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[amar212]

Overall, I thought this Fanatec hardware was fantastic. It added a whole new sense of realism that I haven't experienced with other wheel/pedal setups. It's as much of an improvement over the G27 as the G27 is over the DFGT. The problem is, it's four times the price of the G27, and for that reason alone, I can't recommend this to anybody but the most dedicated sim racers.

Video Review

Great review and great video there McLaren, good job!

 

[Truespeed]

It's easy to dial to a level you want. When firmware is final you'll be able to mix and match that with damper and spring setting to get exactly what you want out of the wheel.

I haven't done a time comparison. But the fanatec has another big thing going for it. The wheel position is calculated at a hub connected directly to the wheel. On other consumer wheels the wheel position is calculated at the end of the FFB motor shaft. You have more direct control with the CSW than pretty much any other wheel. One other item to note is that there's also about 16 ms from FFB instruction from the computer to first movement that can be read by the position sensor in the wheel. The G27 has about a 10 ms delay but has it's sensor directly on the motor. Dunno if any of the additional time to first move is due to where the sensor is but it's a possibility

Good to hear about the FF adjustments. Is it also possible to completely turn it off? As for timing, the better components should easily translate to better lap times, but it would be interesting to find out how much better they really are from that of a G27.

 

[Polyphony]

Great reviews, sounds like everything I always wanted as an upgrade from my DFGT. But that price is steep.

 

[paskowitz]

Sony Vegas for the video and Adobe Audition for the audio.

Also, where is paskowitz' review?

Sorry I have been kinda stuck in NYC. My dad was supposed to have hip surgery next weekend but it was moved to this last weekend. This threw everything off as I wanted to see him but had to travel all the way to NYC. My father and I are close, so I spent a lot of time with him. Luckily his surgery went really well. If any of you have need bone or joint surgery, The Hospital For Special Surgery in NYC is UNMATCHED.

I am working on the text part now, but I have changed my review drastically from where I was before hand. Editorially I did not like it. I also have to redo a lot of the pictures because I completely borked my color balance on my first go around. Then for video I did not have the chance to get a camera until today. I know, excuses excuses.

 

[mclaren777]

I know, excuses excuses.

Those are great excuses. Family comes first and I know first-hand how challenging it can be to review something like this.

 

[TJP]

Fantastic indepth review. Congrats also to McLaren for making onto the front page of Race Department website.

 

[paskowitz]

My review is almost done. 5,335 words and counting. I will probably hit 6k by the time I am done. I should probably see a doctor or just do video next time.

 

[paskowitz]

My review is up. It is still a bit WIP but the meat of the review is done.

 

[Yoritomo]

Just another note. Different combinations of shifters attached make the button arrangements different.

If you put in the h gate shifter AND the sequential (to use the sequential as a digital handbrake) The h-gate bugs out and the sequential mirrors the paddle shifter buttons.

If only the Sequential is connected it has separate buttons from the paddle shifters.

If only the h-gate is connected it works just fine.

Plug both of them in and everything explodes, figuratively.

It just means I need an actual handbrake.

Optimally I would like a working h-gate AND the sequential to have different buttons while both are connected.

Oh and nice review paskowitz.

 

[paskowitz]

Just another note. Different combinations of shifters attached make the button arrangements different.

If you put in the h gate shifter AND the sequential (to use the sequential as a digital handbrake) The h-gate bugs out and the sequential mirrors the paddle shifter buttons.

If only the Sequential is connected it has separate buttons from the paddle shifters.

If only the h-gate is connected it works just fine.

Plug both of them in and everything explodes, figuratively.

It just means I need an actual handbrake.

Optimally I would like a working h-gate AND the sequential to have different buttons while both are connected.

Oh and nice review paskowitz.

Thanks.

To me that sounds like a simple firmware/driver fix.

 

[mclaren777]

Fantastic review, paskowitz!

The only quality concern out of the box, in regards to the base, is that my angled mounting bracket was slightly crooked. Its hard mounting holes were also slightly off. This may not seem like a big deal, but it made screwing my CSW (a requirement for a wheel of this caliber) a bit of a PITA. Public service announcement, double, triple check your measurements when drilling holes to secure your wheel.

I see I'm not the only person who had problems with the mounting bracket.

 

[Yoritomo]

Thanks.

To me that sounds like a simple firmware/driver fix.

Yeah, it's hard to criticize when it's not available to consumers yet.

 

[hwalker84]

Do want. Looks like this craps on my Fanatec P911TurboS

 

[paskowitz]

Fantastic review, paskowitz!



I see I'm not the only person who had problems with the mounting bracket.

Thanks. It took a while.

 

[mclaren777]

I've gotten some interesting comments on my review regarding the way I pronounce Fanatec (fan-uh-tech).

How do you guys say it?

 

[Yoritomo]

It's supposed to be pronounced the same way as the word fanatic but tec instead of tic.

I don't think it matters that much.

 

[1-D_FTW]

I always thought it was pronounced Fan-uh-tec too.

My review is up. It is still a bit WIP but the meat of the review is done.

Finally got around to reading it. Another great review. Gaf did not disappoint one bit.

 

[mclaren777]

I'm thinking about keeping the base, formula wheel, and pedals but I'm concerned about reliability. Fanatec doesn't have the best track record and this is pre-production hardware...

What should I do?

 

[_machine]

I'm thinking about keeping the base, formula wheel, and pedals but I'm concerned about reliability. Fanatec doesn't have the best track record and this is pre-production hardware...

What should I do?

What kind of warranty does it have?

50% off is tempting for sure, but the minor fixes and additions seem a bit important. Not having tested the wheel personally I've no idea what you should do though.

Also, why not the BMW wheel? To me it's easily my favorite wheel of any controllers and it's a real wheel.

 

[mclaren777]

Why not the BMW wheel?

I never deviate from the hand positions of the formula wheel even when I'm using the BMW wheel (or my real car for that matter) and it's the cheaper of the two options.

 

[T-Matt]

It was interesting reading the reviews though this wheel is just too pricey for me to consider. I'm interested in the wheelstand though, it seems pretty good. There are not many options in the price range.

 

[amar212]

I'm thinking about keeping the base, formula wheel, and pedals but I'm concerned about reliability. Fanatec doesn't have the best track record and this is pre-production hardware...

What should I do?

I still have my original CSP pedals, now more than 2 years old, no single issue.

My pre-production CSR Elite is doing perfectly, no single issue and it is used every damn day almost since I got it.

No issues with 4-months old CSP V2.

Few of my friends have Fanatec products and some minor issues (CSP load cell replacement and such) were dealed ASAP by Armin and guys at Germany.

I read stories and such, but have experienced only good things.

 

[Yoritomo]

I've had some issues with their other products.

They're very good with their warranty service, they're just really really slow.

Like 6 full weeks to replace something that's broken in a worst case. They will replace it though. They've replaced a shifter, pedals, and given me a discount on clubsports at no charge. And none of that took more than 2 weeks.

They also seem to work hard to resolve bugs or add feasible features if you request them but again they can be a bit slow.

The main difference would be logitech who runs their warranty service like clockwork and also has their product in the retail channel so it's easy to find an alternate way to replace a broken part.

It was interesting reading the reviews though this wheel is just too pricey for me to consider. I'm interested in the wheelstand though, it seems pretty good. There are not many options in the price range.

The wheel stand is thick, solid, tight. The CSW is right at the edge of being too heavy for it, but a g27 would be perfect.

The new package also includes the shifter mount and the pedal stopper, even though I'd suggest just affixing pedals with velcro.

 

[Yoritomo]

double post oops

 

[T-Matt]

The wheel stand is thick, solid, tight. The CSW is right at the edge of being too heavy for it, but a g27 would be perfect.

The new package also includes the shifter mount and the pedal stopper, even though I'd suggest just affixing pedals with velcro.

I have the g27 so that sounds pretty good for me. I don't have the facilities to build anything at the moment so this seems like the best option as I'd probably regret trying to get by with a janky tv tray setup.