Project CARS 3 is the one game in the series that was made with a controller in mind. Project CARS 2 fights you on a pad until you fix the sliders. This one is driveable out of the box, and with ten minutes in the menu it gets a lot better.
I drive sims with a wheel, so I will not sell you these as my race settings. This is a baseline from the values pad players have published since 2020, with what each slider does so you can adjust it for your own thumbs. Checked on 5 October 2026.
The baseline
Open the settings from the main menu and go to the controls section. The names can differ a little between PC and console, so match them by meaning.
| Setting | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Steering deadzone | 0 | 3 to 8 if your stick is worn and the car pulls to one side |
| Steering sensitivity | 30 | Lower if the car is nervous on the straights |
| Throttle deadzone | 0 | |
| Throttle sensitivity | 30 | Up to 50 if the car feels lazy out of slow corners |
| Brake deadzone | 0 | |
| Brake sensitivity | 30 | Lower still if you lock the fronts |
| Clutch deadzone | 0 | Only matters with a manual clutch |
| Clutch sensitivity | 50 | |
| Speed sensitivity | 75 | Lower gives you more steering lock at speed |
| Controller filtering | 50 | Lower reacts faster, higher is smoother |
| Vibration | 40 | To taste |
| Automatic clutch | On | |
| RPM and gear display | Yes |
An earlier version of this page also listed strength, tune and menu spring strength. Those are force feedback settings for a steering wheel. On a controller they do nothing, so leave them alone. If you have a wheel, use my Project CARS 3 wheel and FFB settings.
What each slider does
Project CARS 3 runs on the same engine as Project CARS 2 and the sliders carry the same names. Two of them are not obvious.
Steering deadzone. How far the stick moves before the car reacts. Zero is the most precise. Raise it only when the car turns with your thumb off the stick.
Steering sensitivity. How much steering you get in the first part of the stick travel. At 50 the response is linear. Below 50 the centre is calmer and the lock comes at the end of the travel. That is why 30 works on a pad: a stick has very little travel, and you want most of it for small corrections.
Throttle and brake sensitivity. The same idea on the triggers. Lower gives you more control in the first half of the trigger. The brakes in this game bite early, so I would keep the brake at 30 or lower.
Speed sensitivity. The faster you go, the less steering lock the game gives you. A higher number takes away more. Too high and the car will not turn in fast corners. Too low and it snaps at 250 km/h. 75 is the middle that most published pad setups land on.
Controller filtering. Smoothing between your thumb and the front wheels. Low is direct, high is smooth. If you are jerky with the stick, go higher. If you are smooth and the car feels late, go lower.
Two published setups side by side
There is no single right answer. Here is the baseline above next to another pad setup that has been online since the launch of the game.
| Setting | Baseline | Other setup |
|---|---|---|
| Steering deadzone | 0 | 0 |
| Steering sensitivity | 30 | 30 |
| Throttle sensitivity | 30 | 50 |
| Brake sensitivity | 30 | 30 |
| Clutch sensitivity | 50 | 45 |
| Speed sensitivity | 75 | 75 |
| Controller filtering | 50 | 50 |
They agree on almost everything. The one real difference is the throttle: 30 is easier with powerful rear wheel drive cars, 50 is more direct. Start at 30 and move up when you stop spinning the rear tyres.
Assists on a controller
A trigger has a few centimetres of travel. A brake pedal has a lot more, and you push it with your leg. So on a pad I would not be proud about the aids.
- ABS: on. You can not feel a locking front tyre through a trigger.
- Traction control: on at the start. Turn it down when your exits are clean.
- Stability control: on for the first hours, then off. It hides what the car is doing, and you stop learning.
- Automatic clutch: on.
- Gears: manual if you can. Short shifting out of slow corners is the cheapest traction control there is.
The full list is in my Project CARS 3 assists and AI difficulty settings.
If the car does not feel right
Change one value, do five laps with the same car on the same track, then decide. If you change three things at once you will never know which one helped.
| Problem | Change | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The car weaves on the straights | Steering sensitivity down to 20, or controller filtering up to 60 | Small thumb movements do less around the centre |
| Not enough steering in fast corners | Speed sensitivity down to 65 | The game takes away less lock at speed |
| Too much steering in fast corners, the car snaps | Speed sensitivity up to 85 | Less lock at speed, so the same thumb movement is calmer |
| The steering feels late | Controller filtering down to 30 | Less smoothing between your thumb and the front wheels |
| I lock the brakes into every hairpin | Brake sensitivity down to 20, ABS on | More trigger travel before you reach full pressure |
| Wheelspin on every exit | Throttle sensitivity down to 20, traction control on | The first half of the trigger gives less power |
| The car drifts left or right on its own | Steering deadzone up to 5 | The stick no longer returns to a perfect centre |
How to drive it on a pad
Settings are half of it. The other half is your thumbs.
- Brake in a straight line, then release slowly. Coming off the trigger too fast is what unsettles the car, on a pad and in a real car.
- Roll the stick, do not flick it. Push it along the edge of its travel. Fast inputs are what the filtering has to clean up.
- One steering input per corner. If you are sawing at the stick, you turned in too early or too fast.
- Squeeze the throttle. Half trigger until the car is straight, then all of it.
More in my Project CARS 3 driving tips.
Can you still play Project CARS 3?
Yes, if you already own it. The game came out on 25 August 2020. It was removed from Steam, the PlayStation Store and the Xbox Store on 24 August 2025, and the online servers were shut down on 24 February 2026. Since then it is offline only: career, custom races and time attack against the AI.
If you do not own it, a disc copy for PS4 or Xbox One is the only way in. For a newer game that is good on a pad, look at my Gran Turismo 7 controller settings or the Project CARS 2 controller settings if you want the more serious sim.
More Project CARS 3 settings
- Project CARS 3 graphics settings
- Project CARS 3 keyboard controls
- Project CARS 3 FOV settings
- Project CARS 3 wheel and FFB settings
FAQ
What are the best controller settings for Project CARS 3?
Deadzones at 0, steering, throttle and brake sensitivity at 30, speed sensitivity 75 and controller filtering 50. Then adjust speed sensitivity and filtering to your own hands.
Is Project CARS 3 good on a controller?
Yes. It was designed for pads first and it is much easier on a controller than Project CARS 2.
What does speed sensitivity do in Project CARS 3?
It reduces the steering lock as the speed goes up. A higher value takes away more lock. Lower it if the car will not turn in fast corners.
What does controller filtering do?
It smooths your stick inputs. Low is direct, high is smooth. Raise it if the car weaves, lower it if the steering feels late.
Should I use ABS and traction control on a controller?
ABS, yes. Traction control at the start, then less of it. Stability control I would turn off once you know the cars.
Do the same settings work on PS4, Xbox and PC?
Yes. The sliders are the same on every platform. A worn stick may need a few points of steering deadzone.
Can I still buy Project CARS 3?
Not as a download. It left the digital stores on 24 August 2025. Disc copies for console still work, offline only.