Best settings for FANATEC CSL

[NSP525]

Tried something different on the weekend for FFB to finish off the week at Bathurst. The inspiration came from watching Z28s stream and him running 8 torque in game, which I thought would be insane but decided to try it anyways. The fanatec settings are mostly Kies recommended settings for a CSL elite from a past video, I was running it at 4 torque but 8 just feels alive and better while not overpowering surprisingly. This is coming from someone who moved away from higher strength settings initially also, but this feels so controllable I'm kind of shocked really. I can only speak for feel on gr3 cars really and had to turn torque and sens down for SF at Suzuka personally but for gr 3 I can't believe how alive the cars are feeling. I'm on firmware 680 now also for my wheelbase.

Torque 8
Sens 10

Sen auto
FF 100
Dri -3
FEI 40 or preferred
For 80
Spr 100
Dpr 100
Bli/abs 100 or preferred
Sho 100
Brf preferred

 

[Groundfish]

I think Z uses a podium dd wheel. In wheel his ff setting is probably reduced greatly.
I’ve heard him before mention he doesn’t like a heavy ffb...
Could be wrong...
I’m a fan of his.

 

[NSP525]

He is on podium DD, it looked moderately strong still and you could hear the man breathing heavy after 9 laps at Bathurst. No idea what he had for wheel settings on it not that it matters for us CSL users, main intent was to try something different and stronger and I have to say I may keep those for gr3 for the time being. @Groundfish interested to see what you think of them as I know you've always leaned towards more definition and strength in the past. Something's changed in firmware or the game because I would have never been able to run that torque previously.

 

[Groundfish]

What feels great to me right now is in game 4-4
Dri OFF
FEI 30
For 100
The rest are default/like you wrote
Brf is preferred think im 40 or 50 with the mid elastomers
I was using the hardest ones a long time but I find now I like the mids.
With gr3 you can kinda get addicted to really loading up some cars and building the ffb, but IMO that’s not necessarily always the fastest or best idea to take that far. That’s JMO.
I’ll goof with it when I’m able and report back.

Edit @NSP525 tried the settings, they don’t work at all for me. In turns there’s nothing. My guess is that it’s ffb clipping. setup 8-10 in game. I farted around and turning FOR down from 100 to 80 just takes away effect. Dri -03 is heavily damped but smooth, too much detail lost for my taste. Dri-01 is the only setting besides off I’d consider for Dri personally but in turning it minus one the damping cause you to lose info. The saving grace is it’s just smooth and easy driving and times are fast. Too high of FEI gets spiky/rattles-I use headphones so sound doesn’t matter but I prefer FEI 20-30 on GTS.
Dri ft mode has a big effect. -01 vs off is debatable imo.
Turning FOR down imo is effectively turning off half the stuff coming in from game, that for me made a huge loss turning it down from 100...
Car used Stang track Yamagiwa.
FFB is personal preference. I’m not saying any way or no way is faster, just that on my wheel and my fw the settings 4-4 in game FEI 30 Dri OFF everything 100 is when I feel the most effects from game combined with a nice wheel weight. I might be faster going lighter but these are my preference right now for immersion value and tire grip info...

 

[NSP525]

I ran your settings for a good 10 laps at Yama and set a new pb for a bit with them, definitely a nice feel to them and I could easily race with those kind of settings. The lower sensitivity with no drift seems to be an alright combo to achieve that weighted dampening effect also. The lower sens does take away some of that crispness ive been trying to achieve but those are a nice compromise. Do you check for firmware updates or do you run an older version still?

As far as clipping this is something I can't say I've ever knowingly experienced or could tell you exactly what it feels like either. I know it's the over saturation of a signal the motor can't produce, but what does that translate into as far as what we feel on the other end of the rim.

 

[Groundfish]

Yeah, I’ve never changed fw.
I like the 4-4.
Well re clipping, for me on my wheel when I tried the 8-10 lower FOR as soon as I went into a turn the ffb went dead. Felt like just a light rubber band. Basically lol everything was jacked up . Even curb bump etc was reduced too.
I know what GTS produces on a belt wheel cuz I used t300 a long time.
My take is it’s better to run very default and pay attention to the feel and learn what GTS is telling me, and keep the same settings a long time. When all the feels stay the same I can pickup on them and learn better what’s causing what, what it’s telling me, and how my inputs are affecting it etc etc.
GTS ffb is subtle but very informative.

 

[NSP525]

There seems to be more working/usable combos for ffb in GTS these days anyways. Must be a product of in game updates and firmware I guess. I remember running anything over 5 or 6 torque used to be insane to try and hold onto the rim if you had a mid corner moment, I'm not getting that feeling of waiting for the rim to rip out of my hands anymore. Maybe I've developed more skill too but stronger doesn't feel unusable to me anymore at least.

 

[Groundfish]

^^^Yeah might be fw difference. I dunno re force. For me going up the esses at Yamagiwa at 4-4 with a loaded suspension smooth and slow turning there’s way more than enough force, and I’m not a little guy.
What’s interesting to me is the way the force can be built up, the way you can load up the car by a touch of trail brake to squat the nose then progressively turning in buildup the ffb.
Conversely you can squat the car less with a bit lighter earlier brake and use a bit less steering angle and let the car run out with a lighter grip on the wheel, letting those fronts runout more as soon as they want to. That’s kinda one way to drive fast in the Mustangs.
The gr4 at Interlagos was a BEAST driving that way.
So to me what’s neat is that it’s not just here’s the ffb, the ffb reflects how you’re driving the car and the games properties.
I’m no expert on ffb and the technical side of it just relating my experience from heavy hours in GTS.
You never know you might like 5-1 in game with dri -01 which was the old Fanatec baseline. I ran that a long time, then 4-10 now 4-4 in game.
I think 4-4 is the best now ironic it’s the default . I think Lightning ran 4-4.
I know on my wheel the 8-10 in game is clipped out/unusable. Less than half a Yamagiwa lap told me that.
You’re right though on my t300 back a year and a half going up in torque rendered it locked pretty much.

 

[NSP525]

My best qualy at Yama is with that 8-10 setting but I only just pipped the time I had set with yours. I think I'll report back in about a week with what I'm going to settle on for settings, I think I may have to revisit @Deadpool's settings again and see what difference a year has made for me.

 

[Groundfish]

Yeah I’d be curious where @Deadpool is at now. He’s very very very good.
If you get a chance search up his videos he’s posted up a couple sick highlights ones that seemed under appreciated here. He had some sick ring action, Interlagos gr4, and also Lemans gr c.

 

[Deadpool]

Yeah I’d be curious where @Deadpool is at now. He’s very very very good.
If you get a chance search up his videos he’s posted up a couple sick highlights ones that seemed under appreciated here. He had some sick ring action, Interlagos gr4, and also Lemans gr c.

I took a lil time off haha. Works been having me travel a lot and my load cell crapped out on me, plus 5yr olds take all the attention lol. But I upgraded to the Sprints and I’m fine tuning those now.

For settings, mine are very different now due to the switch to the DD2, it’s such a transformative setup and with a lot more room to finely tune the wheel feel. I can share those settings but it won’t translate to the CSL/CSW wheels.

But my methodology would be the same in that I adjust settings to find a natural feel. I’ll usually throw on the “suggested” settings and drive down the straight slowly weaving side to side feeling how it responds, and I’ll also adjust each setting one at a time at the extreme ends and middle to better understand what each effect is doing and how it feels. Once I find something that feels good I’ll do a few hot laps and do fine tweaking based on how it responds.

One thing I look for is how it responds to oversteer through a corner. Some settings have a lot of force but then fight you when oversteer occurs which isn’t natural. So I tune that out, which on the CSL meant sacrificing some of the force.

I recall having my FEI around 30 on the CSL, some run it higher but on mine I’d getting “noise”. I prefer it to be as smooth and detailed as possible. The DD2 gave my smooth/detail and stupid amounts of power.

I need to go through some more replays actually, running out of space and need to delete some