Fanatec & iRacing

Lee Ross · Feb 2, 2011

How many other people are having issues with the FFB dropping randomly in iRacing? I never had this with rFactor or NetKar and it's getting on my nerves now. The one series i look forward to most in iRacing is the GrandAM's and i just raced the one then. 4 laps to go my wheel just drops, no control out of the race! Same last night in a Mustang race the FFB just drops for no apparant reason and ended my race.

Something needs to be done about this as i don't seem to be the only one. Evan i know you said about a post on the iRacing forum, could you link me too it.

I really don't like the Logitechs but i am seriously considering buying a G27 now as it is wrecking my iRacing experience

Will and Kev i'm sorry but i will not be entering any races now until this is sorted as it also happpened at Summit Point

Anybody know the cheapest place for a G27 in the UK?

William Nowell · Feb 3, 2011

I do not own a fanatec wheel, I thought about getting their club sport pedals but after reading all of the negative things about the company I think I will pass. I love my g27 wheel and shifter, pedals are ok.

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3409.page

Joe Hubbard · Feb 3, 2011

I was in a race the other night and there were a couple people complaining about the Fanatec and having some issues with it. I don't know which one they were talking about but I know it was Fanatec for sure.

Hampus Andersson · Feb 3, 2011

What wheel do you have? I have never had any problems with mine. Downloaded to new software and it F´d up the wheel big time. I have to recal everytime i leave the garage.

William Nowell said:
I do not own a fanatec wheel, I thought about getting their club sport pedals but after reading all of the negative things about the company I think I will pass. I love my g27 wheel and shifter, pedals are ok.

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3409.page

The pedals are great quality m8, it would be stupid to pass on them

They really are that good for that price.

George Pilkington · Feb 3, 2011

Try Dabs Direct Lee. My mate scored some for 225 before xmas.
George

William Nowell · Feb 3, 2011

Hampus Andersson said:
The pedals are great quality m8, it would be stupid to pass on them They really are that good for that price.

I have read good things about the pedals, until something goes wrong with them. Bad customer support is a company trait, not limited to a certain product.

Lee Ross · Feb 3, 2011

Cheapest place i can find is £229 @ Play. Think i'm gonna go with that as much as it is tempting to buy the new Fanatec GT2 wheel i don't think i can trust their wheels now. I had a G25 before the Fanatec GT3 and personally did not like the G25. The FFB IMO is far better on the Fanatec but i can't risk paying out another £200+ and the same thing happening again.

George Pilkington · Feb 3, 2011

Good move Lee. go for it.

Kevin Watts · Feb 3, 2011

Lee,
Have you tried downloading the latest firmware and drivers? I've not got the GT3, I have the Turbo S and did have one instance of its FFB dropping out a month or two ago but I installed the latest drivers and also plugged my wheel directly into the PC and not the hub I had it on (even though it was a powered hub) and not had any drop outs since. It would be a shame to get rid of that wheel, particularly the pedals as the Clubsports are the best I have ever used.

Lee Ross · Feb 3, 2011

George Pilkington said:
Good move Lee. go for it.

Yeah i will place the order tomorrow morning once paid

Kevin Watts said:
Lee,
Have you tried downloading the latest firmware and drivers? I've not got the GT3, I have the Turbo S and did have one instance of its FFB dropping out a month or two ago but I installed the latest drivers and also plugged my wheel directly into the PC and not the hub I had it on (even though it was a powered hub) and not had any drop outs since. It would be a shame to get rid of that wheel, particularly the pedals as the Clubsports are the best I have ever used.

I have tried both the 104 and 107 drivers Kev and both times i have had the same issue with drops but it's now happening near enough every night. The wheel is plugged directly into the mobo USB so that's not the issue. It's quite dissapointing for me personally as i have stuck with them through thick and thin and always argued their case as when the wheels works it's just brilliant, the FFB is so smooth but it's beginning to get me down now as it is killing my iRating not being able to finish races.

I don't have the Clubsport pedals btw. I use some Nixim modded G25 pedals

Evan Madore · Feb 3, 2011

Hey Lee,

I have been having the same problem but in all of my games. I have a few other problems with it as well. You can read up on all of that here http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/1426212.page .

I know I sound a bit rude in that thread, but support wouldn't respond without me making a fuss.

Lee Ross · Feb 3, 2011

Thanks Evan and sorry to read about your woes mate. I notice that Thomas made a personal appearance there and really just made them look worse. One of my mates speaks to Armin quite a bit and seems to have a decent understanding with him as he like you has had various new wheels sent out. As i said and like yourself really from your posts am quite gutted i spose as i was defending them like crazy but i dunno i'm at my end of my tether now as i'm loosing my will to race right now as i put in hours of praccy only for it to be ended by my wheel having a fit.

Can i ask, when your wheel drops can you still control the car? I literally lose everything, i can't even turn the car let alone go straight. It's very weird. I had 5 laps to go last night in 4th and just about to attack 3rd then bam just goes.

Hampus Andersson · Feb 3, 2011

William Nowell said:
I have read good things about the pedals, until something goes wrong with them. Bad customer support is a company trait, not limited to a certain product.

I´ve had mine for a LONG time and i haven´t done anything to them

Evan Madore · Feb 3, 2011

Lee, mine will go off center pretty quickly. Sometimes 45-50 degrees off center. Then, usually mid corner, the FFB drops and attempts to re-calibrate. This usually makes things worse and it will attempt to do it almost every corner. I can still drive, kind of.

Lee, your best bet would be to not even bother contacting Fanatec at this point and just do a chargeback. Save yourself the hassle. Even after they "resolved" my situation and agreed to send me shipping labels to send them back, I am JUST getting those labels today via email.

Lee Ross · Feb 4, 2011

Placed the order this morning so should hopefully get it monday. Not looking forward to going back to the Logitech if i'm being honest after using the GT3 now for the last year or so but it's out of my hands really.

Kevin Ascher · Feb 4, 2011

I've had similiar problems until I connected my wheel to a separate PCI USB card.
Now everything works fine.

Lee Ross · Feb 4, 2011

Yeah Karl mentioned that elsewhere Kevin reagrding the PCI USB route but tbh i have had it now and have ordered the new wheel now. Gonna miss the GT3 though as for me when compared to my G25 it murdered the G25 in terms of smoothness and FFB

Lee Ross · Feb 9, 2011

Thought i would update this thread with my thoughts on the G27.

First off as soon as i unboxed it i was quite dissapointed in the feel of the wheel compared to the GT3. It feels somewhat toyish tbh and not like a real wheel. Got it setup on my rig and clamped to my Gameracer. Straight away the clamping is just 100 times better. I have never had the time to drill out holes for my wheels so have always used each wheel clamping system.

The clamping system for me on my GT3 was very poor. I had to literally force a bit of wood in there for it to clamp and countless times my wheel actually came loose whilst racing. The G27 system is rock solid.

Now the important part. As i said earlier the wheel for me feels like a toy and when using it, it still felt like that tbh. Maybe i am too used to the Alcantera on the GT3 but the G27 feels very cheap and feels like a piece of game hardware and not a wheel. I remember opening my GT3 and being hit with a smell that smelt like a new cars interiour and being blown away by the way it looked.

Now the good parts, i do like the FFB it seems more consistent and i love the play in the wheel ie how loose it is. The paddle shifters have a real nice positive click to them and even compared to my GT3 V2 which had decent5 shifters, these are just miles better.

I have gone faster with staright away aswell, beating all my PB's. I think this is down to how loose the wheel is though more than the actual FFB.

Still prefer the way the FFB is delivered with the Fanatec, it does feel alot smoother but as said i love the play in the G27. I have only had one night so not really had a chance to really say yeah this is better/ worse but will update when i have had some more time.

Danny Asbury · Feb 9, 2011

Nice post Lee. Good to hear the compare and contrast. I've never tried the Fanatec with any PC sims, so I don't know how it stacks up.

Evan Madore · Feb 9, 2011

I am still waiting for Fanatec to refund me. I have already shipped out the wheels and provided the tracking # to them. If I had the money for a plane ticket to Germany, I would go and drive the Nordschleife, then go destroy the Fanatec HQ.