IS GT7 A FULL SIM NOW?
Is GT7 Now a Full Sim?
I’ve only done two races and some qualifying since the new update, so these are very early impressions. I’m definitely not ready to say the new physics are better or worse yet, but the difference in the physics, tire model and force feedback immediately stood out to me.
For context, I currently use a Logitech G Pro wheel with GT7 and have been using it for over a year. The Honda NSX GT500 ’00 has been my favorite car since release, and at this point I know this car intimately. I drive it more than anything else, including in Gr.3 races under BoP where it’s often at a disadvantage compared with the newer cars.
I also did a race after the update in the NSX Gr.3 ’17 to see if what I was feeling was specific to the GT500. It wasn’t.
The first thing I noticed was the force feedback. It feels dramatically different.
There seems to be more play in the steering wheel when going straight. Going over bumps and curbs, I can actually feel the wheel moving and almost hopping in my hands. Before, the steering felt much more planted. Now the wheel seems much more alive and I find myself having to work with it more through certain corners.
The difference was big enough that I increased GT7’s FFB setting from 7 to 8. The new 8 feels closer in overall strength to what 7 felt like before—maybe something like an old 7.5—but the actual information coming through the wheel feels completely different.
The tire feedback is probably the biggest change.
There is significantly more tire squeal now. What surprised me is that I’m even hearing it while gently coasting through some corners without feeling like I’m attacking the tire at all. Under the previous physics, that amount of tire noise would have made me think I was much closer to the limit.
Racing Softs also don’t feel like the Racing Softs I’m accustomed to. In some ways they remind me more of how the old Mediums felt.
The previous tire model was honestly more fun for me, at least based on my first couple of races. There was a security to the car, especially on Racing Softs, that allowed me to really attack it.
But more fun doesn’t necessarily mean more realistic.
And this is where things get interesting.
The NSX GT500 actually seems to turn in better now, particularly in slow corners.
This car has always rotated extremely slowly at low speed under the previous physics. I’ve spent a huge amount of time learning how to work around that with trail braking, brake bias, gear selection and throttle control. I’ve never driven an NSX in real life, so I can’t say how accurately GT7 was representing it, but I’ve always wondered whether the GT500 really should have been that reluctant to rotate.
Now the front seems more willing to turn in.
The car also seems more stable over curbs and when applying throttle. At Yas Marina, for example, I used to have to be very careful applying throttle through the chicane because being too aggressive could quickly rotate the car and potentially spin it. Under the new physics, I’m finding more stability there.
Braking has changed considerably too.
My old braking markers in the GT500 are suddenly too early.
At Yas Marina, I’m having to move my braking point closer to the chicane because the GT500 seems capable of stopping considerably better than it did before.
At the same time, though, the overall lap times appear slower.
Immediately before the update, I had qualified at Yas Marina in the GT500 with a 1:57.752 on Racing Softs.
My first qualifying lap under the new physics was around a 2:02.
Obviously, that’s nowhere near enough testing to draw conclusions about ultimate pace or whether the GT500’s BoP has changed for better or worse. I’m basically having to relearn braking points and how the car responds.
I also jumped into the NSX Gr.3 ’17, and again I noticed considerably more feedback, particularly over the curbs. That makes me think what I’m experiencing isn’t simply something that changed with the GT500.
I’ve never driven an NSX in real life, so I’m not going to pretend I know exactly how one should behave at the limit. I have, however, been on a racetrack in a GT-R in real life.
And the last sim I played that wasn’t Gran Turismo 7 was Le Mans Ultimate using a Simagic wheel.
Today I use the Logitech G Pro exclusively with GT7, so I’m not trying to make a direct wheel-to-wheel comparison between the two setups. But having experienced LMU with a Simagic DD wheel gives me another reference for what a more hardcore simulator can feel like.
I’m not saying GT7 suddenly feels exactly like Le Mans Ultimate. It doesn’t.
But the amount of information I’m now receiving through the Logitech G Pro—the movement over bumps, the curb feedback, the tire behavior, the lighter feeling around center, and the way the wheel seems to load and unload—makes GT7 feel noticeably more like a full simulator to me than it did before.
That’s probably the biggest impression I’m getting from this update.
Is GT7 now a full sim?
I don’t know yet.
I’m also not necessarily saying that I prefer it. After only two races, I actually preferred the previous physics from a pure enjoyment standpoint because the cars felt more secure and I had more confidence attacking them.
But if this new tire and physics model is actually a closer representation of what these cars are doing underneath you, I’m completely willing to relearn the game.
Because purely in terms of sensation, GT7 suddenly feels much closer to a full sim to me.
There is more happening through the steering wheel. I’m getting more information from the tires. I’m feeling bumps and curbs differently. My braking references have changed. The GT500 rotates differently. And I’m having to actively work with the steering wheel in situations where previously it just felt planted.
For those of you using DD wheels—and especially anyone who has real track experience or also drives sims like Le Mans Ultimate—what are you feeling after this update?
Does GT7 actually feel more realistic to you now?
Or does it simply feel different?