Fanatec ClubSport Wheel & Pedal V2 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Let me kick this thread of by saying just a small thank you to everyone and I hope you will enjoy the read.

Cheers,
Christiaan "LogiForce" van Beilen
Community Test Manager GTplanet.net

LogiForce his ClubSport Wheel review​

I will update this post over the weekend with the review text and forum friendly pictures. However due to time constraints and me not wanting to let you wait longer. Here is the small sized PDF document, with as an appology a video I did about my brake damper mod.

LogiForce's review PDF (size: 6.3 MB):
Mirror 1: http://katsuraonline.com/logiforce/ClubSport Wheel Review.pdf
Mirror 2: http://www.2shared.com/document/oyLJ-1zF/ClubSport_Wheel_Review.html

edit:
July 2 2012 @ 0:50: Fixed incorrect measurements of the base unit
June 29 2012 @ 15:56: Fixed 2 typos on pages 29 and 39

Extra video:
I modded the brake damper a bit. In this video I will tell and show you why I did it. Please note the comment section.

I really use that progressive spring all the time. What it does is that the progressive part puts a heavier feel on the brake when you intially push it. Which is a must as the oil in the damper does not instantly compress. This way you get a nice steady increase in resistance, and really nice it a nice stiff brake with fluid dampening.



Comment:
What I wanted to say at the end. "So yeah, the original is 20mm and the new ones 25mm, but the quality and stiffness will definitely make a difference"

Original: 83mm long, 20mm in diameter
New normal: 100mm long, 25mm in diameter
New progressive: 100mm long, 25mm in diameter, 6 windings for the progressive part of the spring.

Mayaman his ClubSport Wheel review​

My quick review. Video to follow in the next couple of days with gameplay and other fun stuffs.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1NbLog3WxYLWmZsaEI3eU9WVGs

Enjoy

edit:FYI, all my pics are 16 megapixel. for some reason Google Docs compreses them to look like pics from the Civil War of 1865.

Edit: Gameplay Video added...



Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions. *


Here is the build thread in case you want to see pics and build details of the rig. *tons of pics.


https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=6108188#post6108188

Mikemav his ClubSport Wheel review​

Great review Logi! Here is my initial video review and accompanying post text from ISR forums, FYI:
Here is my initial video review of the wheel, featuring pCARS gameplay. Will be adding videos (and probably a write-up too) later with more details on other games and features, as well as the ClubSport pedals V2. As you can see I did not have the v2 pedals hooked up yet in this video; was using the CSP v1's (which I've used continually for about 2 years or whenever they first came out.)



Also note (per an email from Fanatec to the testers this week), improvements have been made after the beta hardware we have to the production line for incorporation into the final product.

List of improvements made in the manufacturing process that will be a part of the final production wheels:

Depth of holes on the base-side of the quick-release has been reduced. This eliminates any play on the quick-release mechanism because metal balls now have less play.

Dimensions of the base-side part of the quick-release have been slightly reduced to make the rims slide on and off more easily.

Layout of the PCBA inside the BMW M3 GT2 rim has been changed so that paddle shifter does not hit one of the elements if moved closer to the rim.

A shorter cable is now being used to connect quick release pins to the main PCBA inside the CSW base. This solves the issue where the same cable would rub against the main PCBA and produce unwanted noises.

A fixture has been added in production to eliminate any BMW badge alignment issues on the BMW M3 GT2 rim.

Springs and switches inside paddle shifter mechanisms have been changed for higher reliability.

Metal screw inserts are now used for shifter paddle attachment - increased reliability.

Grease is now used for lubrication of paddle shifter mechanisms instead of oil. This prevents potential problems with squeaking.

Belt drive is now better aligned and with optimized inner friction of the drive system.

Sequence of LED shift lights on the BMW M3 GT2 rim has been changed to: YYY-RRR-BBB

Brightness of LED shift lights has been increased on both rims.

Type of Loctite on several screws has changed for easier disassembly.

Position sensor mount has been changed for better stability.

Due to problems with leaking in shipment, different bottles are now used for CSP V2 damper oil.

TBHausen his ClubSport Wheel review​

mclaren777 his ClubSport Wheel review​

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

Paskowitz his ClubSport Wheel review​

My review is up. I will post it here once I get the formatting figured out. It is still a bit a WIP but the meat of the review is done.

Almost 8,000 words!

Top stuff 👍

thank you for taking the time to do this PDF downloaded and I'll read it thoroughly this afternoon whilst at work. Screw you work!

OMG you DO sound like Kimi Raikonen

Great work Christiaan 👍 I will be reading it later as i'm too busy at work now.

Really nice work Chris!👍 And it's not short..

Read it.

Very good Christian!

Thank you Christian . Nice review

Nice Honest review , Thanks for sharing .

thanks

Thank you LogiForce, nice review!

Nice Review, great effort. Thanks...
- AAAHHHH!!! MMYY GLOVE!!!!
- DAMN YOU!!!! FOCUS!!!!

Nice review!

Great job Christiaan! And you do sound like Kimi lol

Great job, you have gone above and beyond to get this thorough a review out.

Particularly appreciate when you say that you noticed this effect in such-and-such game... really helps put your thoughts into context.

Thanks!

Thank you for all the great comments, everyone. I really use that progressive spring all the time. What it does is that the progressive part puts a heavier feel on the brake when you intially push it. Which is a must as the oil in the damper does not instantly compress. This way you get a nice steady increase in resistance, and really nice it a nice stiff brake with fluid dampening.

Fantastic review, thank you very much. One very minor niggle: would be great if you had higher quality versions of the many pictures (great effort with those as well) uploaded somewhere.

Aiobhill

Fantastic review, thank you very much. One very minor niggle: would be great if you had higher quality versions of the many pictures (great effort with those as well) uploaded somewhere.

Click to expand...

Will do over the course of the weekend. I still want to transfer the contents of the review to forum format, so that search engines will pick it up easily. That means I will still have to upload images anyways.

One but though, I will be gone tomorrow for the entire day. Dutch GP of the MotoGP. So I do not know how far I will get with all of it over the weekend.

Thanks for your review Logi. Seems that you put a lot of time and enthusiasm into it.

Here are my very few remarks:

1) Try to compare apples with apples ("this is the best wheel (Base + GT-Rim + CSP V2) below 1000 euros and would pick it over a T500 RS for sure").

950€ versus 400€ is a lot. It is more than double the price. You can get decent rig or other equipment for the difference. So everything else, than that the Clubsport Line is better, would have been a disgrace for Fanatec.

2) Regarding the Logitech wheel: Did you compare with G25 or G27 (from the pictures I guess it was a G25)? You have always spoken about G25/G27 but IMHO in regard of gear noise, that is not fair. G27 is noticeable quieter than G25.

Awesome review ,

Fanatec take my money...

Very complete and well written, with plenaty of pictures. Thanks a lot!

Mahnegold

Thanks for your review Logi. Seems that you put a lot of time and enthusiasm into it.

Here are my very few remarks:

1) Try to compare apples with apples ("this is the best wheel (Base + GT-Rim + CSP V2) below 1000 euros and would pick it over a T500 RS for sure").

950€ versus 400€ is a lot. It is more than double the price. You can get decent rig or other equipment for the difference. So everything else, than that the Clubsport Line is better, would have been a disgrace for Fanatec.

2) Regarding the Logitech wheel: Did you compare with G25 or G27 (from the pictures I guess it was a G25)? You have always spoken about G25/G27 but IMHO in regard of gear noise, that is not fair. G27 is noticeable quieter than G25.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean with Apples and Apples. I just do not have experience with the other apples. So I can only comment on my experience, which are the G25 and T500. So yeah... kinda hard to do. I am sure there are some people with a Frex or ECCI that can make that comparison for you.
Also do not forget you do not have to buy the CSPv2 but CSR Elite instead, saves 100 bucks.

Yeah, I do own the G25 but I do know the G27 as well. The CSW is well below both their sound levels. And even well below the T500. The fan noise is the same as with the CSR Elite.
And tob be honest, comparing gear driven wheels to belt driven ones is not fair at all anyways. However, I simply did not want to just focus on the T500 since that is the only belt driven wheel I ever tried before the CSW.

Nice read, you sure put some effort in for a thorough review and pleasurable read. Testing is the easy part, putting it into clear text is another... I think you succeeded!

After the weekend, enjoy Assen first!, can you perhaps explain more how the ABS / lockup feedback in the pedals performs in GT5, and if there's both feedback from the base unit or also separate (shaking?) from the rim itself?

Sorry if I ask something that should be obvious from reading your report or the CSR-E reviews, then I must have overlooked or misinterpreted.

WhiteAnimal166

Nice read, you sure put some effort in for a thorough review and pleasurable read. Testing is the easy part, putting it into clear text is another... I think you succeeded!

After the weekend, enjoy Assen first!, can you perhaps explain more how the ABS / lockup feedback in the pedals performs in GT5, and if there's both feedback from the base unit or also separate (shaking?) from the rim itself?

Sorry if I ask something that should be obvious from reading your report or the CSR-E reviews, then I must have overlooked or misinterpreted.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind words. I did not explain the ABS vibration. This works exactly like previous Fanatec wheels. When switched off you have steering wheel vibration that responds to the throttle pedal position. Other then that if you set it the ABS to 010-100 procent the ABS motor (present only on the ClubSport Pedals V1 and V2) will start to vibrate.
The percentage is equal to the amount input send to the game. So in GT5 if you see the brake bar on screen half way and you set the ABS to 075 then the pedal will not vibrate. Not untill you give so much brake pressure that it is three quarters of the way on the bar.

That said the ABS feature in GT5 is basically just a manual setting to help you aid in lockup prevention, even when using ABS. Which can improve your performance.

There is one exception though. If switched to OFF and PD will officially support the Fanatec wheel via the Fanatec SDK then the ABS motor kan be initiate by telemetry of the game. However the implementation of the features of the SDK is up to each game developer. Unfortunately GT5 has no official Fanatec support as of yet.

Games that do work on PC with yet early implementations of the SDK are: pCARS (native), LFS (plug-in), iRacing (plug-in)

Thanks for the explanation Christiaan, but to verify if I understand you correctly (and I think I do ):

the ABS setting on the pedals makes the brake pedal vibrate when I pass that specific treshold I've set, regardless whether the wheels are locking up in-game or not.

For the vibration to reflect the actual lockup state in the game, the developers would have to implement that like you describe by making it respond to the telemetry of the game.

LogiForce

....

The percentage is equal to the amount input send to the game. So in GT5 if you see the brake bar on screen half way and you set the ABS to 075 then the pedal will not vibrate. Not untill you give so much brake pressure that it is three quarters of the way on the bar.

That said the ABS feature in GT5 is basically just a manual setting to help you aid in lockup prevention, even when using ABS. Which can improve your performance.

There is one exception though. If switched to OFF and PD will officially support the Fanatec wheel via the Fanatec SDK then the ABS motor kan be initiate by telemetry of the game. However the implementation of the features of the SDK is up to each game developer. Unfortunately GT5 has no official Fanatec support as of yet.

....

Click to expand...

I do hope PD implement full support for CSW as they've done with G25/G27 (despite not being an official GT wheel). Even sweeter- even though the BMW GT rim does pretty much everything- is a PD approved/designed SE wheel.

Good review, Logi- enough to make me want to buy the wheel.

WhiteAnimal166

Thanks for the explanation Christiaan, but to verify if I understand you correctly (and I think I do ):

the ABS setting on the pedals makes the brake pedal vibrate when I pass that specific treshold I've set, regardless whether the wheels are locking up in-game or not.

For the vibration to reflect the actual lockup state in the game, the developers would have to implement that like you describe by making it respond to the telemetry of the game.

Click to expand...

This is completely correct.

Great job, Christian. I appreciate the serious effort you put into this review. It was very informative.

i am wondering if all thoses features from cps V2 are working on PS3?
such as brake pedals vibration?

ultimate

i am wondering if all thoses features from cps V2 are working on PS3?
such as brake pedals vibration?

Click to expand...

Read my response to white animal.

LogiForce

Read my response to white animal.

Click to expand...

thank you, i didnt notice someone else posted same question
by the way, i already asked for that, does CPS V2 be removable out of base?

ultimate

thank you, i didnt notice someone else posted same question
by the way, i already asked for that, does CPS V2 be removable out of base?

Click to expand...

The overall construction is the same as with the CSP v1. So it is not removable like with the CSR or CSR Elite pedals. Hence I spoke also of an evolution and not a revolution.
I hope that answers the question.