- 1,019
- johnkiller2
I was going to buy a wheel stand for my G27. Fanatec has an offer with their wheelstand kitted with a Carrera wheel for 200 euro, The wheelstand alone is 120 euro, so the Carrera wheel is just an additional 80 euro. Couldn’t resist it. Here is my findings comparing the G27 and Fanatec’s Carrera.
The Carrera alone is 160 euro and the G27 is 240 euro in Sweden. Starting with the pedals, the Carrera comes with Fanatec’s standard pedals (all plastic) which sells alone for 50 euro. Fanatec’s clubsport pedals sells for 200 euro. I view the pedals for the G27 (metal/plastic) to be somewhere in between Fanatec’s standard and clubsport pedals, so the wheels only are comparable in price between the two.
Doing a paper study, the Carrera has some interesting features. In GT5 the only thing you can tune is the FFB strength. Given that the G27 has no configuration possibilities you get what you get. With the Carrera you can set Sensitivity (90-900 deg), FFB strength, Linearity, Driftmodes 1-5 (works like a servo), Deadzone, Spring force (return force), and Dampening. The possibility to configure the wheel is why a bought the Carrera even if should be on par with the G27.
Both wheels are gear driven. The G27 uses helical gears and the Carrera straight gears (like the G25). This makes the Carrera a little more noisy but its not a big deal. What is more important is that the Carrera has noticeable more “free play” which I think is due to the difference in gears. This makes the G27 considerably more precise in the steering input.
The FFB strenght in the Carrera is very weak compared to the G27. When I use the G27 I normally have the FFB set in GT5 to around 6 (1-10). Even when I set the FFB to 10 in GT5 and max in the wheel, its is much weaker than for the G27 and too weak for my preference. What is even worse, the Carrera is very heavy to turn. I don’t mind a decent resistance turning “into” the corner but the return should be much lighter and the Carrera is way too heavy to return. I played with all the configurations of the Carrera wheel and I couldn’t get it close to what I like. The G27 however is nicely weighted turning the wheel but when returning it straight its much lighter, just like a real car. The Carrera feels like there is a lot of resistance whatever you do, and given the weak FFB the whole feeling is kind of numb.
Anything good about the Carrera compared to the G27. The wheel is slightly bigger and the rim thicker. For me, I can grip it better than the G27. The Carrera rim has a rubber surface and it actually grip better than the G27 leather wrapping. The shift paddles are large buttons on the spoke of the wheel and it allows me to grip the wheel better rather than reaching for the paddles for the G27.
In summary, the G27 is a considerably better wheel despite the nice features of the Carrera. I can drive with much bigger confidence with the G27, be more precise in my steering, and the whole experience is more enjoyable.
Doing track tests I used my G27 pedals for both the G27 and the Carrera. Needless to say given above, my laptimes with G27 is faster and more constent.
The Carrera alone is 160 euro and the G27 is 240 euro in Sweden. Starting with the pedals, the Carrera comes with Fanatec’s standard pedals (all plastic) which sells alone for 50 euro. Fanatec’s clubsport pedals sells for 200 euro. I view the pedals for the G27 (metal/plastic) to be somewhere in between Fanatec’s standard and clubsport pedals, so the wheels only are comparable in price between the two.
Doing a paper study, the Carrera has some interesting features. In GT5 the only thing you can tune is the FFB strength. Given that the G27 has no configuration possibilities you get what you get. With the Carrera you can set Sensitivity (90-900 deg), FFB strength, Linearity, Driftmodes 1-5 (works like a servo), Deadzone, Spring force (return force), and Dampening. The possibility to configure the wheel is why a bought the Carrera even if should be on par with the G27.
Both wheels are gear driven. The G27 uses helical gears and the Carrera straight gears (like the G25). This makes the Carrera a little more noisy but its not a big deal. What is more important is that the Carrera has noticeable more “free play” which I think is due to the difference in gears. This makes the G27 considerably more precise in the steering input.
The FFB strenght in the Carrera is very weak compared to the G27. When I use the G27 I normally have the FFB set in GT5 to around 6 (1-10). Even when I set the FFB to 10 in GT5 and max in the wheel, its is much weaker than for the G27 and too weak for my preference. What is even worse, the Carrera is very heavy to turn. I don’t mind a decent resistance turning “into” the corner but the return should be much lighter and the Carrera is way too heavy to return. I played with all the configurations of the Carrera wheel and I couldn’t get it close to what I like. The G27 however is nicely weighted turning the wheel but when returning it straight its much lighter, just like a real car. The Carrera feels like there is a lot of resistance whatever you do, and given the weak FFB the whole feeling is kind of numb.
Anything good about the Carrera compared to the G27. The wheel is slightly bigger and the rim thicker. For me, I can grip it better than the G27. The Carrera rim has a rubber surface and it actually grip better than the G27 leather wrapping. The shift paddles are large buttons on the spoke of the wheel and it allows me to grip the wheel better rather than reaching for the paddles for the G27.
In summary, the G27 is a considerably better wheel despite the nice features of the Carrera. I can drive with much bigger confidence with the G27, be more precise in my steering, and the whole experience is more enjoyable.
Doing track tests I used my G27 pedals for both the G27 and the Carrera. Needless to say given above, my laptimes with G27 is faster and more constent.
