Just general internet research and there's plenty of it out there. As for your statement about the CSR Elites, would you not agree that load cells are a wear and tire item? If that was the only issue with the CSP v2's, you wouldn't hear nearly as many complaints, but the issues with faulty PCB's and hall sensors is unacceptable. Would you also not agree that a "squeak" is not the same as completely unfunctional pedals? Not to say that there aren't a good share of people that complain that the CSP v2's squeak too. If you want to take a chance on the CSP v2's, then go for it, I wish you luck. Pay twice as much as the CSR Elites for a product that stands a much greater chance of breaking than the CSR Elites...not sure I see the appeal.
I'm not sure I understand your second statement, I didn't deny there are v3's on the way. I even stated that if you purchased v2's recently. You will get the newest version per Thomas' blog statement on the Fanatec Website.
The problem is that "general internet research" will yield you mostly the posts of people who have experienced problems and feel the need to go public with their issues, the users that has no issues with their pedals tend NOT to go about posting about not having issues on forums, they are the
silent majority.
So unless you have Fanatecs actual sales numbers to weigh against the number of unique individuals that have posted online about problems with their pedals, you do in fact have nothing, no statistical evidence, not even a qualified hunch about how big the problem is.
As for my pedals squeaking, I've had the usual squeak from joints and springs that you'll find on CSPs too, these are not much of an issue as a quick spray of lube will silence them for a long time. The squeaking and clunking I'm talking about come from the entire build of the pedals twisting and giving from the force of my foot applying 25-35kgs of braking force, simply because the construction is not rigid enough to withstand the forces without twisting, and it's become worse with time.
I understand that this is a compromise, for the asking price I think they are very well built, but they are not as rigid and sturdy as the CSPs seem to be, and for sure not the Prototechsim pedals!
Loadcells on Fanatec pedals seem to be a wear and tear item, but only for the same reason as stated above, they've opted for a cheaper and low pressure sensor, which will break, rather than oversizing it a bit and having them last for years and years.
I've seen sensors like these last 10+ years in scales used to measure a metric ton, it's just a question of choosing the right sensor for the job.
