G27 - Fanatec CSR Elite Wheel Pros/cons

Bob Luneski · Jan 16, 2012

I've had my trusty G25 for 4 years and it seems to be feeling some of its age, almost indescribable change in performance as if it were gertting "Loose". I've already upgraded to Fanatec Clubsport pedals and now want to do something about the wheel.

1) Openup and refurbish existing G25
2) Buy G27 would give us an extra g25 pedal set
3) Buy Fanatec CSR Elite Wheel

Request input from people on these various options and wherther you have done them yourself.

Thanks

Bob

Pax7 · May 4, 2012

David Ignjatovic said:
...so when someone calls a G25/27 a joke, I wonder about their motivation...

That statement was made from a performance standpoint only, not considering the price at all.
G25/G27 are probably good wheels considering the competition in the same price range.

From purely a performance perspective, I am pretty sure that the extra money spent to buy a Fanatec CSR Elite/Fanatec CSW wheel is some of the best invested money in sim racing hardware you can think of.

Brian Clancy · May 4, 2012

Pax7 said:
That statement was made from a performance standpoint only, not considering the price at all.
G25/G27 are probably good wheels considering the competition in the same price range.

Indeed, price for price the G25 / G27 are hard to beat, very reliable, good, solid quality FFB with decent pedals and shifter considering the price! Not to mention highly upgradeable / modifiable too

Randy Wagner · May 5, 2012

I picked up a T 500 for 300.00 and got even luckier and found a F1 wheel for 100.00 that will be here tomorrow and Brian ole buddy ole pal lol is cooking something up over at race central for some useful mods and my 3 week old G27 sits. This hobby is like anything else they charge us out the wazzoo for the good stuff. The G27 for the money is damn hard to beat but to me in stock form compared to the T500 it's notnreally a fair fight hence double the cost. The 500's pedals leave a lot to be desired but the new club sports are coming as well as the new line of rims so take that into consideration as well.

180 will get ya a new G27 and 300-400 will get you a used T500, and as I said my 27 that's 3 weeks old sits so all i gotta do now is be patient and hope the new club sports are released soon.

David Ignjatovic · May 5, 2012

Pax7 said:
From purely a performance perspective, I am pretty sure that the extra money spent to buy a Fanatec CSR Elite/Fanatec CSW wheel is some of the best invested money in sim racing hardware you can think of.

Hmmm, but don't we get back to the fact that some of the iracing aliens used DFGT wheels and G25 pedals combo?
Me, I'd be happy if people understood that pedals play a huge role in speed and control, and subsequently started at no less than a G27, but if I was to move from my G27, it would be to the CSRe+CSP=$1200, so it would want to be damn good, lol.

Hiroshi Awazu · May 5, 2012

G25/27 with a few pedal mods, you're looking at around $300/$400 tops.

CSRe + CSP $1200. Is it really worth the extra $800? That is a lot of money.

David Ignjatovic · May 5, 2012

Hiroshi Awazu said:
G25/27 with a few pedal mods, you're looking at around $300/$400 tops.

CSRe + CSP $1200. Is it really worth the extra $800? That is a lot of money.

Worth....probably not, it would probably be better to just add CSP, but I mean, the G27 wheel seems pretty good to me, and rf2 FFB is the weight of a truck at 100% master FFB, so I run rf2 at 65-75%, so it's all down to how much better these hexy wheels can deliver the quality of FFB and I guess allow for better countersteering, but G27 moves pretty quick to me.

And pedals really seems to be the key. As funny as it sounds the best improvement (aside from the loadcell) from the CSP compared to the G25 pedals, was the feel (modulation) of the gas pedal, this really helped to drive cars that are hard to control( due to power).

http://www.racedepartment.com/forum/threads/lap-time-comparisons-between-different-wheels.50514/

This comment from this other thread also makes me wonder about the CSP being better on the gas over G27, but then again, how do Gregor and Ray Al do it with standard G25's, unless they've modded the springs...

Anyway, my view is this, if you can afford to spend $1200 on a luxury item like CSRe, then it don't matter to me if you spent too much, but I'd hate to think people are using gamepads and DFGT and bypassing G27 because it's become fashionable to call it a toy since the release of these hyper FFB wheels.