It seems that most who discuss/purchase a Simucube 2 ddw - at least within the RD community - go for either the Pro or Ultimate models. Therefore, I thought I would provide my experience - barely a week's worth - with the Sport model from the perspective of a ddw noob.
First, my decision process to go with the SC2 sport.
I narrowed my ddw choices between the SC2 and Fanatec's offerings. Initially, I focussed on SC2's Pro but I took a step back and realized that I am perfectly happy with the strength of my CSW v2.5 which, I believe, is rated at 7.5nm. Why should I pay for a stronger wheelbase than I would ever use? I can understand the larger than needed nm numbers as providing overhead for transient spikes and the like but 20+? Seemed overkill to me so I decided that I would go with either the Sport or the DD1.
The first deciding factor for the SC2 is that I've become pretty particular with wheels. Since I primarily drive GT3, I don't swap wheels. I do own both the McLaren GT3 wheel w/qr and Formula v2 wheel with Podium shifters. I really like the aesthetics of the Formula wheel and love the Podium shifters but I find the diameter too small. My hands tire with that wheel so I hardly used it. I love the McLaren wheel because I find it comfortable and just the right size. However, I figured it would not stand up to the rigors of a ddw. Therefore, Fanatec did not offer a wheel I felt to be a personal ideal.
My other deciding factor was that Granite Devices have been at this for a bit now and have established a pretty good track record. I'm looking at this purchase as my last wheelbase purchase in my sim racing "career" so I wanted to be sure - best I could - that I'm purchasing a quality unit. Fanatec is in 1st gen mode which I tend to shy away from.
Initial impressions.
I feel I need to give a shout out to SimRacingBay. I went with them because they offer a deal when purchasing an SC2 and an AR wheel. I ordered them Tuesday afternoon and received everything the following Monday. Not bad for a Slovenia to New York shipment! They have a good reputation within the community and I experienced why first hand. Great communication too.
I first unboxed my wheel. Boy, what you see and hear in reviews regarding Martin's wheels are all true. This thing is simply a beaut and feels absolutely rock solid. I went with their SC2 wireless wheel. Coming from a Fanatec setup, I didn't want to get into USB wheels if I didn't have to. I don't need tons of buttons and switches on my wheels. I built myself a button box and between the two, I have always had more than enough options for me. The one compromise I did have to make was losing the use of clutch paddles. My Heusinkveld set up is only brake and throttle so I can keep them separated enough so my legs are straight. The current version of SC2s wireless solution only allows up to 28 inputs and no analog axis (confirmed by Martin). Perhaps, if it comes to fruition, when the SC2 can offer more inputs, I may replace my wheel with one that has clutch paddles and is still wireless. If Martin makes one, I'll buy it right away. Can't imagine going to a different wheel now but I'm still in gaga stage.
Sorry, bit of a wheel digression there. Opening up the box and seeing the Sport was an absolute delight. My initial impression upon seeing the wheelbase? It's a sweet looking unit that speaks to my minimalist bent. I Absolutely love the low profile of the unit. The size, however, belies it's weight. Sucker has got some heft! (Again, ddw noob here!) Sometime ago, I built myself an 8020 rig so I was set with rigidity but decided to shore up, laterally, my cross piece which I mounted the base to. Everything went on pretty painlessly. A cool side effect of the small profile was that I was able to pull my 49" super ultra-wide 4 inches closer which gained me about 6 degrees of added fov! Sweet!
I won't go into details regarding setting stuff up but dive into my first reaction/impression when taking my first drive.
I started with ACC. After a couple of initial misfires I got going and initially noticed how solid everything felt. You know how when you touch and use a quality bit of kit you can just feel it? That's what my very first impression was. Everything just felt... solid. Simply just a wheel rotating on an axis offering immediate feedback. Also, the action is so smooth. Zero grain, notchiness or looseness. Don't get me wrong. I'm not dissing my CSW. I really enjoyed using it and feel it to be a quality wheelbase but the SC2 - and DDWs in general from what I gather - are an obvious step up.
As I continued to drive I started to notice the amount of detail I was feeling. Nice! It was quickly apparent that I had to do some tweaking to my current setting (I started with GD's ACC default setting in the TrueDrive software) but I was smiling. I then started building up speed and going thru a fast corner (I was at Spa) and the "weight" of the wheel kicked in and I realized that I needed to adjust down which also made me smile. It told me that my choice of going with a 17nm wheel was going to suit me just fine.
After my initial futzing about with various settings I started to take a more methodical approach and kept the SC2 manual handy that explains all the different settings and I also reviewed Boosted Media's vid where he explains the different settings. I focused on what setting feels like when I made changes and in the process, developed configs for both ACC and 3RE (my two goto sims these days). I'm already happy with what I have but curious in playing some more. I like to tinker!
Intermediate conclusion (I may add more as I get more laps under my belt).
The short version: I'm falling in love. [ahem]
The longer version: I'm getting what all the fuss is about. I believe that anyone who is vested in this crazy hobby would love driving with a ddw. Are all of them created equal? Of course not. Obviously, I can't offer any comparisons. I can say this - coming from a CSW v2.5, the SC2 is nice step up in refinement. I'm a bit of an audiophile (not the crazy paying $300 for cable snob but one who appreciates a quality listening experience) and equate the Sport's performance to listening to a highly resolving pair of headphones via an amp that has absolute blackground. Meaning, at no matter the volume level if there is a pause in the music or a very quiet passage you hear either absolute silence or just the music. That's what the Sport is like. All you feel is what is coming from the sim. The unit itself is not adding "noise". It's a rather pure experience especially when you get it dialed in to your liking.
Yes, I am one happy camper!
First, my decision process to go with the SC2 sport.
I narrowed my ddw choices between the SC2 and Fanatec's offerings. Initially, I focussed on SC2's Pro but I took a step back and realized that I am perfectly happy with the strength of my CSW v2.5 which, I believe, is rated at 7.5nm. Why should I pay for a stronger wheelbase than I would ever use? I can understand the larger than needed nm numbers as providing overhead for transient spikes and the like but 20+? Seemed overkill to me so I decided that I would go with either the Sport or the DD1.
The first deciding factor for the SC2 is that I've become pretty particular with wheels. Since I primarily drive GT3, I don't swap wheels. I do own both the McLaren GT3 wheel w/qr and Formula v2 wheel with Podium shifters. I really like the aesthetics of the Formula wheel and love the Podium shifters but I find the diameter too small. My hands tire with that wheel so I hardly used it. I love the McLaren wheel because I find it comfortable and just the right size. However, I figured it would not stand up to the rigors of a ddw. Therefore, Fanatec did not offer a wheel I felt to be a personal ideal.
My other deciding factor was that Granite Devices have been at this for a bit now and have established a pretty good track record. I'm looking at this purchase as my last wheelbase purchase in my sim racing "career" so I wanted to be sure - best I could - that I'm purchasing a quality unit. Fanatec is in 1st gen mode which I tend to shy away from.
Initial impressions.
I feel I need to give a shout out to SimRacingBay. I went with them because they offer a deal when purchasing an SC2 and an AR wheel. I ordered them Tuesday afternoon and received everything the following Monday. Not bad for a Slovenia to New York shipment! They have a good reputation within the community and I experienced why first hand. Great communication too.
I first unboxed my wheel. Boy, what you see and hear in reviews regarding Martin's wheels are all true. This thing is simply a beaut and feels absolutely rock solid. I went with their SC2 wireless wheel. Coming from a Fanatec setup, I didn't want to get into USB wheels if I didn't have to. I don't need tons of buttons and switches on my wheels. I built myself a button box and between the two, I have always had more than enough options for me. The one compromise I did have to make was losing the use of clutch paddles. My Heusinkveld set up is only brake and throttle so I can keep them separated enough so my legs are straight. The current version of SC2s wireless solution only allows up to 28 inputs and no analog axis (confirmed by Martin). Perhaps, if it comes to fruition, when the SC2 can offer more inputs, I may replace my wheel with one that has clutch paddles and is still wireless. If Martin makes one, I'll buy it right away. Can't imagine going to a different wheel now but I'm still in gaga stage.
Sorry, bit of a wheel digression there. Opening up the box and seeing the Sport was an absolute delight. My initial impression upon seeing the wheelbase? It's a sweet looking unit that speaks to my minimalist bent. I Absolutely love the low profile of the unit. The size, however, belies it's weight. Sucker has got some heft! (Again, ddw noob here!) Sometime ago, I built myself an 8020 rig so I was set with rigidity but decided to shore up, laterally, my cross piece which I mounted the base to. Everything went on pretty painlessly. A cool side effect of the small profile was that I was able to pull my 49" super ultra-wide 4 inches closer which gained me about 6 degrees of added fov! Sweet!
I won't go into details regarding setting stuff up but dive into my first reaction/impression when taking my first drive.
I started with ACC. After a couple of initial misfires I got going and initially noticed how solid everything felt. You know how when you touch and use a quality bit of kit you can just feel it? That's what my very first impression was. Everything just felt... solid. Simply just a wheel rotating on an axis offering immediate feedback. Also, the action is so smooth. Zero grain, notchiness or looseness. Don't get me wrong. I'm not dissing my CSW. I really enjoyed using it and feel it to be a quality wheelbase but the SC2 - and DDWs in general from what I gather - are an obvious step up.
As I continued to drive I started to notice the amount of detail I was feeling. Nice! It was quickly apparent that I had to do some tweaking to my current setting (I started with GD's ACC default setting in the TrueDrive software) but I was smiling. I then started building up speed and going thru a fast corner (I was at Spa) and the "weight" of the wheel kicked in and I realized that I needed to adjust down which also made me smile. It told me that my choice of going with a 17nm wheel was going to suit me just fine.
After my initial futzing about with various settings I started to take a more methodical approach and kept the SC2 manual handy that explains all the different settings and I also reviewed Boosted Media's vid where he explains the different settings. I focused on what setting feels like when I made changes and in the process, developed configs for both ACC and 3RE (my two goto sims these days). I'm already happy with what I have but curious in playing some more. I like to tinker!
Intermediate conclusion (I may add more as I get more laps under my belt).
The short version: I'm falling in love. [ahem]
The longer version: I'm getting what all the fuss is about. I believe that anyone who is vested in this crazy hobby would love driving with a ddw. Are all of them created equal? Of course not. Obviously, I can't offer any comparisons. I can say this - coming from a CSW v2.5, the SC2 is nice step up in refinement. I'm a bit of an audiophile (not the crazy paying $300 for cable snob but one who appreciates a quality listening experience) and equate the Sport's performance to listening to a highly resolving pair of headphones via an amp that has absolute blackground. Meaning, at no matter the volume level if there is a pause in the music or a very quiet passage you hear either absolute silence or just the music. That's what the Sport is like. All you feel is what is coming from the sim. The unit itself is not adding "noise". It's a rather pure experience especially when you get it dialed in to your liking.
Yes, I am one happy camper!
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I've used a DFGT for all these years and even ran that on only like 50% gain ingame, so going for a Pro or Ultimate would really be pointless (I swing heavy weights during my work day, no need to do that in my free time 
