As much as in real life, a comfortable and quick access to the essential commands of your vehicle is the first step to good driving in simracing. Fortunately, you can customize your controls and make sure the most important things naturally fall right under your fingers.
Where to Find The Controllers Settings in Game
The first step is to go on the World Map, then reach the GT logo on the top left corner and click it, then go into Options. Then, press R1 to access the Controllers tab.
From there, you’ll have access to different menus : one to toggle on or off the vibration function (which is personal preference), and then 2 for the Playstation game pad (player 1 and 2) and one for each supported steering wheel.
Anatomy of the Game Pad
Whether you are on PS4 or PS5, the game pad layout is the same. The only buttons you cannot change are the Share, Options and PS buttons, which all operate essential functions for the console itself. Everything else can be switched around.
When you grab the controller, you will notice that your index fingers naturally rest on the back triggers, and your thumbs go in between the joysticks and the side buttons – specifically over cross and square on the right. This means no matter the type of steering and pedal inputs you prefer, the main functions need to go on the following buttons : the left joystick (or the directional pad), L2, R2, cross and square (or the right joystick).
L1, R1, circle, triangle and the touch pad should be used for secondary functions that are only occasionally activated.
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Adjusting Your Steering and Pedal Controls For Controller
You will notice on the controller options screen, the top left and top right corners allow you to select your preferred methods to move the car around. These will give your presets that you can then adjust to your own preferences.
For steering, you have 3 options :
- Directional buttons : the old school method, inherited from the times game pads didn’t have analog sticks. While Gran Turismo does a decent job at smoothing the jagged inputs inherent to this method, we don’t recommend it unless the other methods present physiological difficulties for you.
- Left stick : the most common method, it allows you to provide smooth and gradual inputs. You need a high level of precision in your thumb and the muscle memory isn’t as natural to build up as it would with a steering wheel, but Manufacturers Series World Champion Daniel Solis used this method at home to qualify to the World Tours, so it is perfectly possible to be fast with it.
- Motion sensor function : this is an interesting one, as it allows you to basically use your game pad like a steering wheel. It is easier to be precise and can feel more natural than the joystick for small steering angles, but this method suffers from a major drawback : if you try to overturn and give it more than 90° of angle, the game will be confused and just stop steering, which can lead to crashes if you’re not careful. If you’re considering this method, we recommend you try it in time trial first and see how often this happens to you.
Similarly, you have 3 options for throttle and brake :
- Cross and square echo to the directional buttons for steering as the legacy and outdated method, and we advise against it for the same reasons.
- Right stick : unlike for steering, we do not recommend this option either, as it has the additional drawback of introducing lag in transitions between acceleration and braking, and prevents you from having both inputs at the same time – which can be a very useful technique to maintain car control. It is the equivalent of braking with your right foot, which is suboptimal in racing.
- Triggers (R2/L2) : our preferred method, as the triggers are progressive and are sort of like mini pedals. If you’re on PS5, the haptic effects can even provide valuable feedback !
Our Recommended Controller Settings For GT7
Our game pad configuration of choice is based on left stick steering and trigger throttle (R2) and brake (R2). We then map shifting on cross (upshift) and square (downshift) as they fall right under the right thumb, on the throttle side. Nitrous / Overtake (which also controls DRS) fits well on triangle as you barely have to move your thumb to get it under the tip, while circle is kept for the e-brake. You can switch those two around as well if you prefer.
The directional pad is perfect to operate the MFD menu : use left and right to operate between the different options, use up and down to adjust the settings. The right stick can be mapped for camera controls and used to look on the sides or behind you.
The touch pad is better suited for indicators and hazard lights, while headlights toggle and flashing is best on the left joystick press (L3). Keep the horn on the right stick press (R3) and not the left one : a lot of controller players tend to accidentally press down on the left joystick when under pressure, and accidentally flashing your headlights is less annoying and has less chances to be interpreted as road rage than honking like a maniac every other turn.
L1 and R1 are going to be your least used buttons, since you’re pretty much always operating L2 and R2. L1 can be used either as an additional Look Back button or an alternate headlights operation mode if you want to separate the toggle and flash. Meanwhile, R1 should be used to change view as you will usually set that one and never change it again during the race, and your right index should realistically never move away from R1.
On a sidenote, sensitivity should always be maxed out at 10, otherwise you will lose in reactivity and performance. The only exception is karts, for which you want to turn it down until you feel comfortable.
What About Using a Steering Wheel?
Steering wheel button layouts are a bit different and each model has its own variation. Some have buttons on the base which are harder to reach, but they can also provide additional buttons and even rotaries which are extremely useful to operate the MFD.
Obviously, you will in all cases use the wheel itself to steer, the pedals for throttle, brake and potentially clutch, and either paddles or a shifter to change gears. The Share, Options and PS buttons are still locked to the console functions. Wheels without rotary dials will usually require you to use a mandated sequence of buttons to cycle through the MFD, or just use the directional cross – in which case you’ll want to map buttons to look left and right that are close to your thumbs resting positions.
In general, the other functions you want to keep close to your thumbs on a wheel are the e-brake (if you don’t have a standalone one), Nitro/Overtake, and headlights flash. The Thrustmaster and Fanatec GT rims licensed for Gran Turismo both feature multiple rotary dials that are individually linked to different MFD options, eliminating the need to cycle through them, meaning they’re the only options that allow you to map every single function available on a single controller device.
Be aware that game pad inputs are still registered while a steering wheel is plugged in and used, so be careful where you leave that device while you’re driving and make sure sticks and triggers aren’t accidentally pressed. You can however keep it close to you and use it for rarely used functions such as changing view to free up buttons for more useful inputs on lower end wheels.
Note for Logitech RS Wheel Hub users : at the time of writing, your wheel is recognized as a G Pro racing Wheel, so you need to configure your controls there.
Accessibility Controllers For Special Cases
Finally, a mention for all our friends with physical handicaps or other difficulties : you can still experience simracing on Gran Turismo and have fun with everyone else ! Options range from mapping throttle and brake on the shift paddles on a wheel for those who can’t use their legs, to custom made controllers such as mouth operated joysticks. While the later is not our area of expertise, I have personally raced with someone suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy using a mouth joystick, and his pace was actually pretty good : he even reached A+ rank on GT Sport !
If using a wheel or a regular gamepad is difficult for you, we encourage you to look into the Playstation Access controller, an official and customizable solution available for 70€ at the time of writing that will help not only for simracing, but also gaming in general.
Remember, no matter the tools, the important part is to enjoy the experience !
