Fanatec Magnetic Push Pull Rally Shifter - Why not…?

Fanatec offers its ClubSport Static Shifter Paddles as an option for Rally. Modern Rally Cars however use single lever Push Pull Shifters for a couple of years now.

As there is only one Push Pull Rally shifter on the market by Ascher Racing which is not available and is not supposed to be in the medium term (I asked their support team) I wonder if it wouldn‘t be great if Fanatec developed a Magnetic Push Pull Rally Shifter.

Fanatec developed some Push Pull Shifters for the Podium BMW M4 GT3. So it might not be such a huge challenge.

Comments

  • Doesn't the Clubsport shifter have a push pull sequential mode?

  • He was talking about single shifter that is mounted on the base. On modern rally cars the shifter is not moving with the wheel and only on one side.

  • David ChiengDavid Chieng Member
    edited January 2022

    But Peter just showed you a picture of a sequential shifter which is not mounted on a wheel but on anywhere on the rig, like next to the wheel, and on one side.

    Are we missing something here Peter? lol


  • Yes you are :)

    Immersion :)

    If someone wants to drive like a modern rally driver and willing to pay for it, why not request such a product?

    Yes, you can drive open wheel cars with WRC wheel, but people still buy formula style rims for a reason.

  • But if you mount the Fanatec sequential shifter near the wheel base then isn't that the solution?

  • Must be missing something yes, I'll admit I haven't looked at how rally cars shift gear nowadays but I assumed if you mount the Fanatec sequential shifter near the wheel base then you have a push/pull shifter next to the wheel which I thought was the whole point. I may be wrong though obviously.

  • I'm with you and David here. I don't get what they are asking for.

    Take, for example, the interior of a 2021 Audi A1 WRC2 car: (taken from https://www.evo.co.uk/audi/203597/audi-returns-to-wrc-with-a1-quattro-wrc2-rally-car-pictures )

    If you take the Fanatec shifter and mount it on your rig at say, somewhere around shoulder height, I don't understand how that would be unacceptable for simulating something like above. Now granted, this is a WRC2 car and not the top-flight WRC class, but still...I can't imagine it'd be too fundamentally different from this, would it?


  • Oh... i think the OP means the one side paddle that is on most of the WRC cars


    Pull for upshift and push for downshift.

  • now that is new to me... lol

  • Gregg DomainGregg Domain Member
    edited January 2022

    Ahh...so there we go, the missing piece! It wasn't clear that OP was talking about a single push/pull *paddle* shifter. Fair enough. I've never seen anything like that before.

    So that one paddle is in a fixed position and doesn't rotate with the wheel? Seems rather odd to me, I would think the push/pull lever (e.g. the Audi example above) would be more intuitive. But...I guess if that's how the cars are IRL, then that's a perfectly valid request.

  • They have changed it in WRC cars a gazillion times. Then for 1-2 seasons went back to the stick and then changed again to a single paddle that doesn't rotate cause unlike with the track cars that full lock is rare, in rally is more common and there are times that they have to release one hand cause it goes beyond the crossover position.

  • Yeah, I guess it's just a case of muscle memory and what you've become used to. I've used the center stick a fair amount over the years, so it seems intuitive to me. My McLaren v2 wheel allows you to push or pull its paddles from either side, but I hardly ever use the "push" aspect of it because it just feels strange and foreign to keep moving your fingers from being behind the paddle for a pull, to being in front of it for a push.

    I'd guess that these top drivers get used to it and adapt pretty quickly, but sometimes it does kinda seem like it's a matter of change for the sake of change itself. lol

  • Sorry for the confusion. Yes, I meant a Magnetic Push Pull Rally PADDLE Shifter.

    In Rally Sim I often turn the wheel while having my right hand on the handbrake to adjust handbraking in hairpin turns. So my left hand is not at the position of the upshift paddle. My right hand cannot pull the lever of a Sequential Shifter.

    It also happens that I enter a corner which is a „4“ and becomes a hairspin turn later. So I have to shift down while turning with my left hand while my right hand is at the handbrake. That‘s why the ClubSport Static Shifter Paddles will not help in these situations.

    I recommend the review by Sim Racing Garage of a Magnetic Push Pull Rally Paddle Shifter which unfortunately is not available as I mentioned:

    https://youtu.be/pQ-wAHt7Nn0

    The community is building DIY solutions to solve this problem but is constantly asking for a professional solution.

  • I guess once the demand is there someone else will come up with it and in the meantime you just have to stick with Ascher Racing.

    It is all application in more general main stream areas, then demand, then more competition to produce them.

  • S. K.S. K. Member
    edited February 2022

    whoops sorry, something went wrong.

  • I have this shifter and bought it directly from Barry R. Of Sim racing garage, it is the same shifter he reviewed in his YouTube videos. I am planning on selling it and hopefully get a good offer. It is really well made and outstanding quality. It can be connected directly to any fanatec base.

  • Had the same idea a couple days ago :D

    Also were lucky to get a used one. Unfortunately it has been customized to be used in a real race car. The Fanatec compatible Mount is also missing… Have to build my own one as soon as I receive my DD+

    You‘re from the US?

  • Yes, CA, mine is all complete and almost like new, the other brackets we never used. This shifter is very difficult to find, took me a couple of years to find one, just got lucky Barry was selling it. I bought a simdid paddle from china, it works but the quality isn't that great. The AR tactile is sooo much better, now I am having second thoughts of selling my AR =)

  • I know what you mean. I ordered a DIY/3D printed shifter and designed two on my own.

    Then I found a Push/Pull-Shifter made by SimLab. Great quality but unfortunately not compatible to Fanatec to be used on PlayStation. But I can use the mounting brackets.

    If you were from EU I‘d consider buying yours. But a reasonable price for the shifter plus shipping will probably be too expensive

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