Fanatec Clubsport Wheel Review

Jameswesty said:
Thats what I am saying for the T500 V the CSW or CSR E

Until we have data with the T500 using what I assume is lighter and we know is smaller f1 wheel we cannot know for sure what effects the inertia of the larger wheel is having to the base performance of the t500 FFB device.
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Yup. We need more data.
Jameswesty said:
I see your point about the T500 curvs and those issues and also its apparent the T500 is worse with its default wheel than the CSW with its BMW wheel.
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Kinda goes both ways. The CSW BMW seems like it's better at quick changes of direction, and pretty consistent in how much it moves with a given FFB input. The T500 is quicker from a standstill, and has a higher top speed, but not as twitchy. With only that data, I can't really call one better than the other, just different. I'd need to test both.
Jameswesty said:
Also for driving on the limit in faster cars , its those tiny twitchy movements and how acuret and responsive they are that really matter and it seems the CSW does that very well.
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Yup, and it looks like the CSW is better at those, especially with the F1 wheel. For a drifter that needs the wheel to spin itself quickly over a long distance the T500 might be better though...
Jameswesty said:
Maybe if I write to Fanatic and Thrust master I can blag a pair of wheels to do a full video review and full testing with?

I'm fairly confident the CSW is the better wheel but the question I have is If its that much better when considering its cost.
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If you do, sell me the other one for cheap. =)

From what I can see the best wheel is actually a toss up between the CSR E and the CSW. The CSW is better with the F1 rim, but the CSR E is better if you want a full rim (strictly from an FFB point of view). If they release a lighter full wheel rim for the CSW and do something about the internal friction (or whatever is causing the sluggishness compared to the CSR E... Hey, it could be belt tension or some other wonky setting) it'll trump the CSR E in everything but price and Xbox compatibility. Vice versa if they release an F1 rim for the CSR E it'll most likely beat the CSW in everything but the quick release and button possibilities (since it won't go above the amount of console controls).

Looking at the price difference and seeing how the CSW is slower, way more expensive and has more internal friction than the CSR E I know what I'm aiming for. The promise of additional buttons doesn't mean anything to me (I've used a G25 with just two darn buttons on the wheel for years) and I have no inclination towards constantly changing wheel rims. If some people think those are intriguing benefits then they should get the CSW.
 
jubuttib said:
Looking at the price difference and seeing how the CSW is slower, way more expensive and has more internal friction than the CSR E I know what I'm aiming for. The promise of additional buttons doesn't mean anything to me (I've used a G25 with just two darn buttons on the wheel for years) and I have no inclination towards constantly changing wheel rims. If some people think those are intriguing benefits then they should get the CSW.
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I agree I think button wise its so annoying the g25 doesn't just have a couple more buttons on the wheel I think for a wheel to be fine it needs what 6 buttons , look left , look right , Brake bais up and down , Voice chat button , timer display change button. Anything else I don't need to push in a hurry or mid corner.

When I have the money It will be between the CSW ,CSRE ,T500 Until then I will bumble along with my g25 for £140 you cannot beat it. I have had it for 4 maybe 5 years now and it works as new that's with hundreds of hours of sim racing on it with it living under my desk on the floor with no real looking after or care.

If I got a CSRE or CSW I'd probably have to tuck it in a night , give it baths and read it bed time stories.
 




some more footage also a new one with the 315mm bmw rim
Formula rim is 270mm like the g25 rim

The weight of the BMW Rim Really effects the drivability.
i would say its too heavy and that makes it noticeably slower in FFB response
also the benchmarks confirm this

the formula rim is the way too go. it has better ff response and quicker in changing direction

yes i know the bmw has a bigger diamater and you need to turn it more for the same rotation but i am really talking abot thats its slower it feels more "detatched" From the car
 
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I'm not fully convinced that this BMW wheel that we will one day be able to buy is EXACTLY that same as the one used in the BMW clip.
 
SKeijmel said:
i use gloves so the alcantara doesn't get dirty ;)
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You mention being worried about how the Alcantara will hold up with use. I wouldn't worry if I were you, it's one of the most popular materials for both high performance sports car and racing car steering wheels. =)
 
I saw some photos on gtplanet of some guy who had fungus growing on his alcentera, fkin gross....
 
Jameswesty said:
http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=257052
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IMG_8045.jpg


lovely
 
SKeijmel, you should crank up the ffb level in game or something, it looks soooooo smooth, like as if you have a high end non ffb wheel (like an ecci or something), the wheel never seems to be fighting you, never seems rough, never moves about, it looks like it doesnt have ffb, compare that to in real life where you can tell on so many onboards the wheel has "life".
 
Axeslayer said:
Had that happen on an old wheel that had been in the attic since I got a G25 a few years back .
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Now that you mention, I remember seeing that on my old Momo black after I'd abandoned it for a G25... So it's not only an Alcantara problem.

Though that apparently happened almost overnight. =)

Funny how people using the GT3RS or GT2 haven't reported that, it's the same exact Alcantara... Seems more like a personal hygiene issue.
 
I'm using a black Momo at the moment. It has been my first wheel so I did not spend much on it. Now I want something better but everytime I see a wheel which looks awesome it's so expensive. I hope my black Momo will die soon, so I HAVE to get a new one and be willing to pay more since it's no longer just an upgrade ;)
 
Kalanur said:
I'm using a black Momo at the moment. It has been my first wheel so I did not spend much on it. Now I want something better but everytime I see a wheel which looks awesome it's so expensive. I hope my black Momo will die soon, so I HAVE to get a new one and be willing to pay more since it's no longer just an upgrade ;)
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The good thing about all these new wheels coming out is, lots of pre-loved wheels will go up for sale. Thats a win win for all.
 
Kalanur said:
I'm using a black Momo at the moment. It has been my first wheel so I did not spend much on it. Now I want something better but everytime I see a wheel which looks awesome it's so expensive. I hope my black Momo will die soon, so I HAVE to get a new one and be willing to pay more since it's no longer just an upgrade ;)
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I'll try to make it simple: If you don't want to spend a huge amount of money, the G25/G27 is your best bet. None of the newer wheels (even CSR-E and CSW) have actually managed faster response or anything like that, though they do have more power and a higher top speed. The downsides of the G25/27 is the rattlyness and the noise. If speed isn't crucial to you, the GT3RS, GT2 or CSR from Fanatec offer the smoothest forces available for that price, but they're simply not as quick to respond as the Logis.

If you want to go above that, the T500 RS gives you a great performing wheel with great pedals for less money than the CSR-E by itself. If you want to go even above that the CSR-E beats the T500 RS in just about everything concerning the FFB, but you'll need to get decent pedals separately. The CSW is tougher, it might be better or worse than the CSR-E depending on what you're looking for and if the production versions behave differently from the early test versions.
 
Wow, thanks for the recommendations jubuttib, your help is greatly appreciated. :)
If I would buy one now I would pick the T500 RS (maybe with the F1 addon) which would cost around 400€ at the moment. And after reading your advice, I think it's the best value for money for me.

Edit: The only downside of the T500 RS is the lack of Xbox360 support. It's not very important because I don't play Forza that much but maybe I would do it more often, if I had a wheel for it. I've also got a PS3 but I don't play any racing sims on it, because I don't like GT5 at all.
 
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Is it okay for me to include my review in this thread?

Overall, I thought the Fanatec hardware was fantastic. It added a whole new sense of realism that I haven't experienced with other wheel/pedal setups. It's as much of an improvement over the G27 as the G27 is over the DFGT. The problem is, it's four times the price of the G27, and for that reason alone, I can't recommend this to anybody but the most dedicated sim racers.

Video Review

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