Fanatec CSW/CSR Elite Modders Thread *UPDATE February 2014*
- Thread starter eKretz
- 3,608 comments
- 607,240 views
- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
I'm assuming most people who frequent this thread are owners of the CSW or CSRE, so here is probably the best place to ask - I would really love to order the CSW v2 as soon as possible (I was about to order before the announcement but held off as I heard Fanatec were working on something new) and I know a lot of you are now using eKretz's Bueller mod and may or may not be interested in preordering the new one, but will get an invite in your inbox due to being existing CSW / CSRE customers.
I'd like to please ask if anyone out there who gets an invite to preorder the new wheel and either doesn't want to get one, or does get one and gets a secondary code from that order, and have no one else in mind to use the code, could you please let me use it? If I get a primary invitation code from someone I will of course make available to someone on the forum in need the secondary code I get from ordering the wheel.
I'm very keen to order this wheel, I'm a little annoyed at myself for not ordering the v1, but I thought it might be a direct drive or something that would be on sale along side the v1.
I'd like to gift a years subscription to GTPlanet Premium to anyone willing to help me out
Thanks
I'd like to please ask if anyone out there who gets an invite to preorder the new wheel and either doesn't want to get one, or does get one and gets a secondary code from that order, and have no one else in mind to use the code, could you please let me use it? If I get a primary invitation code from someone I will of course make available to someone on the forum in need the secondary code I get from ordering the wheel.
I'm very keen to order this wheel, I'm a little annoyed at myself for not ordering the v1, but I thought it might be a direct drive or something that would be on sale along side the v1.
I'd like to gift a years subscription to GTPlanet Premium to anyone willing to help me out
Thanks
- 391
- Perth
I am in the same boat, I was really looking forward to this wheel untill I read the invitation only part. I have a few fanatec products including csr-e and clubsport pedals but nearly all of it was purchased well before fanatec open their Australian webshop so I have a feeling I miss out 
- 118
- Sweden
I think you will be happy with the Buhler mod my friend, I am blown away by it even exceeded my expectations especially as far as motor strength goes. After all the Buhler´s are visibly larger but the difference in size is not extreme and they not exactly huge servo motors such as can be seen on some of these direct drive systems so yeah I was very excited to feel the FFB strength these motors can produce.
Regarding PSU my tip is to Google: Mean Well SP 240 24, that´s a high quality PSU but there are cheaper non brand PSU´s available online (Ebay etc..) as long as it can give you 24 Volt and at least 10 Ampere like for example one like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-24V-Reg...814?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3ce1cb2d7e
I bought one of these models under this text cause I got by far the best deal on that one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201018228332?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
The SP series have a few more tricks up it´s sleeve such as for example automatic switching between 115/230v 50/60Hz so you do not need to pull a leaver/switch on the side to change that manually but this is just one of the extras on the SP series there is more. Still I find the MW to be a decent little PSU and it serves me well + very quiet, it does not get hot enough to even start the cooling fan, not that it matter though with the air pump running just some useless info hehe..
Sometimes used SP240 24 are available online for a lot less money so you can save a few bucks but sorry I found no link for that atm.
EDIT:
Sorry Eric missed your reply about sending him a link via pm.
- 134
- Amsterdam
- bruzski
here another link to 24v PSU's if someone is interested 
http://www.alibaba.com/premium/24v_...lac=&netw=g&device=t&ptscode=0110202010010001
https://www.meanwell-web.com/en/pro...ct/SP-240-24?gclid=CKeH6-G5tsACFWT4wgodYQ0AOA
http://www.alibaba.com/premium/24v_...lac=&netw=g&device=t&ptscode=0110202010010001
https://www.meanwell-web.com/en/pro...ct/SP-240-24?gclid=CKeH6-G5tsACFWT4wgodYQ0AOA
- 1,603
- IN
- Eric_J2358
OK guys, nice little (not really!) thing happened to me recently. The guys using my mod all already know how awesome it is. Several people have gotten a 2nd wheel modded after having experienced how much better the first one is than stock. Well, turns out that one of them has done something really awesome to thank me for getting this mod together and working on his wheels. This is the story:
@Derickh has had 2 wheels modded now, and recently I added an additional mod to his first wheel so his cooling fans run at full speed at all times, but only when the wheel is powered on. Also installed a slip ring to replace his stock wire harness from the steering QR to the PCB. He came by to pick up his wheel last weekend, and I offered to sharpen up his pocket knife for him while we were BS'ing in my workshop. So as I'm sharpening, we are taking about this and that, and he casually mentioned that he picked me up a wheel mount to put my wheel on to thank me for fixing up and improving his wheels so much, and that it was shipping directly to my house.
Now, at the time he mentioned this, I assumed he meant one of those little plastic thingamajigs that people screw to the wall to mount their spare steering wheels - as I had seen him talk about having these for his wheels. So I gave him a casual thanks, not thinking much of it.
After I finished up his knife, we went upstairs so he could try out Assetto Corsa on my "rig" which is pretty much an old dog-chewed wooden shelf, lol. Ugly but it has served its purpose since I can't afford to spend a whole lot. I eventually intended to build something or another, just never really got around to it, especially after modding stuff for a bunch of other community members. As you can see my current setup is pretty low-budget! This is Derickh thrashing the Zonda in AC:
Anyway, I suggested he try the Zonda R at Vallelunga (one of my favorite combos), and was watching him race. He was having a great time and really enjoying the Bühler mod, lots of smiling going on. So I was like, "yeah this mod sure does do it for me, how about you?" And he agreed. So I was like, "Now I just need to get something better than that ratty old shelf to mount my wheel on."
This is when he pretty much blew my mind! He said, "No you don't, remember, I said I ordered you a new wheel mount." So then the realization hit. He hadn't been talking about the steering wheel wall mount thingamajig earlier, he had gotten me a damned new wheel stand/mount! I asked if that was what he meant, and he said "Yeah!" I darn near felt like I had to pick my jaw up off the ground! I can still hardly believe it. I would normally not have accepted something so generous either, but I haven't got much of a choice since he cleverly didn't ask permission and shipped it straight to me. Well played my friend, well played!
It's looking like it will arrive tomorrow, so I will surely post a pic or two when it is set up! Thanks again Derickh! There's no way I could possibly say that enough!
For anybody curious about whether this mod is very good, I think this says one heck of a lot more than I ever could.
@Derickh has had 2 wheels modded now, and recently I added an additional mod to his first wheel so his cooling fans run at full speed at all times, but only when the wheel is powered on. Also installed a slip ring to replace his stock wire harness from the steering QR to the PCB. He came by to pick up his wheel last weekend, and I offered to sharpen up his pocket knife for him while we were BS'ing in my workshop. So as I'm sharpening, we are taking about this and that, and he casually mentioned that he picked me up a wheel mount to put my wheel on to thank me for fixing up and improving his wheels so much, and that it was shipping directly to my house.
Now, at the time he mentioned this, I assumed he meant one of those little plastic thingamajigs that people screw to the wall to mount their spare steering wheels - as I had seen him talk about having these for his wheels. So I gave him a casual thanks, not thinking much of it.
After I finished up his knife, we went upstairs so he could try out Assetto Corsa on my "rig" which is pretty much an old dog-chewed wooden shelf, lol. Ugly but it has served its purpose since I can't afford to spend a whole lot. I eventually intended to build something or another, just never really got around to it, especially after modding stuff for a bunch of other community members. As you can see my current setup is pretty low-budget! This is Derickh thrashing the Zonda in AC:
Anyway, I suggested he try the Zonda R at Vallelunga (one of my favorite combos), and was watching him race. He was having a great time and really enjoying the Bühler mod, lots of smiling going on. So I was like, "yeah this mod sure does do it for me, how about you?" And he agreed. So I was like, "Now I just need to get something better than that ratty old shelf to mount my wheel on."
This is when he pretty much blew my mind! He said, "No you don't, remember, I said I ordered you a new wheel mount." So then the realization hit. He hadn't been talking about the steering wheel wall mount thingamajig earlier, he had gotten me a damned new wheel stand/mount! I asked if that was what he meant, and he said "Yeah!" I darn near felt like I had to pick my jaw up off the ground! I can still hardly believe it. I would normally not have accepted something so generous either, but I haven't got much of a choice since he cleverly didn't ask permission and shipped it straight to me. Well played my friend, well played!
It's looking like it will arrive tomorrow, so I will surely post a pic or two when it is set up! Thanks again Derickh! There's no way I could possibly say that enough!
For anybody curious about whether this mod is very good, I think this says one heck of a lot more than I ever could.
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- 3,211
- Brisbane
- Punknoodle_Nick
That is a very nice story, very generous and by the sounds of it well deserved
This was a way for me to say thank you for giving me a wheel with the force feedback I was expecting from the start. I will also be giving him my oculus rift DK1 as another thank you. Eric is one guy I am really glad I met him and got to know. Someone that has alot of knowledge and will help you without any questions . A FRIEND FOR LIFE!!!
YOU THE MAN ERIC !!!!!!!!
YOU THE MAN ERIC !!!!!!!!
- 1,326
- SC
Having a hard time believing Fanatecs claim that the CSW V2 will be 75% more powerful, and produce 7 NM of torque without having some serious belt slipping. My question is: have you been able to measure the torque at the rim after your mod? Would you be looking into brushless mod for CSW V1 owners?
- 558
- Quebec, Canada
- Lamalozo
Brushless motor driver is complex, it is not an analogic input that makes the motor spins, you have to know accurately what is the shaft position in order to activate electro magnet that will make it accelerate in the way you want so it is not a simple motor swap (do not mean that Ekretz's mod have been easy to develop in any way, but it is built on an existing motor driving electronic).
Edit : by the way it is nice to have the choice between CSW V2 brushless 7nm motor and Ekretz's mod. But there is something that we do not speak about, power. Power is torque multiplied by speed, so you can have a lot of torque and a low speed, or a lot of speed and low torque. Power is getting both
Edit : by the way it is nice to have the choice between CSW V2 brushless 7nm motor and Ekretz's mod. But there is something that we do not speak about, power. Power is torque multiplied by speed, so you can have a lot of torque and a low speed, or a lot of speed and low torque. Power is getting both
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- 118
- Sweden
Wish I had one, then I could share for sure but Fanatec do not seam to think I deserve one hehe..?
@Derickh, you the man for sure! So glad to see people help each other out, something I really dislike is seeing the greed-bug bite people. I have this attitude to money that´s it´s only paper anyways and cannot buy you happiness or anything, sure good to have when feeding your family I admit that but we all need a balanced healthy attitude towards it and helping people whenever we can give us something money simply cannot imho and that is that good warm feeling inside.
I have this cheapo German no name cockpit I used some years ago with the G27, made out of steel tubing so a bit heavier then CSL I use now but I don´t have any space for it so would gladly give it away if someone interested. Problem is I live in North/East Stockholm, Sweden so not many from there on here in need I guess? If you are one of these guys that wants it and can pick up just pm me.
Too heavy to ship cheaply I think it would cost a small fortune really and most likely cheaper to buy a new one just like it including the shipping from where I once bought it.
Sorry for OT, just could not resist so glad reading about Derickh helping you out Eric.
- 1,603
- IN
- Eric_J2358
LeMans, believe it. You will all know more next week. Yes I have measured the torque on the V1 Bühler mod at 8.8 N•m as I said earlier. Although technically possible (everything is pretty much, really) there probably won't be a brushless mod for the V1 because the mod would really approach the cost of the V2. It would require soldering in an alternative motor drive and finding somewhere to put it would be difficult. I personally don't want a mod that requires leaving the wheel base open. Also probably most guys would just upgrade rather than get the mod.
I may work on something for the V2 eventually, we shall see.
I may work on something for the V2 eventually, we shall see.
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- 1,603
- IN
- Eric_J2358
hi eKretz, i have a hard time driving a Tesla Model S GT in AC, having lots of problems keeping the car straight as my CSW steering shakes like hell...could you try replicating it with your setup ?
Sure, I will try it out and report back. Another fun one is the special event stage 3 F40 in AC. I had a heck of a time getting that dialed in in terms of driving style. Lots of spin-outs before I figured it out. One key for that car for me was remembering to rev match on downshifts.
- 1,603
- IN
- Eric_J2358
hi eKretz, i have a hard time driving a Tesla Model S GT in AC, having lots of problems keeping the car straight as my CSW steering shakes like hell...
Hmm, I seem to be having trouble with all the cars today. I'm getting a lot of lag between my steering inputs and the onscreen inputs. It wasn't like this a couple days ago, I noticed they had an update today, wonder if that is what did it? I also installed the Tesla model S GT today too though, it could be buggy maybe - but I wouldn't expect it to affect other cars. I tried restarting the wheel and also restarting AC multiple times and neither of those worked. I also tried restarting the computer multiple times and that didn't work either. Not sure what's going on yet, will report back if I figure something out.
- 1,603
- IN
- Eric_J2358
OK, wasn't feeling too great earlier today, so didn't get a chance to set up my new wheel stand until a short while ago. Here it is:
I must say it is quite nice not having to worry about pulling the wheel toward me or pushing it away from me while in the heat of the moment racing, heh. All in all, one heck of an improvement over what I had. THANK YOU DERICKH!
Don't mind the cable nest, I hadn't routed them yet when I took that shot. After getting it set up I went back to AC again and wonder of wonders it was working fine again. Not sure what was going on earlier, must have had something processor intensive running in the background earlier maybe.
@bruzski: I got in the Tesla S GT for a bit and gave it some thrashing around Mugello. No problems this time, though it is definitely a handful of a car. I think maybe most of your issues may be coming from the fact that it's a car with an insane amount of torque right from 0 rpm and isn't it front or all wheel drive? That makes it even worse under power with a lot of torque.
I must say it is quite nice not having to worry about pulling the wheel toward me or pushing it away from me while in the heat of the moment racing, heh. All in all, one heck of an improvement over what I had. THANK YOU DERICKH!
Don't mind the cable nest, I hadn't routed them yet when I took that shot. After getting it set up I went back to AC again and wonder of wonders it was working fine again. Not sure what was going on earlier, must have had something processor intensive running in the background earlier maybe.
@bruzski: I got in the Tesla S GT for a bit and gave it some thrashing around Mugello. No problems this time, though it is definitely a handful of a car. I think maybe most of your issues may be coming from the fact that it's a car with an insane amount of torque right from 0 rpm and isn't it front or all wheel drive? That makes it even worse under power with a lot of torque.
- 134
- Amsterdam
- bruzski
thanks for the report
it must be the torque then i had to cut the FF down to 60/70% to be able to drive it alot better and prevent the motors from overheatingnice wheelstand Eric and looks really good
i guess you don't have any room for a proper simrig i had once made a wheelstand out of a old leg magic trainer, hihi... this is my setup now.
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_message/41916811#41916811
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- 1,603
- IN
- Eric_J2358
@bruzski: I didn't have room until recently, but the issue is more one of $$ than space regardless. Since I have a bad back nobody wants to hire me, as I might not be able to make it to work everyday, sometimes not even predictably a few days a week. There's a lot of days I don't get up much, or for very long. Some days, the better ones, I can get up and about for several hours at a time - those are the days when I am working on the mod stuff! No time to work on a seat for myself. Been trying to find a decent work from home job but no luck yet. I like your setup! Nice job.
now i really feel bad
i wish more people would be like that
- 1,326
- SC
can't wait to hear ekretz review his mod vs CSW v2. They sound really close in performace... It would be hard to figure out which way to go, find a good deal on a V1 from someone who wants to upgrade and do this mod, or just buy a v2.
- 41
- United States
- nubrocket
Finding a v1 is on my list of options, too. Who'd a thunk it? Those aren't even listed on the site anymore.
Or save your money, buy a wheel that will last you for life and will out preform the CSW v2 substantially.
In Australia the CSW v2 and a rim or two will cost $1000 plus and going by fanatecs track record will last maybe 5 years. Good luck if you have a problem as well, their customer service can be like winning the lottery. Some guys have
good service and others end up with an expensive paper weight or loose months of use either returning the wheel for continuous repairs or modding the wheel to work.
After buying my CSR-E I thought I bought a product that would last for 5-10 years going by all of the hype that
$$$fanatec$$$ was putting out. One year later the motors died and lucky for us that Eric helps us out with a mod that gets our wheels going again. I would have been better off sticking with my DFGT and saving my cash for the accuforce instead of buying the CSR-E.
My advice, if you play console games then the CSW v2 sounds like a good option. But for PC sim racers who put a lot of time into racing then saving your money for the accuforce is a far better option long term.
Accuforce FTW! Better in every way and no BS, sure it costs more but at least it will last longer than 1 - 5 years.
Makes me sad to see all of the hype on the iracing forums. Some of these guys have spent thousands on fanatec bases and rims only to be let down with break downs and repairs. Maybe fanatec have got it right this time but I have been burnt by fanatec and it wont happen again.
p.s. Thanks to Eric my motors are still going strong. Rant over
