And it would be nice to have the possibility of manual shifting (in vehicles it is possible in reality)

have you actually tried this with a controller?

in my opinion it would be better if you could actually set a destination speed like cruise control in a car and the vehicle would do whatever possible to maintain that speed

Of course I have tried. (PS3dualshock with motion joy driver)

My idea is:
1/3 gas: you can maintain low rpm in actual gear
2/3 gas: you can maintain medium rpm in actual gear
full gas: you go up to high rpm to change gear (automatic or manual)
so this would mean manual cruise control in my opinion and would give a lot more controll (and immersion) over a car - vehicle. But the possibility for analog controll would be the best.

Of course if you are commander you should not have direct control over speed like above. And you give your driver the orders, and it tries to maintain that speed (as it is now and was in previous ArmAs)

In my opinion the mass on the vehicles is too low, and the engines are too weak. You'll notice the offroad is actually capped at 3500 rpm, which is ridiculously low. I hope this is all changed as PhysX development progresses, but it's always been a stumbling block of the engine on the previous physics system.

That would be amazing to see as the driving in the last one was far from simulated, it was full throttle or no input (vehicle acted as it had a retarder on, highly annoying when trying to sneak and glide in) or full break.

I was just going to post pretty much the same request regarding the land vehicles: the current slow/med/fast forward and back controls are quite cumbersome and annoying. The suggestion in this ticket would be a great deal more intuitive as it more closely represents the control scheme found in real cars.

Keys bindings should be for BRAKE and three (or more) THROTTLE positions with another key for changing GEAR from forward to reverse (assuming an automatic transmission). It would be even better if we could map throttle, brake and steering to analog axes for even finer control. Gears might also be cool and would make the driving both more realistic and easier at the same time. May I suggest a sequential semi-automatic gearbox with one key for SHIFT UP and another for SHIFT DOWN (manual clutch not necessary).

Do bohemia have access to any driving simulator engines? Admittedly it would be painful to have to shift gears but would allow for an authentic gameplay. Maybe have it as a difficulty settings?

I would also like greater support for throttle control using analogue. Using a joystick for flying jets is a pain. Its either full throttle or no throttle.

This. Hearing the breaks going on and off every other second while driving slowly is a pain too

@SuperJam: Yes, shifting gears is probably taking things too far, but I didn't make the suggestion simply to increase complexity or because I demand realism for realism's sake. My thinking was that with manual or semi-auto shifting the driver would have even better control over the vehicle's speed and acceleration, especially when off-roading in steep terrain - after all, 2/3 throttle produces an entirely different effect in 1st gear versus 3th, for instance. But, yeah, the thought of rowing through the gears like a madman while hurtling down a mountain road on Stratis does bring a smile to my face, so who am I kidding? ;)

SuperJam:

I would also like greater support for throttle control using analogue. Using a joystick for flying jets is a pain. Its either full throttle or no throttle.

In ARMA II, you can set the controls for analogue throttle. You should still be able to in ARMA 3.

I hope when using an xbox 360 controller we could map the controls just like
in GTA IV car controls you get to look around drive, cruise & jump vehicles....
Arma 3 had the physics....

may I direct you to my report: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=4658

For me the priority is the analog throttle and brake, so it would be possible to drive smoothly with a controller.

Analog throttle and brake are a must.
But like make_love_not_war i love the idea of "rowing through the gears like a madman while hurtling down a mountain road on Stratis"

An "Advanced Driving Model", simliar to the "Advanced Flight Model", could be added to the game.
See this request: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=21844

The features from this request could be included.

Apex has been released and vehicle throttle is still broken. I use my Xbox triggers for acceleration and braking. However they are broken. Especially braking. If you gently press brake trigger say 10% it actually accelerates. So I have to remember to strongly press the brake trigger. However this causes loss in precision. Please fix this and make acceleration and braking analog axis control work like any other game that involves driving cars. Thanks