Well I got an email response from them and somewhat unsurprisingly they're not sending me a wheel to test (only because there's none left - it did actually sound like he'd have sent me one if they had any).
However, they did say that if I wanted an ex-test model for half price I should give a yell. Unfortunately that'll probably still be out of my price range, but I'll think about it
I think the wheel looks nice with it's thicker wheel and bigger wheel diameter. However, those shifters look horrible.
It also looks like the brake to throttle spacing is even bigger on the porsche wheel, which makes heel and toeing even more impossible I guess... Can some beta tester give his view on that matter?
I got mine set up yesterday evening too. ANd I'm kind of two sided in my opinion up to now. Coming from the MOMO Force and DFP, I am very impressed by the sheer size of the wheel itself. I do like the leather and high quality plastik applications on the wheel, seems well done. The shifter works fine for me, and in the FZ5 you definitely get a little "hey, I drive a Porsche now" feeling. Pedals arent well done: Angle is too steep and pedals start slipping on my floor. So that would need some fixing.
The FF seems very smooth and nice, but I do think, I hear something slipping, when I hold strong against it. Will test it more deeply over the weekend anyway.
Still: It looks damn cool Porsche-like on my table now
Looks like im going to have to pick up mine at the post office, since I have been out of town for the last 3 days lol. Im assuming the pickup notice is stuck on my door right now so *crosses fingers*. I really can't wait to give this thing a whirl. Sucks that the drivers aren't supported in x64 editions of XP/Vista... thats going to be a BIG pain in the arse for me........ oh well, hope its worth it!
Can't wait to put this thing up against my beloved G25
Okay, spent the afternoon with the wheel. I have mxed feelings. It's very well made, but as it was mentioned, the gearshift mounts are less than perfect (way less). The caps get trapped inside the wheel and shifter and are not sturdy enough. THe wheel was off-centre a lot (in both ways, changing with each turn), but i got new drivers, just did a reboot and i'm about to test. The brake is weird, yes, it's still an axis but it's very short. mimics a real car better but it really needs to get used to. THe FFB is so damn strong it's unbelievable. Took the wheel right out of my hands a few times. And it's very quiet ('neatly' pointed out by my father, who sleeps under me). THe wheel itself is quite big (compared to the MOMO), but the whole wheel (the FFB motor housing) is so damn small, it's also unbelieavable. The wireless pedals didn't work (there's a table in between), plugging it in did the trick. Empty batteries? THere are loads of buttons but they don't feel as good. The 8 on the 9 and 3 o'clock pillars are good, could be better, but the 'paddle shifter' buttons could have more feedback (more of a click). The D-pad is like jelly, the start and select buttons are also quite simmilar but better. I can only compare the shifter to the Punto i drive and it's quite hard. I should get a G25 somewhere to do a real comaprison. And now i am off to test the new drivers.
Their look is totaly different, gone is the wheel, gone are the degree settings, which is a shame, but there is a calibrate function. Will see how it works.
EDIT: well the new drivers fixed the centering issue but the buttons were ALL changed and the clutch pedal is now all weird. Full depressed it gives about 90% pressed, the same if it fully pressed in and it goes 'over the top' when pressing it. TO 100% then to 0% and back up to 90%.
I have got the new drivers aswell. Finally its working now, but it isnt centering anymore. I cant get it right. It keeps popping back to its original spot. Also the USB-HID doesnt seems to be installing anymore. Windows gives a failure on installing the USB-HID. Any suggestions fellow testers ???
Don't mind my driver rant, i uninstalled the drivers via Add/Remove Components, installed them (the new ones) and it's all okay. The old style with the calibration settings.
Nils what kind of problems do you have? i don't exactly understand. DO as i did - uninstall and reinstall the drivers.
First I couldnt install any driver. I have 3 versions. But the latest is installed now but now I cant get wheel calibrated. It keeps jumping back to his original standing before calibrating. So when starting LFS and want to drive the car is turning inmeddiatly.
yeah something similar. It wont hold the 0 position. Just got a email from Thomas. Tommorow new drivers. So we wait and see.
@luke S. Do you have the wheel ??. If not, why telling its crap. Like every new piece of hardware there is some issues. You know that so wait with remarks until the reviews coming out.