Wheel/Pedals Advice (Fanatec)

Aysedasi

Aysedasi

Moderator
My eldest son, a former Nielsen and Algarve Pro mechanic (now working for a company who will join the WEC in 2025) wants to get into sim racing. He bought himself a gaming pc a while back but is now looking at wheels and pedals. He's already bought LMU but hasn't run it yet. He seems to be set on Fanatec and has asked me about a CSL DD with various pedals and other options. As a user of fairly old (and much cheaper) wheel 'technology', I can't really advise him but I said I'd try and get some views and opinions to give him an idea of what he might go for. So, any advice for me to pass on?
 
Aysedasi said:
Fair enough Lazza. I'm sure he's open to alternatives. Any good suggestions?
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Fanatec is having some very difficult times since some time now. You can find this all over the internet. Sounds like your Son is a great guy. I will be more then happy to provide some suggestion but can you at least provide a budget or how much he wants to spend on his setup? And also if he would like to install/ build a rig and so on.
 
Boosted Media posted today. A good place to start )

Edit: as your son already mentioned the CSL DD I've owned one nearly a year.
CSL DD 8nm/ CSL BMW and McLaren GT3 v2 wheels/ CSL pedals LC
PC only
I'd call that a budget/ entry level dd setup.
Honestly for me, that's more than enough to have a very enjoyable experience.
 
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What you decide is up to you.
I'm not a full sim racer.
I only drive for my private pleasure, but almost every day for a good hour. 95% offline.
I have a Fanatec CSL-DD 8 Nm, with Q2 closure.
Plus the Fanatc V3 pedals.
I am absolutely satisfied with that. There was never a delivery or service problem with Fanatec.
A friend also relies on the same system.
So I can't say anything negative about Fanatec, rather positive!
 
Have to say I moved away from Fanatec they became frustrating over the last few years plus their delivery charges are ridiculously high and I'm in the UK so custom taxes are bloody stupid, I moved over to Moza Which are ok nice build quality they still need to work on their software, and though reports of the QR is spot on its not it slightly to big when on the shaft so its not snug so when you hit curbs with a high effect it causes a rattle effect between the two parts hitting each other, I'll tell you how small the gap is a strip of electrical tape cures it.
If I could choose again I would go with Simucube/Simagic
 
I would recommend if its within the budget:
Base:
Simagic Alpha Mini (10Nm Base but reviews are amazing)
!
And absolute killer wheel for the price
Wheel:
Simagic GT Neo. I would never buy Moza KS and would pickup the GT Neo. I only picked up Moza KS to stay in the same eco system.

Pedals:
Here i would recommend:
Conspit CPP Lite Pedal set. (i will pick them up as well. Hydraulic break. They also do systems for EV Cars but are not well known or very less known in uk or us or eu…Brand from chine but HUGE there, high quality. Moza is also china but we see the quality :)

This is not cheap BUT i dont know if you can get more for the money…

Ps: For the case someone asks why i did not recommended P1000 3 Hydraulic pedal set from Simagic i can tell: Simagic in Switzerland is around 700chf. And if you want rummble motors you pay them 100chf more (swiss franc is lil bit stronger as eur).

Conspit CPP Lite 3 pedal set comes with 3 rumble motors, great pedal set, amazing quality and since February 2024 the rumble motors are not only supported on Conspit Software but can also be configured on Simhub as well…
And in all reviews people say they could almost match or tune break dpi-s to match real car feeling from the car they drive.

Thats more for less.. Basically i dont know if any other vendor can offer more for less money as this 3 pedal set costs in Switzerland 560chf. That why i will upgrade my moza load cell for this :) Even i‘m happy with moza i need to tell. I have replaced my break plate and have ordered some addons from 3D Rap… feels really good but i want to have hydraulic breaks :D
 
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I am sure that Fanatec will be saved from bankruptcy, especially if it ends up in the hands of other owners.
However I would never recommend getting into their system, especially now. I needed technical assistance just over 2 years ago, and after two months of waiting, I still had to make do on my own.
This story has been going on for at least 2 years, so the banks have now taken over the company and ousted the old owner from the role of CEO. Definitely positive, but for the moment you are still buying expensive products without technical support.
 
The biggest issue with Fanatec and rF2/LMU is there can be some loss of feedback(mushy feeling) USUALLY after entering the pits repeatedly.(like working on a setup) Sometimes this happens when changing sessions. It has been known to BOTH S397 and Fanatec and neither has been able to completely eliminate this behavior. I have the last Belt drive Fanatec and really enjoy it, but I'm not a setup guru, I generally spend more time just driving than fiddling with setups. So I have only experienced once or twice. But, if I was going to purchase another wheel, I seriously would look elsewhere. The problem exists apparently for all the Fanatec products, belt drive or Direct Drive. I love the pedals, but high end users often spend way more on other pedals than the entire kit costs for a Fanatec set.
 
i never quoted myself but as long we dont know how much budget we have to work with and since our friends Son was is a mechanic (i have friends mechanics - these guys are strong :D) i would recommend at least 15/16Nm BUT since we are looking for very durable and very affordable gear for the money and its the beginning, i can only repeat:

Wheelbase: Alpha Mini Simagic
Wheel: GT Neo Simagic
Pedals: Conspit CPP Lite

High quality hardware where probably manufactures are not making money (specially with GT Neo not) because they made too good hardware but selling it under the price…
are there less good products which can be great entry level? yes.
are there cheaper? Yes sure.
I‘m a huge car / driving fan AND looking back i started with R5 set in Jan 2024, pedals upgrade to load cell just after 10 days, then lmu came out, base upgrade from R5 to R12, wheel upgrade from es wheel to ks moza wheel, and now looking on cpp lite pedals to get them end of the week. A mechanic, young guy, with Dad who spent more days on LeMans races then many people together in their entire life, he has some expectations and wants to feel the car because he probably had hands-on on many cars out there. Starting too low could lead to kind „yea its fine“ and cost much more at the end.

@Aysedasi Mate dont let us wait this long. Look how motivated we are to help :D
 
davehenrie said:
The biggest issue with Fanatec and rF2/LMU is there can be some loss of feedback(mushy feeling) USUALLY after entering the pits repeatedly.(like working on a setup) Sometimes this happens when changing sessions. It has been known to BOTH S397 and Fanatec and neither has been able to completely eliminate this behavior. I have the last Belt drive Fanatec and really enjoy it, but I'm not a setup guru, I generally spend more time just driving than fiddling with setups. So I have only experienced once or twice. But, if I was going to purchase another wheel, I seriously would look elsewhere. The problem exists apparently for all the Fanatec products, belt drive or Direct Drive. I love the pedals, but high end users often spend way more on other pedals than the entire kit costs for a Fanatec set.
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This is why they should have never killed ISI we needed v3.0.
Like I say you work around ISIMotor since v1.0
Never use ESC ( unless you leaving session ) , requesting pits stopping and press ESC always works better for me.
Like press ESC enough to restart races will screw AI ....it's inbred :p

With v457 driver and CSL DD drove 2 hours rF2 and LMU with FF wound right up, smashed a few times, etc. and no problems.
I think worse issue was the axle jump / runout ( whatever)
I brought cheap knock-off dual clamp for $22AU ( $15US) done up really tight I not seeing issues so far.

www.ebay.com.au

For Fanatec CSL DD Shaft Clamp. GT DD Pro Runout fix. Disconnect Fix Aluminium | eBay

For Fanatec CSL DD Pro Shaft Clamp. GT DD Pro. Runout fix. Aluminium Alloy. Ring clamp which replaces the original D clamp which applies uneven force. 1 Shaft Clamp. We will do my best to solve it.
www.ebay.com.au

It tightened up a hint of flex as well but I still use the screw to tighten wheel, if you too lazy and leave that out you get issue sooner with the standard clamp so I just keep using the screw.
Well I wait till clamp comes loose then swear at them. lol

Honestly I can't complain about Fanatec from Turbo up.
Worst thing was V1 and V2 pedals wearing out LC.
CSW was a odd bird for me

Isn't that a wrought ?
Like you buy McLaren wheel you pay extra for QR1, fair enough.
If you buy a wheel includes QR1 and upgrade to QR2 you pay the full price for the QR2 ?


Yeah, not going to recommend them though.
I would get the Alpha Mini
 
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Aysedasi said:
My eldest son, a former Nielsen and Algarve Pro mechanic (now working for a company who will join the WEC in 2025) wants to get into sim racing. He bought himself a gaming pc a while back but is now looking at wheels and pedals. He's already bought LMU but hasn't run it yet. He seems to be set on Fanatec and has asked me about a CSL DD with various pedals and other options. As a user of fairly old (and much cheaper) wheel 'technology', I can't really advise him but I said I'd try and get some views and opinions to give him an idea of what he might go for. So, any advice for me to pass on?
Click to expand...
First time in sim racing? Do not spend too much. I would start with a good Logitech or Thrustmaster. My TS-XW Sparco edition is good enough and no problems in 3 years.
There is always time to spend thousands of euro ….
 
Personally I agree. He's done very little sim racing so doesn't really know what he wants/needs. He's also very busy (out of the country a lot) so will have limited time available to race.

But I'm grateful for all the advice people. Thanks very much.
 
+1 Instead I would recommend Thrustmaster TS-PC (6Nm), even given the used market a shot! There´s plenty of them now and at very good prices. I can´t even sell mine at half the price with pedals Included!
 
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