Podium Racing Wheel Package...or wait? (1 Viewer)

UnstopaPaul

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So I've been holding off on the racing wheel improvement for quite some time. The arms race for high quality wheels seems to be still in full flow, with lots of "coming soon options. Mostly it seems though that the thing coming soon is even more torque with which to wrench your arms off. I'm not actually sure I need that, but it seems like we're into a gen2 period for direct drive.

I had assumed I was probably eventually going to get a SimCube, but of course now "coming soon" is the Simcube 2 There is also the Accuforce and now the Fanatec Podium of course.

I just saw this Poduim F1 EU bundle on the Fanatec website and it actually looks like a "reasonable" deal, though obviously 1600EUR is a lot of money.

So here I am asking the eternal question - "what wheel base should I buy. Since that question is always answered "it depends", let me try and narrow the thinking.
  • I want to get a DD wheel base, I have the rig for it now. I'm prepared to pay the money for the right purchase. I'd even rather wait and save for a "clear winner".
  • I don't think I need one million Nm of torque. I have no upper body strength. Apparently the G920 does about 2.8Nm torque, so even the weakest DD wheel would provide a challenging workout for me. I'm all for immersion, but I don't actually need a wheel that turns with exactly the force ofthe actual 1970s car...
  • I'd pay a small premium for a good parts ecosystem that means I can easily get a new rim or add-on. It would be nice in the future to have something different for open wheel and GT3 style racing.
  • I really want to play with a F1 style clutch :D
  • I don't really want to be opening up rims or wheel bases myself to tinker or make something "compatible".
  • Customisable options are good, but working fine out of the box is what I'm after
  • Not being plagued with maintenance issues would also be amazing. My G920 has always just worked (touch wood) and there is nothing worse than going out of a race due to hardware / software blips
My main concern with Fanatec is reliability, since everyone seems to have criticisms of them in general, and the DD1 has only been out a few months really, so long term reliability is unknown. However, the easy-access ecosystem and a greater focus on "plug and play" is quite desirable for me. As much as I would enjoy tinkering, sadly I have to work for a living, so the kit needs to just work and not require a week of fine tuning.

What do people think of that new Podium F1 EU deal? Seems decent to me. It would be great to hear from those with any of the DD wheels what their experience is compared to what I'm looking for. Is there a question I've not considered? Would I be getting a significantly better deal elsewhere?

cue sim kit holy wars....
 

Jamesl91

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Paul, I recently upgraded from Logitech G29 to fanatec set and OMG its so so much better in every way. I decided to go for the following:

CSL Elite V1.1 wheel base
Clubsport Formula V2 wheel
CSL Elite pedals with Loadcell

Having soent years using logitech wheels and pedals i decided to upgrade just 1month ago. this was the best upgrade iv done. as soon as i opened the wheel box i knew it was the right choice, the weight and feel of the wheel just shouts quality. The wheel base itself, i have found the strength of the FFB so much greater compared to the G29(which now feels super weak and lifeless) what i was most surprised about was how much detail i could feel.

my first race with the fanatec gear was Interlagos in Rfactor2. i basically tried it with the g29 then swapped over. going into turn 1/2 i can now feel the kerbs and forces that i never used to. this took a little while to adjust but since its closer to real life it quickly became the normal.

As for Direct Drive. i personally dont see the need since the gap from G29 to elite wheel base was such an improvement. obviously this is personal preference but its alot of money to spend. Also do you realise there are no pedals with the podium f1 bundle? this is an extra cost plus shipping is roughly £35 to UK.

If i was going to upgrade to Direct Drive wheel base i would maybe upgrade to something lesser like the elite base or clubsport base for a couple of years, that gives time for the failures and bugs to be ironed out and DD to be improved. as the wheels themselves are compatible through the Ecosystem, these can be used on the DD bases too.

I hope this helps :)
 

UnstopaPaul

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Also do you realise there are no pedals with the podium f1 bundle? this is an extra cost plus shipping is roughly £35 to UK.
I should have mentioned that I'm intending to get the Heuksinveld Sprint pedals. It's possible I go for these first while the DD market sorts out the winners/losers.

i would maybe upgrade to something lesser like the elite base or clubsport base for a couple of years, that gives time for the failures and bugs to be ironed out and DD to be improved. as the wheels themselves are compatible through the Ecosystem, these can be used on the DD bases too.
That's a really valid point. I could progress to what I want incrementally that way while retaining the rims that I'd be after. Does that commit me to the fanatec ecosystem? I've seen conversion videos taking fanatec rims to make the buttons USB ready, but as easy as Barry Roland makes it seem, that's too expensive a piece of kit for my bumling hands to risk wrecking.
 

Jamesl91

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I should have mentioned that I'm intending to get the Heuksinveld Sprint pedals. It's possible I go for these first while the DD market sorts out the winners/losers.
ahh that makes sense :D

That's a really valid point. I could progress to what I want incrementally that way while retaining the rims that I'd be after. Does that commit me to the fanatec ecosystem? I've seen conversion videos taking fanatec rims to make the buttons USB ready, but as easy as Barry Roland makes it seem, that's too expensive a piece of kit for my bumling hands to risk wrecking.
from what i understand, all wheels and bases are part of the eco system. my Formula V2 is basically the same as the blue f1 wheel that comes with the DD and would work if i upgraded. i think fanatec now have got all the ecosystem stuff sorted so its mostly compatible with everything but still worth the research. the bottom of each wheel page it states whats compatible etc.
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for me the csl elite was a massive step up and i cant see any reason to progress further at this stage. so its definately something to consider before jumping into DD. @Puffpirat is the fanatec expert around here so might be best to answer
 

m4nu

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Puffpirat

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  • I want to get a DD wheel base, I have the rig for it now. I'm prepared to pay the money for the right purchase. I'd even rather wait and save for a "clear winner".
  • I don't think I need one million Nm of torque. I have no upper body strength. Apparently the G920 does about 2.8Nm torque, so even the weakest DD wheel would provide a challenging workout for me. I'm all for immersion, but I don't actually need a wheel that turns with exactly the force ofthe actual 1970s car...
  • I'd pay a small premium for a good parts ecosystem that means I can easily get a new rim or add-on. It would be nice in the future to have something different for open wheel and GT3 style racing.
  • I really want to play with a F1 style clutch :D
  • I don't really want to be opening up rims or wheel bases myself to tinker or make something "compatible".
  • Customisable options are good, but working fine out of the box is what I'm after
  • Not being plagued with maintenance issues would also be amazing. My G920 has always just worked (touch wood) and there is nothing worse than going out of a race due to hardware / software blips
I think you've answered your question already :D If you want that plug&play experience, look no further than the Fanatec DD. The Podium F1 bundle is a good deal since the DD1 is now 1200€, the F1 v2 rim 370€ and the P APM 180€. With the P RW F1 you save 150€ and get Playstation compatibility but you'll lose that by buying the Sprint pedals. Great pedals btw :D The F1 rim with the upgraded paddles is amazing.

The SC2 looks great too and probably the smallest version would be enough but the Pro is only about 200€ more and looks more juicy with faster torque response. Price wise (e.g. on simracingbay) it ends up relatively on par with the DD1. You'd have to buy a third party wheel and mind you, you can't buy and mod Fanatec rims anymore. They are now encrypted. So you'd need a rim from say Cube Controls, Ascher Racing, Precision Sim Engineering you name it. They aren't plugged into the base but into the PC with their own USB cable which I personally find a mayor inconvenience.

Performance wise I can only comment on Fanatec, haven't had the chance to test a SC1 or SC2. Anyone telling you you need more force than a DD1, which is 20Nm as you wont be able to hold it long enough to fall back to 15Nm stall, is just lying. I have yet to do a lap at full force. I had it at 35% when Iceman was taking it for a spin and he said fuck me that's heavy.... The only time you will have to worry about clipping is ingame, for example if you set the gain too high in AC, the wheel itself just won't clip.

What else to say, it's a DD, it's fast, strong and precise. Even the CSW v2.5 is a great base, the DD1 is just that little bit better. Sure you can buy a SC2 Ultimate or Leo Bodnar for 3000€ but yeah, diminishing returns :)

My main concern with Fanatec is reliability, since everyone seems to have criticisms of them in general, and the DD1 has only been out a few months really, so long term reliability is unknown. However, the easy-access ecosystem and a greater focus on "plug and play" is quite desirable for me. As much as I would enjoy tinkering, sadly I have to work for a living, so the kit needs to just work and not require a week of fine tuning.
Yes reliability can be a problem with Fanatec, even though I was more or less lucky here. I had two dampers (CSP v3) break on me but got them replaced no problem. I had a problem with a fan in my CVW v2 and they replaced it plus upgraded it to v2.5 spec for no additional cost. So yeah, reliability could be better, but their service is good. Can't comment on Simucube. Verstappen had Heusinkvelds break on him, so yeah, shit happens.

Ah one thing that might be interesting in the future is the Podium Hub (https://www.fanatec.com/eu-de/lenkrad-zubehoer/podium-hub-eu-1262.html). You can mount any wheel here, also third party, and there is a small chance that they will cooperate with e.g. Precision Sim Engineering to make use of the small USB port the Hub has. They even feature their rims in a promotional video and talked in their blog about possible future advanced compatibility, without having to run a USB cable to your PC.

 

UnstopaPaul

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Is it wrong that one of the reasons I like the Podium package is the additional blue added goes nicely with an RSR theme ?
 

Jamesl91

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Is it wrong that one of the reasons I like the Podium package is the additional blue added goes nicely with an RSR theme ?
nothing wrong with that but if the choice would be purely on colour then its an expensive colour :D
 

UnstopaPaul

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Anyone know if the podium bottom mounting points are identical to the clubsport ones? Looking at the manual it refers to the bottom mounting as "fanatec triangle and square". This leads me to believe that I'd be able to use any mounting compatible with the clubsport, but its not completely clear. I have the Sim-LAb P1 wheel deck. If I could reuse that its a less costly proposition to go podium.
 

Puffpirat

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They are the same. You can use up to 5 screws but 3 are enough and the same pattern as all Fanatec bases.
 

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