Fanatec CSL DD: Entry Level, $350 Direct Drive Wheel

Great my grandmother can play now. 5nm...
Very funny. Let’s review it for “moment” (nerd pun) and put some numbers to it. I had a G29, followed by CSL elite, and now F1 DD1 (with a 35cm diameter aftermarket wheel). I have settled in after several months with the direct drive at around 7 Newton meters peak torque. If i were to go to a weeny diameter wheel again, say 32cm or heaven forbid, 28 cm, 5Nm would be sufficient. If it turns out that you want more, get the optional power supply to release the 8Nm.
I have experimented with turning the force feedback and force affect all the way up and this gives 15 N meters peak torque. It’s a real struggle to steer the car much less to have enough control to run decent lap times. There’s the Aussie reviewer “Will” on Boosted Media that says he needs the DD2 to give the high enough force of real life race cars. I’ve researched it. Seems true if you can believe what you read on the internet. Needless to say; I still find it hard to believe the steering wheel forces are that demanding.
 
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Just been on the EU site, looks like they've completely discontinued the CSL and CSW belt drive wheelbases. The only bases available seem to be Podium DDs. I'm guessing that this means the new DD is better than the CSW 2.5 and they didn't want to undercut themselves


This makes sense as I was thinking at the 349 price, they might as well discontinue all the belt drive wheels, i don't think any of the belt driven bases were under 349?


Also the dd wheel could be simpler and cost less to manufacture due to no belts/pulleys to put on etc. It certainly looks fairly straightforward in the exploded view.
 
It looks as if Fanatec are moving to DD only. They probably still have CSWv2.5 in warehouse stock. After they deplete those, probably no more belt drives. One part that is confusing is the announcement while they still have low supply of other sku's, and a distance release date.
 
It looks as if Fanatec are moving to DD only. They probably still have CSWv2.5 in warehouse stock. After they deplete those, probably no more belt drives. One part that is confusing is the announcement while they still have low supply of other sku's, and a distance release date.

Classic supply and demand I reckon. If they keep their current product rare, while teasing the new one, it builds hype and desire. You always want what you can't get, basically how I ended up with a Series X (no regrets though!). There is also the added factor of used gear prices rising. Used CSWs will start popping up for silly money in the meantime, which will drive people towards the new DD even more. That's my take anyway, but I'm dumb and may be reading it all wrong haha.
 
@DomB_Fanatec ... Fanatec coming to NZ ??
I've put together sim rigs for 3 different friends over the last year...All had to be done with Thrustmaster.

The only DD options here are all $2000+
 
$350 for a DD wheel base is a serious incentive for me to look towards upgrading from my G29 in future. I may wait a good while until after the initial hysteria dies down.
 
My guess is the CSL DD plus boast pack will be around CSW 2.5 money, basically killing 2 products with one new one.

Makes me wonder if they will just have CSL and Podium lines going forward.

Bar the CS magnetic paddle modules, I can’t think of any recent CS products that haven’t been special/limited editions.
 
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My guess is the CSL DD plus boast pack will be around CSW 2.5 money, basically killing 2 products with one new one.

Makes me wonder if they will just have CSL and Podium lines going forward.

Bar the CS magnetic paddle modules, I can’t think of any recent CS products that haven’t been special/limited editions.

I think this is the thing that could kill off belt drive wheels.
 
You'd hope that the thing can be hard mounted rather than having to use a clamp.

I also wonder how this can be used with rigs/stands etc. I've got a playseat challenge, if you just put the wheel on the base and clamped it on it'd be way too low I think, kind of need some sort of adapter/stand that bolts to the mounting platform on the seat and then you bolt the wheel in to that.

It is cheap for what it is but you're still looking at $700+ to complete it, which puts it between belt/gear wheels and other DD stuff.
 
They never released the original DD1 motor, they had issues and had to use the detuned DD2 motor.
I see what you mean. Yeah, maybe they worked behind the scenes to improve it.
No idea if the originally planned DD1 was outrunner or inrunner though. Or what "outrunner" and "inrunner" means for that matter. :lol:
 
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@DomB_Fanatec ... Fanatec coming to NZ ??
I've put together sim rigs for 3 different friends over the last year...All had to be done with Thrustmaster.

The only DD options here are all $2000+
There are no immediate plans to ship directly to NZ, but we are always looking to expand our region coverage.

You'd hope that the thing can be hard mounted rather than having to use a clamp.

I also wonder how this can be used with rigs/stands etc. I've got a playseat challenge, if you just put the wheel on the base and clamped it on it'd be way too low I think, kind of need some sort of adapter/stand that bolts to the mounting platform on the seat and then you bolt the wheel in to that.
The hard-mount system on the CSL DD is the most adjustable of any wheel base I know of. It has T-slots on the bottom and on the sides, with included T-nuts, so you can set the mounting points in many different positions, similar to an aluminium profile rail system. The position of the bottom slots means you can set the holes in the same layout as the typical three-hole mounting pattern of our other bases.
 
Big question is, how much for the upgraded power pack and clamp to hold it down

Another big question is why doesn't it come with this as standard ? It's just a PSU nothing special or different in price, this makes no sense so is really just a way to make money for nothing.. :(
 
Another big question is why doesn't it come with this as standard ? It's just a PSU nothing special or different in price, this makes no sense so is really just a way to make money for nothing.. :(
The Boost Kit 180 is significantly larger and twice as powerful compared to the standard power supply which means it is more expensive.
 
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@DomB_Fanatec There has been discussion about CSL and CSW due to the naming of the new CSL DD. What do the L and W stand for in the clubsport equipment? (Not asking compatibility to systems here).
 
@DomB_Fanatec There has been discussion about CSL and CSW due to the naming of the new CSL DD. What do the L and W stand for in the clubsport equipment? (Not asking compatibility to systems here).
We have three product series: CSL, ClubSport, and Podium. The general idea is that the performance increases as you go up through these ranges, but due to the big advancement in technology, CSL DD is shaking things up a bit.

'CSW' is an old term that seems to have stuck since the early days of the original ClubSport Wheel Base, probably from the product code. Today people still like to call the ClubSport Wheel Base V2.5 the 'CSW V2.5' but really it should be 'CS WB V2.5'.

CSL on the other hand is not a shortened product code, but the actual name of the product range below ClubSport. It stands for 'ClubSport Lite', because these products tend to share technology and engineering know-how from the ClubSport Series, but are developed to suit a smaller budget. CSL products are often physically lighter than ClubSport products because there is more use of plastics vs metal. But then that isn't always the case, because some high-end materials used in the ClubSport and Podium lines are super light, like carbon fibre (the upcoming M4 GT3 wheel for example is surprisingly light).

And in the case of the CSL DD, it delivers remarkable performance for its price, with a lot of premium materials used, including the metal casing (plastic end surfaces), and carbon fibre composite for the shaft. The CSL DD is the start of a new generation, and it's not just marketing, I believe it really does represent a 'new standard' of performance, so it shouldn't be underestimated simply because it is in the 'CSL' range.
 
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