so you guys probably remember my thread about drifting the 911 wheel 900 degrees, i use 45% in game and 66% on wheel feedback.

i used the rb4 for drifting with about 20% rear bias.

anyways, i burnout the feedback motor on my first wheel and i made a youtube video about how when i starts up it barely moves.

so after paying $60 to ship my wheel back i waited bout 2 weeks then go my new wheel.

the pedals never worked so i didnt get to play for like a week, but then after some communication with Thomas (AKA arnold s) the owner/manager of fanatec, he actually called me oversees and helped me reconfigured the software which made the pedals work. so that mad me happy....


and now......

drifting on the 420 drifting autocross server with the rb4, i began to smell burning electronics, and the wheel let go AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! 45% in game and 66% on wheel remember using a AWD with back to back drifitng.

so now when i plug the wheel in it turns all the way right and never comes back.

I have just had it, this is the 2nd $400 wheel that has broken because IT JUST CANT TAKE HARD DRIFTING.

im not bashing the damn thing or anything like that, but i am snapping the wheel back in forth wheel drifting just like i would amagine everyone does on 900 degrees, i didnt have the feedback up crazy or anything, but i believe what kills it, if i come out of a drift wrong and mess up the next corner entry and the car understeers out of the drift, i think the turning back is what destroys it, and thats bullshit, i know in real life that would shake the car up a bit, understeering heavily but why cant this wheel handle it???????

Ive asked fanatec to buy the wheel back, and im assuming they will say no so i need opinons on what to do here im $480 in the whole (after buying the rennsport wheelstand).

So what do i do?

Buy a G25 and an old FF joystick .

I've seen some peoples abuse that wheel quite badly without breaking. Maybe you just drive like a dick? It's virtually impossible to break a wheel in this amount of time!

It can be done and has been done . My DFP is driving me bonkers! I bought it, then 3 months later the pedals die. 3 months after that, the whole wheel stops working. Logitech replace the wheel. I get a Logitech logo on the wheel this time instead of GT and about 6 months later, the PSU dies. Using a PS2 controller ruins everything!

Fanatec just seems like a realy shady company to me, the stuff they sell doesn't seem like its very good quality.

It may pass for some people, but when I look at thier wheels I see shoddy work.

If you do manage to get them to buy back the wheel, get a G25 or a DFGT. The GT may not have a shifter and clutch, but that seems to be easy to fix, and less expensive than $400. If you get A DFGT just by a shifter and stand alone pedals, they are garanteed to be higher quality than the G25's shifter and pedals, and everything together should come under $400.

honestly i think its just time for me to start project car, and not waste more money on simulators, id really like to get an early 90's 240 and just weld the diff and have some fun (and not get arrested or crash, only 2 downsides of not playing in a sim)

Quote from shaun463 :

Buy a G25 and an old FF joystick .

Why would you have to buy an FF joystick? The shifter on the G25 may be tacky but it can take all the abuse I have to throw at it!

The joystick is for the ebrake offcourse, S14 DRIFT.

Ok Mr.Ricer 20bhp turbo increase.

thats an awsome idea for the ebrake! wish that a new wheel would come out with one built in that would be great!

after 3 weeks of no reply, Thomas (aka arnold) from fanatec replyed and asked if i would like a Turbo S replacement!!!?!?! I thought they were sold out for months? it looks like you can by it regularly in on their website now so i guess they decided to make more of them?

I just dont know if its worth it for me to try fanatec again.... honestly i havent missed it too much, i have 2 jobs and school so im always busy, im wondering if i should just return it and enjoy driving in real life (i drive a mercury sable woo hoo..)

Say yes if you want a Turbo S replacement. Take it@@

not available until july though it seems?

I sent Fanatec an e-mail enquiring about their cockpit, never even got a reply.

Fook them, bitten off more than they can chew...no matter how many gadgets they send to sim racing tonight....I get the feeling because they are German with so called superior engineering skills they can get away with shoddy customer service.

Oh my they will be out of business shortly, watch this space I guarantee it.......Logitech will laugh at them, then spit on their grave

I hope they don't go out of buisness..


Btw my GT3 Rs clubsport setup just got delayed a month Shipping "should" start around end of april rather than end of march.

Actually Fanatec is posting more or less regulary some news at the virtual racing forum, but in german language...

He says, that the GT3RS got delayed, because there was a prob with the cooling fans. So they had to stop the production, though they found a solution within 3 days. But the production-stop caused the loss of their slot at the factory and everything got delayed for 3 weeks. That's why end of april is the new date.

He will let us know, when the wheels leave China...

btw: We criticised him a lot at the VR-Forum for getting no infos, as the pedals got delayed. This time he send all customers an email, so he is learning...

i cant be bothered to register there so could you be a dear and tell thomas that the stefano casillo method of doing public relations wont do him any good for worldwide business

Quote from Shotglass :

i cant be bothered to register there so could you be a dear and tell thomas that the stefano casillo method of doing public relations wont do him any good for worldwide business

done - but the informations are also available here

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 ArrAssAdor :

As we cannot identify a good or a bad soldering with any test

ah the joys of rohs