What to buy? Fanatec CSW or T500RS

[Ilias Axarlis]

I'm thinking to buy CSW base with the gt2 rim and the v2 pedals, I'm actualy between this and the T500 RS, but I have found reports for bad reliability on fanatec products but there are all 1 year ago. Is there any new feedback on this? Have they fixed the problems or they are still there?

 

[Boby Kim]

This is one of my objections to buy a fanatec as well.
But the T500rs is so buttugly and looks more like a PS3 controller with a rim

At this moment actually i do not give a *peep* about looks. I get good looks at the hairdresser, my steering wheel must be made out of good solid quality. At that point i take some playstation buttons for granted, if it spares me a lot of stress.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

If it is guaranteed that those high end ECCI and other brand wheels are just as technical reliable as their price is, i do not mind buying them. But that is the problem...nobody can guarantee. But you are right, those posts are absolute unnecessary. It is either buy or dont buy period. And this night i have made up my mind. Im going for Thrustmaster. Why? Cause i can buy the set in a local store. I am not convinced of the Fanataecs building quality because they do not have a shop anywere. It is all very dubious.

One reason for Fanatec not going to retail outlets is to keep the prices of there products down, if they sell via retail stores the store will be compelled to mark the price up to gain a little profit, every one needs to make a living. so their actually saving us money in some respects.

I am in "process" returning a Fanatec product. I have just heard that fanatec are (right now) trying to get through the "process" of almost 400 (!!!!) north american return or repair requests.... After waiting for almost 90 days, mine is almost settled.

Is this a result of the CSS SQ having issues?, I myself have a faulty CSS-SQ, I'm in Australia so I'm hoping it wont take 90 days to resolve my problem. It does explain why it was so long between emails in regards an inquiry I made to Fanatec regards testing CSW FFB motors, which after testing have been found to be problem free.

One of the biggest problems I have with Fanatec is the blatant hype of their products and the fact they can pre-sell them. It amazes me that a company can sell something based on technical hearsay, without really having thoroughly tested the finished product, the CSS-SQ is a good example. We could pre-order it, I did, but it was delayed by the Chinese manufacturer having production line issues, so we all had to wait for our product we had payed for, granted, Fanatec gave us the option for a full refund, which many took up. but for those that stayed true many are now experiencing annoying problems that should of been eradicated before release.

If Fanatec had tested their product properly in the first place, instead of putting the mighty $$$ before consumer satisfaction and product reliability, a lot of sim-racers would be a lot happier with Fanatec right now, and they (Fanatec) would not be neck deep in warranty claims from all points of the globe. Fanatec need to realise they are their own worst enemy at the moment, they claim to make high quality sim-gear and from a personal view point I agree, but that quality is flawed and it's hurting their consumer base and there reputation. Don't get me wrong I love my Fanatec gear, but I despise paying out big bucks for faulty products due to sub-standard or inadequate testing and/or quality control.

There's an old saying my Dad drummed into my head many years ago, it's called "The 5 P's = Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance", "take note Fanatec".

Cheers!

 

[Kevin Watts]

There are no stores I know of in the UK that I can walk into and try a Fanatec wheel or Thrustmaster's top end T500RS. Unfortunately even the big stores who once upon a time carried even more specialist flight sim gear now only cater for budget wheels, joysticks and joypads that they can sell in high volume.

 

[Boby Kim]

Andrew, i do not believe that prices are the reason Fanatec does not sell via retailers. People pay for quality. I believe they do not sell via retailers cause they cannot guarantee their quality. At the very moment the CSW are out of stock for the upcoming two - three weeks..... That is strange isnt it. Do they first have to assemble all repaired parts to 1 location to create a brand new set? It does not feel good at all. 1200 euro's, just spent it at a website for a product never to been seen before, hoping you will have luck with quality. Nope....not for me. When i spend 1200 euro's on X product, i want to see it first, feel it, smell it, taste it. And as soon as im convinced of the quality they can have mu money. Spending 1200 at Fanatec gear feels like sitting in the Bellagio casino shouting: 1200 red!...crossing you fingers,

 

[Kevin Watts]

Fanatec are a small company, they do not have the supply chain that Thrustmaster has. They will have a worldwide network of wholesale distributors where high street stores can readily get their hands on the product once they have struck a deal with a regional sales representative of Thrustmaster who will negotiate wholesale discounts etc. Even with that massive supply infrastructure, Thrustmaster's buying power to be able to drive down cost of manufacture through higher volume order of components and all the marketing they have it is still hard to find a high end product like the T500RS in a regular high street store because premium products with premium price tags take shelf space away from cheaper products that sell in higher volume.

 

[Deleted member 177725]

REDACTED

 

[MarkVenom]

I can understand the hesitant minds regarding Fanatec, but let me describe my impressions:

Bought a GT3RSv2 incl. CSPv1 and was mega happy-what an upgrade that was back then (came from a Logiech MoMO). After two years a tiny cog broke. Contacted Fanatec: Had a replacement in my mail box within 1 week. No further issues since.

Then upgraded to CSW with both rims in December and the wheels and base quality are second to none. Heard horror stories about the motors running hot-all hearsay-the fans blow out cool air after 4 hours of iRacing with decent strength FFB settings. So maybe, just maybe I am just a very lucky person(doubt it-never won anything in a lottery LOL)or it is actually good kit. My opinion: Fanatec Kit is for enthusiasts. It's completely and utterly awesome. I would NEVER ever buy anything else tbh. Thrustmaster is NOT an option at all. It's plastic, mass produced kit. I want something that feels like a real car-I buy Fanatec. Not a single piece of plastic (bar the window on the wheelbase)in the entire CSW base construction. Belts are adjustable as well and the rims are plain strong. I would trust that thing in my car. Enough said.

P.S.: Yes I am a Fanatec fanboy-BECAUSE it's top notch gear!!

P.P.S.: Fanatec does not sell retail due to lower production numbers and due to them wanting to maintain a status of high end-not high sale. I appreciate that.

 

[Tim Meuris]

If you continue like this Mark,
I ll be ordering the complete clubsportline in less than an hour

so you have the CSW for two months now?
or was it december 2012?

 

[Boby Kim]

Yeah, i know exactly what you mean with the plastic look. The Fanatec CSW is a candy crusher for the eye compared to the plastic in a dozen thrustmaster. And thrustmaster has all those fisher price looking play-buttons. Those are for kids, not for sturdy man! But that is the outside. And the inside of Fanatec has also good looks concerning the metal parts. But construction wise it looks fragile. It does not look like a wheel to Drive a rally stint for about 15 minutes al full strength. Im afraid it falls apart after 5 minutes, gears flying around your ears. Or that the belt slips, parts break of. It does not look at ridgid as my current G27, which has zero play in the shaft after years of violent abuse (including my rage attacks during races were my G27 was victim of heavy forces) Actually i would not dare to use the wheel. Just set the base in the living room for eye candy with a little plate in front: "Do not though!"

 

[MarkVenom]

Yeah, i know exactly what you mean with the plastic look. The Fanatec CSW is a candy crusher for the eye compared to the plastic in a dozen thrustmaster. And thrustmaster has all those fisher price looking play-buttons. Those are for kids, not for sturdy man! But that is the outside. And the inside of Fanatec has also good looks concerning the metal parts. But construction wise it looks fragile. It does not look like a wheel to Drive a rally stint for about 15 minutes al full strength. Im afraid it falls apart after 5 minutes, gears flying around your ears. Or that the belt slips, parts break of. It does not look at ridgid as my current G27, which has zero play in the shaft after years of violent abuse (including my rage attacks during races were my G27 was victim of heavy forces) Actually i would not dare to use the wheel. Just set the base in the living room for eye candy with a little plate in front: "Do not though!"

This utter nonsense. No plastic, high end fasteners, belts and engineering. Do you have a unit? Can you justify that statement? If so please elaborate, if not please stop ASSUMING things. The unit is so well built, that it can snap your thumbs off upon 35 degree impact in a Dallara on full strength at a SuperSpeedway. Now stop trolling or substantiate.

P.S. Slipping belts?? What are you talking about there? Nothing slips. The G27 is more rigid? That is the joke of 2014 so far!

 

[MarkVenom]

If you continue like this Mark,
I ll be ordering the complete clubsportline in less than an hour

so you have the CSW for two months now?
or was it december 2012?

Got mine just before December last year, and whilst I cannot give a statement on longevity I am confident the kit will easily outlast anything I owned before. So far I clocked around 150+ hours without the slightest glitch whatsoever.

 

[Boby Kim]

This utter nonsense. No plastic, high end fasteners, belts and engineering. Do you have a unit? Can you justify that statement? If so please elaborate, if not please stop ASSUMING things. The unit is so well built, that it can snap your thumbs off upon 35 degree impact in a Dallara on full strength at a SuperSpeedway. Now stop trolling or substantiate.

P.S. Slipping belts?? What are you talking about there? Nothing slips. The G27 is more rigid? That is the joke of 2014 so far!

Mark, read my words and text. I do not have a unit and all i write about is what i have seen so far. It is my assumption, there are no facts and i never ever wrote about facts. I write about my feelings cause that is how far i can go. But as a hardcore fanatec lover i wont hurt your feelings anymore. Fanatec is THE BEST! Tadaaa...i've said it. Happy now...Mark? Have a nice day

 

[Tim Meuris]

I can understand Boby. There's a lot of stuff to find on the internet about broken and fragile Fanatec wheels. Before spending so much money on the purchase of the CSW(line) I collect info about it. Another problem is that you can't go to a shop to get a hands on with it. No, luckily we have internet and youtubevids but that's about it. We have to do make judgement with info found on there. And there's a lot of different kinda info to find. And based on all these infopieces, Fanatec seems to have a reputation of not being that reliable. Now, I know that everything on the internet has to be taken with a grain/sack of salt so... On the other hand, Mark, I'm happy to read experience of people like you who are just thrilled with their CSW.

 

[Ilias Axarlis]

I think that all this reputation that hurts fanatec is coming out from the way they work. For example u can find thrustmaster products in stores either web or local shops. that means if u have a problem u just put it back on the box and ur problem will be solved easy, atleast u will have some1 to talk to face to face and every1 is happy. this is not the case with fanatec, they dont have the same network of distributors to do the same u have to contact them with emails and the whole process may take longer and thas why u see all this runts. there is also a thread here from some1 who had a problem and he started cursing because fanatec havent replied to him. but if u see the dates in the posts its only 2 days not even full and the outcome was they changed the product and all is ok. but the cursing thread still exists and it hurts. people chill out a bit and dont overreact.

 

[Boby Kim]

Now, I know that everything on the internet has to be taken with a grain/sack of salt so...

There is a lot of bull **** on the internet, i do agree. But with the growing internet shops, there is no other reference than internet. So how to get an objective view about a product? If i have hundered thousand euro's on my bank account, i would have bought the Fanatec already...what? i would have bought 2 sets just in case of a failure. No worries at all. No forum discussion needed. But actually, to be honest...i do not have that amount of money and i can spend it only once. That's why im in a big doubt about Fanatec.

 

[Birddogg66]

While I cannot comment on Thrustmaster products at the moment I am house sitting away from my home and have my backup Fanatec gear with me. Along with my CSP 1's I am using my GT3 RS v2 wheel and being reminded how really good of a wheel it is but also how much better the CSW is. While the GT3 RS feels good has fairly nice FFB effects and strength the CSW has all that and more precise which actually has resulted in faster lap times and better feeling of handling in the cars. It's like spoiling yourself.

The post above from Boby shows worry about product quality with Fanatec? Sure I have had things break but Fanatec has always made it right and is not recurring. I have heard of Thrustmaster T500 owners have multiple breakage issues and Thrustmaster making it right just as well. Logitech probably still holds the durability record but are not as sophisticated as Thrustmaster or Fanatec all things to weigh.

 

[Boby Kim]

there is also a thread here from some1 who had a problem and he started cursing because fanatec havent replied to him. but if u see the dates in the posts its only 2 days not even full and the outcome was they changed the product and all is ok. but the cursing thread still exists and it hurts. people chill out a bit and dont overreact.

If i spent 1200 euro on fanatec gear and it fails i write Fanatec then i do expect them to react within 24 hours...otherwise they do not take their customers very serious don't you think so. I would go bezerk if the gear fails and i would not hear anything for two days. But just a question guys....i think 1200 euro's is a big amount of money. If you all do not think so, than it is clear why there is a miscommunication.

 

[Birddogg66]

See my edit above I know of a person whose T500 has broken 4 times in 8 months.

If I had the money I would get a 2500-3000 dollar Servo Motor Wheel or an ECCI

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Andrew, i do not believe that prices are the reason Fanatec does not sell via retailers. People pay for quality. I believe they do not sell via retailers cause they cannot guarantee their quality. At the very moment the CSW are out of stock for the upcoming two - three weeks..... That is strange isnt it. Do they first have to assemble all repaired parts to 1 location to create a brand new set? It does not feel good at all. 1200 euro's, just spent it at a website for a product never to been seen before, hoping you will have luck with quality. Nope....not for me. When i spend 1200 euro's on X product, i want to see it first, feel it, smell it, taste it. And as soon as im convinced of the quality they can have mu money. Spending 1200 at Fanatec gear feels like sitting in the Bellagio casino shouting: 1200 red!...crossing you fingers,

Well, if you had the chance to go touch a CSW you would most likely buy one if you had your mind set on spending that kind of cash on a wheel, cos there's sure as hell not a problem with the feel of quality in the product, it's about reliability, and there are no testing you can do in a store that will promise you that your product won't break within the first year of use.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

It does not look at ridgid as my current G27

..............