CSR Elite wheel: 3 steps forward and 2 steps back.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Troysloth
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FCTaff
New people joining the ISR forum to slate the Elite, I agree it makes me suspicious also.

Why would you go to the trouble of joining a forum to moan. If every post was OMG it's rubbish and you post to agree, I can understand that. When 99% of the posts are singing it's praises and a negative thread is created 1st post. Then you must question the motive I think. He could be 100% legit but he could also be bogus.
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I would go through the trouble of joining a forum to moan when I just spent over 5 bills on a product. Most of the time I just lurk and get the answers after someone finally posts the question I have.

My moan on ISR also brought out a great tip for centering the wheel so in the end it helps any potential buyers to hit the ground running. Will I post when the wheel is working well for me? No. I will send a thank you email out to Fanatec once they get everything sorted.

I'm also not one to whine about the wheel not being ready when shipped because I was one of those folks that wanted it as a christmas gift and Fanatec was able to make that happen. I'll pay the price of being an early adopter because I believe in the end Fanatec will get it right.

If you are in a decent tax bracket or married well then I say jump in and get it now because even with the issues it's still the best you can do on the xbox. If not wait for the headaches to be dealt with before you buy.
 
Spagetti69
Fanatec have some extra rims coming out for this wheel coincidentally.

For people who want to spend extra upgrading.
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That's not the point is it? You should make a product that is good in one go so people would feel like spending more to expand their experience with it. They shouldn't have to spend extra because a manufacturer has been negligent in thinking on how to construct their wheel properly so the quality of the base and rim match.
On another note it does snow where Fanatec their priorities lie, with their shareholders. Which isn't surprising as every company which abides by that model is corrupted by greedy shareholders that only think about short term profit. Economists are idiots a lot of the time though, so it's hard to blame them. lol
 
Fanatec should make a proper product? Guess you're ignoring everybody who doesn't grip or try to flex the wheel rim like an ape. Every time I think this can't get weirder. The OP is obviously gripping the **** out of that wheel. Look at the muscles in his arms, he's literally trying to warp the wheel. I tried doing what the OP did and couldn't.

This is no different than any other Fanatec bash thread.

Here's a novel idea, stop using their products and stick to the superior "Logi"tech products. I mean by the daily bull$hat on this forum you'd think Fanatec is Pelican or Madcatz.

I'm currently having an issue with my CSR shifter set. I'm going to contact support to get them replaced. I'm not on here as usual spewing exagerations or the usual crap about how Fanatec kills baby seals and should go out of business. You should be kissing Fanatecs ass for supporting consoles and making products that push the envelope and will make other manufacturers step up their game.

Several of you are very slanderous in the things you say in many threads, not just this one. A lot of the time not even knowing what the hell they're talking about. Lol

Maybe Thomas should just cancel his account seeing as he's the anti Christ. [rolling eyes]
 
Fanatec products has always been underpriced tho. They were selling easily over retail at ebay which was an indication the demand outstripped the supply by a wide margin. So I am sure Thomas / Fanatec felt compelled to produce a higher end product to help meet that demand.

This is a good thing I always thought Fanatec should do this. Way back when I 1st came to this side of the forum, I begged for Fanatec to find some way to meet the demand. They couldn't meet it so I got my t500rs.

But now they can do this easier. People willing to pay more can get their wheels now I hope while people not willing to pay that can get the lower end wheels.

Options are great.

And bah most of us could honestly care less bout more glitter and coat on our rims. That won't help me reduce any seconds on my times whatsoever. So I'm not paying money for that. All most of your hardcore racers thats out there trying to win races daily care bout is cutting down their times. That means we're looking at the wheel base, ffb (can it communicate lose of grip, road surface bumps, etc), precision, etc.

Granted, I would be stoked for an f1 rim sure for the immersion quality. But that's all just icing. Bottom line is you should ask yourself whats the higher priority. You trying to be competitive or do you want more glitter on the rims? :yuck:

I want to reduce my times. I want to hit Top 5 a lot more when there's a full grid of cars. I want to see my iRating soar through the roof.... I'm willing to pay money for that extra edge.

I remember this same moaning bout the t500rs rim too. A lot of your top racers at iracing ignored all that. They took that wheel, matched it up with some CSPs, and killed it hard
 
LogiForce
That's not the point is it? You should make a product that is good in one go so people would feel like spending more to expand their experience with it. They shouldn't have to spend extra because a manufacturer has been negligent in thinking on how to construct their wheel properly so the quality of the base and rim match.
On another note it does snow where Fanatec their priorities lie, with their shareholders. Which isn't surprising as every company which abides by that model is corrupted by greedy shareholders that only think about short term profit. Economists are idiots a lot of the time though, so it's hard to blame them. lol
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In what way would the construction of the wheel be classified as negligent? Because a guy shoots up steroids, goes into a fit of rage, and tries to bend and twist the wheel until it breaks? I could buy a Ferrari, sit there dry revving the hell out of it for an hour, and if something breaks, is that negligence on Ferrari's part? Or is that me being a complete and utter toolbag?

The availability of additional wheel rims is a great thing. If we all just used street cars in our racing games, the original wheel will be fine, but driving a Formula car isn't exactly realistic with a circular 300mm wheel is it?


I have no doubt that the original poster is not trolling the forum and he actually believes what he has written. But everything he shared was then rendered void when that stupid video of him going "Incredible Hulk" on the wheel in a completely unrealistic test rendering an invalid complaint.
 
Mayaman
I have no idea how you got that from my comments but I guess all reason left this thread long ago. All I can say to people is, just play with the vastly superior G27. Problem solved.
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Funny thing is the current Grand Am Rolex series leader at iRacing is using a G27 + Clubsports. I could tell by watching his replays he was using CSPs cause his braking inputs was so smooth. Got a chance to chat with him during a race (hey its 50 mins so after bout 30 mins you kinda know whats going to happen lol)

So just keeping it real Logitech is still something champions use. But I'd love to see what this guy could do with a Fanatec CSW! Thomas hook that guy up ASAP lol*
 
superbike81
Exactly why I refresh Thomas's Blog page every day waiting for them to open up the ordering for the CSW.
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You don't need to start refreshing the page until about mid February for an update on when the wheel will be available for pre order.
 
Sigh... Whatever. I obviously think differently from the rest of this community. Oh well, I'll just wait for that CSW and see if that's any good and I think I won't be dissatisfied. Oh well, after this episode I doubt someone still thinks I am a biased Fanatec fanboy.
Oh and about revving that Ferrari engine, you should compare that with keeping both motors in the Elite going at 100% constantly instead don't you think? Else I should go make a comparison between apples and tomatoes or something as well. Lol
 
The comparison was abuse to abuse. You wouldn't do something completely out of the ordinary as some arbitrary test would you? No one (except a complete idiot) is going to dry-rev a $40K engine for an extended period and no one (except another idiot) is going to sit there twisting and bending a $500 game controller in a way it was never meant to be either.
 
Yeah I agree I think that video is a troll attempt. I'm not going to bend my equipment like that but I did try to just pull on the top/bottom part a little and there was no 'flex'. I mean, the way the video makes it appear as if the wheel rim is made out of rubber. And he is just trying to get some views for his little video

he must've loosen'ed up the screws?? I have no idea but what a waste of my time

Never ever trust 1-post heroes. There is always an agenda!

I should've just stuck to my original assumption. Always trust your instincts


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And why would someone do this???? I can think of a million reasons but its getting late and I'm supposed to be doing quality time and all!
 
I didn't crank down on my wheel to get it to flex like the op but I did put some force on it to see what kind of flex there was. I'm no hulk and I could easily bend my wheel that way without modifying it.

I agree it's a waste of time because 97% (it always looks better if you use a percentage) of people aren't dumb enough to do that to the wheel.

I also don't understand why people who don't even own the wheel post so much about it. If you haven't put your hands on one step away from post button.
 
You aren''t supposed to use something in a way it's not made to be used and then moan at the company for making it unable to cope with the useage in the way it was not designed to.
Over-reving a Ferrari is a great example, although a better example would be driving it off-road.

You can drive a Ferrari off-road and it will most likely break but you can't blame Ferrari for making it's suspension bad and unable to cope with the terrain since it wasn't made for that terrain in the first place.


I don't think op is trolling, he wrote a generally good review and he paid for his wheel, so why would be bash it? He's just saying what he likes and what he doesn't like about the wheel, that's all (although I fail to see the point in his complaint regarding the rim flex).
 
You know, today I was thinking out of the box again and thinking this over from the other way around while watching that video repeatedly.

Actually it's great that the plastic is of the flexible kind and not the very solid type that easily brakes, this way you CAN actually abuse it a bit without breaking it like shown in the video. ;)

Still I would've liked to see a metal rim for the price tag, that's an opinion i'll stick with.


NewLaw
I also don't understand why people who don't even own the wheel post so much about it. If you haven't put your hands on one step away from post button.
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If you don't own a Ferrari you aren't allowed to talk about it? That's weird. lol
 
sandboxgod
Yeah I agree I think that video is a troll attempt. I'm not going to bend my equipment like that but I did try to just pull on the top/bottom part a little and there was no 'flex'. I mean, the way the video makes it appear as if the wheel rim is made out of rubber. And he is just trying to get some views for his little video

he must've loosen'ed up the screws?? I have no idea but what a waste of my time

Never ever trust 1-post heroes. There is always an agenda!

I should've just stuck to my original assumption. Always trust your instincts


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And why would someone do this???? I can think of a million reasons but its getting late and I'm supposed to be doing quality time and all!
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I can more than confirm that was NOT Troy's objective with his clip. He just feels for what he paid, to have that lack of quality rim was not right. So, he took a litle frustration out on the vid, but does that make him a troll? Of course not. I think it was the added frustration to having a supreme base with a subpar rim.

He is a former marine, his view of little force is likely different from ours mates. So chill, he was opnly doing it and he gave his own review. Take it with a grain of salt, but a LOT of others have already stated the rim is not what they expected at all.....
 
LogiForce
If you don't own a Ferrari you aren't allowed to talk about it? That's weird. lol
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Picture a bunch of Ferrari owners standing around talking. Now picture little Johnny coming over and giving his opinion on them even though he has never sat in one.

Forums are a great place to express your opinion on whatever you want. Just funny to see folks with a lot to say about something they haven't touched.
 
Yeah that's kind of what we do around here is analyze sim gear fully like we're professional analysts

I just got the rim to flex a little. I was thinking in the heat of a race I think I can feel the wheel rim play a little (aka flex)
 
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NewLaw
Picture a bunch of Ferrari owners standing around talking. Now picture little Johnny coming over and giving his opinion on them even though he has never sat in one.

Forums are a great place to express your opinion on whatever you want. Just funny to see folks with a lot to say about something they haven't touched.
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👍
 
LogiForce
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Actually it's great that the plastic is of the flexible kind and not the very solid type that easily brakes, this way you CAN actually abuse it a bit without breaking it like shown in the video. ;)

...
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Totally agree. Too stiff and it might crack.
 
Well there you have it. The sim hardware Gods have spoken. If you have a low post count DONT comment on your purchases your probaly lying. If you dont own a fanatec DONT comment ur opinion means nothing around here. If there is anything you need to know, there is about 8 people here who are approved to tell you. Did i miss any of the rules? I dont want to anger the GODS. :dunce:
 
Haha don't go blowing this out of proportion. Some other members have already verified they know the OP

But yes I am always suspicious of a newbie poster that gives strong opinions on a product. Recall, Thomas himself has exposed some Thrustmaster employees not too long ago and they havent posted since (but that made me sad cause they seemed like great posters although they did seem to have a single purpose agenda)

So it's just common sense to always use some wisdom and discernment. In iRacing forums a mod just had to remove a thread created by a 1-post hero so I'm not making this up (wait a sec the thread is still there even tho it's obviously spam)
 
The review of the OP shows his personal preferences. Everybody has a different taste about things and it seems that he really wanted to have a better rim instead of great force feedback.
A product is always a compromise. Otherwise we would all drive 10.000 USD Bugattis (Estate wagon version for me, please).

If you wanted to get this kind of force feedback sensation you had to pay 1500 to 2500 USD up to know with less compatibility and features.

The price of the CSR E is certainly not super affordable but you have to put it in relation to something comparable to make clear what you can expect to get for the money you paid.

Our GT3 RS wheel is a full Alcantara rim and the wheel costs 180 USD. If the rim is more important for you than this is the wheel to get.

If you want to get a wheel where the value is actually rather under the hood than on the rim then the CSR E is probably a good choice. If you want to have a full metal rim with leather and the CNC machiened base of the CSR E you will have to spend more money to either upgrade the CSR E or wait for the ClubSport wheel.

You always get what you pay for and although 540 USD is quite some money you should put it in perspective to what other wheels deliver. We could have delivered the CSR E only with a more expensive rim made of metal and leather and raise the price. This just kills the option to get this wheel at a more affordable price for the many people who like the rim as it is and rather have spectacular force feedback effects.
 
Here is my theory:
MS approach Fanatec with already designed rim
MS tells Fanatec to supply base
Fanatec uses existing GT2 base and unfinished CSW base hence the problems

I cannot see Fanatec designing a plastic toy knowing their alcantara wrapped past.

Question:
Will option rims be available for the CSR-E

Suggestion:
Make a button box for buttons, let us CHOOSE our own steering wheels (ie: Chilicoke & DSD adapters)
 
@Fanatec...: I can't wait to test that CSW Thomas, then I will probably be able to properly judge everything. Still I'm the kind of person that wants the best balance for the price tag, no compromise other then "you get what you pay for". But then again I might be more the CSW target group I reckon. ;)
Although I would love to play FM4 now and again on the side. Specially drifting down that touge Fujimi Kaido. Which wheel would you recommend to have next to the CSW for that for me, Thomas? The GT2 good enough you think?


@somebodysb2: Thomas just said so himself...
If you want to have a full metal rim with leather and the CNC machiened base of the CSR E you will have to spend more money to either upgrade the CSR E or wait for the ClubSport wheel.
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In other words if you want a better rim for the CSR E you can upgrade to a better one later on when Fanatec has released one, a full metal and leather wrapped rim at that.
 
Fanatec...
The review of the OP shows his personal preferences. Everybody has a different taste about things and it seems that he really wanted to have a better rim instead of great force feedback.
A product is always a compromise. Otherwise we would all drive 10.000 USD Bugattis (Estate wagon version for me, please).

If you wanted to get this kind of force feedback sensation you had to pay 1500 to 2500 USD up to know with less compatibility and features.

The price of the CSR E is certainly not super affordable but you have to put it in relation to something comparable to make clear what you can expect to get for the money you paid.

Our GT3 RS wheel is a full Alcantara rim and the wheel costs 180 USD. If the rim is more important for you than this is the wheel to get.

If you want to get a wheel where the value is actually rather under the hood than on the rim then the CSR E is probably a good choice. If you want to have a full metal rim with leather and the CNC machiened base of the CSR E you will have to spend more money to either upgrade the CSR E or wait for the ClubSport wheel.

You always get what you pay for and although 540 USD is quite some money you should put it in perspective to what other wheels deliver. We could have delivered the CSR E only with a more expensive rim made of metal and leather and raise the price. This just kills the option to get this wheel at a more affordable price for the many people who like the rim as it is and rather have spectacular force feedback effects.
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👍

Great explanation.
 
The amount of speculation on these forums at times is just mental.
When was it ever confirmed Fanatec did not design their own wheel rim.

Microsoft "certification" may have conditional requirements but I think comments relating to MS practicaly design the product in whole is rather obsurb.

Please Logi, if I have to read again that your getting a CSW for testing Im gonna crack up mate. Really do think you need to tone that down now with almost 2 months on continuely reminding us. I think most are aware by now.

As for Thomas comments yes he's right about keeping the price down but the issue of the rim being sub par to the rest of the wheel or indeed cheaper models is hard to turn a blind eye too. It's not as bad as some maybe make out but well yeah I'd certainly purchase a new higher end rim if it was available in the future.
 
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Mr Latte I hope you send me a PM when your review is ready? I'll make sure to keep checking your site. Tried my best to write a proper review on the csr-e but I am sure yours will be truly awesome with coverage of the csr elite pedals, etc

So it sounds like you agree with troy's review here about the flex in the rim to some extent then? You've had this wheel much longer than I have. I'll go back and re-read your comments eariler in the thread


LogiForce
@Fanatec...: I can't wait to test that CSW Thomas, then I will probably be able to properly judge everything. Still I'm the kind of person that wants the best balance for the price tag, no compromise other then "you get what you pay for". But then again I might be more the CSW target group I reckon. ;)
Although I would love to play FM4 now and again on the side. Specially drifting down that touge Fujimi Kaido. Which wheel would you recommend to have next to the CSW for that for me, Thomas? The GT2 good enough you think?


@somebodysb2: Thomas just said so himself...


In other words if you want a better rim for the CSR E you can upgrade to a better one later on when Fanatec has released one, a full metal and leather wrapped rim at that.
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I bet if you were to give CSW a try on a sim like iRacing you'd forget all bout FM 4. FM 4 is a quality game worthy of a great wheel. But it's not even in the same league as iracing

But since I have failed to persuade you to join gtp there then I guess for now a GT2 would be highly tempting.
 
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I think the wheel rim goes perfectly fine with the standard CSR and I think for the majority of people who buy the CSR-Elite, they will find the standard rim perfectly acceptable as well. But for those who want to take it to that next level of realism, there will be addon wheels, I don't see anything wrong with that. By using a modified version of the CSR wheel, they are keeping production costs down for the majority of buyers and they are supplying the option to spend more for additional wheel rims for those who want to.

How is that wrong in any way?
 
sandboxgod
Mr Latte I hope you send me a PM when your review is ready? I'll make sure to keep checking your site. Tried my best to write a proper review on the csr-e but I am sure yours will be truly awesome with coverage of the csr elite pedals, etc

So it sounds like you agree with troy's review here about the flex in the rim to some extent then? You've had this wheel much longer than I have. I'll go back and re-read your comments eariler in the thread
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My own position is that I quite like the rim, I even like the grippy rubber. The buttons all have a nice feel, good size and positioning for me is pretty good. I would of liked a bit more high end upgrade over the CSR. If the wheel was an extra £50/$50 with something more substantial over the CSR rim personally I think it would not of effected sales yet been welcomed.Some seem to expect perfection at this kind of price point or go fault finding.

Are certain things worth criticising or highlighting? Yeah they are as different people all have personal opinions, different expectations and maybe at times it's worth being overcritical. Thomas makes perfect example in best thing to do is compare to what you have to spend to get a similar or possibly better all-round wheel experience.

The problems arise when such points are raised, speculation or why they are raised. Like many things common sense prevails and when overcritical comments are perhaps raised they should be recognised as such on both sides.

My own continued testing still needs more done. The firmware situation/updates has meant more work is needed.
 
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Interesting point of view I like your post. I didn't expect to love this wheel rim so much this has taken me quite by surprise. It's even missing the little red tape in the center that I love on my T500rs rim

I am still not used to where the SELECT and START buttons are positioned. I think I like the button arrangement a little better on my t500rs rim. But I love how big and bulky these red buttons are. I press them all the time during a race. I never really have to 'search'

Good points.
 

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