New Racing Wheel Help

TaserFace96 · Mar 7, 2018

Hello Forums,

I have had a G27 for years now and I want to upgrade to the next level in racing wheels. I am getting a 800$ CAD tax return in the next few days and I want to buy a wheel with that money. I have been looking at the Thrustmaster TS-PC racer 749$ CAD, Fanatec CSL Elite which is about 750$ CAD with shipping and the Thrustmaster TX or T300RS wheel with the Ferrari Alcantara rim for about 600$ CAD

Which do you think would give me the best " Wow I really feel like this upgrade was worth it " feeling ?? Which do you recommend overall?

Thank you!

MegamanAT · Mar 7, 2018

Save your money for a dircect drive wheel. None of the others are worth upgrading. I got my OSW (Simucube, large Mige) yesterday and it's nothing but amazing! Forget belt driven wheels!

Side note: The motor of my T500 died about 4 weeks ago. So I mounted my T300, which I bought mainly as a backup for my T500. Felt about the same but slower rotation and my laptimes also did not change. 2 weeks later, the T300 also died (left shifter not working anymore). So I contacted TM-support and I am still waiting for an answer.

But the funny thingt is, that I grabbbed my old G25 out of the shelve (was there for the last 7 years) as replacement for the T300 and that I was more consistend and faster than with the T500 and T300. I also liked the feeling much more than with the beld driven wheels.

But I was able to beat my best lap time on Nürburgring GT in AC just after a couple of laps with the OSW by half a second.

Since you are living in Canda, you could also think about the Accuforce Pro. I think they offer free shipping to Canada, which makes it worth thinking about it. Shipping to Europe is about 250€, which makes it not really an option to the OSW. The 12NM should be fine too. I am running my OSW with 35% (large Mige, 30NM).

But if you don't want a direct drive wheel, go for the Thrustmaster TS-PC racer.

Ceolmor · Mar 7, 2018

An Accuforce Pro is probably going to cost @TaserFace96 2x 800$ CAD and a OSW Direct Drive with wheel and paddles/button about 3x 800$ CAD.

MegamanAT · Mar 7, 2018

But that's the only way to get the " Wow I really feel like this upgrade was worth it " feeling

TaserFace96 · Mar 7, 2018

MegamanAT said:
Save your money for a dircect drive wheel. None of the others are worth upgrading. I got my OSW (Simucube, large Mige) yesterday and it's nothing but amazing! Forget belt driven wheels!

Side note: The motor of my T500 died about 4 weeks ago. So I mounted my T300, which I bought mainly as a backup for my T500. Felt about the same but slower rotation and my laptimes also did not change. 2 weeks later, the T300 also died (left shifter not working anymore). So I contacted TM-support and I am still waiting for an answer.

But the funny thingt is, that I grabbbed my old G25 out of the shelve (was there for the last 7 years) as replacement for the T300 and that I was more consistend and faster than with the T500 and T300. I also liked the feeling much more than with the beld driven wheels.

But I was able to beat my best lap time on Nürburgring GT in AC just after a couple of laps with the OSW by half a second.

Since you are living in Canda, you could also think about the Accuforce Pro. I think they offer free shipping to Canada, which makes it worth thinking about it. Shipping to Europe is about 250€, which makes it not really an option to the OSW. The 12NM should be fine too. I am running my OSW with 35% (large Mige, 30NM).

But if you don't want a direct drive wheel, go for the Thrustmaster TS-PC racer.

Thanks for this recommendation but I really do not have the money for a direct drive wheel and I do not have a racing cockpit either so I doubt even if I could afford one that they come with a table clamp because hard mounting is not an option.

I'm really just looking for feedback from the forums on the 3 wheels I listed since for me they are all similar in price but perhaps one performs better than the other. I have looked at YouTube videos and they are all considered good but not very many of them actually compare the wheels against each other.

I kind of want the CSL elite package but my issue there is with tax and shipping Im looking at around 780$ CAD and thats if the the border doesn't add on duty fees and additional taxes for me to pay at the door.

**Update - I went and checked for the 2 direct drive wheels you mentioned and they would run me about 2000$ Canadian after tax and shipping so this really isnt't an option for me at the moment

MegamanAT · Mar 7, 2018

ts pc racer

ricerracer · Mar 8, 2018

TaserFace96 said:
Thanks for this recommendation but I really do not have the money for a direct drive wheel and I do not have a racing cockpit either so I doubt even if I could afford one that they come with a table clamp because hard mounting is not an option.

I'm really just looking for feedback from the forums on the 3 wheels I listed since for me they are all similar in price but perhaps one performs better than the other. I have looked at YouTube videos and they are all considered good but not very many of them actually compare the wheels against each other.

I kind of want the CSL elite package but my issue there is with tax and shipping Im looking at around 780$ CAD and thats if the the border doesn't add on duty fees and additional taxes for me to pay at the door.

**Update - I went and checked for the 2 direct drive wheels you mentioned and they would run me about 2000$ Canadian after tax and shipping so this really isnt't an option for me at the moment

Osw is great I got it but it takes sooooooooo long to set it up perfectly. It also does not run on all games that well. So if your someone that enjoys a wide variety of games and you just want to jump in and play then I'd suggest fanatec over anything. They have a better eco system including load cell pedals, compared to thrust master. I would suggest doing further research look at all the rim, pedals, shifter, hand brakes and future plans both companies have to offer.

Longevity both have issues so that is something you should also look into and consider. As well as 'fade' I.e. How long can you play in a single sesssion before the FFB gets weaker because the wheel needs a break.

MegamanAT · Mar 8, 2018

took me 5min to set it up perfectly for ac and pc2.

Jan Larsen · Mar 8, 2018

DD's are still far too expensive for the average joe simracer. Also, the only wheel with decent software is the Accuforce, but its so comprehensive it takes weeks to actually figure out how it works.
I have a G27 as well and I've tried both the Fanatec, Thrustmaster T300(GTE) and the Accuforce. The Accuforce wins hands down, no question about that, but its twice the money and the software is...a challenge. The Fanatec comes next when it comes to feel, but its complex and has tendencies to fail in the oddest ways. Usually small, nigly things that does however require factory service. The Thrustmaster is much lower quality (dont believe their marketing nonsense), but the feel of the wheel in operation is not far of from the Fanatec. The Fanatec is better quality though, if you get lucky and get a fully functioning wheel from the start.

So basically; Accuforce, Fanatec, Thrustmaster, in that order. My fastest laps were basically the same with all wheels, but the Accuforce wasnt setup to my liking (I just couldnt be bothered when I saw the software) which makes believe I'd be faster with the Accuforce with the Fanatec close behind. I will however stress its my own opinion.

MegamanAT · Mar 8, 2018

Jan Larsen said:
DD's are still far too expensive for the average joe simracer. Also, the only wheel with decent software is the Accuforce, but its so comprehensive it takes weeks to actually figure out how it works.

That's not true anymore. With the Simucube software you can adjust many things and you are also able to save different profiles for different games. I was just not as good with the old mmos software.

Ceolmor · Mar 8, 2018

MegamanAT said:
That's not true anymore. With the Simucube software you can adjust many things and you are also able to save different profiles for different games. I was just not as good with the old mmos software.

I thought you only got your OSW on Tuesday this week. What experience therefore do you have of Mmos? Mmos was good and I could adjust everything through Mmos and Granity and save profiles. SimuCUBE has put most things you need to adjust in one place and added features, and yes it is better firmware.

I and many others are still playing with settings in different sims to get the best out of the OSW (I've had mine 15 months) so I am surprised you achieved perfection in 5 minutes.

MegamanAT · Mar 8, 2018

but that does not mean that no one else of my friends have older argon based osw. but I don't really think I have to justify to you. And I also don't really care that you were not able to set your osw up withing 15 months.

dud · Mar 8, 2018

Did anybody consider this as a sturdy enough mount for a DD wheel?

Intended for use with VR headset.
Standing, heavy-duty 19" rack.
Wheelbase mounted in to front face of 19". If you want to make it "portable", have a quick-detach steering wheel and design the depth of the mount so that a rack lid fits over the steering wheel stub.
Pedals in bottom of the rack, on rails that allow moving them back and forth.
Utilize standard datacenter trays for keyboard and mouse.
Basic LCD monitor inside rack, just to get you into VR. Or utilize standard datacenter monitor-arm-in-rack units with whatever monitor.
Optional: 19" P.A. amplifiers for shakers.
Obvious and optional: put the computer into a 19" rackmount case.
Optional: additional computers in rack for telemetry, internet routing, UPS and whatnot.

TaserFace96 · Mar 8, 2018

racingenthusiast said:
Osw is great I got it but it takes sooooooooo long to set it up perfectly. It also does not run on all games that well. So if your someone that enjoys a wide variety of games and you just want to jump in and play then I'd suggest fanatec over anything. They have a better eco system including load cell pedals, compared to thrust master. I would suggest doing further research look at all the rim, pedals, shifter, hand brakes and future plans both companies have to offer.

Longevity both have issues so that is something you should also look into and consider. As well as 'fade' I.e. How long can you play in a single sesssion before the FFB gets weaker because the wheel needs a break.

I really want to go with Fanatec but the issue is that I live in Canada. If i buy even the basic CSL Elite base + CSL Elite P1 rim it comes out to 610$ CAD which is actually fine for me but then I have the issue of shipping it + taxes and duty I could be looking at over 800$ and thats whithout the V2.5 base.

Is the CSL Elite + CSL elite P1 rim worth it even if its 50$ more than the TS-PC racer ? Does anyone have any experience shipping to Canada? I have no idea how much duty they will charge

MegamanAT · Mar 8, 2018

dud said:
Did anybody consider this as a sturdy enough mount for a DD wheel?

Intended for use with VR headset.

Standing, heavy-duty 19" rack.

Wheelbase mounted in to front face of 19". If you want to make it "portable", have a quick-detach steering wheel and design the depth of the mount so that a rack lid fits over the steering wheel stub.

Pedals in bottom of the rack, on rails that allow moving them back and forth.

Utilize standard datacenter trays for keyboard and mouse.

Basic LCD monitor inside rack, just to get you into VR. Or utilize standard datacenter monitor-arm-in-rack units with whatever monitor.

Optional: 19" P.A. amplifiers for shakers.

Obvious and optional: put the computer into a 19" rackmount case.

Optional: additional computers in rack for telemetry, internet routing, UPS and whatnot.

link? picture? I am using a Trakracer RS8 and that is sturdy enough. Nice rig at all.