CUBE GT PRO V2 Rubber User Guide

: June 15, 2024
: CUBE

CUBE GT PRO V2 Rubber

Introduction

Before you start please read the manual carefully before you use the steering wheel.
Any modifications, tampering, changes or unauthorized uses of the product will void the warranty.
The steering wheel has no waterproof feature, please keep it away from water, rain, moisture and other items containing liquid such as vape, cups etc.
This wheel is designed for simulation purposes only.
Disconnect the USB cable from both sides if you will not use the product for a long time

INTRODUCING THE HARDWARE

Interface

The POV switches/funky switches/joysticks directions (up, down, left, right) are meant to work only if a “clicky” sound feedback occurs. Therefore there’s no risk to press the direction and accidentally enable the centre click button.

Toggles 2 and 34 work this way: once the toggle has been activated the respective led will turn on, when the toggle has been flipped off it turns the led off. In the ON status the respective button is not seen as always pressed, it only activates the button for a few ms when flipped on or off. Toggles are useful for on/off features like headlights, wipers, ABS/TC etc. Make sure the toggle LEDs are synced correctly: e.g. if you activate one option without being in the sim, it will work in reverse once you are into the simulator.

IMPORTANT: Remember that on the Windows USB Game Device page, half the buttons will not engage. This is caused by the Windows’ Graphic Interface inability to see more than 32 Buttons and not a problem with the Steering Wheel itself!

Steering wheel installation

Our universal hub on the back of the wheel body allows the user to install various adapters or even connect them directly to your FFB base.

Highlighted in blue are the M5x0.8 metric holes. In grey, 5,5mm through holes. Both of them are available in 70mm or 50.8mm bolt patterns. Through holes are rotated by 180°, so flipping your adapter to match the wheel hub may be needed. Please refer to your adapter or motor manufacturer to ensure compatibility.

Shifter Paddles Adjustment

Shifter paddles can be easily adjusted to better suit your hand size and driving preferences.

NOTE: TX10 drive needed.

All steering wheel screws are tightened with a tightening torque of 3.5 Nm, except for the two screws indicated in red, tightened with a tightening torque of 4 Nm. Length can be adjusted by slightly loosening the two screws highlighted in the right picture, and sliding forward/ backwards the carbon paddle.

Reach can be adjusted by slightly loosening the two screws highlighted in the right picture and the two on the opposite side of the shifter as pointed by the small arrows, then rotating the lever body upwards/downwards. You may need to apply a bit of force.

Caution: do not use a tightening torque higher than 4 Nm to avoid any damage to the screws or the paddles’ carbon body.

Clutch Paddles Adjustment

The travel of the clutch paddles can be adjusted in the same way as the shifters. Spring resistance can be adjusted by turning the screw by using the provided TX10 Allen Key (smallest L-shaped silver key) as indicated in the picture below:

USB/BLE Connection

The GT PRO V2 introduces two new main features:

A dual-mode that allows you to use the steering wheel via USB connection or through Bluetooth connection to the PC. The Q-CONN – our proprietary magnetic connector for a fast and easy connection.

On both connection methods, the device is seen by Windows as having the same interface, so the re-mapping of controls in-game is not needed when using it via BLE or wired USB.

WHEN IN BLE MODE:

The bottom right LED should flash in blue. This means the wheel is in discovery mode or waiting to connect.
Open the Bluetooth devices on your PC and click “add device”.

Click on the “Bluetooth” option and wait for the device to show up in the device list.

Select the device and wait for the pairing to end. The LED should flash quickly when pairing and stay fixed once pairing is completed.

Once paired, each time the device is turned on with BLE mode selected it will automatically connect to the PC. The operating range is usually around 10 meters but will be reduced if obstructions are present between the device and the PC.

WHEN IN WIRED USB MODE:

Make sure you are in the correct connection mode (bottom right BLE status led OFF)
Just plug the Q-CONN connector on the back of the device.
The operative system should immediately recognize the device and reproduce the standard USB connection sound.

SWITCHING BETWEEN BLE AND USB MODES:

Press and hold button 1 and turn on the steering wheel via the dedicated button on the backside of the wheel.

Turning off the steering wheel and repeating the procedure will allow the user to toggle between the two different connection modes.

The device will always boot-up to the latest connection method used.

Tips for an Optimal BLE Connection

On the first connection you might experience some BLE Connection problems. That is most probably caused by specific settings on your system!

First of all, we always suggest using an external dongle. Do not use your PC Bluetooth connection, as it is not enough to guarantee the proper data flow.

If you’re still experiencing issues, then you can try:

Deleting the device on the Windows BT Page and then pair it again.
Try using a USB extension to put the dongle as near to the wheel as you can: even if it is just one meter away that can sometimes create some issues.
Check if the dongle is on a USB 3.0 port: rarely that can create interference on Bluetooth frequencies.
Disabling onboard wifi and Bluetooth on the motherboard. Even if you previously disabled them in the device manager this couldn’t hurt.
Set all Bluetooth devices/dongles/etc to not allow Windows to turn them off to save power (there are a bunch in Device Manager).
On Windows Services make sure the BT is activated and running correctly.
Turn off all other BT devices you have around
Turn off Wireless internet and use a cabled connection instead.

Battery Charging

As soon as the Q-CONN cable is connected, the device will automatically start the battery
charging process if needed.
Battery status led legend:

Green means the battery is fully charged.
Flashing yellow means the battery is at 5% capacity or less and needs charging.
Red means the battery is being charged.

Charging on the fly while in BLE mode is possible and the connection will be used only to charge the battery without affecting the BLE communication. This is useful if the battery is low during a race!

A full battery charge should take around 2 to 4 hours depending on the connection used. USB 3.0 ports or powered hubs are recommended as they allow the device to draw more power to charge the battery.

Battery life depends mostly on the LEDs setting used. With the LEDs all powered off, the battery will last approximately 50/60h. In the case of LEDs powered on to high brightness setting, the battery will last approximately 10h.

Battery level in % is also available from the Bluetooth device list in the Windows “Bluetooth and other devices” page and also on the Device page of the CubeSet App. There can be a difference between the percentage shown on the Windows page and the CubeSet App: in this case, keep in mind that the value on the Cube Set app is the correct one.

NAVIGATING THE SOFTWARE

Introduction

The CubeSet app is here and you can download it from our website.

Now, thanks to our proprietary software you can configure your Steering Wheel in every little detail and most of all you can update your wheel firmware with new content that we release continuously.

The CubeSet App is compatible with the new line only: the older Formula and GT models are not compatible with the new software.

We have many plans for the future so do not worry: many features will be added to your CubeSet App!

IMPORTANT: With every major change in the Software we also release a new updated version of this manual. Please make sure you’re consulting the correct version for your Software/Firmware.

STARTING THE CUBESET APP

Once the steering wheel is connected and recognized by the PC (see the USB/BLE Connection section of this guide), you can then start the CUBESET APP.

If the wheel is successfully recognized by the CUBESET APP, this is what you will see at the top of the window:

If the wheel is connected to the PC, you can finally start configuring your steering wheel!

Inputs

On the INPUTS page, you can check the correct functionality of every button and encoder present in your wheel, modify the Encoder Pulse Width and calibrate the Clutches.

CHECKING THE BUTTONS

Nothing is easier than that: every button press or encoder rotation on the Steering Wheel will consequently light up the corresponding button/encoder showing their correct input number.

ENCODER PULSE WIDTH

With this slider, you will be able to set a value between 40ms and 240ms for your Encoder Pulse Width! The higher the value, the longer the pulse, ensuring the inputs are recognized by every system/simulator. The lower the value, the shorter the pulse, ensuring the quickest reaction for high-end systems/simulators.

CLUTCHES CALIBRATION

Before using the analogue clutch paddles it is necessary to calibrate them, or else they might not be recognized correctly by the system/simulator.

IMPORTANT: Before calibration make sure the Clutches are set as Enabled and the Bite Point is Disabled on the Paddles page.

The process is simple: when connecting the GT PRO V2 for the first time the clutches could be not correctly recognized in their full course when pressed.

In this case, clicking on “CALIBRATE” will make the RAW values of the clutch appear. Pressing now the clutch full-course will make the system set the correct minimum and maximum values.

After that, simply click “SAVE”. Now the Clutch is correctly calibrated!

IMPORTANT: Remember to click SAVE SETTINGS after the calibration.

RGB

On the RGB page, you can customize every RGB LED present on the wheel in colour and brightness.

RGB CUSTOMIZATION

The system here is quite straightforward: you can select your colour from the classic ones, or pick your favourite, and then add it to Custom Colours. Oh, and remember to select the Brightness level!

For those of you who have their image reference on the PC, you can also use the screen colour picker to reproduce whatever colour you see on your screen. Instead, if you want your colours to be totally precise you can always modify the RGB, Hue, Saturation and Value for the colour (we also have the alphanumeric HTML!)

To make any changes quicker we have also added some basic colours profiles on the right side of the screen. Simply select one of those colours and all LEDs on the steering wheel will change accordingly!

After that, simply click OK to save the results and Cancel to abort all modifications.

IMPORTANT: Remember to click SAVE SETTINGS when you finish.

Also note that further LEDs customization is possible through the Simhub software, as the GT PRO V2 is natively compatible! Keep also in mind that every LED configuration made on Simhub will supersede the ones on the Cubeset App

Paddles

On the PADDLES page, you have the CLUTCHES section and the SHIFTERS section. In the CLUTCHES section, you can enable/disable the clutches and the Bite Point. For the Bite Point, you will also be able to select the Slave Clutch to be the Left or the Right one and then limit the percentage for it- and also bind it to an encoder of the wheel to modify the bite point on the fly! In the SHIFTERS section, you will be able to Calibrate automatically the shifters to ensure full compatibility!

CLUTCHES SECTION

Once you calibrate the Clutches on the Inputs page, it is time to set the Bite Point! By default, the maximum value of the Slave Clutch can be adjusted with the respective slider. Therefore, if the clutch slider is set in the middle of its travel when fully depressing the left clutch paddle, its value will go from the minimum to half of the maximum value. On the other side, the Master Clutch will instead always work in a range from min to max travel, no matter how the clutch slider is set. This system allows the user to mimic the launch control system used in F1 cars until 2015 when it was possible to set the Clutch Bite Point.

Finding the correct Clutch Bite Point setting

In a practice session, set the clutch slider at around 50% of its travel, fully depress both clutch paddles, engage first gear, reach the optimal engine RPM, and release the right clutch paddle. As the car starts gaining speed, release the left clutch paddle and shift gears as normal. If you notice that the clutch starts slipping too much, you will need to decrease the left clutch paddle max value. If you notice that the engine drops quickly in RPM, then you will need to increase the clutch slippage by increasing the slider value. This value is typically different for each car and different track conditions.

This way the Launch Control will be no longer available and this is a valuable feature, especially for users with leg impairments since it allows them to be set as Throttle and Brake directly on the Steering Wheel.

By default, the Master Clutch is the right one and as such will always operate from min to max value. It is possible to swap the Master Clutch and select the left one, and it is also possible to set the analogue paddles to be separate instead of combined.This way the Launch Control will be no longer available and this is a valuable feature, especially for users with leg impairments since it allows them to be set as Throttle and Brake directly on the Steering Wheel.

IMPORTANT: After each value modification, remember to press the SAVE SETTINGS button.

Setting the Bite Point on the fly

Now it is also possible to modify the Bite Point on the fly, without going back to the CubeSet app in the middle of your driving session!
To do so, you will need to set an encoder of your steering wheel for this function. Nothing easier! First of all click the button under the Bite Point slider, to start the process. Then you will be prompted to rotate an encoder to bind the bite point.

IMPORTANT: Every change is sent from wheel to software in real time, so you will need to keep the app open at all times when using the wheel to make sure the data flow is not interrupted.

SHIFTERS SECTION

After the first use, you may notice some missing or double shifts. This is caused by different systems incompatibilities that may diminish or increase the input duration, making the shifting incorrectly recognized. Because of this, you will need to directly intervene and calibrate the value for the two shifters separately to reach the perfect shifting. Do not worry, as this process is really easy!
First of all, you will need to click the CALIBRATE button as shown in the image below.

The CALIBRATE button will be replaced by the message “press and hold the left shifter then click me”.

Following the instructions press and hold the corresponding shifter and then click the button. The shifter paddle is now perfectly functional! Repeat on the other one and you will be good to go.

IMPORTANT : Remember to click SAVE SETTINGS after the calibration.

Problems with Clutches and Shifters Calibration?

If after the regular calibration you still notice some problems with the shifters (double shifting, miss shift) or clutches (values not recognized, calibration bars not functioning correctly) most probably this is caused by interferences between Windows’ calibration data and the RAW format of the data inputs.
First thing, you will need to go in the Windows’ “Set up USB Game Devices”. If you’re not sure of where to find this settings page, just look for it in the Windows’ search bar and you will be good to go!

Once there, simply select the device in the menu you’ll see in front of you. This will prompt another window: select the settings tab there.

In the settings bar there is the button we need: simply RESET TO DEFAULT there.

Done that, Windows’ calibration data is gone and you can finally calibrate the paddles again in our app!

IMPORTANT: if you have specific problems with i Racing’s clutches calibration, make sure you delete the joycalib.yaml file in the simulator’s directory

Device

On the DEVICE page, you can update your steering wheel’s Firmware, Factory Reset your wheel and also check your Battery Status (only when on BLE connection).

UPDATING THE FIRMWARE

When updating the firmware you have two choices: you can check online for updates (CHECK UPDATE) or, if you already have downloaded the new firmware update on your PC, you can select it and upload it manually (MANUAL UPDATE).

CLEAR FLASH DATA

If you need for whatever reason to do a Factory Reset of your steering wheel, you can now use this button and clear everything in its memory with just a click!

BATTERY STATUS

When connected via BLE, here you will find the remaining percentage of your steering wheel’s battery. When connected via USB, you will see USB.

IMPORTANT: There might be differences between the percentage shown on the Device page and the Windows Bluetooth Device page. Do not worry, this is caused by some Windows’ difficulties in seeing the accurate battery percentage and you can believe what you see in the App.

About

On the ABOUT page, you can find additional information like the Firmware version your steering wheel is on or the CubeSet App version.

CONNECTING TO SIMHUB

Connecting to SIMHUB

Simhub compatibility is finally here!

Thanks to Simhub the RGB LEDs can be now customized to blink/change colour/switch on and off according to your SimHub configuration, making your experience with Cube Controls even deeper.

You will simply need to download the latest Simhub Beta compatible with our steering wheels (you can always find the new one on our website!).

NOTE: The latest compatible version of Simhub is the 8.1.0b1

SETTING SIMHUB

Starting Simhub, on the left you will find the Devices tab. There, you will be able to simply add the selected compatible device. Just press on ADD DEVICE.

Select your steering wheel from the list:

You can now create multiple profiles and edit them with various effects and functions: thanks to the Simhub versatility, the only limit is your own imagination!

USEFUL TIPS

Each wheel comes with a full sheet of stickers and a set of plastic tweezers useful to install them to your liking. Before applying the sticker make sure the surface it’s clean.
Try to install the USB coiled cable by wrapping it loosely on your FFB motor shaft/adapter in such a way that it will not suffer any strain even when doing full opposite steering rotations. Make sure your rig is grounded correctly.
Each wheel comes with an auxiliary USB connector that comes out from the main hub. This will be used with our Cube Controls QRX quick-release kit.