Forza Motorsport 4

got my csr elite pedals today. awesome. such a step up from anything i tried so far. :SHOCK:

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Very nice!

Damn you guys, I am now looking at the Fanatec website and tempting myself to get the CSR Value Pack XL and the Rennsport wheel stand.

A bit of an outlay coming in at a combined €480 before shipping... But I could somewhat recoup some of my money by selling my Driving Force GT, Official MS 360 wheel and my WheelStandPro... Hmmmm, temptation.
 
OPM said:
got my csr elite pedals today. awesome. such a step up from anything i tried so far. :SHOCK:
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Awesome mate. :WORSHIP:

I've got the standard CSR pedals and even they are a cut above anything I've used before (fully customisable as well). The CSR and CSR Elite pedals use the same base design but I guess the load cells on yours takes the feel of the pedals to the next level.

Dar said:
Very nice!

Damn you guys, I am now looking at the Fanatec website and tempting myself to get the CSR Value Pack XL and the Rennsport wheel stand.

A bit of an outlay coming in at a combined €480 before shipping... But I could somewhat recoup some of my money by selling my Driving Force GT, Official MS 360 wheel and my WheelStandPro... Hmmmm, temptation.
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I'm a bit gutted as I bought the CSR value pack just before Christmas only to find its dropped in price. I went and bought the shifter set as well. Now you can get the whole lot in a pack for less. :DOH:

The CSR wheel and pedals are excellent though mate. If you can afford it and love your racing games then it's a no-brainer. You're good to go on all formats too.

I sold my 360 wheel and DFGT to fund the purchase - got about £50 for each.

Why not keep the Wheelstand Pro? I've got my CSR set mounted to one (the WSP Deluxe which has a shifter mount). You could always get a new mounting plate from WSP or drill your own holes using the template that comes with the CSR.
 
Jamezinho said:
I'm a bit gutted as I bought the CSR value pack just before Christmas only to find its dropped in price. I went and bought the shifter set as well. Now you can get the whole lot in a pack for less. :DOH:

The CSR wheel and pedals are excellent though mate. If you can afford it and love your racing games then it's a no-brainer. You're good to go on all formats too.

I sold my 360 wheel and DFGT to fund the purchase - got about £50 for each.

Why not keep the Wheelstand Pro? I've got my CSR set mounted to one (the WSP Deluxe which has a shifter mount). You could always get a new mounting plate from WSP or drill your own holes using the template that comes with the CSR.
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Interesting. I figured it might be a bit of a pain in the arse to try and attach the shifter to the WSP, so I just figured I'd sell it and get the Rennsport one.
I've already gone back to those guys and got the Xbox adaptor for my existing WSP when I got the Xbox wheel and it was reasonable enough, think they charged me €25 including postage. They're great to deal with so I'd be more than happy to give them more business if I could get sorted with my existing stuff.
 
The Fanatec shifter set comes with a couple of rods which you can use to mount the shifter to the wheel. The rods slide through the base of the wheel and you then push the shifter onto the end of the rods. It's fairly sturdy and you can mount the shifter either side of the wheel.

So what I'm saying is, the shifter can be mounted directly to the wheel rather than the stand.

I've got the WSP deluxe which came with it's own (more solid) shifter mount. I'm not sure if you can pick this up separately (I guess you can). I use the WSP mount for the H-shifter and the Fanatec rods for the sequential shifter, i.e. one on each side of the wheel so I don't have to keep switching between the two.
 
Wow those CSR wheels are pricey! In what way are they better than the DFGT? I bought mine for £50 brand new in a sale a couple of years back and I am thinking of upgrading my wheel. I was looking at the G27 which is about 90 quid cheaper than the CSR xl pack. Are the CSR wheels worth the extra money?
 
Ern Dog said:
Wow those CSR wheels are pricey! In what way are they better than the DFGT? I bought mine for £50 brand new in a sale a couple of years back and I am thinking of upgrading my wheel. I was looking at the G27 which is about 90 quid cheaper than the CSR xl pack. Are the CSR wheels worth the extra money?
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The DFGT is a very good wheel for the price. I was perfectly happy with mine and only sold it to fund the CSR.

I can't compare with the G27 as I've not used one but I've heard it's a quality wheel and good value for money. However it's not compatible with the 360 and the major plus point of Fanatec wheels is universal support for all formats and I can't see there being any issues with the coming generation of consoles.

The Fanatec wheels are belt driven so feel smoother compared to cheaper wheels which use gears and can feel notchy and noisy. The wheel itself is also a good size. The best thing is the LCD display on the wheel which allows you to adjust steering lock, force feedback strength etc, on the fly.

If you are looking at getting a CSR perhaps look at the value pack without the shifter. At €250 I think it's pretty good value.
 
Is the force feedback stronger in the CSR than the DFGT Jamez?

I am trying to find out if the G27 is belt driven. I know what you mean when you say notchy, if I was paying over £200 I would not want that.

Are there any other good wheel manufacturers?
 
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Ern Dog said:
Is the force feedback stronger in the CSR than the DFGT Jamez?

I am trying to find out if the G27 is belt driven. I know what you mean when you say notchy, if I was paying over £200 I would not want that.

Are there any other good wheel manufacturers?
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The FF is plenty strong enough. If you set it to 100 on the wheel it's stronger than is comfortable so I set it to 60. Obviously you can tweak the ingame setting too.

Regarding other manufacturers, you could look at Thrustmaster but I don't know much about them apart from they are PS3/PC only like Logitech. MadCatz released a 360 wheel recently but it's over-priced and has reviewed poorly.

The way I see it, if you're going to spend £250+ on a mid/high-end wheel then it's better to get one that works on all systems, therefore Fanatec was the only choice for me.
 
The Thrustmaster T500 looks really nice but is very expensive at £350 without a shifter. I think its PS3 only though, Amazon says it works with PC but the TM website says PS3 only :CONFUSE:.
I think the CSR XL pack looks the best. The load cell brake sounds great, I had a lot of trouble judging how much brake to use with the DFGT.
 
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Ern Dog said:
The Thrustmaster T500 looks really nice but is very expensive at £350 without a shifter. I think its PS3 only though, Amazon says it works with PC but the TM website says PS3 only :CONFUSE:.
I think the CSR XL pack looks the best. The load cell brake sounds great, I had a lot of trouble judging how much brake to use with the DFGT.
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You need the CSR Elite pedals or Clubsport pedals for the load cells. The standard CSR pedals use a spring which you can tighten to add stiffness.

The Fanatec wheels also have an ABS feature which means when you're about to lock up the wheel will vibrate to let you know. The point at which this kicks in has to be defined by the user though, but quite a nice little feature.
 
Jamezinho said:
The Fanatec wheels also have an ABS feature which means when you're about to lock up the wheel will vibrate to let you know. The point at which this kicks in has to be defined by the user though, but quite a nice little feature.
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Sounds like cheating to me :P.
 
I'm seriously considering getting the standard CSR wheel value pack, though it doesn't seem like it comes with the shift stick which I'd need to get separately. Does it all come with the relevant connection leads? Seems a silly question but they sell the leads on their site and wouldn't be surprised if you had to get them separately.

I really want a decent wheel with force feedback, and the only other option for 360 seems to be the madcatz wireless but that's not got great reviews and is £170. For just £50-100 more I could get the CSR which is far better all round, can be used on all formats and hopefully, like Jamezinho said earlier, should be future proof meaning it will be compatible with the next gen consoles too. That makes it far better long term value than the madcatz one.
 
LTFC said:
I'm seriously considering getting the standard CSR wheel value pack, though it doesn't seem like it comes with the shift stick which I'd need to get separately. Does it all come with the relevant connection leads? Seems a silly question but they sell the leads on their site and wouldn't be surprised if you had to get them separately.

I really want a decent wheel with force feedback, and the only other option for 360 seems to be the madcatz wireless but that's not got great reviews and is £170. For just £50-100 more I could get the CSR which is far better all round, can be used on all formats and hopefully, like Jamezinho said earlier, should be future proof meaning it will be compatible with the next gen consoles too. That makes it far better long term value than the madcatz one.
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The CSR Value Pack is what I've got. The CSR Value Pack XL adds the shifter set and upgrades the pedals to CSR Elite pedals. Both are pretty good deals really, but if you're not bothered about the Elite pedals (I've only got the standard CSR pedals and they are absolutely fine for me) you could always get the €249.95 Euro value pack and add the shifter set which sells for €59.95 Euros on its own.

Also note that shipping is not included and Fanatec charge a flat rate of €18 for UPS to carry it from Germany to the UK. I got stung for two shipping fees because I ordered the shifter set about a month after buying the wheel. So if you really want the shifter set then maybe consider spending more on the XL or get it at the same time as the standard value pack.

Obviously think carefully before you buy one of these. I'm not trying to put anyone off as the CSR is a fantastic wheel, but it is an expensive toy when all is said and done. You need to be a pretty keen racing game fan to really get your money's worth out of it. Racing games are a passion of mine and I use my setup three or four times a week, so it was an easy decision for me. The last thing you want is to spend £250+ on a wheel and get bored of it after a couple of weeks.

Re: the MadCatz wheel - I wouldn't even entertain buying it at that price. For a start, MadCatz have a less than stellar reputation for quality. The pedals look atrociously flimsy and I'm not keen on the design. The stick shifter looks like it would break easily. The wheel itself is probably ok as it's based on a Saitek PC wheel which is supposedly good. But as you said, for not much more you can get a Fanatec which will see you good on all formats.
 
Thanks mate, that's really helpful. It's a difficult one because there really isn't anything else our there that is even halfway decent for 360, and the future proof side of it does make it an even more attractive proposition. If I do decide to get one I think I'd do the same as you and get the csr value pack with additional shifter, I think I'd be fine with the standard car pedals. What's the difference between those and the elite pedals anyways?
 
These are the standard CSR pedals:

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....and these are the CSR Elite pedals:

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As you can see they share the same base design, the only difference being the pedals themselves and the load cell on the brake pedal which is supposed to give more feel. Both pedal sets are fully adjustable.

I agree with what you said about the lack of a low/mid range force feedback wheel on the 360. A Logitiech DFGT equivalent for the 360 would be a good seller I'm sure. Anything in the £80-100 bracket would attract plenty of casual racers. I can't help feeling a trick is being missed. I was hoping Microsoft would revise their own wheel but instead they discontinued it and brought out the dildo wheel instead. Oh well.
 
Also, forgot to say, you get all the cables you need bundled in. I've got both shifters mounted to the wheel using cables provided. However you may need a usb extension cable. The Fanatec one is not really long enough unless you sit right on top of your pc or PS3.
 
Thanks again, I think I'd stick with the regular csr pedals, and good to know the cables come included :)

Now I need to start saving...I've basically stopped playing all racing games for quite a while now because I want to save them all for when I get a wheel. I already have yet to properly play through Forza 3, F1 2011, NFS Shift 2, and am planning on getting Forza 4, Sega Rally online (totally arcade but still great fun with a wheel!), mabye some of the Dirt games and NFS: The Run. Are there any less 'arcadey' racers around other than Forza and F1 on xbox? I'd get GT5 on PS3 but I keep hearing it's boring.
 
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LTFC said:
Thanks again, I think I'd stick with the regular csr pedals, and good to know the cables come included :)

Now I need to start saving...I've basically stopped playing all racing games for quite a while now because I want to save them all for when I get a wheel. I already have yet to properly play through Forza 3, F1 2011, NFS Shift 2, and am planning on getting Forza 4, Sega Rally online (totally arcade but still great fun with a wheel!), mabye some of the Dirt games and NFS: The Run. Are there any less 'arcadey' racers around other than Forza and F1 on xbox? I'd get GT5 on PS3 but I keep hearing it's boring.
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I think you'll love Forza 4.

GT5 is a good game but you really need to play it online, ideally within a community of clean racers. The single player aspect of the game is terribly dull in my opinion. I felt like I was playing every other GT because of the same old A-Spec format and the lifeless AI. Don't get me wrong, the game has its highlights such as the day-night transitions at Nurburgring 24hr and Le Mans, some great circuits like the Nordschleife, Monaco, Monza and Spa (DLC), and the 200 premium cars look stunning (shame the other 800 cars are low-res PS2 ports). In the end the game is just a grind. There's not much to do. Forza 4 offers so much more to do and is an all-round better product. Much more well though-out and designed.

Shift 2 is worth a look I'd say, although go for the 360 version as I've heard it's better. Having said that I've got the PS3 version and it's fine. The driving physics aren't on the same level as Forza or GT so the game feels a touch more arcadey. But it has the finest circuit line-up of any console game, night racing on most circuits, awesome car mods and very tough AI.

Race Pro is another game that I'd recommend. It's nearly three years old now, and to be honest looked quite dated then so I hate to think what it looks like compared to Forza 4. But, it's made by Simbin who make the GTR sims on PC so the driving model is very good and it has some nice tracks that you don't see often in other games. Probably the purest sim racer on consoles.

Ferrari Challenge on PS3 is another one to consider. I've not played it myself but I've heard it has a challenging driving model.

I can't comment on the F1 games or DIRT as I generally avoid Codemasters racing games.

NFS games are best played with a pad so I'd avoid.
 
Two pieces of massive Forza news broke on Monday. Firstly.....

A spin-off to the Forza Franchise named 'Forza Horizon' was announced. It seems like a road racing version of Forza, possibly more arcadey like NFS:

http://www.forzaplanet.net/forza-horizon-announced-releases-fall-2012/

Secondly, Porsche returns to Forza 4!

http://www.forzaplanet.net/porsche-expansion-pack-announced-releases-may-22nd/

....although at 1600 ms points it's not cheap. You are getting 30 models, 20 new career events, 10 new achievements and an extra 250g to be unlocked.
 
Well I can finally get Forza 4, I've just got the Fanatec CSR Value Pack. Can't wait for it to be delivered now!

All I need is a decent wheel stand and I'll be good to go :)

I'm a total beginner at these things so I think I might set up a new thread for racing wheels and setups for games etc.

**Edit** Just got the wheelstand pro deluxe direct from their website, a little pricey but screw it, if I'm dropping that much on a wheel then I may as well get a sturdy, quality stand too. Can't wait to play Forza and F1 2012 with this. I love my F1 games.
 
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You've pretty much got the same setup as me, LT.....Fanatec CSR + standard CSR pedals + shifter set + Wheelstand Pro.

You won't regret it. The stand in particular is a really good piece of kit.

Need any help then let me know.
 
Suuuuupertalk said:
Well I can finally get Forza 4, I've just got the Fanatec CSR Value Pack. Can't wait for it to be delivered now!

All I need is a decent wheel stand and I'll be good to go :)

I'm a total beginner at these things so I think I might set up a new thread for racing wheels and setups for games etc.

**Edit** Just got the wheelstand pro deluxe direct from their website, a little pricey but screw it, if I'm dropping that much on a wheel then I may as well get a sturdy, quality stand too. Can't wait to play Forza and F1 2012 with this. I love my F1 games.
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I'd grab Forza Horizon as well if i were you
 
Definitely, I tried the demo on xbl a while back and was pretty ace.

Btw my wheel stand pro deluxe arrived today, £90 direct from the distributor in Poland. Amazing service, I ordered it on Monday night and got home from work today to find it had arrived! Now all I need is the wheel to arrive!
 
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