Recently Entered Fanatec EcoSystem
Hey all, I recently entered the Fanatec world with a DD1, formula 2.5x (podium paddles), v3 pedals and shifter, I almost didn't. There is quite a large amount of negativity on here from disgruntled buyers that makes it seem like everyone who buys one immediately regrets it and I was pretty nervous while waiting for my purchase to arrive. Why did I go fanatec over the simucube or other systems? Cross platform, analogue axis on paddle, great variety of relatively inexpensive wheels and ease of use were my main drivers after watching a heap of reviews and reading forums the past few months. Here is my experience.
Ordered Sunday 29th all items arrived Monday 6th, I received all updates from Fanatec and Auspost via email so knew exactly where the order was. I followed the instructions to set everything up, installed the new paddles, brake performance kit and mounted everything in around 2 hours.
Putting the steering wheel onto the DD1 I followed the instructions, wound the nut until it touched (but doesn't compress) the rubber, put the wheel on then tightened and to my surprise none of the extreme play issues you see in reviews have occurred, be interested to see if it stays this way or if it's something that gets worse over time.
I plugged the wheel in and installed fanalab and the 442 beta drivers, firmware on all devices updated seamlessly. Calibrated everything and tested vibration motors, all working. To get going I followed recommended settings in iracing everything worked as I expected it to. Used the same settings in AC and found it to be a bad experience with lots of wheel oscillation etc, followed recommended settings and it all came good (shouldn't be surprised by that, but it shows what using the wrong settings can do).
As someone new to the brand I found it pretty easy to setup and it all worked well following the recommended settings that are easily accessible for each of my games in fanalab. My next step will be to push everything that bit harder and play with it to understand it more and find my own sweetspot with the equipment.
So far I've had no issues with any of the hardware and I haven't had to contact support at all so I have no comment on some of the other experiences, personally I'm hoping it stays that way and I hope anyone else who things didn't go as smoothly for gets their issues sorted.
To sum it all up I'm a buyer who found this all just worked and it's giving me a great sim experience so far, it's still early days so who knows if my views will change or not but I'll check back in with some updates once I've had more time. I'm sure there are other happy folk out there so give us a shout out and let me know the things you found really work for you in the journey of becoming a fanatec customer.
PS: If you're disgruntled and moved onto another brand I've probably already read your story on here I dont need to read it again
Comments
"wound the nut until it touched (but doesn't compress) the rubber, put the wheel on then tightened and to my surprise none of the extreme play issues you see in reviews have occurred, be interested to see if it stays this way or if it's something that gets worse over time."
Exactly my experience. Think the play comes from finger trouble when users don't nip up the nut against the rubber first.
Now had my DD1, Formula V2 and V3 for 2 years. No issues.
The issue is manufacturing tolerances / quality control. The sizing of the shafts and the QR varies so it is quite possible to have one wheel that fits fine and others which have play . Your right though, if you get a wheel and shaft combo that marries well there is minimal play. It's still a poor design though, I have wheels that get stuck while others come off fine and loosening and tightening a ring is not my idea of quick and convenient. Pretty much every other QR on the market is better, and the QR2 may fix these issues if it ever becomes available - it's already years late.
Indeed multiple wheels here and for me one QR1 fits better than the other QR1. There is also the case that the fit of the QR1 looks like it's ok but when you get a heavy FFB hit or direction change the play will show and results also in nasty sounds from the QR. That also differs from one QR1 to the other. If the fit is better it's sometimes a nightmare to get the wheel of the base. Where you need to be careful to not hit your self in the face when you want to remove the wheel. Also the bigger the wheel the bigger the chance you notice the play. Both my Formula wheels show the least issues.
There is also a reason that Fanatec has announced the QR2. If there were no issues at all in the current QR1 why would Fanatec then design a new one? There is already a reason the DD1 and DD2 have a different QR1 then other less powerful bases. The rubber is there to cover up the play and try to eliminate it. It will remove a lot of play but at one point it's just too much and even with the correct procedure it will have issues. Also rubber stays flexible so it will always have a certain play especially if forces are getting higher.
My Mclaren wheel with metal QR has for example the most issues for example. Normally I run that wheel with lower value for FFB so it's less of an issue. Sort of exceptable, but the play or the difficulty to sometimes get a wheel on or off is not really wanted for products with prices like DD1/DD2 and some of the Fanatec Podium/Clubsport wheels.
In my opinion the QR2 should have been the default on the DD1/DD2 already from the start.
Fanatec has said the QR2 has been coming for a couple of years now..........
I think they cannot fix the play issue with the QR2 unless they also replace the base side mount with one that does not require rubber on it to take up the play.
The problem is with manufacturing tolerances. You need very tight tolerances on a QR system of this type to not have any play in it and that is a cost issue from a manufacturing standpoint.
Cost to have tight tolerances in production is huge as you will always have a high % of ones that are not within tolerance and require extra work or have to be scrapped.
I think this is why the "QR2" has been taking so long to come to fruition. I think Fanatec realized it will require not just a wheel side replacement (QR2) but also a new mounting shaft on the base side.
The QR2 is already used in the real life BMW M4 GT3. Plus there are enough QR's in sim racing and in real racing that don't have any play like the QR1 of Fanatec shows.
The idea is also to change the base side of the QR to a QR that fits the QR2 variant. That's why on all DD bases the QR on the wheel base is also easily replaceable. If the design is correct manufacturing tolerances have no impact on fit and play. But of course that is still an unknown of the QR2 because it's still not here. But if it has play in a real car I would expect they would not continue with that QR...
I seriously doubt they are using the rubber and tightening nut on the steering shaft end of the real thing and that the fit tolerances of the QR they are using is much tighter than the current QR Fanatec uses on their SIM racing bases.........
Not sure why you bring up other QRs from other manufactures, this is strictly about Fanatecs QR.
"The idea is to replace the base side QR with a QR that fits the QR2 varient".
Yes, that would be mandatory as the problem with the QR1 is the rubber and nut setup they use now which will never allow the QR to not have any flex in it.
My concern is that this is going to make the new QR2 really expensive.
There is already a lot of info available of the QR2, some video's some photos and more. Only thing missing is a release date and some prices.
In the real BMW M4 GT3 car they already are using the new QR2 to connect the Fanatec BMW M4 GT3 wheel. This QR2 doesn't have any rubbers and doesn't have anything in common with the current Fanatec QR1 (Except for the connector in the middle), for example it isn't a round QR anymore and they aren't interchangeable. Both sides of the QR needs to match QR1 <> QR1 or QR2 <> QR2. Maybe watch the video of the announcement of the Fanatec BMW M4 GT3 Wheel from Fanatec, that will show you what they already have. Then you can see they also changed the base side QR part. The BMW M4 GT3 wheel includes a QR1 and QR2 in the box. Although everybody that already received that wheel is still waiting for their QR2 and they probably have to spend extra to buy the QR2 of the base.
And I bring up other QR's because Fanatec is not the only company in the world that makes SIM/Race hardware, the majority of other companies that are there don't have any issues with play etc in their QR's. If Fanatec doesn't fix the QR1 issues it will lose more and more customers to other brands that have good and play free QR's. Based on QR2 prices and if it will even come this year, there is a big chance that I switch brands because that would be probably even cheaper after selling all my Fanatec stuff.
Yes, I also think for existing customers a QR upgrade to QR2 will probably be very expensive. Some rough estimates that I expect, something like 250 EUR for base side QR and then something like 150 EUR per steering wheel QR.