Another Fanatec wheel arrives!

[versapak]

Regards GT5 and Fanatec Wheels I have some questions.

1. The GT5 "in game menu" settings for FFB values of 1-10.
Are these in any way combined with "wheel menu" FFB settings or does the "wheel menu" FFB settings override the "in game menu" FFB settings? If so what is the recommended optimium bearing in mind the situation mentioned in question 3.

2. Wheel "ABS Vibrate" or "Throttle Vibrate" from the "SHO" feature.
These motors which are seperate from the "Dualshock Rumble" motors and unique to Fanatec wheels. Can a future firmware allow users to select these to be used alongside "Rumble" motors instead of giving "Brake/Throttle" rumble. This would enchance "Kerbs" etc within games greatly in the wheel. If not possible via firmware Id like to see this feature in a future product.

3. Will their be a fix for Fanatec wheels to seperate FFB/Rumble motor strengths?
In GT5 the "in game" value for FFB makes no difference to "Dualshock Rumble" strength from the "kerbs" when using G25 or DF-GT wheels. It can not be altered but on these wheels isnt to me it seems effected from the FFB 1-10 strength settings. It seems only on Fanatec wheels and using the "wheel menu" that these are combined and you cannot reduce FFB strength without also reducing the "Dualshock Rumble" strength. Therefore on a Fanatec wheel in GT5 currently its impossible to retain maximium "Dualshock Rumble" with FFB set below 100 on the "wheel menu".

Appreciate any feedback and answers that clarify these questions.

1. I have my in game settings at 5, and I have my wheel settings at 100.

My understanding is that in game 5 would be your standard force feedback, and then any setting higher or lower would adjust the forces from there.

Thinking of it as audio. The settings in the game are altering the actual force feedback, telling the wheel that instead of whisper it is a shout, while the settings on the wheel are like an amplifier. If the game says whisper the wheel takes that whisper and just turns the volume up on it. It is still a whisper, it is just played louder.


2. I think this might be a limitation of the PS3, in that it doesn't support dual shock style vibration in wheels. I would love to be wrong about that though. The wheel feels a lot better when used with the 360, which does actually support the vibration from game.


3. I'm actually not sure what you mean by this. The only vibration you get when using the wheel with PS3 is accelerator and brake related directly from the pedals, with no game involvement. I have my wheel at 100 all the time though, so I haven't noticed if the shock gets weaker when that is lowered.

 

[Uscbryan]

Hmm I ordered mine a little before Xmas. I got the email stating it was shipped, the next day I got the tracking number and the next day I received the wheel and clubsports. Mine came UPS.

I'll chime in here as I ordered products from Fanatec about the same time as Capt aa1. There were definite problems with Fanatec's US shipper in November and December. If you look back there were a few of us that had many issues. In most instances we were sent an initial email stating products are shipping (with small print stating that they may not actually ship for 1 week, WTF?). Then after anywhere from 5-10 days we received another email with a tracking number with USPS. If you actually did the tracking you would have found that USPS received a shipping notification, but no actual items. After numerous emails some items were eventually shipped. Mine finally shipped about 10 days after I received the tracking number and about 17 days after I placed the order. Some people weren't so lucky.

I have ordered numerous products from many companies and have never had USPS lose or mis track a package. I can understand if one or two people have issues, but for a whole group of people to have problems with tracking is highly unlikely. A much more plausible explanation is that there distributor in the USA screwed up. I suspect they sent shipping information to USPS, but for some reason never actually sent the packages. It's the only thing that makes sense. Maybe they had a new employee? Maybe they were out of stock and didn't realize it. I don't know the reason, but I'm certain that there were many problems that were NOT the fault of USPS.

I am very happy with my Fanatec products. I would recommend them with the caveat that you may have issues with shipping. Many have no issues and get their products quickly. However, there have been numerous intstances of strange occurences and poor communication related to shipping within US and Canada and you may run into those as have I and many others.

 

[Drasek]

Go to somewhere like Ikea, get a cheap table, you can chuck it once you get the stand.

Thats what i did now - got the Ikea Lack table and put some 10cm wooden bars below it on either side to raise it - 5 euros for the table and my girls (1 and 3 years old) will love a new table in their room in one month time. Call it a win-win situation ;-) Just have to tune FF down now till i get the stand, because the table is a bit light.

 

[Sele1981]

Thats what i did now - got the Ikea Lack table and put some 10cm wooden bars below it on either side to raise it - 5 euros for the table and my girls (1 and 3 years old) will love a new table in their room in one month time. Call it a win-win situation ;-) Just have to tune FF down now till i get the stand, because the table is a bit light.

I use the IKEA table since 2-3 years with my DFP and FF on maximum, had never problems with too strong FF?? Supercar Challenge has very strong FF...

 

[Fanatec...]

1. The GT5 "in game menu" settings for FFB values of 1-10.
Are these in any way combined with "wheel menu" FFB settings or does the "wheel menu" FFB settings override the "in game menu" FFB settings? If so what is the recommended optimium bearing in mind the situation mentioned in question 3.

The two settings are independent but do the same. I recommend to adjust the in game setting first and then make changes on the wheel if needed

2. Wheel "ABS Vibrate" or "Throttle Vibrate" from the "SHO" feature.
These motors which are seperate from the "Dualshock Rumble" motors and unique to Fanatec wheels. Can a future firmware allow users to select these to be used alongside "Rumble" motors instead of giving "Brake/Throttle" rumble. This would enchance "Kerbs" etc within games greatly in the wheel. If not possible via firmware Id like to see this feature in a future product.

It is basically possible as the vibration motors can be controlled by the games. It depends on the game developers.

3. Will their be a fix for Fanatec wheels to seperate FFB/Rumble motor strengths?
In GT5 the "in game" value for FFB makes no difference to "Dualshock Rumble" strength from the "kerbs" when using G25 or DF-GT wheels. It can not be altered but on these wheels isnt to me it seems effected from the FFB 1-10 strength settings. It seems only on Fanatec wheels and using the "wheel menu" that these are combined and you cannot reduce FFB strength without also reducing the "Dualshock Rumble" strength. Therefore on a Fanatec wheel in GT5 currently its impossible to retain maximium "Dualshock Rumble" with FFB set below 100 on the "wheel menu".

Appreciate any feedback and answers that clarify these questions.

There is no other wheel that has "Dualshock rumble" motors inside the wheel so I cannot see that changing the settings for the vibration makes any difference on those wheels. In GT5 the settings for the virbration of the controller has no effect on any wheels.

 

[Mr Latte]

Thank you for the reply. However can you elaborate how having FFB at say 50% in game and the wheel at 100% would differ to the game at 100% and the wheel at 50%. Their still seems to be confusion and no real clarification of what perhaps gives the best performance or experience.

As pointed out about the FFB motor controlling kerb rumble and not actual dualshock as I had labelled it. FFB via the game using DF-GT even at 10% (1) seems to have less reduction in the kerb effect compared to reducing the value on your wheels to again 10% strength even with the game setting at 100%. The wheel settings do seem by all means to make bigger changes than the ingame settings do with other wheels.

Of course this may come down to just the differences in the products and how they work. It's just nice knowing what is maybe the best settings.

 

[crox]

There is no best, only personal preference.

 

[Raitziger]

Thank you for the reply. However can you elaborate how having FFB at say 50% in game and the wheel at 100% would differ to the game at 100% and the wheel at 50%. Their still seems to be confusion and no real clarification of what perhaps gives the best performance or experience.

Wheel setting eg. affects also how good drift mode works. For this reason i use always 100% on the wheel.

 

[crazedmodder]

Thank you for the reply. However can you elaborate how having FFB at say 50% in game and the wheel at 100% would differ to the game at 100% and the wheel at 50%. Their still seems to be confusion and no real clarification of what perhaps gives the best performance or experience.

I would imagine there's no difference. This is of course assuming that the in-game settings are linear (that 5/10 is actually 50%).

It's good to think of it as versapak's audio analogy. Hook up a headphone output (mp3 player, pc) to an amplifier and regardless which you adjust the audio on (source or amplifier) the results will be the same (ignoring interference, clipping, etc).

Although I would usually recommend using in-game settings if possible, this allows me to use the same wheel settings for GT5/iRacing/F1 2010 and only use separate settings for the odd games or cars so I use 1 setting for 3 games instead of 3.

 

[Drasek]

Just a quick question regarding the firmware of the GT2 wheel, i read now a number of times in different boards/websites that people upgraded their firmware - on the fanatec website i don't find *any* firmware for the gt2 wheel, so where is the source, how to check which firmware is preinstalled and how to flash (i guess there is a description inside the firmware download somewhere) ?

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction ;-) The handbook (downloaded it) is a bit slim on information, it doesn't even cover the pairing with the RF dongle (and the dongle has no handbook at all), so i had to look into older handbooks (i think the turbo s was the right one) to find one with the info included.

 

[Shecki]

www.911wheel.de

All the firmware is downloadable there.

 

[crazedmodder]

I don't think there's any firmware available yet for the GT2 so don't worry if you don't see any.

Also, I wouldn't upgrade the firmware unless you need the new features.

 

[sonac]

Just uploaded my GT2 review. Hope you like it and go for HD if possible The next product I review will probably be Rinoseat GTR - when I get it and use it for some time.

 

[Shecki]

Great review man ! ! !

 

[advan031]

thanks for the review! I'm looking forward to receiving my GT2 and clubsport pedals

 

[redmalloc]

Just uploaded my GT2 review. Hope you like it and go for HD if possible The next product I review will probably be Rinoseat GTR - when I get it and use it for some time.

Nice work, thanks for posting that.

 

[BrettTheThreat]

I just placed my order for the PWC wheelset and a pair of CS paddles. I'm a little nervous about the shipping to Canada but hopefully now that the xmas rush is over with things will be a little smoother than the stories I've been reading. If things really go to hell I'll just start a whining thread. If anyone's interested I'll start a thread about my experience with the company and I'll do an unbox/review of the wheel.

 

[greekbull]

Yeah great work Sonac!!!

 

[Gunstar]

Good looking unit. I'm hoping for big things from the Clubsport shifter, as I just don't like the standard shifter by looks, sounds and mounting options alone. I like how Fanatec does a great job camouflaging the buttons that just cover the wheel!

 

[Schmo]

Good looking unit. I'm hoping for big things from the Clubsport shifter, as I just don't like the standard shifter by looks, sounds and mounting options alone. I like how Fanatec does a great job camouflaging the buttons that just cover the wheel!

I was afraid of the shifter too. But I've had mine for over a year and it works as good as it did day one. I know it looks toyish, and doesnt look like a real shifter like G25/27, but it works so well. When your throwing through the gears down the Ring, there is nothing more exciting.

With that said, still looking forward to what a Clubsport Shifter will look and act like.

 

[Gunstar]

I was afraid of the shifter too. But I've had mine for over a year and it works as good as it did day one. I know it looks toyish, and doesnt look like a real shifter like G25/27, but it works so well. When your throwing through the gears down the Ring, there is nothing more exciting.

With that said, still looking forward to what a Clubsport Shifter will look and act like.

I didn't like the G25 shifter, too flimsy. The G27 one is awesome tho, and yes, it's quite a feeling downshifting into a corner then powering back out of it, just like in real life, but with no tickets! =)

 

[Mars Attacks]

Just uploaded my GT2 review. Hope you like it and go for HD if possible

Very good review, thanks:tup:

 

[JuiceMcGoose]

Good review sonac!

Just ordered the GT2 and ClubSport pedals. Hope it isn't too long a wait.

 

[fishfash]

Nice review there sonac 👍

Quick question to those that own the Fanatec Shifter, will the PS/2 cables that are used to connect the Fanatec wheel to the clubsport / standard pedals work with the shifters ?

I have noticed that the 0.3m shifter cable has a purple end and the pedal cable has a green end to it, are these 2 cables technically the same, but just cosmetically different ?

Thanks.

 

[mikemav]

Nice review there sonac 👍

Quick question to those that own the Fanatec Shifter, will the PS/2 cables that are used to connect the Fanatec wheel to the clubsport / standard pedals work with the shifters ?

I have noticed that the 0.3m shifter cable has a purple end and the pedal cable has a green end to it, are these 2 cables technically the same, but just cosmetically different ?

Thanks.

Yes, pretty sure ive used them swapped before, should be only a cosmetic/ length difference.

 

[fishfash]

Thanks mikemav 👍

 

[bibio]

Hi, old PS/2 connectors, lots of PC's still have them on back, Green Mouse & Purple Keyboard , both same cable thou, coloured so you connect the right device to right port etc.


Cheers BOB

 

[Booey]

Just uploaded my GT2 review. Hope you like it and go for HD if possible The next product I review will probably be Rinoseat GTR - when I get it and use it for some time.

Hey Sonac, I actually stumbled onto this video on Youtube a few days ago and I loved it. Thanks!

Love your accent too 👍

 

[Bscary]

anyone have a good copy of the full GT2 manual in PDF? i cant find a copy of it that does not have scrambled letters.

 

[SpacemanSpif]

Clubsport Pedal problem:
The brake on my year old Clubsport pedals stopped working correctly in October 2010. After researching and attempting to lube the brake components I emailed Fanatec support in November and the first week of January. Still no reply.

I'm fairly certain it is a failed loadcell unit for the brake. Has anyone ordered the electrical components such as the loadcell directly from their manufacturer? While I wait for Fanatec to reply I may as well attempt to skip the middle man.

Thanks,
Spiff