Review

I have written an in-depth review of the Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo wheel (5MB pdf)

It is 16 pages and aimed at someone seriously considering buying this, or a similar Fanatec wheel.  If that is too much for you then perhaps check out the summary points below.  If you are really reading-adverse then skip straight to the conclusion, but you'll be missing some terrific HTML formatting.

Summary

Construction and Design

The wheel itself is very solid with no lateral play in the steering column. The leather is good quality and well stitched. The buttons are lower quality than the rest of the wheel. The wheel’s appearance is of a high quality product, and looks very similar to the steering wheel it seeks to replicate. The paddle shifters have been cleverly hidden from view. The pedals appear to be strong and well constructed, but look and feel a bit plasticy. The gear shifters are sturdy and have a good feel. Reliability and consistency cannot be faulted so far in my 6 month experience of the wheel and auxiliaries.

Installation and Setup

Driver installation was straight forward using the included memory stick. It took a few minutes to install the shifter and to clamp the wheel to the table securely, but since then mounting/un-mounting the wheel + shifter takes seconds using the quick releases. Switching between H-pattern and sequential shifters takes a minute. Installing the batteries in the pedals was simple and they have lasted over 4 months of regular use so far. The pedals haven’t moved while in use, but are very easy to remove and store if necessary. The wheel and pedals are detected correctly every time they are connected, although for proper functioning it is necessary for to open and close the software driver panel and press a button on the wheel once before use. The wireless connection has been completely reliable, although the pedals will fall asleep if unused for 150 seconds, which caused me problems until depressing the throttle became part of my pre-race routine.

Wheel Performance

The precision of the wheel is very good, down to 1/12 of a degree of rotation. Combined with the 900 degrees of rotation available this has reduced my lap-times and improved my driving – especially in correcting oversteer. The ten face buttons are within easy reach and I haven’t accidentally hit any of them while driving. The digital display on the wheel is underutilized, but useful for changing FFB strength and wheel rotation while in game. The vibration function is linked to the throttle position and in my opinion detracts from the driving experience, so I have turned this off. The wheel generates some heat but never gets hot, and the thermostat-controlled fans generate a similar amount of noise to my laptop fan.

Wheel Force Feedback

The powerful belt-driven FFB is the highlight of the wheel, providing beautifully smooth and precise information through the large rim. The FFB can range from very subtle to brutal, and deals very well with conveying many different aspects of the car’s handling and response at once. The FFB strength is fairly consistent across the range of travel of the wheel. The ‘soft stops’ that limit wheel travel for rotation settings of less than 900 degrees are good, but could be firmer.

Pedals

Pedal precision is adequate, with 128 discrete values for throttle, 40 discrete values for brake, and 64 discrete values for clutch. The pedal layout is a decent compromise between having enough room between brake and throttle for left foot braking to be comfortable; giving a decent layout for heal-toe downshifting with clutch; and keeping the pedal unit to a manageable size. Heal-toe shifting is a bit more difficult because of the bottom-anchored throttle. The throttle is quite light feeling and has a long travel. The brake has about 1 inch of travel and a very stiff spring, which provides pretty good feedback. The clutch is non-linearly sprung, which feels good, but is quite subtle.

Shifters

The H-pattern shifter is definitely a highlight. It has a strong centering force and the gears engage with good tactile feedback and a loud clack. The gates are nicely spaced and well defined, and I haven’t mis-shifted yet. The clack sound could be irritating to people nearby that are sensitive to noise (potentially including the driver). The sequential shifter has a short throw and low resistance and works very well. The paddle shifters are small and lack positive tactile feedback, but are well located and perform well if the driver’s hands remain at the 3 and 9 positions, such as in F1 and most rally driving.

Conclusion

The Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel is a quality racing wheel, with incredible force feedback as its crowning achievement. The wireless connectivity and quick release clamping system work very well and will be invaluable for anyone without a dedicated racing space. The pedals are well designed and have reasonable feel, but are not of the same level of quality as the wheel. The H-pattern shifter is remarkable in both its usability and positive feeling, while the separate sequential shifter and paddle shift both function quite well. Fanatec have delivered on what they promised, and in doing so have defined the new standard for racing wheel FFB and features.