Racing Wheel Recommendations

Fanatec is your only 'REAL' choice, I have 2 Fanatec CSR wheel set ups and one had some issues with the pedals and while it did take a while to get the matter fixed, the customer service was responsive, helpful and in the end got me a working pedal.  The only pain in the butt part was making videos to send to them so they can try and fix the issue without sending a new unit right away, if you follow their policy you will be fine.  The reason I say REAL is due to the xbox not having great wheel support like ps3 and PC.

 A few things to keep in mind if you are going to invest in a racing setup.

1- Make sure you have a decent place to attach it, a premade cockpit or one you can fabricate.  FFB is strong and if the wheel isn't secured then you will have a miserable time playing.

2- This one ties in to 1, it is best to have an area devoted to racing as taking the wheel and pedals out each time you are going to race will get old fast, trust me.

3- If you are serious about getting into sim/semi-sim racing, spend some extra money on a good wheel.  Reason I say this is when I first wanted to start racing with a wheel I purchased the MS wheel and while it was great since I never played on a wheel, in about 6 months I spent the money on the Fanatec set ups I have today.

Good luck and hope you find what you are looking for. 

Also, I do not think the Thrstmaster wheels are compatible with xbox.  Fanatec sells a few models that are compatible on all 3 platforms, xbox, ps3 and PC in case you have those or in the future get into using one.

Thrustmaster makes two ferrari wheels endorsed by both Ferrari and Microsoft.  One is around 90 with no FFB or vibration, the other is a cockpit version where the wheel is attached to the pedals through a column.  Its pricey at 300 with only (reportedly) weak vibration feedback and no FFB.

All my research points at Fanatec.  I'm old enough to know you get what you pay for and I prefer to pay for things once, even if it costs a bit more.  The only reason I replaced my stereo head unit after 10 years was becuase of HDMI technology it didn't have.  It just makes more sense to stretch those hard earned dollars by buying quality products.

Obviously the best setup is the CSR Elite wheel and pedals.  The pedals alone make me drool.

Do you have any insight on the regular CSR wheel and pedals?  Does it get the job done?  I can see upgrading the pedals in the future to the elites, but I want to make sure I have a good base to upgrade too.

Thanks for the input

[quote user="GenericStyle"]Obviously the best setup is the CSR Elite wheel and pedals.  The pedals alone make me drool.

Do you have any insight on the regular CSR wheel and pedals?  Does it get the job done?  [/quote]

I have the CSR wheel and pedals (not the elite version) and I think they're great! I've never had any problems with them. I got my setup in October when Forza Horizon came out and using the wheel has been amazing!!

They didn't have the ELITE bundle when I bought mine so I got the regular pedals and the wheel for $250 - but I had to buy the shifter set for another $50 later in the year. Now that they have the ELITE bundle ($350 for CSR wheel, ELITE pedals and shifter set) I would have definitely gone ahead and paid the extra $100 to get this bundle.

I have the CSR Wheel with the CSR ELITE pedals and while the wheel itself is good, the pedals, to me, is what makes me enjoy the racing games so much.  Sounds odd but good pedals make a huge difference.  Eventually I want to upgrade to the CSR ELITE Wheel but until then the Standard CSR is perfect.  And I'd stay away from those Thrustmaster wheels you mentioned, not worth it, the fact that there isn't a clutch alone is reason enough to steer away.  The T500rs is good but not an official xbox wheel.  Like crunchy said, if that deal (CSR Elite Package XL) is available, grab it.

@Yo Def - have you had both the regular pedals and the ELITE pedals? What makes the ELITE pedals so much better?

The two biggest differences are the build quality and a load cell (Brake pedal only).  The load cell makes a big difference as it reacts to the pressure being applied opposed to potentiometers where the distance the pedal travels dictates the braking.  The load cell closer resembles real braking, the downside is that over time the load cell gets weaker and eventually you have to replace them, depends on how often you play.  Both pedal sets I have are still working at about 75-80% after about a year of moderate use.  

Yep, Fanatec....all the way!

I have the Fanatec CSR Elite wheel and pedal bundle, GTExtreme v2 racing simulator and have just installed the Buttkicker Gamer 2 system to my rig just last night.

You can check it out here - s190.beta.photobucket.com/.../My%20Fanatec%20Racing%20Simulator

I cant recommend spending this sort of cash enough for this sort of setup.

Nice rig.  I can imagine that butt kicker just puts it over the top.  Screens a little low though.  Could fix that with a Rennsport no problem.

Thanks Generic, but because I'm 6"4, the screen is a perfect height for me but I would like to get it off the stand I currently use so I'll look into the Rennsport stand.

Have you got a plan yet about your wheel yet?  

Definitively stay away from the 458 wheel for sure.  

How much cash can you spare and how much racing do you think you will do?