Best NASCAR 26 Settings for Thrustmaster T248
NASCAR 26 is the game I hoped NASCAR 25 was going to be, at least in terms of car feel. You can really feel the track and the car through the wheel. It's not an overly punishing simulation, so you can just drop right into a race and have a great time. This feels like a true upgrade to the NASCAR Heat games.
The Thrustmaster T248 works well with it, but the wheel has a strong tendency to oscillate on straights. As long as you don't let go of the wheel, this isn't really a problem, but I can't make it stop, no matter the settings.
In this guide, I will show you the settings I use to improve the force feedback and what you may want to adjust for your own setup.
Thrustmaster Settings
The T248R uses a newer driver on the PC, which may not have all of these settings. Settings on the wheel have been renamed: FFB is now Boost, which should be set to 0. Force now shows the actual number, and should be 65%.
NASCAR 26 is designed to use 270° as the steering angle. If you set the rotation higher than 270°, the game will only register input up to that point, but the force feedback continues past it, creating a jarring disconnect.
| On-Wheel Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| ROT | 270° |
| 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 | 270° |
| 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 used for the Spring Strength setting.
Damper is used for the Friction Strength setting.
BOOST should always be turned off. For an in-depth look as to why, see my BOOST Force Feedback Analysis.
NASCAR 26 Settings
In Settings > Gameplay:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Transmission | Manual |
| Brake Smoothing | Off |
Transmission should be Manual to use your paddles or H Pattern to shift.
Brake Smoothing is a Brake assist. This is personal preference.
In Settings > Driving:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Preset | Expert |
You can choose what works for you here, but I didn't find the game became overly difficult even with all the assists turned off.
In Settings > Controls > Wheel:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Steering Range | 100 |
| Wheel Max Rotation | 270 |
| Shifter Type | Sequential / H Pattern |
| Force Feedback (Preset) | |
| Force Feedback Preset | Low Torque |
| Force Feedback (Driving Forces) | |
| Strength | 100 |
| Balance | 0 |
| Collision | 50 |
| Overdrive | 0 |
| Force Feedback (Friction) | |
| Strength | 80 |
| Force Feedback (Spring) | |
| Strength | 0 |
| Dead Band | 5 |
Steering Range needs to be set to 100 to get linear steering. This (along with the Wheel Max Rotation) will make the in-game wheel match your real world wheel.
Wheel Max Rotation needs to be set to exactly what is set in the Thrustmaster Control Panel.
Shifter Type will be either Sequential or H Pattern, depending on if you have an H Pattern shifter or not.
Force Feedback Strength can be lowered if you prefer a lighter wheel.
Balance is the main cause of oscillations, so I turn it all the way down.
Collision is the jolts you feel when you hit something.
Overdrive is unnecessary. It will introduce a lot of clipping in the corners.
Force Feedback (Friction) Strength is the weight of the wheel, mostly felt when the car is slow or stopped. This can help with the oscillations, but not enough to stop them.
Force Feedback (Spring) Strength is just a constant pulling towards the center. There is no reason to use this on these wheels.
In Settings > Adv. Controls:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Car Handling Config | Steering Wheel |
Everything in the Steering section has no effect when using a wheel. The Braking and Throttle sections can be used to adjust the feel of the pedals.
Conclusion
NASCAR 26 is a refinement of last year's game, certainly when it comes to the feel of the driving and the force feedback. This raises the bar for the kind of force feedback that can exist in these "simcade" style games.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments.