Playing Racing Sims With A DualSense Will Instantly Reduce Your Lap Times; Here’s How

Microsoft wants you to believe that an Xbox One or Series controller is the best controller for a PC. As much as I like an Xbox controller, I think Microsoft is way off the target, especially when the competition is Sony’s newest DualSense controller.

I’ve played racing sims with both controllers and while an Xbox controller looks better and feels snugger in hands, it’s the DualSense that works its mechanical magic to provide you more control over how you race. Let’s look at how using a DualSense controller can help make you a better racer instantly.

DualSense X And Adaptive Triggers

The thing about racing simes is that turning on ABS brakes in the assist settings can drastically increase your lap times since the ABS doesn’t transmit 100% of the braking power to the wheels. But when it’s turned off, it’s very difficult to correctly tell the cut-off point for the trigger travel where your car’s tires start to lock up. So when new players try to turn off ABS brakes to get better lap times, they end up skidding off-track.

While the haptic feedback has no other use than for immersion, the adaptive triggers on the DualSense can be used to help adjust your braking power on the trigger when playing without ABS brakes. Thankfully, there is a way to turn them on when you connect your DualSense controller to your PC.

Simply download the DualSense X app on your PC and connect your DualSense to your PC via Bluetooth or USB C. Once connected, the Dualsene X app will automatically detect it and take over. 

Once everything is set up, you can turn on adaptive triggers from the “Controller Mode” section on the DualSense X app. These contain pre-set adaptive trigger settings which you can further customize according to whichever game you’re playing. Once turned on, the triggers will retain these settings in every game.

For racing sims, we will set the DualSense controller’s triggers to get hard right before the car’s tires start to lock up, so you can brake with the maximum force. You can call this cheating, but I like to consider it an assist that can help new racing sim players ease into racing without ABS brakes.

To do this, select “Resistance Trigger” in the controller mode. Before you pick a “Start” and “Force” value, play your racing sim a bit to roughly get an estimate of how deep you can press the trigger before the tires of your car lock up. With that estimate in mind, come back to DualSense X, pick any force value, and set the start point that corresponds to the estimate value. 

Now go back into the game and trial and error the start point value until you set it to the exact level after which your vehicle’s tires lock up. Setting up this value perfectly will allow you to safely apply the maximum amount of brake power, even at short notice, without going all out, locking your tires, and losing your steering before a turn.

For the force value, my suggestion is to initially start with a bigger number and keep reducing it until you don’t need the adaptive trigger anymore and can play comfortably without ABS brakes. With the help of adaptive triggers, you’ll be able to master ABS-off braking much more quickly and with little to no frustration.

Additionally, if you have trouble with PC games not detecting DualSense in PC games, the DualSense X app can help emulate your controller as an Xbox 360 controller to make it more compatible with every game.

Harder And Symmetrical Joysticks

I’ve used almost every controller out there, including a Nintendo Switch Pro controller, and out of all these controllers, the joysticks of DualSense are the best suited for racing games.

You’ll primarily be using the left joystick for steering in racing games, and compared to other controllers, the DualSense has symmetrical joysticks that require slightly more force to tilt. Its placement at a lower point allows easy access and is easier on the thumb, especially when you press the joystick up to steer. And because it requires more force to tilt, you’ll avoid fidgety turns which can lead to spin-outs in faster cars without traction control.