Next purchase help

[akwoody24]

Hi everyone, bit of history

Started playing gt sport a year ago, bought a used t300 and a new playseat challenge. Loved it.

I now have an xbox due to ps4 dieing. Ive taken the opportunity to install ACC on my pc and wow, so much better than gt sport.

Problem is the crappy TM pedals, im finding it hard to be consistant.

I kind of want to upgrade my gear but not sure what to do

I could get a ts xw base for 320 but then i still need pedals.
I could get the TM LCM pedals, but i really dont need the clutch
I could get a fanatac pedals and upgrade wheel later.

What do you think guys

 

[d69morpwr]

My only suggestion is do yourself a favor if you like this hobby and buy the best you can afford the first time. Most of us did incremental upgrades and you just waste a lot of money while never really being happy. Then you end up buying the same stuff over and over.

 

[ajm289]

I went from the T3PA (came with my T300) to the T-LCM's and I'm pretty happy with them. I considered getting the Clubsprt V3's (I had the extra money I just didn't want to spend it) but with the price difference and amazon having the TMs in stock I went with those. Plus I've heard that trying to return stuff to fanatec is a pain. And they take a LOT longer to ship stuff.

For me tho, I like racing older F1 cars so I use the clutch a lot. Personally I would say upgrade pedals and then the wheel. I just wish TM made a DD wheel so the extra add on wheels I've bought don't become useless.

 

[RasmusP]

I had the csl elites (first with only 2 pedals since they came with a bundle, then with the loadcell) and although they get a lot of praise, I had to replace the throttle and brake potentiometer a few weeks after getting them and they started to spike after another 8 months again...

Replaced pots again (in Germany the fanatec customer service is very good and fast! Had my pots within 72h) and sold them.

Now I have the v3 with brake performance kit and I love them but they are not perfect. Throttle has some mechanical play, brake isn't completely smooth no matter how well you grease them and the clutch is nice, but far from awesome.
They have fixed positions so you can't put the brake further to the left or to the right for either left foot braking or heel'n'toe. Both works fine but it's not perfect.

I got them since I have a csw 2.5 and wanted to keep it clean with 1 usb cable.

If you really don't need the clutch and have the money: get heusinkveld sprint pedals. You won't feel the need to replace those anytime soon.
A few friends have them (after csl elites and v3) and they say it's quite a different league!
They liked the v3s but the heusinkveld are just a lot better on top.
But also a lot more expensive if you need all 3 pedals!


If you don't want to spend that much money, get the t-lcm. They seem to be very adjustable and nice. Way better construction than the csl elites and way cheaper than the v3!
They weren't available when I ordered my pedals, otherwise I would've bought them!

They have reliable hall sensors and a good loadcell design (at the bottom of the push rod).

The csl elites have the loadcell in the pedal arm, it's actually measuring how much you bend the pedal arm so it's acting like a spring.
It works fine as long as you keep your foot in the same position all the time. When you press onto the pedal face at a higher it lower position, the input will change a lot! Like.. 3x of how much it changes on my v3...
Which was the main reason that I sold them. I was less consistent than with my Logitech pedals...

Hope that helps!

 

[akwoody24]

I had the csl elites (first with only 2 pedals since they came with a bundle, then with the loadcell) and although they get a lot of praise, I had to replace the throttle and brake potentiometer a few weeks after getting them and they started to spike after another 8 months again...

Replaced pots again (in Germany the fanatec customer service is very good and fast! Had my pots within 72h) and sold them.

Now I have the v3 with brake performance kit and I love them but they are not perfect. Throttle has some mechanical play, brake isn't completely smooth no matter how well you grease them and the clutch is nice, but far from awesome.
They have fixed positions so you can't put the brake further to the left or to the right for either left foot braking or heel'n'toe. Both works fine but it's not perfect.

I got them since I have a csw 2.5 and wanted to keep it clean with 1 usb cable.

If you really don't need the clutch and have the money: get heusinkveld sprint pedals. You won't feel the need to replace those anytime soon.
A few friends have them (after csl elites and v3) and they say it's quite a different league!
They liked the v3s but the heusinkveld are just a lot better on top.
But also a lot more expensive if you need all 3 pedals!


If you don't want to spend that much money, get the t-lcm. They seem to be very adjustable and nice. Way better construction than the csl elites and way cheaper than the v3!
They weren't available when I ordered my pedals, otherwise I would've bought them!

They have reliable hall sensors and a good loadcell design (at the bottom of the push rod).

The csl elites have the loadcell in the pedal arm, it's actually measuring how much you bend the pedal arm so it's acting like a spring.
It works fine as long as you keep your foot in the same position all the time. When you press onto the pedal face at a higher it lower position, the input will change a lot! Like.. 3x of how much it changes on my v3...
Which was the main reason that I sold them. I was less consistent than with my Logitech pedals...

Hope that helps!

Wow thanks thats real interesting about where the load cell is, sounds likena dumb design if thats the case. Are all the best ones under the push rod then?
Inwas thinking fanatec to.enable a slow upgrade path but if t lcm is as good or better than the elites might make sense to stick to thrustmaster. Even though they have ignored my emails asking for updates on when the wheel bases will be back in stock

 

[RasmusP]

Wow thanks thats real interesting about where the load cell is, sounds likena dumb design if thats the case. Are all the best ones under the push rod then?

Yes.. I mean.. You press against the push rod, so you should measure the pressure on that push rod!
Fanatec wanted to save money and made the pushrod a little plastic stick with elastomer disks stacked on it and then put the loadcell into the pedal arm.
I mean.. it does work and the pedal feel is actually pretty awesome.
But I had one really bad race with my braking all over the place.. I had some leg issues that day. Then I "investigated" the brake input a bit more and figured out what was wrong.

I actually wrote a longer post about this if you're interested:

About to purchase fanatec CSL elite LC

Hi. I am back again, but with another need for advices and comment I didnt purchased the fanatec pedals yet. After thinking about it, I prefer to invest first in a decent rig which could accept them well. After all my Logitech G25 is working perfectly and I can wait a little more for the...

www.racedepartment.com

Inwas thinking fanatec to.enable a slow upgrade path but if t lcm is as good or better than the elites might make sense to stick to thrustmaster.

As others wrote.. You don't want a "slow upgrade path" if you know you're gonna simrace for the next years.
So you either go for a budget friendly upgrade or the best upgrade you have the money for.

Even though they have ignored my emails asking for updates on when the wheel bases will be back in stock

Thrustmaster?
They are a pretty big company compared to other simracing companies so they probably don't respond to every mail...
I don't know how quickly they would respond to support mails but I guess these bigger companies won't respond to just "generic" questions like things coming back in stock, especially since they are sold everywhere and their logistics are probably a pretty complicated network.

 

[akwoody24]

Yes.. I mean.. You press against the push rod, so you should measure the pressure on that push rod!
Fanatec wanted to save money and made the pushrod a little plastic stick with elastomer disks stacked on it and then put the loadcell into the pedal arm.
I mean.. it does work and the pedal feel is actually pretty awesome.
But I had one really bad race with my braking all over the place.. I had some leg issues that day. Then I "investigated" the brake input a bit more and figured out what was wrong.

I actually wrote a longer post about this if you're interested:

About to purchase fanatec CSL elite LC

Hi. I am back again, but with another need for advices and comment I didnt purchased the fanatec pedals yet. After thinking about it, I prefer to invest first in a decent rig which could accept them well. After all my Logitech G25 is working perfectly and I can wait a little more for the...

www.racedepartment.com

As others wrote.. You don't want a "slow upgrade path" if you know you're gonna simrace for the next years.
So you either go for a budget friendly upgrade or the best upgrade you have the money for.

Thrustmaster?
They are a pretty big company compared to other simracing companies so they probably don't respond to every mail...
I don't know how quickly they would respond to support mails but I guess these bigger companies won't respond to just "generic" questions like things coming back in stock, especially since they are sold everywhere and their logistics are probably a pretty complicated network.

They have an active twitter and facebook account id expect them to be abke tongice generic stock updates in terms of production - similar to ps5 xbox etc