Best Assetto Corsa Competizione Settings for Thrustmaster T248
Driving in Assetto Corsa Competizione has a noticeably different feel than the original Assetto Corsa, in large part due to its new physics simulation, but also because of a very different force feedback system. Many effects in the original Assetto Corsa are changed, or omitted entirely, in Competizione. While it can take a while to get used to, the force feedback actually feels very good.
For the Thrustmaster T248, the default force feedback works almost perfectly. The main issue is that Assetto Corsa Competizione doesn't have a Soft Lock feature, meaning your wheel will keep turning past the point it can in the real car. Thankfully, this is fixable for Thrustmaster wheels.
The Assetto Corsa series supports using a LUT to calibrate your wheel's force feedback response. While this is useful for the lower-end TMX, T150 and Logitech G-series wheels, the T248 doesn't need a LUT at all. In fact, using one actually makes the force feedback worse, making the lighter forces nearly undetectable.
In this guide, I will show how to add a Soft Lock feature to the game and then show the best settings to use for the force feedback.
Soft Lock Fix
Since Assetto Corsa Competizione does not provide a Soft Lock feature, you have to set the steering angle directly in the Thrustmaster Control Panel to get a lock applied. This is annoying if you change cars, of course. Thankfully, there is a free plugin for SimHub that automatically does this for you whenever you load a new car.
You will need to download and install SimHub from the official website (the free version works fine) and the Hardware Steering Lock plugin from RaceDepartment. You will need to sign up for a free account on Race Department to download this. On the Register page, scroll all the way down to the bottom to create a free Basic Account.
After you install SimHub, simply copy the Havner.AccSteeringLock.dll file into the SimHub installation folder. The next time you start SimHub, it will ask if you want to enable the plugin. When you first select Assetto Corsa Competizione, a message will appear saying "Telemetry is not configured." Push "Fix it automatically" and everything will be ready to go.
Now all you have to do is have SimHub running in the background before you start Assetto Corsa Competizione and it will automatically set the steering angle properly to have the soft lock.
Thrustmaster Settings
If you don't want to use the SimHub plugin, and want to have a Soft Lock, you will have to set the steering angle of the car directly in the Thrustmaster Control Panel. If you don't care about the Soft Lock, just the leave the rotation at the maximum.
| On-Wheel Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| ROT | Varies by car |
| FORCE | 4 |
| FFB | 1 |
FORCE at 4 bars with FFB at 1 creates a perfectly linear force feedback response with no clipping, which is the ideal for any racing game.
| TM Control Panel Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Rotation | Varies by car |
| Overall Strength of all forces | 65% |
| Constant | 100% |
| Periodic | 100% |
| Spring | 100% |
| Damper | 100% |
| BOOST | Off |
| Auto-Center | by the game |
Rotation and Overall Strength are identical to the ROT and FORCE wheel settings, respectively. Changing it in one place overwrites the other. I recommend changing these on the wheel and ignoring the values in the Thrustmaster Control Panel.
Spring is not used by Assetto Corsa Competizione, so the value actually doesn't matter. I leave it at 100% since it is important in other games.
Damper is used by Assetto Corsa Competizione and I like to keep it on with these wheels. It's most noticed when the car is stopped, adding some weight to the wheel.
BOOST should always be turned off. For an in-depth look as to why, see my BOOST Force Feedback Analysis.
As a reference, these are the steering angles for the different cars, taken from oldskynet's post on this page.
GT3:
- 480° (Ferrari, McLaren)
- 560° (BMW)
- 620° (Lamborghini Huracan, Honda)
- 640° (Aston Martin, Bentley, Mercedes, Nissan, Lexus)
- 720° (Audi, Jaguar, Lamborghini Gallardo)
- 800° (Porsche)
GT4:
- 480° (McLaren)
- 500° (BMW, Mercedes)
- 580° (KTM)
- 640° (Aston Martin)
- 720° (Alpine, Audi, Camaro, Ginetta)
- 800° (Porsche)
- 900° (Maserati)
Assetto Corsa Competizione Settings
In Options > Controls > Force Feedback:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Gain | 95% |
| Minimum Force | 2% |
| Damper | 0% |
| Dynamic Damping | 50% |
| Road Effects | 5% |
| Frequency | 400 Hz |
| Steer Lock | 10° |
| Steer Linearity | 1.00 |
| Brake Gamma | 1.00 |
| Gearshift Debouncing | 50ms |
| Manufacturer Extras | Enabled |
Gain is the overall strength of the force feedback. This can remain quite high. Even at 100% there isn't too much clipping. There is an FFB gauge in the bottom right corner of the screen that will turn red if there is clipping.
You can further change the Gain on a per-car basis by pressing the NUM-8 and NUM-2 keys on the numpad. This allows you to raise the Gain above 100%. This introduces more clipping, but also gives the wheel some more weight.
Minimum Force raises the lightest forces to a level where they can be felt on these wheels.
Damper acts as a smoothing effect on the force feedback. If you find the forces are too jumpy, adding some Damper will weaken their effect. I don't find this necessary, so I leave this at 0%.
Dynamic Damping is the effect of having the forces change when the car is moving at high speed versus low speeds. This doesn't seem to have a noticeable effect on these wheels.
Road Effects are simulated effects for the road texture. The important features of the road are felt directly through the physics, this just adds a little extra texture. This is especially noticeable when you run over grass. Setting this too high creates a lot of vibrations that act as noise more than anything else. If you use this at all, it's best to keep it low.
Steer Lock is best set to 10°. The steering angle will always be set to the real-world value of the car you are driving, unless this is larger than the value in the Thrustmaster Control Panel. There was a bug with some cars if you set this to 0°, so I leave it at 10° to be safe.
Gearshift Debouncing is the minimum time allowed between gear shift inputs. If the paddle shifters are overly sensitive, they can register two inputs accidentally. This setting prevents those accidental shifts.
Manufacturer Extras needs to be enabled in order for the screen on the wheel to work properly.
Conclusion
When I originally fired up Competizione, I was disappointed in the feel of the wheel, but I have come to get used to it over time, though I still like the original Assetto Corsa force feedback better.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments.