Deciding on a Fanatec wheel, 360 support or not?

[Kjell Eilertsen]

I've decided to go for a Fanatec wheel but not quite sure about which model yet. First off I need to decide whether to get one with support for the 360 or not, as this limits my choices.
While my initial question is about games more than hardware, I'll be following up with questions on specific wheels later on.

I used to play Forza 4 and F1 2011 with a controller and absolutely loved it, but after getting a Logitech Momo wheel I can't stand racing with a controller any longer (can't feel the car, the track, the traction, anything!). With getting the wheel I started playing Race 07 plus demos of rFactor, NetKar etc and loved the more advanced physics and FFB. Now when I tried F1 2011 on my PC with the wheel I was bummed by its physics (or lack thereof), and I don't enjoy it at all.
Now I'm "afraid" that getting a wheel and playing Forza 4 is going to leave as cold as F1 2011 did.
So, to anyone out there who have a good wheel and enjoy the complexity of sims like rFactor etc, how does Forza 4 compare to them?
I know it's not a proper sim but is it completely arcade and "lifeless" or is it good just not great?

Sorry for the lengthy post.

 

[David O'Reilly]

I have a Fanatec CSR,
I play (on Xbox) F1 2011, Race Pro. have played Forza 3 and on (on PC) Rfactor, Race 07.
F1 2011 on Xbox and RFactor are my main games.

In my opinion Forza 3 FFB is good. 4 will be better I suppose.
but in my opinion fFB is better in F1 2011 than it is in Rfactor which has very limited FFB**.
**EDIT I was w/out FFB in RFactor as had no drivers installed in my PC, FFB is great now using Real Feel and Leos FFB mods..

In all I am very happy with the CSR.

 

[Tom Moreno]

I've decided to go for a Fanatec wheel but not quite sure about which model yet. First off I need to decide whether to get one with support for the 360 or not, as this limits my choices.
While my initial question is about games more than hardware, I'll be following up with questions on specific wheels later on.

I used to play Forza 4 and F1 2011 with a controller and absolutely loved it, but after getting a Logitech Momo wheel I can't stand racing with a controller any longer (can't feel the car, the track, the traction, anything!). With getting the wheel I started playing Race 07 plus demos of rFactor, NetKar etc and loved the more advanced physics and FFB. Now when I tried F1 2011 on my PC with the wheel I was bummed by its physics (or lack thereof), and I don't enjoy it at all.
Now I'm "afraid" that getting a wheel and playing Forza 4 is going to leave as cold as F1 2011 did.
So, to anyone out there who have a good wheel and enjoy the complexity of sims like rFactor etc, how does Forza 4 compare to them?
I know it's not a proper sim but is it completely arcade and "lifeless" or is it good just not great?

Sorry for the lengthy post.

I don't have a PC good enough to run many modern racing games and hope to get one at some point when money starts growing on my tree in the garden, but I have tried demos of Race 07 and Game Stock Car on my CSR wheel as well as play quite a bit of Forza 4 with the lads in the RD F4 club. While the physics of Forza 4 aren't as great as some PC software it isn't miles away, and there are some things that it does pretty well. FFB in Forza 4 is pretty good once you are using the right settings and is miles better than the FFB was in F3. As soon as I can afford to get a halfway decent gaming PC (I've got loads of Macs for work that for one reason or other won't do the trick) I would really like to make a move into the more serious PC game based leagues and drive some of the many tracks and open wheel cars that I miss in Forza, but I think I would still be active in the Forza community as it is quick and easy and really good fun to drive.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

@David O'Reilly: My biggest gripe with F1 2011 is the physics, not specifically the FFB. But since the physics are so arcade like there's less feedback for the FFB to react upon. Thanks for the answer though, CSR was initially not on my list but thanks to you and Toms reply it now is.

@Tom Moreno: Thanks for your reply! How much have you played Race07? It's what I've got most experience with and I find it very good, so far the only sim I've tried which I felt was better was NetKar, but not by a huge margin.

 

[Jonathan Holmes]

I have a Fanatec CSR

In all I am very happy with the CSR.

Have you had any problems with it since you got it? I keep reading things breaking on it and it's making me hesitate to order!

Do you think it will last a long amount of time too?

 

[David O'Reilly]

I drive with this wheel about 15 hours a week on Rfactor and F1 2011. I keep two sets of custom wheel settings stored)
The ony issues I have had are:
Occasional disconnect from Xbox (its wireless to Xbox) .Its happened about 6 times in say 60 races. More in the beginning. I think I have decided that its casued by having my mobile phone nearby. When its off it never happens.
Occasional ongoing rumble effect. About 4-5 times mid race I have hit a rumble strip and wheel has kept rumbling. Its still drivable just annoying bit like a wheel balance issue in real life. Its not happened for weeks. When its happened I switch wheel off then on again during a pit stop.
Seems durable to me. still very solid.
I would buy the wheel again.

 

[Tom Moreno]

Have you had any problems with it since you got it? I keep reading things breaking on it and it's making me hesitate to order!

Do you think it will last a long amount of time too?

I had a couple of annoying disconnects early on when it was on previous firmware versions, but ever since the last couple of firmware versions I haven't had any issues with it. I use mine probably 10 hours per week.

 

[David O'Reilly]

I had a couple of annoying disconnects early on when it was on previous firmware versions, but ever since the last couple of firmware versions I haven't had any issues with it. I use mine probably 10 hours per week.

Tom what firmware are you using?
Is it good or just a fix for disconnects?
I have original still. (poss #704 cant be sure)

 

[Jonathan Holmes]

Ahh cheers guys, so basically the wheel is good, but soo many reviews say there's things wrong, I guess they are just unlucky!

One last thing before I head over to the fanatec website, the table clamp can be made lower (bigger desk thickness) and higher for a smaller desk thickness right? I play with a piece of wood on my desk so my current wheel can fit really secure.

 

[Tom Moreno]

Tom what firmware are you using?
Is it good or just a fix for disconnects?
I have original still. (poss #704 cant be sure)

I'm running 737. It is by far and away the most solid feeling FW release. The wheel feels loads better on Xbox and don't have any disconnects since this FW. I haven't tried the new beta 742 FW yet, reports are that there are still quite a few bugs to iron out before this is a full release candidate and I don't want to take any chances as I'm on a very stable FW at the moment.

Ahh cheers guys, so basically the wheel is good, but soo many reviews say there's things wrong, I guess they are just unlucky!

One last thing before I head over to the fanatec website, the table clamp can be made lower (bigger desk thickness) and higher for a smaller desk thickness right? I play with a piece of wood on my desk so my current wheel can fit really secure.

Typical Internet. You only ever hear from people who have issues nowadays. If you took everything said on the Internet to heart there isn't a single product released any,ore that isn't a worthless POS. That's why I reply to these threads with people who ask questions about Fanatec, I don't feel like I'm an evangelist but I do think the other side of the story is worth telling. If you search the forums I have had plenty of questions and complaints in the past but they have been satisfactorily resolved and I have confidence in recommending the wheel now. Re you desk clamp, I can't really help you as I use the rensport wheel stand. @Karl Raper in the RD Xbox comunity uses the desk clamp with his CSR wheel so he might be a good person to ask specific questions about that part of the package. He is away on holiday at the moment so you might not get a reply straight away.

 

[Jonathan Holmes]

Typical Internet. You only ever hear from people who have issues nowadays.

So true that is to be honest! I've read a few reviews which say it's good but mostly I've read bad things!

I wasn't actually on about the desk clamp (if you mean the ClubSport Table Clamp V2) I just meant the standard one which is on the wheel when you get it (or is your wheel hard mounted?). I would guess the size can get bigger and smaller on the actual wheel clamp, or else it would be pretty stupid!

Think I will order the CSR Value pack then! Aslong as they don't release an update to their website which fails it again!

EDIT: Cool, it added a link and all I did was copy and paste text off the fanatec website!

EDIT2: Clamp? Think I found it actually, I guess that twisty knob makes the clamp bigger and smaller?

 

[Tom Moreno]

The wheel stand has mounting points to bolt the wheel down to it and I use those. There is an integral clamp that adjusts in depth but I've actually removed it from mine. If you can stretch to the XL pack with the elite pedals you won't be sorry. The load cell brake on them is the dogs bollocks and has made such a difference to my consistency.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Yeah I'm looking at either the CSR XL or a GT3 with the elite pedals instead of shifter (I will be getting a TM TH8RS as soon as my wallet allows it anyways). I was dead set on he GT3 but there are some pluses to the CSR that I like too. Honestly the only wheel that I feel hits the mark 99,9% for me is the new CSW, but that's just waaaay to expensive right now (and has no Xbox support, but I might just ignore that).
Thinking I'll get one of the two cheaper wheels first with the elite pedals, add a TH8 shifter and get the CSW once I have a rig or a wheelstand to mount it on (currently clamping my wheel to my desk and removing it after every use). If I'm lucky the price might have dropped a bit by then too.
Need to decide on my next wheel though, but I'm not in a rush as I'm currently on a 4 week vacation in Croatia and will need to save up a month or three afterwards before I buy (unless my wife treats me REAL nice around my b-day ).

How would you say the quality feel of the rim on the CSR is? The plastic parts on it is one of the major drawbacks on my list ATM, the full leather wheel on the GT3 just looks sooo good. How reachable are he buttons while racing? Good enough for using for KERS and DRS in F1?

Thanks a ton to everyone who has and will reply to this thread, you're helping me immensely with my decision.

 

[Marian Zelenka]

From what I've read, CSR wheel is lighter to turn and thus faster than GT3. I own GT3 and I can thell you that it's useless without that "unique drift mode feature which makes the wheel easier and faster to turn" as stated in manual. Duh! You are not able to save your spinning car on track without a drift mode. Personally, I don't like it, but have to live with it. It can even reveal some FFB information that is masked and lost without a drift mode because of heavy and not very responsive steering. I've been using it on number 4 (from 1-5). But drift mode set on 5 is really good for drifting only. There seems to be a big step from 4 to 5 and wheel is much more than willing to go the opposite direction when you gently push it.

GT3 has also wobbly paddle shifters. I threw away the original metal paddle shifters and use only buttons located at the back. It's not that wobbly then and you are able to grip the rim with more confidence. I like the feel much more than shifting with those metal extensions. The wheel also looks nicer.

I have assigned all buttons on my wheel and use them. My hands are medium size and have no problem with pressing all those top side located buttons.

Alcantara. It's not leather, it's synthetic. But it feels goooooood.

I'm a bit dissapointed from CSW reviews. They will never learn how to make their products good and reliable.

 

[Jari Vinnari]

CSR has Alcantra where your hand suppose to be but rest of wheel is solid/shiny plastic. It feels OK but I think G25/G27 has more quality feel than CSR.
I like my CSR+CSP combo but I have had problem with reliability of the Fanatec products.

I have started using great Fanaleds plugin which adds working speed, gear change indicator and speed display to CSR. The nicest thing is rumble feature for CSP even when connected USB port.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Marian: It sounds like you are unhappy with your GT3, is that the case? I mean overall.

It would have been great to see some statistics on how many of their customers have had problems with their wheels (real problems, not user errors ). The majority of customers who have no issues with their products tend to not post on the internet about it, its those who experience problems you get to hear from.
I´m leaning towards getting the GT3 pack with the Elite pedals, simply because it´s the cheapest alternative. Ofc another alternative is just buying the pedals and using them with my Logitech Momo wheel, but I think any current wheel will be a huge upgrade from that Momo wheel.

 

[David O'Reilly]

the tabvle clamp works well and has a good adjustment range. I was plannig on using screws but have not bothered.

 

[Tom Moreno]

Between the CSR wheel and the GT3 the difference comes down to better feel and better feel from everything I gather!

For people who use their hands all over the wheel the alcantara all around on the GT3 is nicer feel. I personally keep my hands at 9 and 3 ALL the time so I never notice the plastic parts on the CSR, but if you (like me) use paddle shifters regularly then the CSR has arguably the best paddles out there. Nice big paddles in the perfect position with a good positive click when you pull on them. No missed shifts or double shifts. When I race Forza on RD there are a few of us that use the CSR and you can hear the click click click of down shifts through the mics!

 

[Jonathan Holmes]

Well, I didn't even have to log-in with paypal so hopefully the payment was ok? :/

Other than that my order is pending! Fanatec CSR here I come!

 

[Marian Zelenka]

I'm happy with my wheel despite some issues. I like it with my current setup because I've been messing with it for about year and still wasn't fully satisfied. I mean, with the feel in Race07.

I don't know what to think of CSW. The BMW rim looks fine, the F1 style wheel not as much and the general impressions aren't as positive as I expected. Plus the driver problems as usual. It would be nice to have that kind of wheel. Providing it would work. And for the price tag, I don't know. Still waiting for good sims so why bother with hardware right now? They may even change the whole FFB concept until then and make it more real.

I will keep my wheel as long as possible and will be waiting for a suitable replacement.

And I use that table clamp and don't have problems with it.

What to think of a company that sells its expensive products and has only few "big" pictures about 40x25 pixels. No comment.