2nd Fanatec GT3RS V2 died due to GT5

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waxweazle

waxweazle

21
Germany
Wiesbaden
Hi folks,

I am really upset because just at the moment I want to gold Suzuka as single race in the FGT Championship (during the championship it rains cats and dogs ;) and my gap to the second place was big enough to quit) my Fanatec GT3RS V2 broke through a technical failure. This is already the second GT3RS wheel which got broken while I am playing GT5.

But first things first. My first GT3RS wheel I received end of October and I played Codemasters F1 2010 at the PC and some GT5P about two weeks. However, the problems began short after this period. At the PC the wheel wasn’t detected as USB device anymore and also the PS3 doesn’t recognize it.
So I contacted the Fanatec Support (luckily I am German, so the distance for the shipping is not too far) and described my problems. They exchange the wheel without difficulty but it still took about 2 weeks :(.

Well, the second wheel I received perseveres still 20th of December. I had a lot of fun in GT5 until the wheel doesn’t calibrating after I switched the power on. The first doubts about the quality of this high price segment wheel came up. So I called Fanatec Support the second time within 3 months to complain about this situation. The friendly support employee tried to calm me down and said that this is unusual. They exchange the second wheel and I received the third one.

Shortly after playing some minutes with the third wheel, I recognized that it is quite warm but still no fan noises. So I checked the firmware and put the fan to permanent operation. After that adjustment the wheel works fine so far.

To make a long story short, after about 35 laps (I spinned out at lap 17 at the first try and restart the race) the wheel feels very flabby, no force feedback and it was really hot despite the fact the fan was on. So I decided to cool the wheel down and restart it after 20 minutes, but wtf?! It jerks for some seconds and squeaks loud. It seems that the belts slide over the steering axis without grip.

Finally, the outward appearance with the Alcantara leather is without doubt one of the best in the market, but I have the feeling that the electrical components inside the wheel haven’t the same quality. The Clubsport Pedals are the absolutely best what you can get. But because this is defect #3 I’ll try to get my money back.

Anyone else has these troubles with this Fanatec wheel?

Unfortunately, nothing good was heard about the quality and the durability of the Logitech G27 too. The TM T500 RS is too expensive for a toy. Any suggestions for a new wheel at all?

An angry Wax.

P.s. sorry for gramma or spelling mistakes...
 
You say that you've heard nothing good about the G27?

It's durable, I can tell you that much.
 
G27's a nice wheel man, I really like it alot.

As for durability, I've owned 4 Logitech wheels now, and they've always lasted until I decided to upgrade, never had a failure. In fact, my Gran Turismo 3 GT Force wheel still works like new, and it's about 10 years old!
 
I find when i go to message boards like this that just about all wheels or whatever people are talking about seem to be crap, lol.
 
Gunstar
G27's a nice wheel man, I really like it alot.
Click to expand...
+1

I have the G27 and I'm pleased with it. You can also upgrade the G27 to an even better wheel/pedals with these upgrades:




I have just ordered the APelectrix.
 
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I don't want to offend anyone who own a G27, I could only tell you that I'd red many comparison test in the specialised press and in different forums. The experience reports from the users described a lot of broken driving toothed wheels.

That is why I have decided to take the Fanatec wheel, because of the belt drive.

But as always there are people who do not have any problems over years and some who complain about 3 broken wheels in 4 months as I :grumpy:.
 
waxweazle
Unfortunately, nothing good was heard about the quality and the durability of the Logitech G27 too.
Click to expand...
After using my G25 for nearly 4 years (never had any problem with it, i sold it to a friend and it still works perfectly), i felt the need to change and it took me a lot of time to decide between the GT3 RS and the G27. Even though the Fanatec is more precise and smooth, after hours of reading forums and reviews i bought the G27 just because i knew it would certainly last a lot longer.

Quote from SimHQ :
Logistics, Reliability and Supportability

This is a very subjective category. I can only rely on the first-hand experiences of the staff, rather than anecdotal input from third parties. SimHQ applauds Fanatec’s scheme of offering components a-la-carte, allowing consumers to mix and match their purchase to suit their needs. But experiences in purchasing the PWTS were overshadowed by shipping delays and silence from product support, who failed to acknowledge any of my e-mails. Likewise, SimHQ staff racer "Chipwich" ordered an earlier model Fanatec 911 PC wheel, which broke down after a few months of use. Chip’s repeated emails to Fanatec product support when unanswered, leaving him with a big, useless paperweight. Joe Keefe also had product quality, reliability and support problems with his GT3RS wheel. Although Magnum’s shipping experience with the PWTS was smooth and effortless, he soon suffered calibration issues with the 7GS shifter. Overall, SimHQ’s experience with Fanatec Product Support could best be characterized as "discouraging". Although my PWTS/CSP combo is working well four months on, it would seem that Fanatec's reliability and product support leaves a bit to be desired.

In contrast, Logitech has a proven record of durability and reliability for the SimHQ staff. My first Logitech product was a MOMO Racing FFB wheel, which was purchased in 2002 and still works reliably to this day as my backup wheel. Likewise, my three-year-old G25 is still going strong, and after months of abuse with Richard Burns Rally / RSRBR 2009, SimHQ’s review copy of the Logitech G27 works like-new. The only issues I've had with the Logitech line have been software-related, and every time Logitech Product Support was contacted, the response was quick, accurate and helpful.

If product reliability and supportability are high on your list of desired features, Logitech controllers are your best bet.
Click to expand...
 
The quote from the SimHQ Forum surprised me a bit because in german sim racing forums the susceptibility between both product lines was balanced in terms of durability.

But well, it seams that they made the same experiences like me.

I did not have any problems with the Fanatec support responses, but the reason could be that I called the support shortly after sending them the complete filled support request email.

But maybe I'll give the G27 a try to get personal experiences.
 
I bought my Logitech DFP 2-3 years ago for 48€... Still works like on day 1...

I also ordered the GT3 CS... I don´t want to judge something that I did not used so far... But the waiting is still annoying...
 
I'd tried to explain that in my initial post:

The second GT3 RS wheel I used only with GT5 and after 1,5 months the wheel simply does not calibrating itself anymore, without notice. I guess either something mechanical broke inside or an electronical component died.

The third wheel I also used only with GT5 and after 1 hour of driving the Formula GT around Suzuka the wheel was really hot despite the fact the fan was on. So I decided to cool the wheel down and restart it after 20 minutes, but it jerks for some seconds and squeaks loud during the calibration process. It seems that the belts slide over the steering axis without grip.

I guess the major problems are the Force Feedback engines, they get freaking hot after some time. The tiny cheap fan could not cool the engines enough, so the wheel seams to overheat... but thats only an assumption.
 
GT5 did not break your wheel. A game cannot break a peripheral. A game cannot break a PS3.

If my oven breaks when I have a steak pie in it, did that pie break my oven?
 
I have never heard any durability issues of Logitech wheels, sure there is failures but for the huge amount sold they hold up much better than I have read of other wheels on the market.

Personally I used a Logitech DFP since GT4P (2004ish?) until december 2007 with many many thousands of virtual miles on it and it is still like new (except the DFP pedal issue caused me to clean them a couple times). Since December 2007 I have been using the Logitech G25 (also many thousands of virtual miles) and it has never given me any issues at all.

It's fine if you don't want a G25/G27 for reasons but durability shouldn't be one of them, especially against most other wheels on the market.
 
daan
GT5 did not break your wheel. A game cannot break a peripheral. A game cannot break a PS3.

If my oven breaks when I have a steak pie in it, did that pie break my oven?
Click to expand...

Depends if you remove the horns or not! :)

In relation to gaming, software cannot (generally) damage hardware...
 
I just received my GT3 RS V2 yesterday and so far it has only calibrated once... i start the PS3, plug the USB cable in and set the wheel into PS3 mode but no calibration, it only did it at the very first time , thats it.

As far is Logitech goes, i had my G25 for nearly 3 years and its still working flawlessly!

Chris
 
Software can in fact "break" hardware. If the software during normal operaiton causes the hardware to operate at the edge of its operating envelope and the hardware was never really intended to stressed at those levels (Fanatec wheels over heating, Fanatec in thei rown operating manual recommending to NOT operate FFB for more than 1 hour) can and does result in hardware failure induced by software.

The bottomline appears to be poor airflow design and poor cooling being inherent to the Fanatec design.

We have been doing a numebr of head to head GT5 races now - T500 on the one PS3 and GT2 on the other.

After 45 minutes to an hour of intense driving the FFB on the Gt2 is very obviously weaker than when the entire system is cooler.

I wish this wasnt so but it appears to be the case - GT5 can kill the GT2 ;) :lol:
 
Christhedude
I just received my GT3 RS V2 yesterday and so far it has only calibrated once... i start the PS3, plug the USB cable in and set the wheel into PS3 mode but no calibration, it only did it at the very first time , thats it.

As far is Logitech goes, i had my G25 for nearly 3 years and its still working flawlessly!

Chris
Click to expand...
The wheel should only calibrate after you power it up. If you're already at the point of putting it in PS3 mode, it should have already calibrated.
 
daan
GT5 did not break your wheel. A game cannot break a peripheral. A game cannot break a PS3.
Click to expand...

Well, I would contradicting at this point. If you play with a wheel you definitely feel a huge different between driving "normal" cars and open wheeler in GT5, regarding force feedback. In my opinion PD made something wrong here. I MUST reduce the FF at my Fanatec wheel if I want to drive the X2010, otherwise I could not hold the wheel with both hands, especially because the FF occurs really roughly.

In this case I could drive the 4h Nürburgring endurance race without any problems, but after 50min Formula GT at Suzuka the wheel overheated?

I would say this is definitely a problem with the game...
 
The game is not asking the wheel to do anything it cannot do, therefore it did not break the wheel.

If this was PDs fault, then surely every wheel would have the same issues and we'd be seeing reports all over the place of DFP/DFGT/G25/G27/Fanatec/Thrustmaster wheels breaking due to GT5. We're not. So we can assume that GT5 is fine and that the issue is with your particular wheel, or the way Fanatec have interpreted the FF signals that it is getting from GT5.

EDIT:
RC45
(Fanatec wheels over heating, Fanatec in thei rown operating manual recommending to NOT operate FFB for more than 1 hour)
Click to expand...
Seriously? My G25 did the whole of the Grand Valley 300 the other night. Over 2 hours of racing in one sitting with no issues.
 
I am serioulsy considering re-buying a g27 with the clubsport pedals. I sold my old one, for $40 more than I paid for it by the way, to get the Fanatec gt2.

Loved the g27 w/nixim mod, worked awesome. I was swayed by the multi-console use of the gt2. Now I will have to wait for at least 3 more weeks because of the less than stellar reliability of Fanatec delivery process.
 
"The TM T500 RS is too expensive for a toy"

This kind of remark amuses me. People will spend $1000+ at the drop of a hat for an entertainment device like a big screen TV, but $600 for another type of entertainment device is out of the question. :)
 

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