This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/simracing by /u/trkyg4js on 2023-09-01 21:19:18.
Here's a short collection of my thoughts on various bits and pieces that I've purchased over the past few months. Hopefully this helps someone looking to buy some of these parts. Happy to answer any specific questions if I can.
For my first sim racing setup, I wanted to put together something for less than $1500 AUD while still getting something functional and long-lasting. With that in mind, I chose parts that I perceived to offer good value relative to the market. A direct drive wheelbase and a decent set of load cell pedals, based on my research, were a must. Not all of these have extensive reviews that I could find when looking around initially, so hopefully this helps someone considering the same components that I did.
Do note that my initial intentions were to race street cars, touge and drift, so your mileage may vary if you’re into other driving disciplines like F1/GT3.
CSL DD, CSL BMW Wheel
tl;dr – good value entry level option if you can’t stretch your budget, but get a better wheel if at all possible. Check how much you're actually saving once you buy all the accessories you need.
The starting point that made the most sense to me (at the time) was the CSL DD R2R bundle ($673 AUD including shipping). The entire set is less than the cost of an Alpha Mini ($1000 AUD) or even a Moza R9 ($799 AUD) wheelbase in Australia, and the included 300mm CSL BMW wheel is versatile and much cheaper than most options from other manufacturers (and as I would discover after using it, for good reason). Once you factor in the $700-800 you would need to pay for a round Simagic wheel, the price difference is almost triple compared to the CSL DD bundle. This might be different in your region.
On 5nm vs 8nm and aftermarket parts: I opted for the 5nm version and picked up the ‘Lincoiah boost kit’ from Aliexpress after a few weeks because I didn’t want to pay $175 for a 200w power adapter. I’ve not seen any accounts of this product damaging the CSL DD and in my own experience over the course of a few weeks, never had any issues with it myself. I kept it plugged in all the time and mostly left the wheelbase on after monitoring it closely for the first few days. I checked on it occasionally and never noticed it getting overly hot.
Do note however that Fanatec publicly states that they will void the warranty if any aftermarket boost kit is used.
I’m not convinced they can even conclusively tell what you’re using (the Fanatec software recognizes it as the official boost kit and there’s no handshake between the base and adapter as far as I can tell), nor that a one-year warranty is worth half the price of the product (advertised as $335 AUD with any wheel and pedals). As there have been no precedents that I can find online with people being denied warranty for this reason, you’ll just have to make your own judgment.
The CSL DD is a well-covered product, so I won’t go into too much detail and instead focus on things that stuck out to me. I had no issues with the wheelbase itself and for my benchmark comparing to the real steering feel of my S2000, I didn’t find the 8nm to be lacking. It has a plastic front and back which feels cheap, but you’ll never notice it while driving. The height may also limit you if you want your monitor mounted above the wheelbase.
My main gripe with the CSL DD bundle and the reason that led me to getting rid of it within two months is related to the plastic CSL BMW wheel and ‘QR Lite’ that it comes with. As I alluded to earlier, this thing is cheap for a reason. When turning through corners or bracing against strong force feedback effects, this thing rattles, creaks, and flexes like crazy. I have to restrain myself from putting pressure on it because it feels like it’s eventually going to snap. I’m not sure how much is to be attributed between the shitty QR, plastic housing of the button plate or overall budget construction, but neither my partner nor I were satisfied with it despite not having the highest expectations going in.
It works… ‘fine’, and I’m not sure I’ll get better performance out of a sturdier wheel, but the build quality ruins the experience and immersion. On the positive side, the shifters are tolerable for something that costs 25-50% of ‘good’ wheels. The rubber grip, while not great in terms of feel, seems to have held up well in the brief time I’ve had it. I never noticed it getting too sweaty or grimy. In my opinion, the rubber grip contributes to the toy-like feeling and I can’t say I’m a fan regardless of durability. I must also admit that my QR Lite also didn’t have much lateral play or wobbling like some others have experienced, although the flex alone made me not want to use it.
Overall, I would not recommend the plastic CSL wheels unless you literally can’t afford anything else. If I kept my CSL DD, I’d bite the bullet and get a Clubsport wheel instead (the ones based on the Clubsport Universal Hub V2). You get a decent rim, metal QR and better button plate. You might be thinking along the same lines as I did initially, that you don’t want to pay more for the wheel than the wheelbase, but I would much sooner opt for those improvements over more torque.
Why didn’t I do that? Because I have no need for a $600 button plate, and Fanatec has decided to lock functionality unless you use their proprietary hubs. The metal QR1, which is already overpriced considering the well documented issues compared to other systems on the market, requires the Clubsport or Podium Hub on top to even get FFB working. I’m mostly driving manual road cars with H-pattern shifters, and I don’t strictly need paddles or a million buttons, so all these limitations by Fanatec, to me, are essentially some very expensive DRM that completely nullifies the cost savings of getting the CSL DD in the first place.
For less money than the CSL DD plus Clubsport wheel, I got a Simagic Alpha Mini, Kyostar QR and a 330mm leather rim instead. It’s not apples-to-apples since the Simagic GT Pro Hub would add another $750 AUD to achieve feature parity (probably better quality than the Clubsport hub too), but since I don’t even have the option to forego that with Fanatec, it’s irrelevant to me.
I get that this might be a small niche that I’m falling into and if you’re going to buy a button plate anyway, there’s still savings to be made by going with the CSL DD, so you should assess based on your own needs. All I’ll say about this topic is that the CSL DD is a loss leader, designed to get you into the Fanatec ecosystem where they can get you to spend on their other accessories to make up the difference. You may find that, especially after adjusting for relative quality compared to other competitors, that you’re not saving as much as you initially believed based on the irresistible headline price of the Fanatec bundles.
Some brief remarks regarding the CSL pedals: I planned to sell these secondhand and recoup whatever I could. At least in Australia, this was very difficult. The best offer I got after 1-2 months was slightly less than 50% off RRP. Considering the low return and amount of effort it takes to do, I would personally not want to bother with it if I could repeat the process. I did use them for a day or two to make sure that they work and to hold me over until my other pedals arrived. They’re okay if you don’t have the budget for anything better but it’s obviously no comparison to a proper load cell brake.
It’s worth mentioning that Fanatec introduced the CSL DD + ‘any wheel and pedals’ deal shortly after I purchased my R2R bundle. If I still wanted to purchase a CSL DD today, knowing what I know now, I’d go with that, get a decent Clubsport round wheel to go with it, skip the CSL pedals and grab the Elite V2 whether you want to use them or sell it, for reasons mentioned above.
In the end, I decided to sell the entire CSL DD bundle. I really did want to keep the CSL DD wheelbase because it’s a decent value proposition in isolation, but selling the CSL BMW wheel and pedals was more trouble than it was worth, and I had a chance to upgrade to the Alpha Mini for a similar price if I chose to forego the button plate. On the other hand, I managed to find a buyer for the whole bundle at a good price relatively quickly. He already has his own Clubsport wheel, so I bet he’ll have a better experience than I did!
Simjack Pro 3-Pedal Set
tl;dr - worth considering, but you get what you pay for. Be mindful of the adjustability, and check for EMI esp. if you have a CSL DD.
When purchasing the CSL DD R2R bundle, I considered adding the LC upgrade to the CSL pedals, but for $250 AUD, that seemed steep given that it’s an entry level product. I saw on Reddit that many people were having good experiences with the Simjack Pro pedals on Aliexpress. At $380 AUD for the option with three pedals and dampers on each, I decided to go for these and try to get rid of the CSL pedals instead, given that the Simjack Pros are often compared to higher end pedals like Sprints in terms of feature set.
(At the time, I didn’t have the option to get the CSL Elite V2s in the R2R bundle. If you’re going to get a CSL DD, that may be the way to go now that you can get it with any pedals you want, for reasons I will soon explain.)
Again, lots of people have shared their experiences with these so I will try to focus on things that were noteworthy to me as someone willing to tinker, yet with relatively l...
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