I get a lot of questions about how I personally drive and what setups I use etc. I decided to break it down for everyone. This is the controller setup I use for the fastest possible laps and the biggest possible drifts. This setup will work for GT5, GT6, Forza, Need for Speed, and literally any other racing game. Hopefully it’s not too small for you to read, but the descriptions below will break it down even further to what everything is and why. Of course all of this doesn’t apply to anyone using a wheel as you already have the extreme control needed. This is basically trying to emulate wheel precision on a controller setup.
GAS AND BREAK
The reason this is the best setup is because of your hand placement on the controller. For example R2 is gas which gives you the greatest control over how much gas you are actually allowing into the engine. This way you can squeeze it a little or a lot to give you the precision you need. Brake is L2 for literally the same reasons. You never wanna just slam on the gas or break when cornering so it is key to have a lot of control over these.
SHIFT UP AND DOWN
If you use automatic this won’t matter, but I highly suggest trying to learn how to use manual transmission. Racing, drifting, drag etc it’s all about control. Manual you have the control to shift when you want and can decide to or not to shift at any moment. The reason this is important is because you may have a car that has too much torque and at high RPM the tires spin too much causing the car to slide out the turns. If you are driving a manual transmission you could simply shift up to be in a lower gear and lower RPM so this won’t happen.
I use X as shift up because your thumb placement is already on it at all times. It takes no time at all to shift into the next gear when you need too. Square is shift down for the same reason. Your thumb lays across these two buttons making it the fastest way to shift up or down, so fast you don’t even have to lift a finger off the controller.
OTHERS
L1 is look behind you because the left index finger is not in use that much since it only controls the brake. This gives it freedom to control other things. In order to allow quickest checks behind you L1 is perfect as the button is just above the brake.
Things like triangle, Circle, right joystick etc is basically all up to you. I find O works best for for emergency brake because for drifting it’s easy to press quick and then get back on X or square for shifting. Triangle is a slight stretch so I use it for reverse when needed. Like I said the rest are up to you for things like lights, windshield wipers, etc.
I personally use the right joystick’s left and right for looking to the left and right. It’s nice for drag racing to be able to look over slightly to the side when in the car. I do not suggest setting anything for up or down on the right joy stick because if you do you can accidently hit something else. For example I used to have gas forward and brake downwards on the right joystick, but since it is a joystick and not a button almost always I would accidently press a little too hard up or down causing me to lose speed.
