Fanatec wheel questions

1) How loud are they? I live in a house with other people and I mostly play at night, will the sound be disruptive?

I play late into the night, and while my wheel isn't in the bedroom with us, even if it were I doubt it would keep the fiance up.  She's a pretty light sleeper and can easily fall asleep in the room with the wheel.  Some will say that the gated shifter is pretty loud, but my CSR shifter seems fairly quite even if I'm abusing it.

2) If you buy just the wheel (no pedals or shifter) how do you accelerate/brake? Do you need the shifter/pedals?

If you go barebones you'll need to provide your own pedals at the least.  The wheel is compatible with the MS Wireless Wheel pedals so if you have those you can save some scratch but the Fanatec pedals are supposedly better, and you get a clutch.   I will say that the clubsport level pedals are absolutely incredible and built like a tank, and they're highly modifiable as well.

3) How long do they last? Are they durable? Will they be forward compatible? A new round of consoles is coming out and I'd hate to drop 300$ only for it to be useless?

I've had mine since FM4 released.  I just had to have Fanatec send me a new board that plugs into the wheel because the joystick died.  That said, I've got easily 500 hours on my setup and I haven't heard of anyone having the issue I did.  On top of that, Fanatec sent the replacement free of charge and even covered shipping.  They have fantastic customer service.  I can't speak going forward, because that is something I am having to wait and see about as well.  I can only hope that it does.  The 360 architecture is pretty scalable so it is very likely it will but I won't guarantee anything.

4) I don't have room for one of those DIY cockpits so I'll just be clamping this to the desk where my computer/360 are. How secure are the clamps?

My setup is very makeshift and uses the clamp.  It holds very well, all things considered.  If you can afford the space, it would be recommended to hard-mount, but if you can't, you shouldn't have much of an issue just clamping.

5) Is there a market for used wheels? Is it better just to buy a new wheel in the case of warranty/wearing out?

I can't speak to this, but have heard stories of people buying used and the seller giving over all the receipt info to the new buyer.  Fanatec allegedly still supports that warranty.  Again, that is third party info, and shouldn't be solely relied upon.

6) Are there replacement parts for things like the FFB belts?

I would imagine so with them just sending me a new board for the wheel itself.  Again not 100% confirmed, but it makes sense that there would be.

If you run w/ the standard pedals (Fanatec), don't forget to allot $20-25 (forget the exact pricing) for a BasherBoards pedal filter.  They are available in either an internal replacement board (inside the CSR pedal housing) or as an external inline filter box.  The internal board installs in minutes (inline box, even faster).  He's also a member of 2O2P/2O4F, so you are also supporting your brothers here.

Essentially it "cleans" the signal coming from the pedals to the wheel, providing the wheel with an easier/better signal to process the inputs.  The end result is smoother operation, better reliability and fewer hassles.

the standard pedal were all plastic. I dont know if they still sell them.  They would develope a ghost brake and the basher board would clean that signal so all wooks great.

Just to clear up what for me could be a confusing couple of posts, the pedals advertised with the CSR, ie the CSR Pedals are the ones that the Basher man designed the board for and as an owner of both the pedals and the board I can tell you it works a treat, the circuit board replacement is a breeze to install and just replaces the one that the pedals come with, all that is needed is a screw driver and five minutes. Cost is no more than a couple of drinks and ensures the pedals will work long past their sell by date. While it is true to say you would not need it right away, I can tell you a few months of hard use will make it necessary and I got one as soon as they became available as I didn't want to wait until the inevitable day a race would be messed up by my pedals not working correctly.

Question... I am getting damn close to pulling the trigger on buying the CSR wheel... my only delima is the question of going with the XL pack that includes the CSRE pedles or get just the wheel, Shifters and CSPv2s... the price for both are $360 and $510 respectively. thats a $150 difference which I CAN afford with little strain but are the CSPv2s worth that extra 150? I know that just comes down to what I want to spend but im still on the fence. that progressive clutch and FFB brake with damper sounds pretty cool.

I love my CSPv1s.  I love the pressure sensitive brake.....more intuitive and better feel to me.  They really are night and day difference.  I would have an extremely hard time going back to a non-loadcell type brake.  If you can afford it, I'd say go for it.  But don't stretch yourself thin.  You can always upgrade down the road (make for an excellent Xmas present ). 

If you do go the CSR-E or CSP route for the pedals, do yourself a favor and order a backup load cell.  They wear out occasionally (mine have yet to require replacement) and only cost $15.....but if you have to order them by themselves, it's $15 + $17 for shipping on a small USPS envelope.