My Fanatec CSW Review
#1
Sun, 07/08/2012 - 18:21
My Fanatec CSW Review
I've decided to go ahead and post my review of the CSW after having the unit for about 3 1/2 weeks. As I noted before, I was one of the last of the community testers to receive the unit. Within the first 5 minutes of using the BMW rim, it quit. The base unit would no longer recognize it. I contacted Sean (Community Tester Coordinator) and he was very prompt in getting back to me. I received my replacement BMW rim a week and half later (last Friday). I used it for about an hour on rFactor and seemed to be working.
This morning I hopped on Iracing to run a race with a group of my fellow sim racers over at http://www.GoneBrokeRacing.com. During calibration of the wheel within Iracing, the base unit lost power. As I was turning the wheel through it's range of motion (gently I might add), I suddenly lost all power to the base unit. I have checked all of the connections and looked inside, but can't see anything obvious. Obviously something failed internally.
Customer support has been good to me in the past, and I fully expect Fanatec to get back to me quickly and send me a replacement unit, but my level of frustration is up there. I've owned the PWTS for a couple years and have had a couple issues with it, but overall have been very happy with it.
I'm not trying to turn this into a "Bash Fanatec" thread. This review is my honest, non-biased impression of the CSW thus far.
I have put together a 10 minute review talking about the pros and cons of the wheel thus far. Once I get the replacement unit, I will continue to test it and report back to you.
Excellent, candid review Hawks. I purchased a CSR Elite in December and it failed in March. I got a replacement wheel in March, very quickly I might add, and it failed late last month. These new Fanatec wheels are cutting edge technology, but the reliability is just not there yet. I have had a CSR wheel since October 2011, and it has worked perfectly, no problems. I believe that Fanatec has mastered its older wheel technology and I do not hesitate to recommend the CSR and GT2 wheels (I previously owned a GT2 for a year, it also worked perfectly). They still have some bugs to work out with the newer wheels.
I no longer can recommend the CSR Elite, without pointing out the reliability questions that surround it.
I have been watching for news and reviews of this wheel. I have a CSR I use on the xbox and love it, haven't had a single problem.
For the PC though I want to get a wheel that I could fit an F1 style rim to. I found the TR500 and the CSW. So far I am leaning towards the TR500. Its been around a bit longer and hasn't had near the problems these new Fanatecs are having.
BTW thanks for taking the time to post the video and your comments, greatly appreciate the info.
I recently bought a T500 RS and I absolutely love it. I will post some thoughts about it that I posted over at GBR.
Getting some backlash in the comments section over at VirtualR, including some from Thomas, the CEO from Fanatec. All I can say is "Wow".
You know I'm starting to see what Darin from Inside Sim Racing meant when he said he told Fanatec that they were trying to release the CSR Elite and CSW to early and needed more testing. I know that there are plenty of people out there that probably have never had a problem but I see more post about those wheels and random problems than most of the other wheels on the market.
Would be nice to have another company make a quality wheel for use withthe xbox. It would force Fanatec to really focus on their quality since they would not be the only ones on the market.
I agree, Darin was in a good position to know exactly what was going on with regard to the CSR Elite and CSW wheels. He worked for Fanatec for several months while the wheels were in development and he had several prototypes of the wheels, several of which he showed on camera during ISR segments.
From reading the thread it appears he thinks you posted the intial thread "fanatec clubsport wheel madness" and was bitter cos of the title etc.
either way tho, HIGHLY unprofessional of him taking jabs at you.
Hey Seahawks, any update on your CSW experience? did they fix anything for you yet?
Sorry, forgot to post my update here a few days back. I just received my new base unit today (haven't even unpacked it yet).