Fanatec Announcements: CSW V2 Reviews Out

[occasionalracer]

Yeah, can't wait the weekend for the weather to start cool things off

No doubt, the temps are off the charts out here (3 consecutive days of 35 C) ... lost like 2 liters of water in an hour of racing. Replaced the lost electrolytes with my favorite water ("Canadian Springs" sourced from Quebec) and a bunch of fruits afterwards.

 

[Raymond_Tengen]

No doubt, the temps are off the charts out here (3 consecutive days of 35 C) ... lost like 2 liters of water in an hour of racing. Replaced the lost electrolytes with my favorite water ("Canadian Springs" sourced from Quebec) and a bunch of fruits afterwards.

It's the humidity that make 35'C feels like 43'C. Without it, 35'C with a few breeze actually doesn't feel so bad.

 

[Mr Latte]

Almost end of June Thomas....
Nothing at E3?
PRE release hype?

December you said, that might of been a bit optimistic looking back now.
Some news would be nice again.

 

[RobJackson85]

Almost end of June Thomas....
Nothing at E3?
PRE release hype?

December you said, that might of been a bit optimistic looking back now.
Some news would be nice again.

The CSW NDA runs out in 7/8 days from now, I should imagine all will be quiet until then.

This will be the time we've all been waiting for.

 

[HoiHman]

I wonder if we can pre-order this time like with the CSR Elite, before the NDA ends.

 

[LogiForce]

Last time the argument of everyone here was that it was weird that pre-orders were out before the reviews and because of this everyone didn't know anything about the product. Shees, you guys can be indecisive sometimes.

ps. I do not know anything about when pre-orders start. So do not look at me for info. I am just as clueless as the rest of you.

 

[superbike81]

The whole point of pre-ordering is that you are confident enough that it will be a great product so you are willing to put the money down before any reviews so you can be one of the first people to have it.

 

[HoiHman]

The whole point of pre-ordering is that you are confident enough that it will be a great product so you are willing to put the money down before any reviews so you can be one of the first people to have it.

+1

That's what i did with my CSR Elite. Still have no regrets.

I just made a quick calculation : CSW Base + both rims + CSP V2 : € 1129.80 plus shipping.

That IS a lot of faith in Fanatec to order blind without any reviews.

 

[bermudakid]

Last time the argument of everyone here was that it was weird that pre-orders were out before the reviews and because of this everyone didn't know anything about the product. Shees, you guys can be indecisive sometimes.

It was me who brought that up, that not having any sort of review before pre-orders may be a little too faithful in fanatec.
I know the product will be good but im still a bit skeptical about it, its not like buying something here in the US from amazon or newegg where I can buy and if I hate it I can get a refund.

EDIT: Have you guys seen, some people have already made several working quick release for the CSR Elite?

 

[K_Soze]

Pure curiosity : I try to find the CSR Elite motors references. I think it is this one : RS 550 pc.

http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/cgi-bin/catalog/e_catalog.cgi?CAT_ID=rs_550pcvc

So it means that both motors can produce about 83.7 mN/m.

It is less than the 150 mN/m T500RS motor.

I do not mean this is an important factor, I love my CSR Elite. It is just curiosity.

 

[LogiForce]

Pure curiosity : I try to find the CSR Elite motors references. I think it is this one : RS 550 pc.

http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/cgi-bin/catalog/e_catalog.cgi?CAT_ID=rs_550pcvc

So it means that both motors can produce about 83.7 mN/m.

It is less than the 150 mN/m T500RS motor.

I do not mean this is an important factor, I love my CSR Elite. It is just curiosity.

Thomas said they were custom made Mabuchi motors, so you will not find them in the catalog.

 

[Raitziger]

New PC driver is in the blog. Still no news on fixed firmware.

 

[thehawk05]

So it means that both motors can produce about 83.7 mN/m.

It is less than the 150 mN/m T500RS motor.

Comparing the numbers that way means nothing and doesn't mean one is better/stronger than the other. Factors like the size/combo of pulleys used in the system increase/decrease the actual torque output. It's also worth noting that in the specs provided in your link the torque spec you note is measured at max efficiency the motor operates at....the motor can output much more than that when needed.

 

[LogiForce]

The firmware will come and I am sure it will fix many of the mentioned issues. I think it's all being tested on the CSW first and then it trickles down after things have been tested and no issues have been found on that wheel. Of course the CSW having different electronics it does not have to mean there will not be any issues with others.

I am sure the wait won't be long.

 

[PzR Slim]

New PC driver is in the blog. Still no news on fixed firmware.

Can't play RF2 with it though. Getting a bit ridiculous really.

 

[K_Soze]

Comparing the numbers that way means nothing and doesn't mean one is better/stronger than the other. Factors like the size/combo of pulleys used in the system increase/decrease the actual torque output. It's also worth noting that in the specs provided in your link the torque spec you note is measured at max efficiency the motor operates at....the motor can output much more than that when needed.

I know, maximum torque is only a parameter, friction, intertia, motor rpm, are also important. I was just curious about the differences between the T500rs and CSR Elite/CSW conception.

 

[ultimate]

The CSR-Elite pedals can be removed from the base and mounted however you want. I did it with mine and it was VERY easy. They are cheaper than the CSP's as well, and still have the load cell brake.

can you share any pics from it?
any tutorial on internet?
i'd install it on an allu / wood plate, is it possible?

 

[superbike81]

There isn't a tutorial on the internet, but removing everything is very simple. You just need a correct size socket or wrench to remove the nuts from each pedal on the bottom. Then a screwdriver to disconnect the control/connection box (you have to remove the little cover to access the mounting screws. Then unplug each pedal connector from the circuit board. They are labeled so it's easy.

As far as mounting it to your rig, it all depends on what you have. My rig already had a perfect pedal plate built in:

So you just have to figure what to do and if you are going to use something fairly thick like wood, you will need to buy longer bolts.

 

[lemansfanatic]

I will second superbikes recommendation for the elite pedals. I didnt end up keeping my Elite wheel, but definately loved my Elite pedals. THEY ARE HEAVY DUTY. I have mine butted up against the tv stand and the shear weight of them keeps them planted, no needing to mount them. However, the base plate and inversion kit make it rediculously easy to configure in any way you want (I only liked my clutch and brake inverted) Very versatile and great realistic feel from the load cell brake. I love how hard you have to stomp on these bad boys. I'm sure CSP V2 take it even further, but to the average hobbyist, the elites are a great value and worth every penny.

 

[zacharyPL]

hello
I have a steering wheel PWTS which was repaired during the warranty period, for this reason has not been used for a long time. For some time again I have trouble with it.
The question concerns the length of the warranty, if it is renewed after repairing a defective steering wheel?

 

[HoiHman]

hello
I have a steering wheel PWTS which was repaired during the warranty period, for this reason has not been used for a long time. For some time again I have trouble with it.
The question concerns the length of the warranty, if it is renewed after repairing a defective steering wheel?

I doubt it, but you can always support. If your wheel has been away for months and months, you might have a case.

This does raise an interesting warranty question though.

If a defective wheel is not repaired, but replaced by a new one.
Is the 2 year warranty period from the date you received the replacement or still two years from the original purchase?

 

[JogoAsobi]

I doubt it, but you can always support. If your wheel has been away for months and months, you might have a case.

This does raise an interesting warranty question though.

If a defective wheel is not repaired, but replaced by a new one.
Is the 2 year warranty period from the date you received the replacement or still two years from the original purchase?

No it does not, the replacement wheel warranty expires on the same date that the original wheel it replaces does. Its not just Fanatec that does this. A lot of electronics manufacturers do the same.

If you want to obtain a 2 year warranty in case of defective/failed wheel replacement, I believe you would have to request a refund from Fanatec for the defective/failed wheel, and then if they agree to the refund, purchase another new one as an unrelated transaction through their online store.

In that case, the defective wheel would have to be sent back to Fanatec. Fanatec will reimburse you for the shipping charges if you are located in one of their countries of operation listed on their website.
But you would have to pay shipping for the new wheel you purchase just like any other Fanatec online store product.

To-date, I have personally experienced multiple replacements and repairs for defective/failed Fanatec wheels I have purchased. (Carrera, GT3 RS V.2, and CSR).

 

[Raitziger]

Fanatec has made 744 beta firmware but is only available to few selected testers.
Edit: Testers are not allowed to tell anything specific about how new firmware works. Rfactor is confirmed to work with this version. But it seems that newer beta firmware will be available to public shortly and very likely PS3 support has already been fixed.

 

[RobJackson85]

Is it sad that I'm counting down the days until this weekend!?

 

[KashunatoR]

I hope the reviews will be ready come 29th...

 

[LogiForce]

Is it sad that I'm counting down the days until this weekend!?

No, I do as well. After that I will be able to enjoy things more instead of trying to figure out how every bump feels and if it is correctly transmitted. Working on the review at the moment, I want to try and keep it short but... being short but informative on all this gear is a real mission impossible. lol

The thing I fear the most is the fact that I doubt everyone their bandwidth can not handle the amount of pictures. At least it will not unless I really drop the quality and you can not read what is on a box or see the details of the gear. I mean people already complain about pics of 1MB and my review is 200MB ish big I think... in Apple's Pages.

 

[amf7]

I would be able to handle 200 mb. It woould just take 30 mins to download.

Might download pages soon looks good.

 

[LogiForce]

I would be able to handle 200 mb. It woould just take 30 mins to download.

Might download pages soon looks good.

Yeah, so I wondered since it has to be written on the forum here with the forum editor if I should maybe offer a mostly pictureless review on the forum and maybe a pdf for download or something. I am still scratching my head about it.

 

[JogoAsobi]

No, I do as well. After that I will be able to enjoy things more instead of trying to figure out how every bump feels and if it is correctly transmitted. Working on the review at the moment, I want to try and keep it short but... being short but informative on all this gear is a real mission impossible. lol

The thing I fear the most is the fact that I doubt everyone their bandwidth can not handle the amount of pictures. At least it will not unless I really drop the quality and you can not read what is on a box or see the details of the gear. I mean people already complain about pics of 1MB and my review is 200MB ish big I think... in Apple's Pages.

Why aren't people optimizing the pictures for the web taken prior to uploading? You can still get very high resolution at a fraction of the size. There are quite a few tools available for both Windows and OSX which range from high-end like Photoshop to low-end shareware. The easiest way to do this is by reducing the picture size, although further optimization can be done with graphics tools to get the size down without losing quality.

A very good example of this is Jordan's rSeat review, the pictures in his review are very high quality, but the size is only about 200KB because they have been properly reduced and optimized. (If you click on the pictures you are provided with a larger higher resolution version).

See: https://www.gtplanet.net/rseat-rs-evo-v3-review/rseat-evo-v3-5/

For example if you take a 2MB size 7.5 Megapixel JPEG (3274 x 2304 pixels) and reduce it to 30% size, it will still be more than large enough (922 x 691 pixels) to provide adequate detail for most computer screens without hogging excess bandwidth. I have seen quite a few threads in the hardware section where people have uploaded hi megapixel jpegs without even optimizing.

Remember that pictures can only be viewed on Computer/Mobile devices at a a max of 72 DPI. Higher DPI is really only advantageous when printing or for detailed high-end graphics editing.

If people really want the higher resolution pics, then upload optimized pics to the thread being posted, and provide a link to something like photo bucket or a file sharing service where the full resolution version can be downloaded.

 

[LogiForce]

Why aren't people optimizing the pictures for the web taken prior to uploading? You can still get very high resolution at a fraction of the size. There are quite a few tools available for the Mac & PC which range from high-end like Photoshop to low-end shareware.

For example if you take a 2MB size 7.5 Megapixel JPEG (3274 x 2304 pixels) and reduce it to 30% size, it will still be more than large enough to provide detail without hogging excess bandwidth. I have seen quite a few threads in the hardware section where people have uploaded hi megapixel without optimizing.

Remember that pictures can only be viewed on Computer/Mobile devices at a a max of 72 DPI. Higher DPI is really only advantageous when printing or detailed graphics editing.

The images are not optimized yet, and surely not uploaded. Do not worry. Besides, please use The Gimp since this is the open source equivalent of Photoshop. So free and crossplatform. Besides it is easy to resize with it as well. Plus all pictures are shot in RAW format, so I can still do whatever I want with them.

Also it would be nice if people could just attach images to their posts here and it automatically resized, but unfortunately that does not happen. But would make for less overhead.

Maybe I will just do a web version (with web optimizations), low res pdf (with optimizations) and high res pdf (without optimizations). That way everyone will be happy. Besides a PDF reads nicer on a tablet. At least it does on my ipad. Besides I doubt I can get the web version to look as good because of lack of lettertypes and other styling stuff. But I will do my best. Just thinking out loud here.

But 30% of 2MB is still roughly 600KB and that times 30 or more pictures. It will still be hard on the line. Plus what I understood is that Fanatec wanted all reviews to be posted in one thread. So depending on how much pictures Mayaman and others will post... still would take a long time to load up.

Edit: yeah, I know it can be optimized properly for the web. I have worked with a web based game designer for a bit, so I know how far I can go. I am just too picky sometimes. It will be fine when I am done.