Should I be considering the AccuForce Pro V2 DD?

[2020 Supraman]

Being new to sim racing, whenever I look up DD wheels all I see is Fanatec DD and Simucube 2. So I thought these were my only 2 choices if I was going to build a serious rig. In my original planning I was going to go with the Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base V2.5 and BMW GT Wheel ($850), but forum members highly recommended a DD wheel at my price point (~$6k total - you can see my other thread 'held me build a 6k rig' in hardware section here). The AccuForce Pro V2 is very close to that price at $999 which makes it very attractive. SC2 or Fanatec DD will be over $2,000 with wheel. An added bonus, SimXperience is a local company to me, and I really like the idea of having support so close geographically!

Most YouTube reviews of the AccuForce are very positive overall, as is the general consensus from searching this forum. I see a lot of direct comparison videos of SC2 and Fanatec DD, but I do NOT see direct comparisons with the AccuForce Pro V2. I understand the AccuForce is less powerful and not in the same class, but most people seem to think force feedback is plenty powerful enough.

I am hoping people with experience using these 3 DD units can help me weigh the pros/cons. For example, if you were to turn the force feedback to the exact same settings for these different units, what differences between the systems would you notice?

 

[2020 Supraman]

And another contender..

 

[Not_Lifting_off]

Yes you should

I used four or five different wheels in the space of about 3yrs before i got my Accuforce nothing before came close to it. I imagine there are better wheels out there but im perfectly happy with mine and no intention of replacing it any time soon.
Love it.

Sim Commander can be a bit daunting at first but once you get your head around it its a peice of cake and makes a huge positive difference.

Sounds interesting.
I usually run my sims without SC running at all, but will give this a go for certain.

Dont know how you do that, my FFB is awful if i dont do sometyhing with SC, ACC being the worst offender, but absolutely amazing with SC setup.

 

[ThugUK]

Dont know how you do that, my FFB is awful if i dont do sometyhing with SC, ACC being the worst offender, but absolutely amazing with SC setup.

I guess there are 2 ways to look at it (good and bad).
Firstly (the good), not using SC you are using the FFB the way the sim manufacturer wanted you too (providing they have set ups for your wheel).
Secondly (the bad), you are missing out on all the little effects SC can pull out of the game.

You can set lots of settings in SC and download them to the wheel so the wheel stores them and you don't need to fire up SC again. Then just change the settings in game for your wheel.

 

[Bigwaved]

I’ll just leave this right here...

SimXperience News | SimXperience® Full Motion Racing Simulator Technologies

simxperience.com

This is now available with the latest update to the software. It is pretty slick. I am happy with the changes.

 

[fwyflyer]

Long story short: SimCommander 4 for the Accuforce Pro V2 now has Cloud Tuning which is freaking AMAZING. For AC, ACC, PC 2, iRacing, and Rfactor 2, this feature makes the near perfect FFB setup a non issue. Total game changer. No more tinkering. Just get in and drive.

 

[2020 Supraman]

Long story short: SimCommander 4 for the Accuforce Pro V2 now has Cloud Tuning which is freaking AMAZING. For AC, ACC, PC 2, iRacing, and Rfactor 2, this feature makes the near perfect FFB setup a non issue. Total game changer. No more tinkering. Just get in and drive.

Wow, that good? Certainly a point for Accuforce over the new VRS. VRS software just sounds way too simple for it to be great

 

[Bigwaved]

Wow, that good? Certainly a point for Accuforce over the new VRS. VRS software just sounds way too simple for it to be great

It is doing a very good job with loading both car and track info to produce a great feel. All of it being accomplished without wasting a lot of time tinkering. You can still load it without cloud if you prefer to tinker.

 

[schmitzna]

Long story short: SimCommander 4 for the Accuforce Pro V2 now has Cloud Tuning which is freaking AMAZING. For AC, ACC, PC 2, iRacing, and Rfactor 2, this feature makes the near perfect FFB setup a non issue. Total game changer. No more tinkering. Just get in and drive.

I agree. Cloud Tuning on SimCommander 4 is a huge improvement. You can still add/remove effects and adjust intensities -- Cloud Tuning will make that work for whatever car you get in.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

I haven’t tried it yet but what do you do with in-game settings setup wise, is it just for foundation feedback or both?

I’ve never actually bothered using auto-tune on the Accuforce or GS-5 as I’ve assumed it just sets up FFB to use the full range of the wheel which makes all the cars feel the same FFB wise which I don’t want. Is that how it works or have I got it wrong?

 

[fwyflyer]

I haven’t tried it yet but what do you do with in-game settings setup wise, is it just for foundation feedback or both?

I’ve never actually bothered using auto-tune on the Accuforce or GS-5 as I’ve assumed it just sets up FFB to use the full range of the wheel which makes all the cars feel the same FFB wise which I don’t want. Is that how it works or have I got it wrong?

You are just barely scratching the surface. One can get lost in personalizing ffb profiles, etc.

 

[Schaefe]

I haven’t tried it yet but what do you do with in-game settings setup wise, is it just for foundation feedback or both?

I’ve never actually bothered using auto-tune on the Accuforce or GS-5 as I’ve assumed it just sets up FFB to use the full range of the wheel which makes all the cars feel the same FFB wise which I don’t want. Is that how it works or have I got it wrong?

I'd say this is accurate in what I have experienced, auto tune only changed the strength value in order to avoid clipping, while leaving all other values at the setting you put them on. I haven't tried the cloud-thingy yet.

And yes you can get lost in poersonalizing ffb profiles as @fwyflyer said, but auto-tune doesn't touch any of these values, right?

 

[Rainman2020]

Just posted this same comment in another current Accuforce V2 thread...

I am setting up and buying an entire sim racing rig for the first time, and after months of youtube watching and reading, i got really enthused about the Accuforce V2. Great price and all the reviews i saw really really loved it (other than the loud fan basically). For $999 for everything, it is super appealing to me to just jump right into a really well done DD wheel. And, it should last me a long long time to boot.

The company that makes it seems very legit (total opposite of the Chinese feeling of the Sim Magic), and the wheel seems very well made and plenty enough that i will ever want or need, so a great initial wheel if you have the $1K

Couple questions:

Would you advise to not buy the accuforce v2 for any reason?

How bad is the fan noise? Will i hear it over the PC speakers if i am not in VR? Will i hear it in VR with an Index style headphone (kinda away from the ear a bit)? I am figuring if i can't hear it in game, then so what, since the only time the wheel will be 'on' is during an actual race. I would think you could easily switch it off when just in the pits, etc and not hear it, so if it is not overpowering the race sounds at all (in or out of VR), then it should be fine. I really don't like loud computers, i always build silent ones, so don't want it to be so loud that it overpowers the racing sounds.

Also, this video really was what sealed my decision to go for the Accuforce wheel...really good in depth video done by someone that has used it for a full year...

Randy

 

[TedBrosby-]

Thanks for all the feedback, very helpful. I am leaning toward AF v2 based on all of the reviews I have been seeing. I can get that without a rim for $699 compared to $1300 for SC2.

The problem I have is I always want the best... but then I have to ask and how much better it would be. For example, if you had two exact setups, one with SC2 and one with AF V2 next to each other. I played AF V2 for 30 minutes completely dialed in, then SC2 for 30 minutes completely dialed in - what would the wow factor be? Because that wow factor, and a higher level of immersion, may be worth the extra money to me

Don't do this. If you get the $700 "DIY" kit, you miss out on the SimCommander software. The main reason to get the complete kit isn't just the button box and wheel but the combination of the software as well. If you don't get SimCommander, you miss out on 90% of the reason people say Accuforce is worth it as an alternative to a traditional servo motor wheel.

Sounds interesting.. I don't completely understand the idea of cloud tuning though.. does that mean that individual tuning profiles have been developed for every car and every track? Or they do cloud tuning with hundreds or thousands of scenarios and then let AI do the rest based on these data points? Haha sorry I'm only used to physically tuning a car and don't understand ..

The advantage of cloud tuning is that you won't have to spend hours finding the perfect profile for each car/sim/track combination. You just pick a profile and drive. And once you gather up enough profiles, some will load for you automatically when the car/sim is detected.

For my Fanatec CSW 2.5, I have literally 5 profiles I had to build and save using the tuning menu. You'll save so much time using Cloud tuning with Accuforce.

 

[Shovas]

SimX is legit. I bought mine in 2015, no issues. They can be a bit obtuse, perhaps slow, sometimes support requests fall through the cracks, but they're honest and have integrity.

I needed a single small wire and I wanted to order it from them but shipping was crazy high so instead they let me buy an item for which the shipping made sense (a new rim) and threw the wire in the box.

They're decent people.

I don't think the fan noise is *overly* much. I can still enjoy sim racing. I have complained on their forums about it (why oh why didn't they just use a 120mm pc fan...because the PS was prebuilt by a premium manufacturer...oh well at least it's premium components).

You can make due. If you're willing to void your warranty I imagine you could easily open it up, disable the fan, or insert a new fan, and I doubt it would be an issue. I can't imagine that small fan is doing much in there.

Had my wheel since 2015. My only issue has always ever been it's only 13nm of torque and I wish I had more. It's a great wheel and a tank otherwise. I've put so many hours on mine and it shows no signs of stopping.

 

[Goes To 11]

I don't notice the fan while driving. I am either using my headphones, rift or vive.

Don't do this. If you get the $700 "DIY" kit, you miss out on the SimCommander software. The main reason to get the complete kit isn't just the button box and wheel but the combination of the software as well. If you don't get SimCommander, you miss out on 90% of the reason people say Accuforce is worth it as an alternative to a traditional servo motor wheel.

This is incorrect. Sim Commander software comes with all three versions of the wheel: DIY, Your way, and the full system.

 

[Rainman2020]

SimX is legit. I bought mine in 2015, no issues. They can be a bit obtuse, perhaps slow, sometimes support requests fall through the cracks, but they're honest and have integrity.

I needed a single small wire and I wanted to order it from them but shipping was crazy high so instead they let me buy an item for which the shipping made sense (a new rim) and threw the wire in the box.

They're decent people.

I don't think the fan noise is *overly* much. I can still enjoy sim racing. I have complained on their forums about it (why oh why didn't they just use a 120mm pc fan...because the PS was prebuilt by a premium manufacturer...oh well at least it's premium components).

You can make due. If you're willing to void your warranty I imagine you could easily open it up, disable the fan, or insert a new fan, and I doubt it would be an issue. I can't imagine that small fan is doing much in there.

Had my wheel since 2015. My only issue has always ever been it's only 13nm of torque and I wish I had more. It's a great wheel and a tank otherwise. I've put so many hours on mine and it shows no signs of stopping.

Thanks Shovas, feeling really good about my choice of wheel now...also for me, one of the main reasons i like this wheel is that i am impressed with the company behind it (as i said, completely the opposite of the chinese SimMagic wheel)

Randy

 

[Rainman2020]

If i ordered one now, do they have a COVID backlog going on at the moment? How long will the wait be?

Randy

 

[Shovas]

If i ordered one now, do they have a COVID backlog going on at the moment? How long will the wait be?

Randy

I don't know, sorry. I think you can contact support on their website to ask.

 

[dapper_10]

I ordered mine late May and it will be about 2 months before I get it. I don't know if it has changed.

 

[thygreyt]

To the guy saying NOT to get the "your way" Accuforce v2 kit, it DOES include Sim Commander. It simplu doesnt include the wheel+buttons+quick release