Blog

Thomas Jackermeier

I am happy to announce that production of the following products is running in full speed:

Forza Motorsport CSR wheel
CSR Elite Pedals
CSR Shifter set

The first containers are already on the way to Europe and the USA and we will have inventory for the launch of Forza Motorsport 4 on October 11th.

That means we will start taking pre-orders for these products until supply lasts.

The CSR Elite has just passed the technical approval of Microsoft so we can start the production of this model in a few weeks as well as the CSR pedals and the CSR Pedal Inversion kit.

The CSR Elite got a new colour scheme with rubber coating on the full wheel rim and on the back cover.

We also released the first pictures of the CSR pedals which will be introduced in a dedicated video very soon.

Thomas Jackermeier

At Gamescom I made an interview with ISR about the CSR Elite wheel and some special features.

You can hear from my voice that the show was pretty exhausting but we had a good time.

Thanks to Andreas for the great help (he also helped me with the CSW introduction video) and spending his birthday on the show.

UPDATE

Feature comparison

	CSW	CSR E
Price of base with wheel rim	From 599	499,95
Compatibility	PC, PS3	Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Connection wheel rim to base	Quick release	Detachable system
Hot plugging of wheel rim during gameplay	yes	no
Analog joystick	yes	no
5 way encoder switch	yes	no
Rev indication LEDs	yes	no
Advanced electronic options (bigger LED screen, more dialswitches, buttons etc.)	yes	no
Direct data output plug (not USB)	yes	no
Amounts of shifters attached in parallel	2	1
Steady shifter option	yes	limited (depending on rim)
Choice of wheel rims	Full range	Limited
Pedal compatibility (when connected to wheel)	Only digital (CSP, CSR E P)	All Fanatec plus G25/G27

Advanced Tuning options

yes

no

Thomas Jackermeier

I am currently in China and one of my main tasks is to supervise the pre-production assembly of the CSW samples.

Although I did not plan to reveal so much at this date I could not resist to show you those pictures. Please excuse the bad quality as I only had my mobile phone with me.

Enjoy:

Ooops :-O

Thomas Jackermeier

We already started the beta tests but we need some more people to help us testing the product and also to make a review about the products for your community.

Here are the specific requirements:

Needs to be able to test on Xbox 360 and PS3
Bonus if you can also test on PC
Needs to be able to write a written review or video review
EU, Japan and USA participants only
Minimum age: 21

Basic rules

Please report all issues to Darin
Test period: Until October 15th
After the test period you can send back the wheel or purchase it with a 50% discount
Shipping costs will be covered by Endor
Of course we will give no guidelines what you write in your review. You don't have to be a fanboy to get the chance to test it.
Embargo: You are not allowed to publish anything about this wheel until October 15th
We will store your credit card information as deposit.

If you are interested, please follow the next steps:

Please register here if you are not registered already: http://www.911wheel.de/?q=node/1154

You can only register once!
Post the following information as comment to this blog entry:

Your country / language

Consoles / PC you own

Links to reviews you made

Forums you are most active in

Tell my why you would be the perfect tester

The beta test for the CSW will follow as well but quantities are very limited.

UPDATE:

If you cannot register anymore it means that you probably are already registered. It is only possible to register one time. But this does not mean you cannot participate in several tests of course.

UPDATE 2:

Thanks for the tremendous response. We only have a very few wheels available but the enourmous amount of interest convinced me to make a second round with more testers. Keep posting.

UPDATE 3:

Thanks for the great interest. We have now selected testers and will notify them soon.

Thomas Jackermeier

We finally have enough inventory to offer the 911 GT2 Clubsport edition again.

But supply might not last very long with the upcoming release of FM4.

The PWGT2 ClubSport edition contains:

911 GT2 wheel
ClubSport pedals
Porsche wheel shifter set
ClubSport shifter paddles - Carbon fibre

It is available in the US and EU webshop.

Thomas Jackermeier

We have a rapid growth at the moment and this means we are looking for new members of our team.

If you have a porfessional attitude and like to help us to develop our products and build up our service structure you might like to consider working for us.

So if you live around Landshut or want to move to Landshut you are welcome to have a look at the attached documents.

UPDATE

The job does not require to be German or speak German. If you seriously consider to move to Germany we can translate the job description for you.

Thomas Jackermeier

At Gamescom in Cologne we are showing the new ClubSport wheel with Formula rim together with the game Formula 1 2011.

Here is a detailed introduction about the features and benefits of the new wheel.

The target audience for this wheel are hardcore Simracers on PC or PlayStation 3.

The development is not finished yet but we are confident to start production this year. We will only take pre-orders if the products are on the way to our warehouses.

The next wheel rim will be announced in middle of September in Regensburg.

It is great to get so much great feedback here at GC and I would like to thank all the people I met here and had nice conversations.

What are your top 3 favorite features?

Thomas Jackermeier

This week is Europes biggest game fair: The Gamescom in Cologne.

We will show the Forza MotorSport CSR Elite wheel at the Xbox booth on the same motion simulator as at E3. Certainly an impressive set up to play this great game.

Hint: Although everybody chooses the Ferrari, I can highly recommend to drive the Mercury Cougar. Big fun!

And we have a world premiere and proudly present our new ClubSport Wheel with FORMULA rim at the Deep Silver booth with Codemaster's F1 2011.

You are welcome to try out the wheel and the great game. (Hint: One car maker has sometimes three cars in the race now)

Later this week, I will make a video and explain the wheel in more detail.

I will be there and happy to meet with you and anybody who sees me on the show is welcome to say hello and have a chat with me.

UPDAE 1:

Enjoy

Thomas Jackermeier

We just started the beta test for our website. There are still many things to change and also we did not start the translation yet as we will be offering German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. on the website.

We have selected over 50 testers and I would like to thank everybody involved to help us.

Thomas Jackermeier

In Savannah we also showed a new version of our RennSport Cockpit which is the perfect solution if you want to have the ultimate gaming rig.

The Cockpit is fully assembled and will be delivered in a big wooden crate and ready to go.

Features:

RennSport Cockpit with underfloor box
Full aluminum construction
Carbon fibrebucket seats (different from picture)
Porsche 911 GT2 racing wheel (to be replaced with CSR Elite)
ClubSport pedals
Porsche wheel shifter set (to be replaced with ClubSport Shifter)
ClubSport handbrake
3 x Xbox 360 consoles
3 x Forza Motor Sport 3 and 4
3 x Playstation 3 consoles
3 x Gran Turismo 5
Optional PC can be integrated into the underfloor box on demand
Teufel Motiv 5 high-end 5.1 surround system with integrated speakers in the seat (not shown in these pictures)
Teufel Decoderstation for digital input
Fanatec Quake module under the seat
3 x 26" gaming monitors
Triple screen stand (new design)
3 x Xbox 360 controllers and 3 x PlayStaion 3 controllers with mounting
Fans, network hub, HDMI cables, power extensions etc.

Price:

9.999 USD (excl VAT) in USA

9.999 €uro (incl. VAT) in Europe

plus freight and instruction cost.

Probably the finest racing simulator for gaming consoles on the market.

Thomas Jackermeier

Last week I was traveling to Savannah in the USA to attend the annual PCA Parade.

Over 800 participants brought their cars to Georgia/USA and there were a lot of nice people driving in our new RennSport Cockpit Underloor Edition.

We made a Hotlap competition driving a Porsche 911 Carrera RS of 1973 at Road Atlanta with all assists on except autobrake.

The winners:

Trip Campbell 1.41.483
Denver Sells 1.42.787
Andrew Simrell 1.43.885
Chris Walty 1.44.092
Alex Rhoades1.44.438

Congratulations and have fun with your new 911 GT2 wheel plus ClubSport pedals!

The winners of the raffle will be announced in the PCA newsletter

Thomas Jackermeier

I am pleased to announce that Darin Gangi of Inside Simracing is now workin for Fanatec. He is helping us with PR, marketing, developer relations, development, community support and more.

Darin is a very dedicated simracer and very well connected in the simracing community. He is a great asset for us and I am happy to have him on board.

What does it mean for our relationship to ISR?

First of all Darin will no longer review any Fanatec products or products that are in competition with Fanatec so that there's no conflict of interest. Inside Sim Racing will continue to review hardware and Darin will continue to be part of the show in other capacities.

His first task will be to start the betatesting of the website and this will start this week.

Thomas Jackermeier

In a co-operation with Auto BILD Germany we are showing our RennSport E-Motion Cockpit on almost all DTM races this year.

If you go to these races you can drive in the simulator and show show good you are.

More info and Video of Ekström driving inour cockpit (German only):

http://www.autobild.de/videos/video-schlag-den-rennprofi-1867983.html

UPDATE:

Brunco Spengler:

http://www.autobild.de/videos/video-schlag-den-rennprofi-1868034.html

Gary Paffet:

http://www.autobild.de/videos/video-schlag-den-rennprofi-1868051.html

Summary:

http://www.autobild.de/videos/schlag-den-rennprofi-motorsport-hockenheimring-1864958.html

Thomas Jackermeier

Darin (Edit: It's dark but there is no doubt that it was actually Shaun) was driving some laps of Game Stock Car.

There is no reason why i post this here on my blog and on the video there is absolutely nothing interesting to see for you (except the great game).

Thomas Jackermeier

The Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen of Finland is presenting the German Nürburgring with Fanatec gear mounted on the new PlaySeat F1 seat.

But somehow I am wondering if he was really driving

Thomas Jackermeier

We have a new driver version available which fixes some issues with the random activation of the center spring in games like Shift 2 and perhaps others.

The drivers are stable but still in BETA stage.

Please let me know about the bugs you found or the improvements you discovered.

What else do you like to see implemented in the driver?

PS: We are still working on the SDK for developers and hope to release something shortly

UPDATE:

I have added 109 drivers in case you have problems with 110.

Please note that in 109 unpluging the wheel while the game controller panel is open can cause a blue screen!

Thomas Jackermeier

It is time to say good bye to the 911 Carrera wheel. And in order to make a fulminant exit we decided to make you an offer you can hardly ignore.

For just 199,95 USD (excl. VAT) or 195,95 € (incl. VAT) you get:

A high end racing wheel with 900°, Tuning functions and responsive force feedback
A 6+1 speed shifter
Pedals with clutch
Plus a RennSport Wheel Stand to mount everything

That means you get either a wheel for just 70.- or a wheel stand for just 40,- depending on how you look at it.

Of course all the new pedals and shifters will be compatible to the PWC so if you want to get a great combo now and perhaps upgrade later you should take a look at the webshop:

Europe:

http://www.fanatec.de/webshop/new_eu/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=99&osCsid=2b0680b94bd0a683684ce9a9f1b1a593

USA / Canada:

http://www.fanatec.de/webshop/new_usa/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=93&osCsid=7dfca65d26c6b755a753e26167f6c135

Thomas Jackermeier

Our ClubSport wheel has not even announced yet but somebody already made an almost perfect replica!

Congratulations for the best DIY wheel I have seen for a long time.

Special Kudos for the gas!

If the maker of this wheel posts a picture of him and the wheel in my blog here, he gets Fanatec wheel for free.

Thomas Jackermeier

In the latest episode of inside simracing, Darin talked to a strange guy who shared some secrets from our hidden laboratories.

After showing pictures of the new ClubSport shifter it came even worse as Paul Jeal of Codemasters jumped into the picture and showed one of the new rims of the ClubSport wheel. (I will not forget that, Paul!)

This leak is unacceptable and I will find this guy no matter what it takes.

This situation is now forcing us to unveil more official information sooner as planned so you can expect more details about the clubSport Shifter and ClubSport wheel soon.

In order to avoid the confusion created by this interview I would like to point out that there will be a CSR elite wheel and a ClubSport wheel. The development is not finished yet and we want to implement as many features as possible from the suggestions made by this community.

But it looks like we can take care of almost anything you asked for .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g-xDHdOHt44

Thomas Jackermeier

Tim Stevens came over to have a look at the new products and he made a great compilation of pictures and videos of all our new products.

Don't miss that:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/09/forza-motorsport-csr-and-csr-elite-wheel-and-pedals-hands-on/

Thanks Tim.

Thomas Jackermeier

I am proud to announce that Fanatec is making the official racing wheels for Forza Motorsport.

http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Forza4_Wheels/

We will expand our product range with several new products of our new CSR line of products:

Forza Motorsport CSR wheel
Forza Motorsport CSR Elite wheel
CSR shifter set
CSR pedals
CSR Elite pedals

The CSR line is positioned between the Porsche wheel line and the ClubSport line of products.

Both new wheels are multiplatform and come with improved force feedback technology.

The CSR Elite wheel has an entirely new base which will bring realism to a new level as the full metal construction allow extremely precise FF sensations and the new DirectSensor technology will allow a much more precise steering control than on any other wheel which has the sensor mounted on the motor.

It is similar to digital cameras. You can have 12 MP but it means nothing if the lense is no good. If the sensor is monted on the motor you will have the slack and interference of the whole belt drive system which destroys any high resolution you might have.

The CSR shifter is made with a knob fully made of metal but unlike the Clubsport shifter it is not fully made of metal. We made it less noisy as well.

All new products will be available by the end of the year although development is not finihed yet so I cannot give an exact date.

We will keep our fully modular ordering system so the pricing depends on the options you take. It will range between 320 and 700 for a set with pedals.

More info to come...

Thomas Jackermeier

Virtual.net is showing a picture of a prototype of our new high-end wheel.

http://www.virtualr.net/brand-new-fanatec-wheel-spotted/

I was there and of course I took pictures but I was wondering how long it will take if somebody else noticed that we are actually showing our new wheel there.

The Audi rim is a replica of the A1 ClubSport Quattro (nice name btw) show car which was created for the show.

Audi asked us if we can develop a very special wheel and cockpit for this event and of course we need to support a bavarian car company.

We have no plans to produce the rim in mass production but we might do other projects with Audi in the future.

Now bring it on. Who can find more pictures of our Audi cockpit and our new wheel base?

Thomas Jackermeier

Here is a very nice and detailed review of the Porsche 911 GT2 wheel which includes a comparison to the PWTS as well.

The review is very wellpresented and very professional made. And on top of that he also likes the wheel.

Thomas Jackermeier

It looks like Thrustmaster made a decent product with the T500RS and I congratulate Thrustmaster for beeing back in the market for serious wheels.

My first steering wheel was the legendary T2 wheel so it brought me into this business somehow.

Although our current line of products can keep up very well with the new competition I think that the T500RS also deserves an adequate response from Fanatec.

So I would like to ask you what should such a wheel look like if we would start to develop it.

I am interested in things like

Compatibility to what platforms?
Shape and style of wheel rim
Steady or moving shifters?
Materials used on rim and base
Colours
Name
Adjustability
Licensed or not?
Dimensions, weight
Strength and speed of the FF motors
Ho wmany buttons, switches, joysticks etc?
New Tuning functions?
Compatibility to peripherals like CSP, Shifter etc.
Backwards compatibility to older games on PS3 or Xbox
Price range
Specials?

Please consider that all features cost something and you usually get what you pay for. But of course we want to keep up with our policy of outstanding price performance due to direct distribution.

This project might take a long time for us but we need to get started somewhere so please let me know what you like and we will do our best to deliver it.

Thomas Jackermeier

We finally have the RennSport Wheel Stand V2 back in stock in sufficient quantities.

It is available in teh EU and USA. The new V2 version comes with the adapter for the G25/G27 shifter adapter included and also withone pedal stopper.

You can also adjust the angle of the vertical post in two positions if needed.

All open orders will be shipped now.

So we are now just waiting for the ships of the PWGT2 to arrive in Eu and we can deliver all products of our portfolio.

Thomas Jackermeier

It was time to reduce the price of the shifter set which includes the H-pattern shifter and the sequential shifter to 29,95 €/$

The ClubSport shifter will be announced soon at a price of 99,95 so we want to keep enough distance between the two products.

Thomas Jackermeier

We are happy to offer the Clubsport edition of the Porsche 911 GT3RS wheel again in both Europe and the USA.

The bundle comes with the wheel and the Clubsport pedals and sells for 329,95 €/$ which an advantage of 50 €/$ over the individual purchase price.

It is available right now for immediate delivery.

Thomas Jackermeier

We are working hard on a complete new website, new support system and a customer relationship management solution and we are ready to start tests with a small goup of people.

If you are interested to help us testing the new website please let me know and post something here in this blog.

Your tasks will be to check all webpages and list all problems you find or make suggestions for improvements. You will make sample orders (no payments of course) and fill the forum and blogs with test content so we know if everything works fine.

Of course you will get a nice reward for your work. In case you want to apply for a CSA (community support agent) job you are welcome to show your talents here as well. We will select the CSAs after everything is set up.

I am looking for 20 to 50 testers. Some of them will be selected as admins and the rest will hopefully make a good stresstest for the system.

The new website will feature the following:

Merge the 911wheel.com community into Fanatec.com
Combine webshop and product description
Switch to the latest technology (Magento, vBulletin and Joomla)
Much better forum with more options
Detailed knowledge base for all products
Support ticket system
Automatic shipment dates info updates
Complete new design
Product configurator
...and more!

So please let me know if you like to be part of Fanatec 2.0 andpost the reasons why you are the best for this job. Thanks.

UPDATE 1:

Please make sure your profile is complete and up to date so I can contact you.

Thanks for the fantastic response. A lot of great people here!

Thomas Jackermeier

Another two great reviews of simracing specialists:

1. VirtualR (english)

http://www.virtualr.net/fanatec-porsche-911-gt2-wheel-review/

"The Porsche 911 GT2 sells for 249€/$ without pedals, adding Fanatec’s fabulous Porsche Clubsport pedals to the mix still keeps the combination under 500€/$, making it the best value combination of all upper-market steering wheels."

2. Live-Sim (french)

http://www.live-sim.com/reader/livesim6/livesim6.html#/0

"Wheel Fanatec Porsche 911 GT2 - The best wheel cross platform"

Test is on page 36

Thomas Jackermeier

I am happy to announce that next week you will get a chance to test drive Need for Speed Shift 2 from EA at the Cebit in Hannover / Germany.

The show starts on Tuesday 1st of March.

EA shows the game at the booth of the ESL in hall 23 on 20 game stations equipped with a PWGT3RS with CSP.

Fanatec also shows the RennSport Cockpit E-Motion. A full motion cockpit with triple screens.

There is also the chance to see Team Redline Fanatec live as they compete in the Intel GP series for the best iRacer in Hall 23.

I will be there and perhaps we see us.

UPDATE: Video of SRT showing the RSC E-Motion with Shift (1)

Thomas Jackermeier

The well known gadget and technology blog "Engadget" has reviewed the Porsche 911 GT2 Clubsport edition as well as the new Thrustmaster T500 RS.

Clubsport Pedals: 8/10

911 GT2: 7/10

T500RS: 6/10

I wonder how a wheel should look like to get 9 or 10 points so I take that as a challenge

PWGT2 review:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/21/fanatec-porsche-gt2-wheel-and-clubsport-pedals-review/

T500RS review:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/18/thrustmaster-t500-rs-review/

Thomas Jackermeier

If you are keen to get a high-end Xbox wheel then there is the chance to grab some of the very last PWTS available on the market.

Playseats in Europe has some inventory of this wheel. They received the last and final production batch and still have some units left.

So if you prefer normal leather over Alcantara and immediate delivery, here is the place to go:

http://playseat.com/shop/promotions/porsche-911-turbo-s-pure-edition-clubsport-pedals.html

http://playseat.com/shop/de/steering-wheels-and-pedals/porsche-911-turbo-s-pure-edition-clubsport-pedals.html

The price of the wheel with CSP is just 419,00€ or 367 GBP.

Unfortunatly this offer is only available in Europe.

Thomas Jackermeier

For all customers who are currently waiting to get their products shipped I would like to give you an update on the situation.

It is impossible to give you an exact shipment date for your specific order as it depends on what you ordered and when you ordered. Some customers might get their products ealier than customers ordered at a earlier date but that can happen if the order contained one of our special offers like the ClubSport editions.

We are getting in a lot of inventory in the next weeks so here is a list of all arrival dates of the ships. Please add at least 2 weeks for custom clearance and some more days for shipping it to you.

Once again: It is impossible to tell what order will be shipped at what date but we get in enough products to fullfil all open orders in late January at the latest. And in case we cannot ship the Clubsport editions because the shifters or carbon shifter paddles are missing then we will make separate shipments with no extra cost.

Arrival dates of the ships:

EU:

RennSport Wheel Stand

Jan 22nd

PWGT3 RS V2

Jan 7th

Jan 14th

Jan 21st

Feb 4th

PWGT2

Jan 21st

Feb 4th

CSP

Jan 7th

Jan 21st

Feb 4th

PW shifter set

Feb 4th

USA:

RennSport Wheel Stand

Jan 7th

PWGT3 RS V2

Dec 26th

Dec 31st

PWGT2

Jan 21st

Feb 4th

CSP

Enough inventory at the moment

Dec 31st

Jan 23rd

PW shifter set

Dec 31st

Please be patient. You will get your stuff for sure and thanks for your support.

All potential customers are recommended to place their order soon as the incoming inventory is barely enough to fullfil the open orders so pre-ordering is highly recommended.

UPDATE 1:

PWGT3 RS EU and USA

We received new inventory and we will release all open orders of all versions this week. Our US warehouse should start to ship out everything this week until early next week.

PWGT2 EU and USA:

Due to the incredible demand we had to set the delivery date for new orders to May in the USA and middle of February in EU.

All current open orders of the regular or CS edition in both USA and EU will be shipped from our warehouses in week 7 and 8.

We originally planned to ship the Clubsport editions in January so there is a delay of several weeks and I would like to apologize for that. We tried to deliver earlier by breaking up the bundle and make more shipments but it would have created a mess and potentially create chaos and more delays.

UPDATE 2:

USA:

We have enoughinventory for immediate shipment on the following products:

PWGT3RS V2
CSP
PWC
PWP (standard pedals)

PWGT2 CS

The missing parts have arrived and are currently waiting for customs clearace. We will start shipping the backorders in week 8 as announced in my e-mail.

PWGT2

Due to the Chinese New Year holidays there is a massive delay in production but we will be able to keep the May delivery schedule

PWSS

We are still behind schedule on this product. All incoming orders will be used to fulfill the open orders so it is unsure when we will have enough inventory of this product for regular shipment. We have ships to arrive in mid February and mid March.

PWGT3RS V1->V2 upgrade kits

The new shipment has finally arrived but we need to do some testing before we can announce a confirmed delivery date. We received enough inventory to fullfil all open orders.

RSWS V2

All backorders have been shipped except the orders which will be shipped together with the PWGT2 CS.

The inventory will not last long and new shipment will arrive in April.

EU:

We have enoughinventory for immediate shipment on the following products:

PWGT3RS V2
PWP (standard pedals)

CSP

The ship will arrive this week so we can ship out all backorders in week 7 or 8.

PWGT2 CS

The missing parts have been shipped by air and sea but we still wait for a confirmation of arrival. We will start shipping the backorders in
week 7 as announced in my e-mail.

PWGT2

The backorders can be shipped in week 7 as announced if everything goes smoothly with customs.

The incoming quantity will be enough to fulfill the open orders and we will be able to offer some small quantities for immediate shipment.

PWSS

We are still
behind schedule on this product. All incoming orders will be used to
fulfill the open orders so it is unsure when we will have enough
inventory of this product for regular shipment. We have ships to arrive
in mid March.

PWGT3RS V1->V2 upgrade kits

The
new shipment has finally arrived but we need to do some testing before
we can announce a confirmed delivery date. We received enough inventory
to fullfil all open orders.

PWC

New inventory will arrive in April.

RSWS V2

All backorders will be shipped this week except the orders which will be shipped together with the PWGT2 CS.

The inventory will only be enough to fulfill the open orders and the new shipment will arrive in April.

UPDATE 3

PWGT2 and PWGT2 CS

As promised in my e-mail, we started to ship out the wheels in the USA and EU will follow this week as well.

UPDATE4

PWGT2 and PWGT2 CS

Well, this is not really an update but as we get so many inquiries I just want to assure you again that we will ship all the remaining orders by next week (week 8) as promised in my e-mail or written on the blog.

UPDATE 5

PWGT2 CS

So the last wheels which were promised for the January delivery have left our warehouse and are on the way to you. Although we ship all the wheel components together, it happens that UPS splits the shipments and some components might arrive a bit later. The mice will be sent from a different warehouse early next week.

Thanks for your patience and I hope you all enjoy your PWGT2 wheels now.

Don't forget to calibrate your shifter, please.

Thomas Jackermeier

We already have our plans but we might still be able to add something or change priorities for new products or services.

On the top of our priority list is the new website and new customer relationship management system in order to activate our community support agents. All those measurements will improve our service quality a lot but of course we also keep on working to improve product quality itself.

In terms of products we want to release the CSS and CSHB (CS shifter and handbrake) but beside that we have some nice surprises in the pipeline.

But here is your chance to let me know what you like us to produce for you and why we should do so. The more specific you are the better. You can also tell me what other things you like have changed.

The last year was our best in history and I look forward to a great 2011. A big thanks to all of you and the great help you provided. I wish you and your families a great new year!

Thomas Jackermeier

We just released the final drivers 107 for all Porsche wheels.

You can download it in the support section of Fanatec.com

http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=310&lang=en

Changelog:

No changes from version 106 Beta

Thomas Jackermeier

I am sorry to tell you that we have to delay the delivery of the PWGT3RS V1->V2 upgrade kits again.

After sending us a shipment with missing components, they sent us the wrong cables and now the correct cables are defective and many PCBAs are not in the quality we expect. We decided to completely send back the upgrade kits for immediate replacement of fully tested and 100% perfect products instead of sending out products with uncertain quality.

Especially on the upgrade kits we would otherwise have big problems to find out if a defective is caused by improper installation or because of the quality of the kit itself.

I know that you are desparatly waiting for the kits since several months and it is painful not to ship out the units we have but it is the right decision in the long run. We compalined heavily about the lousy quality of the kits which was sent out by our manufacturer and asked for immediate replacement and explanation. I assume that they just sent us units which were sorted out during the regular production process but this is not acceptable of course.

I will keep you up to date when we will get the replacement units.

Thomas Jackermeier

I would like to show you a very special mod for our Porsche wheels.

The creator of these products is Teki Ei-Ichi of Japan and I think he did a brilliant job without having tested his products yet.

He first designed a shifter wich looks just like the real thing.

His second mod was a handbrake which looks amazing as well. It is based on our CSPs and even uses the pressure sensitive load cell.

Both products look like an outstanding piece of high-end Japanese engineering and I like it a lot.

His handbrake brings me into a real dilemma.

We already have a prototype of our ClubSport handbrake and it is about to be ready for production but I am seriously considering to scrap our current design and let Teki Ei-Ichi help us to develop the CSHB.

Here is a drawing of the CSHB. The lever can be mounted lying or standing. Inside is a simple spring mechanism with potentiometer. There will be several holes on all sides to mount it. Size will be much smaller than the TEI handbrake.

The shifter seems to be much more expensive to produce than our planned CSS which should sell for about 100 USD/€ but how much more would you be willing to spend for a shifter in this quality?

Opinions please!

Shifter:

Thomas Jackermeier

I will not comment a lot on this video as the test result speaks for itself.

It seems that our wheels are not a bad choice for GT5

The wheel section starts at 24.45

Shaun Cole: "If you have a Clubsport pedal in Granturismo you have an unfair advantage on everybody"

Thomas Jackermeier

We just have made a new driver for all Porsche wheels. So far it is still in BETA stage as it is not fully tested but discovered no significant bugs.

Changelog:

Adapted to the models: PWC, PWTS, PWGT2, PWGT3RS V2
Features like calibration or wheel illumination are only shown on wheels which need that function
Fixed a bug with the driftmode

Please test the driver and let me know if you have any problems.

This driver is needed to use the wheel on:

Win XP 32
Win Vista 32/64
Win 7 32/64

Thomas Jackermeier

We have started to ship the wheel!

The first customers will receive it in the USA but we also received the first shipments in EU this week and will start shipping before Christmas.

Unfortunatly the first batch was very small so it was not enough to fullfil all open orders and many customers will still need to wait until January to receive the wheel.

But the quantity for January is not too big as well so please place your order in time.

Please do not contact our sales team because they are already flooded with emails and this can even cause further delays.

You will be notified by email as soon as the product has been shipped to you.

PS: We still have that bug in our websop system that you only get a confirmation email from PayPal and not from us but we did receive your order if you received a confirmation of Paypal.

Thomas Jackermeier

Let me introduce you to a new member of our racing wheel line of products:

Porsche 911 GT2 racing wheel

Thomas Jackermeier

...not so clear.

This competition was a lot of fun for me and I was surprised about many creative answers I got. Many thanks to all our fans.

All hints have been solved and some of you already knew that it could only be the Porsche 911 GT2 of 2008 in meteor grey metallic.

The first one who named the right car was 12thgear. He named the correct car and he posted the picture of the right steering wheel but unfortunatly not of the car. The picture he posted is an official shot of Porsche and the actual car was black according to their picture database.

huntersmith posted the same but also the correct picture of the car so he was actually the first correct entry.

Sonac and Näggi followed on second and third so the winners are:

1. huntersmith

2. sonac

3. Näggi

Congratulations!

You will get your wheel before the end of this year.

But what should we do with 12thgear? Opinions please.

UPDATE:

We have a fourth winner! Congratulations to 12thgear. (I never really considered not to give him a wheel )

Thomas Jackermeier

The following wheels are fully compatible to GT5:

911 Carrera wheel
911 Turbo S wheel
911 GT3 RS V2 wheel

These wheels need to be upgraded to make it work:

1. 911 Turbo Wheel (Not "S")

In order to make this wheel work you need to use the new RF dongle for the 911 Turbo S wheel which is available in our weshop for 29,95 USD / Euro. (USA / EU)

All customers get the dongle for free within the extended warranty period of 2 years.

If your wheel is older than 2 years we will offer you a free coupon code of 20 USD / EURO after the purchase of the dongle.

How to get your dongle or discount coupon?

Please place a regular order and leave a note in the comments field with the fanatec invoice number and date of your original PWT purchase and we will send you an email with your coupon code or change the order amount.

Please note that this offer is only valid to Fanatec webshop customers. If you purchased your product at a dealer you need to contact them for help.

2. 911 GT3RS V1 wheel

This wheel was never advertised to be fully PS3 compatible although it works with several games. Unfortunatly this is not the case for GT5. The good news are that you can upgrade your wheel to V2 and get full PS3 compatibility, more Tuning features and even the big ClubSport shifter paddles.

You can purchase the upgrade kits in our webshop but availability is limited due to the big demand.

Notes:

You can map buttons if you choose the profile for the "Driving Force Pro"
No need to press the trinagle button to activate the clutch but you need to connect the h-pattern shifter
Set the SEN to 900° because this will work best
If you want to reduce the angle to less than 900° in order to make faster movements you should increase the Linearity value in order to keep the precise feeling around the center and avoid shaking on straights.
It is not recommended to add artificial dead zone but sometimes it helps
Reduce the driftmode to avoid shaking
The clutch will be activated only after you press it.
After activating theclutch you must use it in order to avoid misshifts
The clutch only works if the H-pattern shifter is connected
It is possible to use the h-pattern andthe paddle shifters in parallel
If you want to map buttons you canchoose the profile of the Driving Force Pro
The tuning dial functions of the Driving Force GT can also be mapped to the Fanatec wheels

Thomas Jackermeier

After getting so much positive feedback I don't want to dissapoint you and let you know that something nice is on the way.

We actually developed a new Xbox 360 compatible wheel and it is even on the way to USA and EU right at this moment.

Let me be mean and don't give you all the specs and pics right away. I will post several hints until you get the "full picture".

Hint 1: It is again the top of the line product at Fanatec

Hint 2: Just like the PWTS Pure it will be offered as a standalone wheel as well as in different bundles.

Hint 3: It is not orange and has no yellow stripe in the middle of the wheel rim

Hint 4: It is licensed by a German sports car maker (surprise, surprise!. But don't worry this will not make the wheel significantly more expensive. Just more beautiful. (Hint inside hint: Nobody guessed the correct model yet)

Hint 5: It will have illuminated buttons and that means...?

Hint 6: The logo of the car shows a black horse

Hint 7: One component of the wheel can only be made in Italy and another one we get directly from the UK

Hint 8: The colour of the base is named after something which is 1000 times faster than the car itself

Hint 9: The car model is no longer in production but will never look old or lame

The first three members who post a picture or link of the right car in the right colour will win this wheel!

Competition is closed! Thank you

Note: I found such a picture with Google.

(Only one guess per user allowed from today Sunday 28th of Dec. It is not allowed to edit a post. I will announce the winners on Wednesday)

Thomas Jackermeier

We just listed the upgrade kits in our Shop.

You can order two versions:

1. With installation service

2. Do it yourself kit

Please note that the shipping cost will be added and it will be quite different as we calculate the freight cost of a wheel for version 1.

All customers who pre-ordered their kit need to place this order in the webshop and make the payment. The previous e-mail is not enough to receive the kits.

Unfortunatly we do not have enough kits to fulfill all pre-orders so please order them in time in order to catch the first delivery.

The kits will be sent from China this week by UPS but it will take some time until they are ready to ship to you.

UPDATE: There was another small delay as the cables we received did not match. We now received the correct cables and will ship this week (week 50).

UPDATE 2:

Finally we have the kits ready and will ship all open orders this week. I apologize the delay but many things went different than expected. If we have enough kits avaiable we will bring it back into the webshop again but for now we only ship the orders we have.

Thomas Jackermeier

This is another outstanding and very detailed test about our Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel and how the Tuning functions work. Unfortunatly I forgot to tell him that he can use a new firmware with the wheel so he used 614.

The test is made in German language.

http://www.areadvd.de/lm/AV_Hardware/test_fanatecporsche911turboswheel.shtml

-1 comment

We are looking for a person to take care of our Cockpit and Wheel Stand sales. We want to expand this field and bring more models like motion cockpits and complete solutions. We also want to offer rental services.

Later on we will also need such a person in the USA and perhaps other countries but for now we are looking for somebody to work here in Landshut.

If you like to help us selling and handling the orders then you should meet the following criterias:

Excellent skills in English language
European passport
Experience in handling customers
Good mechanical and technical know-how
Simracing experience with consoles and PC

Please sned me your application papers to [email protected]

Thomas Jackermeier

Another great review

http://www.playstationleague.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=74759&sid=af80eb0533050cabbaafed22b89c3a6f#p74759

9 / 10

"The Fanatec GT3 RS Clubsport edition wheel and pedals come very well recommended."

Thomas Jackermeier

Brian Clancy made another very detailed and interesting review about our 911 GT3RS V2 wheel on Racedepartmen.com

http://www.racedepartment.com/content/868-fanatec-gt3rsv2-wheel-review-comments2.html#comments

"Overall, Fanatec have moved the bar, bringing a whole host of innovative design and functuionality features not seen before on a wheel at this pricepoint."

278 of 300

Thomas Jackermeier

Here is the latest Firmware for

911 Turbo S
911 Carrera
911 GT3RS V2

Change log

New manual
fixed bug in Tuning menu: Values were interfereing
NEW Function: "dPr"

This value changes the damper signal which comes from the game. It is very effective on games with too much damper like WRC. Works in X360 and PS3 mode.

It is different from the drift mode which changes the overall damper which is independent of the game.

As ususal, this FW is just BETA and you install it on your own risk.

UPDATE: If you need to calibrate the center you need to use the same button combo on all the three mentioned wheels.

Go to PC mode. First press the two lower left buttons and then the base button.

Check the PWTS manual if you have problems.

UPDATE 2: Please do NOT use the calibration function of the driver anymore if you have a PWGT3RS V2. This function only works for the V1.

UDATE 3: Added manual for theRF dongle bootloader

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