Whenever you think about a sim racing setup, the usual components needed that might come to your mind are: wheel base, steering wheel, and pedals. However, it is also possible to race without the pedals. But how?
Especially when playing on PC, steering wheel buttons can be mapped to basically any function you want. You could even play your favourite sim with just a keyboard. But by doing so, you will lose the fine adjustment which only an analogue input signal – like with pedals – delivers.
A digital button can only signal your throttle or brake to be either “off” or “on”. In racing though, having a seamless pedal activation from 0% to 100% is essential for achieving better lap times and really getting a good feel for the car.
Using a controller as an alternative
When playing with a controller, throttle and brake are usually mapped to the triggers – a good alternative to “real” pedals. But you won’t be able to feel the road as you do with a direct drive wheel base. In this case, there are possibilities to have your “pedals” directly on the steering wheel – with paddles! Positioned below the shifters, the paddles on a steering wheel enable full analogue input, and thus a high degree of accuracy – perfect for delicate techniques like trail braking.
Setting up paddle inputs for throttle and brake
Steering wheels like the CSL Elite Steering Wheel McLaren GT3 V2, Podium Steering Wheel Bentley GT3, or the wheel included with the Gran Turismo® DD Extreme already have paddles pre-installed that can have different functionality. Usually used as a clutch, binding them to accelerating and braking is also possible. This works on PC and consoles.
Setting it up is easy. You can either do so directly on your steering wheel, via the Tuning Menu, or in the Fanatec Control Panel.
Expanding compatibility with additional modules
If your steering wheel does not have pre-installed analogue paddles, the Podium Advanced Paddle Module is the way to add them. The module can easily be retrofitted to steering wheels like the ClubSport Steering Wheel Formula V2.5 (X), ClubSport Steering Wheel BMW M3 GT2 V2, or ClubSport Steering Wheel RS.
The Podium Advanced Paddle Module is also compatible with hubs like the ClubSport Universal Hub V2 (for Xbox) and Podium Hub. The hubs can be customized with a wide range of wheel rims, ensuring you’ll find a combination that best fits your racing needs.
So, if for any reason you cannot or do not want to race with an extra set of pedals, you can still have all the immersion and excitement of sim racing – right at your fingertips.
