Upgrading to Fanatec Clubsport v2.5...?

[R Soul]

Hi.

I've been thinking of an upgrade for a while, from a G27 to something else. My plans for a DD wheel are revealing many practical issues (extremely limited space even for something compact as I'd also like to use the PC for other things), and the then there's the price.

I've recently thought of getting a Clubsport v2.5.
Wheel: ClubSport Steering Wheel R330 (I like my wheels round, and this has paddle shifters)
+ also the button sticker/cap set, which may be unnecessary
+ Table clamp. It may be that my desk isn't strong enough with the new wheel, but I can cross that bridge when I come to it - either reinforce or replace the desk, for example.

For older cars I don't think I have the skill to handle a proper gear lever and use heel and toe, but my G27 does have a shifter and 3 pedals. The shifter also has a nice array of buttons which I'd like to keep, and I've seen that Leo Bodnar sells an adapter so the shifter can be connected directly to the PC.

My G27 pedals have the True Brake mod. I also swapped the other springs so the throttle is a little stiffer than before. I also have the Leo Bondar direct adapter to give the pedals more resolution (and no need for connection to the wheel).

My thinking is I may as well stick with my current pedals for now. Any opinions on that?

I'm also considering getting a butt kicker as I saw a youtube video (not sponsored or a freebie) giving it a very positive review, and suggesting it could make up for the small forces we'd only otherwise get with DD wheels.

 

[67JTM]

I went the exact same Route as you- In my case the G27 developed problems and the calibration wouldn't work anymore.
Depending on what Sims you use, you might not even need an Adapter. You can just keep the G27 connected to your USB port, and the shifter to the Wheelbase. If you just pull out the Power cord of the G27, It won't calibrate itself anymore and the wheel itself becomes non-functional. The Shifter (And in my case, the Pedals,too) just work fine as before.
The Clubsport wheel then goes just into another USB port. Your sim needs to support multiple Controllers- that way you can assign all the Buttons.

Concerning the wheel base itself: It will be a really big upgrade from a G27, and the CSW 2.5 is maybe as close to a Direct Drive as you can get. It can be much stronger than you would ever need- everything maxed out, you are far beyond anything that has Power steering and the smoothness feels really great.

I am happy with Logitech Pedals/Shifter and Fanatec wheelbase - the Clubsport feels quite solid and the upgrade of the Pedals can wait- for now

 

[Des Pearce]

The wheel will give you more immersion but better pedals will improve your lap times more.

For the cost of the fanatec base and wheel you can get a new Simagic which comes with a good round wheel and button setup. DD motors seem to be inherently more reliable due to not having to boost the strength as belt and gear drive do to make a low powered motor feel stronger. It's also more compact, I don't own one but have tried it for a couple of hours and thought it wasn't far behind the Accuforce I had until recently. The Fanatec is good but the Simagic is quite a lot better for similar money.

 

[R Soul]

Depending on what Sims you use, you might not even need an Adapter. You can just keep the G27 connected to your USB port, and the shifter to the Wheelbase. If you just pull out the Power cord of the G27, It won't calibrate itself anymore and the wheel itself becomes non-functional. The Shifter (And in my case, the Pedals,too) just work fine as before.

Thanks for the tip but I'd prefer not to have the old wheel hanging around. It might be possible to dismantle it, e.g. remove the wheel, and case, perhaps unplug and remove some internal components and put what's left into a small unit, but a dedicated adapter sounds like it would be the neatest solution. And I know virtually nothing about electronics so I'd prefer to use a known solution.

For the cost of the fanatec base and wheel you can get a new Simagic which comes with a good round wheel and button setup.

Well that gives me something to think about, but it comes with the same issue as other DD wheels - definitely having to create a solid rig for it (vs 'maybe' for the Clubsport). I also can't help wondering how a DD wheel can be so competitively priced when the things like the Fanatec Podium and Simucube Sport/Pro are more expensive. The latter two are in competition so you'd think that would keep their costs down as much as possible.

 

[Des Pearce]

The Simagic uses a hybrid stepper motor rather than full servo motor and is less powerful than other DD bases. It may not be the last word in fidelity or strength but if it's within 20% of the Accuforce I owned then it'll be a significant step up from the Clubsport.

Simucube are relatively small compared to Fanatec so probably suffer from lack of quantity to get the price down and why would Fanatec go way below other DDs in price if they don't have too.