Hi guys.
I have the same problem too (and had for a long time).
Deleted Preference.xml - did not help
Reinstalled game - did not help (and not fun on a mobile connection where I pay about $1 per GB)
After a lot of testing and checking I have come to this conclusion:
It ACTUALLY saves the arrow key that are mapped to the Preference.xml BUT it don't read it in when the game starts.
As you can see here:
<CRUISE_ANGLE_LEFT>
<keyCode> KEY_LEFTARROW </keyCode> </CRUISE_ANGLE_LEFT>
But it is still don't work and the key mapping is empty in settings.
So NO MATTER WHAT we do, it will never work. Since it is a bug in the game that have not been fixed for a LOOOOONG time.
This will probably make me stop playing until it is fixed (and hope no other game has me hooked until that (if ever) happen).