Fanatec Clubsport Shifter SQ review

  • Thread starter HoiHman
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That's freaking ridiculous. I can't even blame Fanatec for that, people need to remember these things are CONTROLLERS. I used to work in arcades and people would just BEAT THE CRAP out of the 4 position shifter on the Daytona machine (they were brutal on the Crazy Taxi one as well, but that was kinda SEGA's fault tho as the speed burst kind of almost required that kind of treatment) and I would have to actually pull guys off the game because they just wanted to SLAM that thing around when all it required is a flick of the wrist.
 
THE BROKEN CSS IS NOT MINE, ITS SCREEN GRAB FROM VIDEO POSTED in the quote included in my post.

I spit my coffee out all over keyboard when I saw it, because of CSR shifter deja vu.
 
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Gunstar
That's freaking ridiculous. I can't even blame Fanatec for that, people need to remember these things are CONTROLLERS. I used to work in arcades and people would just BEAT THE CRAP out of the 4 position shifter on the Daytona machine (they were brutal on the Crazy Taxi one as well, but that was kinda SEGA's fault tho as the speed burst kind of almost required that kind of treatment) and I would have to actually pull guys off the game because they just wanted to SLAM that thing around when all it required is a flick of the wrist.
Click to expand...

@ Gunstar, I don't abuse my stuff.
THE BROKEN CSS IS NOT MINE, ITS SCREEN GRAB FROM VIDEO POSTED.

I broke CSR shifter X 2 because they have a top-heavy metal sheath around flimsy plastic shaft.
Well documented and experienced issue by others too.

Never had that issue with all-plastic Porsche shifter.
In fact, I went back to the Porsche shifter after breaking 2 CSR shifters, until I upgraded to TH8RS.

Please excuse OT.
 
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Ok. Anyway, there must be material defect or the person delibiretly broke it. I used my plastic H-shifter for 4 years without managing to break it in normal use.
 
If it were plastic, like their Porsche shifters, I'd understand a little more. Though the CSR shifter is more prone to snapping given its weight and design of metal connected to plastic.

The CSS is supposed to have a solid metal (of some kind) shaft. If it didn't have a defect, the shaft couldn't be broken by a user simply by using it, I don't care how hard they shift it.

That is a material defect (probably casting), hopefully limited to a single shifter and not an issue with the casting process used on a whole set of them.
 
bumer
Ok. Anyway, there must be material defect or the person delibiretly broke it. I used my plastic H-shifter for 4 years without managing to break it in normal use.
Click to expand...

That would be my first inclination, but you never know.
Then again people have posted on this thread that TH8 RS is fragile...
...whereas I have used the living hell out of both of mine for last 18 months with no issues. :odd:

Either way...
...I sincerely hope the issues are resolved for all those who have paid their good money for the CSS. :)
That is really the most important thing.
 
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JogoAsobi
@ Gunstar, I don't abuse my stuff.
THE BROKEN CSS IS NOT MINE, ITS SCREEN GRAB FROM VIDEO POSTED.

I broke CSR shifter X 2 because they have a top-heavy metal sheath around flimsy plastic shaft.
Well documented and experienced issue by others too.

Never had that issue with all-plastic Porsche shifter.
In fact, I went back to the Porsche shifter after breaking 2 CSR shifters, until I upgraded to TH8RS.

Please excuse OT.
Click to expand...

I knew it wasn't yours. But still, wow.
 
Damn that's crazy how the shaft broke..

And yeah, it's not surprising that they are not selling lots of these. First, hardcore sim racing rigs are a very niche market to begin with, and then as already mentioned above, high quality H shifters are a niche within a niche since almost every race car these days has paddles or a sequential. Then you throw in that most people had to wait 2-3 months to receive one and the number of orders go down even more. Honestly the fact that they are still able to offer a piece of hardware like this for $199 means they are probably making next to nothing on the whole thing anyway.
 
ShodanCat
First, hardcore sim racing rigs are a very niche market to begin with, and then as already mentioned above, high quality H shifters are a niche within a niche since almost every race car these days has paddles or a sequential.
Click to expand...

This is very true, taking GT5 as an example, if one uses the filters on mygranturismo.net to isolate the gated box/clutch users, in seasonal TT events of 40K+ participants, perhaps 150 to 250 are using gated box/clutch.

The number may also be low because the GT5/GT6 clutch is perceived by many as "broken".
 
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JogoAsobi
That would be my first inclination, but you never know.
Then again people have posted on this thread that TH8 RS is fragile...
...whereas I have used the living hell out of both of mine for last 18 months with no issues. :odd:

Either way...
...I sincerely hope the issues are resolved for all those who have paid their good money for the CSS. :)
That is really the most important thing.
Click to expand...

I have to say that my TH8 has been brilliant. It doesn't have the resistance I'd really like but it's reliable, and in my book that counts for a lot!
I do hope your issues with the CSS are solved soon guys, but I think this time I'll hang on to my TH8 and put the money into something else for now anyway. With my luck I'd get a dozen faulty shifters :lol:
 
ShodanCat
And yeah, it's not surprising that they are not selling lots of these.
Click to expand...

I don't quite think that is the case here. Why else it is always out of stock. It is not like they produce 10 of them in every 3 months. First customers received them some 4 months ago and yet still there's not enough to have them permanently in stock.
 
image.jpg


Bought myself 5 meters of custom made flat black 6P6C straight cable for the CSS SQ.
This works like a charm and I can reach the back of my case now. So I can just disconnect at the shifter end while keeping the USB adapter plugged into the back of the PC.

The supplied cables are way too short and only are for connecting the shifter to a Fanatec wheel of your picking. At least it would be too much of a stretch for most even with the longest supplied cable when using the USB adapter.
I think offering longer cables by Fanatec would be nice, however... this 5 meter custom made one didn't even cost 5 euros.

For those who wonder. I went to a local store called Okaphone here in Groningen, The Netherlands. It's an electronics specialist store.
I don't know if they ship internationally or if they are willing to make you guys custom cables, but here is the link.

http://www.okaphone.nl
 
Finally got mine hooked up yesterday. It arrived last week, but it took me awhile to get the parts necessary to mount it to my Playseat. (I wanted to leave my Frex Sequential shifter on it too.) The length of the cables they sent are way too small. I had to use an extension cable with it.

Works perfectly. This is my first time not using a Sequential, so it took a little getting used to. I now understand all the complaints directed towards Gran Turismo shifting with the clutch. Very frustrating when you get stuck in Neutral. I like how it works with Forza much better. It was only my first night, so I'll probably get better at it.

So far, so good.

Side note: I got lucky that I got the shifter when I did. My company gives us a bonus during the beginning of March. With the Pre-Order date being 2/28, I thought I had a month or so to purchase it. I didn't want to get the bill too much before the bonus comes in. (harder to explain to the wife) On a whim, and not trusting actually getting any updates from Fanatec, I decided to put in my order on 1/22. The next day I got an email that it would be shipped. I see the pre-order date is now 3/28. I would have been so mad if I had to wait even longer.
 
mrbasher
We'll never know. Not many people responded on my poll here regarding having one or not and I don't see many others posting elsewhere about having received one. I've also only sold maybe 6 USB adapters for them. That's all I can go off of.

Several people received their shifter quite awhile before others and those people were likely what they call community testers. I'm not counting them when it comes to "how many" I've seen in the wild.

I only posted the above because cassiusclay99 asked and I was curious myself. Luckily, there is a thread here chronicling the good and bad.
Click to expand...

I won't be buying USB adapter now because I bought a CSW. Sorry, but rest assured, IF I ever need to use another wheel, I will be ordering your adapter sir
 
I thought the shifter knob was 12mmx1.50 so I purchased a shifter knob with this thread size and it didn't fit, just wondering if anyone has changed their shifter knob and can confirm what the actual thread size is. Or I guess I could just take the knob down to the hardware store and find out.
 
So here's what worked, went down to local hardware store (with both knobs) and sure enough the one I purchased was an exact fit for M12x1.50, the Fanatec shifter (from Fanatec support) is also M12x1.50x20mm but when you try and tighten a M12x1.5 shifter knob or adaptor onto shifter it's so tight you think you're going to strip a thread or in some way damage shifter shaft threads. What I did was take a M12x1.5 jam nut, with screw driver in hole at bottom of shaft for support, and slowly work it onto the shaft. Not sure if it's the heat treated paint they used or what but once you work the paint off and the threads clean up the aftermarket shifter knob and or a M16x5 adaptor fits nice and you can pretty much put on any shifter knob you desire.
 
For all those who have the CSS SQ and suffer the problem of the missing third and fourth gear when downshifting.
I found the solution.
You need to open the shifter and obviously doing so you invalidate your warranty, but, believe me, the solution is very, very simple and definitive. You have to remove the small axial play between the little shaft of the hall sensor and its slot in the left/right rotation shaft of the shifter lever.
I assure you that it is more easier to do than to describe. Personally, I added a thin strip of aluminium adhesive tape in the straight part of the slot. But the solution might also be different.
With shifter open you can also add a rubber band to increase the resistance to the left/right movement of the lever and make it more "real".
I hope it was useful.
 
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enzocarbone
For all those who have the CSS SQ and suffer the problem of the missing third and fourth gear when downshifting.
I found the solution.
You need to open the shifter and obviously doing so you invalidate your warranty, but, believe me, the solution is very, very simple and definitive. You have to remove the small axial play between the little shaft of the hall sensor and its slot in the left/right rotation shaft of the shifter lever.
I assure you that it is more easier to do than to describe. Personally, I added a thin strip of aluminium adhesive tape in the straight part of the slot. But the solution might also be different.
With shifter open you can also add a rubber band to increase the resistance to the left/right movement of the lever and make it more "real".
I hope it was useful.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your post, but as a recipient of a defective shifter, I sent a video to service and I am now waiting for my replacement. If after the warranty is over the shifter starts to misbehaving again I will be happy to try what you suggested , but not on a brand you one.
It is a shame that the first one was not working, I hope the second one is OK.
 
Finally!!!!, The wait is over, received the shifter yesterday, installed it, calibrated it and tried it.
It has been long and sometime frustrating. But now it is here and this one works. Like always in my experience with Fanatec gear, when it works it is great.
I am very happy with my CSS SQ shifter, feels so much closer to really shifting in a car, exactly what I was expecting.
 
enzocarbone
For all those who have the CSS SQ and suffer the problem of the missing third and fourth gear when downshifting.
I found the solution.
You need to open the shifter and obviously doing so you invalidate your warranty, but, believe me, the solution is very, very simple and definitive. You have to remove the small axial play between the little shaft of the hall sensor and its slot in the left/right rotation shaft of the shifter lever.
I assure you that it is more easier to do than to describe. Personally, I added a thin strip of aluminium adhesive tape in the straight part of the slot. But the solution might also be different.
With shifter open you can also add a rubber band to increase the resistance to the left/right movement of the lever and make it more "real".
I hope it was useful.
Click to expand...

Hello all
I'm new here !

I have the same problem
I would like to understand the manipulation to be done to solve the problem
Thank you in advance enzocarbone
 
I set up and calibrated the new shifter, opened the wheel properties dialog and...I have the same problem again. At this point I am unsure whether to get another replacement or just request a refund. Does anyone know if the TH8 is a worthy option or if there are other shifters of equal price and functionality that would work well with the csw system? Thanks for any opinions.
 
mrbasher
By my count on this thread:

7 Working
6 Returned for replacement
1 Unsure (Was having issues and had it fixed by blowing air in it, haven't seen another post about it on the thread)

I had one customer with a similar issue but was able to help him resolve it by adjusting the firmware. His issue may not have been the same as the 6 that were returned here.

I saw this earlier too... Bummer :(

http://videobam.com/PWbMV
Click to expand...

Wow - Fanatec STILL cannot get a handle on GQC and delivery? After all these years?

Seriously - I put off buying my GT3RS/CSP 2 years because of their issues - then when Forza4 arrived I figured they would have fixed their supply chain/QC issues and bought a GT2RS/CSP to get the Xbox360 compatibility.

The moment my order was placed issues started happening. Delivery, then QC etc.

And now 2 years after THAT I see that they STILL have issues.

Now it is obvious these are not just 'chance' or 'co-incidence' - it is systemic and inherent in the Fanatec company.

Pity. I would have liked to add a proper shifter (not the plastic junk I currently use) to the XBox 360 rig.

Sounds like time for your adapter to let the TH8RS work with the Fanatec wheel/pedals.
 
bthrun
I set up and calibrated the new shifter, opened the wheel properties dialog and...I have the same problem again. At this point I am unsure whether to get another replacement or just request a refund. Does anyone know if the TH8 is a worthy option or if there are other shifters of equal price and functionality that would work well with the csw system? Thanks for any opinions.
Click to expand...

I feel sorry for you, not sure what I would have done if I had not received a working CSS. Not even Fanatec could blame you for seaking an alternative, they are lucky we did not asked for a refund after the first fail. It all depends how much trust you left for the Fanatec organization. 2 failing shifter in a row, that as to be some kind of a ( low ) record, not Guinness, you would need 3 for that.
Let us know how it turns out.
Good luck :)
 
I've been doing practice laps in GTR2 and it is at best only occasionally hitting the correct gear (from 5th to 4th). I have to say, even if it registered the correct gear 95% of the time it would still be unacceptable. Two bad shifters in a row and I can't help wondering if it's something in my setup or maybe the drivers...I don't know. I just noticed I'm using v144. I suppose I'll try v115 and v177 before contacting Fanatec. I really like the units construction/materials, it's "feel" while shifting, and the ease of switching between H and sequential. Just wish I could get one that works.
 

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