I received my CSR Elite tonight. It's an impressive wheel, but I haven't had time to fully put it through its paces. These are my initial, disorganized impressions.
The base unit is reassuringly heavy, made almost entirely of machined and cast aluminum. It looks like it's built to last. I'm not a big fan of the tomato red paint used on the sides. The paint application could have been better. It's not perfectly smooth. The black anodized face plate looks sharper. I wish the sides were anodized rather than painted, but I recently learned cast aluminum parts can't be anodized. Overall the base looks and feels like a quality product.
The steering wheel is a mixed bag. I'll start with the downsides. The rim is a significant step down from the stunning Alcantara wrapped GT2 wheel. The rim does have a satiny, soft touch rubber coating, and it feels nice, but it still doesn't feel anything like the sort of surface you'd find in an actual car. I also don't like the perfectly round cross section of the rim. I prefer the ergonomically sculpted cross section of the GT2 rim. The CSR-E rim is busy in its construction, with seams between each section of the wheel. This is the surface you'll be touching constantly, and I believe Fanatec should have considered different compromises to improve the tactile quality of the rim. Perhaps omit the genuine carbon fiber face, which is just for show (the real structure is in the aluminum spokes) and offer a full leather or Alcantara wrap. The current Alcantara "scraps" don't really cut it. At the very least I feel Fanatec should have gone with a proper rubber rim, such as on the T500 RS.
There's a lot to like about the new steering wheel too. First, the new paddle shifters are just awesome. They're big, firmly sprung, and offer the perfect amount of travel. Rubber stoppers are applied to both sides to cushion the action too. The ergonomics of the rim offer a nice balance of GT and formula design, and it works well for both applications. Since Fanatec wasn't trying to replicate an existing wheel, they didn't have to camouflage the controls, so the buttons are obvious and laid out fairly well, though I wish they were placed a little close to the edges. And while the new D-pad is really loose and floppy, it requires very little force to use, so navigating the tuning menu is a lot more pleasant. Finally, the new steering wheel is light, so it rotates very quickly and vibrations are transmitted more effectively.
In use the CSR Elite is an extraordinarily precise steering wheel. In every game I've tried so far (iRacing, F1 2011 for Windows, Forza Motorsport 4), I was very impressed with the steering accuracy. Fanatec touts their DirectSensor technology, and it's the real deal. The new steering mechanism is also very low drag, to the point where it may actually be too smooth and effortless when the motors aren't offering any resistance. I'm noticing this mainly because the current firmware (715) doesn't correct the rather large force feedback deadzone on center. (The inherent drag in the Porsche wheels seems to mask this.) No force feedback effects during gameplay seem to be transmitted while the steering wheel is straight (within about 10 degrees of center). In F1 2011, for example, if I run over the curbing while the wheel is straight, there's absolutely no feedback. With a bit of steering dialed in, to the point where I can feel some motor resistance, the curb effects are transmitted very effectively. I've also noticed in iRacing and Forza Motorsport 4 this feedback deadzone prevents the car from properly centering the steering at low speeds. I've heard firmware 717 corrects this, and I hope it does. There's a lot of inherent precision in this wheel, and I'd like to see it fully exploited with perfect on-center feel.
The force feedback from the CSR Elite is powerful, completely eclipsing the Porsche wheels. I can't imagine needing anything stronger. F1 2011 (Windows version) in particular is brutal, and in fact that may be a bug, as adjusting force feedback strength within the game doesn't seem to make a damn difference. The force feedback strength is immense, and combined with the current feedback deadzone with firmware 715, it's very difficult to drive. Forza Motorsport 4 and iRacing fare much better, showing a wide dynamic range of feedback. Combined with the smooth, low drag steering, I'm finding the challenge of counter-steering a real pleasure, even with drift mode turned off. With my GT2, I often ran drift at 1 or 2. The CSR Elite doesn't need it. There's still a bit of "grit" to the feedback effects. My guess is the motors may rotate in tiny steps, since the rest of the CSR Elite is designed to be incredibly precise, and the drive layout seems rock solid, with little room for slop.
A few other random thoughts: The fan is quiet and easy on the ears. The belts squeak a tiny bit, probably because they're ribbed, not toothed. Overall, the CSR Elite is a very quiet. I thought the GT2 was quiet, but this takes the cake.
but that track is so expensive 
$300 for one day plus gas as its about 500miles away and the wear and tear on tires, brakes plus chances of destroying my car going past my limits is making it hard to pull the trigger even if I had the money
) and I am always interested in hearing comments about the CSRE for these and other PC racing games!
