After a bitter and painful struggle with my inner stick-user, I have finally decided to opt for d-pad on HD. If it`s good enough for the Mad bad pad man it`s good enough for me. I think it`s better for sharp turns, and with a bit of practice I should be able to get all that tip-tap-tapping for small corrections My mind needs to be re-programmed, but better to do it now I think.

I have a few questions about controlling HD that I think need clearing up:

Are L1/R1 at all pressure sensitive? If using them for brakes is there any difference between braking sensitivity settings?

Is a Dualshock 3 dpad pressure sensitive? Is a Sixaxis dpad pressure sensitive?

Did anything come of the rumour that the controller would vibrate to show when pitch is wrong? Anyone noticed this?

I actually prefer the game without vibration and would turn it off if possible and if it has no practical use, or just use my old Sixaxis.

Another question about techniques: do people generally use sideshift less at Phantom class than slower speeds? On Flash, I often steer almost too far out of a corner, then use sideshift to propel the ship into a straight line. Hope that makes sense. It`s kind of altering your normal line in order to use sideshift. Does anyone else use this technique on Flash, but not on Phantom, or does anyone else use it at all?