Buying a new wheel

So unlucky owners are shouting all over and lucky ones are silent, I would at least report that everything is fine. By the way, you haven't said that you had no issues too But I guess, everything was fine Yes ? I understand that if there are two negative responses, and two positive responses, it doesn't mean that 50% of wheels break, because I realise that it is as you pointed out

I just want to form an impression about quality, I understand that there are many which runs fine. I know there were faulty G25s and 27s, but greater majority of them had no issues for years, thats my impression on logitech Gxx, I hope T300 is similar. My G25 started being funny with shifter about two months ago, and damn it was used a lot.

 

Since i need to now back up what I personally feel with facts......


"Save more $$ and go V2"....fact that needs to happen to get the wheel

"You wont regret it"......most all Fanatec owner's couldn't fathom the thought of going back to their previous Logi/Thrustmaster/Madcatz setup they previously came from (myself G27's)

"Fanatec Product's Oooze quality".....Also Fact. The Alcantera, the buttons, the Quick release, the adjustable shifters, The Display and adjust ability it offers, It all gives off a essence of quality that NO OTHER commercial/retail wheel mfg seems to be able to Touch for the price.

"dont let the naysayers turn you away".....there was also a time when I too questioned fanatec's reputation and with their older V1 wheel, CSP V2 pedals....i was worried.....Till I actually got the Gear in my hands....all those fears melted away with the first couple runs on track.

"Every mfg has issues"......Fact.....T300 is a good example....you cant argue the fact's....Lots of people have had to return their wheels...I could have sworn i read on RD maybe that there was someone who has been through 3-4 wheels already.

"how the company handles RMA's" While i would love to say ive had a 100% faultless time with my fanatec gear, thats not the case, I did have to send in my shifter to be updated from V1 to V1.5 I was without it for about 2 weeks i think, which when shipping form Canada to Cali isn't exactly a horrible time frame. They Also Paid the shipping by Paypay within a few days of sending them a copy of the receipt.

 

I've had my T300 for over a year and half... high ffb drifting lock to lock everyday near enough and no issues.

 

For me TM devices are a let down. I recently bought a new T500RS with the shifter. I had overheating issues from day 1 ( I posted a thread about this) and this happened in a 15 degrees Celsius room after 10 minutes of play. Contacted TM; got a new base. After a week it wouldn't center properly anymore. TM provided a good to do list for this problem, it worked for a week fine. Then it stayed of center for over 30 degrees. Got another new base, this one smells already dreadful after 10 minutes of play.

Also the shifter paddle on the left stopped clicking, still works, but the clicking sound is gone.

TM customer service: A+, product: D-

So my advice: buy a G29 or Fanatec if the budget allows it. Sadly my money is gone, and don't have the funds at the moment to buy a new proper wheel. 500+ euros down the drain...

 

I would say up to a budget of € 500,-- it is ok for me to buy a retail product like the T300. If your budget allows more i would definitely go with an OSW. My Fanatec CSR (xbox) with home built pedals is really poor at FF strengh, I will have to do the decision for a new wheel too. At the moment I will save money for an OSW.

mobile greets, Wolfgang

 

I'm not paying the price of a small car for gaming steering wheel doesn't matter what you say. Its not going to make me any quicker, yes it does feel great to use it, I'm sure of that but the price tag is kinda over double my budget. You can't just say 'save some £££' because I'd tell you save some £££ and get a 3 grand wheel, I assure you its better and more reliable that yours.

 

Well... thats pretty horrible to read, sad. Third base in a row... either you were very unlucky, or there were something ruining wheels for you, what other wheels did had ? They were alright ? Maybe they were sending you bases which were stored under the water , or in desert (either very high humidity, or extremely low lol). Thats horrible. I mean it is expensive wheel, and great experience.... but not if stuff like that is happening.

I'll look up for your thread about that.

It would really be useful to know the percentage of faulty devices, I'm sure manufacturers knows it. It should be below one percent, but if you get 3 faulty bases in a row, then it is definitely higher than one percent.

Must have been wheels from bad day at the factory. And shipped all together.

 

surely t300 and fanatec v2 are not in the same price range...

 

I had a Fanatec Elite CSR, but that got stolen together with my PC/audio/TV and some more stuff. Never had problems with wheels in my entire simracing career (1999 I started to play proper race titles, before that I was a fanatic NFS, Test Drive and other racing titles player, but with keyboard, this was late 80s early 90s). Have had several Logitech's: G25, G27, DFGT and the Fanatec I mentioned earlier. None ever had problems. Sorry to say the TM has been nothing but trouble.

 

That's a true argument indeed Maybe i should stop saving money and going to buy a t300 tomorrow.

mobile greets, Wolfgang

 

Good choice, I hope I would have opted the G29 with shifter.

 

I think it's all about what you want from a wheel, some like life like strength through their wheels some don't.
Me personally, I'm forever turning down the ffb on my T500rs.
I've had three wheels, DFGT,G27,T500rs, loved them all.

 

Seems like you were really bad luck man for some time, Maxidyne. I would think about G29, but I want more torque, enter next level, have wheel turning back quicker.

Too bad price is really limiting options. If money wasn't the thing I would live in fully energy passive house, gathering electricity from sun, and heat from the undergrounds, use hydraulic torque wheel with some serious pedals and shifter, and drive C9 with realistic load on FFB, in warm man cave, in January when it is -30°C outside

C'mon, Thrustmaster, back us up. It is at least good to know that it is not so much trouble to change faulty gear. If unlucky.

By the way, how much torque T300 has ? I know T500 has about 10-11Nm, Gxx has ~2.5Nm. I guess 7-8Nm should be enough for casual simracer.

 

Think the t300 is less, but suppose to be quicker than t500rs.

 

Owned a Fanatec Porsche GT2, about 2.5Nm, then could test T500RS (3.5Nm) and Fanatec CSW V2 (7Nm) both at the same time.
Then decision was clear: V2 must it be.
It was 2014, when the base cost 500€.
I never ever will play something less then V2, anything below is just a "toy" not a tool.
Had to wait 3 months for shipping of V2, during this time I did not race, cause Porsche GT2 felt terrible after driving V2.
After a couple of weeks, bearing got damaged. Was repared very fast. Since this time (January 2015) no issues. Using Wheel regularly about 2 to 4 hours a week.
Now base cost 750€, this is of course a lot of money. So if money is no problem and wheel is used regularly, don't look at Thrustmaster or Logitech, buy V2, otherwise Thrustmaster, skip Logitech.

 

I bought my T300 second hand and haven't had any problems whatsoever with it.

 

@esox71, I'm like the one who is nevere ever absolutely certain about anything, but I think torque is what gives speed for wheel to rotate, so if T300 is faster, then maybe has more torque. Or T500 has more torque loss somehow, or, or...

Well yeah, for sure, it doesn't take long to get used to good things.

Wow, T500Rs is only 3.5 ? I've red in few places that it was 8-12Nm, obviously nothing ever can be absolutely truth. Wonder why wheel manufacturers never writes torque in specs, IMO very important parameter.

I didn't believe at first, first google, first find: http://www.edracing.com/edr/Wheel-Torque.php, maybe it is actually truth, maybe it would be slightly too much for T500rs to be 4times stronger/faster than Gxx (never used T500 though).

 

11Nm torque start the direct drive bases. They have up to 20Nm.
But for industrial quality you have to pay industrial prices.
Last year I could test a direct drive. No need for me. V2 is strong enough, because I only use the 26cm Formula Rim. With an 33cm Rim, of course torque may be a little bit too low.

 

Yeah, I think the t500rs has a lot of natural dampening?
edit: Think it's to do with the brushless motor the t500 doesn't have.

 

The last Fanatec price up party was really too much for me. The cheapest package I wanted to have resulted in around 1,200€ and this with the cheap pedals... And this is three times as much as the T300 Alcantara Set... I'm really became a little freak with triples, rig and expensive GPU since AC was released (and already planning VR), but this is a price tag where you think twice.