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Fanatec CSL Elite RW Review
A competent wheel system with good FFB power.
Intro: 0:00
Closer look: 0:45
Look Inside: 15:30
Driving: 33:18
Final Thoughts: 37:01
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Пікірлер: 451
The Bob Ross of Sim Racing.
@SxSxG666
4 жыл бұрын
Good one!
@supflake8373
3 жыл бұрын
So true
@thesilentwarrior6769
3 жыл бұрын
You nailed it
@Ansowhat
3 жыл бұрын
Except he isn’t dead
@icalltheshots454
2 жыл бұрын
Stupid 🤦🏽♂️😂😂😂😂
I was twenty-eight minutes in when I suddenly realised that this is one take. Correct me if I'm wrong but you, my friend, know your shit.
33:30 probably one of the best heel toe action ive ever seen 😂
The fan is set to exhaust air upwards since you can see the intake side of the fan. As hot air rises, this means the fan is working with natural airflow rather than against it. Great video, thanks!
32:47 "There isn't anything I have ever seen that didn't have something I didn't like about it". Explains the awesome rig in the garage, combined with the lack of a wedding ring. Good man! Great review, as always!
You deserve every like and subscriber you have and more. Simply the best at in depth reviews and impressions. I have purchased items you have reviewed and found your input invaluable and spot on accurate. Thank You for what you do better than anyone else!
This is the type of in-depth finger-tip analysis that you can't find in web articles. Really, truly excellent.
This guy is brilliant at these reviews.
Incredible. This review is so comprehensive and informed that I feel VERY confident in purchasing this unit for a beginner budget build. Thank you for giving me the confidence to commit to this hardware!
@Kivut
4 жыл бұрын
500€ beginner budget and thats only the the racing wheel...
@eduardofreitas8336
4 жыл бұрын
So did you buy it? What do you think a year later?
Okay, this guy is so thorough and presents the appearance that he is very knowledgeable (not a slight at all, I don’t know enough about these wheels to say for sure, but I believe he knows what he’s doing)… So the logical question here is... WWDBU (What Wheel Does Barry Use)?
29:50 Looking at the 3 big resistors on the edge of the board, and how the wires go into the motor, I'm pretty sure that's a brushless motor, and the position sensor is used for high precision commutation feedback into the controller. In case you're wondering, that's a very Good Thing(tm).
That slotted wheel with a sensor is called an Optical Encoder Wheel. Old Ball mice used these to tell which way the mouse ball (and therefore the mouse) was moving. They are very sensitive to dust and dirt.
@fattylefreak7491
5 жыл бұрын
As many Fanatec users have since found out, I'm sure.
@duncangray7269
9 ай бұрын
Thank YOU!!! I opened up mine and saw it’s broken 😢😢 I need a new one…
The fan blows out through the top
@Dragon_Warrior7625
4 жыл бұрын
Twenty one pilots in your profile.....Noice !!😁
I really appreciated your in depth explanation of the disassembly. Knowing those tiny front plate screws were 2.5 hex helped a lot. The explanation of how the sensor works also helped me diagnose a problem with my base. Thanks Barry!
@maasmarco
4 жыл бұрын
What kind of problem did you have? And could you fix it?
@shadyhawklive
4 жыл бұрын
Marco Maas When powered up, the mode light would flash red and the wheel wouldn’t make its full rotation and complete start up. I took the base apart and sprayed compressed around the optical sensor and the disc with the slots in it. Success!
@maasmarco
4 жыл бұрын
@@shadyhawklive Good to know this! I also like to open things after warranty has ended.
Barry, a couple points: The fan is an exhaust... Pulling cool air from the back and bottom to blow the warm air out the top. Second, the position sensor on the brushless motor is so the motor knows where it is and doesn't overdrive the wheel. Solid work though.
@luckydrifts4871
3 жыл бұрын
Thinks for this. My wheel has been losing its center after driving for a while and I think this is the sensor that needs to be cleaned or hopefully not replaced.
Best reviews for sim racing. I''m a total noob with sim racing but I'm learning so much from your channel. Thanks for the awesome videos!
finally someone cracked the csl elite base. nice job barry
your channel is a gold mine sir
One feature that stands out on this wheel that wasn't referenced directly, is its ability to tune independent of the game or console. I play a lot of GT Sport and it has literally no adjustment to the FFB outside of two sliders. The Fanatec method of adjusting the wheel base and particularly the brakes (with the load cell setup) come in extremely handy for applications like mine. I would prefer a little more finite adjustment on some settings (10 points out of 100 is the norm) but the available adjustment is welcome as it is.
Dude that fan is extracting :P Nice video by the way, Very thorough.
I know this videos not up to the second new, but for anyone who cares the wheel description on site now says.. "Wheel rim covered with genuine Alcantara® and an eye-catching red cross-stitched seam" I gotta say, I came for a basic review, and got so much more!
SRG is the first place I go when I'm considering a piece of kit. Barry you rock.
What you don't know is that once taken apart Barry never puts things back together again. #wheelabuser
@IrLosin
6 жыл бұрын
Gamer muscle you naughty self promoter.
@droors77
6 жыл бұрын
GamerMuscleVideos maybe i can get some spare parts?
@MikeBingo1
5 жыл бұрын
I heard that Barry is so good at putting stuff back together that he's got bits left over
@JohnJonesRocketCity
5 жыл бұрын
Lol!
@simracer1256
3 жыл бұрын
Barry could take out Chuck Norris with just a ferrite core.
Can't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge with clueless folks like me. You're my go-to source for all things sim racing. Any and all future products I buy will be thoroughly vetted by you before I even consider adding them to my setup. Thanks again, Barry... you da man!
Al-can-tara😉 love the great videos👍 keep up the awesome work! Top notch all around👌
@brandonveal69
5 жыл бұрын
love your reviews! but Al-Karta made me smile :)
Even though I've been watching the t300rs review which I own, it's very interesting to see such quality reviews!
I've had my CSL Elite for about 2 years now, and I still am very satisfied with the product overall. As I ended up getting my dad into sim racing, we now have identical Fanatec rigs.
@eljorge225
Жыл бұрын
Does your wheel a lot of noise when you play with 100% force feedback?
@JJ-mz6ed
7 ай бұрын
My base has pretty bad deadzone or slack when steering left to right, and does generate loud clacking noise and "empty hollow FFB" when driving over kerbs etc. Can't use higher than FEI 30 @@eljorge225
thanks to this review I've just updated my order from a regular base to the PS4 version!
We need to get AvE one of these things. The "tear down" was great.
@kestrel-68-36
4 жыл бұрын
Hello Barry, do you maybe know if this officially licensed PS4 product that comes with the PS4 wheel as you show us. Does it play on Xbox? Are the wheels the same for Xbox and PS4? With a difference of the buttons.?. This specific wheel. Thank you in advance.
@justinbayse4417
4 жыл бұрын
Antony Paloubis So if you are asking this to determine which platform CSL Elite to get, I would highly recommend the PS4 wheel as it is compatible immediately with PS4 and PC and if you attach any one of Fanatec’s Xbox wheel rims it will be compatible with Xbox as well. The PS4 CSL Elite is the most versatile CSL Elite. Good luck!
@biffisgreat
4 жыл бұрын
Skookim
Really enjoyed your in depth review of this Fanatec elite system! Really helped me out in deciding in upgrading my current system. I'm going to make the jump! Thank you! Keep up the good work!
Just wanted to say thanks for this video. I had to RMA this wheelbase because of a faulty USB port, and it returned with the belt off, and thanks for showing how to get this fixed
The fan is actually pushing up not down. So it works in aiding the natural convection of air.
You have such a golden voice Barry!
@davidtsmith33
4 жыл бұрын
True. Was thinking so myself.
Position sensor on the motor because its brushless, a brushed motor will rotate different directions based on + or - V, brushless can rotate in either direction on both so the software needs to know what direction it is turning to regulate the voltage for correct FFB direction
As usual a very well done review Barry.
My CSL elite stopped working .... I used this review to take it apart and clean off the belt a bit not expecting anything and put it back together. It started up 😆! I would probably go crazy without my driving break during Covid !! Thank you 😊
@simracinggarage3026
4 жыл бұрын
Awesome work!
Getting mine Tomorrow so exicited ^^
@oenlel
3 жыл бұрын
So, 4 months later... How do you like it? :D
@rickdubbink
3 жыл бұрын
Couple of months till I can buy one.. Gosh I want it so bad
Great review as always a pleasure to watch and listen!
Thank you for your awesome reviews
Have been running mine hard for nearly 3 years now and it still works great. Got it used and abused for a great price. Have never serviced it and always runs at a high FFB setting. Bought it right before they announced the CSL DD but still don't regret my purchase. My old Logitech G29 would overheat from long drift or rally sessions and felt like a cheap toy by comparison.
@eljorge225
Жыл бұрын
Does your wheel a lot of noise when you play with 100% force feedback?
@jerrylindgren7828
Жыл бұрын
@eljorge225 it can be a little noisy during crashes, hitting curbs, or driving offroad. During normal use it isn't loud.
@eljorge225
Жыл бұрын
@@jerrylindgren7828 thanks man, i was thinking mine was broken
Thanks for showing us how to take this thing apart. My fan broke a couple of weeks ago and I'm going to try and get it replaced myself.
@bmbpdk
3 жыл бұрын
Hello Markus. Did the bearing itself go or did the fan broke? Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
@maggusmala
3 жыл бұрын
@@bmbpdk the motor broke. It just didn't spin anymore. Fanatec sent ma a new one.
@bmbpdk
3 жыл бұрын
@@maggusmala Ah ok, thanks for the answer.
Really good in depth reviews, just subcribed :)
Very nice dissembly video. Id like to see the replacement of those two plastic pulleys with ball bearings.
Thank you for the review!
Outstanding review - thanks man!
hey , just wanted to say i appreciate what you do in these vids.. i just visited your web page and read through your "about" bio on your web page..really appreciate where you are coming from , as not trying to sell me stuff and letting me decide..and for that i will be in contact for some consultation.. its just to big a market out there with many unknown products .. im just a musician who loves to to sim race..so thanks for these vids they are very helpful to me and many others as well....so ya right on talks soon when im ready for my upgrades (got a thrustmaster entry due to both your reviews on the logitech and thrustmaster..very insightful..)im just discovering the satisfaction of sim racing . awesome..
Thank you for this video! This gave me the extra information I needed to clean my wheel base, much appreciated!
@eljorge225
Жыл бұрын
Does your wheel a lot of noise when you play with 100% force feedback?
What a guy,amazing content.
Yes, you are right Barry there is no bearing in the pulley.
Every day im learn sth new from Yours reviews. Than you sir.
Great review Barry as always.
Got mine for couple of months now. Really love it and the sensation of driving is really good. To be fair I don’t have much reference to any other wheelbase. I mean I tried a G29 and was not that impressed back then. That’s why I went with a more premium wheelbase. But had no problem with the wheelbase and still loving it. This thing plus VR is really immersive. I’m planning to build a full sim rig once I move into a bigger apartment.
Thank you Barry now i have seen the insides of my wheel base 👍 🏁 now waiting you to review the Fanatec csl elite McLaren gt3 wheel. It is next on my shopping list 😁
Yeah I bought one.. Thanks for the review! Big upgrade for my motion sim from the 'Logitech driving force' wheel I bought in 2010. I really like it and it seems to work for me! DMAX
beste review ooit,bedankt voor je nice werk. duim omhoog voor jou, mooie simulator btw.
ty for video mate :) i also learned a new english word....."Vague" it fits well when speaking about pcars2 ffb indeed cheers
33:40 this looks amazing fun.
Heel and toe looking fantastic
just slot the motor mounting holes, then you can adjust the belt tension easily. The motor sensor is feedback to the brushless motor controller (so it can give good torque at zero rpm and low rpm), not for feedback to the game. Good review.
5:56 Alcarta. 😂😂
@poetuliradiant
3 жыл бұрын
Let's all take a moment to honour the memory of All Carta...for whatever reason !
Thank you good sir!!
Thanks. I would like to see a TS-PC Racer review as well.
Really Nice review, I just bought one,
@derekwildash2683
3 жыл бұрын
Nice wheel?
I am wondering that such a nice channel has so few subscriptions
Great review ! Thanks a lot
What a honest review!! I hope you can review the loadcell paddle and TGT WHEEL!!
Thanks Barry.
Great review Barry. It would be nice to try your gear on Raceroom as well. Hopefully will see that in the future. Best Regards
I think the use of the shaft behind the motor is to act as a sensor for the motor itself... I think that the motor is a sensored bldc.. hence the need for the sensors... There will be varied resistance.. so a sensorless bldc will likely suffer if there's too much resistance.. but a sensored bldc knows how to counter the torque without "skipping" from a false control signal from the controller...
I would buy it only for your _radio_ speaker voice you have
WHy are these things so expensive? I was expecting metal body and metal connection parts... but so much plastic.
@molonlabe9115
5 жыл бұрын
I hear you. I got a g29 with shifter for $325. It's all plastic and felt pretty cheap to me and was going to return it and get a t300 or this wheel. After watching reviews on both they're all plastic and cheap looking so now I don't know what to do...
@knightnight0237
5 жыл бұрын
Molon Labe this is their cheapest wheel. I had the g920, thrustmaster tx, and now the fanatec v2.5 with the bmw wheel. Fanatec is by far the best with so much tuning in the wheel that is soo important. Also a lot more feel of the road and car
4 жыл бұрын
@Tom Watson T300 is a liability. Seems like 50% breakdown rate withing the first year if you believe reviews.
@SIMRIG412
4 жыл бұрын
Logitech is a kids toy 😂😂😂 abd thrustmaster is shit to had to keep replacing sent it all back now buying this setup
@AidanMillward
4 жыл бұрын
J T G only if you run the ffb maxed. Turned mine down to 70% and runs just fine.
37:47 I think that the flex problem is solved, I got this wheel 2 weeks ago and there is no flex whats so ever if you tight very well the screw connecting to the base
@MatthewWieler
3 жыл бұрын
Do you like the wheel!?? I just ordered mine
@joserico8449
3 жыл бұрын
@@MatthewWieler The wheel is great. those were the $600 better spent in my life rofl
Lol can you say alcantara again for me 😂
@fruitycoconut
3 жыл бұрын
5:55 if you're looking for it 😂
Great review as always! My CSL Elite wheel base (non ps4) gets pretty loud under load. Wondering if I can replace the 92mm (I think) fan with a 120mm quiet fan.
@1027hristo
6 жыл бұрын
The fan is 70mm. You can put 120mm fan but not inside the base: www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/fanatec-csl-elite-racing-wheel-thread-officially-licensed-for-ps4.356268/page-48#post-12298332
As almost all makers of fake-leather do, they put a smell of real leather on it to make people think its the real thing. So the ''snifftest'' isn't realy a way to determine if it is the real thing or not ;) Good video, cool voice, keep it up!
Great review...I have one Fanatec CSL Elite and i think it, very good for the price. But let me ask something...how do you remove de Fanatec logo from the formula carbon racing wheel? I want to remove the mine too. Thanks
Great vid! But next time please include you ingame ffb settings
Great review thx! Haven't you experienced a 'metalish' clunk sound when turning hard under pressure? Maybe I should also open the wheelbase and check if all screws are tightent well.
@bunchamp85
4 жыл бұрын
I have the exact same problem after only a few weeks. Did you ever find out what was causing it? I have the same problem: kzread.info/dash/bejne/gKN82bmpcdzej5c.html
I would like to see rfactor2 included in these reviews. It has one of the best ffb simulations out there
@The_Pocisk
6 жыл бұрын
FastUnderCoverKitGOOGLE Im also waiting for the test on rF2 with have the best and fastest tyre phisics on the whole sim market
Nice to see this taken apart. The explanations of how each part works is just made up.
Great video thanks. Any chance you've done a video on replacing that cooling fan on that exact wheel base?
The motor inside the wheel does not output 6Nm I'm very sure. The wheel output from the wheelbase output shaft could be 6Nm but the electric motor itself outputs a lot less. The 6Nm output torque from the base is achieved with the drivetrain which in this case is the pulley gears which has a ratio something like between 1:5 and 1:7 (quick eye estimation from the video). Which means the motor torque is between 6Nm /5 or 6Nm/7. Which is about 1Nm.
@jeremytang5202
6 жыл бұрын
Erwin Lommer that's right, the gears and belt amplify the torque
@1027hristo
6 жыл бұрын
The ratio is 1:6
@kuroyami6289
6 жыл бұрын
Wait, we can generate 6Nm torque from a 1 Nm motor? I didn't knew that. I knew we can multiply the force but I didn't think it would be this much.
@jubuttib
6 жыл бұрын
K.G We can theoretically do it to nigh infinite ratios with enough gears, the problem becomes that the gearing will slow down the rotation. With a 1:6 ratio for every 6 rotations of the electric motor the other end will rotate once. This means that eventually you'll start running into issues with motor acceleration times, top rpm speeds, consistency, reaction times to varying inputs, etc. This is why the best wheelbases used today are direct drive, with absolutely no gearing in between the motor and the user, to get maximum accuracy and controllability on the forces, but you need a really strong motor to really make use of that.
@erwinlommer197
6 жыл бұрын
It is the same principle as the gearbox in your road car. In smaller gears (1 and 2) the gearbox multiplies the torque but speed is reduced. Total gear ratio is something like 1:16 altogether. At high gears the there is less torque at rear wheels but they can rotate faster, ratio being 1:4 or so. The equation for gearboxes is power in = power out. Little power is lose inside the transmission but we don't care about that. And power = rpm * torque. In other words with gears you can adjust how much torque you get from power but you can't change your torque without changing your rotation speed. So if you change the gear ratio to 1:6 your speed is decreased by 6 but your torque is increased by 6x. But power stays the same so power = rpm * torque = 6*torque * 1/6*speed. Now 1/6 times 6 is 1. The reason why fanatec belt wheels used to have two belts is because the bigger gear grows too big if you try to do big gear ratios with one pair of belt gears. If you want something like 1:10 ratio the bigger gear needs to be x10 the size of the small gear. If your smaller gear is 2.5cm or one inch your bigger gear needs to be 25cm or 10inches in diameter to get a 1:10 ratio (10x the size). Can't fit 25cm or 10inch gear inside the wheel very easily! And with belt gears you can not make the smaller gear very small because it start slipping. So they use two sets of gears. Total gear ratio here is = ratio1 x ratio2. With two 1:5 gear ratios you get 1:25 total gear ratio. Logitech can do it in one pair of gears in their g29 because they use plastic gears. With plastic gears the smaller gears on motor can be really small. I think the g29 motor gears are something like 1cm or 2/5 inches. On 1:10 ratio this makes the bigger gear only 10cm or 4 inches. But with plastic gears the gears may also break so you can not put too much torque through those small gears. Which is one of the reasons why logitech uses two motors. Less load on those gears and they still get their big gear ratio. The big gear ratio helps with the torque. If logitech wheels can output something like 2 newtonmeters of torque and their gear ratio inside the wheel is say 1:15 then the torque of each of those motors is 2Nm / 2 /15 = 0.07Nm. However if you were to take those gear ratios and use your 30Nm direct drive monster servo your output torque could be 450Nm. 900Nm if you put in two servos. Needless to say those plastic gears would break instantly you turn it on. Thrustmaster uses smaller motors than fanatec (generally) so thrustmaster needs bigger gear ratio than fanatec. And thrustmaster use belt gears and because they can't do big ratios in one pair of gears for reasons mentioned above they use two sets of belt gears. But in all cases the electric motor torque is far less than the number the wheelbase can output. It is not wrong or misleading marketing. It is just how physics work.
there in fact are a berring behind the rim and theres another one on the back under the black cover with six screws
What sort of maintenance would be needed? Mine just died after 2,5 years, power to it at all, the power brick does give a blue light. I'm checking what I can do to revive it.
The fan actually pushes air out of the top.
Great review. Thank you.
Wow. Nice!
Hi Barry and everyone else; I hope you could do a 1-1 comparison between this model (v1.1) and the more advanced 2.5 Is it worth the additional 200€??? Thanks
In pCars 2 I'm using raw with about 100/70/90/40 values in about all cars with my Accuforce. High tone values let me feel the tyre slip unlike in any other title and the steering corrections very similar to real onboards. When I loose the car, I know always why, but don't happen that often. "Reading" the FFB respectively getting used to it is always key for sure and in some cars I miss the roughness of rF2 FFB or road noise like in iRacing, but Simvibe is better here in pCars 2. If any motion system can compensate Simvibe it's yours, but I doubt it can. The speed of sound is always faster and the vibrations are key to feel seat of pants effects in real life as well as Simracing. Hans Joachim Stuck said, he was driving without seat-padding to feel the car better and was successful with that like in the Audi GTO.
I know this is an old review but it bugs me so here goes: This is not a 6nm motor, that would be what wheel rim shaft can provide with pulley advantage. My guess is that motor is about 1nm or just under. But i really enjoy your reviews, no one dives as deep as you.
Very simple internals. From all the comments on forum I was expecting more when opening it
Really good stuff. Just wondering you didn't mention what force feedback settings you were using on the ps4 project cars 2. Even with FEI set to 0 you still get quite a few clipping ... a force feedback video would be amazing
Barry, I only play NASCAR Games (currently NASCAR Heat 4) on PS4 and I'm considering purchasing this wheel and the pedals. I currently use a Logitech G29. In your opinion, is this an upgrade and is the Brake pedal that comes with the 2 pedal set sufficient?
is the lack of vibrating motors in the grip a game changer? compared to the Clubsport F1 wheel that has two in the grip
Do you have a guide on how you tune your wheels in game? Would be amazing for noobs like me! :) Btw, love everything you do!
@mikehopkins9131
3 жыл бұрын
There’s some out there just do a quick google search. Force feed back seems to be the biggest discussion. Would be great if he could give us a baseline. Just ordered this setup, curious to see if there are any changes....
Love your channel. Just got the G923, a bit disappointed, but would be curious to hear what you think of it. I will be getting the Fanatec CSL Elite in a few months, and passing on the G923 to my nephew.
Hello guys! Im having trouble with csl elite. My wheel shaft seems to have a bit of free-play/clearances after 3 months of use. Any of csl owners here have the same experience as me?
@Peyepete1
3 жыл бұрын
I've had my wheel about 6 months, and just tightened the locking mechanism screw for the second time, only about 1/8 of a turn, but enough to lock it solid again.
Spot on m8 but taking that top of is abit more complicated than just taking those 6 screws out, that shaft goes all the way to the end
Dear SRG, can you tell us how big is that fan in csl base? Is it 80mm?
I got a question Can you use the Fanatac cls elite f1 on this wheelbase???
@vincent-thomas
3 жыл бұрын
Yes you can. Every fanatec wheel is compatable with every fanatec wheelbase
@danielkerr4100
3 жыл бұрын
@@vincent-thomas not true