about Fanatec
* What does the press say about your wheels?
* What expertise does Fanatec has on steering wheels?
* Who is Fanatec?
What does the press say about your wheels?
Here is a collection of press reviews of our Speedster wheels:
Speedster 3
Speedster 3 ForceShock for Xbox
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What expertise does Fanatec has on steering wheels?
Fanatec makes wheels for 10 years now and was among the first to produce high-end wheels for the first Playstation.
The Le Mans S.E. was the first wheel with hand stitched leather wheel rim and was among the best wheels at this time.
The Speedster 2 wheel was the first steering wheel which was not only licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was also sold through SCEE.
The Speedster 3 wheel was the only licensed Playstation wheel for the Playstation 2 until now. (there is another good wheel which is supported by Sony but it does not have the PlayStation logo on it)
Fanatec also developed a steering wheel together with Microsoft and the developers of Forza Motorsport. Due to limitations of the console, this wheel only had Force Feedback emulation but it was the best we could do for this console.
Altogether we sold several hundred thousand wheels so far and have a lot of satisfied customers.
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Who is Fanatec?
Fanatec is a brand of the German company Endor AG. Fanatec products are developed in Germany and sold worldwide. The main market is Europe but we also succesfully sold products in the USA for the old Xbox.
Our target is to make the best input device in each product category. Innovation and high-quality must result in a better gaming performance and/or more realism.
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pricing / logistics /general
* When will the pre-orders be charged?
* Have you changed the name of the wheel?
* Is the information on this website confidential?
* Where is the wheel available?
* What is the warranty?
* Will the USB memory stick be available as a stand alone product?
* Why is the wheel so "expensive"?
* Will there be cheaper models?
* Why is the wheel cheaper in the USA (considering the current exchange rate)?
* What is the price of the Porsche 911 Turbo wheel?
When will the pre-orders be charged?
The pre-orders for the Porsche 911 Turbo wheel which are taken now
for the announced delivery date 13th December 2007 will be charged immediately
for PayPal and credit card payments to customer´s account.
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Have you changed the name of the wheel?
We changed the name from "911 Turbo S wheel" to "911 Turbo wheel".
The reason is simple. We were a little bit ahead of time as the real 911 Turbo S is not launched yet.
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Is the information on this website confidential?
The FAQs are not confidential and you can post this information in your community
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Where is the wheel available?
The product is currently not sold through Porsche dealers, you can only get the wheel in our webshop on
www.fanatec.com
The wheel is only available in the countries listed in the webshop.
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What is the warranty?
We have service centres in Europe, the USA and Japan and will help you to find a fast solution if any problems should occur.
The warranty is 2 years and if any problems occur because of manufacturing problems, you can exchange the wheel and it will be replaced very fast.
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Will the USB memory stick be available as a stand alone product?
This USB stick can be purchased exclusively together with our wheel and is not available separately. The "Nordschleife edition" will feature a 1GB stick and the regular version will have less memory.
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Why is the wheel so "expensive"?
The production cost of the Porsche 911 Turbo wheel is much higher than competitor products.
Beside the obvious cost drivers like the leather wheel or wireless USB there are a lot of pricey but hidden components which increase the cost. The drivetrain alone costs as much as a complete Force Feedback steering wheel.
Features like the painted base cover or the illuminated buttons are important for the look and feel of the product and of course we made no compromise on sensors or the electronics to deliver the best possible performance.
2 separate gear sticks of course are more expensive than 1 combined one but you will enjoy that you get no compromise but something which feels serious.
Just like on the Porsche cars, you get a lot of value for your money.
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Will there be cheaper models?
Porsche also sells cars which are lower priced than the Porsche 911 Turbo. In the next years we plan to make different versions which are more affordable but with lower specs. But don't expect that we ever make a wheel which does not clearly deserve the Porsche logo.
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Why is the wheel cheaper in the USA (considering the current exchange rate)?
The VAT (tax) in Europe is much higher than in the USA.
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What is the price of the Porsche 911 Turbo wheel?
The price is 350 USD (excl VAT) in the USA and 300€ (incl VAT) in Europe.
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compatibility
* What Playstation 3 games are compatible?
* Will it be compatible to my simulator/cockpit/seat....?
* Will the Porsche wheel be featured in the options menu of the Playstation 3 games?
* Will there be a Xbox360 version?
* Is it compatible with Playstation 2 and the Wii?
* What Games support the clutch and the h-pattern gear stick?
* Does it work with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue?
What Playstation 3 games are compatible?
In general, all games are compatible which are supporting other Force Feedback wheels as well.
This includes:
* Gran Turismo 5 Prolog
* Colin Mc Rae DiRT
* Need for Speed carbon
* Nascar 2008
* Formula 1 (No FF support)
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Will it be compatible to my simulator/cockpit/seat....?
We did not test it with all the seats on the market but we tested it with a few and have concerns regarding the stability as the wheel delivers very strong FF effects. Of course you can turn down the strength of the effects but the better solution will be a strong cockpit which is designed especially for the wheel. We are working on it.
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Will the Porsche wheel be featured in the options menu of the Playstation 3 games?
The Fanatec Speedster 3 wheel was officially licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and we have an excellent relationship to Sony. We are currently talking with the major publishers about the support of the wheel and the response is very positive. But even if the wheel is not listed in the options menu, it will still work.
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Will there be a Xbox360 version?
Since the development of the Speedster 3 ForceShock for Xbox we have a good relationship to Microsoft and the developers of Forza Motorsport and PGR.
Microsoft wants a high-end wheel for the console but the technical implementation is not easy. We are trying hard to come up with a Xbox360 wheel by the middle of next year but it seems that this wheel will "only" be compatible with the Xbox360. Of course it will have all the features of the current version.
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Is it compatible with Playstation 2 and the Wii?
The Playstation 2 console is not supported officially.
The Wii will definitly not work.
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What Games support the clutch and the h-pattern gear stick?
Playstation 3:
Need for Speed: Carbon
Gran Turismo 5 (estimated)
PC:
GT legends
GTR
GTR2
WTCC
Live for Speed
rFactor
...and more
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Does it work with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue?
The demo version of GT Prologue is fully compatible, including the 6 speed gear stick.
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the drivetrain
* Why is one motor better than two?
* How many Force feedback motors are used?
* What is the advantage of a belt drive?
* Can the belts be stretched?
Why is one motor better than two?
The big wheel rim requires a strong motor. We decided to use a single motor as this reduces mechanical resistance or the so called "cogging force". When you turn the wheel you feel little mechanical steps.
The only reason to use two smaller motors instead of one big motor is the increased heat produced by the big motor. The necessary cooling heat sinks and sensor controlled fans cost more than a second motor.
As cost reduction was less important than performance on this wheel, we decided to go for the big 24V Mabuchi motor.
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How many Force feedback motors are used?
There is one big Force Feedback motor for the Force feedback effects and two small vibration motors in the wheel rim.
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What is the advantage of a belt drive?
There is a little gap between the gears of a gear drive. As there are several gears used between the motor and the wheel, those gaps accumulate.
A belt drive has no such gaps and the feeling is much more precise and smooth.
The result is a feeling which is closer to a real car.
A belt drive is also more silent than a gear drive.
The disadvantage is the much higher production cost of the belts and the metal ball bearings which guide the belts.
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Can the belts be stretched?
We use high-end belts made in Europe. The manufacturer is
www.gates.com which is a well know supplier for medical and automotive applications. The belts are made with carbon fibre and this material does not stretch at all.
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wireless
* What is the range?
* Will there be no cable at all?
* What happens if the batteries run out of power?
* Will there be any latency?
What is the range?
The range depends a lot on the environment. In any case it should work with a distance of 10 meter.
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Will there be no cable at all?
There is still a short cable from the gear stick to the base and there is the power supply cable to the base. But it is a big advantage if you can plug in the wheel in a wall socket behind you instead of having a cable going through your living room.
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What happens if the batteries run out of power?
You will get a warning message in the LED display of the wheel so that you have enough time to change the batteries. In an endurance race or if you want to use the wheel in a racing cockpit, you can use the pedals with the power supply cable which is included in the package.
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Will there be any latency?
The wireless USB technology of Cypress offers a solution which is de facto as fast as a wired system. The difference in average is only 1.5 ms.
On the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 nobody complains about latency issues as well. Our technology is at the same level.
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technical questions
* How do you make sure that the pedals don't slip away?
* What is the feeling of the H-pattern gear stick?
* Is the driver fully Vista compatible?
* What are the specs of the sensors?
* Do the pedals have different resistance or do they all feel the same?
* How long was the development time?
* What is the wheel diameter?
* Is it possible to play with Force Feedback if you play with the lap wings?
* How many buttons are on the wheel?
* Are the buttons made of metal?
* Is it genuine leather?
* Does the wheel have paddle shifters behind the wheel?
* How many Force Feedback motors are built in the wheel?
How do you make sure that the pedals don't slip away?
Beside some extra sticky rubber pads we use velcro which works great on carpets.
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What is the feeling of the H-pattern gear stick?
We try to emulate the strong shifting sensation of a real Porsche and you will feel a big "CLACK" when you enter a gear.
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Is the driver fully Vista compatible?
So far the driver only works with Vista 32bit but we are working on the 64bit version.
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What are the specs of the sensors?
We use metal potentiometers with 8 bit (256 values) resolution for all three pedals and an optical sensor on the wheel with 2560 values for a full turn of 900° or 1024 values per 360° turn.
This means we have 2,8 values für ech degree of movement on the wheel.
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Do the pedals have different resistance or do they all feel the same?
Each pedal feels different and we try to make it as real as possible by not only changing the strength of the spring but also change the type and mechanism of the spring.
The brake is stopped with a special PU foam made by BASF in Germany which is used on shock absorbers and although the brake is using a potentiometer, the feeling is very similar to a pressure sensor.
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How long was the development time?
It took us 3 years to develop this product and en enourmous amount of effort for us. To get the Porsche license it took almost 7 years from the first contact.
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What is the wheel diameter?
300 mm
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Is it possible to play with Force Feedback if you play with the lap wings?
The design of the lap wings allows to play even with the full force feedback effects. The lap wings are adjustable in width and you can even use the gear sticks if you play without a table.
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How many buttons are on the wheel?
There are 10 buttons and a D-pad on the wheel rim and two shifting paddles behind the wheel. There is another button on the base which will be used as a Playstation 3 button once the Playstation 3 supports it.
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Are the buttons made of metal?
Just like in the original car, the buttons are made of special coated plastic.
The buttons are illuminated so if you connect to the Playstation, you will only see the Playstation symbols. If you connect to the PC, you will see the PC button numbers.
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Is it genuine leather?
Not only that. The wheel is hand stitched in the same factory which makes hand-brake knobs and steering wheels for German and Japanese car makers and the quality lever of our wheel is at least at the same level. It will not wear off and perfectly absorbs sweat. Beside that it just feels great.
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Does the wheel have paddle shifters behind the wheel?
Although the original car has no such buttons we convinced Porsche to integrate those buttons to our wheel without disturbing the genuine look. So you have 3 possibilities for manual gear shifts.
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How many Force Feedback motors are built in the wheel?
There is 1 powerful Mabuchi RS 550 Motor as used in RC cars which delivers extra strong Force Feedback effects and there are 2 additional Force Feedback actuators in the wheel to simulate motor vibrations.
and I think they might have just released or started shipping the wheels for media testers and such. Actual is due december 13th and i can't wait! 👍
As of now, no one has written any testing about the actual use of the wheel, although people have definitely played on it in japan at a game show.
http://rocketpunchautoblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/porsche-officially-licensed-gaming.html
It looks awesome!!!! 
Not only is it from Porsche, but its wireless as well!! But too bad i already purchased a G25.... 
, anyone else suspect Logitech is going to announce a new special wheel to coincide with GT5
That Wheel is AMAZING (and Beautiful), But i dont think I will be getting any time soon
