Podium series expands: Bentley GT3 steering wheel. Extraordinary starts here.

2»

Comments

  • edited June 2021

    I agree with your point but i see @Dean Cummings point also, it's not like we had a "reasonable priced" wheel in the Podium series for a while. Compared to a Cube or Ascher there is something missing in the Fanatec line-up. Personally i'm not interested in another replica of a real world car. I find the Bentley GT3 wheel one of the ugliest things i have seen for a while (i always thought Cube had a patent on building ugly wheels) and besides that, probably both the Bentley and the BMW wheel are going to cost more than i paid for my DD2.

    I think the Podium 911 GT3 is a nice example from a price / quality point of view on how a Podium wheel should be positioned. Sure a BMW and a Bentley wheel are nice for the brochure, the Youtube reviewers and a hand full of people who don't mind paying for stuff you will never use in a sim (FIA homologated is nice to show off to your friends but do we really need it?).

    So i get the point of these "prestige projects" and probably @Thomas Jackermeier is one of the few people who will actually will use this wheel as a clock on his desk but i think a lot of people are also waiting on some "hardcore" sim enthousiast products in the podium range where no compromises where made.


    The car itself doesn't (although i wouldn't call it cheap also) but actually racing it does cost you millions a year. So unless you wan't to buy a Bentley GT3 wheel + race car and let the car stay in your garage so you can sit in it once a while....


    The quickest way to become a millionaire is start racing when you are a billionaire i once heard ;)

  • I like that Fanatec is expanding the GT3 wheel line to more modern wheels besides the McLaren V2. I love the 300 - 310mm wheel size.

    And I'm really looking forward to get the QR2 for my DD2 and wheels.

    But I think there should be something inbetween the McLaren v2 and wheels around/above 1000$/€.

    Let's see at what price this wheel is launched and when it and the QR2 will be available.

  • edited June 2021

    @Reind Dooyeweerd

    +++quote+++

    I agree with your point but i see @Dean Cummings point also, it's not like we had a "reasonable priced" wheel in the Podium series for a while. Compared to a Cube or Ascher there is something missing in the Fanatec line-up. Personally i'm not interested in another replica of a real world car. I find the Bentley GT3 wheel one of the ugliest things i have seen for a while (i always thought Cube had a patent on building ugly wheels) and besides that, probably both the Bentley and the BMW wheel are going to cost more than i paid for my DD2.

    I think the Podium 911 GT3 is a nice example from a price / quality point of view on how a Podium wheel should be positioned. Sure a BMW and a Bentley wheel are nice for the brochure, the Youtube reviewers and a hand full of people who don't mind paying for stuff you will never use in a sim (FIA homologated is nice to show off to your friends but do we really need it?).

    +++unquote+++


    We can only assume what the price will judging from what was happening so far when the production costs, R&D etc for producing a wheel in limited numbers (as many as the cars were produced +/- extra 5% for spares (very difficult for a wheel to fail in a real car) so maybe we are in for pleasant surprise and see prices near the prices we see for cube controls flagship wheels or any other manufacturer.


    The FIA homologation is not a process testing the structure strength, the materials and QR. In this case it can only be good cause it will increase at least the QR strength and I guess eliminate the play people were complaining before (which from what I understood it will be compatible with all wheelbases). This move can also help simraces cause if FANATEC produces their own QR and not use for example Kronotec that looks similar, then they can sell the same QR for other cars using a canbus QR (trust there are hundreds of thousands using a QR with canbus from various manufacturers) which means costs are divided in more units hence become cheaper to the end user / buyer.

    Let us wait and see what it will be at the end the price.

    P.S: All of the above are just my thoughts and what I would do if I was in Thomas Jackermeier  shoes so I keep both worlds happy and both industries customers happy.


    For example this wheel cost 1,522.89 Euro + VAT without the male connector on the steering column (in the red circle) and it was produced and fitted within the Cupra factory (using bits and bolts purchased from the market or that were already available in the street cars of the group). Fitted in all the 3 brands from the VW motorsport factory (Audi, Cupra, and VW) racing in TCR Championships, about 1,000 cars/units. (then audi came later with open top and being in audi catalog made it 300-400 Euros more expensive)



  • It doesn't. Unless you use a different currency that USD, GBP or Euro.

    Manufacturers even for GT3 have a cap on the max price allowed to sell the cars to the customers if I remember correctly.

    Anyway...


    Used (gen.1) and with spare parts 295,000£ (I guess slight negotiable)

    https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Details/116573/bentley-continental-gt3-gen-1

  • That's a second had car, several years old that's being sold off. It does not reflect the price of developing/building the car from new or the huge cost of running a team that can support such a car.

  • edited June 2021

    Man trust me.... GT3 cars don't cost millions to purchase. 😎

    GT3 cars brand new cost about 550,000-650,000 USD with Ferrari 488 Evo 2020 being the most expensive so far.


    Unless you you use "racing" as a verb and you mean that if someone is racing with cars costs millions then yes....

    If you don't use it as above and you mean that a racing car cost millions to purchase, then it doesn't.

  • But than you havent raced a meter with it... so unless you plan to buy a racing car and stick in into your garage it will cost you a lot of money ;)

    About the prices (i see you quoted me), not sure what point you are trying to make over there? But it isn't very likely the Bentley wheel is going to be in the price range of the current Podium Porsche wheel for example, you can't produce a complex FIA homologated wheel for that price and still have a good profit on it.

    So this wheel can be very reasonable priced (i think somewhere between 1500 and 2250 can be considered as cheap) and still is way too expensive for most people who are only using it in a sim (did i already mentioned it's pretty ugly? ;) ).

    In a sim you don't need FIA homologation, you don't need a Krontec QR03 like system and you don't need a dozen layers of carbon to build a steering wheel with. Sure it's a great prestige project to have in your portfolio and to show what you are capable off but is it really interesting for the largest group of customers? I don't think so, i think the largest group of customers is looking for something in the range of the current Podium wheels and the entry level Cuber / Ascher wheels.

    The wheel you posted is quite simple by the way, doesn't have much (or any complicated) electronics on it, doesn't have the screen and certainly doesn't need a license to put the Bentley logo on it (and i could find another dozen of reasons why it's a bad example to compare it to the Bentley wheel).


  • Anyway... Read again the above for the clarification between racing cars and racing-cars. Something was missed in the initial post I guess.

    I quoted you for discussion purposes...

    Moreover the example of the simple wheel I gave you is to show the cost of an actual real life CANBUS wheel which is among the cheapest and simpler without the factory having to build inhouse and just assemble it and add the margin. So it comes in line with the whole costing and pricing process I was describing above with producing only 1000 wheels.

    Now we can come to the point of GT3-GT4 cars wheels that come even in more limited numbers so these costs are putting the prices much higher around 5-6k IF I remember correctly from a Porsche catalog from the GT4.

    This is what I was trying to describe.

    Basic fuctionality, less units = expensive

    More functionality, less units very very expensive.

    More functionality, too many units produced = Expensive

    But imagine what IF a manufacturer could produce in bulk those wheels, using same paddles, same electronic boards, same QR's, same screens for 5,000 or 10,000 units. Then the price per unit would be hugely reduced. So both worlds benefit out of it. Sim-racers have something closer to the price of flagship wheels of cube controls or Ascher (bonus have their favorite cars wheels used for sims) and real life racing cars manufacturers take of their mind from having to produce something or even buy expensive.

    Hope is more clear now.

    Another thing you do is that you keep comparing entry level wheels from Cube controls or Ascher with the so far most expensive wheel for the podium series or the flagship wheel of FANATEC which was the Porsche Podium with the PBM.

    Well the others couldn't beat the Porsche Podium wheel in pricing and always their wheels were well above that price tag.

    Now Fanatec got back with 2 wheels (combining both worlds) and WHO knows... Maybe they are cheaper than initially thought. They pulled a rabbit out of the hat with the DD 0.5 when people were thinking that it was an April's fool post. Maybe they will pull another one and offer something good too...

    Only time will show...

    And yes. I agree it is ugly but maybe is nice ugly in the end... Had the same thoughts when I first sat in a GT3 488 for testing and thought to my self... This is what 618k USD racing car has as a wheel ? But then I have changed my mind.

    You say it is not needed to be the actual, and being FIA etc etc.

    I also say the same... Others might disagree. See the people spending on sim setups tens of thousand of dollars... Some of them even costing more than actual racecar (no not GT3-GT4 to be clear) with homologated seats, homologated belts even seen setups with homologated window nets....

    BUT if this actual wheel enables a manufacturer to bring a real wheel, in a realistic price (close to other 2 we already mentioned) why not?


    P.S. I never liked wheels having the screen on the wheel (not in sims neither in real life) cause if you want to have a glimpse on something, or monitor something then spending to much time and loose concertation.

  • I can't, I still get the occasional big jolt with the wheelbase on the default screen.


  • My comment was meant to highlight branding costs a LOT of money. Fanatec does not appear to be a large company. I would rather see them solidify and stabilize their current line up first before adding more products. Especially, even more complex products. Too many comments of the Podium firmware/software indicate it has issues that have not been resolved since release. The length of time between updates is troubling yet monthly new products are being released including two products (BMW and Bentley wheels) that most likely are going to cost more than a DD1/DD2 base easily. My fear is the current DD1/DD2 are going to never meet what was marketed.

    As far as releasing a low cost DD base that's great but my assumption the profit margins are going to be very low. Those low profit margins don't pay for development.

    The BMW and Bentley wheels are going to be HIGH end niche products and considering they can work in an actual automobile, they darn well better work extremely well. A wheel firmware failure in a real car is not going to cause the same results as a jolt in iracing, Assetto, etc. Again, the costs to develop them aren't cheap even if they are working with BMW and Bentley. Plus, you need very skilled engineers and developers. This is no longer build it in your garage and bolt on.

    If the intent is Fanatecs transforming to a motorsports company, I have to wonder where does the average sim racer fit in that model?

    Maybe I will be surprised that a whole new firmware/software suite is being developed along with a full eco-system for the casual, average, and high end sim racer. Transparency would be great though so far I think most would agree it has not been seen. A roadmap showing the current firmware/development plan would be a good start.

    Can hope for the best.

  • edited June 2021

    I think you are misinterpreting the stuff i wrote (and we are talking alongside each other a bit), i agree with some of the points you make but it's not like bulk production (if it's ever going to be bulk production because i don't think Bentley would normally make a few hundred of these wheels) is going to make this a wheel that's affordable for a large group of users.

    Sure it can become a "cheap" wheel compared to other FIA homologated wheels but is it going to be necessary for sim purpose? I doubt it and having one wheel in your portfolio with all those capabilities is great (2 is a bit of a showoff ;-) ) but we now have 2 Podium wheels that are under 750 euro and we got 2 wheels that aren't released but and we don't know a price yet however it isn't very likely those wheels will be below 1500 euro's. if the Bentley wheel is below 1500 euro and has homologation and all that kinda stuff it would be a steal.

    But even if it's going to be less than 1500 euro's it's packed with features 9 out of 10 (probably 99 out of 100) people don't need. I don't need homologation, i certainly don't need a Bentley logo on it and guess what... i don't own a Bentley GT3 to use it on either. I think that if Fanatec would drop all the stuff we didn't need and could drop the price a bit more it would have a bigger audience also which would solve the loss of those few real world Bentley racers ;)

    About the comparison with Cube and Ascher wheels, not sure why that would be a wrong one. They are both within a certain price range, have comparable feature sets etcetera. So i'm curious why those can't be compared. At this moment i have a SC2 sport with a Cube Pro OMP wheel on it and just returned the Podium Porsche wheel i borrowed from a friend of mine last week (had it for a week or 2) and i don't see why those wheels can't be compared. It's not like the entry level Cube wheels are from a CSL level ;)

    Cube makes high quality wheels which wouldn't look out of place in a Podium serie... and i think Fanatec could even make them cheaper because of the amounts they sell. Thing with those wheels is, they are designed for sim racers which makes them better at some points than any other current Fanatec wheel in the podium range.

    Long story short, it's a nice prestige project and now they have 2 wheels (including the BMW GT3 wheel) but i think we need something that is build for sim racers and keeping their needs in mind instead of building another "look you can also use it in a real car" wheel that is not very interesting for most users (aka the users who don't give .... about the Bentley logo on it). 

    And the spending thousands of dollars on setups with belts and window nets... they call that immersion i believe. Just found out that it's a real thing for some people while i always thought it was a lousy excuse to justify the purchase to the wive ;)


    =====

    Edit: can someone please fix the forum software... posting a message without issues is getting harder by the day

  • Pretty cool wheel but I'm not a huge fan of the green carbon fiber weave.

    I'd love to hear more information about QR2 pricing and availability and if there'll be a trade-in program for existing QR to save money and reduce waste.

  • This bentley wheel looks incredible great job everyone at fanatec and Bentley to produce this wheel just what the podium series line up needs in my opinion 👌🏻, any information on new podium pedals at all please? Also is there information coming for the new QR2? Kind regards

  • This Pikes Peak wheel is an absolute beauty, and reading all the specs'n'features I'd be shocked to see it cost less than $1500.

  • Interesting insights, nice to see some real world relation. Thank you! :)

  • I'd be shocked to see it available for purchase in the next 3 years.

  • Not Bentley or BMW but….

    Do these paddle module in the Hyundai ETCR look familiar Thomas? 🤔


  • hi Fanatec can we please have an update for the qr2


    ,

  • I keep checking my email for any news on the Bentley and BMW each day like a lunatic, is anything known?

  • Bentley have reported knocks, steering rack inconsistencies and an inability to access Motec screens when the car is in operation. Fanatec are looking into the issue and hope to resolve these failures in a future firmware release. No timescale of course. Wheel will be released to the public when issues are fixed. Don't hold your breath...🤥

  • Thank you for the info nevertheless 🙂. Fanatec set iself a difficult task by making it usable in a real car, so it´s understandable they gotta sort out everything. It´s a shame we don´t even know the price range, to know whether to wait or look elsewhere 🤔

  • So you can afford them ? Cool. Most People don't. And yes most big Racing Cars cost about 800.000 or more. VW Polo WRC Race Car for example cost about 750k.

  • edited November 2021

    @Fanatec: Is there also planned a wheel variant with leather grips or other material than alcantara?

  • Any news on this work of art? Has been nothing but tumbleweed in this thread since it was first announced.

Sign In or Register to comment.