Buyer Beware

The regular CSL pedals are actually better then the more expensive CSL elite's. Below is David's reply in chat to confirm. Problem is i just received my new Elite pedals in the mail Wednesday. On top of that there is a massive 1 inch dead zone as the beginning of the travel for both the brake and throttle. I'm sure its my fault somehow but, I still fell like Fanatec really pulled a fast one on me. Disgusted


08:13:05 | David : In this special case our new CSL pedals are better than the old CSL Elite Pedals, even if they are 20 $ cheaper. The Loadcell kit for the CSL Elite Pedal is discontininued. We now only offer the clutch kit for the CSL Pedal 

Comments

  • Nicolas can you please explain which are CSL Elite pedals and CSL Pedals?


    If you mean new vs old then it was expected that the older model will be discontinued and make space for the new ones that loadcell is still pending to be launched.


    If your received them recently you have the right to return them and get refunded. Just do it as per the webpage instructions.

    Might keep a fee for re-stocking though.

    contact the webstore and ask for your options.


    (for the dead zone try to manually calibrate the pedals from the Fanatec controler app)

  • A simple look on the pedals page of the Fanatec website would tell you the difference between CSL Elite and Standard CSL. Sure I can return them and pay more shipping to get them to the other side of the US but, why would i waste more money. As far as the controller app do you have a link. I used the Fanatec driver 402 and there is no option to adjust anything. I only have pedals no fanatec wheel at this time.

  • edited July 2021


    I was trying to avoid to go online and check what you were mentioning but anyway. I guess you bought the old ones that will be discontinued and covered that point.

    If you don't want to sent them back is up to you. Seller is offering this service.


    Open a support case through your product for the tech team to help you with the 1 inch dead zone you mention. Might need to re-adjust the poties since the Elites (without the Loadcell ) if I remember correctly they don't have the box to tick for manual calibration dead zone.


    https://fanatec.com/media/pdf/4f/6a/97/CSL-EP-LCK-ManualPBzGoX5iIGFvH.pdf

    Are you connecting the via the USB Adapter to the PC or via the wheelbase?

  • Yes I am using the clubsport adapter. I'm already working on the ticket but it doesn't change the fact that I spent $99.99 for Elite pedals that use inferior sensors to the cheaper CSL pedals. I'm pretty close to considering this a loss and walking away. Lesson learned.

  • That should be a calibration issue, which should be accessible through the fanatec driver. Support should be able to help you get through calibration. I had some slight issues when both my fanatec pedals were plugged in via clubsport USB adapter and my Logitech wheel were plugged in at the same time. Maybe try unplugging whatever wheel you have and see if you can get to the calibration page that way.


    And yeah, it always sucks when you buy something right at the end of it's product life, but it's certainly better that the company keeps innovating. In all fairness they did announce the pedals back in may, and they were available for preorder to everyone...it seems like the company did quite a lot to make sure you would see the new pedals. It's not like they suddenly discontinued a product without replacing it...they've just developed something newer, better, and less expensive, so why keep manufacturing the old version? They even had the old and new versions for sale at the same time for a while, so if you still wanted the old one it was available, but if you could wait you could preorder the new. With all tech it's going to be a gamble that something newer/better/cheaper will come into the market at any moment.


    I'm not sure what fanatec did to make you feel you've been cheated somehow, can you elaborate?

  • edited July 2021

    I should never have mentioned the calibration issue as im am working on fixing that separately.

    "In all fairness they did announce the pedals back in may, and they were available for preorder to everyone...it seems like the company did quite a lot to make sure you would see the new pedals. It's not like they suddenly discontinued a product without replacing it...they've just developed something newer, better, and less expensive, so why keep manufacturing the old version?" is a ridiculous statement.

    I wasn't on their mailing list in may because i was not in the market for PC racing peripherals. The website makes not mention on the CSL elite Pedal page that there is a better option. Also by your logic is it ok for FANATEC to continue to sell older products with inferior parts at a higher price?


    edit: removed duplicate sentence

  • I will always check and do my research before paying for anything. As a supplier, they will have the opinion that the CSL Elite and CSL pedals are both the same but with different design, namely hall effect sensors for the later.

    I pre-ordered the CSL pedals together with the CSL DD + wheel as my 1st FFB wheel in May after reading about them and watching a few couple of videos on youtube. Did not think that one will be better than the other, other than the cheaper price and availability. CSL Elite is available immediately but no point getting it and not have a base or wheel. Will not see the DD till end Oct... Whatever it is they will be better than my keyboard for accelerator and brake modulation. 😉

    Is there something you can do to adjust it mechanically to remove the free-play? Fabricate something to get the bite point earlier?

  • Yes, if they have already manufactured them then I would expect a company to try to sell them. The only other choices are to discount them and potentially lose money or just sit on old inventory and never make back the cost to manufacture. I'm sure they will seller whatever they can of their old stock, and maybe one day down the road will discount them if they can't clear out their inventory, but any company who refused to sell old inventory would be foolish. Not to mention any customer that wants their pedals as soon as possible still had the option to buy the old ones if they didn't want to wait, I'd say that's better than having several months with no entry level pedals available. Others who have owned the csl elites for some time and may have invested in accessories also have the chance to buy a replacement set before they are discontinued forever...if I already had the loadcell kit, for example, and my pedals were several years old i might want the opportunity to buy a new set so I can replace them when they wear out. There are many good reasons to keep selling an old product, even when a newer better version has been announced/released.

    If they hadn't announced the new pedals, stopped production on the old ones and just kept selling them until they ran out, then suddenly discontinued them and listed the new ones with no warning, then I would feel cheated. They had blog posts, YouTube videos, even sent out some pre production models to some youtubers to review, and listed them on the home page as well as the pedals page. It's up to the consumer to do research before they buy anything.

    To be clear, I agree that it sucks to buy a product and find out there was a better option, but in this case it seems to me that fanatec went above and beyond by giving several months notice that it was coming out and making that information very easy to find. I understand your frustration, but I don't think fanatec was in the wrong here.

  • OP, how can this be surprising when Fanatec even says as much about the new CSL versus the old CSL. Hall effect sensor versus potentiometers. Cheaper. Etc.

    Please report to back to grade school for remedial reading comprehension lessons.

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