Elite Wheel in da House!!!
Elite Wheel in da House!!!
Well, in Parcells apartment anyway, it’s not really a house but I digress.
First impressions are great but I do have some very minor obstacles to overcome.
Parcells has always used a low sensitivity level of 360 across all racing games. I’ve tried it at higher levels with my PWTS but never did like it. Right out of the gate last night with the Elite wheel I was having difficulties with many turns. I’m now at 510 and could easily see going a little higher. Seems odd to me (why PWTS didn’t feel better too?) but whatever works.
My hands are just slightly further down the wheel than how I gripped the PWTS which is a very quick learning curve and although I love the wheel my PWTS wheel rim was thicker which I liked better. That aside, the wheel looks great and after 2+ years with crappy PWTS buttons (worse D-Pad ever) it’s a treat to use buttons that work well even though there located in different spots which caught me slightly of guard.
Any other Elite wheel users experience this?...After one hour I’m definitely as quick as I was but it still feels like there is a lot of play in the wheel while driving down a straight, like there’s too much play in the wheel at center position. The wheel is centered properly and I’ve gotten more and more used to it but wondering if others have experienced the same? All my dead zones are zero both in the game and on the wheel but it still feels somewhat loose. Haven’t tried the damper setting but I doubt that will make it feel better???
Originally I thought the force feedback was weaker than the PWTS but after a bit I think it’s more subtle which is better. Started at 100% but the forearms were getting tight rather quickly so knocked it down and left it at 60% (untested) just before I logged off.
Does anyone know if the default Microsoft headset works with the Elite wheel? I know that generally speaking they do not work with Fanatec wheels but maybe they fixed this issue? I have two headsets that never get used and one of my two wireless ones has a life span of about two hours so it’s ready to die for good me thinks.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think the wheel did come with the latest firmware upgrade….I do have the ACL setting so doesn’t that mean I have the latest? Speaking of the ACL setting, Parcells was very much looking forward to this but I did have slight feelings of “sort of feels like cheating and/or not quite as immersive/realistic without using the awesome clubsport clutch”. There remains a slim chance I may not turn this setting on but I’m skeptical and have always left foot braked and still do in every game except Forza. As far as the cheating concern goes, I just say to myself “so many people are using buttons for a clutch, they’re cheating as much as Parcells is.” so I doubt I’ll lose any sleep over this advantage 
The only disappointment I had yesterday was on top of the $576.00 I’ve already spent it costs me an additional $88.00 to have the post office release the wheel to me. That was very disappointing but I had to pay full Canadian taxes on the bastard so that sucked. This is normal protocol and shouldn’t have come as a surprise but 2 years ago when I bought the PWTS I didn’t get charged any Canadian taxes/duties probably because Fanatec documented the total costs around $5.00…Fanatec is likely being more scrutinized these days so aren’t willing to undervalue the real costs of their product.
Scratch that, there was one other disappointment which I can only assume is Fanatec covering there ass. The manual states verbatim under the General – Attention section ….”The maximum operation time of the wheel with continuous force feedback activity is 1 hour. Let the wheel cool down for a few minutes before you continue.” One fucken hour? Are you joking? I rarely participate in races that are one hour in length but frequently race for 3.5 hours straight, as in every Thursday night. Surely this can’t be an issue.
Onto playing around with GT5, Dirt and RacePro.
Congrats on the wheel!!! Does it feel better in GT5??
The Xbox headset should work, but if it's like the CSR (and I believe it is in this respect, Troy will no doubt put me right if not) You will hear a buzz/hum and as you must hear with me transmit with one too. Mute cuts in and out. The best solution is the MS wireless headset.
The wheel it's reported over heats when left switched on and not being used, so never leave it in that state. I have not heard of any complaints about overheating in use.
Anyhoo have fun it's an awesome wheel and when my CSR wears out I'm going to upgrade.
1. I have had nothing but trouble with headsets with the elite. I'm using modded TB x31 headphones and a wireless MS chat headphone. Little bit of rewiring and it gives me crystal clear chat and brilliant audio.
2. Loose play in center - occassionally it seems to appear but a restart gets rid of it. Start up the wheel after the xbox. Not sure if it helps but I have got in the habit of it. It does feel a little soft in the center but when I move the wheel even a fraction it shows proper turning response.
3. Never ever leave it switched on unattended - even for a couple of minutes. Never turn off the fans. NEVER NEVER NEVER ignore point 3.
4. 1 hour continual use - yeah right. I have had no issues and have had multiple intnesive 3 hour race sessions. Arse coverage.
Other than that enjoy the wheel. Its quality.
The wheel is simply better so absolutely yes, feels better in GT5 too. Also using 500 Sen setting on GT5 and starting to wonder if I've been retarded the past few years, definitely more control available for finer corrections. Tested Monaco and bet that was the first time ever taking the Hotel hairpin without using a semi-scandinavian flick
.
Coming to better grips with previously aforementioned "play" while driving straight (in a straight line that is).
Did not like the 500 setting on GT5 dirt tracks though. Went back to 360 and could probably go lower...constant counter steer is easier with lower setting.
The wheel is definitely less thick to grip and I can foresee my hands being very sore by the time I finish up Thursday night. Will take some getting use to.
None of this feedback should be considered complaints.
I have actually built up a quite a thick callous on the inside of my right thumb with the elite.
I have no actual complaints about the wheel anymore. The +'s simply outweigh any issues.
I think I use 540 sens. Takes time to get used to. Also some cars, with higher HP, I have to switch steering to normal as tank slappers become almost impossible to catch.
And I'm looking forward to the interchangeable wheels which I think are somewhere on the horizon.
Parcells - congrats on your new wheel.
Ref the duty/taxes you paid - check your receipt and see what duty classification if any the Post Office/CBSA have used. When I got my GT2, some of the components got classified as automobile parts rather than video game accessories. I filed an appeal and included the product listings from the Fanatec website; got the full amount of duty refunded for those accessories. Can't do anything about the HST however.
Parcells, congratulations on the purchase. Welcome to the club.
1. The headsets have been a royal pain in the ass, my only complaint about the Elite. The stock M$ headset does work, as does the wireless headset. My Turtle Beach PX-5 headset does not work. Period. It does work with my CSR wheel. I contacted Fanatec support about this issue in January but there was nothing they could do for me.
2. I have not noticed any looseness in the center. I run at 900 degrees in GT5, Forza, iRacing and Project CARs. I go 360 degrees in rFactor V8 Supercars. I go 450 degrees in Richard Burns Rally. I run 100 force feedback, except in rFactor, where I do 80. SHO is 100, ABS is 80, everything else is 0 or off. I do use the Auto Clutch. Get over your guilt, the controller users have their advantage, now we have ours.
3. I leave my wheel unattended all of the time, but I also make sure the fans are on. To check, turn on the wheel, but don't go into Xbox, PC or PS3 modes. Rather, press and hold the A & B buttons, then also press the two bottom red buttons. That will tell you the firmware version, you should have 722, and then it will switch on or switch off the fans. If the screen says "on" you are good to go, the fans are on continuously. If the screen flashes "off", you just turned them off so repeat the same keystrokes and you should be good to go. Don't worry, you will know when the fans are "on" because you can feel the air coming out of the wheel, and you can hear the fans.
4. I used my original Elite for more than an hour dozens of times. I just finished running my replacement Elite for about four hours straight. No problems.
5. If you have any trouble, Fanatec support will take care of you. My original Elite went AWOL almost two weeks ago. I now have a new wheel, less than two weeks later. I had to send three videos, but it was easy.
Parcells, congratulations on the purchase. Welcome to the club.
1. The headsets have been a royal pain in the ass, my only complaint about the Elite. The stock M$ headset does work, as does the wireless headset. My Turtle Beach PX-5 headset does not work. Period. It does work with my CSR wheel. I contacted Fanatec support about this issue in January but there was nothing they could do for me.
2. I have not noticed any looseness in the center. I run at 900 degrees in GT5, Forza, iRacing and Project CARs. I go 360 degrees in rFactor V8 Supercars. I go 450 degrees in Richard Burns Rally. I run 100 force feedback, except in rFactor, where I do 80. SHO is 100, ABS is 80, everything else is 0 or off. I do use the Auto Clutch. Get over your guilt, the controller users have their advantage, now we have ours.
3. I leave my wheel unattended all of the time, but I also make sure the fans are on. To check, turn on the wheel, but don't go into Xbox, PC or PS3 modes. Rather, press and hold the A & B buttons, then also press the two bottom red buttons. That will tell you the firmware version, you should have 722, and then it will switch on or switch off the fans. If the screen says "on" you are good to go, the fans are on continuously. If the screen flashes "off", you just turned them off so repeat the same keystrokes and you should be good to go. Don't worry, you will know when the fans are "on" because you can feel the air coming out of the wheel, and you can hear the fans.
4. I used my original Elite for more than an hour dozens of times. I just finished running my replacement Elite for about four hours straight. No problems.
5. If you have any trouble, Fanatec support will take care of you. My original Elite went AWOL almost two weeks ago. I now have a new wheel, less than two weeks later. I had to send three videos, but it was easy.
Congrats.
Just wanted to say that my MS cheapo headset works fine with my CSR. It's not an Elite but it does work.
On the ACL thing...In RL, cars that use flappy paddles do not use a clutch. Plain and simple. The whole notion of pressing a button while shifting is ridiculous and IMO a flaw of the game. Setting the game to manual w/o clutch puts you at an unflair disadvantage. I bought the CSR over the GT2 partly because of the anticipated firmware with ACL and I am getting annoyed that it has taken so long to release it. I plan to turn it on when using the paddles and off when using the H shifter, with which I will use the peddle for realism (as real as you can get with an on/off clutch). It is so nice to play rFactor V8s and not have to hold the wheel awkwardly so I can hit the B button while shifting.
Have fun.
Congratulations on your purchase Parcells. I'm a little late and most of the important things have been covered, but I have a few things to add.
1. No matter what Lawyer (Zero) says, do NOT ever leave your wheel on and unattended, even to go to the bathroom. I even turn mine off when I'm in the game menus and grab a controller. Might be a little anal, but I don't want to lose the use of my wheel.
2. There is a sensitivity issue with the wheel and Forza. If you use any sensitivity other than 270, make sure you add some linearity, 20 or 30 should do. I recently tried turning my sensitivity to OFF on the wheel and it is now much smoother. Don't knock it until you try it. If you don't like it, switch back, but at least give it a try.
3. Set the FFB on your wheel to 100 and leave it there forever. Make all of your FFB adjustments in the game. I was running game FFB at 69 with the Rennsport wheelstand, but since I got the rSeat, I was able to turn it up to 83 since the rSeat is much more solid. Adjust to taste, but only in the game. Leave it at 100 on the wheel or you will be missing some effects.
4. Set the Damper to -3 on the wheel. This will help with that dead feeling and make the wheel seem smoother.
5. I have never had any overheating problems. As previously said, make sure your fans are set to ON all the time. I did a track night at Nurburgring and the wheel never even blinked.
6. Don't feel guilty about ACL. The only time I use foot clutch and H-pattern shifter anymore is for old muscle cars with 4 speeds. I haven't lost any sleep over it at all.
7. Headsets. Use a MS wireless headset until Tritton releases their Warhead and Devastator headsets which will connect wirelessly to the xbox for chat.
If you have any other questions, please ask. Also check out f-wheel.com, there is a lot of good information over there.
Most of all, have fun.
I don't disagree with this, I just cannot discipline myself to do it. If you can do it, you are a better man than me.
I don't disagree with this, I just cannot discipline myself to do it. If you can do it, you are a better man than me.
Thanks for all the advise guys, Parcells should be fine...I hope.
I have NEVER not powered on my XBox before the wheel and never will and I know for a fact the fan has been running so it must be turned to the default ON position. The metal grates for air actually have a cool feeling to them when the fan is going strong, nice to know.
As far as never leaving my unit unattended (that's too easy for you who know who you are) Parcells will side towards Troy but I won't be that fucken anal...I'll be vsiiting the washroom facilities and the beer replacement unit throughout a driving session but will leave the wheel on for these very short trips. Otherwise, yes, always have turned off my PWTS when not in use and the same will be true for the Elite.
Don't come crying to me when the distintive smell of burnt electronics is flowing from your wheel, because I will just laugh and say I told you so.
Understood Troy but rest assured you'll be the first one I come crying to should that tragedy occur
Parcells reasoning (always sound
)...in between races is when a bathroom or beer run occurs, never during a race. The same elapsed time occurs with the wheel sitting idle regardless if I get up from the wheel or not and I have no intentions of turning the wheel off between every race. Therefore if the wheel decides to burn out while I'm at the beer replacement unit it is no different than the wheel burning out if I was sitting idly in front of it waiting for Fitzy to finsh the previous race...the damage is done.
That aside, you're a nice fella and while I can understand the desire to say "I told you so" I highly doubt you would outright laugh at me if my wheel burns up. Or would you???
Now we can hope your new wheel doesn't decide to turn itself off on Sunday, that would be tragic.
Didn't you notice the winking smiley at the end of my post? I would never laugh at a fellow racer's burnt up wheel. Getting up to grab another beer or piss it out between races are both acceptable amounts of time to leave your wheel on and I have done both myself.
What you should never, ever do is pause a single player race mid-race to answer the telephone or do something else and leave the wheel on for an extended time. This is when there are still forces being applied to the wheel and a good chance to burn it up.
That last point makes perfect sense Troy, may not have thought of that. Doubtful I would ever be in a race by myself (stopped racing the career after level 26) but I do test drive vehicles some times where the pause button would be used so must remember that but the telephone would never be an issue...Parcells isn't big on using the phone for idle "chit chat"
Hey Parcells, have you noticed an increase in the FFB and vibration effects with the Elite as compared to the Porsche wheel? Its alright with my 911 wheel but always wished for more feedback effects.
Doesn't feel stronger to me but more subtle and perhaps a tad more feedback than the PWTS but not necessarily stronger FFB. Hard to describe really.