I don't even know really where to start on this, maybe why i looked at Paul for help or inspiration..
ok first the disclaimer.. all i have is my experience in the wheels i have owned. its not about which one is best or which sim is best... but i do feel there is a difference in what is ffb across the sims i drive..( the finer detail)
if i use the same wheel and the same profiler settings and only the game can change its effects how come is varies so much..
From my real world experience of cars.. i have to admit i have driven more cars that are yet to be classed as classics than top notch cars now or old.. but i having worked in the motoring trade for a while with cars as a driver you could say ive had my fill of new and old..and having driven from a very early age on a farm i have had a good chance to feel cars before power steering abs tc ect.. im no speed demon but i could slide a car ok in the fields/roads round our house. (cant do this now of course)
So i have got a bit of a feel as to how a car feels on the edge at lower speeds.. that's also something to remember.. my old cars the back end could broke traction at 40mph in the corners.. new cars can go a lot faster..
i had a old triumph spitfire and that thing was so good for fun.. the feeling you got at the wheel let you know what the car was doing also your butt told you a lot more, it was no record breaker but for fun it was a rwd slide fest... all at low speed the perfect and cheap way to learn.
so from my history you may see where im coming from...
my ideal ffb or so i think on what the info is telling me.. and a reference to the real world.
im going to try and break it down into sections
Stationary
when stationary the wheel should be firm and the weight of the car should reflect in the weight in the wheel from car to car.. how much weight is over the front axle and how heavy the car is..
New cars with power steering.
( Real world power steering can make the biggest cars feel light) so on newer cars i expect it to be a light feel at the wheel even when stationary.
Old cars on old tires.
On old vintage cars i expect a heavy almost rubber feel at the centre. cars did feel very heavy at the wheel in the 70's cross-ply tires ect and no power steering.
Low speed driving
In the Real World you don't really feel anything at all in newer cars.. the wheel feels dead, you turn in the car moves, even the little ruts/holes in the road can be masked..
in a old car every little bump in the road is felt not only in the wheel but in the body through the car seat and at the pedals any where you body has contact.. (Bone shaker).
Im the sim world..
in reflection not much from the real world does translate to ffb . all we are trying to do is kid the brain into thinking that car on the screen is real by what we see and feel in the wheel and see on a screen. is it a complete package that does this.
another example.
i did hear in R3e a good while back that after they changed the surfaces of the tracks the FFB came alive..
i tried and did agree it felt way better on the same old settings.
So again is that another factor that can dictate the FFB..
but it still does not answer the original question.. the developer of the wheel must have a idea of what the wheel can produce or the sensation it can replicate.. but all they say is it has ffb and a bigger more powerful motor
power power power but what are we to do with all this power if we don't know what its for are we just buying into this for no reason. all the newer cars i have driven i can turn with my little finger... older cars yes can break my fingers if you have you hands in the wrong place on the wheel..
So at the end of the day the wheel can rotate left or right.
its how the weight of the wheel in resistance and change of direction or stutter is used to make it feel like a sensation..
If the track has some undulation to it..(not a flat car park track) the weight of the car should make the wheel go heavy and light as you crest a brow or go into a dip.. you should feel the tires load up or go light.. (this must be a given in all sims ?)
If you make a change of direction you should feel this in the wheel regardless of the tires or car .. only at low speed in newer cars do i expect to feel little or no real resistance in the wheel. in older cars with older tires the faster you go the easier it was at the wheel, which often led to problems back then..
Accelerating and breaking
when i accelerate hard the wheel may go a little bit lighter if the car has movement in the suspension, weight trans-fare and if i brake really hard the wheel should feel heavier. at the point of lock up the wheel should feel different, that tell tale sign along with the sounds and visuals. (wheel goes really light like on ice).. it can judder just before grip is just about gone in a corner, like a sensation the front wheels are slightly slipping/skipping loosing grip..
But is that not the same as pot holes that's a judder.. or a different judder or type of judder..
Driving in a straight line at speed
i expect to feel nothing really in newer cars, no pull on the wheel lets face it its boring.
In a old car i expect to be constantly having to correct the wheel to stop the car drifting/moving over following the road imperfections, old cars move around a lot more than newer cars and this to me must be reflected in the ffb its almost a bit vague at times and a little floaty at speeds, the car can feel alive.
Turning at speed..
Once up to speed,, i don't know what im looking for at this point, iv'e not driven a race car at full speed on a track, ive sat in one and shall we say know how it feels in my butt as a passenger.. the track days i have done you still never get up to a speed that you can feel the car on its edge really, so that feeling at the wheel i don't know (the finer details)
Yes the wheel has a weight to it when you turn. unless the car crashes you dont feel that much, maybe a spring effect wanting to rerun the wheels straight.. at high speeds i don't feel that much in comparison to lower to mid speed corners.. just a weight to the wheel..
Now in old cars this is normally much more pronounced the wheel it feels like it could rip your hands of at times with weight trans fare snap..
but i do say im no expert at high speed in new or old cars..
Now Caned effects what added that's not needed, or whats added to great effect i just don't know anymore