Fanatec CSL Elite F1 Set

As you may know by now, I am putting a lot more time and effort these days into setting up a proper gaming setup in my room. Now, it’s going to take some more time to get to where I want to be, regarding the setup, but for now, things are already slowly starting to fall into place like I want them to. After using the Fanatec CSL Elite F1 Set for just over 2 months now, I decided it was time to put down my thoughts about it, and do a review of some sorts, not like the usual stuff but still help you with deciding whether to buy something like this or not, just in case. 🙂

One of the first things I decided to change, or update, was the sim racing wheel. I have been using the Logitech G29 for a few years, but as I started getting more into it, it was time to get some new gear. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t change my wheel because the old one broke or anything, just felt it was time for a change. I could maybe compare that to my decisions regarding volleyball shoes, which I used to get a new pair every year or so. Sometimes I had to get them because they were worn out already, but there were times when I bought a new pair just because I liked those new shoes more.

Well, I went a bit off topic here, but I just wanted to make you understand my point, and why I decided to change the wheel. There was nothing wrong, at least nothing major, with the G29, but it was time to move to something else, as I’ve mentioned above as well.

When I first ordered the Fanatec wheel set, I was expecting it to take quite some time to get it delivered, due to the current situation, and with the time of the year we were in at the time, just before Christmas. Apart from that, Fanatec also put a notification on their site, saying that the processing and shipping times might be longer than usual, so I was prepared for that. After placing the order, I think it was a day or 2 later, I got an email that the order was being processed at the warehouse, and I will get another email when it gets sent. That was on a Friday, so naturally I was assuming I was going to get that email some time the following week, hopefully on Monday, but that didn’t stop me from checking my email every now and then to see if they might have sent it already. Come Monday, Tuesday, there was no additional email, it didn’t make me nervous or anything, I just wanted to get the wheel as soon as possible, as with anything that you order online. 😀

But then, all of a sudden, I get a phone call, the person on the other side telling me they have a delivery for me. At first, I had no clue what the heck could it be, but when he mentioned the company he works for, it all became instantly clear. My Fanatec wheel has arrived! Unfortunately, I was at work at the time, and had to wait a few more hours till I was able to get my hands on the box.

Of course, that was the first thing I focused on when I got home from work. Although, at first it was just time to unbox everything from the outer box that Fanatec sent the set in, and not set it all up just yet. After my old wheel was gone, it was finally time to take everything out, assemble it, and put it in place. Once all of that was done, I had some problems with the pedals, but with a bit of improvisation from my dad and myself, we eventually took care of the problem and I was able to test it properly, just for a few minutes at first though. Since I don’t have a proper sim racing rig (yet), the wheel is currently attached to my desk, as you can see below, and the pedals have to be on the floor. So, when I first tried to stamp on the brake, I actually moved the whole console, because it wasn’t fixed to the ground, but as I’ve said, we got it sorted and I’m able to enjoy the wheel pretty well now!

You may have seen on the photo a few rows higher, I also got a loadcell kit along with the wheel set. This was an extra option that I decided to go for, with most of the reviews and opinions online saying that it’s much better that just the normal (potentiometer) brakes. For those that don’t know the difference, brakes with potentiometers measure the distance that the brake pedal travels, and from that determine how much brake force you want to apply, while loadcell brakes measure the amount of pressure you exert onto the pedal. To be honest, I did need some time to get used to that, as it’s a completely different approach (or feel) to braking, but I am getting the hang of it now. I haven’t tried what it feels like to have just the normal brake pedal, that came with the set, I switched to loadcell brake right away, but who knows, I might try that out in the future.

Since I got the set, and after I’ve gotten used to it a bit more, I was able to see the difference that this wheel makes, in comparison with the G29. There’s a lot more information coming through the wheel, that a game is providing you with. You can feel how and when the car starts sliding and is trying to regain the grip it needs, and with the amount of Force Feedback that you can get from the wheel, if you’re racing long enough, it almost feels like going to the gym when you wrestle it, trying to guide the (virtual) cars around tracks in any of the games. 😀 These last couple of weeks I have been holding back a bit with sim racing, as I’m rearranging my room, since things aren’t properly adjusted to my liking just yet. A few things are still being done, and once I take care of that, it’ll be much easier to sit down and get back into the racing a tiny bit more.

The wheel itself offers 5 different preset saving capabilities, so to speak, which means that you can tweak and save your setup for 5 different games, cars, tracks or any other combination. That way, you don’t have to change all of the settings every single time, to make it work properly for each individual game. Instead, you just press a small button to enter the tuning menu, choose the right number that you saved your settings to, and you’re good to go! Different games, of course, utilize different wheel settings, and it’s much easier to just save those settings in, as most of us want to get racing as soon as possible! 😀

So, to come to some kind of a conclusion for the end of the post, I’d say that the Fanatec CSL Elite is, in my opinion at least, the best Fanatec starting wheel that you can buy. At the moment, I don’t think you can buy the F1 wheel set anymore, but you can still get the CSL Elite wheel base and a matching wheel, so if you’re looking for a great wheel (base) with quite a substantial Force Feedback strength, look no further. It might be a bit pricey for some people, so my advice for someone just starting with sim racing would be to get something like a Logitech G29 or G923 wheel first, get used to racing with a wheel, and then save up to buy the CSL Elite, because it really is an amazing wheel set!