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!

 

[Peter Klawitter]

worst live event i have seen in recent years! complete fail! no positive new product impact, just boring, monotone, #simracinggirl not sure what her role was there...looked pretty unhealthy too, or lighting in that place was c##p.
€1500 EUR + steering wheel € + warranty € as extras => go #opensimwheel #osw #ForTheWin #FTW
loyal customer base of Fanatec waited so long for this Podium Series, this was frankly slap in the face and a fail imo. there way better products out there now, more reasonable and some more coming near future. i don’t think Fanatec has landed anything good with this product line, unless they change pricing and combo. there are no benefits at all to get Fanatec Podium Series...hopefully some of the “non sponsored” reviewers will get their hands on these to truly test these out and give simracers an honest feedback on this series (Podium DD1 and DD2)

 

[anton_Chez]

As soon as I heard about the auction, I was immediately disinterested. I mean, I have no intention of buying anything from Fanatec now except for maybe some of the new Podium series specific rims, which I have not seen yet. I haven't even bothered to watch the livestream replay as by the sounds of it, it would be a waste of time.

Fanatec, to me, always seemed to be the more classy of the consumer based product companies. The auction immediately gave me the impression that they did not know how much to commit to sell their product for. They are now hoping that the hype will over inflate the asking price from people hanging for their products that take forever to arrive. As a business owner and a fairly cluey consumer, this stood out to me as disengenuous.

Does anyone actually think that Fanatec expect to receieve less than what would have been a RRP with these auctions? I think not. There are already many products on the market to align yourself with. Then it is up to you as a company to decide whether you feel your product is worth more than the competitor and to have confidence to price it accordingly. I appreciate what Fanatec are trying to do and I do like the look and sound of the wheel base overall. It's super unfortunate that the practices surrounding the launch are creating discussion about issues that have no relevance to the actual product.

 

[snyperal]

The Christmas auctions were a joke, I was expecting a big reveal and some classy show instead... well I don't even know what I watched. Fun with flags anyone?

For the price I think the launch should've reflected that in production values.

Speaking of, I'm almost okay with the price, so long as it delivers in quality. It's roughly similar to an accuforce delivered plus vat to the UK. Which is really my issue; buy something untried and tested in 5 months time from a company with a dubious quality control history or go for an established vendor.

Obviously I could go OSW and save myself a packet.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

They just bought themselves another 6 months plus (big plus taking into account by how much Fanatec misses deliver dates on new products) with the announcement.
All I can see is the same prototype shown at SimExpo 2017 with very few additional details.
They didn't even show the full product with PSU box.
Did anyone watch the full stream to see "genius" QR solution they came up with. Rubber grommet with screw on flange for this type of application, really?

 

[snyperal]

They just bought themselves another 6 months plus (big plus taking into account by how much Fanatec misses deliver dates on new products) with the announcement.
All I can see is the same prototype shown at SimExpo 2017 with very few additional details.
They didn't even show the full product with PSU box.
Did anyone watch the full stream to see "genius" QR solution they came up with. Rubber grommet with screw on flange for this type of application, really?

They have stated that they will send out a rubber replacement for free should it perish.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Already, expedited overnight shipping covered?
How about designing something that does not perish, like Buchfink Q1R. It's a simple coupling, how hard could it be with so many ready to use solutions around.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

The Christmas auctions were a joke, I was expecting a big reveal and some classy show instead... well I don't even know what I watched. Fun with flags anyone?

For the price I think the launch should've reflected that in production values.

Speaking of, I'm almost okay with the price, so long as it delivers in quality. It's roughly similar to an accuforce delivered plus vat to the UK. Which is really my issue; buy something untried and tested in 5 months time from a company with a dubious quality control history or go for an established vendor.

Obviously I could go OSW and save myself a packet.

I got my Accuforce in the Black Friday sales for I believe around £1000 but I can’t remember if that included the import tax which was £200 but even at £1200 it’s still a fair bit cheaper than the DD2 with equivalent CSW Hub and rim that would clock in around £2000.

That being said it’s probably more comparable to the DD1 which is 15/18Nm vs. 13/16Nm at which point depending on how they price it, isn’t too bad for say €1100-1200.

What I’m interested in, is durability of this motor, build quality (no more crappy quality screws please!), if they have software like Sim Commander to improve games with bad FFB otherwise it’s not going to be as good in those particular ones and the podium rims (magnetic shifters and better quality knitter buttons).

That €1500 price really just depends on what it’s comparable to, if it’s an OSW then not that good VFM but if it’s a top end Bodnar 54 which is £3240 then it’s less than 1/2 that.

Already, expedited overnight shipping covered?
How about designing something that does not perish, like Buchfink Q1R. It's a simple coupling, how hard could it be with so many ready to use solutions around.

Looking at their site they seem to have something new in the works. I knew having backward compatibility with old rims would be an issue and compromise on what they could achieve, let’s see what the come up with for new rims. Probably a €200 optional QR for podium rims which would really kill it for me, I like to buy a package not be nickel and dimed to get everything they know everyone actually wants.

 

[Shad3R]

I think the only good thing i saw in the announcement its the official F1 licensed rim they leaked.
It can be good or bad.

 

[MegamanAT]

The Christmas auctions were a joke, I was expecting a big reveal and some classy show instead... well I don't even know what I watched. Fun with flags anyone?

For the price I think the launch should've reflected that in production values.

Speaking of, I'm almost okay with the price, so long as it delivers in quality. It's roughly similar to an accuforce delivered plus vat to the UK. Which is really my issue; buy something untried and tested in 5 months time from a company with a dubious quality control history or go for an established vendor.

Obviously I could go OSW and save myself a packet.

What are you waiting for? Just get yourself an OSW and never look back. I did not expect anything else from $Fanatec and therefore I bought a large Mige/SinCos - kit from simracingbay back in March. 1446,92 € shipped with fully shielded servo cables and the noiseless 480w/720w powersupply. Best thing I ever bought. Not a single issue so far and the experience is worth every cent. And it's all plug and play.

There is a large community behind the osw (new firmware and features every couple of weeks) and I am absolutely convinced that Fanatec will never be able to reach that level of support simply because they just don't have that kind of manpower compared to thousands of osw-contributors.

And you can cheaply replace every single part of the osw by yourself. Just in case that something breaks outside of warranty.

So for me, that's a no brainer at all!

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Things are not that bright on Simucube front either.
After 3 years FW is still in beta and while there is steady improvement in accessibility, it's still not average consumer friendly as say TM, Logitech, or Fanatec.
Accuforce with better motor could have been an ideal solution for many. Not sure why SimXperience does not push for that.

 

[snyperal]

What are you waiting for? Just get yourself an OSW and never look back. I did not expect anything else from $Fanatec and therefore I bought a large Mige/SinCos - kit from simracingbay back in March. 1446,92 € shipped with fully shielded servo cables and the noiseless 480w/720w powersupply. Best thing I ever bought. Not a single issue so far and the experience is worth every cent. And it's all plug and play.

There is a large community behind the osw (new firmware and features every couple of weeks) and I am absolutely convinced that Fanatec will never be able to reach that level of support simply because they just don't have that kind of manpower compared to thousands of osw-contributors.

And you can cheaply replace every single part of the osw by yourself. Just in case that something breaks outside of warranty.

So for me, that's a no brainer at all!

Like most sensible people I'm waiting for permission from the boss!

 

[muzikant]

Maybe I Am looking for direct drive.. upgrade my rig from a g27. I am absolute nobody in the worldv of dd wheels... what can you recommend?? For me is important... plug and play easy setup out of the box... full support in sim games.

OSW?
Accuforce? Of
..... ???

Grtz muzikant

 

[Shad3R]

Maybe I Am looking for direct drive.. upgrade my rig from a g27. I am absolute nobody in the worldv of dd wheels... what can you recommend?? For me is important... plug and play easy setup out of the box... full support in sim games.

OSW?
Accuforce? Of
..... ???

Grtz muzikant

Plug & Play for a Direct Drive? Maybe the only way to go its Fanatec then.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

We don't know how Fanatec will perform. At the moment the only true plug and play solution with some track record is AccuForce.
On HW side OSW is much better and SimuCube simplifies a lot of things, but it's still for serious enthusiasts mostly not afraid spending time tweaking things, dealing with beta software, grounding issues, etc.

 

[Mr Latte]

Hey lads, hold up....

The Plug and play aspect was described differently by Thomas.
Not just a hardware, (USB make a cup of tea) type plug and play but if a developer or car brand wanted specific settings applied for a model of car the wheel could automatically adopt these.

The Podium series potentially opens the door for developers to have pre-tuned profiles from within the software title applied to the wheel base.

The less expensive wheel looks like it could be more than enough for the average semi-serious sim racer. Yet I reckon its clearly seeking to compete with the Accuforce and bring better performance/options. It has to be £300 or so less than the more upmarket version.

I also think in some ways Thomas made this exclusive so boring, low quality as it would do exactly what its doing and thats get some in the community worked up or discussing it. We have to wait but what will determine how well these wheels sell is mainly the performance, reliability and software they have.

I have to say Im still on the fence but positive with interest in the cheaper unit.

 

[muzikant]

Hey lads, hold up....

The Plug and play aspect was described differently by Thomas.
Not just a hardware, (USB make a cup of tea) type plug and play but if a developer or car brand wanted specific settings applied for a model of car the wheel could automatically adopt these.

The Podium series potentially opens the door for developers to have pre-tuned profiles from within the software title applied to the wheel base.

The less expensive wheel looks like it could be more than enough for the average semi-serious sim racer. Yet I reckon its clearly seeking to compete with the Accuforce and bring better performance/options. It has to be £300 or so less than the more upmarket version.

I also think in some ways Thomas made this exclusive so boring, low quality as it would do exactly what its doing and thats get some in the community worked up or discussing it. We have to wait but what will determine how well these wheels sell is mainly the performance, reliability and software they have.

I have to say Im still on the fence but positive with interest in the cheaper unit.

Wait for fanatec podium a year or something before is good enough and not sold out?
I have never use fanatec. Heared on internet strange things about custumer support.. a lot of options fanatec v.2.5.... Thrustmaster tc pc.. or dd wheel accuforce, diffcult to decide...

 

[Khyber]

Things are not that bright on Simucube front either.
After 3 years FW is still in beta and while there is steady improvement in accessibility, it's still not average consumer friendly as say TM, Logitech, or Fanatec.
Accuforce with better motor could have been an ideal solution for many. Not sure why SimXperience does not push for that.

the accuforce v3 has to be in development....simexperience won't sit in 3rd place.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

the accuforce v3 has to be in development....simexperience won't sit in 3rd place.

Nope, they aren’t really worrying about what Fanatec are doing, they are a much smaller business. The Accuforce is what they settled on, they had other much stronger prototypes but Berney is very much in the it’s strong enough already camp.

Their next product is the GS-5 G-Force seat which they had at a race event this weekend for the public to test.

 

[Khyber]

yea that's why they said about the first one then the v2 came. there will always be more if there's money to be made, especially if they can undercut fanatec from here on out.

 

[anton_Chez]

I am a tinkerer but I did not have to mess with the OSW at all, really. Apart from satisfying the urge to know I am getting the most out of it, installing the SimuCube configurator was about as far as it went for me. Sure you can create profiles and such, but the same can be said with the menu you get on the wheel base of any decent Fanatec wheel base.

I guess it depends where you source your parts from. As with computer hardware, there are both the DIY approach, or you can get someone (SimRacingBay for me) to build it for you and send it to you in a nice little package. Latest firmware installed, instructions on where to obtain newest config tool (download link in an email) and a personal email from the owner himself to make sure you are all good setting up your new kit.

The Fanatec solution will be the most user friendly of the bunch (I've never cared for SimCommander and its multitude of tuning options, for SimVibe anyway) but it's not like you need to know how to build a race car to use an OSW in current year.