Thanks for a very comprehensive, technical review. Just a couple of caveats on the review - unenergized “cogging” is somewhat irrelevant, as the attraction between stator and rotor is entirely different when the unit is energized. That doesn’t mean that these units don’t vary in actual performance, just that the cogging feel when unpowered means nothing. What you want to judge is the torque ripple when they are powered up. The other thing is that these three units have different price points. The Simucube is slightly more expensive than the DD1-both well over $1000 US-and if it’s within my budget, I would likely go for it. The CSL DD is less than half the price of the other two….while peak torque and dynamic range is half that of the other two, it blows away any belt or gear bases that are closer to its price point. (A Moza R9 comparison for the CSL DD would be great!).
I’m not a huge fan of Fanatec and I left their ecosystem years ago due to being tired of doing the RMA dance but there is definitely more to carbon reinforcement than just marketing. Even glass fiber reinforced plastics are way stronger than regular plastics. A proper carbon reinforced shaft would be plenty strong enough for DD wheel duties and has the benefit of being lighter and more responsive.
Being lighter so close to the center is negligible, rotational mass of the shaft may has some significance if the shaft is rotating from 0 to 4000 rpm for example. In case of DD base its negligible considering rotation speed. Fiberglas made of layers yes, carbon made of layers yes, but just mixing some carbon leftovers in injection molded plastic is not that much to make a huge difference in strength.
@@T.S.CUSTOM thank you for this, and I wish I seen this before I got my CSL-DD base last year. For me, the base has worked fine, but now that I realize that the shaft is plastic with bits of carbon sprinkled in, has me extremely nervous that my wheelbase is on borrowed time. When this base takes a dump, I'll go with anything other than a Fanatec. I don't know why Fanatec makes bone headed decisions like this? Thanks once again.
How long do Fanatec usually take to get your return process started on a defective product? I had no idea how terrible they were or I wouldn’t have picked GT DD Pro as my first wheel. Going on a week with no customer service response or return shipping labels.
My csl dd doesn't have any issues with my f1 wheel its been working great for me obviously it's not the best around that shows in the price of the wheelbase but for now I'm more than happy with it maybe next year when I decide to upgrade it will be for the simagic ultimate wheelbase
3 GREAT Products...i have both Fanatec in showroom and events for years, without any problems, even when used in extreme conditions. I had before CSW for yearse, and only had a problem in one (i had 3 sets), and they sent me an entire engine for me to replace, after i asked them for that option. So in my case, no problems either in reliability on those 2 bases, and when i needed, the support was excelent...not to mention the great feeling i have with them. So in conclusão, not contradicting your Review and the fact that they can have problems in the long run (as other brands and models, but my personal experience, tells a diferent story. Any way, thanks for the objective analysis.
Thank you for your input. I am of course talking from my personal expirience. Both with products, customer service and refusal to sell the spare parts.
@@T.S.CUSTOM Yes, i understand, it's always a question of personal experience...and in this case, we have diferent ones... it's normal. What's important is that one is happy with our own options. Cheers
I had the Fanatec GT DD pro for 24 hours before it just died on me - I assume its just the USB connection within the shaft slipping out, but I didn’t bother trying to fix it, since it’s likely to happen again at an inopportune time. I put in a return/refund request and immediately ordered a Simucube 2 Pro, which got here two days later and has been a joy to use. A week later and Fanatec still hasn’t started my return process! Their customer service is horrible.
I lean towards the simucube also but In all fairness, shouldn’t you have taken the simucube apart also? Would you say it has less parts or is less complex and simucube offers replacement parts that you can install?
My tolerance issue in my CSL DD with F1 wheel makes me stop gaming after 20 mins of use.. I don’t feel everything I would like. Maybe it can be solved with Fanatec by talking about the problem and change the product ?
It be Awsome to experience what it’s like with your screen setup and everything, But pc is out of the budget. I contacted Xbox the other day and asked them how can you do triple monitors with on picture after about 20min of them trying to figure it out unfortunately you can’t for the time being hopefully in the future you can it is Microsoft after all………. On that note just pre- ordered clubsport dd+ 🤞nervous after seeing this but for console it is my best option I think and I’m trying to only buy once, 15nm pc/ PlayStation compatibility and with a Xbox wheel it works on Xbox 👍👍👍
Yes, tried it, literary had the base to make extension for it. It is not possible. The shaft is plastic and wobbling off center it would not sustain the additional load a leverage would give. Wobbling only gets worse when you extend the shaft so even some additional bearing support for the shaft is not possible.
@@T.S.CUSTOM Oh wow, didnt know it was that costly to make those shafts. I guess thats why Fanatec did what they did, to keep costs down and not so much about the weight.
No way it could damage the shaft or bearings, especially on Simucube. The shaft and bearings are huge in both Simucube and DD2. On DD2 I had extension for over a year on a daily usage without any problems. .
I don't think so, I made a 17cm long aluminum extender for the Thrustmaster TX base, I used it for 2 years, then I installed it on the T-GT base and used it for 5 years and now I adapted it to Moza r9 and it goes perfectly from June...If it's balanced it won't have any problem, I've had the motor behind the central monitor for many years and it's an advantage, it looks more real... In Spain, Bolori sells official Simagic extenders.
3 amazing products, really can't go wrong with any Fanatec and simucube both make great products.
lol fanatec is trash 😂
Thanks for a very comprehensive, technical review. Just a couple of caveats on the review - unenergized “cogging” is somewhat irrelevant, as the attraction between stator and rotor is entirely different when the unit is energized. That doesn’t mean that these units don’t vary in actual performance, just that the cogging feel when unpowered means nothing. What you want to judge is the torque ripple when they are powered up.
The other thing is that these three units have different price points. The Simucube is slightly more expensive than the DD1-both well over $1000 US-and if it’s within my budget, I would likely go for it. The CSL DD is less than half the price of the other two….while peak torque and dynamic range is half that of the other two, it blows away any belt or gear bases that are closer to its price point. (A Moza R9 comparison for the CSL DD would be great!).
I could watch the "What's inside" section on repeat, for the rest of the day. Thanks for pulling the curtain back on the CSL-DD.
I’m not a huge fan of Fanatec and I left their ecosystem years ago due to being tired of doing the RMA dance but there is definitely more to carbon reinforcement than just marketing. Even glass fiber reinforced plastics are way stronger than regular plastics. A proper carbon reinforced shaft would be plenty strong enough for DD wheel duties and has the benefit of being lighter and more responsive.
Being lighter so close to the center is negligible, rotational mass of the shaft may has some significance if the shaft is rotating from 0 to 4000 rpm for example. In case of DD base its negligible considering rotation speed. Fiberglas made of layers yes, carbon made of layers yes, but just mixing some carbon leftovers in injection molded plastic is not that much to make a huge difference in strength.
@@T.S.CUSTOM thank you for this, and I wish I seen this before I got my CSL-DD base last year. For me, the base has worked fine, but now that I realize that the shaft is plastic with bits of carbon sprinkled in, has me extremely nervous that my wheelbase is on borrowed time.
When this base takes a dump, I'll go with anything other than a Fanatec. I don't know why Fanatec makes bone headed decisions like this?
Thanks once again.
How long do Fanatec usually take to get your return process started on a defective product? I had no idea how terrible they were or I wouldn’t have picked GT DD Pro as my first wheel. Going on a week with no customer service response or return shipping labels.
My csl dd doesn't have any issues with my f1 wheel its been working great for me obviously it's not the best around that shows in the price of the wheelbase but for now I'm more than happy with it maybe next year when I decide to upgrade it will be for the simagic ultimate wheelbase
Great comparison, very detailed and professional 👍🏻
3 GREAT Products...i have both Fanatec in showroom and events for years, without any problems, even when used in extreme conditions.
I had before CSW for yearse, and only had a problem in one (i had 3 sets), and they sent me an entire engine for me to replace, after i asked them for that option.
So in my case, no problems either in reliability on those 2 bases, and when i needed, the support was excelent...not to mention the great feeling i have with them.
So in conclusão, not contradicting your Review and the fact that they can have problems in the long run (as other brands and models, but my personal experience, tells a diferent story.
Any way, thanks for the objective analysis.
Thank you for your input. I am of course talking from my personal expirience. Both with products, customer service and refusal to sell the spare parts.
@@T.S.CUSTOM Yes, i understand, it's always a question of personal experience...and in this case, we have diferent ones... it's normal.
What's important is that one is happy with our own options.
Cheers
I had the Fanatec GT DD pro for 24 hours before it just died on me - I assume its just the USB connection within the shaft slipping out, but I didn’t bother trying to fix it, since it’s likely to happen again at an inopportune time. I put in a return/refund request and immediately ordered a Simucube 2 Pro, which got here two days later and has been a joy to use. A week later and Fanatec still hasn’t started my return process! Their customer service is horrible.
I lean towards the simucube also but In all fairness, shouldn’t you have taken the simucube apart also? Would you say it has less parts or is less complex and simucube offers replacement parts that you can install?
Thank you for sharing this. Should you come to the next WRC Sardinia, you are welcome to our sim racing lounge :)
Great review!! Great energy!! Really enjoyed it! Keep up the amazing work.
Great review! Superb analysis.
Great review. I would like to see the comparison between the simcube 2 pros vs simagic alpha ultimate. I just ordered a simagic alpha ultimate.
Would like to make it if I could get my hands on that wheel base.
Hvala ti super video
Ima sam g29 pa csl dd 8 nm i sada dd1
Mislis da je sad to sve vise manje tu negdje ili ipak Simicube je priva za sebe
Lp
Simucube je najbolji. I kvaliteta i osjećaj.
My tolerance issue in my CSL DD with F1 wheel makes me stop gaming after 20 mins of use.. I don’t feel everything I would like. Maybe it can be solved with Fanatec by talking about the problem and change the product ?
With all the truth...excellent.😁😁😁
i need one for the simagic alpha!!!
It be Awsome to experience what it’s like with your screen setup and everything, But pc is out of the budget. I contacted Xbox the other day and asked them how can you do triple monitors with on picture after about 20min of them trying to figure it out unfortunately you can’t for the time being hopefully in the future you can it is Microsoft after all………. On that note just pre- ordered clubsport dd+ 🤞nervous after seeing this but for console it is my best option I think and I’m trying to only buy once, 15nm pc/ PlayStation compatibility and with a Xbox wheel it works on Xbox 👍👍👍
👍👍👍thanks
I own fanatec and sc2 sport and I say sc2 for pc. Sim magic looks good also
I'm planning on getting the simagic u as my next base then I'll be 100% satisfied coming from the csl dd
When driving can u feel on csl dd clogging
As I said in the video very little cogging can be felt, barely noticable really. With sinucube zero cogging.
Do you think it's possible to make a metal shaft for the DD Pro?
Yes, tried it, literary had the base to make extension for it. It is not possible. The shaft is plastic and wobbling off center it would not sustain the additional load a leverage would give. Wobbling only gets worse when you extend the shaft so even some additional bearing support for the shaft is not possible.
@@T.S.CUSTOM I was thinking more of a new metal shaft to replace the carbon composit (plastic) shaft.
@@2ndLastJedi Good thinking, but in the end might cost as much as DD1 with extension. :)
@@T.S.CUSTOM Oh wow, didnt know it was that costly to make those shafts. I guess thats why Fanatec did what they did, to keep costs down and not so much about the weight.
Great video! I heard a long wheel column (shaft) will damage the wheel bearings. Is that true have u had any issues with the SC2?
No way it could damage the shaft or bearings, especially on Simucube. The shaft and bearings are huge in both Simucube and DD2. On DD2 I had extension for over a year on a daily usage without any problems. .
I don't think so, I made a 17cm long aluminum extender for the Thrustmaster TX base, I used it for 2 years, then I installed it on the T-GT base and used it for 5 years and now I adapted it to Moza r9 and it goes perfectly from June...If it's balanced it won't have any problem, I've had the motor behind the central monitor for many years and it's an advantage, it looks more real... In Spain, Bolori sells official Simagic extenders.