the pad is the only way to feel the asphalt

Driving in GTA isn't a mechanic, it's the whole texture of the world. You don't steer a car with a mouse. You feel the weight shift through your thumbs, the rumble of a V8 through the plastic. Michael Mann's Heat understood that. It's the difference between watching a chase and being in one.

I get the argument for mouse aiming. Headshots are cleaner. But GTA isn't a competitive shooter. It's a crime saga. The sloppiness of analog aiming, the way a gunfight can spiral because you missed a couple shots, that's drama. That's the scene where the plan goes wrong. A mouse makes everything too surgical. It flattens the chaos.

And switching inputs mid-session? That's like pausing a movie to change the lens. You break the spell. I'll take the pad for everything. The driving is sublime, the shooting is messier but more human. Leonida deserves to be experienced through a controller, not a spreadsheet.

Pad's mandatory for anything with an engine swap. You can't feather throttle on a keyboard. Try clutch kicking with WASD. Trash.

the weight shift through your thumbs

Exactly. Analog triggers let you ride the limiter SMOOTH. A mouse is for spreadsheets. That rattle when the tires break loose. That's the stuff.