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Fanatec kit and console are not easy to setup imo. Fair bit of custom options. I flight sim on PC so totally get the breadth of possibilities.
Do you have your PC hooked up to a TV or monitor?
I know a lot of people are intimidated by setting all this up, which is fair enough. I've seen people simply write off certain games entirely because the default steering wheel calibration is not good and they can't figure out how to improve it. But I've been building computers for 15+ years and I used to work at a sim racing company, so I have a bit of experience with setup and troubleshooting
Currently I have my sim rig nestled up to my 55" TV.
The tuning menu on the Fanatec Clubsport wheel is pretty easy to navigate and change settings once you read the online manual. I was playing AC last night and experimenting with various settings and it was pretty simple. I find just learning the games themselves a lot harder than dealing with the equipment. Quickly discovered that my braking sucks and thats really key to turning decent laps in AC.
We didn't have any trouble setting up the Fanatec Clubsport. The only weirdness is that the wheel and pedals like to be plugged into two specific USB ports -- move them elsewhere and they don't work. Every other device and wheel I've ever had you could move to any USB port and it would work fine, but not so with the Fanatec wheel and pedals.
What is your goal? Is it competitive racing or just having fun driving? If racing, then I think definitely iRacing over any console simulator.
What is your budget? iRacing does require a pretty high-end graphics card. We tried running it on a high-end i7 gaming laptop and had a severe frame-rate issues. Now running a server with i7 16Gb and 1070 graphics and it runs well.
practice driving the ring in a 911 just for fun, I suppose 10k is my limit, most important is ease of set up
practice driving the ring in a 911 just for fun, I suppose 10k is my limit, most important is ease of set up
For just practicing, you probably only need a single monitor (or VR). 3 monitors helps a lot in competition because the wider field of view makes it easier to see competing cars around you. iRacing is the only way to go for serious racing just based upon racing logistics in my opinion, but for practicing, a console game will work (though the physics aren't as accurate).
The simplest to set up and cheapest would probably be (this should be almost entirely plug & play):
$350 - Playseat
$199 - Logitech G29 wheel & pedals (seems to be on sale for $199 on Amazon right now -
)
Thrustmaster T300 and pedal set is probably a middle ground step between G29 and higher end Fanatec Clubsport
$25 - Gran Turismo Sport
$300 (or free if you already have it) - PS4
$500 (or free if you you can use an existing TV) - TV
The practical higher-end setup would be for iRacing:
$2500 - Computer (GTX 1070 or 1080 graphics card, i7, 16gb, SSD)
$1500 - Fanatec ClubSport wheels/pedals/shifter
$30 - Fanatec Brake Performance Kit upgrade to above (must-have IMO)
$1000 - Racing frame
$300 - Seat
$500 or $1500 - VR like Samsung Odyssey+ or Oculus ($500) or 3 27" 144hz monitors ($1500)
$10-$25 a month - iRacing subscription + random car and track purchases as needed
Add-ons:
$200 - Buttkicker or equivalent shaker (I actually hate our Buttkicker, the wired remote almost never works properly)
$200 - $1000 - 5.1 Audio (if not using VR headphones)
practice driving the ring in a 911 just for fun, I suppose 10k is my limit, most important is ease of set up
Originally Posted by peterp
For just practicing, you probably only need a single monitor (or VR). 3 monitors helps a lot in competition because the wider field of view makes it easier to see competing cars around you. iRacing is the only way to go for serious racing just based upon racing logistics in my opinion, but for practicing, a console game will work (though the physics aren't as accurate).
The simplest to set up and cheapest would probably be (this should be almost entirely plug & play):
$350 - Playseat
$199 - Logitech G29 wheel & pedals (seems to be on sale for $199 on Amazon right now - https://www.amazon.com/d/PS4-Racing-...s=logitech+G29)
Thrustmaster T300 and pedal set is probably a middle ground step between G29 and higher end Fanatec Clubsport
$25 - Gran Turismo Sport
$300 (or free if you already have it) - PS4
$500 (or free if you you can use an existing TV) - TV
The practical higher-end setup would be for iRacing:
$2500 - Computer (GTX 1070 or 1080 graphics card, i7, 16gb, SSD)
$1500 - Fanatec ClubSport wheels/pedals/shifter
$30 - Fanatec Brake Performance Kit upgrade to above (must-have IMO)
$1000 - Racing frame
$300 - Seat
$500 or $1500 - VR like Samsung Odyssey+ or Oculus ($500) or 3 27" 144hz monitors ($1500)
$10-$25 a month - iRacing subscription + random car and track purchases as needed
Add-ons:
$200 - Buttkicker or equivalent shaker (I actually hate our Buttkicker, the wired remote almost never works properly)
$200 - $1000 - 5.1 Audio (if not using VR headphones)
Darknight, im on the same page.
Peterp, thank you for the info!
This is the frame I am using -- it is excellent and modular (since it's built with 80/20 aluminum, you can easily expand and change as needed). The seller (John) is also very responsive if you want to customize it up-front for particular hardware, of if you want to expand it later on (I'm in the process of doing that now with a triple monitor add-on after buying the frame a few years ago) -> https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-PLAY-RACI...zdC:rk:18:pf:0
i have a Sim-Lab P1 coming. Im just starting out but have reasearched my selections pretty well. Im going with Fanatec Clubsport and Samsung Odyssy VR.
i have a Sim-Lab P1 coming. Im just starting out but have reasearched my selections pretty well. Im going with Fanatec Clubsport and Samsung Odyssy VR.
Would recommned recaro, sparco, or cobra race seat. Summit Racing has a Cobra seat for $130.00
11-07-2018, 05:08 PM
