Fanatec Podium Direct Drive Wheel Bases Thread

  • Thread starter super_gt
  • 3,718 comments
  • 520,921 views
andrewhake
Just got my Podium Racing Wheel and I am super impressed. I love GT Sport myself so that is all I have tested it in so far.

I tried the recommended settings from Fanatec and found them to work well if not a tad too strong. Using them as a base I came up with:

In-Game settings:
FFB Max Torque 5
FFB Sens 1

FFB 40
SHO 100
ABS Off
FOR 80
SPR 100
DPR 100
NDP 25
NFR 5
BRF 40
FEI 70

It's a pretty amazing difference compared to the CSL Elite Base. The fine detail and speed at which the wheel can respond, and just the overall strength and build quality of the DD setup is amazing. The way the DD responds to GT Sports understeer effect is much more detailed and realistic. Driving the Super Formula cars and Super GT with the new Podium wheel and the DD is absolutely phenomenal. Great to see they have the speed and gear indicators working on the CSL and Podium as well now.

Setting the FF to 100% is hilarious. It's amazing the amount of power this base has. I really can't ever imagine wanting or needing more force than this. Haven't encountered any issues at all so far. The magnetic shifters on the new Podium shifter module is amazing. Another nice thing with the new wheel is that it has a joystick that can be used for look around and allow you to set other buttons to something else.

I'm really looking forward to what Fanatec comes up with for Podium Pedals and maybe even a Podium Shifter? How amazing would it be to have a shifter that actually resists going into gear in an h-pattern if it detects a mis-shift. I wonder if this would be possible?
Click to expand...

You mention the understeer effect (I bolded and underline above)...... Mine is violent. It shakes the rig to a point where my mouse keeps on falling off the mouse pad. Don't need the Butt Kicker no more... (LOL). I'll try your settings and let you know, but do you (or anybody else) know off-hand which setting has the biggest influence on understeer feedback?


Edit: I tried your settings, but I can't dial out the violent kickback on the wheel during cornering. Well, if I take a good line through the corner, it's smooth sailing, but if I go in a bit too deep and crank the wheel a bit I get massive and very sudden "kick backs"... and if I touch a curb when this is going on, it is as if my road wheel hits a solid wall and I spin around on that spot.
 
Last edited:
Rednose58
You mention the understeer effect (I bolded and underline above)...... Mine is violent. It shakes the rig to a point where my mouse keeps on falling off the mouse pad. Don't need the Butt Kicker no more... (LOL). I'll try your settings and let you know, but do you (or anybody else) know off-hand which setting has the biggest influence on understeer feedback?


Edit: I tried your settings, but I can't dial out the violent kickback on the wheel during cornering. Well, if I take a good line through the corner, it's smooth sailing, but if I go in a bit too deep and crank the wheel a bit I get massive and very sudden "kick backs"... and if I touch a curb when this is going on, it is as if my road wheel hits a solid wall and I spin around on that spot.
Click to expand...

Can't really say I have the same issue? What type of rig are you using? On my simlabs TR1 there isn't really any shake at all through the rig.

As you mentioned you really shouldn't be getting into he understeer effect very often. You could try turning down the FEI setting?
 
andrewhake
Can't really say I have the same issue? What type of rig are you using? On my simlabs TR1 there isn't really any shake at all through the rig.

As you mentioned you really shouldn't be getting into he understeer effect very often. You could try turning down the FEI setting?
Click to expand...

Looks like I'll have to improve my driving lines.....

I have a RSeat, but that is not the issue. The problem is when I (even slightly) overshoot the turn and crank the wheel a bit it gives a very strong jerk to the opposite side and then it violently shakes while the car is sliding and trying to make the turn. It looks like GTSport sends a strong understeer signal to one ore more of the setting parameters, but I can't figure out which one. It is absolutely smooth if I brake early and take a good line, but the moment I overshoot and crank the wheel a bit I have to hang on to the wheel kicking and shaking. I spend about 6 hours yesterday going through each one individually. I may have to dial the overall FFB even further down on GTSport for a less immersive experience.

There are no issues on Project Cars 2

Thanks for commenting. I'll keep working on it
 
Isn't most of this already adjustable ON THE FLY in the Tuning Menu on Fanatec Wheel Bases? You have Natural Damper, Natural Friction and Force Effect Intensity already available, what else do you expect to be able to adjust with the new software?
 
SimRacer925
Isn't most of this already adjustable ON THE FLY in the Tuning Menu on Fanatec Wheel Bases? You have Natural Damper, Natural Friction and Force Effect Intensity already available, what else do you expect to be able to adjust with the new software?
Click to expand...
I have 2 features hope new software can add

1) press Estop not power off entire wheelbase, just only disable Torque

2) 5 profiles setup really not enough for multi racing games, provide more profile slots in software or connect mobile device for changing profile through app
 
Pennzoil23
I have 2 features hope new software can add

2) 5 profiles setup really not enough for multi racing games, provide more profile slots in software or connect mobile device for changing profile through app
Click to expand...
I'm sure I have read that they are hoping to have a feature that will automatically load a profile when you start a game.
 
This is where I ended up for my GT Sport settings with the Podium Racing Wheel. I am SUPER happy with it overall. After many hours of use I can't report any issues really. No strange sounds or behavior after using it for hours at a time. I think it works well on both the hi and low torque settings. With the torque key installed, the base will automatically adjust to low torque levels when using a Fanatec wheel with simplified quick release like the CSL Elite wheel.

GT Sport

Fanatec Podium Racing Wheel (DD1)

Hi Torque Settings

In-Game settings
FFB Max Torque 5
FFB Sens 2

FFB 40
SHO 100
ABS Off
FOR 100
SPR 100
DPR 100
NDP 25
NFR 5
BRF 50
FEI 100

My favorite car to drive with the included F1 wheel with the Podium Shifter module is the Super Formula cars. The difference in feel between the CSL Elite base with GT3 McLaren wheel and the Podium with F1 ClubSport wheel is quite substantial. The way the Super Formula cars react to the curbs is fantastic. It's amazing how much feel there is for the back of the car, and the magnetic shifters really let your rip up and down through gears. I wouldn't say you can really do this faster than any other more basic paddle shift setup, but man does it feel amazing with these paddles. I really hope Fanatec pushes Polyphony Digital for proper clutch support on the Formula cars, as well as support for all the buttons and switches on the newer F1 wheels. It is easy to adjust settings with this wheel in GT Sport, but I would love to see support for the dual clutch paddles and bight point features of these Fanatec wheels someday.

Super GT cars are another car that feel amazing with the Podium base. They are basically formula cars but the difference between the different generations of SuperGT/JGTC cars is pretty noticeable. I think it says quite a lot for GT Sport overall that it adapts so well to a direct drive base with so much more torque. I really hope with the next GT release PD really embraces Fanatec as the best base available for the Playstation platform.

Low Torque Settings:

In-Game settings
FFB Max Torque 5
FFB Sens 2

FFB 85
SHO 100
ABS Off
FOR 100
SPR 100
DPR 100
NDP 40
NFR 35
BRF 50
FEI 100


I am patiently waiting for the Podium hub so I can use it with a nice Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel, but in the meantime I have been using the CSL Elite steering wheel when driving various road cars (NSX-R in GT Sport is one of my favorites) and at the settings above I am super happy. I do think the base in Hi Torque mode has more overall potential in terms of quick impacts but it still feels better to me than the CSL Elite. I think my hi torque settings should work quite well when using a larger road car size wheel like the Monte Carlo. Most road cars have quite a bit less steering feel with much softer suspension and much stronger power steering assist. But the Podium base still does a good job of providing steering feel at lower torque levels in a way that replicates many different road cars.

I know that many people really like to mess around with the tuning settings but after many hours of testing various settings, coming back to the near standard settings with small adjustments works best for me. I found small adjustments to the Natural Damper and Natural Friction settings worked great. I also found I prefer to keep FEI on 100. This settings does this (This parameter adjusts the overall intensity of force effects and can make ef- fects smoother: OFF is very smooth while 100 is very sharp and direct. Tuning this parameter can help to refine a harsh or spiky force feedback signal in some games.) So this is a good setting to adjust to smooth things out if that is what you prefer. I feel like tire feel is the best if this is at 100. I would prefer to dial down the main FFB % instead of adjusting FEI down. With the FEI setting at 100 I feel like the base hits higher peak levels when it makes sense.

Settings are entirely subjective. What feels correct to me might feel terrible to you and vice versa. My target with my settings is realism based on cars I have driven on a regular basis in real life. My daily driver is a modified S2000 with fairly stiff suspension and wide tires front and rear so your preference could be very different.

I don't really care about influencing anyone's decision on purchasing this or not, just wanted to share my findings. If I didn't have money to burn I don't think I would have been motivated to upgrade. But direct drive support for GT Sport is something I have been hoping for since it was released. Since the first time I ever learned about direct drive really. I have played Gran Turismo since the first demo) and many other sims. I love GT Sport for the variety of cars and circuits and actual fun gameplay personally, so that is where I feel I can provide the most useful information.

I do understand why people want the bases with as much torque as possible, but honestly I can't imagine ever wanting a base that has more torque than this motor has. I would be interested to see what torque numbers people with the highest torque motors actually are even seeing in normal gameplay. I can't imagine it is ever over 20Nm. I did try setting GT Sports in-game settings to the lowest possible and run the wheel at 100% FFB and even that is way beyond the forces you would experience in pretty much any car out there. I found I prefer to keep the settings as I listed above, the peak feedback is still great and I definitely don't experience any sort of clipping. I think that 5 Max Torque is GT Sports "middle" setting.

Something I would love to see Fanatec integrated is some data logging and analysis software. Let the base store data, and then connect it up to a computer to analyze it. Or even better, integrated it into their SDK so games could actually display all the input information as well as wheel base torque levels. I also think it would be cool to add some customization to the built in OLED display as well in the future. I would like to be able to change the Max peak time setting, instead of Max peak in the last 5 seconds maybe 15-30 seconds, as well as the speed of the graph that is available. The integrated display is a great feature. Could definitely be made even better.
 
Last edited:
Pennzoil23
Hi @DomB_Fanatec @Fanatec... , just watched Sim Racing Garage video , talking about SC2 pro review , the software look very intelligent , wondering new Fanatec software can come close to that ?
Click to expand...

I feel like the significance of this software is being misunderstood, because as SimRacer925 points out, Fanatec wheel bases have a Tuning Menu, which other direct drive solutions do not have. Also, consider that Fanatec's core firmware for FFB has been refined over many years, and one of the key priorities of the direct drive project was to create a plug-and-play device that worked incredibly well 'out of the box', and it was essential that the Podium Series worked on console platform(s) without the need for additional software.

That said, we are doing some interesting things with the new software and have a long roadmap ahead of us in terms of future updates.
 
CJ1045
I would have to say that I am not sure why people are getting so excited about some PC software. The wheel does all that it needs to do and it is very easy to adjust the settings.

CJ
Click to expand...

Exactly. It's unbelievably annoying to have to go to a PC just to change wheel and wheelbase settings and restart everything to update. Not to mention the Podium allows you to do this on the fly even while driving. It is SO much easier to adjust settings on the fly while actually in-game. I really don't get the people who are acting like their wheelbase is useless until the new software comes out. I am sure we will have people complaining once it comes out that it didn't drastically transform the performance of their base as well, lol.

The only thing I think could be cool is the ability to export/import presets or something along those lines. And give presets specific names maybe. As well as data logging possibilities in the future as I mentioned in an my earlier post. It will be nice to see the Fanatec software not rely on the generic windows game controller panel as well.
 
Hi, i just got the podium f1 wheel. Really happy with how solid it feels. I have only had a 2 hour session with it on gt sport before i had to go to bed (assetto corssa pc is next on my list to try).

So far, I'm quite disappointed with the lack of fidelity/detail, car/road feel in gt sport. I've tried Fanatecs recommended settings, and settings others have posted on their forums and also here.
I just can't seem to get a wonderful feeling others are describing with their wheels. It just feels muted. Bland. Sure the wheel is strong. But that's not why i bought this wheel. I was expecting fantastic detail.
My old Thrustmaster t300 conveyed better road and car feeling.

Latest firmware is installed. Should i be putting the wheel into compatibility mode for GT Sport? Also, what wheel configuration are people chosing in the controller/wheel setup page in GT Sport. I chose the Fanatec csl wheel. Does this have any effect other than what button bindings you can use?
I have the same question for assetto corsa and F1 2018. What wheel profile/configuration should i pick?

Any other settings i can play with to improve car and road feel in gt sport?


I'm hoping i get a better experience with assetto corsa, f1 2018 and some of my other sims with the wheel. I do understand gt sports ffb was never great. But i had enough detail with my t300 to make it feel immersive.
 
Noxrai
So far, I'm quite disappointed with the lack of fidelity/detail, car/road feel in gt sport. I've tried Fanatecs recommended settings, and settings others have posted on their forums and also here.
I just can't seem to get a wonderful feeling others are describing with their wheels. It just feels muted. Bland. Sure the wheel is strong. But that's not why i bought this wheel. I was expecting fantastic detail.
My old Thrustmaster t300 conveyed better road and car feeling.
Any other settings i can play with to improve car and road feel in gt sport?
Click to expand...
Generally speaking try to reduce the Natural Damper(NAT DMP) and Natural Friction(NFR) values, at the same time, try to increase the Force Effect Intensity(FEI) value. This should increase the details in FFB.
 
Noxrai
Latest firmware is installed. Should i be putting the wheel into compatibility mode for GT Sport? Also, what wheel configuration are people chosing in the controller/wheel setup page in GT Sport. I chose the Fanatec csl wheel. Does this have any effect other than what button bindings you can use?
I have the same question for assetto corsa and F1 2018. What wheel profile/configuration should i pick?
Click to expand...
Compatibility mode is not necessary for GT Sport. The wheel configuration page does not have any effect other than button bindings, same applies to AC and F1.
 
Noxrai
Hi, i just got the podium f1 wheel. Really happy with how solid it feels. I have only had a 2 hour session with it on gt sport before i had to go to bed (assetto corssa pc is next on my list to try).

So far, I'm quite disappointed with the lack of fidelity/detail, car/road feel in gt sport. I've tried Fanatecs recommended settings, and settings others have posted on their forums and also here.
I just can't seem to get a wonderful feeling others are describing with their wheels. It just feels muted. Bland. Sure the wheel is strong. But that's not why i bought this wheel. I was expecting fantastic detail.
My old Thrustmaster t300 conveyed better road and car feeling.

Latest firmware is installed. Should i be putting the wheel into compatibility mode for GT Sport? Also, what wheel configuration are people chosing in the controller/wheel setup page in GT Sport. I chose the Fanatec csl wheel. Does this have any effect other than what button bindings you can use?
I have the same question for assetto corsa and F1 2018. What wheel profile/configuration should i pick?

Any other settings i can play with to improve car and road feel in gt sport?


I'm hoping i get a better experience with assetto corsa, f1 2018 and some of my other sims with the wheel. I do understand gt sports ffb was never great. But i had enough detail with my t300 to make it feel immersive.
Click to expand...

May be try my setting on GTSport , so far I am quite happy on Gr3 and Gr4 cars with that settings

Podium DDps4
PS4 mode
Hi torque mode

Tuning Menu Settings:
SEN AUT
FF 35~40 (formula) ; 55~60(BMW)
SHO 100
ABS User Preference
FOR 100
SPR 0
DPR 0
NDP 20~25
NFR 0
BRF User Preference
FEI 80

In-Game Settings:
Force Feedback Max Torque: 5
Force Feedback Sensitivity: 10
 
super_gt
Generally speaking try to reduce the Natural Damper(NAT DMP) and Natural Friction(NFR) values, at the same time, try to increase the Force Effect Intensity(FEI) value. This should increase the details in FFB.
Click to expand...

DomB_Fanatec
Compatibility mode is not necessary for GT Sport. The wheel configuration page does not have any effect other than button bindings, same applies to AC and F1.
Click to expand...

Pennzoil23
May be try my setting on GTSport , so far I am quite happy on Gr3 and Gr4 cars with that settings

Podium DDps4
PS4 mode
Hi torque mode

Tuning Menu Settings:
SEN AUT
FF 35~40 (formula) ; 55~60(BMW)
SHO 100
ABS User Preference
FOR 100
SPR 0
DPR 0
NDP 20~25
NFR 0
BRF User Preference
FEI 80

In-Game Settings:
Force Feedback Max Torque: 5
Force Feedback Sensitivity: 10
Click to expand...

Thanks for the responses guys. I really appreciate it.

I think lowering both the damper and natural damper is the secret sauce for GT Sport. Having FEI high is also quite important. Funnily enough while fiddling with the settings last night i ended up with an almost identical setting as yourself @Pennzoil23. Except your overall FF. I must be a weakling, I can only handle 30 and below. But i think i like your overall settings more than the one i fell into. You know you're on to something when you look at the time, and the next time it's way past your bedtime haha.

So with these setting I'm finally feeling detail. My lap times were falling fast, and I'm being consistent. There is still more i feel i can improve in the ffb, (it could be just GT Sports lacking ffb effects though) but overall I'm much more happy with were I'm at now.

Now to try other games!
 
the OLED display on my DD2 is no longer displaying anything and is dead. Came back from 2 weeks overseas and all was working perfectly before I left to it no longer working. I have just logged a ticket, (1st time as I have never had any issues with my previous Fanatec items) interested to see how long this will take to get a response. From what I have read on forums (this one and others)this can be very quickly to never, hope I am on the quickly list.
 
Toto76
the OLED display on my DD2 is no longer displaying anything and is dead. Came back from 2 weeks overseas and all was working perfectly before I left to it no longer working. I have just logged a ticket, (1st time as I have never had any issues with my previous Fanatec items) interested to see how long this will take to get a response. From what I have read on forums (this one and others)this can be very quickly to never, hope I am on the quickly list.
Click to expand...
Just keep in mind that today is a holiday in parts of Germany and weekend is around the corner so it's not guaranteed to get a response before Monday. You could try to reach the chat, which is also available on weekends. Don't know if the chat support is available on a holiday though...
 
SimRacer925
Just keep in mind that today is a holiday in parts of Germany and weekend is around the corner so it's not guaranteed to get a response before Monday. You could try to reach the chat, which is also available on weekends. Don't know if the chat support is available on a holiday though...
Click to expand...

Cheers for that.

I will allow a few extra days for the holidays as I was not aware of that being based in Australia.
 
DomB_Fanatec
If you don't like the clamping solution you can use front-mounted T-slot nuts too.
Click to expand...
DomB_Fanatec
We'll update the product page with an image of this.
Click to expand...
P_MB_large_12-1000x666.jpg

  • Clamp supports 'front' mounting to aluminium profile slots (T-slot nuts not included)
  • Clamp supports aluminium profile uprights of 40x40mm and 80x40mm (120x40mm also possible, bolts not included)
 
Last edited:
super_gt
P_MB_large_12-1000x666.jpg

  • Clamp supports 'front' mounting to aluminium profile slots (T-slot nuts not included)
  • Clamp supports aluminium profile uprights of 40x40mm and 80x40mm (120x40mm also possible, bolts not included)
Click to expand...
The front mounting solutions looks as though it's not going to help with rigidity. I'll be sticking with my official Simlab wheel deck.
 
super_gt
P_MB_large_12-1000x666.jpg

  • Clamp supports 'front' mounting to aluminium profile slots (T-slot nuts not included)
  • Clamp supports aluminium profile uprights of 40x40mm and 80x40mm (120x40mm also possible, bolts not included)
Click to expand...
Mounting on this way is not good solution , and also not looking good , I prefer previous one
 
LearnersPermit
You can mount it either way, I still don’t like the Fanatec side mounts so I went with the sim labs one instead
Click to expand...
For me , I will stick on bottom mount ,actually it’s totally rock solid , can’t see any 1mm movement on 100% FFB, if one day I go for side mount , It would be fanatec one , just because of the looking ...

Btw , simlab side mount have better adjustment on the height , good choice
 
Last edited:
LearnersPermit
You can mount it either way, I still don’t like the Fanatec side mounts so I went with the sim labs one instead
Click to expand...
Agree, whilst I love my fanatec gear I really don't like the look of their side mount. I recently ordered the Simlab P1-X and their fanatec side mount solution, it looks really clean and tidy and has good adjustability built into it.
 

Latest Posts

Back