Fanatec’s recent video announcement of their ClubSport Wheel base and the Formula One rim has created quite a buzz in the community as the many innovative featured impressed a lot of people.
To follow up on that, the Fanatec Wheel Fansite has put together feature lists of both the wheel base and the F1 rim.
ClubSport Wheel Base Features
– Fully made of CNC-machined metal, plenty of ball bearings, anodized surfaces
– Quick release mechanism for exchanging wheel rims allows you to hot-swap a rim without exiting the game
– 2 different rims will be available at launch (F1 + a larger diameter GT-styled rim that will be announced in mid-september)
– Plenty of other wheels will be available later (Nascar, rally, drifting & more)
– Compatible with all games on PC and PS3
– Main target group for this wheel are the hardcore sim racers and it was said that because of that it has no limitations in the electronics, so they can do a lot of (software?) upgrades later on
– This base does not use toothed belts like previous Fanatec wheels, belts inside have lengthwise grooves instead (Does this mean this wheel will move 100% smoothly?). He said that even if a belt gets a bit loose, it can not get damaged
– Belts are high-quality made by Gates and Optibelt
– Belt tension can be adjusted from outside without taking the base apart
– Inside the base there is a mechanism that reminds us of the worm drive present in Frex wheels, but is actually a limiter made out of durable, good-gliding material and physically limits wheel rotation to 900??
– Code wheel for the sensor is mounted directly to the steering axis rather than being mounted to the motor, eliminating any slack/lag that is present on the wheels with sensor mounted to the motor. This makes the wheel very precise and eliminates any wheel shaking on the straights.
– There are two motors in the wheel (we don’t anything about their power yet), making it faster, stronger and smoother.
– Significantly reduced cogging force when turning the wheel.
– Tuning options are the same as on previous Fanatec wheels, but they added better control over all 3 types of “effects” that games output to achieve different force feedback effects (force, spring, damper).
– There are four screw inserts on the front of the base that will be used to mount optional attachments. They already developed steady shifters, but there will be many more attachments available (iPhone or Android phone holders for telemetry data, different shifters, etc).
Formula One Rim Features
– Made out of metal with alcantara grips
– Rev-indicator
– 4 way D-pad, that can also be pressed and turned
– Analog joystick for free-look which can also be pressed
– 11 standard buttons
– Precise shifter paddles with short travel and good haptic feedback. Angle, distance, travel are adjustable and paddles are easily replaceable with different ones.
The ClubSport Wheel base will be available both as normal and as Elite edition. Most importantly, the Elite edition will be compatible to the Microsoft Xbox 360 as well while the CSR is limited to the PC & Playstation 3.
Unfortunately, Elite owners have to make some sacrifices with other features as you can check out in the comparison list below.
ClubSport wheel (CSW)
– about 450 USD without rim
– different rims will be available from 150 USD upwards
– metal base as seen in video
– PC and PS3 only
– QR system with many more wheel rims to come (Fanatec system)
– supports additional axis, encoder switches etc.
– rev indicator bar
Forza Motorsport CSR Elite wheel (CSR E)
– 500 USD incl wheel rim
– same metal base as the CSW
– PC, PS3 and X360
– No QR but wheel rims can be easily replaced if you prefer a different rim style
– Amount of buttons and axis are limited to what the gaming consoles support
– no rev indicator bar
Both wheels and the F1 rim will be available starting November/December, the next wheel rim will be announced in September.
