New bundle for the launch of f1 22?
Casper De Boer
Member
Hello everyone,
I’ve been wanting to buy a Fanatec wheel for some time now, but I’m waiting because of the possibility of a new bundle. I play f1 2021 on the PlayStation 4 so the best option for me at the moment is the gran turismo dd pro and then replace the wheel with the clubsport f1 steering wheel. But I don’t know if there is a chance that Fanatec will launch a new f1 bundle for the new f1 game (f1 22). Fanatec already did this in the past with the csl elite f1, but I don’t find anything about the posibility that fanatec launches a new wheel. I don’t want to buy the gran turismo dd pro and then see that fanatec launches a set for the f1 22 game and regret my desision. I know the chances are small that someone knows this, but I’m stuck with an old wheel that doesn’t work well and I really want to get better to maybe enter f1 e-sports one day. So if you have an answer for me, please reply.
Best regards,
Casper (15)
Comments
Hi Casper,
I have no insider information regarding any bundles or new product offers (I'm just a regular old consumer, just like you). But the one thing I will say is to do your homework and really research the products you're interested in, as well as the company that stands behind them.
Have a look through the first few pages of this forum to get a sense of the problems that people have been having with their Fanatec products recently (CSL DD / GT DD Pro in particular, as well as the CSL Pedals and Load Cell upgrade). Through a combination of explosive sales growth, substandard quality control practices, and a failure to grow their Customer Service department in tandem with their sales growth, now is definitely not the best time to buy into the Fanatec ecosystem. Of course, you could be fortunate enough to buy your sim gear and have no problems with it and be very happy. I will say that in my experience when it all works, it really is great and is generally an absolute pleasure to use. But getting to that point has not been easy.
The thing is, current Customer Service response times are in the neighborhood of 2-3 weeks. If you're unfortunate enough to need support, ask yourself if, after having spent many hundreds of dollars, you really want to wait weeks for just an initial response, and then potentially much longer than that should they need more information or even worse, if you need to return your items for a repair/replacement. Keep in mind also that Fanatec have a 14-day return policy on most of their items, so if you discover that you have a problem, chances are that the return window will have closed by the time you even get an initial reply from them.
My advice would be to wait a few months. Thrustmaster are supposed to be coming out with a new DD offering sometime later this year, though details are pretty thin right now. I'd say wait to see how that plays out, maybe it winds up being a better choice for you. If not, hopefully by that time Fanatec will have sorted out some of their internal issues and will be better able to offer the level of customer service that their customers deserve.
He is on Playstation so the Thrustmaster DD (as well as all other DDs) is no option for him as that's PC exclusive.
That may be true, but the same was true about the CSL DD. And then suddenly a Playstation-compatible version became available in the form of the GT DD Pro not very long after. I'd say there's about zero chance that TM won't follow suit and release a console-compatible DD base soon as well.
Well, soon is relative.
A potential PS compatible Thrustmaster DD is definitely not coming this year and I dont think OP wants to wait 1 full year or even longer. He wants something NOW for F1 22.
And there he only has one Choice for a DD for native Playstation use: Fanatec.
And there the best option indeed is the GT DD PRO standalone paired with a Formula v2.5 or Formula eSport v2 Wheel for F1 22 use.
"Best option" is relative as well, for all the reasons I've outlined above. Thrustmaster may not currently have any DD wheelbases, but what they do have are still generally good quality and very well suited for competitive use. And they've stated that all of their current wheels will be compatible with their future DD bases.
From the sounds of it, pretty much anything would be a step up from OP's current gear. TM gear is generally easier to come by than Fanatec offerings. And chances are, if he has issues with TM gear, he won't have to wait for ages to get things sorted.
You can't really start a race online, without asking yourself every time if you finish it, or if your Fanatec equipment causes an accident, ruining your race and that of others...
Thrustmaster currently has the best belt-driven steering wheels on the market in their catalog. Fanatec had better ones, but no longer produces them. So we can buy the top of the past technology, or the cheapest of the new technology.
We thought it would be good at that price. It is not so. I believe potential customers should look elsewhere, not so much for really bad customer support, but because the product has several annoying flaws, and is still unreliable, even when it works.
Grainy FFB, poor fluidity, and relative to PC use, a tendency to lose game configuration. But worst of all, general unreliability.
You can't really start a race online, without asking yourself every time if you finish it, or if your Fanatec equipment causes an accident, ruining your race and that of others...
Meanwhile yesterday, when exiting a corner, my pedals stopped working for about 2 seconds, I could steer and downshift, but not accelerate, after 2 seconds it started working again. If I had been in the online race, I would have thrown away some positions, maybe I would have been rear-ended. Small problem, I wouldn't have talked about it if I hadn't been in here before.
I think probably the silent majority have no problems with their DD and PRO CSLs, but I'm afraid there is a large range of users who just live with these little problems without saying anything.
Some of the people who post on this forum have received broken or malfunctioning units, but I am convinced that most have received the product intact, only that it is a very low quality product. And so there are problems that Fanatec did not foresee. Some complain, rightly, and predict a solution, others live with it. It is truly a cheap and economically built product. But it's still expensive, compared to the top of belt technology. And in the meantime, I can't help but think that a piece of equipment paid for € 1000 needs adhesive tape to work.
Hi again,
first of all, thank you all for the replies. It really helped me and I’m going to wait for a bit. But the thing is that I already have a thrustmaster (t300 rs gt with the Ferrari f1 wheel add-on) and it doesn’t work well anymore. The force feedback is inconsistent and it makes really weird noises. I thought fanatec could be the solution, but thanks for pointing out the downsides of fanatec. At the moment, I don’t have an alternative, but I’ll wait like you said and see what thrustmaster does. Again, thanks for all the replies and have a nice day.
Best regards,
Casper
That's why I will not sell my CSL Elite + WB and the CSL pedals LC ....all from 2017 and perfectly fine and fully operative as today...I'll hold them as a backup while experimenting with the new setup with DD Pro and V3 pedals, very very few hours playing to say if I can trust this 'new wave'.
IT's like that, denying is not even an option, and honestly I can't see how I could possibly sponsor Fanatec's gear right now....not only with friends but with perfect strangers.
Simply I can't, as of today is a perfect 'roll of a dice'; having issues? Well, who knows when and how they can help you or fix the situation.
Is Fanatec the only option for a DD on console, today? Yes!. Should I buy a Fanatec DD because I play on console? Well, maybe, but definitely not today nor in the next months.
Casper, seriously, wait. If you're not in a hurry let the situation unfolds and eventually is gonna back to 'normal' whatever that means anyway because I'm writing all this but in all fairness I haven't had a single issue with my stuff as of today. I don't know what was like before all this, and it doesn't really matter anymore I guess, trust needs to be rebuilt.
You are seriously thinking about e-sports? Well, that's what I'll do, and keep in mind that I am an enthusiastic console owner and player since decades, and still are: I'll get myself a decent pc, do that and you'll get a wider choices spectrum.
Budget wise...well, you know, company's are made to profit, it's no charity businness; maybe you can wait to have the requested money and monitoring the FAnatec's situation.
If you have the budget today...do not hesitate, get yourself a PC and honestly do not 'gamble' with Fanatec. When it's working it's good but you don't really want to risk to face the customer service as it is in these last months.
I'm honest, and the total lack of communication about what's going on is understandable from a company's perspective ...what can they say? "Sorry guys it will take 3 months to get back to normal?"...well bye bye then for many potential new customers....but not even few (fake? forced?) words are not justified.
Have a nice day!
Ciao!
Hello Alberto,
thank you for your reply. I don’t think a pc and steering wheel fit in my budget, but I’m definitely gonna wait. I’ll see if in the future I have a budget big enough for a pc, but for now I’m just gonna stick with my current wheel and see what fanatec and thrustmaster are going to do. Thanks again!
Have a nice day aswell!
Casper
As with any online comments box, ppl more likely to comment negatively than positively. Not saying ppl ain't having issues, it's quite obvious there are issues out there.
My experience with 3no orders, 2no rigs in house CSW2.5 & DD Pro, all delivered earlier than notified at payment, all working without skipping a beat and worthwhile purchases that both me and my son love.
Not tried customer services to be able to comment, but not needed to either, my kit is outstanding.
Basket is full atm with bits, waiting on hopefully a limited edition f1 22 wheel to place my next and another order.