Accuforce v2 vs. OSW vs. Fanatec Podium DD1? Which one is the best?

[NoOne3000]

I'm in the U.S. and am trying to decide which wheel to buy. I have demoed an Accuforce v2 and it felt great, but i'm wondering if i'm missing anything with the OSW and the soon-to-be-released Podium. "RON reviewt" on YouTube apparently was able to spend some decent time with the Podium at the Fanatec community event on Aug. 25 (in Germany?) and I asked him directly in the comments what his thoughts were on the Accuforce to the OSW to the Podium since Fanatec had all wheel types setup at this event. He seemed genuinely unbiased, and in his comments he said he felt the Podium was smoother than the Accuforce and that the OSW was just slightly smoother than the Accuforce and suggested I wait until more reviews and comparisons are released. Now, this could be due to the fact that Fanatec did not spend too much time tuning up the Accuforce or OSW thus inducing a feeling that the Podium was "smoother". I'm looking for some community feedback to help me with my purchase as I'm wondering if I can just go ahead now and buy the Accuforce with no regrets. And I don't really want to wait until December to buy a first gen product either. Do we think the Podium is going to be that much better than the Accuforce or OSW?

Thoughts?

Here's how the prices break down. The Accuforce is easily the most economical option. And it get's even cheaper on Black Friday when they offer it for $1050 shipped! (i'm not sure if I can wait another 7 weeks)

Accuforce v2 Complete System with Accuforce wheel and button box paddle shifters- $1200 shipped.

Simucube OSW small Mige wheel base - $1300 shipped, + Fanatec wheel/button box $400 = ~ $1700 shipped to the U.S.

Fanatec Podium DD1 = $1040 + Fanatec wheel with paddle shifters and button box $400 = ~ $1440

 

[RCHeliguy]

On the other hand frequently these toys don't even reach any sort of end of life event and are replaced well before then. I have Fanatec CS 3.0 pedals, a CS 1.5 shift, and handbrake sitting in a closet right now. The hardware didn't fail. I upgraded it before it came close to end of life. Those components have less than 100 hours of use on them.

 

[Miguel Batista]

How much for the shofter?

 

[RCHeliguy]

Since I'm considering getting a direct drive steering wheel at some point, and my son is a gamer, has VR and a solid gaming system and since he's expressed interest, I'm considering giving him my full Fanatec system for christmas. My daughter is getting my old gaming computer and Rift for her birthday in a few weeks.

While I know I could recoup some of what I paid for these controls, I'd rather pass them on.

Not having any more college bills to deal with can make a dad feel a bit generous.

Good news! My SRM shifter upgrade for my McLaren rim shipped

 

[EsxPaul]

 

[RCHeliguy]

I've been seriously drooling over those Precision Sim Engineering wheels, but I'm trying hard to be a mature adult about this. They have a 4 week turn and I feel like need to get some hours on my rig before dumping yet another chunk on it.

 

[EsxPaul]

I've been seriously drooling over those Precision Sim Engineering wheels, but I'm trying hard to be a mature adult about this. They have a 4 week turn and I feel like need to get some hours on my rig before dumping yet another chunk on it.

I know the feeling. I keep finding myself on their site and then forcing myself to close the page before I get carried away

 

[RCHeliguy]

I know the feeling. I keep finding myself on their site and then forcing myself to close the page before I get carried away

LOL! I feel like I should at least get a month or so out of the shifter upgrade I'm putting my McLaren rim before throwing it in the pile. I'm sure my son will appreciate it...

 

[RCHeliguy]

The sad thing is that I haven't figured out a good solution to mounting an SC2 on my P1 Rig yet.

Sounds crazy doesn't it? Because of my NLRv3 and seat combination my current wheel deck is only 22mm from the top of my side profiles. Sim Lab's nice front mount solution would require that I have an extra 50mm length in my side profiles or I can't get my wheel to the right height.

DSD's bracket won't mount to the deck. Neither will Simracing Bay's bracket.

Sim-Lab has an 130ST Mige mount that will mount to their wheel deck, but it is supposedly only 3mm thick aluminum and that at least sounds flimsy to me. However in their picture the 130ST mount looks noticeably thicker than the other 80-90 mounts, so maybe that was misinformation. I'm checking on that now.

So I see 3 options.
1. By 2 x 40x120mm uprights and the SimLab front mount.
2. Drill the deck and use a SRB or DSD bracket.
3. Or find out that the 130ST mount is reasonably thick and gives me confidence and bolt that right up.

 

[EsxPaul]

I think the 130ST Simlab mount will be strong enough. A lot of them have been sold and I would have thought we'd have heard about any strength issues if they existed.

The 3 piece mount from Simtech I'm using is 3mm mild steel and does not move at all: https://www.simtechracing.co.uk/new-products/steering-wheels?id=654477

 

[RCHeliguy]

@EsxPaul You sir are an enabler. I ordered the Sim-Lab mount, and eBay'd the power extension cables, but that's all. I'm not committing to anything yet

 

[EsxPaul]

@EsxPaul You sir are an enabler. I ordered the Sim-Lab mount, and eBay'd the power extension cables, but that's all. I'm not committing to anything yet

You were on the slippery slope a long while ago
Good for you mate

 

[RCHeliguy]

I slipped again...

 

[EsxPaul]

Something to note. I had only just enough room to get the bolts through the slots on my mount.

Its on a 40x120 but ideally I think it would of looked nicer sitting on a 40x160 although that would only be a cosmetics/ocd thing.

Congrats on the new rim by the way. Can't go wrong with PSE. I bet it'll be a stunning bit of kit

 

[RCHeliguy]

I hope you are enjoying your SC2. How long did it take to get the hang of the software to configure it?

 

[EsxPaul]

I hope you are enjoying your SC2. How long did it take to get the hang of the software to configure it?

The software is pretty easy with not that many things you need to mess around with. I did have a go at trying to find settings for each sim myself and thought I had done pretty well until I went over to the Granite forum and started to try out posted settings from the more experienced users.

Some of the settings from those guys improved upon what I had by quite some distance so what I've tended to do is use their settings as a base which gives me 90% of what I need with the other 10% coming from me just dialling things up or down very slightly to suit what I like.

Now some time has elapsed since the release, there are good settings for everything out there so you have a pretty easy time of getting up and running.

The most recent iteration of True Drive now includes tips and basic setting templates. It's a nice feature to have if you get totally lost but I prefer to go with the guidance from the clever guys over at the forum.

 

[diablo2112]

I’ve got my small Mige on 2 pieces of 80x40 profile, effectively becoming a 160x40 wheel deck. The trick is to make the front piece short, and triangulate the ends down to the base rails. Super solid this way, not the slightest flex.

You can see how I’ve done this here:

 

[RCHeliguy]

More fun.

 

[RCHeliguy]

All done!
I don't need no freaking warranty

 

[RCHeliguy]

@EsxPaul You were right these feel soooo much nicer

 

[diablo2112]

Nice work. I, too, have bashed my commerical rims to rewire the paddle shifters. In my case, I swap between Fanatec and non-Fanatec with through-hub wiring. I didn't want to rebind controls each time, so I rewired the Fanatec rims to use the same through-hub wiring as the non-Fantec. Works great.