Left stick seems to offer much better car control than the buttons do.
Being analog, you don't have to push it all the way left or right, you can use it incrementally. Since the buttons on the D-pad are digital they are simply ON when pressed or Off when not.
I have been practicing more with my wheel lately, but for now I'm still anywhere from 1-5 seconds/lap faster, and also more consistant with a controller.
Most Logitec Wheels (G25, G27, etc.) are fully supported. Actually I think there are 8 different wheels that have full support for use in GT5. If you go in the options menu you can see which ones are, they will each have their own section for customization.
The DF:GT wheel never stopped being an official wheel, either. So long as you get a wheel listed inside GT, you get PD's official support of it. Any other wheel is supposed to only get DS3 support.
However, getting a good wheel for you involves personal choice. If you want certain features, such as having the PS button, then you have to pick the wheel that has them. The only thing left to do then is to save up your money for it and maybe wait for a store to put it on sale.
Keep racing my friends!
But seriously, I have used a controller for many Gran Turismo years and have always used the thumbsticks for steering and throttle / brakes.
In terms of wheels I only recently (about 3 or 4 months back) purchased my very first wheel, was originally looking at a DFGT but was lucky enough to get a G27 instead.
I use a DS3 and switched to the sticks on GT4 I believe. I was hesitant at first until I noticed it was better. I do still use d-pad on the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games though.
I would love to use a DFGT but it hasent been in the budget since I havent worked in so long (health, not lazy
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