Quote from s2knott :

So what do i do?

The response time was a bit slow because you contacted me by youtube PM. I do not check PMs frequently so it is better to send an email to our support adress.

The problem you describe is due to a poor soldering on an IC which handles the motor. If you make very fast tunrns, this IC can overheat if the thermal pad is not soldered well. The new wheels will have proper soldering and they we use a heat sink on that IC. As we cannot identify a good or a bad soldering with any test it is saver to offer you a replacement wheel from the new series.

This is why you get a free upgrade to a GT3RS or Turbo S.

I do not know why this makes us a "shady" company or why this looks like poor customer service but I am open for constructive critisizm.

Thomas

Quote from G!NhO :

if my G25 shifter breaks, will the fanatec shifter be compatible with my G25?

Unfortunatly no.

Quote from Bose321 :

This wheel LOOKS very nice. Does it also does it's job good?

Here you can read a few test reviews about the 911 Turbo.

The 911 Turbo S and the GT3 RS are improved in many ways so we expect similar results:
http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=212&lang=en

You can use google translations to translate the texts.

For a G25 owner you have several options:

1. If you like to upgrade Xbox360 compatibility:
Go for the Porsche 911 Turbo S -Pure edition- wheel and use it with the pedals of the G25. You should also get the RF dongle to use it on PC and PS3 as well.

2. If your are looking for

• smooth Force feeback
  
• more buttons on the wheel
  
• larger wheel diameter
  
• LED display to show telemetry data (shifting indicator)
  

then you can tage the 911 GT3 RS and use it with your G25 pedals or any other pedals you have.

3. If you lake to improve your performance with a better set of pedals:
You can keep your G25 wheel and get the Clubsport pedals.

4. And of course you can always get the full pack and sell your current stuff at ebay...

Hi
There are a lot of news around the Porsche wheel on my blog at www.911wheel.com
Due to the great success of the community test for the Porsche 911 Turbo wheel we are now looking for Community Testers again for our new products:

- Clubsport Pedals for Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel: High-end pedals (at a reasonable price) made of aluminium and with superb sensors

- Porsche 911 Carrera Wheel for PC: Great performance and excellent value for your money

- Porsche 911 Turbo S Wheel for Xbox360: Finally a decent choice for simracers on the Xbox360

- RennSport Wheel Stand: The perfect and simple solution to play without a table. Super solid and easy to stow away.
http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=220&lang=en

- RennSport Cockpit: Designed especially for the Porsche wheel

- Clubsport table clamp: Add-on for all Porsche wheels to make the shifter installation more sturdy and to adjust the angle of the wheel
http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=291&lang=en

Please register in the 911 Wheel Club and then fill out the registration form to participate. I am confident that we can repeat the great success of the Porsche 911 Turbo wheel community test and make better products for you.

Bye
Thomas

We actually do offer a 14 days money back guarantee.

You can return the wheel without any given reason within 14 days after your purchase. You only have to pay for the shipping charges and you have to make sure the product is packed in the original carton and complete.

Thomas

Quote from teedot :

T
My First impressions: The brake pedal is WAY too stiff!

Hi Teedot

It is very difficult for us to make the perfect spring strength as this is certainly a matter of taste and what you are used to. Most beta testers demanded a stronger spring on the level of a G**.

We made the spring 20% less strong as the G** as we think that this is enough. Please give it some time as it needs some days to get used to.

Thomas

Quote from kenysl :

I know theres no webshop for HK/China. I actually purchased the wheel thru their staff after I wrote them an enquiry thru the webshop.

They email me back and said I can purchase from them thru email. They have feedback to me about the delay but it would make things lot easier if I can track the wheel status. As I don't know if its shipped or lost in the mailing process?

hi kenysl,

It is in fact more difficult for us to produce for HK than for Europe. This is the reason why we dont offer that region officially but we made an exception for you. Due to the very small numbers we ship to that region we have to add this order to a bigger order from the US or EU. Your wheel will be made with the next production and should be ready within 2 weeks. Sorry for the delay.

Quote from niels1 :

Thomas can you sent me the adres for return shipping ? I have a beta wheel which is laying around here doing nothing. Its useless without a firmware so beter send it back. PM me or through email.

Niels, you can keep the wheel. Originally we planned to ask the beta testers to send it back or pay a reduced price for it. After we saw how good the test was I sent an email (which might have ended up in your spam filter) that you can keep the beta wheel AND get a final wheel for half the price. So you end up with 2 wheels for the price of half a wheel. If you dont have the coupon code anymore, please send me an email as I dont check PMs in Forums that often.

Thomas

Quote from SpikeyMarcoD :

Dont worry i bet Teedot will, so you guys better make sure he gets a good one

He will get a perfect one. Just like any other customer as well

Thanks Dude56. It is really good to hear that, after all the efforts of the past months.

It would be great if anybody who has the beta wheel and final wheel make a direct comparison and report about the differences. I guess that would be interesting for many readers here.

Thomas

I dont want to leave anybody with bad emotions here. Everybody has been very helpful, especially you, Niels.

So I would like to reactivate the coupon codes of anybody which did not take the chance yet so you are able to take the offer I made before and get the discounted wheel.

This is just the beginning. Many more products are in the pipeline and it will be great to do them with the help of all of you.

Last edited by ArrAssAdor, Sun 25 May 2008, 18:15.

Quote from oqvist :

ArrAssAdor I got the retail wheel and can´t install any drivers . Well they install but I just get the ordinary windows control panel not the fanatec one.

Please make sure you dont mix up the dongles. Please send me an email to info 911wheel.com and i will try to help you. This is a installation problem

Please check out the new drivers. All remaining problems should be solved now and FF effects work much better in some games (like GTR2)

Quote from teedot :

beta wheel.. but still... you would think it would last more than a couple of months with normal use... dont you think?

This thing had minor issues from day-one... but then it's like a chain reaction. First the wireless starts cutting in and out for no reason, it gets worse and worse as time goes on.... Then the force feedback started jerking the wheel lock-to-lock for no reason, essentially ripping it out of my hands and throwing my car into a wall or someone else, then the pedals started having wireless issues, cutting in and out... then finally one day I go to use them and they don't work.. yet the day before they were perfectly fine, yet still with their issues. Pedals would not work with/without batteries, plugged in, etc etc etc.

the problems you describe all have the same root cause and are connected. But it surprises me that the problems got worse as there is no reason for that. The new wheel should arrive soon and then you should not have those problems anymore.

Of course not. No customer and no tester will be left alone and unhappy.
Many of those changes are bugfixes which happened on the first trial run series only. These are the wheels we shipped to the testers. If there are any issues on wheels which are bought, they will be solved by either replacing the entire wheel or the defective components.
Some upgrades will only be available optional anyway and can be purchased though our website

Thomas

So far I am still collecting issues we have with the FF effects or inertia or precision of the wheel.

Almoast all testers so far tell me that we did everything right and the feeling of the wheel is superb.

Actually it is hard for me to see if there is actually a problem or if those problems arised from the negative attitude of the testers because of the many other issues. It also might make a big difference what the tester is getting used to like this is important with all input devices.

We cannot reproduce the problems but we dont ignore them. If more people have such comments we will take action. The wheel sensor is not working 100% on some wheel and if we solve that it might already solve other issues.

Quote from baSh0r :

what about the send back information?

We will send this info in time before the test ends. Probably next Wednesday.

Quote from Skills :

If you don't feel like the issues here are legitimate enough and you just want to sell some units, then so be it.

The reason why we do this test is to get exact feedback on what we need to imporve. The reason why i cannot reply on a daily basis is the you guys gave us tons of work to do and that is great.

You know I can even understand if you call the test units crap. And in fact they should have been in a much better condition. Many problems appear only on a few wheels but that does not make it better. We will find the root cause for each problem and fix it one by one.

Of course if there are so many major flaws, the tester get the tendency to everreact on smaller issues but why not?

We will show you that we work hard on making things better and my goal is to convince every single one of you. Just give us a chance please and continue to work with me on solving the problems.

We get the wheel where it belongs to. To the top.

Thomas

Quote from IronFly :

at the end i think that the whole "inertia" problem is the electric motor, nothing else.

i think that also logitech had tried to use one motor instead of 2 in the first project of the G25, but 2 smaller motors are quicker to change direction then a big one with more torque.

maybe i'm wrong but is my final thought.

We are not quite sure if we really have an "inertia" problem. I agree that there is some resistance in the wheel if you are not in the game and you turn the wheel. This is because the enginge acts as a generator and slows you down. In the game, the motor gets power and this effect is gone.

Does anybody else thinks that the wheel moves too slowly inside the game in comparison to other wheels?

Quote from Skills :

Where did the Fanatec guys go?

My wheel is falling apart here, now I hear some kind of a squealing sound when I turn the wheel, similar to the sound that a car makes when it needs its engine belts replaced.



Anyone?

This sound comes from the brushes of the motor. It is not from the belts. It needs some finetuning but it is basically harmless

Quote from Gabkicks :

i am having trouble w/ the wheel being slighgtly off center when i have the steeringwheel centered, my car will veer slightly to the right. its driving me crazy lol. I think i've fixed it, then after a while the wheel is slightly offcenter again. how did you guys solve this?

We are not 100% sure about the root cause of the moving centre psoition but we can reporduce it. It does not appear on all wheels so it is likely to be an assembly problem of the wheel sensor.

Tomorrow I will post an FAQ will all known issues to the 911wheel.com and I will also post some pics how to solve those issues if possible.

Quote from Skills :

Some more issues:

I'm having trouble getting the pedals to stay in place. I have a smooth floor, and the rubber ends don't seem to be doing anything.

I tried playing with the lap wings today, and what an interesting experience.

I found that the wheel and shifter are in a very comfortable position, but the driving experience is simply awful! Since the wheel is in your lap:
1. the force feedback shakes it all over the place
2. shifting gears moves the wheel around in your lap
3. you can't heel and toe, because when you lift your feet, you move the wheel! :doh:

Also, the following 4 screws decided to just come out of the wheel

ArrAssAdor, any idea where these came from and why they came out?

I'm really trying to like this wheel, but I don't think its liking me back. Maybe because it knows I have a G25? Just kidding.

The screws are supposed to be fixed with Loctite according to the correct production procedure. I know the type of screw but if they are really missing you would have noted it. I guess they put in some extra screws at the production line and it guess I will have to discuss that with Mr. line leader...

Quote from IronFly :

nice!

in my opinion the problem is wheel inertia.

i didn't weight the G25 steering wheel and the 911 but it can be a good comparison; also the bigger diameter help you to have more force to apply to the FF motor and the double belt doesn't improve the overall feeling.

a lighter and smaller wheel with a single belt, a good vertical and lower position, can be the solution for an highend wheel.

BTW i feel too that there's allways a springor damping effect on.

This feeling is actually not caused by the belts or by the gear ratio. In fact our gear ratio is more direct than the competition.
The inertia is caused by the motor driver IC. Take off the power supply and move the wheel so you will see.
This has positive and negative effects. On the positive side we dont have a deadzone in the middle and the FF effects are more accurate.
On the negative the wheel moves slightly slower. But as we have seen on Youtube, this is not really a problem if you get used to it.

It is a matter of taste. But I can ask if we can reduce the inertia a little bit in the long run.

The primary target is to get to the same level as the best wheel out there and now we will do some fine tuning to get beyond that point.

Quote from Shotglass :

now youre talking
single reduction belt drive with brushless? please say yes

It is too early to talk about it but be sure that I will ask the community again what they want. We are working on all kind of stuff including motion sims. All under the condition to have a great price performance.

But lets make it step by step. First we have to make this product succesful and so far it looks very promising. Most of the remaining flaws can be easily resolved so i think this is a good start.