Fanatec Podium wheel - dated for 13th July 2018

[Mascot]

https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...dated-for-13th-july-2018.152102/#post-2759238

Now, 13th July for preorders... more info... prices..?
Who knows at this stage. But my interest is piqued!

 

[Steve D]

Mine is too chap and it's what has held me back considering the OSW option, at least for now.

However I'm gonna wait for some reviews and then keep an eye out for feedback from 'early adopters,' in case there are any build quality or driver / firmware issues that come to light, which Fanatec subsequently address.

Thing is I have absolutely no issues whatsoever with my CSW 2.5 so I would just be "doing an Anton" , if I did decide to part with the reddies!

 

[Mascot]

Mine is too chap and it's what has held me back considering the OSW option, at least for now.

However I'm gonna wait for some reviews and then keep an eye out for feedback from 'early adopters,' in case there are any build quality or driver / firmware issues that come to light, which Fanatec subsequently address.

Thing is I have absolutely no issues whatsoever with my CSW 2.5 so I would just be "doing an Anton" , if I did decide to part with the reddies!

There's been a delay of almost a year with the Podium wheel (test units were supposed to be sent out last summer) so I'm a little disappointed that this July 13th date leapfrogs E3. I believe Fanatec have a booth there so was rather hoping for full spec, pricing details and hands-on impressions from 12th June. At the moment we've got a teaser that tells us absolutely nothing except that *something* will happen in six weeks time. I really hope it's something substantial after all the delays.

 

[DND]

The wait is almost over for sim racers that aspire to own Fantec's Direct Drive.

Are you going to be one them?

 

[Hiro Abe]

Definitely interested since I am totally ensconced in Fanatec's ecosystem. Will let it marinate for a bit though. I typically shy from 1st gen releases but if I start reading good things across the board... and still good things after several months. Well, then...

I liked their teaser and how they are willing to poke fun at themselves.

 

[Hiro Abe]

BTW, there is already another thread regarding the announcement.https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/fanatec-podium-wheel-dated-for-13th-july-2018.152102/

 

[DND]

BTW, there is already another thread regarding the announcement.

thought i had news ... well maybe admin's can remove this post.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

thought i had news ... well maybe admin's can remove this post.

No worries Ducman. Merged the two threads for you.

 

[Mr Latte]

Date is bang in the middle of E3
Will we see at E3 perhaps, Assetto Corsa Competizione on show with this wheel?

Im excited to learn more about how the two models come in regards price, features, specs and possibly at least one new rim.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Date is bang in the middle of E3

Only one month later.

 

[Mr Latte]

Only one month later.

Oh gees I cant count.... lol
So then does the date mean unveiling or date for pre-orders?

Id of thought E3 would of been a good place to unveil/show this as used by the company in the past.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Just announcement, may be with more solid spec and price this time.
That would be a miracle if it hits production before the end of 2018, but they might start taking pre-orders around Christmas with a few months of lead time, as usual.

Hopefully they send test units to youtube reviewers, like Sim Racing Garage. Barry did excellent job comparing DD wheels in the past. Review you could trust.

 

[Mascot]

I'm hoping that orders open up on 13th July, with shipping within a month.
If there's a good sub-£1k 'early bird'-type deal bundled with a decent rim (BMW GT2) then I can see myself taking a punt on this. If it's over £1k just for the wheel base then I'll go the OSW route.

 

[Mr Latte]

The date is a teaser but why is that date teased now, mmmmmmm?

In my bones I feel E3 will have something, in details about "BOTH" versions of this wheel. Is it impossible to believe Codemasters/Kunos may have the wheel on display?

If the product is to release this year then it makes sense to have some presence at this world stage. One of the strengths of the Fanatec option highlighted was the close working with developers for in-game support of the wheel and or rims.

This is the future of the Fanatec brand, Im excited to see what they bring even though most in the community are not giving them much chance of matching never mind bettering current DD units.

I still have high hopes they will continue to innovate and deliver exciting products.
The smaller wheel may even be the one that may sell best for them. Price is to be competitive, lets hope we find out at E3 how competitive and then the teased date be when orders or even sales are opening.

 

[Mascot]

I posted this elsewhere, but the Podium DDW has my attention right now based on a few assumptions. All, none or some of those assumptions might actually turn out to be true.

I assume the electronics and PSU are built into the motor housing, so there's no need for a big ugly black box like there is with OSW.
I assume the motor will be optimised for a DDW, not an industrial-grade overkill motor that I'd use at a fraction of its operating capacity (this has now been confirmed).
I assume the Podium wheel will draw less power and be cheaper to run because of the reasons above.
I assume it'll be lighter and sleeker and look more like a dedicated product than an OSW.
I assume it'll have no coily cables connecting the rim to the wheel base (this has now been confirmed)
I assume it'll work seamlessly and with full functional compatibility with ALL Fanatec rims (the McLaren rim is giving some OSW owners a few issues right now).
I assume it will be priced competitively with similarly-spec'd OSW kits (no more than 15% more, anyway).

I've come close to buying an OSW recently but am cooling my jets to see what Podium will actually offer. If it can give comparable performance to an OSW and be priced in the same ballpark, but bring a whole host of advantages, then it will certainly appeal to me.

I've got a nasty feeling however that Fanatec will stick a ridiculous price on it and bank on people being willing to pay a large premium for the convenience of having a one-stop shop for a branded product and a sleeker overall package. That would kill it stone dead in the water for me.

 

[Hiro Abe]

@Mascot I agree with just about all of your points. In terms of pricing - certainly a big unknown and can go either way. I have to imagine their expense towards r & d was pretty stout. Does anyone know if they are outsourcing the manufacturing like their other kit? That would help keep cost down. Out of curiosity, did they ever produce stuff in-house? Like when they started out?

I would think they would try and target AccuForce pricing - or less - since that is the least expensive DDW there is currently on the market at $900 USD for the wheelbase (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I don't see the AccuForce mentioned much but SimExperience is pretty well known within the sim community so I would think Fanatec would look to be competitively priced. From a consumer perspective looking at their products, a wheelbase - say - close to twice the price of a CSW somewhat palpable. But, say, 2.5x or more? I think most would have a hard time with that. Personally, if it is sub $900, color me veeeeery interested.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

Personally I wouldn’t trust the reliability of any of Fanatec’s V1 hardware as they always have pretty big issues that effect longevity and these days I just want things that I don’t have to worry about breaking especially at this price range.

I’m interested to see performance but I’m not expecting miracles. We have to remember the Bodnar all current systems emulate is used and tested by race teams and pro drivers across the world with input from them on how it should feel, Fanatec equipment is used mostly by gamers and they won’t have the same pool of real life feedback. If the bodnar and other current DD systems could be so much better do people really think race teams with near limitless funds for such hardware wouldn’t have done so already?

There are a number of cool features though which current systems don’t use but in terms of wheel performance it shouldn’t be doing anything different.

That being said I’d still be tempted to get one just to compare performance, you can’t truly know if something is better or worse for you personally until you try it yourself. Though I can say when I have been tempted by the absolute best the cost to increase in performance ratio has never been close and I’ve ended up returning them which is why I didn’t save for a Bodnar.

Really it’s only worth upgrading if there is something your current equipment can’t do or a particular thing you find lacking that you know something else can do.

With the Accuforce I feel like I could use 3x more force because of my size to really get the feeling like the wheel could overpower me but I’d need something with the same quality software as Sim Commander that lets me turn poop FFB like in Dirt Rally to gold for it to be worth it hence my interest in what the Fanatec will bring, though I suspect it won’t be a 40Nm motor .

 

[Mascot]

With the Accuforce I feel like I could use 3x more force because of my size to really get the feeling like the wheel could overpower me but I’d need something with the same quality software as Sim Commander that lets me turn poop FFB like in Dirt Rally to gold for it to be worth it hence my interest in what the Fanatec will bring, though I suspect it won’t be a 40Nm motor .

I think that's the first time I've heard a request for MORE power from a DDW..!
I'm guessing you were using it at 100%, but I thought people usually ran DDWs at much lower percentages for fear of being dismembered? What was the power rating of the Accuforce?

 

[Furnace Inferno]

I think that's the first time I've heard a request for MORE power from a DDW..!
I'm guessing you were using it at 100%, but I thought people usually ran DDWs at much lower percentages for fear of being dismembered? What was the power rating of the Accuforce?

That’s because they are pussies .

13Nm with peaks up to 16Nm I believe with the force boost enabled and I set it so the car with the highest forces max’s it out and everything else scales down. In all seriousness I don’t think it’s just the force but also when mixed with rotational speed so when you aren’t paying attention and letting it rotate a bit more freely it’s more violent especially with my F1 wheel that hurt trying to catch it, smashed straight into the back of my fingers.

But for actual holding force I want some replication of the old F1 forces where they had to be peeled out the cars they were so ****ed. Though on that front we’d need a rewrite of current FFB code to be able to manage that dynamic range rather than now where it would be way too heavy for normal driving if using that much force.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

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