Hi guys and girls, I will receive my bonus soon and some of the money has to go. I have a PS4 Elite base with the original rim and decided to buy new rims. Now I already have made up my mind for the Porsche 918 RSR. However I am still unsure whether I should get the new McLaren wheel or the formula rim. I have a quick release already here so that is not a deciding factor. The McLaren has more functionality but the formula rim seems to have the better overall build quality and the vibration function (which I have already in the V3 pedals, to have them in the rim as well may be OTT). What are your thoughts? Any recommendations?
I've chosen to (pre) order the McLaren rim + free QR. I can tell you within two weeks (right Thomas ) if I made the right decision.
That would be great Brian. I guess I hold it off until the wheel is in the wild and we know how it actually feels.
Will be interesting how the Mclaren wheel will feel, it's lighter than the Formula rim, and has no motors built into it, but is a better over all size..
I have the Formula Carbon rim. Build quality is top, it has rumble motors. I pre-ordered the McLaren rim though I know the build quality will not be on the same level. Main reason was that I find the Formula rim a tad too small for driving GT cars. I heard Fanatec is also working on other GT3 wheels for use on the Podium base (to come). These wheels are supposed to be on a higher level (also price-wise). If I don't like the actual McLaren, I'll sell it together with the V2 base as soon as the Podium base arrives.
That's an unpleasant surprise, I am not sure I would've ordered McLaren rim if I didn't miss it doesn't have vibration motors. I really like those motors in my F1 Carbon and BMW GT2, they add a feeling of sitting in a car with engine on. Every time I forget to turn fanaleds on, I notice this part missing. Oh well
Going to follow this thread with interest as I desperately miss my old F1 rim from back when I used Thrustmaster wheels. I was pretty set on grabbing the McLaren rim but the more I think about it I think the Formula black might be more up my alley. The deciding factor will probably be how they handle the dual clutch, the footage over at Sim Racing Girl did not seem very VR friendly but it's early days. Snapdome is something I don't really get why they're talking about as a selling point. The CSL Elite P1 shifters work sure but they certainly don't feel much better then what Thrustmaster uses in their 599xx Evo or F1 rims. Speaking of F1 rims though having a rocker style shifter certainly could be nice on GT cars... Argh, choice paralyzation is real.
Size is actually also something that at least in my case is more in favour of the formula rim. If you have the Porsche 918 rim plus the rim that came with the base I think it makes more sense to buy the smaller Formula rim in order to have a noticable size difference between them.
True, the naming of those rims.... Well, suck. I'm using the CSL Elite PS4 rim, supposedly they were worse before. My point is that snapdome, eh... works? But it's for sure not a selling point for me. Then again the rocker shifter doesn't seem to have much travel so perhaps it'll work better there. Anyway looking forward to seeing some comparisons between the two rims.
Yeah, seems that the fanatec customers blame them because of the gear paddles on the P1, so they want to tell everyone, that they've made some new for the PS4 rim. I really like their gear shifts on CSL Elite PS4 with "snapdome" Much better than on my old G27 and if it's really better than on P1, then it's okay to give it a name.
Anybody getting some seattime with the McLaren wheel yet? I'm trying to decide between the Formula and McLaren wheels as well coming from a Universal Hub with 320mm wheel.
I've both Carbon and McLaren rims and had quite some seat time with both. I like McLaren rim for its size, it is more comfortable than Formula rim to me. It also resembles GT3/DTM rim more than Formula rim, so if you are not into Formula all the way, that is something to consider. However, after some time with McLaren I have to admit it doesn't feel as solid as Formula rim, basically it feels cheap, it flexes a bit etc. Nothing of a kind happens with Formula rim. Also, McLaren rim does lack vibration motors, but if R3E is your primary game, that's surprisingly not an issue, because I can still feel engine vibrations via usual FFB. All that said, when racing GT3 or modern DTM, I use McLaren, because dimensions and immersion outweigh cheaper build.
Well, I did sell mine. Not that it was bad, but some features bothered me. The main ones: - the two collar protected buttons are too hard to push while driving. They are protected, so why the high resistance ? - I did not like the shifters. Too short travel and to much force needed (especially when 'pushing' the lever). Gloves were needed to not damage your fingers. - The button layout is completely different from my two CSW wheels (which might not be an issue if you are going to use only the McLaren). - though the real one also has rubber grips, I did not like them. Being used to leather and Alcantara, they feel just weird and sticky... I'm sticking to the Porsche 918 and Formula Carbon until the Podium series appear...or something else... On the positive side: the dimensions are ideal for GT3 cars (which was the main reason for me to try the McLaren).
Good point on scratchiness of paddles @Fanapryde , yes it is true. But does not bother me too much, probably because my fingers are hardened by years of playing bass My 2 cents: I really like short paddle travel, and like that you can't upshift and downshift at the same time. In fact, upshifting and downshifting can be accomplished with one hand. EDIT: I agree protected buttons are hard to press, but that wasn't issue to me as I assigned really rare functions like show pit menu and request pit to P and N. I do not have strong fingers and can press those no problem. But, wouldn't use those for say, DRS.
Thanks for the feedback, my main game is iRacing. I was wondering if the plastic-build show through in feel of the wheel. Same with the plastic-grated shifter paddle on bare hands, that's a bummer.
The balancing shifter paddle is made out of aluminium. The clutch (or whatever function you assign to it) paddles are plastic. The front end is not covered and looks unfinished and cheap. @The Iron Wolf Yes, I can see the advantage of one hand shifting, but I feel there is too much resistance. Maybe it has been done to prevent accidental downshifts, but (maybe I'm too old) I prefer 'normal' shifting. And yes, it's not like if you need to go to the gym to push these buttons, but being used to the buttons on my CSW wheels, these are too hard. I had mapped the P for pit limiter and (like I'm used to) a quick touch did not work which led to penalties for speeding. For other, less important functions they might be OK, but if it needs to be quick...
Why was that a issue? the BMW rim and the Formula rim have different layouts as well, but apart from Pcars1/2 all the other main sims you can make multiple controller setups, I have just 2 in most but in R3E I have 4 setups, so the Mclaren rim would be easy to deal with..