Blog

Thomas Jackermeier

We get a lot of inquiries for the PWTS now that it is sold out.

We will definitly not produce this model anymore as the edition was strictly limited to 10.000 units worldwide.

But if there is demand we could make a new wheel with Xbox 360 compatibility in the future.

Please give me your feedback if you would be interested in such a wheel and let me know how it should look like.

In case we really make a new wheel we will notify all users which posted here.

-1 comment

We are looking to expand our team to improve our service and R&D capabiliies and look for a

Support and Development Assistant (SDA)

The job is located in our office in Landshut / Bavaria and it is a regular full time job.

The CSA program will start after we have sucessfully implemented and tested our new CRM system which will be one of the tasks of the SDA.

Beside supporting our customers you will also do all kind of tasks to help in development like testing products (this sounds like fun but it isn't always ) and do some basic engineering tasks like assembling products or drilling holes etc.

We therefore have the following must have criterias:

Excellent skills in English language
European passport (Germans preferred but this is not a must have)
Good mechanical skills
Familiar with MS office and Windows
Professional attitude and solid work experience (We dont need kiddies in our team)

Nice to have:

Second language like German or other major languages
Experience with simracing
Experience on several gaming consoles and PC

This is not a super demanding engineering job so payment will be accordingly but beside that we can offer a very interesting environment and you will learn a lot about all aspects of the company and you will work with a small but great team with a lot of enthusiasm.

Please send me your application papers to [email protected]

Thomas Jackermeier

We have a brand new firmware for the following wheels:

911 Carrera
911 Turbo S
911 GT3RS V2 (NOT V1)

UPDATE: We are investigating n issue with PWC. Please do not install this version at the moment.

UPDATE 2: There is one confirmed issue:
If you change the SPr settings it will also change the dEA settings

The new firmware has the following changes:

1. New Tuning function "SPr"

You can now adjust the spring force effect in PS3 and PC games. This improves the force feedback in many PS3 games dramatically. It is a big advantage especially on PS3 games like F1 2010.

I did not notice any difference in GT5 P and NSF Shift.

On PC I also did not notice anydifference and on Xbox it has no effect for sure.

2. Fan mode

You now have two modes for the fans:

On: The fans run from the beginning but run faster depending on the temperature

Off: The fan is off and will start with a certain temperature.

You can toggle between the modes by pressing the 4 lower of the 8 main buttons of the wheel when the PWTS is still in standby mode.

On PWC and PWGT3RS V2 it is a bit tricky as you need to power on the wheel and let the wheel move fully to the right but before it returns to the center you need to catch the wheel, press and hold the four buttons and then move the wheel to the center.

You will also see the FWversion if you press those 4 buttons.

IMPORTANT:

Like all other FW updates, this is a delivered as BETA version and you do the update on your own risk.

You really need to read the manual and we highly recommend to use Win XP to make the update.

The manual is included in the .zip file
Take care that the USB drivers for the wheel in bootloader mode are installed manually and properly. This is the main reason for update problems.

Thomas Jackermeier

Racedepartmentcom has reviewed the Clubsport Pedals and I think they liked it a little

This is a very detailed and well made test by a simracer and perhaps it helps you to make a decision if you don#t already own them.

"RD Rating 295/300

I very much doubt we will see any other product score this high again!"

http://www.racedepartment.com/content/795-fanatec-club-sport-pedal-review.html

Thomas Jackermeier

We received the first batch of upgrade kits but unfortunatly our supplier forgot to include a lot of important parts so that we cannot ship them.

We are now negoting how to get those missing parts asap by UPS but it seems that we run into the same issue as before that our supplier has no export license to export electronics independent from a wheel shipment (which is by sea). Stupid bureaucracy all over the world...

I will keep you informed.

PS: We also try hard to get more products as it seems that we definitly have a shortage of wheels this year.

UPDATE:

We are still having problems to get the upgrade kits out of China and it is getting back and forth with our supplier. I just wanted to let you know that we are working hard on it but have no confirmed shipping date yet

UPDATE 2:

We finally arranged shipment of the upgrade kits and they will leave China by UPS next week. You can order the upgrade kits from next Monday.

Thomas Jackermeier

The first version of the PWTS is now sold out in EU.

We still have some PWTS Pure and Ultimate editions but I don't think it will last until November as sales are increasing on a daliy basis.

The PWGT3RS V2 is back in stock in EU next week and we also received the shipments of the PWC which are currently clearing customs.

UPDATE:

EU:

Now PWTS P and PWTS UE is sold out in EU.

The shipment of PWGT3RS V2 has been sold before it arrived but all orders with September shipment date will be processed now. There are some more wheels coming but I am afraid that the wheels will not last until November if sales continue like last weekend.

US:

PWTS will probably last some more weeks or days.

Thomas Jackermeier

Codemasters released a list of offcially supported wheels for their upcoming game F1 2010.

While all Fanatec wheels are supported in the PC version only the PWTS is supported on Xbox 360.

But why are there no Fanatec wheels in the list for the PS3?

We are working very closely with Codemasters and they confirmed that the PWC, PWTS and PWGT3RS V2 do work fine with the game but they had no time to run the full test program so they did not put it on the list.

I just want to assure you that everything is ok and your wheels will work fine with this excellent game.

Thomas Jackermeier

I just got the confirmation that the new 911 Carrera arrives in EU on the 19th of September.

It will arrive in US on Sept 2nd.

After the ships arrived it will still take up to three weeks until it will arrive at the customers but it is looking good so far...

Thomas Jackermeier

Delphic reason made a great review of the new Porsche 911 Carrera racing wheel together with the RennSport Wheel Stand.

"In conclusion, I can't think of any reason someone would be in the market for a budget wheel and not end up with a PWCPorsche Carrera Wheel. A ton of features, a ton of adjustments, and precise force feedback. If you want a wheel, but don't want to shell out the $300 for a G25/G27 (with less features to boot), this needs to be at the top of your list. After trying the PWC, all my friends are bugging me for a release date. Logitech has something to be worried about, after a long time of being the industry leader for simulation wheels. Competition breeds innovation, so we'll see how both Fanatec and Logitech evolve due to this. Right now, my money is on Fanatec."

Check out GTplanet for the full review:

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=129937

Thomas Jackermeier

I am proud to introduce two products which are exclusively sold by Porsche through their dealers or through the Prosche Drivers Selection online shop.

The official Porsche mouse

http://shop2.porsche.com/germany/lifestyle/office/wap0408100b/

Wireless laser mouse
Designed by Porsche
Integrated nano dongle

The official Porsche USB key 4GB

http://shop2.porsche.com/germany/lifestyle/office/wap0407120b/

Pop out USB plug
4 GB capacity
Exact replica of a Panamera andnew 911 car key
Compatible to the Porsche in car entertainment system

Both products are made by us and delivered to Porsche.

A perfect present, don't you think?

Thomas Jackermeier

We just finished the first batch of the new Porsche 911 Carrera wheel and we will ship it shortly to Europe and USA.

It took a bit longer than expected but this time we wanted to make sure everything is perfect from the beginning.

The wheel is now available in the webshop for 159,95 USD / Euro but the first batch is very limited as we just started mass production.

You will get all the great Tuning features of the PWGT3RS V2and it comes with the h-pattern shifter and clutch.

It is a lot value for the money and I assume that the rumors that you "only pay for the Porsche brand" finally come to an end.

I hope you enjoy our new "entry level" Fanatec wheel.

Thomas Jackermeier

I am happy to announce that we can give away a VIP ticket of Electronic Arts which offers the following:

Free hotel room from Thursday to Sunday
Access to the EA community lounge (open from Thursday)
Cart racing event (Sat)
EA Community Party (Sat)
Free ticket to enter Gamescom

In order to participate you just need to write a comment and tell me on what date you will visit GamesCom. Good luck!

In case you don't get the ticket you can visit me on Friday at 14.00 at the EA booth (NFS section). I hope to see you there and we can have a chat about whatever you like.

UPDATE:

The winner is JABOFU

Congratulations. I will see you there and challenge you with the kart

Thomas Jackermeier

We finally get a batch of Tuning kits for the ClubSport Pedals in October and they are ready for pre-order right away in the webshop.

Unfortunatly the amount in this batch is limited so we will only keep it in the webshop until we are sold out again.

By the end of the year the situation should change on this product.

Thomas Jackermeier

Delphic reason made another fantastic guide how to invert your CSPs.

It is actually quite simple as you only have to swap some cables and exchange pedal plates.

Please have a look at his post in GTplanet:

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=3955508#post3955508

Thanks for this great guide!

Thomas Jackermeier

In the latest version of JSJ's GPLshift mod for Grand Prix Legends he implemented support for the LED display of the Porsche wheels.

Thisis still an early BETA version so it has it's limitations.

Please check out his website to download the mod and more info:

http://www.gplshift.dk/GPLshift/index.htm

Thomas Jackermeier

We finally have the ClubSport table clamp back in stock and will deliver all open orders right away.

The stock is limited so if you want a more sturdy mount with adjustable angle for your desk please don't hesitate to place an order

Thomas Jackermeier

We just shipped the last and final batch of 600 x 911 Turbo S Pure wheels which will be sold as stand alone version or in combination with the ClubSport pedals as Ultimate Edition.

Both versions can be pre-ordered again and will arrive in our warehouse in middle of August.

In US we also have still some hundred wheels available but it's coming to an end now.

Thomas Jackermeier

At E3 I had a chance to meet with the guys from SRT and we had a good time at a Forza party and later I was invited to the studio and we did some racing and the interview which is now featured in Episode 72 of insidesimracing.tv.

Thanks to Jessica, Darin, Shaun and Tommy.

Thomas Jackermeier

Some of you already noticed that we are recommending to get those products as upgrade so here is the official announcement.

We now have two new products listed in the webshop and available for immediate delivery:

Clubsport Paddle Shifter (aluminum) [19,95 USD / EUR]
ClubSport Paddle Shifter Carbon [39,95 USD/EUR]

Both products are an ideal upgrade for the following wheels:

Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel
Porsche 911 GT3RS wheel (V1)
Porsche 911 Carrera wheel

It s not possible to upgrade the old 911 Turbo wheels.

It is very easy to install them as you just need a screwdriver.

I am still waiting to get more pictures but here you can see those paddles from the backside:

http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=230&lang=en

And Sean already posted some pics where you can see them from the side:

Keith Richmond

We decided to make all the new features and upgrades of the new V2 version available to existing customers of the 911 GT3RS V2.

As this is a major upgrade it is required to make some fundamental changes on the wheels. The following components need to be replaced:

Inner structure of wheel rim with new paddle shifter buttons
Clubsport Paddle Shifters
LED display cover
Wheel rim PCB
Base PCB
Base button PCB with cable
Main cable wheel-base

The on-off switch cannot be upgraded.

In order to upgrade, the wheel must be almost compeltely disassembled. You can see how it works in the video below (big thanks to Patrick!).

Please note that we will not give any warranty if something is damaged during the rework of the wheel. It is sold as "spare parts".

We will offer this kit as a stand alone kit for 40 EURO / USD. This is our cost price and we consider this offer as service.

If you are not a big DYI fan you can also send us the wheel and we will make the transformation for you. We have service agents in Germany and California.

The price of the service is 30 EUR / USD plus shipping costs in both ways.

In order to minimize the waiting time we want to organize and schedule the upgrades. Therefore we collect all orders first and then arrange production of the upgrade kits.

Please be patient as it can take several weeks until we can ship those kits.

If you are interested to upgrade your PWGT3RS to V2 please send an e-mail to [email protected] with exactly this text:

Subject of e-mail:

"PWGT3RSV32 upgrade kit"

Text:

"I am interested in purchasing a kit to upgrade my PWGT3RS to V2

[choose]

A) I want to make the upgrade by myself

I want to send you my wheel and use the upgrade service"

SERIAL NUMBER OF PWGT3RS:

NAME:

ADRESS:

Thomas Jackermeier

In order to continously improve our products and match the highest standards we decided to make a big upgrade on our popular 911 GT3 RS wheel.

The V2 has complete new electronics which are based on the 911 Turbo S Ultimate Edition.

The biggest change on the mechanics are a complete new design of the paddle shifters and a structure to keep the paddle shifter buttons more stable.

Here is the detailed list of the new 911 GT3 RS V2 racing wheel:

Full PS3 compatibility
3 styles of paddle shifter included:

Button only

Small steel shifter

Big Clubsport Paddle Shifter made of aluminum
Upgradeable firmware
on/off switch
More powerful electronics for perfect calibration and precision

Advanced TUNING functions:

Adjustable ABS vibration for all games (PS3 and PC)
Adjustable deadzone (no more shaking on straigths)
Adjustable linearity
Steering angle from 90° to 900° in 10° steps
Adjusstable drift mode

The new wheels are in stock and for immediate shipment in EU and USA.

Pricing:

PWGT3RSV2: 179,95 EUR/USD

PWGT3RSV2 CS: 319,95 EUR/USD

http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=230&lang=en

There will be an upgrade option for existing wheels and I will let you more on that very soon.

Picture of the new Clubsport Paddle Shifter attached.

EDIT: I forgot that the wheel also comes with an adapter to connect the G25 pedals to the wheel

EDIT2: Forget it. There is no adapter. Sorry for the confusion.

Thomas Jackermeier

Some time ago I was looking for testers for the wheel comparison between

PWTS UE
PWGT3RS CS
G27

http://www.911wheel.de/?q=node/3162

it is now your last chance to leave a post there and apply for the test as I am selecting the testers now.

I want to make 2-3 rounds with about 20 to 30 testers and I am especially looking for testers which can make the test not only in english but other languages like Spanish, French, Dutch, Suomi, Italian, Swedish, German, Portuguese etc.

The test was delayed a bit in order to include the V2 facelift version of the PWGT3RS (more on that later next week).

All testers have to follow a weighted rating scale and I would like to get your opinions about what is important to you.

Let me make a proposal and you can give me comments on what is missing or should be changed.

Of course we cannot find a solution which pleases everybody but I am sure that there is a good indication where to go.

Here we go:

			100
Wheel			40
	Force Feedback
		noise level
		smoothness/feeling
		strength
		vibration motor functionality
	Features
		amount of buttons on wheel
		amount of buttons (total)
		ease of use
		shifter paddles haptic feeling
		shifter paddles precision
		Adjustability (Tuning functions)
		LED Display to show car telemetry data
		wireless connection wheel to console/PC
		cable length power supply
		cable length USB
		H-Pattern Shifter

	Quality
		Sensor resolution
		Material / Surface
		Ergonomy
		construction / weight


	Functionality
		Mounting options
		Ergonomy
		Material / feeling of wheel rim
		Stability


Pedals			40
	Quality
		Durability mechanics
		Durability sensors
		Sensor resolution
		Material
		Construction / weight
		Ergonomy
	Adjustability
		Adjustability spring strength
		Adjustability pedal angle
		Adjustability pedal position
		Adjustable pedal travel (throw)
	Functionality
		Stability
		Anti-sliding
		Pedal resistance
		Mounting
		Compatibility
	Featues
		Adjustable brake sensitivity
		ABS Vibration



General			20
		Combatibility PC
		Compatibility PS3
		Compatibility Xbox 360
		Compatibility to different pedals
		Packaging
		Manual
		Service
		Driver options
		Driver Installation
		Official upgrade options
		Plug&Play
		Price performance

I am not sure to what level we really need to break down the rating so I made it for level 1 only so far. let me know if we shoul drate on level 2 or even level 3 as well.

Thomas Jackermeier

Another great review of our Clubsport pedals.

Darin and Tommy showed not only the features of the pedals but also have a line up of all available colour kits and show the Tuning kit as well.

They missed the ABS vibration but even without that it was convincing enough to prefer our CSPs over more expensive pedals and anything which is delivered together with any other wheel.

Thomas Jackermeier

The guys from SRT had a chance to play an early alpha version of F1 2010 of Codemasters.

In order to play it properly they decided to bring their own equipment:

Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel
RennSport Wheel Stand

Andy from Codemasters mentioned that they will support our wheels and in fact I am in contact since several months with that team.

I personally like the apporach they make by trying to deliver a sim or racing game for all target groups. It is certainly not as flexible as rFactor Pro but it looks much more fun to me.

The deadzone in the game is a bit of a concern but it is normal if they optimized it for controllers on that version. I love the fact that they adjust the performance of the teams to the actual performance of this season.

Thomas Jackermeier

We finally convinced UPS to ship the goods to us so we are able to send them out to our customers this week.

The big demand was a little surprise to us so we are almost sold out before we even shipping the tuning kit. We therefore decided to keep the CSP TKIT offline in the webshop until the new inventory arrives. I will let you know how long that takes.

All open orders in EU are processed now.

Thomas Jackermeier

I made a little video to explain the Tuning functions of the Porsche 911 Turbo S Ultimate Edition racing wheel.

Of course this firmware is compatible to all PWTS wheels and you can download and install the attached files.

This is only for experienced PC users and you must follow the instructions carefully.

The new options will make your wheel even more flexible and I hope you like it.

If you want to have other functions or features in the firmware let me know!

UPDATE: If you experience problems with step 2 of the installation, please try to delete the file "log.txt" which comes with the package. It will be automatically generated again the next time you make the update.

If this does not help you need to manually install the USB driver. Try to change the USB port as well.

Another solution for Windows 7:

Start the update process as per the instructions.
After running the ‘pw1’ file, Windows will no longer recognise the wheel
and will not be able to find the relevant driver.
Open the Devices and Printers window – the wheel should be the Unknown
Device at the bottom.
Open its Properties window and select Install
Driver.
Select the driver location manually – Browse, and select the folder
containing; (it's in the "PWTS_UE_Bootloader_rev669usb driver" folder).
Windows will panic that it cannot verify the author; confirm that you
want to continue.
After the installation has completed you will have to restart the wheel
(in bootloader mode), and restart the update from step 1. But this time
you should be able to complete the process.

Thomas Jackermeier

Although the production of the Tuning kit for the Clubsport pedals happened at the same time we were only able to ship it by UPS to USA.

For some starnge reason UPS refused to ship the Tuning kit to Europe due to the lubricants inside.

This means that we now had to take out the Tuning kit from our EU webshop until we can be sure when it will arrive. We probably have to use seafreight. At this point we cannot give an estimate how long it will take.

All customers who already ordered the CSP TKIT can get an immediate refund or just wait until the goods arrive. My apologies for that delay but we did not expect such weird rules from UPS.

Thomas Jackermeier

A big thanks to "Chunx" over at SimHQ which is a great source of simracing info.

He provides an incredible detailed list of how to adjust, fine-tune and modify your

Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel
Clubsport pedals
Sequential shifter
Wheel Stand

He is also suggesting some recommended settings for several games but of course this is always a matter of personal preference.

This info is very useful for all PWTS owners.

Check it out:

http://www.simhq.com/_technology/technology_016a.html

Thomas Jackermeier

Darin and Shaun from insidesimracing.tv made a great and very detailed review about the revised and final Porsche 911 Carrera wheel (PWC).

To my surprise, Saun liked it a lot more than I expected and declares it his favourite Fanatec wheel.

While the PWGT3RS is dedicated to the PC simracers and the PWTS is still the top of the line multi platform wheel, the PWC is targeted to the serious PS3 and PC racer which wants all the essential features but is on a smaller budget.

These are the changes we have implemented in the last year:

Added ball bearing on the steering shaft
Full PS3 compatibility because of new electronics based on the PWTS
Adjustable linearity
Adjustable dead-zone
Adjustable steering angle from 90 to 900 in 10° steps (Please note that you can store 5 settings for your 5 favourite games)
silent gear drive
no cooling fans needed
compatible to CSP
upgradeable firmware

The wheel will be offerend in our webshop in a few weeks for 149,95 EUR or 159,95 USD as soon as we shipped them.

Thomas Jackermeier

We finished the production of the Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel after exactly 10.000 units.

During it's very short life cycle we made some changes after we found some issues on the very first units but other than that the production went smoothly as planned.

Many people has asked us what will come next but we have not decided yet to make another Xbox 360 wheel as this is a very expensive and complicated process and the market is limited.

There are still some units left in our warehouse so sales will continue until the stock is fully cleared. And we also reserved some units for Australia if we can finally get our distribution settled in down under.

Thanks to all customers who spread the word and let people know about the wheel. Considering 2 million sold copies of FM3 so far and another 2 million to be expected, only 0,25% to 0,5% of all FM3 players get the chance to play with a Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel. You have something very special in your hands.

Thomas Jackermeier

I am currently in China and arranging the production of the new 911 Carrera wheel.

The wheel has been totally revised in the last months and we added a lot of new features which will be shown in the next episode of insidesimracing.tv

The production will start very soon and once the wheels are on the way we will make them available in our webshop.

As soon as the new review is online, I will post all the new features and pricing.

PS: I will bring a small surprise from China with me as well. Another little extra option for your Porsche wheels.

Allanvon Dajao

Thanks for all the great input guys! This helped a lot and I am happy to tell you that we will be able to deliver almost everything you asked for. Here are the initial specs of the CSS:

Material: Full aluminium with some steel parts

Mounting options: There will be screw inserts on the bottom. We will make an adapter for the Clubsport table clamp and the RennSport Wheel Stand.

Amount of gears: 7+1

Sequential option: We will implement it but only if this is not a compromise. We have a solution which could work very well in both modes

Haptic feeling: Very similar like in a real car. Perhaps we can even make the resistance adjustable.

Acoustic: A solid "clonck" instead of a "clack" but very silent

Colour/design: Silver as CSP. The shifter will be gated like in a Ferrari or Lamborghini

Style of gear knob: It will be exchangeable so upgrades are possible (leather, carbon, etc). The standard version will be an polished aluminum ball.

Size: We will try to keep the size of the PW shifter but it will probably become a bit higher

Compatibility: It will be backwards compatible to the Porsche wheel shifter and therefore compatible to all platforms. An USB adapter will be available optional to make it work with other wheels on PC.

Pricing: The target will be 99,95 € (incl VAT)/ 109,95 USD (excl. VAT)

Now we just have to make it happen. The target release date for the first prototypes is at the end of the year. We can announce a release date after we get the first test results.

Thomas Jackermeier

The production of the PWTS will end in April and the last units of the Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel will be available in a special offer which includes the PWTS Pure and the CSP at a special price of 399,90 EUR/USD.

The availabilit is limited, of course .

The owners of this version will get access to a special Firmware version which will have the following new features:

Adjustable steering axis linearity
Adjustable deadzone on steering axis
Adjust sensitivity settings in 10° steps
Min steering angle: 90°

The new FW is great for games (like GT5:P) which require a little deadzone. The adjustable linearity makes it possible to steer very precise around the center but get a quick reaction if you turn further. We will make this firmware public to existing PWTS owners at a later point.

This product is real

Thomas Jackermeier

We are proud to announce that Fanatec is making the official controller for the new iGame console which has been finally confirmed today and will be released in early 2011.

Although the new console has more power than any other console on the market, it is a portable device. Therefore we designed a new wireless Force Feedback handheld controller with motion sensors.

We also make use of iGame's spectatcular head mounted 3D display.

The new controller will be launched with the game RealTrack in exactly one year so I cannot announce all details at the moment. RealTrack will allow you to scan your environment while driving in a car and immediatly play on the tracks you created.

Pricing is not confirmed yet but please let me know what features and pricing you want to have in this controller as we are still very early in the development phase.

EDIT: I made a mistake with the release date. It will probably be April 1st 2031

Thomas Jackermeier

After getting so much helpful and great comments about the Clubsport Shifter, I decided to let you knwo that we are also working on a handbrake for simracing.

BTW: Can somebody from the US explain why you call it "emergency brake"? I cannot think of a more stupid action than activating the handbrake in a critical situation.

So please give me your comments on:

material (body/grip)
mounting options
analog and/or digital
how strong
what travel
lever standing and/or lying
size
colours design
compatibility
pricing

We already have a prototype but it is not too late to make changes.

Thanks for helping us!

Thomas Jackermeier

We are currently working on a Clubsport version of our shifter. We got a lot of requests from customers and we also got various comments in several forums how the shifter should look like.

I would like to channel these comments into one thread and use our great community to give us feedback on hoe you like the CSS to look like.

Please give me your comments on:

material
mounting options
amount of gears
sequential option
haptic feeling
acoustic
colours / design
style of gear knob
size
compatibility
pricing

We have done a lot of work on the internaly already but we are still very flexible on any of the above.

Let's build your ideal shifter!

-1 comment

The diabolic SATAN CLAUS (i guess the evil brother of Santa) has made a special profile for the Porsche wheels for ISI based sims.

These settings do not work well on a G25 as they make use of the Porsche wheels's belt drive.

Here you can find the download:

http://www.nogripracing.com/details.php?filenr=20161

Thanks Satan.

Thomas Jackermeier

The SPEED Channel is using our RennSport Cockpit with PWTS in their show.

One of the first drivers to enjoy our setup is the NASCAR driver Kurt Busch.

About Kurt Busch:

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kbusch00/cup/index.html

Speed Channel:

http://www.speedtv.com/

Thomas Jackermeier

We finally have the new Tuning kit for the Clubsport Pedals available. It will be shipped in the US next week and short after in Europe.

It is a massive pack of helpful parts to tweak and finetune your CSP and it comes with all of these parts:

Brake/Clutch pedal plate (to replace the gas pedal for increased adjustability or inversed pedals)
Spring for gas pedal (regular)
Spring for gas pedal (30% weaker)
Spring for gas pedal (30% stronger)
Spring for clutch pedal (regular)
Spring for clutch pedal (30% weaker)
Spring for clutch pedal (30% stronger)
PU Foam for brake (regular)
PU Foam for brake – smaller diameter (for reduced friction)
Metal bar short for brake (Good for placing the pedal in the second hole position for higher stiffness at same throw)
Metal bar long for brake (reduce throw at same stiffness)
6 pedal axis bearings made of brass (on the picture you see the current plastic bearings)
Lubricant for PU foam
Lubricant for metal bars

You can order it right away for 49,95 USD (USA) and 45,95€ (EU).

I will make a video how to use it.

Thomas Jackermeier

Here is a new version of the firmware for PWTS.

Changes:

More driftmode settings (5)
For better cooling, the fans are turned on from the beginning at low speed and move faster when the temperature goes up.

As I said before, please upgrade only if you have problems. We do not give any warranty for update issues. So far we had not a single wheel which was screwed up after an update but if it happens, the wheel needs to be sent to us so we can repair it.

Hint: In case the update does not work, try this:

Close down ALL other programs, drivers, etc.
Choose a different USB port
de-install the USB driver of the wheel in bootloader mode and install the driver again.

Michael Marlow

Let's bring some colour under your table with the new ClubSport Pedal Colour Kits.

This is an optional accessory for your CSP to replace the pedal plates and the heel rest.

You can also equip your gas pedal with the same plate as on the brake/clutch because we ship this set with 4 plates + heel rest. An allen key is included as well.

The CSK CKIT is available in the following colours:

Black (cool)
Grey (elegant)
Red (race style)
Orange (matches your GT3 RS)
Blue (techno)

The units are already swimming to Europe and the US and we will start shipping in April.

The price is 39,95 USD (USA) or 35,95 € (EU)

Check out our webshop and reserve your unit right away as initial supply is limited:

http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=110&lang=en

Thomas Jackermeier

Here is a very detailed test of the simracing specialist of SimHQ about:

Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel
Clubsport Pedals
RennSport Wheel Stand

There a lot of great quotes so it is hard for me to select one.

What about this?

"Somehow
mere words aren’t up to the task of describing the feel, feedback,
responsiveness and accuracy of this product. Quite simply, the wheel
feels wonderful."

or this?

"Overall
the PWTS made RBR feel more "real" than any other wheel I’ve tried.
It’s just an opinion, but the PWTS quite simply comes closer than any other sim
racing controller to a feeling of true realism."

about the CSP

"The
Clubsport Pedals are so good, so precise that it’s hard to compare them with
other products. They are clearly in a class of their own."

want more?

"Once
you’ve set it up, the Rennsport Wheel Stand provides a surprisingly rock-stable
base for sim racing with a force feedback wheel. Whether the sim was rFactor,
Forza Motorsport 3 or Richard Burns Rally, the wheel stand held the PWTS / CSP
combo in firm position. In fact, it was more stable than the computer desk my
Logitech G27 wheel is attached to."

Here you get the full details:

http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_087e.html

Thomas Jackermeier

I am happy to announce GameStop Italy is now selling Fanatec products in all of their shops in Italy.

GameStop Italy is the the biggest subsidary in Europe of GameStop with over 300 shops. This sounds small for US citizens but GameStop is the No. 1 in video games in Italy.

The following products are available from next week:

Porsche 911 Turbo S whee

Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel Pure Edition

ClubSports Pedals

RennSport Wheel Stand

If this co-operation is succesful we would be very interested to expand it to other countries as well.

http://www.gamestop.it/

Thomas Jackermeier

If you want to check out the RennSport Cockpit live, there is another great place to do so:

The Porsche Driving Experience Centre directly at Silverstone GP circuit.

And while you are there checking out the simulator you should make a ride with the real thing!

http://www.porsche.com/silverstone/

Thomas Jackermeier

PC Games Hardware has made a comparison between the G27 and PWGT3RS and the winner is:

Porsche 911 GT3RS

We also received the PC Games "Top Produkt" award.

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/home/

Thomas Jackermeier

Please note that the RF dongle for PWTS is also compatible to the PWT.

It will be more compatible and it is no longer needed to set back the systemdate of the Playstation 3.

We also reduced the price from 50€/USD to 29,95 €/USD.

Thomas Jackermeier

We just released a new frimware for the Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel.

Please note that we can only recommend that you install the firmware if you experience problems. Updating the firmware of any device is always a risk if the update is interrupted somehow. Therefore we cannot take responsibility if something goes wrong.

Changes:

Improved precision around the center for some wheels (not all wheels were affected)
FF and SHO values adjustable in 10% steps

Please note that we recommend to update the RF dongle only if you have any problems. Try first to update only the wheel.

PLEASE READ THE MANUAL AND FOLLOW IT!!!

Please let me know your Windows system version here in this blog post in case you made the update with or without success.

UPDATE

If you have FF dropouts you must reduce the FF strength to 60. This is as strong as 100% in version 613. (Edit: This turned out to be false information)

We will release a new FW very soon to fix that.

I took off the 660 firmware in the meantime.

UPDATE 2

As we could not verify the issues with the new firmware I decided to upload ver 660 again. I also included the previous ver 614 so you can load the old FW as soon as you have issues and compare.

Thomas Jackermeier

Changes:

Fixed issue: Slow reactions of the sliders in the game controller test page

Fixed issue: Crash during vibration test

You find the drivers in the support pages on www.Fanatec.com

Thomas Jackermeier

We would like to make a community test comparison between the following wheels:

Logitech G27
Porsche 911 Turbo S Clubsport Edition
Porsche 911 GT3RS Clubsport edition

The testers will receive all 3 wheels for testing and of course we pay the freight in both directions.

If the tester wants to keep one of the Fanatec wheels he gets a discount of at least 50%. This is independent from the test results. The discount will be granted even if you already own the product. As a bonus, you will get pre-production version of a new product for free long before release.

The test should compare the strengths and weaknesses of each wheel and the tester has to rate the wheels according to a specific weighted rating scheme.

Minimum requirements to make the test:

Tester must race on at least a PC and PS3.
Ability to express yourself clear and in english language
Ability to take pictures and/or to make a video
Tester must be member of the911 wheel Club and has fully filled out the test registration form.
Tester must be located in EU or USA

Advantages to get higher priority:

Beside the PC and PS3 you own a Xbox 360 as well
You are a well respected member of a big and established gaming community
You already made tests (post links)
You are a well known and respected simracer (console or PC)
You are in the top 100 ranking of the GT5 Time Trial demo (post time and country)
You are already a customer of Fanatec and perhaps own one of the wheels.
Commitment to make a video (20 min max)

All you need to do is to post this information in a comment to this post.

Please do not send me e-mails or PMs. Thank you. If I think that somebody is qualified I will contact him. You can also post proposals of testers which you think are qualified.

Please spread the word in your community about this test.

Thomas Jackermeier

http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=3117&lang=en

We just uploaded the full manual of the PWTS. Please make sure you look for the PWTS manual and not the PWT manual.

German language will be availble in week 1 and other languages will follow soon afterwards.

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