Fanatec ClubSport Pedals V2 Review

OverTake.gg · May 1, 2013

David Faraday · May 1, 2013

Nice review, but I think it is a little misleading to describe these as a hydraulic system..."The accelerator is much the same, but the brake has now become a hydraulic brake with the addition of an oil filled damper system".... they are still a load cell system but now with a damped spring. I am looking to upgrade from my AP Electrix modded G27 pedals but unsure whether to continue down the load cell route with these or move onto a proper (DIY) hydraulic setup.

Marian Zelenka · May 1, 2013

My V1 pedals also have covers on sensors. And can't remember when I used lubricant last time because it was really a while back. But they gave me a headache when they were new. I'd like to try them, but I'm not sure when shock absorbers are not maintenance free and may leak. That puts me off a little.

Anthony Levene · May 1, 2013

Sorry if it's misleading. That's how Fanatec refer to the brake and I understood them to mean a hydraulic damping system on the brakes rather than a proper hydraulic braking system, which would be impossible to produce at this price point. Anyway keep us updated if you go the proper hydraulic route

Anthony Levene · May 1, 2013

Marian Zelenka said:
My V1 pedals also have covers on sensors. And can't remember when I used lubricant last time because it was really a while back. But they gave me a headache when they were new. I'd like to try them, but I'm not sure when shock absorbers are not maintenance free and may leak. That puts me off a little.

Maybe they added the covers to the V1 because us early adoptors kept destroying the exposed PCB.
I'll let you know how much maintenance is involved...and no leaking so far...

Marian Zelenka · May 2, 2013

If I happen to have a way around RC shop, I may grab one shock someday. It's quite easy to mod V1 pedals, but without any RC experience it's hard to choose shock and oil just from the internet. I have just a spring now in the same place as shock on V2 and the pedal feels different already. As I said, RC guys claim that shocks may leak and I wouldn't like that.

Boyd Bryson · May 8, 2013

I was disappointed with my V2's. After all the hype, I believe they are overated. I emailed Fanatec a list of improvements they would need to make to make these pedals better. No response. For example, you cannot change the throw on the throttle or clutch pedal because you cannot move the hall sensor pickup. You can adjust the brake pedal by one notch, after that the stupid hydraulic cylinder gets in the way. Have you read all the problems people are experiencing with these pedals? PCB board going bang, faulty load sensors, the persistent squeeking?
I think for a company like Fanatec to sell a "higher end" product, they need to make it "higher end" quality, and I don't believe these are. They look great, but form over function has never won points in my book. I preferred my G25 pedals tbh. But now I'm stuck with these ...

Anthony Levene · May 8, 2013

I can only review it based on my experience. And yes there was a squeak that took a little bit of oiling to sort out...annoying but not a deal braker for me. Have you had a PCB go bang or faulty sensor yourself?
And I really think they are in a completely different league to the G25 pedals.

Marian Zelenka · May 11, 2013

You can't change the throw on throttle pedal? How so? I can do that with my V1 for clutch, brake and throttle. Sometimes you just need to replace certain parts to be able to do that. There was even that tunning kit for it, but I've used my own parts.

But yeah, they gave you a headache sometimes.

Boyd Bryson · May 29, 2013

Marian Zelenka: Yes, that is correct, you cannot change the throw / travel on the clutch and throttle pedals. There are not "replaceable parts" that would enable you to do this.

Mike Bethany · Aug 4, 2013

I have these pedals and have a love/hate relationship with them.

I also had the squeaking within a week so used some WD-40; bad idea. That picked up a lot of dust so soon they were caked in dust bunnies which caused the clutch to stick really, really badly (more about that later). So I took them apart and cleaned the oil off them then used a dry, non-stick silicone lubricant (motorcycle chain lubricant) and that has been working perfectly for about two weeks now.

Now my problem with the clutch:
Maybe it depresses more like a real clutch might, I have my doubts, but it also does that same jerkiness when you're depressing it: not good. The clutch is terrifying since all of a sudden you've gone from 100% clutch in to 20-30% clutch out. I don't know of any car that does that but then again I don't know of a car that has such a dramatic clutch disengagement either. I would much prefer a predictable, controllable pedal; not the crooked carnival game that the Club Sport clutch is now.

That said I do love the pedals; especially the load cell brake and I've learned to work around the horrible clutch.