Is the Clubsport Wheel Base & BMW rim worth €700?

While that may sound like a small benefit, I am really tired of un-bolting my GT3RS from my cockpit every time I want to watch a movie on my computer. I didn't even think about that aspect, but it has instantly become one of the deciding factors. Thanks.

Another question, with the Formula rim, I saw somewhere that the shifter paddles are so close to the wheel that the finger they are under never touches the wheel. Is that noticeable, and does it have a negative impact on being able to get a solid grip on the wheel, specifically when trying to perform fast maneuvers, like catching or preventing a slide?

 

I have not had any problems shifting or having a solid grip on the F1 wheel. The wheel rests in your palms while your fingers and thumbs access the controls and paddle shifters. I'll confess that I like to wear driving gloves with the F1 rim because I tend to grip too tight when I'm racing seriously. They allow me to loosen my grip and keep tight control of the wheel, but they can also make some of the controls a little harder to operate. I think its psychological more than anything although I may cut the finger tips off the gloves.

 

I've sat in a Formula Ford, and the CSW F1 wheel was larger and has many more controls.... I've never used or even seen the T500 F1 wheel in person. I did sit across from the Ferrari pits and a few meters away from a Ferrari 2012 car at the starting grid at the Canadian Grand Prix last year. Felipe Massa is a very small man.... I'm sure the Thrustmaster F1 wheel looks enormous in his hands!

 

You can change that. I run mine as close as I can and have my middle fingers on the paddles all the time. If you want, you can adjust the paddle's position slightly if it bothers you, but I have no issue with it. By default they come in a middle area, but they are repositionable. Even with them as close as they can go, I can fit my finger under there, it's just I prefer to keep my finger on the paddles - you don't have to though.

And you really don't want uber high FFB. I love a heavy steering wheel, something my DFGT couldn't do at all. The CSW, well... much better in that regard.

 

I had this issue as I have large hands. But over time you adjust to it and it is no longer an issue

 

The easiest thing if you have large hands or think the grip is too "claw like" is to mount the shifters inverted.
To me it feels much better in the long run. Getting a less cramp feeling during longer races with lots of shifting especially.

 

I just wanted to post a quick comment about Fanatec's excellent support.

Within 4 days I had two Fanatec components fail on me, the BMW Rim for the Clubsport that totally died and CSR Elite pedals with what I would consider to be an annoying niggly issue (noise on the pedals via PS2 connection). After some back and forth with their support via email, they recommended I upload a video of the problems to their support site. After they reviewed the problem and determined that they were under warranty, they shipped me a NEW rim and NEW pedals and asked me to return the old ones in the new boxes at my convinence.... They will also will reimburse me for the return postage.

This transpired over the weekend and I'll have the new wheel and pedals today!

Excellent customer service!

 

Just curious, why are you plugging them in in such old school ps2 style?

 

PS2 is not just a gaming console! It's an old school pre-USB serial port (some desktop machines still connect to peripherals using it, keyboards and mice). Fanatec connects their pedals to their older wheels using PS2 connections (actually the Clubsport comes with PS2-to-RJ11, and the connections on the CSW base are RJ11).

I guess my point with this post was to highlight the great service I've gotten from Fanatec. I've read some negative experiences with other wheels, and this certainly has been the polar opposite.

 

I'm fairly certain spinelli meant the ps2 serial port and not the sony console. You even dubbed it "old school" as well.

I too was wondering why you are/were using the ps2 connection to join the pedals to the csw instead of simply plugging the csr-elite pedals directly into a usb port? Or are you connecting the pedals to a ps2 port on the pc, if which is the case the question still remains, why?

 

Yep, I get it... The system can add rumble effects to the wheel based on braking (you can actually control at what strength braking the rumble kicks in on the wheels controls....its oddly called "ABS") So when you brake hard, the wheel rumbles. That's the main reason why you would connect the pedals to the wheel (with the ps2 port)....also with the pedals connected to the wheel you are only using a single connection to the PC and not have to have 2 "devices" in rFactor and other titles. Also in the control panel, if you have them connected via USB, they show up as a separate device and you need to move between the wheel and the pedals to test everything.

You can also connect the pedal directly to a PC using a standard printer style USB cable, and that gives the pedals additional "resolution", but I have not felt the difference in any title. This is why I was surprised that Fanatec simply replaced my pedals, because they were working with USB and it was a minor inconvenience. Ultimately, I prefer connecting the pedals to the wheel, even though I generally don't use the ABS function.

 

At this point, no. There just aren't any racing sims on the market right now that make me say "Yeah, it's totally worth me dumping €700 into a computer wheel." Once Assetto Corsa comes out, it may be worth it to dump that kind of money into one then, but only if the sim is as good as they are pushing it to be.

My $250 Logitech G25 from 2008 has been a complete waste of money thus far. I used it briefly with ARCA Sim Racing before it collapsed, then a few months in iRacing until I found out the physics in that sim are just a joke. I tried picking up rFactor, but there never were enough people around to race online. netKarPro was just a complete flop because of the launch issues, so that game might as well not even exist. Then we got iRacing 2.0 which is still a joke where 4 wheel drifting is faster and more a viable driving style than driving the car like it's meant to be driven. Now we have rFactor 2 which is getting there, but still so far away... and then there's Assetto Corsa and pCARS.

If one of the latter two turn out to be good, it may be worth it to check into a CSR wheel. I have actually personally checked into them, and they're German made, which is always a plus to me. I've always been biased toward things that are designed and made by Germans, but there sadly just aren't any racing sims right now that match the quality of a CSR wheel.

 

Blame it on the moonlit sky lolol

(g25 proud user here )

 

I use the PS2 too to connect my CSP pedals to the CSR Elite, to not have an additional USB cable going through the room.

Interesting the pedals have higher res on USB than on PS2, didn't know that.

BTW, maybe try fanaleds. Using fanaleds you can configure that the break pedals rumble when tyres are blocking. Alot more useful than fanatec's ABS.

 

I'm finding EK Software's CSW software to be more configurable and powerful.

 

Exactly lol, thanks for that.

I just misunderstood and thought you meant that you were plugging the pedals in directly to your computer ps2 style. That sucks that you either get the added resolution or the brake rumble, can't have both. Is the brake rumble physics based from the sim? Or is it just "rumble when my pedal gets pressed this far" style??

I once read that usb can add latency/input lag compared to ps2 connection. I never ended up looking into it though. I wonder if anyone here has heard the same.

??? Are you saying that no sim out, EVER, has even been good enough for a G25/G27, let alone a T500RS, CSR Elite/CSW or even higher??

 

The rumble can also be controlled via software if the game supports it (which rFactor does!). By default it is as you describe....based on how far the pedal gets pressed. There is a free utility http://fanaleds.com/ that can allow the rumble to be set programatically based on the physics of the game (even differently for different cars).... or based on high RPM revs and other triggers. It also lets you control the LED display and rev indicators as well. It's awesome what 3rd parties can develop for gear/software with open APIs!

 

Yeah, I use Fanaleds all the time!... but mostly for the LED functions. I really don't like the ABS rumble because even in real race cars in heavy braking, I never feel that sensation.

I read somewhere that the USB connection is 16-bit, whereas the PS2 connection is 12-bit.

 

Awesome! I thought Fanaleds (as the name implies) was only for, literally, LEDs, dashboard stuff, lights, gauges, etc. Thanks!

 

Would like to add for those that where put off the t500 by the fixed paddles that thrustmaster have now a new rim with paddles fixed on the wheel. http://www.virtualr.net/thrustmaster-ferrari-gte-458-challenge-wheel-unveiled