Podium DD's VS Simucube 2's

[Darren Byrne]

Hi guys, the past while I was trying to find good comparisons between these two models of dd's. Has anyone tested both ? I understand that the software for these aren't complete yet but is there any clear winner here ? thanks.

 

[RCHeliguy]

When you say lock, do you mean just tightening the bolt or is there literally a locking mechanism? By the way, great idea with using them for your handbrake.

There are Allen key fittings on outside of the joint that tighten the joint. The joints are smooth and have no locking ridges so they will only hold to a point if you put force on that joint. As an example I used a similar joint on a dead pedal, but with both sides torqued down I could still press hard enough with my foot to move the angle. Adding a support from a different angle made the pedal absolutely rigid.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Yup, and Sim-Labs did add side braces to the bracket as you can see in the picture of mine. I wasn't trying to hide the source of that mount.

It fits like a glove. It comes with mount bolts, but I like SS better. However the 6mm lock nuts they supply are the perfect size to fit between the mount and the bottom of the SC2 motor. I'm using button head SS M6x25mm bolts for the base using my Sim-Lab wheel deck. I have 16 and 26mm M6 in SS button heads. 20 is probably a good fit, but 25mm has clearance.

I'm not sure what the RSeat mounts need for hardware.

The SC2 comes with nice SS hardware to mount the motor. It also included some pricier lock washers I had stocked up on earlier this year. They are interlocking flat aluminum washers with teeth.

FYI, I got return emails from Sim Racing Bay, and drawings of the mount they add to their bundle. DSD gave me zero response, so I ordered from SRB.

Long response. Do I understand this right, the mounting is from sim-lab but they ship it with braces now not as pictured on the web site.
Sorry, a bit slow in the morning.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Long response. Do I understand this right, the mounting is from sim-lab but they ship it with braces now not as pictured on the web site.
Sorry, a bit slow in the morning.

Yes, I purchased it from Sim-Lab and it now comes with braces as in my picture and not the one on their website.

Get that cup of coffee

It should work well on your RSeat chassis. I don't know what size M6 bolts you will need. However make sure to keep the M6 lock nuts that come with the mount.

Sim-Labs shipped it to me pretty quickly. I ordered the two swivels I used for my hand brake at the same time.

 

[diablo2112]

When you say lock, do you mean just tightening the bolt or is there literally a locking mechanism?

It's just a bolt that tightens the joint to keep it from easily rotating.

 

[RCHeliguy]

<sigh> my gaming rig is down until at least next Tue/Wed because my video card that was supposed to arrive this Thu/Fri has been pushed back Fingers crossed that date doesn't slip. I'm really missing VR, but I'm not pulling the 1080Ti out of the computer I make money with.

However my black delrin "should" arrive tomorrow, so I can at least make a couple wheel mounts.

 

[Spinelli]

Can you show pics of the exact piece/pieces Sim-Labs has updated their P1 cockpit with? I'd like to contact them and order it for my P1. I'd really appreciate it.

It's just a bolt that tightens the joint to keep it from easily rotating.

And you're confident just hand tightening the joint so ir doesn't easily rotate will provide a rock-solid brace for hours, months of DD use? I have tried myself locking that same joint on my keyboard tray very tight to experiment and you can make it very tight but you can only tighten that bolt so much; it's never going to be anywhere as solid as a solid bracket. It's specifically made not to be solid after all.

I'm trying to understand why you're using a piece that's designed to move in an application that calls for rock soundness. Why use articulating joints instead of solid brackets when the goal is to simply add bracing/support?

As you can see, I'm not very bright when it comes to this kind of stuff so please excuse my ignorance and dumb questions

 

[Jivesauce]

And you're confident just hand tightening the joint so ir doesn't easily rotate will provide a rock-solid brace for hours, months of DD use? I have tried myself locking that same joint on my keyboard tray very tight to experiment and you can make it very tight but you can only tighten that bolt so much; it's never going to be anywhere as solid as a solid bracket. It's specifically made not to be solid after all.

The difference between a keyboard tray (or the dead pedal shown earlier) and this is that the braces are hard mounted at both ends; they really aren't even trying to rotate with the forces they are bracing against, just transferring the force into the mounts. I suspect you could leave the joints completely untightened and they would still provide rigid bracing.

 

[Spinelli]

The joints are smooth and have no locking ridges so they will only hold to a point if you put force on that joint. As an example I used a similar joint on a dead pedal, but with both sides torqued down I could still press hard enough with my foot to move the angle.

Exactly, that's what I'm trying to say. That's why I'm trying to figure out why the joints are being used in an attempt to add bracing/strength to the cockpit.

EDIT: I just saw the following reply

The difference between a keyboard tray (or the dead pedal shown earlier) and this is that the braces are hard mounted at both ends; they really aren't even trying to rotate with the forces they are bracing against, just transferring the force into the mounts. I suspect you could leave the joints completely untightened and they would still provide rigid bracing.

Ohh so basically the joints and their potential movement doesn't affect the bracing aspect due to how they're being incorporated in the cockpit/brace design.

 

[diablo2112]

I am 1000% confident those braces will remain rock solid until well after I’m dead. Eventually, the aluminum will corrode away, but that’s thousands of years in the future. Until then, this structure will remain rigid. There’s no rotational torque on the angle joints. This is why structures made from triangles are so strong.

 

[Jivesauce]

EDIT: I just saw the following reply
Ohh so basically the joints and their potential movement doesn't affect the bracing aspect due to how they're being incorporated in the cockpit/brace design.

Yes, exactly!

 

[RCHeliguy]

What's funny is how they talked about the Nascar wheel having a padded hub to protect people from hitting their faces when pulling a wheel off, and then one of the presenters said that he had that happen to him too. GamerMuscle had a video at a show where he did the same thing and smacked himself in the face.

Their Podium Porsche wheel does look pretty nice, but I'm now thinking that there are at least 3 downsides to their current wheel mount.

I just realized it will be a lot more convenient to just lift a steering wheel off the side of my rig vs. having to get out of my seat to pull the wheel off the side of my rig.

 

[Hees]

Here is a solution for the wobble

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Will use of this void the warranty if something breaks? In other words, is it manufacturer approved mod?

 

[RCHeliguy]

<sigh>

You know it doesn't cost anything to get along.

 

[super_gt]

Will use of this void the warranty if something breaks?

I don't think Fanatec can figure out if this modification was used and the only thing that can break is the pins, which is more likely to happen from the flex in the original QR.

 

[DiLFe]

I just cannot decide between these two. Almost pulled the trigger on both ones...


FFB:
Simucube 2: seems to give superb ffb if properly setup and supported by the game.

Podium: Great ffb, as most DDs, but no direct comparison to simucube 2 as far as I'm aware. Comparable to simucube 2? Flex in quick release, though I'm not too worried about this.


Wheels:
Simucube 2: wireless options for simucube are still slim, but overall nicer wheel options (although more expensive).

Podium: nice ecosystem, but I like 3rd party solutions that I've seen better.


Compatibility:

Simucube 2: from what I've read on forums, iracing works great. Basically plug-and-play. Otherwise, I'm not really convinced. Seems too require a lot of fiddling around to get it to work properly.

Podium: I would assume support will be very good due to fanatec's current hardware status. Could someone comment on this, but to my understanding the podium has a compatibility mode which basically makes it backwards compatible with older games that support fanatec wheels?


For me, the plug-and-play aspect is a really tempting reason to go for the podium... I enjoy tweaking FFB settings very much, but not so much XML files and just trying to get it to work all together.

Is this just an illusion that I've built up based on what I've read on forums, or can someone with experience of the simucube 2 comment on this? What's is the simucube setup experience like for multiple sims? And less serious games like wreckfest, anyone tried that?

 

[RCHeliguy]

According to Beano, the SC2 wheelbases are a big jump from the DD wheelbases. He's considered very knowledgeable about direct drive wheelbases, but he has been working a lot with the SimuCube 2 lately so he is a biased source.

"Hi Mate,
The Podiums are not in the same ballpark wrt quality, design and processing capabilities. The powerful electronics in the Simucube2 is truly gen 2, allowing for significant improvements in FW filters to be accommodated in the next few years. Podium is at a similar level wrt processing power to the 4-year old Simucube1, but it is even further behind in filters and feel."

If you watch the SRG reviews on both you will hear Barry say that he has gotten the SC2 Pro to feel better than anything else for some titles. For the DD2 he said it was competitive and that it will only improve from here.

You could try to read between the lines on that one.

I wish I could give you some first hand experience. My gaming computer is out of commission and it will be a couple more weeks before I get my PSE wheel for my SC2 Pro. I didn't bother with adapters for my Fanatec wheels. I'm making a clean break from my Fanatec gear.

If it matters, I am spending a lot of time in iRacing so I'm very happy to hear that the SC2 runs that title great on default settings. I will want to get Dirt Rally 2.0 working and possibly DR1. I'll probably get PC2 setup just because I have it and it's great for throwing people into to flip around quickly between everything from a go cart to an F1 car. I also have both AC and ACC, but have uninstalled them.

I wouldn't worry about the Fanatec mount flexing from a FFB point of view, but as mentioned above, I could see that contributing to flexing the connection pins and allowing them to break off in their wheelbases like a small number of people have reported.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Setup and tuning complexity is blown out of proportion.
Most tuning options (filters) in SC2 can be easily ignored and left for die hard tinkerers or when you start feeling more comfortable with the software and wheel.
What sims are you planning to use?

I do not think there is anything in SC2 that makes it work out of the box with iRacing, like any other title it needs to be setup, more so due to iRacing quirkiness like low FFB rate, oscillation that requires extra dampening and friction filters.
Something like AC, you just use minimum reconstruction filter and leave everything else at 0, AC gyro takes care of oscillation just fine.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Setup and tuning complexity is blown out of proportion.
Most tuning options (filters) in SC2 can be easily ignored and left for die hard tinkerers or when you start feeling more comfortable with the software and wheel.
What sims are you planning to use?

Not only that, but I've been told flat out that I should visit the Granite State forums, which I have and use the profiles that various people have already spent time tweaking. I was given specific names per sim for the guys who have the best results. Most people tell me that they start from a known good and then typically dial back the overall power to taste.

 

[DiLFe]

According to Beano, the SC2 wheelbases are a big jump from the DD wheelbases. He's considered very knowledgeable about direct drive wheelbases, but he has been working a lot with the SimuCube 2 lately so he is a biased source.

"Hi Mate,
The Podiums are not in the same ballpark wrt quality, design and processing capabilities. The powerful electronics in the Simucube2 is truly gen 2, allowing for significant improvements in FW filters to be accommodated in the next few years. Podium is at a similar level wrt processing power to the 4-year old Simucube1, but it is even further behind in filters and feel."

If you watch the SRG reviews on both you will hear Barry say that he has gotten the SC2 Pro to feel better than anything else for some titles. For the DD2 he said it was competitive and that it will only improve from here.

You could try to read between the lines on that one.

I wish I could give you some first hand experience. My gaming computer is out of commission and it will be a couple more weeks before I get my PSE wheel for my SC2 Pro. I didn't bother with adapters for my Fanatec wheels. I'm making a clean break from my Fanatec gear.

If it matters, I am spending a lot of time in iRacing so I'm very happy to hear that the SC2 runs that title great on default settings. I will want to get Dirt Rally 2.0 working and possibly DR1. I'll probably get PC2 setup just because I have it and it's great for throwing people into to flip around quickly between everything from a go cart to an F1 car. I also have both AC and ACC, but have uninstalled them.

I wouldn't worry about the Fanatec mount flexing from a FFB point of view, but as mentioned above, I could see that contributing to flexing the connection pins and allowing them to break off in their wheelbases like a small number of people have reported.

Thanks, yes I've seen the SRG reviews and I would agree on your assessment on his use of words.

To be honest, I'd really like to get the Simucube 2, but the simucube forums kind of scared me off. So many threads on how to get games to work (except iracing). I have all the main sims and rally, and I do enjoy to bounce around from week to week.

If you happen to try any other sims when you get your rig up and running again please do share any findings on the plug-and-play aspect of things.

Ps. The dd2 five year warranty is also a nice bonus...