Discussion | Direct Drive Wheels: The Good, Bad And The Ugly

[Paul Jeffrey]

Discussion time! Direct Drive wheels are becoming increasingly common in sim racing, but which one should you get?

Long gone are the days of just one or two niche manufacturers developing DD wheel solutions for a hardcore few. In 2020, the discerning sim racer has a wealth of choice when looking to make the switch to Direct Drive... but with so many options, and such a high price point, what constitutes a good purchase?

I am not going to even try and pretend I am an expert on all the different DD bases available today, far from it in fact, so I thought it worth throwing up this thread for our community to discuss their own experiences, and offer up advice to those still thinking over their next steps.

For the record, I run the Bodnar SimSteering V2 and absolutely love it; however at the price point they are asking, you will probably want to follow the route I took and purchase it second hand!

 

[RCHeliguy]

N.v

I will never get bored from the things I love

NEVER SAY NEVER and don't equate your feelings for a loved one with your interest in a hobie.

I've been through many hobbies and average about 4 years before I get bored and move on.

Typically I like hobbies with deep and wide learning curves. Once I have the equipment, and have climbed the learning curves at some point I plateau and reach a point where it will take exponentially more effort to improve. That is when it starts to feel like work and I lose interest.

I've been happily married for over 16 years and couldn't imagine being with anyone else. However my wife has seen me take deep dives on photography, RC Helicopters, wood working, and when I met her I was a hard core waterskier. I've sold my ski boat and been off the water for a decade. I was obsessed by it for many years.

 

[bozakn]

N.v

NEVER SAY NEVER and don't equate your feelings for a loved one with your interest in a hobie.

I've been through many hobbies and average about 4 years before I get bored and move on.

Typically I like hobbies with deep and wide learning curves. Once I have the equipment, and have climbed the learning curves at some point I plateau and reach a point where it will take exponentially more effort to improve. That is when it starts to feel like work and I lose interest.

I've been happily married for over 16 years and couldn't imagine being with anyone else. However my wife has seen me take deep dives on photography, RC Helicopters, wood working, and when I met her I was a hard core waterskier. I've sold my ski boat and been off the water for a decade. I was obsessed by it for many years.

Hi friend,

You took my words too literally.

Of course I don't make love with my simracing gear, and my family is the greatest wealth that I have.
I was talking about how strong my passion for racing is. It dates back to my childhood days, and it is still going strong.
I'm not the kind of guy who gets bored over time, be it life or things that we appreciate.
I've been simracing for almost two decades, and I'm still obsessed with it.
It makes me feel like a child all over again.

 

[Miguel Batista]

Hi friend,

You took my words too literally.

Of course I don't make love with my simracing gear, and my family is the greatest wealth that I have.

You don't? What a weirdo!

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

Is this kid racing career over due to one misplaced word?

I understand that we you should ban the N word from everyone's vocabulary in any context.

However, they could have handled this differently.

To me, the punishment does not fit the crime.

lol, wrong forum.

 

[LagunaSeca]

I got into photography some years back, enjoyed the pictures so needed more and better, many MANY thousands of dollars later, i realised i simply do not have the eye for photography, the talent, now i have a nice glass camera case with very expensive gear on it.. ill take a photo of it with my cellphone for you if you like

And DSLR is a pain in the ass to carry in a trip plus a bag of lens and tripod. I went to mammoth cave last year, hoping to get some good shots of the cave. Then I was told tripod was not allowed down there and I found the cave is long and has a lot of narrow parts. That trip became the most painful memory of the whole year.

I also went to shot the night sky in a national park in the US during the summer. Afterwards the belts of my backpack got some salt deposit. I got one nice shot of the milky way and one nice shot of the moon. Then I never wanted to do that again because when I was walking towards my spot, I kept my heads down due to the heavy weight I was carrying. I missed the good part perfectly.

Now I just use google night sight on my pixel phone and my eye and my brain. If memory fades, I go again. I guess something is bond to be learnt in a hard way.

 

[RCHeliguy]

And DSLR is a pain in the ass to carry in a trip plus a bag of lens and tripod. I went to mammoth cave last year, hoping to get some good shots of the cave. Then I was told tripod was not allowed down there and I found the cave is long and has a lot of narrow parts. That trip became the most painful memory of the whole year.

I also went to shot the night sky in a national park in the US during the summer. Afterwards the belts of my backpack got some salt deposit. I got one nice shot of the milky way and one nice shot of the moon. Then I never wanted to do that again because when I was walking towards my spot, I kept my heads down due to the heavy weight I was carrying. I missed the good part perfectly.

Now I just use google night sight on my pixel phone and my eye and my brain. If memory fades, I go again. I guess something is bond to be learnt in a hard way.

Carrying a tripod around is frequently not worth it. It was definitely worth it at Capitol Reef, UT
Sadly I didn't have my reading glasses with me to adjust the focus slightly back from infinity for the night shots, so the stars are not nearly as sharp as they should have been. Was running an Rokinon 10mm f2.8 for my night shooting. I have a small hiking tripod and a large RRS tripod that I enjoy when I can carry the bulk and primes and zooms from 10mm to 400mm.

 

[TheRealCeeBee]

And DSLR is a pain in the ass to carry in a trip plus a bag of lens and tripod. I went to mammoth cave last year, hoping to get some good shots of the cave. Then I was told tripod was not allowed down there and I found the cave is long and has a lot of narrow parts. That trip became the most painful memory of the whole year.

I also went to shot the night sky in a national park in the US during the summer. Afterwards the belts of my backpack got some salt deposit. I got one nice shot of the milky way and one nice shot of the moon. Then I never wanted to do that again because when I was walking towards my spot, I kept my heads down due to the heavy weight I was carrying. I missed the good part perfectly.

Now I just use google night sight on my pixel phone and my eye and my brain. If memory fades, I go again. I guess something is bond to be learnt in a hard way.

the department of war and finance uses my camera equipment now to takes photos of the cats and flowers.. the 100mm macro is a favorite of her, when not on the camera I sometimes use it as a paperweight . Hobbies start adding up, in this case I started with a 70d,then mk4, then i didnt want to damage it, so i bought the 80d, then thebattery packs, focus rails, "special gloves" hahahahahha, all the damn filters.. and the lenses, OMG the lenses, uncountable in number... lets notforget Ihad tothen ALSO buya drone in case there were shots Icould not reach, sot eh mavic followed by the p4p... WOFTAM!!.. now i take photos of my motorcycles with my cellphone .. and now I am up to three of them in my garage.. I may have a problem... on the upside its stopped me buying bigger racing sim gear because i have nowhere to put it

 

[Deleted member 197115]

the department of war and finance

 

[Metla]

I also invested many thousands in camera equipment, and gave up on the day I reached for my phone instead because it produced a better picture. (my limitations, not the camera equipment)

I sold it all to a student for $200.

Granted, I have also owned at least 5 guitars, And I can't play guitar.

And at some stage my RC collection needed its own building.

Currently my shed has 6 motorcycles in it.

Just sold my boat, Used it twice.

Why the hell do i have 6 tv's and a projector? I even put a full home theatre system in my outdoor entertainment area.

I need to get the hell out of the hardware forum....

 

[Chrhun]

Haha, even though this is now very off topic, I find it funny that there are so many guys here in the DD topic that like their gear. I've done hifi, watches, cars etc and I think highend simracing gear it actually good value compared to that stuff - for ten grand you get top of the line setup. I also do understand that this is very much "first world" issues...

 

[spanner76]

I'd absolutely love to get a Fanatec Podium DD2 but for the price of the base only is almost what I could get a whole set of new of Clubsport gear (base, wheel, pedals, shifter, handbrake) which better suits my budget. So I chose the Clubsport v2.5, v3 inverted pedals, CS shifter and handbrake which I have no doubt will be miles better than my ancient old Logitech G25 which feels like its on it last legs.

I have read that some say the CS v2.5 is good and others say it isn't but it'll have to do for now.

 

[Chrhun]

I have read that some say the CS v2.5 is good and others say it isn't but it'll have to do for now.

I think it's pretty much universally accepted that the CSW 2.5 is the best belt driven wheel, it is very good and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Haha, even though this is now very off topic, I find it funny that there are so many guys here in the DD topic that like their gear. I've done hifi, watches, cars etc and I think highend simracing gear it actually good value compared to that stuff - for ten grand you get top of the line setup. I also do understand that this is very much "first world" issues...

The bar for high value is pretty low when you fly and crash $3K to $5K RC helicopters. I think my worst crash was over $800. My first year was about $3,000 in crash damage.

This all pales compared to large boating or god forbid actual racing. LOL!

 

[ARGT2RS]

I have the Fanatec CSW2.5 and would like to switch to the podium because I have a lot of Fanatec steering wheels. Unfortunately, the customer service and quality of Fanatec is very poor, I have had bad experiences. That's why I doubt whether I should buy a podium or switch completely to another brand. Maybe this survey will help me here.

Don't buy Fanatec Podium, 2+ years and still in freaking beta software that has more bugs than a colander! and if you are lucky the firmware upgrade will not brick you Podium. If you decide to go that way ping me/ I sell you a DD2 and/or a DD1
they are a ripoff

 

[Bob Silver]

It's been very illuminating read this thread, thank you.

Could somebody list the DD bases made in EU please? Fanatec ofc but what else?
I skip the non-EU producers at this time to avoid the taxes/transportation cost

 

[Chrhun]

It's been very illuminating read this thread, thank you.

Could somebody list the DD bases made in EU please? Fanatec ofc but what else?
I skip the non-EU producers at this time to avoid the taxes/transportation cost

Fanatec is made in China, my DD2 says so. They don't market anything made in Germany, it's designed in Germany.

 

[LagunaSeca]

Carrying a tripod around is frequently not worth it. It was definitely worth it at Capitol Reef, UT
Sadly I didn't have my reading glasses with me to adjust the focus slightly back from infinity for the night shots, so the stars are not nearly as sharp as they should have been. Was running an Rokinon 10mm f2.8 for my night shooting. I have a small hiking tripod and a large RRS tripod that I enjoy when I can carry the bulk and primes and zooms from 10mm to 400mm.

That was a pretty nice shot of the milky way! I have been to salt lake city several times and the mountains are beautiful. Also, thanks for reminding me about the brand rokina/samyang. It has some surprisingly good lens. I actually used the tokina 15-30 f2.8 to replace the nikkor 14-24 f2.8 because the latter has a greater Petzval field curvature, despite having twice the price. About time to check rokina's product line...

 

[LagunaSeca]

the department of war and finance uses my camera equipment now to takes photos of the cats and flowers.. the 100mm macro is a favorite of her, when not on the camera I sometimes use it as a paperweight . Hobbies start adding up, in this case I started with a 70d,then mk4, then i didnt want to damage it, so i bought the 80d, then thebattery packs, focus rails, "special gloves" hahahahahha, all the damn filters.. and the lenses, OMG the lenses, uncountable in number... lets notforget Ihad tothen ALSO buya drone in case there were shots Icould not reach, sot eh mavic followed by the p4p... WOFTAM!!.. now i take photos of my motorcycles with my cellphone .. and now I am up to three of them in my garage.. I may have a problem... on the upside its stopped me buying bigger racing sim gear because i have nowhere to put it

Oh wow the filter systems. I started off by using ND filter system because I want to get rid of people in my landscape. Then it quickly became an arm escalation with myself. Simracing's cost almost looks cute compared to camera gears.

And dang, that is a sweet MT-10 you have. (I think I recognized the model right?) Akrapovic exhaust, fender eliminator, frame slider and engine cover. Probably some aftermarket suspensions. I was looking for new bikes these days too because I might get a good deal due to the epidemic. However, MT-10/09 are so rare in my area. All I can find are 600cc/1000cc supersports. Time to wear a full suit in the summer to tell others that I am not a squid.

 

[LagunaSeca]

Haha, even though this is now very off topic, I find it funny that there are so many guys here in the DD topic that like their gear. I've done hifi, watches, cars etc and I think highend simracing gear it actually good value compared to that stuff - for ten grand you get top of the line setup. I also do understand that this is very much "first world" issues...

Believe me, these people, including me and you, would buy golf streams/jets to fly them if we had the money. We just cannot stop.

Gears, especially well crafted gears (usually expensive, unfortunately), carry the love and the craftsmanship of their makers, and will serve as much greater life companions than usual human beings in this world currently crowded by hate speech. The choice is simple.

 

[EsxPaul]

It's been very illuminating read this thread, thank you.

Could somebody list the DD bases made in EU please? Fanatec ofc but what else?
I skip the non-EU producers at this time to avoid the taxes/transportation cost

The Simucube 2 isn't produced in the EU but you'd be purchasing directly from a choice of EU based dealers which would avoid the charges you are referring to, so you can add Granite Devices to the list.