RS SHIFTER:

The RS shifter in another one of those items that us chronically unsatisfied sim racers have been clambering about forever. Us hardcore guys like to shift gears. Why do you think there are so many trucks in the world? Because they have a cool shifter in 'em, that's why !!! Well, now I have a cool shifter. Act-Labs was the first to build a select-to-shift, gated shifter. This is something that other peripheral producers said wouldn't fly. Act-Labs so far has been the only company with the courage to try something new. The shifter quickly hooks up to the RS or Force RS system with a nicely designed 9-pin mini din connector, and it comes with a nicely padded bracket that slips under the base of the wheel for a very secure mount. The bracket is universal and will attach to either side of the wheel to satifsy our European friends on the other side of the pond. You know, the ones with the steering wheel on the wrong (right?) side of the car. The shifter also comes with a couple of overlay gates that makes it adaptable to almost any form of racing. For games that do not yet support the RS shifter, you can use the single gate that is supplied and still be able to shift as you would in a planetary transmission style shifter. I have been testing the new DTR Sprints game with the Force RS system. I have set up the shifter to move the wing back and forth since as we all know, Sprint cars don't have a shifter. Well ok they do have a shifter but it's just an in/out box and not really a shifter. Act-Labs also offers a Nascar style gate for the 4-speed tranny. It can be found here. It simply replaces the old two-piece paddle with a single paddle that activates buttons #1 & #2.

PEDALS:

The pedals are made in a separate base unit that plugs into the lower plug-in beneath the wheel base. The base is sturdy and designed so that it will not tip or sway no matter how hard you stomp on it. The base is not extremely heavy, and at first I thought that there was just no way they would stay put. Well the ingenious folks at Act-Labs used their heads on this one. The angle of the pedals uses the counter balanced weight of your own feet to secure it to the floor. The base also comes with some very nice rubber pads for those folks that don't have a carpeted floor. Your feet rest very comfortably on the base which also has a terrific grooved rubber inlay with the Act-Labs logo on it. Very nice indeed. One thing Act-Labs has taken some heat for in the past is the small amount of travel in their pedals. Well, fear not because they have something very new and exciting coming in the near future.

I'm also disappointed at the resistance in each of the pedals. If you sat down in your own car, without looking you can tell which pedal goes to the brake because of the stiffness of it when depressed. Also, the further you push on the pedal, the firmer it gets. I think if both pedals had a little stiffer spring in them that the lack of sensitive travel would not be quite so critical. On the other hand, you get to a point where if the springs are too stiff then the weight of your feet on the base will not be enough to pin it to the floor. The pedals are easily modified though and with just a little work you can stiffen them up to gain some feel. Brandon Crick of Act-Labs also stated that they have a new "performance pedal system upgrade" that is in the works right now, so stay tuned for some added information on this. I'm told it will have a working clutch pedal and supporting axis. Great for those pit-out situations or to catch the car when you've overcooked your corner entry.

: 6

PERFORMANCE:

The Force RS system performs very well. The input is clean and precise without the slightest hint of spiking due to the Analog to Digital conversion. When I first used the Force RS wheel, it felt stiff and almost notchy, if that's a word. I had heard this complaint before, and there is even a little blurb about it in the readme FAQ. This is because the RS uses a magnetic stator in its motor instead of a wire-wound. The reason for the magnetic style motor is simply a cost issue. If they were to use a wire-wound unit the price would likely double. I have only had the Force RS for about a week now, and after a few hundred laps driving a Sprint-car, the wheel is already starting to loosen up. DTR & Sprints are without a doubt the most demanding games on a wheel, bar none. I am constantly jerking the wheel left & right from lock to lock trying to keep the car pointed in the right direction. The Force RS handles it very well. It offers 270 degrees of turning radius which gives the middle of the wheel input very exact control. I cannot tell you how many times people have asked me about deadzone tweakers and such to keep the middle input of the wheel in check. Well, with the Force RS you can delete those from your system. I will assure you that you won't need any of those band-aides for this wheel. If fact, I found in a few games that I actually had to open up the steering ratio a bit to get enough turn at the off-center positions of the wheel. Very nice!

Another interesting feature about the Force RS is the design of the internal components. Every single button, potentiometer, light, module and even the motor are plugged into the main board via some type of pin connector. What this means is, heaven forbid anything should ever stop working on your unit, you can easily replace it without getting out the soldering iron and flux paste. Everything plugs in. All you have to do is remove the screws on the case, remove and replace the malfunctioning component. Within five minutes, your unit is back together and ready for some fender rubbing. I've been inside quite a few of these type controllers, and this is the only one I've ever seen that isn't hardwired together making it user-friendly and easy to repair.

: 10

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