Fanatec’s half-price QR2 promotion was supposed to end on October 1. Instead, the company has decided to keep the lower prices in place for good.
The news arrived via email this morning, where Fanatec said the response to its recent QR2 offers was strong enough to prompt a second look at pricing, and that selected QR2 Wheel-Side and Base-Side parts will now stay at the reduced prices permanently. That’s good news for anyone still running the older QR1 coupling who skipped the summer sale, and it comes with a bonus for GTPlanet readers.
Because these are now standard prices rather than sale prices, our GTPLANET5 Fanatec discount code applies on top, taking another 5% off at checkout. GTPlanet is a Fanatec affiliate partner, which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you buy through our links.
What Is QR2?
If you’re new to Fanatec, or you’ve been happily racing on older gear for years, a quick explainer is in order.
“QR” stands for quick release, the coupling that lets you pull a steering wheel off a wheel base and snap a different one on in seconds. For over a decade, Fanatec used a design now known as QR1, a round shaft held in place by spring-loaded metal balls, and it required retention bolts and locking nuts to stay tight.
QR2 replaced it in 2023, and we covered the launch when Fanatec first revealed the system. It’s a squared, tapered coupling with spring-loaded locking pins, borrowed from the quick release Fanatec developed for the real 2022 BMW M4 GT3 race car.
The tapered shape pulls the wheel into a tight fit on its own, so the bolts and nuts are gone. Fanatec also says the tighter tolerances cut mechanical noise and improve force feedback detail, and you can push a wheel onto the base without touching the release sleeve at all.
Of course, the catch is that QR2 and QR1 are physically incompatible. To use it, both halves need to match. The steering wheel needs a “Wheel-Side” part, and the wheel base needs a “Base-Side” part. Every current Fanatec product ships with QR2 already fitted (the Gran Turismo DD Pro made the switch last year), but if you own older hardware, you need to buy the upgrade parts separately. That’s exactly what these price cuts are for.
The New Prices
Here is where the main QR2 upgrade parts sit on the US store now, compared to where they started, with the GTPLANET5 price alongside:
- Original price: $199.99
- New price: $99.99
- With GTPLANET5: $94.99
- Original price: $89.99
- New price: $59.99
- With GTPLANET5: $56.99
- Original price: $60.00
- New price: $44.99
- With GTPLANET5: $42.74
- Original price: $129.99
- New price: $99.99
- With GTPLANET5: $94.99
The QR2 Pro Wheel-Side is the standout, as it was during the summer sale. It’s CNC-machined from a single block of billet aluminum, meets FIA requirements for use in real race cars, and at $99.99 it’s now cheaper than the diecast QR2 Wheel-Side was a few months ago. If you’re upgrading a wheel, there isn’t much reason to pick the standard version over the Pro anymore.
Worth noting is that the other three parts didn’t get the full 50% treatment. The QR2 Wheel-Side is down a third, the Type-C base-side is 25% below its launch price, and the Type-M (the fully CNC-machined base-side for Podium wheel bases) is down $30, or about 23%. The Type-C was briefly $30 during the summer promotion, so anyone who caught that deal did slightly better than the new permanent price.
Which Parts Do You Need?
For wheels, any Fanatec steering wheel with a removable quick release can take the QR2 Wheel-Side or QR2 Pro Wheel-Side. That covers everything from the CSL Universal Hub and CSL Steering Wheel GT3 up through the ClubSport Formula wheels, Podium Hub, and Podium BMW M4 GT3 wheel. The lighter carbon-composite QR2 Lite, which comes fitted to new CSL-series wheels, is no longer sold on its own.
For bases, it depends which one you have:
- Type-C fits the CSL DD and Gran Turismo DD Pro
- Type-M fits the Podium DD1, Podium DD2, and Podium Racing Wheel F1
- Type-F fits the ClubSport DD, ClubSport DD+, and the new Podium DD
Any QR2 Wheel-Side works with any QR2 Base-Side, so you can mix a Pro Wheel-Side with a Type-C base without issue. Fanatec rates the upgrade as something you can do yourself with the included tools, and there are quick guides and videos on each product page.
Some legacy hardware is left out entirely. The CSL Elite and original ClubSport Wheel Base families can’t be converted, and a handful of older wheels (the original CSL Steering Wheel P1, ClubSport Formula Black and Carbon, the first-generation ClubSport Universal Hub, and a few others) are QR1 only. If that’s what you’re running, the upgrade path is a new base or wheel rather than a $45 adapter.
The Fine Print
Apply the code at checkout on Fanatec.com. GTPLANET5 works across Fanatec’s regional storefronts and doesn’t expire, but it won’t stack with other promotions or apply to anything still showing a strikethrough sale price.
As always, prices are subject to shipping and availability. For more on how the code works across the rest of the range, see our original GTPLANET5 announcement, and if you’re deciding between wheels to pair with a freshly upgraded base, our reviews of the Porsche Vision GT wheel and the Gran Turismo DD Extreme are a good place to start.
Already made the jump from QR1 to QR2, or still holding out? Let us know how it went in GTPlanet’s Sim Racing Hardware forums.
See more articles on Deals, Fanatec, Fanatec CSL DD, Fanatec GT DD Pro, and Fanatec Podium Series.
