Upgrading from Fanatec CSL Elite LC or V3s to Heusinkveld Sprints: what makes you faster?

[Rusty911]

At the moment I am using the Fanatec CSL Elite LC pedals. I am considering upgrading those pedals to Heusinkveld Sprints.

In a couple of videos people have said they became a faster driver when upgrading from CSL Elite LC or V3s to Heusinkveld Sprints. I was wondering why they became faster, because all three sets have loadcell brake pedals and have customizable rubber elastomers in their brake pedal to customize the feel. Does the hardware make the difference or is it the software, because with the Sprints you can create your own output curve for each pedal? I find it hard to believe that the fysical customization possibilities of the Sprints make the difference.

I would like to know from people who upgraded from one of the aforementioned sets or other Loadcell pedals to the Sprints: which feature of the Sprints do you think made you a faster driver (or maybe they didn't)?

 

[CC]

At the moment I am using the Fanatec CSL Elite LC pedals. I am considering upgrading those pedals to Heusinkveld Sprints.

In a couple of videos people have said they became a faster driver when upgrading from CSL Elite LC or V3s to Heusinkveld Sprints. I was wondering why they became faster, because all three sets have loadcell brake pedals and have customizable rubber elastomers in their brake pedal to customize the feel. Does the hardware make the difference or is it the software, because with the Sprints you can create your own output curve for each pedal? I find it hard to believe that the fysical customization possibilities of the Sprints make the difference.

I would like to know from people who upgraded from one of the aforementioned sets or other Loadcell pedals to the Sprints: which feature of the Sprints do you think made you a faster driver (or maybe they didn't)?

I went from the CSL base pedals to the Sprints, they wasn’t the loadcell version just stock 2 pedals,

Tbh I think the CSL are probably close to the best pedals I ever used very nice for the money,

trying to compare the CSL to the Sprints though is trying to compare black to white,

did they make me faster ?

I think they did I never compared lap times 1/1 to see any visual lap time differences, but can brake at half the distance so yes most likely they did,

the quality, sensation, feedback + the adjustable curve controls are second to non, by far probably the best sim product I ever purchased the Sprints + my Sparco Evo2 seat they just go hand in hand together,

if it’s something you can afford I would look to buying a set you won’t regret it.

 

[Kieran527]

but can brake at half the distance so yes most likely they did,

you must have been rear ended every race and been beat up in every braking zone

 

[CC]

you must have been rear ended every race and been beat up in every braking zone

No honestly the brakes on these Sprints are mind blowing veeery veeery nice stuff!
throttle curves are insane too can adjust it each car so you don’t get any wheel spin slower lower gear corners, like I say best equipment I ever bought.

 

[jamescarruthers]

Or you could look at it another way.... why make car specific curve adjustments in software when really it should be in your brain?

(I am quite envious of not being able to set a basic curve on my V3s though)

 

[Rusty911]

I went from the CSL base pedals to the Sprints, they wasn’t the loadcell version just stock 2 pedals,

Tbh I think the CSL are probably close to the best pedals I ever used very nice for the money,

trying to compare the CSL to the Sprints though is trying to compare black to white,

did they make me faster ?

I think they did I never compared lap times 1/1 to see any visual lap time differences, but can brake at half the distance so yes most likely they did,

the quality, sensation, feedback + the adjustable curve controls are second to non, by far probably the best sim product I ever purchased the Sprints + my Sparco Evo2 seat they just go hand in hand together,

if it’s something you can afford I would look to buying a set you won’t regret it.

Too bad you didn’t had CSL Elite loadcell brake pedal, so you could compare the CSL Elite loadcell brake pedal with the Sprint loadcell brake pedal. I can imagine that you became faster/more consistent going from a non-loadcell to a loadcell pedal.

Anyway, thanks for your feedback!

 

[Rusty911]

Or you could look at it another way.... why make car specific curve adjustments in software when really it should be in your brain?

I can imagine that to be able to make curve adjustments is a valuable feature, because with that feature you can for instance make your braking output more sensitive at the lockup point so it becomes easier to brake just before the lockup point.

 

[CC]

I can imagine that to be able to make curve adjustments is a valuable feature, because with that feature you can for instance make your braking output more sensitive at the lockup point so it becomes easier to brake just before the lockup point.

Yes for example I can change the brake pressure on the pedal in seconds from say 30lbs to over 100lbs its no problem at all and the feeling is magical very hard to explain what kind of wizardry is going on inside the pedals,
Our Formula Hybrids I can brake at Monza from say 330km to 40 1st corner in half the distance I could with my CSL and it dont even lock up,
best thing is its still out of the box rubbers and positions on all the pedals never even had to touch them just dust them, Throttle is the same can really get that curve to stop all wheelspin,
come out of any corner and stamp down the pedal and its just all rpms and full control,
worth every cent best equipment you could invest in there a proper tool for the job,
I dread to imagine how good the Ultimate's are!

 

[Kieran527]

No honestly the brakes on these Sprints are mind blowing veeery veeery nice stuff!
throttle curves are insane too can adjust it each car so you don’t get any wheel spin slower lower gear corners, like I say best equipment I ever bought.

I have the Sprints, i know what theyre like, you dont need to sell them to me.

But claiming it halves your braking distance is a stretch

I will say however, they are very good, and worth all the hype that are said about them.
The biggest improvement i found over my previous set of pedals, was how i could modulate the brake pressure. The pedals have a very good range of stiffness and travel, and previous pedals i used were either stiff and hardly any travel, or weak with lots of travel.

I can play with the Sprint brake pedal quite a lot, and trail brake nicely into apexes.
It did take me a good few hours though to get back up to speed once changing over.

 

[jamescarruthers]

I keep meaning to try this: https://www.xedocproject.com/joystickcurves.html

 

[Chrhun]

I had the CSL LC's and then bought the Sprints.

I have to say I liked the CSL LC's very much and enjoyed the brake feel on them, so much actually that when I bought V3's I returned them as I liked my CSL's better. Some people (I guess in theory rightly) complain about the loadcell placement on the CSL's - I recognized the issue, but it never really troubled me. My issues with the CSL's were the potentiometers acting, and the gas pedal (also the clutch) that had too little resistance and feel.

Then I got the Sprints and like CC says above they were one of my very best sim equipment purchases. They improve on the CSL's on every level. They are nearly infinitely adjustable mechanically, and then you have the software to do the rest. They also feel very nice when racing - they really allow you to work the pedals like you'd do in a real car. I like the brake, but I also like the gas and clutch on these. I would say HE has done great job with the Sprints, they are a very complete package.

 

[CC]

I had the CSL LC's and then bought the Sprints.

I have to say I liked the CSL LC's very much and enjoyed the brake feel on them, so much actually that when I bought V3's I returned them as I liked my CSL's better. Some people (I guess in theory rightly) complain about the loadcell placement on the CSL's - I recognized the issue, but it never really troubled me. My issues with the CSL's were the potentiometers acting, and the gas pedal (also the clutch) that had too little resistance and feel.

Then I got the Sprints and like CC says above they were one of my very best sim equipment purchases. They improve on the CSL's on every level. They are nearly infinitely adjustable mechanically, and then you have the software to do the rest. They also feel very nice when racing - they really allow you to work the pedals like you'd do in a real car. I like the brake, but I also like the gas and clutch on these. I would say HE has done great job with the Sprints, they are a very complete package.

I have been playing racing games over 30 years since the beginning almost when was just 8bit graphics and prior,
I have owned almost every single console including a Neo Geo apart from some of these newer gens.
But do own a Xbox one X well for the kids,
owned tons of wheels some lovely seats like the Formula Rseat V2 full chassis,
hands down by far the best equipment I ever purchased was my Sprints and my official Sparco Evo2 seat,
so realistic the experience specially on these triple 32 inch Ultrawide with roughly 2.2 meters span,
I love my Sprints so much simply put they are sublime.

If its something you can afford then go for it no doubt at all but dont be selling a kidney to buy them for sure.

 

[Rusty911]

For those that have the Sprints: do you use a non-lineair curve on each pedal a lot?

 

[CC]

I also added 2x buttkicker LFE mini one each side of the pedals
Have 6 in total but 2 here with some custom curves I missed the vibrations from the fanatec,
I couldn’t remember if they made me faster or not was earlier last year when I bought them,
But just remembered the World Record I got in DR2 rallyx the day I buy I got them so must be better.

 

[CC]

For those that have the Sprints: do you use a non-lineair curve on each pedal a lot?

I use mine like this the most of the time.
some cars will looks some in the GT,s

Gyazo

gyazo.com

 

[Jivesauce]

I think you need to temper expectations about going faster with any piece of sim equipment. It's best to buy them just with the idea of increasing your enjoyment and immersion rather than an expectation of gaining speed, because 99.9% of the time it is a technique issue rather than equipment. A load cell brake is probably the exception to this, but the CSL Elite LC is already a very decent load cell brake.

Now, some equipment perhaps allows you to adjust it to technique that might be shaky, like with the curves adjustments, and there is nothing wrong with that and it's certainly possible you'll gain some speed in that case. Just know that if you ever get into real world track days/racing you aren't going to be tweaking brake output curves to match your particular style beyond maybe trying different pad compounds

None of that is to dissuade you, the Sprints are a beautiful bit of equipment and everyone would love them I think (those new Meca Cup pedals look really nice also, though I don't think they allow curves adjustments), just manage your expectations regarding speed in particular.

Edit: I should add, I do think nicer equipment can improve consistency rather than outright speed, and there is a lot of value in that also.

 

[Rusty911]

I think you need to temper expectations about going faster with any piece of sim equipment. It's best to buy them just with the idea of increasing your enjoyment and immersion rather than an expectation of gaining speed, because 99.9% of the time it is a technique issue rather than equipment. A load cell brake is probably the exception to this, but the CSL Elite LC is already a very decent load cell brake.

Now, some equipment perhaps allows you to adjust it to technique that might be shaky, like with the curves adjustments, and there is nothing wrong with that and it's certainly possible you'll gain some speed in that case. Just know that if you ever get into real world track days/racing you aren't going to be tweaking brake output curves to match your particular style beyond maybe trying different pad compounds

None of that is to dissuade you, the Sprints are a beautiful bit of equipment and everyone would love them I think (those new Meca Cup pedals look really nice also, though I don't think they allow curves adjustments), just manage your expectations regarding speed in particular.

Edit: I should add, I do think nicer equipment can improve consistency rather than outright speed, and there is a lot of value in that also.

I agree with you. An upgrade from CSL Elite LC to HE Sprint will probably result more in an increase in fun/immersion/feel than in better laptimes.

 

[CC]

I think you need to temper expectations about going faster with any piece of sim equipment. It's best to buy them just with the idea of increasing your enjoyment and immersion rather than an expectation of gaining speed, because 99.9% of the time it is a technique issue rather than equipment. A load cell brake is probably the exception to this, but the CSL Elite LC is already a very decent load cell brake.

Now, some equipment perhaps allows you to adjust it to technique that might be shaky, like with the curves adjustments, and there is nothing wrong with that and it's certainly possible you'll gain some speed in that case. Just know that if you ever get into real world track days/racing you aren't going to be tweaking brake output curves to match your particular style beyond maybe trying different pad compounds

None of that is to dissuade you, the Sprints are a beautiful bit of equipment and everyone would love them I think (those new Meca Cup pedals look really nice also, though I don't think they allow curves adjustments), just manage your expectations regarding speed in particular.

Edit: I should add, I do think nicer equipment can improve consistency rather than outright speed, and there is a lot of value in that also.

Yeah don’t expect to be going faster I think the sheer realism is the main thing just feel so good if your happy driving your bound to go faster even if it’s phycological

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Moved from V3 to HE Pro.
Much better build and more consistent input esp. for brakes (V3 always had that sticky feeling even after foam lubrication), not to mention almost infinite adjustment options to suit your driving style.
V3 felt like a cheap toy in comparison.

 

[jamescarruthers]

Moved from V3 to HE Pro.
Much better build and more consistent input esp. for brakes (V3 always had that sticky feeling even after foam lubrication), not to mention almost infinite adjustment options to suit your driving style.
V3 felt like a cheap toy in comparison.

did you have the comp brake kit? That seems to be the biggest difference