> I was horribly slow there before, and had no fun at all driving the
> Solstice. But
> with the G25 something really strange happened. My previous best laptime
> was
> something like 1:05.5, but in races and normal practice I was lucky to see
> 1:06
> consistently, and it was never any fun to drive that slowly compared to
> the average
> iRacer.
>
> The G25, however, changed the experience completely. More so than I'd ever
> expected.
> All of a sudden I can catch oversteer more regularly, and... well, I was
> just
> enjoying the whole experience of pushing harder! It was really rather
> startling,
> especially in a car I've grown to loathe. In my last practise session I
> drove five
> laps in a row under 1:05, with a cluster of laps at 1.046. Not alien
> territory, but
> certainly competitive if I can keep that up.
>
> In a recent Opinion Nation http://radio.psrtv.com/ they had a discussion
> about
> pointlessly chasing 'perfect' hardware. I generally agreed with their line
> that
> it's usually a waste of money. Unless you have a serious problem the most
> important
> factor is always the driver.
>
> But while that may still be true, it appears that my Red Momo's pedals and
> wheel --
> while working perfectly as far as I could tell -- were further from ideal
> than I
> realised. The stiffer pedals certainly make a difference to my braking
> (sometimes
> in a bad way at the moment!) but it's the steering which is definitely
> helping most.
> By calibrating to use most of the wheel's range I can catch and control
> situations
> which were completely beyond my abilities before with the Red Momo.
>
> It's come as a bit of a shock that I might soon be able to drag myself up
> the bell
> curve of ability from slower than continental drift towards competitively
> sluggish.
>
> Whether that will actually happen after this burst of enthusiasm remains
> to be seen.
> But for the time being it's fun trying and has almost certainly persuaded
> me to
> take another chunk of subscription out at iRacing. The driving experience
> with a
> G25 is just so satisfying. I may even <fx:music from Psycho> join some
> Solstice
> races.
>
> Andrew McP
>

I made the exact same upgrade a few weeks ago as wel and found the same
thing. G25 is a big improvement of the red momo.

"David Fisher's Left Testicle" <dfg.myass@aol> wrote in message
...
>I recommend the Nixim brake mod. It makes a huge difference
> http://www.nixim.com/cart/index.php?...od&productId=3
>
> "Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
> ...
>>I cracked this week and bought a G25 for 99 of our UK pounds (coming to a
>>devalued
>> currency shop near you any day now!) I'd been waiting for the 27 to be
>> reviewed,
>> but this price was far too good to miss. It's 50ukp less than I paid for
>> the Momo
>> about, er... seven years ago? Something like that anyway.
>>
>> The G25 landed on my desk yesterday and although I'm having some
>> difficult
>> adjusting, I'm also getting some faster laptimes in my 'benchmark'
>> combination of
>> iRacing Solstice <fx:spit!> at Lime Rock.
>>
>> I was horribly slow there before, and had no fun at all driving the
>> Solstice. But
>> with the G25 something really strange happened. My previous best laptime
>> was
>> something like 1:05.5, but in races and normal practice I was lucky to
>> see 1:06
>> consistently, and it was never any fun to drive that slowly compared to
>> the average
>> iRacer.
>>
>> The G25, however, changed the experience completely. More so than I'd
>> ever expected.
>> All of a sudden I can catch oversteer more regularly, and... well, I was
>> just
>> enjoying the whole experience of pushing harder! It was really rather
>> startling,
>> especially in a car I've grown to loathe. In my last practise session I
>> drove five
>> laps in a row under 1:05, with a cluster of laps at 1.046. Not alien
>> territory, but
>> certainly competitive if I can keep that up.
>>
>> In a recent Opinion Nation http://radio.psrtv.com/ they had a discussion
>> about
>> pointlessly chasing 'perfect' hardware. I generally agreed with their
>> line that
>> it's usually a waste of money. Unless you have a serious problem the most
>> important
>> factor is always the driver.
>>
>> But while that may still be true, it appears that my Red Momo's pedals
>> and wheel --
>> while working perfectly as far as I could tell -- were further from ideal
>> than I
>> realised. The stiffer pedals certainly make a difference to my braking
>> (sometimes
>> in a bad way at the moment!) but it's the steering which is definitely
>> helping most.
>> By calibrating to use most of the wheel's range I can catch and control
>> situations
>> which were completely beyond my abilities before with the Red Momo.
>>
>> It's come as a bit of a shock that I might soon be able to drag myself up
>> the bell
>> curve of ability from slower than continental drift towards competitively
>> sluggish.
>>
>> Whether that will actually happen after this burst of enthusiasm remains
>> to be seen.
>> But for the time being it's fun trying and has almost certainly persuaded
>> me to
>> take another chunk of subscription out at iRacing. The driving experience
>> with a
>> G25 is just so satisfying. I may even <fx:music from Psycho> join some
>> Solstice
>> races.
>>
>> Andrew McP
>>
>

The Leobodnar USB adapter for the pedals is also suppose to make a huge
difference:
http://www.leobodnar.com/products/DFPG25conn/

"schooner" > wrote in message
news:r%t5m.34160$Db2.31830@edtnps83...
>
> "David Fisher's Left Testicle" <dfg.myass@aol> wrote in message
> ...
>>I recommend the Nixim brake mod. It makes a huge difference
>> http://www.nixim.com/cart/index.php?...od&productId=3
>>
>> "Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>I cracked this week and bought a G25 for 99 of our UK pounds (coming to a
>>>devalued
>>> currency shop near you any day now!) I'd been waiting for the 27 to be
>>> reviewed,
>>> but this price was far too good to miss. It's 50ukp less than I paid for
>>> the Momo
>>> about, er... seven years ago? Something like that anyway.
>>>
>>> The G25 landed on my desk yesterday and although I'm having some
>>> difficult
>>> adjusting, I'm also getting some faster laptimes in my 'benchmark'
>>> combination of
>>> iRacing Solstice <fx:spit!> at Lime Rock.
>>>
>>> I was horribly slow there before, and had no fun at all driving the
>>> Solstice. But
>>> with the G25 something really strange happened. My previous best laptime
>>> was
>>> something like 1:05.5, but in races and normal practice I was lucky to
>>> see 1:06
>>> consistently, and it was never any fun to drive that slowly compared to
>>> the average
>>> iRacer.
>>>
>>> The G25, however, changed the experience completely. More so than I'd
>>> ever expected.
>>> All of a sudden I can catch oversteer more regularly, and... well, I was
>>> just
>>> enjoying the whole experience of pushing harder! It was really rather
>>> startling,
>>> especially in a car I've grown to loathe. In my last practise session I
>>> drove five
>>> laps in a row under 1:05, with a cluster of laps at 1.046. Not alien
>>> territory, but
>>> certainly competitive if I can keep that up.
>>>
>>> In a recent Opinion Nation http://radio.psrtv.com/ they had a discussion
>>> about
>>> pointlessly chasing 'perfect' hardware. I generally agreed with their
>>> line that
>>> it's usually a waste of money. Unless you have a serious problem the
>>> most important
>>> factor is always the driver.
>>>
>>> But while that may still be true, it appears that my Red Momo's pedals
>>> and wheel --
>>> while working perfectly as far as I could tell -- were further from
>>> ideal than I
>>> realised. The stiffer pedals certainly make a difference to my braking
>>> (sometimes
>>> in a bad way at the moment!) but it's the steering which is definitely
>>> helping most.
>>> By calibrating to use most of the wheel's range I can catch and control
>>> situations
>>> which were completely beyond my abilities before with the Red Momo.
>>>
>>> It's come as a bit of a shock that I might soon be able to drag myself
>>> up the bell
>>> curve of ability from slower than continental drift towards
>>> competitively sluggish.
>>>
>>> Whether that will actually happen after this burst of enthusiasm remains
>>> to be seen.
>>> But for the time being it's fun trying and has almost certainly
>>> persuaded me to
>>> take another chunk of subscription out at iRacing. The driving
>>> experience with a
>>> G25 is just so satisfying. I may even <fx:music from Psycho> join some
>>> Solstice
>>> races.
>>>
>>> Andrew McP
>>>
>>
>
> The Leobodnar USB adapter for the pedals is also suppose to make a huge
> difference:
> http://www.leobodnar.com/products/DFPG25conn/

Thanks for the link. I hadn't heard of that.

Thanks for the suggestions you two. I'll look into them.

Andrew McP

(schooner) wrote:

> G25 is a big improvement of the red momo.

Overall it hasn't worked miracles for my driving in all vehicles... I have so much
to re-learn to make good use of the G25's extra potential! But it's surprising what
a big difference it's made to the sense of being in control of a real vehicle.

I really wasn't prepared for this, and it's nice to be pleasantly surprised after
spending money. Usually buyer's remorse kicks in pretty quickly. :-)

Andrew McP

"Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
...
> (schooner) wrote:
>
>> G25 is a big improvement of the red momo.
>
> Overall it hasn't worked miracles for my driving in all vehicles... I have
> so much
> to re-learn to make good use of the G25's extra potential! But it's
> surprising what
> a big difference it's made to the sense of being in control of a real
> vehicle.
>
> I really wasn't prepared for this, and it's nice to be pleasantly
> surprised after
> spending money. Usually buyer's remorse kicks in pretty quickly. :-)
>
> Andrew McP
>

The day I swapped wheels I couldn't drive with the G25 to save my life with
any consistency, then I took a week off and came back and it was so much
more natural. Just had to forget how I was using the red momo I think to
adjust to the new wheel. I'm still not as consistent yet, but generally
slightly faster and can save a car more easily.

> But while that may still be true, it appears that my Red Momo's pedals and wheel --
> while working perfectly as far as I could tell -- were further from ideal than I
> realised. The stiffer pedals certainly make a difference to my braking (sometimes
> in a bad way at the moment!) but it's the steering which is definitely helping most.

Stiffening up the brakes even more with a Nixim mod adds a lot too, when
you are ready (it would be a bit of a shock to go straight to it). This
gets much closer to feeling like a real brake pedal.

http://www.nixim.com/pedmod.html

Cheers
Tony

(Tony R) wrote:

> Stiffening up the brakes even more with a
> Nixim mod adds a lot too

I don't see me stiffening up the brake (or in my case clutch) pedal any time soon!
:-) I'm far from comfortable with braking at the moment, and have had to go through
my shoe collection to find something which gives me more leverage. Before I could
get away with my patented Old Man's Slippers™. I'm also having to wedge my chair to
stop Newton's third law propelling me across the room.

Still, even with the beginner's problems, it's a great setup. I look forward to
mastering the G25... or ending up in plaster with a stress fracture. :->

Andrew McP