Just got a wheel -- HATING it

I got my Thrustmaster 458 Italia wheel yesterday afternoon and so far I despise it. My lap times are WAY off from what I can do with the gamepad. It doesn't have FF -- could that be making a whole lot of difference? The main problems seem to be that I can't make steering transitions anywhere near as fast as I can with the pad so I'm spinning a lot, and I'm not comfortable with the brake feel so I lock up the brakes a lot (no ABS -- I play with all assists off.) Any pointers?

Also, do most of you wheel users use the normal or simulation steering setting?