Wheel¶
Native force feedback for Logitech, Fanatec, and Thrustmaster wheels, plus rotation range, auto centering, and RPM shift LEDs on a tab of their own.
The Wheel tab appears when the device selected in the slot's assigned-devices dropdown is a supported Logitech, Fanatec, or Thrustmaster wheel. It is per pad per slot, like the other tuning tabs. Pick a different wheel in the assigned-devices dropdown and the tab rebinds to that wheel.
For a wheel PadForge does not recognize by model, force feedback still runs through the Force Feedback pipeline. The Wheel tab appears when that wheel advertises a centering spring and PadForge reads it as a driving device, including wheelbase-and-pedals composites that report more than one force-feedback axis. Then it shows the auto centering row alone. The rotation-range and RPM-LED rows stay hidden, since those need the vendor's own commands. A generic wheel without that centering spring gets no Wheel tab at all.
What "native" means here¶
Most mappers route a wheel's force feedback through the generic DirectInput or SDL haptic path. PadForge does that too for unrecognized wheels. For the models listed below it does something more direct: it speaks each vendor's own HID protocol, the same one the vendor's driver speaks.
The forces still come from the game. PadForge does not invent them. The game writes standard force-feedback effects to an Extended virtual controller (the output slot a wheel needs), PadForge decodes those effects, and the Wheel pipeline re-encodes them into the wheel's native commands. The result is constant force and the condition effects (spring, damper, friction) delivered in the form the wheel firmware understands, rather than collapsed into plain rumble.
Logitech and Fanatec wheels need no vendor software. PadForge talks to them directly, whether or not Logitech G Hub or the Fanatec driver is installed.
Thrustmaster is the exception. A T-series wheel powers on in a boot mode and switches to the mode PadForge drives only after Thrustmaster's own driver is installed. Keep the Thrustmaster driver in place. Without it, PadForge does not recognize the wheel as a Thrustmaster, and it falls back to the generic path with no native rotation range or RPM LEDs.
The Wheel tab¶
Four settings, each with a reset button.
| Setting | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set Rotation Range | On / Off | On | Sends the wheel the Rotation Range below. Off leaves the range to the wheel and its own software. |
| Rotation Range | the wheel's own range, from 40° to 2520° | 900° | Degrees of lock-to-lock rotation. The slider spans the range the wheel turns, listed below. |
| Auto Centering Strength | 0–100% | 0% | A centering spring PadForge holds on the wheel. 0% leaves centering to the game. |
| RPM Shift LEDs | On / Off | Off | Lights the rev LEDs on the wheel rim or base from live sim telemetry. |
The rotation-range and RPM-LED rows are hidden for wheels PadForge drives through the generic path, since those rows need vendor commands.
Rotation Range¶
The slider stops at the selected wheel's own limits, so the angle it shows is the angle the wheel turns. A saved range outside those limits loads as the nearer one. A wheel with a fixed range shows that one angle.
To set the range in the wheel maker's own software instead, such as Thrustmaster's control panel or a Fanatec base's tuning menu, clear Set Rotation Range. PadForge then sends the wheel no range at all, and the slider rests. Clearing it does not undo a range PadForge already sent, so set the range in the wheel's own software afterward. On a Fanatec base the range command is also what switches off the base's own centering spring, so with Set Rotation Range off the base keeps its own centering too. Each wheel keeps its own setting, and a wheel on another PC through the Remote Link follows the setting of the PC that maps it.
| Wheel | Range |
|---|---|
| Logitech G29, G923, G27, G25, Driving Force GT, Driving Force Pro | 40–900° |
| Logitech MOMO Racing, MOMO Force, Driving Force | 270°, fixed |
| Logitech WingMan Formula Force GP | 180°, fixed |
| Fanatec CSL Elite | 90–1080° |
| Fanatec ClubSport V2 and V2.5, CSR Elite, Porsche 911 GT3 RS | 90–900° |
| Fanatec CSL DD, DD Pro, ClubSport DD, Podium DD1 and DD2 | 90–2520° |
| Thrustmaster T300RS, T-GT II, TS-PC Racer, TS-XW | 40–1080° |
| Thrustmaster T248 | 180–900° |
| Thrustmaster TX | 140–900° |
Auto Centering¶
Auto centering is a steady centering spring that pulls the wheel back to straight. It is useful for a wheel mapped to an Xbox or PlayStation slot in a game that cannot send DirectInput forces of its own, so the wheel would otherwise have no centering at all. On Logitech and Thrustmaster this is a firmware command. On Fanatec it is a software spring PadForge re-sends with each constant-force update, because Fanatec bases expose no firmware auto centering.
RPM shift LEDs¶
When RPM shift LEDs are on and a supported racing game is running, PadForge reads the game's telemetry and lights the wheel's rev LEDs in step with engine RPM. The LED count follows the wheel: 5 on Logitech, 9 on Fanatec, 15 on Thrustmaster.
Telemetry comes from the game, so the LEDs only light for titles PadForge can read: Assetto Corsa and Competizione, the Codemasters F1 22 to F1 25, DiRT, and GRID games, Forza, iRacing, Automobilista 1 and 2, Project CARS 2 and 3, rFactor 1 and 2, Le Mans Ultimate, RaceRoom, the SCS trucks (Euro Truck Simulator 2, American Truck Simulator), BeamNG.drive, and Live for Speed. Other games leave the LEDs dark.
The games that send over the network send to fixed ports here: Forza's Data Out to 5300, F1 and the Codemasters games to 20777, and BeamNG.drive's and Live for Speed's OutGauge to 4444. Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, iRacing and RaceRoom need nothing set. Automobilista 2 and Project CARS 2 and 3 need their shared memory turned on in the Project CARS 2 format (in Automobilista 2, Options, System, Shared Memory). The rest read a plugin installed in the game: rFactor 2 and Le Mans Ultimate need rF2SharedMemoryMapPlugin, the SCS trucks need RenCloud's scs-sdk-plugin, and rFactor 1 and Automobilista 1 need rFactorSharedMemoryMap.
While Game Telemetry listens, the LEDs read the game from its row instead, on whatever port it listens on. That adds EA SPORTS WRC and any custom format, and lets Forza and OutGauge send to a port of your choice. A game that sends no max RPM, such as BeamNG.drive or Euro Truck Simulator 2 through its UDP plugin, lights the LEDs against the highest RPM seen, and the strip reads true once the engine has revved out. When scs-sdk-plugin is installed too, its truck max RPM comes first.
Force-feedback effects by vendor¶
The game decides which effects to send. What reaches the wheel depends on what the firmware can render natively.
| Effect | Logitech | Fanatec | Thrustmaster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constant force | native | native | native |
| Spring | native | native | native |
| Damper | native | native | native |
| Friction | native on G27 / G25 / DFGT / DFP, else damper | native | as damper |
| Inertia | as damper | native | as damper |
| Periodic (sine, square, triangle, sawtooth) | host-sampled into constant force | host-sampled into constant force | firmware-rendered |
| Auto centering | firmware spring | software spring | firmware spring |
Thrustmaster wheels have an onboard periodic generator. Logitech and Fanatec do not, so a periodic effect is sampled each frame and sent as a moving constant force, which feels the same at PadForge's polling rate.
Overall force strength is set by the gain controls on the Force Feedback tab. The Wheel tab does not duplicate them.
Supported wheels¶
Other models from these brands, and wheels from other brands, still get force feedback through the generic Force Feedback path. They do not get the native rotation range, RPM LEDs, or firmware auto centering.
Logitech¶
G29 (PS3/PC and PS4 variants), G923 (PlayStation/PC variant), G27, G25, Driving Force GT, Driving Force Pro, Driving Force, MOMO Racing, MOMO Force, WingMan Formula Force GP.
The G920 and the Xbox G923 use a different protocol and run through the generic path.
Fanatec¶
Wheel bases: CSL Elite (and PS4 variant), CSL DD, DD Pro, ClubSport DD, ClubSport V2 and V2.5, Podium DD1 and DD2, CSR Elite, Porsche 911 GT3 RS. ClubSport V3, CSL Elite, CSL Loadcell, and CSL LC V2 pedals get pedal rumble.
Pedal rumble runs when the game sends rumble to the slot the pedals feed. The low-frequency rumble motor buzzes the brake pedal. The high-frequency motor buzzes the throttle. It needs no setting on the Wheel tab.
Thrustmaster¶
T300RS (PS3, PS4, and GT variants, plus the advanced and Ferrari F1 modes), T-GT II, T248, TX, TS-XW, TS-PC Racer.
The T150 uses a separate protocol and runs through the generic path.
Moza and other standard-PID wheels¶
Moza wheelbases (R3, R5, R9, R12, R16/R21, both generations) speak the standard USB PID force-feedback protocol rather than a proprietary one, so they ride the generic path by design. There is no Moza driver to add, and that is not a gap: the same is true of Cammus, VRS, Asetek, and PXN bases. What the generic path gives them is game force feedback plus the Auto Centering spring. What it cannot give them is vendor-specific rotation range or RPM LEDs, which have no standard command.
Centering and Constant Force pick one seat on the generic path¶
On a wheel driven through the generic path, both are idle behaviors: each applies its force only while the game is not sending force feedback of its own. PadForge drives a generic wheel through a single haptic effect, so whichever you enable owns it, and enabling Constant Force means the centering spring will not also run. A game's force-feedback effects outrank both and hand the effect back the moment they stop. Game rumble displaces Constant Force but not the centering spring, which takes precedence over rumble on a generic wheel. Logitech, Fanatec, and Thrustmaster wheels keep centering as a separate firmware or software spring, so Constant Force and auto centering can run together there. If you want the wheel to pull toward center in games without force feedback, Auto Centering is the tool. If you want a fixed lean, Constant Force is.
Over Remote Link¶
A supported wheel plugged into another PC and shared over Remote Link keeps the whole native pipeline. The PC running the game decodes the game's force-feedback effects exactly as it does for a local wheel. Instead of writing to the wheel, it ships the steering parameters across the link: constant force, the condition effects, the periodic waveform, rotation range, auto centering, and the RPM LED state. The wheel's PC re-encodes them with its own vendor writer, so the wheel firmware receives the same commands a local wheel would.
- The Wheel tab appears on the PC running the game, as it does for a local wheel, and all three settings apply across the link.
- Telemetry for the RPM shift LEDs is read on the game PC, where the sim runs. Only the resolved LED pattern crosses the link.
- Fanatec pedal rumble crosses the link too.
- The Thrustmaster driver requirement follows the wheel: install it on the PC the wheel is plugged into.
- A wheel outside the supported list is driven through its DirectInput haptic effects over the link, with rumble as the last fallback.
Setup¶
- Plug in the wheel and create an Extended output slot so the game can send DirectInput force feedback.
- Drag the wheel onto the slot from the Devices page.
- Open the Wheel tab. Set the rotation range to match the game (most circuit racers want 540–900°, rally and drift want more).
- Leave auto centering at 0% unless the game sends no centering force of its own.
- Turn on RPM shift LEDs if you run one of the supported sim titles.
Tips¶
- Match the rotation range to the car. A formula car wants a small range. A truck or drift car wants a large one. Setting the wheel wider than the game expects makes the steering feel slow.
- Use an Extended slot, not Xbox or PlayStation, so the game can send real force feedback. An Xbox slot only carries rumble.
- Auto centering is a crutch, not the main event. When the game sends its own centering spring, leave auto centering at 0% so the two springs do not fight.
Related pages¶
- Force Feedback: where the force-feedback effects, gain, and the generic-wheel path are documented.
- Remote Link: drive a wheel plugged into another PC.
- Steering: turn a stick or controller tilt into a steering axis. A different feature from a real wheel.
- Controller Slots: create the Extended slot a wheel needs for force feedback.
- Devices: assign the wheel and check that PadForge recognizes the model.
- Trigger Deadzones: pedal axis floor, ceiling, and curve.
- Troubleshooting: help when a wheel has no force feedback.
Last updated for PadForge 5.2.0.