Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel for Xbox 360 review
To celebrate the release of Forza Motorsport 2, Microsoft made a big deal about its Wireless Racing Wheel, a cable-free force-feedback controller for racers that was only really wireless if you didn't want force-feedback. It was a reasonable compromise and a reasonably good wheel, but it just didn't compare to the high-end stuff supported by that other great console racing series: Gran Turismo. In GT5 you can hit the track while gripping things like Logitech's G25 or G27, either of which make Microsoft's offering look like a toy. With the release of Forza 3 there's a new contender available, the Porsche Turbo S from Fanatec. It's a much more serious offering with more capable feedback, proper shifters with a clutch, and a rather more impressive design. But it also has a rather more impressive price tag: $249 to start and, like a real Porsche, going way up from there with options. Is it worth the entrance price or are you better off putting your money toward race tires? Read on to find out.
Design
The wheel isn't new, announced well over a year ago and shipping in limited numbers about this time last year. With the release of Forza 3 has come a new marketing push for the thing and, lucky for us, availability of a loaner to test. The wheel itself wasn't so lucky, though. Shipped in a massive box the wheel, pedals, shifter, and $129 optional RennSport Wheel Stand weighed 110lbs combined, and apparently the folks at FedEx weren't exactly gentle with it. We got the package a week ahead of the Forza 3 release, but the contents had been roughed up so much they no longer functioned.
Once we got a replacement we got on with the evaluation and initial impressions were generally good. The obvious competition here is Logitech's current hotness, the G27 we reviewed a few months ago, so we'll be using that as our benchmark. Regarding the wheel itself things are generally comparable, offering a similar sized and similarly leather-wrapped diameter with a much, much broader assortment of buttons that fall quickly to hand. However, these run an even greater the risk of being accidentally hit whilst madly counter-steering when the rear-end of your digital 911 tries to follow the laws of physics. The full complement of Xbox 360 buttons are available, even a four-way D-pad that's so well integrated into the bottom spoke of the wheel it took us a few moments to find it.
When powered on, lights behind the controls appear depending on what mode the wheel is in, illuminating identifiers for each so that you won't have to similarly hunt for the various face and shoulder buttons for either the 360 or the PS3. The wheel connects to the Xbox 360 wirelessly but will of course still need to be plugged into the wall for power. An optional RF receiver enables wireless communication with the PS3 and PC, too, and interestingly the pedals can also be used wirelessly if some batteries are slotted in, resulting in a far neater setup than the Cthulhu-like G27 and its nightmare-inducing tangle of cables.
The Rennsport Stand that everything mounts to is quite sturdy and heavy, making up the majority of that 110lb bulk. It contains a simple sliding bracket to hold the pedals in place and a folding arm that reaches up to firmly grasp the wheel. A crank allows easy adjustment from folded to extended and, once locked in place, the whole get-up was impressively sturdy. That's partly because because the wheel is actually bolted to the frame of the thing; good for those who tend to get a little over-eager with their steering, a little less-so for anyone who doesn't want to use the stand all the time. But, since it all folds up easily enough, removal shouldn't be necessary.
Those pedals and that shifter are probably the weakest parts of the experience here, not comparing to the comparable bits offered by Logitech. The $50 Standard pedals have good enough feel but they're significantly lighter and, without that RennSport stand, would be sliding all over the place. The experience on the six-speed shifter (part of a $60 set that also includes a separate sequential gearbox) is also a bit disappointing, offering solid engagement but with a very cheap feeling click accompanying every shift.
If you haven't picked up on this by now there are a lot of optional things that can turn what is a somewhat pricey wheel into an egregiously expensive one. For $250 you can get the Porsche 911 Turbo S Pure Edition wheel for the Xbox 360, which will be compatible only with the Xbox 360 -- that optional RF receiver (shaped like a Porsche key) for PC and PS3 compatibility is a further $50. If you want pedals you'll have to spend the $50 for the Standard set, cough up $200 for the lovely force-feedback Clubsport set, or use the included adapter and plug in some G25/G27 pedals. You'll also need the $60 shifter set if you don't want to rely on the tiny paddles on the back. Or, for $350 you can get a package containing the wheel, pedals, shifters, and RF receiver, saving a bit on buying it all separately.
We appreciate that Fanatec is allowing gamers to piece together the system they want, ditching shifters or pedals if they don't need them, but things start expensive and the overall price can quickly spiral out of control if you're not careful with the options. This pricing is especially troubling when you consider Logitech's G27 can be had for $250 including six-speed shifter and higher-quality, adjustable pedals, leaving us to wonder how much of that premium is thanks to the completely unnecessary Porsche licensing here.
Experience
Turn the wheel on by pushing the power button on the side (a nice touch, most wheels are always on) and it spins to life, self-calibrating while doing a little blinkenlight show. As it swings from side to side it barely makes a sound, its motorized internals impressively quiet and, as far as we can tell, offering no dead zone in the middle. The stitching on the wheel is a little rough but it's comfortable to grip and the adjustable shifter that hangs off the side of the wheel falls quickly to hand. Shifting gives off that awfully annoying sound but you'll never have a doubt when you're in-gear -- except for reverse, which can be a little hard to find.
The pedals have a cheap feel to them but they do the job. The force-feedback in the wheel, however, doesn't impress in Forza. You can barely feel things like rumble strips and contact with competitors, and though things go light when your front tires lose grip and you're about to understeer into the guardrail, the overall experience just isn't immersive. It's an improvement over the standard controller for sure and we quickly started putting in fast lap times, but using it doesn't give the intense experience of using the (relatively) highly-powered G25 or G27 in Gran Turismo 5.
However, we're not sure whether to blame the device or the game, because when testing on the PC the power of the wheel felt more than adequate. Here you can quickly ramp the power up or down, as well as the maximum degrees of rotation (from 180 up to 900), and on its maximum setting it felt at least as strong as Logitech's offering. However, by default on the PC it has an atrocious "feature" that makes it vibrate when the accelerator pedal is pressed, attempting to simulate the rumbling of an engine. Thankfully that's easily disabled.
The Rennsport Stand itself performed admirably, offering plenty of adjustment to get it to the right height and angle. It took a little fiddling to get everything oriented properly but, once there, it felt great. The wheel was sturdily attached, the pedals didn't slide away under hard braking, and almost everything was perfect -- and we can't fault the stand for the "almost." The shifter attaches to the side of the wheel itself using two short metallic rods. This makes it easy to swap from the six-speed to the sequential, but neither mounted very securely, moving about quite a bit as we rowed our way down the front straight at the Nurburgring.
Conclusion
We were really optimistic about finally getting a chance to try a serious wheel for the Xbox 360, especially coinciding with the release of Forza 3. The game is as hardcore a console racer as there is, lacking only a serious wheel to match, and it's hard not to feel disappointed with what we have here. It's a $350 package (plus the $130 stand) that we found overall to deliver a sub-par experience compared to the $250 Logitech option. Mind you, that $250 alternative won't work with the Xbox 360, the entire reason we're testing this in the first place, and sadly that prized Forza 3 compatibility is spoiled by anemic feedback effects. We're hoping a patch from Turn10 Studios will enable gamers to turn the feedback up to 11, but until then we'll be putting this German import back into its comically large box.
Update: We received a note from the manufacturer (rather belatedly) indicating that both the wheels we received were pre-production units -- despite their having been on sale for some time now and the second one coming in a full retail box. So, there are some effects missing which may impact the force feedback. Additionally, there is a metal plate included to be bolted to the bottom of the pedals, increasing their heft significantly. However, we want to clarify that we found the wheel itself to be quite capable in terms of its ability to deliver strong effects via its belt-driven internals... when the game takes advantage of them. Forza Motorsport 3 simply doesn't seem to be doing that. With the feedback effects turned to the max the game delivers a strong centering spring but minimal rumble strip effects (half the time when you hit them you get none) and hitting the wall results in only a very slight twist. If you are looking for a good quality wheel to use across the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 and aren't living from paycheck to paycheck you could certainly do much worse than this one. However, if you're buying this exclusively for use with Forza, we're still not sold.
Design
The wheel isn't new, announced well over a year ago and shipping in limited numbers about this time last year. With the release of Forza 3 has come a new marketing push for the thing and, lucky for us, availability of a loaner to test. The wheel itself wasn't so lucky, though. Shipped in a massive box the wheel, pedals, shifter, and $129 optional RennSport Wheel Stand weighed 110lbs combined, and apparently the folks at FedEx weren't exactly gentle with it. We got the package a week ahead of the Forza 3 release, but the contents had been roughed up so much they no longer functioned.
Once we got a replacement we got on with the evaluation and initial impressions were generally good. The obvious competition here is Logitech's current hotness, the G27 we reviewed a few months ago, so we'll be using that as our benchmark. Regarding the wheel itself things are generally comparable, offering a similar sized and similarly leather-wrapped diameter with a much, much broader assortment of buttons that fall quickly to hand. However, these run an even greater the risk of being accidentally hit whilst madly counter-steering when the rear-end of your digital 911 tries to follow the laws of physics. The full complement of Xbox 360 buttons are available, even a four-way D-pad that's so well integrated into the bottom spoke of the wheel it took us a few moments to find it.
When powered on, lights behind the controls appear depending on what mode the wheel is in, illuminating identifiers for each so that you won't have to similarly hunt for the various face and shoulder buttons for either the 360 or the PS3. The wheel connects to the Xbox 360 wirelessly but will of course still need to be plugged into the wall for power. An optional RF receiver enables wireless communication with the PS3 and PC, too, and interestingly the pedals can also be used wirelessly if some batteries are slotted in, resulting in a far neater setup than the Cthulhu-like G27 and its nightmare-inducing tangle of cables.
The Rennsport Stand that everything mounts to is quite sturdy and heavy, making up the majority of that 110lb bulk. It contains a simple sliding bracket to hold the pedals in place and a folding arm that reaches up to firmly grasp the wheel. A crank allows easy adjustment from folded to extended and, once locked in place, the whole get-up was impressively sturdy. That's partly because because the wheel is actually bolted to the frame of the thing; good for those who tend to get a little over-eager with their steering, a little less-so for anyone who doesn't want to use the stand all the time. But, since it all folds up easily enough, removal shouldn't be necessary.

Those pedals and that shifter are probably the weakest parts of the experience here, not comparing to the comparable bits offered by Logitech. The $50 Standard pedals have good enough feel but they're significantly lighter and, without that RennSport stand, would be sliding all over the place. The experience on the six-speed shifter (part of a $60 set that also includes a separate sequential gearbox) is also a bit disappointing, offering solid engagement but with a very cheap feeling click accompanying every shift.
If you haven't picked up on this by now there are a lot of optional things that can turn what is a somewhat pricey wheel into an egregiously expensive one. For $250 you can get the Porsche 911 Turbo S Pure Edition wheel for the Xbox 360, which will be compatible only with the Xbox 360 -- that optional RF receiver (shaped like a Porsche key) for PC and PS3 compatibility is a further $50. If you want pedals you'll have to spend the $50 for the Standard set, cough up $200 for the lovely force-feedback Clubsport set, or use the included adapter and plug in some G25/G27 pedals. You'll also need the $60 shifter set if you don't want to rely on the tiny paddles on the back. Or, for $350 you can get a package containing the wheel, pedals, shifters, and RF receiver, saving a bit on buying it all separately.
We appreciate that Fanatec is allowing gamers to piece together the system they want, ditching shifters or pedals if they don't need them, but things start expensive and the overall price can quickly spiral out of control if you're not careful with the options. This pricing is especially troubling when you consider Logitech's G27 can be had for $250 including six-speed shifter and higher-quality, adjustable pedals, leaving us to wonder how much of that premium is thanks to the completely unnecessary Porsche licensing here.

Experience
Turn the wheel on by pushing the power button on the side (a nice touch, most wheels are always on) and it spins to life, self-calibrating while doing a little blinkenlight show. As it swings from side to side it barely makes a sound, its motorized internals impressively quiet and, as far as we can tell, offering no dead zone in the middle. The stitching on the wheel is a little rough but it's comfortable to grip and the adjustable shifter that hangs off the side of the wheel falls quickly to hand. Shifting gives off that awfully annoying sound but you'll never have a doubt when you're in-gear -- except for reverse, which can be a little hard to find.
The pedals have a cheap feel to them but they do the job. The force-feedback in the wheel, however, doesn't impress in Forza. You can barely feel things like rumble strips and contact with competitors, and though things go light when your front tires lose grip and you're about to understeer into the guardrail, the overall experience just isn't immersive. It's an improvement over the standard controller for sure and we quickly started putting in fast lap times, but using it doesn't give the intense experience of using the (relatively) highly-powered G25 or G27 in Gran Turismo 5.
However, we're not sure whether to blame the device or the game, because when testing on the PC the power of the wheel felt more than adequate. Here you can quickly ramp the power up or down, as well as the maximum degrees of rotation (from 180 up to 900), and on its maximum setting it felt at least as strong as Logitech's offering. However, by default on the PC it has an atrocious "feature" that makes it vibrate when the accelerator pedal is pressed, attempting to simulate the rumbling of an engine. Thankfully that's easily disabled.
The Rennsport Stand itself performed admirably, offering plenty of adjustment to get it to the right height and angle. It took a little fiddling to get everything oriented properly but, once there, it felt great. The wheel was sturdily attached, the pedals didn't slide away under hard braking, and almost everything was perfect -- and we can't fault the stand for the "almost." The shifter attaches to the side of the wheel itself using two short metallic rods. This makes it easy to swap from the six-speed to the sequential, but neither mounted very securely, moving about quite a bit as we rowed our way down the front straight at the Nurburgring.

Conclusion
We were really optimistic about finally getting a chance to try a serious wheel for the Xbox 360, especially coinciding with the release of Forza 3. The game is as hardcore a console racer as there is, lacking only a serious wheel to match, and it's hard not to feel disappointed with what we have here. It's a $350 package (plus the $130 stand) that we found overall to deliver a sub-par experience compared to the $250 Logitech option. Mind you, that $250 alternative won't work with the Xbox 360, the entire reason we're testing this in the first place, and sadly that prized Forza 3 compatibility is spoiled by anemic feedback effects. We're hoping a patch from Turn10 Studios will enable gamers to turn the feedback up to 11, but until then we'll be putting this German import back into its comically large box.
Update: We received a note from the manufacturer (rather belatedly) indicating that both the wheels we received were pre-production units -- despite their having been on sale for some time now and the second one coming in a full retail box. So, there are some effects missing which may impact the force feedback. Additionally, there is a metal plate included to be bolted to the bottom of the pedals, increasing their heft significantly. However, we want to clarify that we found the wheel itself to be quite capable in terms of its ability to deliver strong effects via its belt-driven internals... when the game takes advantage of them. Forza Motorsport 3 simply doesn't seem to be doing that. With the feedback effects turned to the max the game delivers a strong centering spring but minimal rumble strip effects (half the time when you hit them you get none) and hitting the wall results in only a very slight twist. If you are looking for a good quality wheel to use across the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 and aren't living from paycheck to paycheck you could certainly do much worse than this one. However, if you're buying this exclusively for use with Forza, we're still not sold.























The video game beat the Porsche.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qtMGVX2Pl4
@Jeff
No one points out that he was racing in the wet, I was hoping at the end after the nerdy guy (racing sure makes him angry lol) was being all giddy and glee that the race driver would turn round and say ok now we swap, you drive the real thing and I drive the sim.... which would have been far more entertaining and demonstrative.
@HeliosDoubleSix
Yea, thats true.
@Jeff
great video, thanks for the post!
@Jeff That was entertaining, thanks man :thumbsup:
This looks AWESOME! I'd love this for me and my 3 three year old who loves to drive in Forza 3. Time to save up!
I'm still waiting on Gran Turismo 5. I don't even need a wheel, I'll play with my feet. Anything just to get my hands on it...
@webran61
Don't you meann "feet on it"? :P
@webran61
if you play with your feet then your hands can't touch it...
@webran61
lol gt5. forza series or bust. gt series is going downhill and is sucking.
I ordered and paid for mine June 3rd and still don't have it, they hope to ship it next week. No one who ordered after me has theirs either. Keep this in mind.
I'm disappointed to hear about the feedback in Forza 3, but I would expect that Fanatec will find a way to rectify this, they have a lot of settings for the wheel available.
But really, the big story is why do I have to buy this wheel when I have a G25 already? You can use the same Logitech wheel you bought for GT3 on GT4, GT5 and the PC. With the 360 MS doesn't support anything except their 360 Wireless Racing wheel, which is pretty crummy, and this. They don't even support their own USB force feedback wheel they released before the 360. Stop boning us with your peripheral strategy (overpriced hard drives, wireless, etc.), MS.
Arrrrgh Engadget changed! \ö/
Looks great. Too bad I don't play too many racing games lol
I've said before I won't pay extra for that shitty little badge... no matter what they stick it to.
Cant you run the Clubsport pedals with this wheel on the consoles? That would be the path I would take, those stock pedals look horrible.
I wish the GT3RS wheel was compatible with the 360.
@sethmo
According to Fanatec you can use the regular pedals, Clubsport pedals or even connect the G25 pedals to it (it even comes with the cable to do so).
I expect I'll be using my G25 pedals. These look lousy.
That looks nicer than the actual stuff in my real car :(
I'm happy with my new Logitech momo force now. The g25/g27 are supposed to be the ultimate wheels, but the momo is more than enough for proper sim racing. With that said, I still can barely keep the Porsche 917k on the track in rFactor, but it's a learning curve.
You are paying extra cake for a car branded steering wheel, who buys this crap!?
Very nice!
This thing has some big shoes to fill.
While the reviewer says MS doesn't provide a "serious wheel," it's no light weight. I've never been able to blame the wheel for my mistakes in Forza 3. However, while I'll take paddle shifters over a stick any day, the lack of a clutch is bothersome. (Especially because Forza 3 gives you the option!)
If MS were to improve their wheel with a smaller dead zone (current wheel doesn't have a large deadzone, but it's not perfect), add Philip's amBX (wind blowing through your hair... or at least on your arms), add a clutch to the foot pedals, and maybe add an LED rev meter to the wheel, I'd pay $250 for it.
@Brian
Clutch support in Forza 3 is rather braindead. There's no support for straight-cut gears or sequential manual gearboxes. It just has what amounts to a street box (must clutch for all shifts) and computerized sequential (no clutch at all).
In a race car, you can upshift without the clutch, downshifting requires heel/toe and clutching. Forza 3 should have this mode. Good sims on the PC have it.
I completely agree MS offers no "serious wheel". You've used the Wireless Racing Wheel, surely you've noticed the clamping system doesn't properly hold the wheel to the table, so the force feedback can cause it to rise off the table unless you keep both hands on the wheel at all times.
@Brian
I thought the MS wheel was pretty good too, till I used a proper wheel, then going back it just felt really limp, the wheel can only jerk you about it can really apply sustained force and the dead zone and rattle in the wheel is quite bad too, not to mention how noisy it is and the padal shifters on mine have started making pretty bad scratching noises inside. The pedals that come with it are really limp too, fine for playing bare foot I guess, but the brake pedal is so soft and limp making it harder to brake without locking the wheels up and making it completely impossible to play in shoes of course.
Still the MS wheel holds a special place in my heart, It's a good introductory wheel for sure, and sure it looks toy like but It's by far the most stylish wheels around, logitech juts look naff to me.
How much for floor mats?
Now that Forza (and, hopefully, some forthcoming games) support the clutch pedal, maybe logitech will make a quality wheel for the 360.
I'd love to play around with one of these but there is no way I would make that kind of monetary investment into a peripheral for a video game. Looks pretty sweet though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHGmBHoygJA
Only if I could use the G27 on Xbox :(
I've been using the original Porsche wheel for about a year now on my PC and PS3. I have no complaints other than it didn't have a power switch (how stupid was that?) All wheels now days have the power switch. Anyway, I purchased the stand which made it even better since I didn't need to attach it to my desk.
Since I was a sucker and purchased the first iteration of the wheel I missed out on the Xbox 360 compatibility and am regretting it.
One of the "problems," other than the missing power switch, is that the stitching of the leather on the spokes can chaff the fingers. I seriously considered looking really geeky and buying driving gloves to use the wheel so I wouldn't get blisters.
@nathan.wong
I don't think you were much of sucker for buying that, the xbox compatible one is only just shipping!
Plus there is only one game exclusive to the xbox (Forza) I have a feeling GT5 may (if it ever comes out) make up for that.
I think it now does have a power button, I could be wrong!
I highly doubt MS have made enough money from the MS Wheel to bother making a second one. The fact they allowed Fanatec to make this wheel compatible withxbox says they are unlikely to make one, even if the wheel is limited edition.
I've been using the original Porsche wheel for about a year now on my PC and PS3. I have no complaints other than it didn't have a power switch (how stupid was that?) All wheels now days have the power switch. Anyway, I purchased the stand which made it even better since I didn't need to attach it to my desk.
Since I was a sucker and purchased the first iteration of the wheel I missed out on the Xbox 360 compatibility and am regretting it.
One of the "problems," other than the missing power switch, is that the stitching of the leather on the spokes can chaff the fingers. I seriously considered looking really geeky and buying driving gloves to use the wheel so I wouldn't get blisters.
Ok, maybe this was an old test model he reviewed.
The wheel comes with a USB connector cable for PS3 and PC free, even with the Pure edition of the wheel.
Secondly this wheel is new, and has only just become available to use, though it has been available for pre-order, wheels have only just started shipping. It is however based on other wheels they make for PC and PS3 only but improvements have been made since.
The force feedback should not be an issue on this wheel which has some of the strongest if not strongest force feedback, I heard most people need to turn it down on the wheel itself.
No mention was given of the ability to change wheel settings from the wheel itself such as enabling the recently added Drift mode, and changing various sensitivity and forcefeedback options.
This wheel isn't just about the Porsche badge, and you really are not paying extra for the badge, you are paying mostly for the build quality and the force feedback motor which is belt driven not geared (making it quiet and smooth) which is substantially more expensive than the inferior dual motor and geared counterparts used by others to keep heat low. Those porsche style vents are not for show.
It's a limited edition wheel not aimed at your average consumer, so it's really isn't a targeted replacement for the Microsoft Wheel, it aimed at people who most likely already have a wheel and know they want a superior quality wheel that works on all platforms so they don't have to have multiple wheels laying around. Even though it's not aimed at average consumer the price is very reasonable considering what you get.
Is is very unlikely in my opinion anyone else will make a wheel for the xbox, as there are good technical and business reasons why they have not done so already and why It's not possible to make logitechs current wheels compatible ever, and indeed the only reason this wheel is on xbox and is fully supported in Forza right down to the clutch is down to the weight and persuasion of Porsche i've heard.
The standard pedals do look relatively cheap.. which is because they are relatively cheap. Which is why they offer pro club sport pedals which are the best you can buy and cost a small fortunate too.
@HeliosDoubleSix As mentioned in the review FF on the PC was perfectly fine. It was just weak in Forza, and given the major selling point of this wheel is compatibility with the Xbox 360 that's a major mark against it.
@HeliosDoubleSix
Very interesting response. I'm curious as to what are the Business and Technical concerns that are preventing other manufacturers such as Logitech from creating wheels for the Xbox 360.
I was very surprised when I never saw the amount of Accessories from third parties for the 360 that we see for the PS3.
@TimStevens
I totally agree, if it doesn't work with Forza then It's a big BIG deal. Though from hearing from the very few people who actually have the final retail version of this wheel... I got the impression it worked fine and the force feedback if anything needed to be turned down from 100 on the wheel as it was to strong.
So my thoughts are that this was one of test wheels they sent out which has older software and has had some mechanical changes too since it went to shipping.
One way to tell maybe... does it have a drift mode in the wheels built in LED controls... I think it shows up as DFT or some short hand. The wheel has presets you cave save I think it justshows them as '1', '2' and so on on the LED screen. and the last preset is 'DRFT' or something.
If it's missing that, then it's definitely not the latest software/hardware. As they added that just before shipping.
Thanks
@HeliosDoubleSix Yes, the replacement wheel they sent was a final, retail box, possessing all the tweakable params.
@Gel
Well no one outside of Logitech and MS can say for sure, so this is speculation on my part, but there are a few factors.
A. MS Certification for a wheel means going to microsoft bending over and showing them everything and agreeing to every demand. Logitech doesn't want to play ball.
B. MS don't like competition to the MS wheel so only allow Fanatec because of pressure from Porsche (I heard they sealed the deal) and they are limited edition (maybe even part of the deal)
C. Logitech wheels all use XID? style force feedback, I can't remember the name exactly, but it's a different way of communicating the forces and Microsoft uses a different method. So the wheels would at least need a big software update to understand that.
D. the PC wheel market is small as it is, the Wheel market for consoles is probably tiny tiny tiny, and Logitech simply have no interest in bending over to microsoft, writing new drivers and paying MS royalties for such a small market given the probably small margin of profit they make from the wheels as they are price so low anyway.
@TimStevens
Hmm odd then, you made sure It's set to 100 FFB in the game and on the wheel, and maybe try setting the degree of rotation higher say even all the way to 900.
From everyone else's account the FFB in Forza has been superb even with the beta test wheels. The force shouldn't be as strong as in jerky arcade games like Dirt but it shouldn't be weak either.
My only guess is it's either broken!! (and hopefully fixed in software update) or maybe you were driving a particularly forgiving car or something :-) try one of the GT cars with all assists OFF it should rip your arms off if it's working ;-P
@HeliosDoubleSix Yes, nothing seemed to make a difference. I tried with a variety of cars for the street and track.
@TimStevens
After looking into it, you may be right! that the force feedback is weaker on the xbox/forza than anywhere else. I think that's just how forza is designed for some reason, try games like NFS Shift or Dirt perhaps.. though I know Shift doesn't have very good FFB settings at default on PC so I bet it's no better on console either sadly :-(
I'll try it for myself if I can get hold of a final wheel -_-
And then try and get the attention of Thomas at Fanatec to see if they can simply add a forcefeedback multiplier to the on wheel controls.
If it's an issue and it's weaker than it should be, I am sure they will work on something.
I notice that Forza is pretty weak on the standard MS Wheel compared with other games, though most other games just JERK the wheel, which is no substitute. Forza has always been more.. subtle and smooth, my bet is the force is weakened so it works properly and smooth on the inferior MS Wheel, but has not been optimized properly for the Fanatac wheel.
@HeliosDoubleSix Well I'm glad you think so. I went back and re-tested again and it just redoubled my disappointment. There's a strong centering effect but half the time when you hit a rumble strip you get nothing at all, not even a slight jostle. When you do it's very minimal, and hitting the wall results in only a little nudge. Disappointing.
However, Thomas e-mailed me to tell me that, indeed, these are pre-production wheels. Typically that's made very clear when setting up this sort of thing so I'm a bit frustrated only to be learning of it now. I don't believe the missing effects (ABS and drift mode) would impact the effect reproduction in Forza in the least, however, but an update has been added above for posterity -- plus a clarification that indeed it's not the wheel at fault here, it's the game.
@TimStevens
Ah cool, well not cool for you, but cool for everyone else ;-)
Yah I got the impression that even though the force feedback in Forza was weaker than other games, it wasn't so weak as to be a deal breaker.
They have had so many issues with this wheel small and large right unto the very end. I hope they have really ironed all the issue's out with the finals -_- and that they are truly durable! *fingers crossed*
I think the main difficulty has come in form of the stupid XID interface the xbox uses. Which basically means alll the logic vibrations and forces are computed inside wheel not the xbox. Which means a special chipset has to built and put in the wheel itself, freeing cpu cycles on the xbox at the expense of everything else. I mean Microsoft still haven't added full support (force feedback in rotation) to their OWNN wheel when running on the PC via there OWN adapter... I mean.... wow... It's not like Microsoft to cut corners to save money. It's amazing a company with such ingrained mentality to do things the easiest and cheapest way possible at detriment to everyone else even themselves.. is still alive. It shows in everything they have ever made with some exception where it was stuff they actually stole or bought/hostilely took over from others. :-)
Must say I am not at all impressed with this review considering how many I checked out before ordering mine. As long time G25 owner, using that POS Microsoft wheel simply is not an option for me and at least they do allow the G25 pedals to be used. Love how the conclusion said they would be putting it back in the box... would they rather use the Xbox wheel?
To clear up those of you saying you are paying for a brand, this is completely not true. This wheel is not expensive because of Porsche branding but rather xbox wireless controller and wheel licensing which adds up to nearly $100-150 of the price on each wheel.
am i verified
Why you won't see other wheels on the xbox:
in full here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361746
even if Logitech were licensed to make a force feedback wheel for Xbox 360, there are significant technical limitations which prevent these wheels from functioning on on Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 features controller and force feedback architectures (XID, device-based force feedback playback) that are significantly different from the way our wheels work on PC, PS2, or PS3 (HID, host-based force feedback playback). It is not possible to enable Xbox 360 functionality with a software or firmware update.
Logitech understands that our customers wish to use our steering wheels on multiple gaming platforms. We have made significant efforts to ensure that our PC wheel drivers support our PS2 wheels, and our PS2 force feedback SDK supports our PC wheels. PS3 games that support Logitech force feedback also support the same list of wheels. At this point in time, these are the only three platforms with which it is possible to have a single force feedback wheel be compatible. Were it possible to effect a firmware or software change to enable Xbox 360 compatibility with our existing wheels, we would do so. Unfortunately, however, until Logitech is licensed by Microsoft to design and manufacture force feedback wheels, no Logitech force feedback wheels will function on Xbox 360."
@HeliosDoubleSix
You are shilling for Fanatec.
"XID", or device-based feedback has been the standard for years and years. In fact, Immersion sued everyone to death over it for a decade now (surely you've see the results of that). Immersion used to give me (when I was in a another job) yearly presentations on their device-based force-feedback (which they consistently demoed using FF joysticks instead of wheels!).
HID doesn't support force-feedback, it is for input devices.
The reason you won't see other wheels is because MS makes a crapload of money overcharging for peripherals and they won't license anyone else to make them without getting a lot of money from them too. So unlike on PS2/PS3 where you can use a Momo wheel, which isn't even Sony-licensed, you can't use any device on the 360 that MS didn't license.
I have a friend who worked for Logitech when they were making a force-feedback wheel for MS. It was created and worked, but MS and Logitech couldn't reach a licensing agreement Logitech found to be acceptable.
@HeliosDoubleSix
Uhm well that above comment is by Logitech or someone at logitech so uhm.. stuff yourself.
The way the xbox works means special chips and proprietary code needs to run in the wheel/device itself. It's expensive and troublesome to make and yes that combined with the expensive licensing and certification process make it undesirable... not to mention the tiny tiny market share and tiny margins on top of that.
To make a wheel compatible with all platforms it would have to be more expensive to subsidise the cost of licensing and dev and the extra internal chips... and then it couldn't equally compete with wheels for all platforms.. unless it was say... especially high end... like the Fanatec wheel aimed at a niche.
Obviously IT CAN be done, as you have this Fanatec wheel... duh
The reason you won't see it again is because it cost them so much money it's only really feasible for very high end niche of a niche product.
When using Forza with this wheel make sure you set it to 900 degrees before booting up FM3 so you can get true 900 degree steering. If you set it while FM3 has started then you won't get the true 900 degree experience.