Which Fanatec DD are you buying and why?

[White Hawk]

I couldn’t see this type of post anywhere and as I’m undecided on a DD1 or the PS4 version for extra compatibility right now thought I’d put this up, forgive me if it’s already been done.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Andrew, that is the problem with announcing a product and then having delays. The competition sees what they will be competing with and tries to evolve to survive the coming changes.

When looking at a product like the SimCube, their volume and the resources behind it, I'd actually feel a lot safer if they stuck with off the shelf parts.

 

[Mr Latte]

@Andrew_WOT thats all very interesting but....

Lets help you here, If someone wants to support "Fanatec" then they get excited for "their products". If they like the eco-system options or compatibility they have. Then these are all factors to purchase the "Podium Series"

Already we have very good alternative options that are fully reliable and bring excellent performance. You seem to miss continually that people have waited and some will likely wait to after release to make an informed purchase based on how reliable or well this product release goes. Not speculation on the motors, or other presumptions. Not swayed by negativity from people with their own views.

Just simply and purely on the communities general opinions from ownership and how happy or dissatisfied they are.

What Fanatec should be able to bring is a greater developer/wheel support for this product series. More simplified setup and compatibility. I guess this will depend on the efforts of the developers as well. Yet the presumed advantage is you don't have a lot of tweaking to do between titles or configuring the wheel. I think we need to wait to see what all the software offers to fully understand everything about the "Podium" series to then compare it to alternatives.

Pros and cons need to be taken into account but even then some that have waited on these products may decide to go with something else. However, I really think a lot of people "want" this product release to be successful as they want to see "Fanatec" continue.

I hope and wish Fanatec well with this release, it would be sad to see this release be marred by further issues or failings on their part after the delays and high expectations they have generated for this product line.

 

[RobertR1]

If all this competition creates lower price points and make direct drive wheels the norm, then it's great news all around. That means every game will need to be designed with DD wheels in mind and have native support. I hope Simucube and Fanatec fight tooth n nail.

I'm in the Simucube ecosystem as I like having a broader option with peripheral compatibility but I can understand people paying for a closed system such as fanatec.

It's like building your own pc vs buying one pre made. There's an audience for both and keeps the market healthy.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Competition is always a good thing and very importantly it means that there is a market to fight over.

With Fanatec starting to encrypt the communication stream between their wheels and wheel bases, they are effectively drawing a line in the sand to crowd OSW solutions out.

However this could end up as a temporary setback and backfire by creating a new market for companies to create OSW compatible wheels. Until now most people with OSW wheelbases got adapters to run Fanatec wheels. The could inadvertently create a stronger competitor. Time will tell.

I don't see the Fanatec system as being a closed system. What they offer is ease of integration, a single USB port to your computer and out of the box support by most titles, which is what I'm using right now and it is very convenient. However I've got Heusinkveld Sprint pedals, their hand brake and sequential shifter ordered. So I'll be running a Fanatec wheelbase and H pattern shifter, but I'll also have 3 more USB cables run to my computer, and I'll have to go through some extra steps to get these devices to work with the games I use.

My point is that Fanatec's ecosystem will always start with their wheelbase and wheel selection and allows all the peripherals to tie into that central piece. However each piece can also talk directly by USB, so they are also individual devices. This is by definition not a closed system. You can mix an match components to your heart's content.

I wish people could see all of this as being a good thing and not get negative about Fanatec bringing a new product to market.

My system is already feels complex. I have a seat mover and its driving software. Other software drives my amplifier and transducers. I'm about to add 3 new devices that I'll have to configure separately and jump through additional steps when setting up each game. I'm just saying that having a device that is immediately supported and that just works is a very good thing for this market.

 

[RobertR1]

@RCHeliguy

I take disagreement with a few of those points. They deliberately closed off their system so their products could not be used with other systems. Having their wheels working on other products should not and does not take away from them Fanatec having their own ecosystem with the benefits you listed.

It's a deliberate move without question.

Your system complexities are also you own doing for a level of immersion that is satisfactory to you. You're also drawing parallels between wheels, a common and seasoned feature of simracing vs seatmovers/transducers which are a combination of niche and DIY efforts. I fail to see the relation.

The illusion of complexity with an OSW system is either being misinformed or being intentionally obtuse. There is one piece software to do the initial configuration and you never have to touch it again. It doesn't even need to be running in the background. I do believe these systems were more complex when they were DIY projects but have evolved quickly. I expect that to continue based on simucube's development goals.

You're also painting a very rosy picture in which the Fanatec system is assumed to be trouble free from software bugs and hardware defects. History shows us that not to be the case as a whole.

I don't think many people are negative that Fanatec is expanding into the DD market. However, they are bringing forth reasonable scepticism into what's being communicated and the business decision made along the way to get there (encryption being an example). That to me is healthy criticism.

 

[RCHeliguy]

@RobertR1

I specifically stated that Fanatec was trying to crowd out the OSW solution. I did not candy coat that. It is pretty obvious what their intentions are. I also didn't suggest that encrypting their wheels in any way impacted their ecosystem.

I'm also not trying to make the OSW solution sound overly complex, but if you are suggesting that they don't add any additional level of complexity, you are candy coating things. Even using Heusinkveld controls adds additional complexity.

I never tried to paint a rosy picture. In a post of mine a few up, I VERY specifically stated that while this looks good I am in fact going to see how well it does in the wild before I order one. I agree it isn't proven yet, however my Fanatec controls have worked very well for me and I have no reason to think that they won't get any kinks in their new system worked out.

Please don't paint me into the role of fan boy. Satisfied customer yes, but that is very different. If I were a fan boy I would be patiently waiting to see what the rest of their Podium level controls look like rather than ordering Heusinkveld controls. Personally I think pedals are an area where Heusinkveld has superior IP over Fanatec. My Fanatec handbrake feels flimsy to me and it's potentiometer has had issues with my transducers. I'm expecting the loadcell based Heusinkveld to be much more immune. I know Heusinkveld very specifically state that their Sprint pedals are designed to handle transducer vibrations well.

I'm no stranger to learning curves, but everyone has a limit to how much they want to bite off. Speaking of Heusinkveld, their pedals specifically mention have additional EMI shielding because of issues with some DD wheels. I realize that there are properly shielded cables available with OSW solutions now, but it has been an issue and OSW has had plenty of growing pains of its own.

Fanatec's cable free, wireless solution looks interesting and the fact that their DD motor is shielded is a plus. The fact is that they did solve some important issues in making a clean system, and yes appearances matter to some extent. Don't even remotely suggest that a sexy looking solution is somehow bad. If you like a manufacturing floor industrial look, more power to you. Most people are proud of how their rigs look. I don't need bulky military spec connectors on my rig. Sorry, it's a personal preference, but it's not my thing.

It appears that OSW may have cleaner looking solutions in the future and that's great. I think a strong competitive market is ideal and I do hope that OSW continues to evolve. It is better for everyone. Pick what you like based on your personal preferences, or vote with your wallet!

 

[RobertR1]

Aesthetics and an established corporate support network would be the 2 main pro's I'd personally list for the fanatec offering. And no, there's nothing wrong with prioritizing that. Like I said, build your own PC vs buying one.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Andrew, that is the problem with announcing a product and then having delays. The competition sees what they will be competing with and tries to evolve to survive the coming changes.

When looking at a product like the SimCube, their volume and the resources behind it, I'd actually feel a lot safer if they stuck with off the shelf parts.

Competition is always good for us, consumers. Granite Devices, the company behind SimuCube
designs and sells servo controllers and components for industrial applications, if anything they are in a much better position than Fanatec to develop something specific for sim racing, which they proved already with SimuCube.

 

[Mr Latte]

Competition is always good for us, consumers.
Granite Devices the company behind SimuCube
designs and sells seevo controllers for industrial applications, if anything they are in a much better position than Fanatec to develop something specific for sim racing, which they proved already with SimuCube.

Then do a thread on SimuCube so we can talk about Fanatec Podium series in there.

 

[RCHeliguy]

At the end of the day, we are all happy about competition. Let's hope that the Fanatec DD wheelbases are truly great products that cause other companies to up their game and spur continued evolution rather then speculating about issues that may or may not happen.

Attacking and downplaying new features on a new DD product is attacking the evolution of DD wheelbases in general. I thought we all wanted DD products to improve through competition.

People appear to be only giving lip service to liking competition, but in reality are being defensive about a historical purchase.

 

[super_gt]

Then do a thread on SimuCube so we can talk about Fanatec Podium series in there.

You are all welcome here!

 

[RCHeliguy]

Looks great! It also looks like an official announcement is coming on Wednesday! Fantastic!

I look forward to seeing what they've done.

Look a countdown clock!
https://www.simucu.be/?fbclid=IwAR3sWpY4SFmfwCy0Q3rsEFjvLcnAHB4VzasPOlpyluHQnrPiG7_eMHJYclg

Glad I haven't bought anything yet
Do you think it will still be user upgradable like the current solution with off the shelf parts?
Do you think existing systems will have an upgrade path?

 

[Deleted member 197115]

You are all welcome here!

Didn't realize it's near completion. April 3rd announcement.
Torture test
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu8l40RFAZB/

What motor is that?

 

[RCHeliguy]

So given there will be an OSW wireless solution. My next question is whether Fanatec will license the ability to communicate with their rims. I hadn't thought of that angle before. Maybe Fanatec isn't squeezing them out but just wants a licensing fee to connect to their wheels.

OSW may not mind this deal either if it drives sales for their installed base to buy new hardware to handle this communication.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

There are better ways to equip your DD base with the wheel, not necessarily cheaper than going Fanatec route though but better quality.

 

[RobertR1]

There are better ways to equip your DD base with the wheel, not necessarily cheaper than going Fanatec route though but better quality.

It'd be great for those who have a collection of Fanatec wheels or like what they offer. I'm all for more consumer options.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

You are all welcome here!

I think this deserved its own thread. I'll start one.
Thanks for heads up.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

I’ll be honest the videos make me cringe every time I watch them because they are obsessed with putting down other wheels and claiming they are better than everyone else, it’s really annoying and childish actually.

So what if other wheels are using industrial motors designed for industrial usage levels, that’s not a bad thing when it means none of them have broken down, I can’t find a single person online who’s motor has died. They’re going to look really stupid shitting on everyone else if their custom motors on the production untis have any realiability issues.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

I’ll be honest the videos make me cringe every time I watch them because they are obsessed with putting down other wheels and claiming they are better than everyone else, it’s really annoying and childish actually.

So what if other wheels are using industrial motors designed for industrial usage levels, that’s not a bad thing when it means none of them have broken down, I can’t find a single person online who’s motor has died. They’re going to look really stupid shitting on everyone else if their custom motors on the production untis have any realiability issues.

Project Cars of sim hardware.

 

[super_gt]

The Fanatec DD motor cooling is improved.