The reasons I ordered the FANATEC Bundle of Podium DD1, Formula V2 Wheel, Advanced paddle module
I ordered the FANATEC Bundle, which includes Podium Wheel Base DD1, Formula V2 Steering, and Podium Advanced Paddle Module. I’ve never thought I would pay such an expensive price for the gaming controllers.
There’re some reasons I ordered this bundle.
The Impact of COVID-19
In January 2021, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency. So my company requires me to work at home and I still have time to spend at home. Considering these situations, I thought I would continue iRacing no less than 1 year.
As I got a VR, I need buttons on the steering wheel I can manipulate during races.
At first, I got VR in December to play iRacing.
During playing iRacing, I became to think that I need various buttons. At first, I drove with a simple vehicle, such as MX-5, a beginner's formula car (Skip barber), and I hadn’t thought I need many buttons.
However, after I promoted, I could drive a high-tech car and I became curious about the endurance race. The endurance races require changing some configurations, such as front and rear brake balance, fuel concentration, lights, and so on. I also wanted a text send button for the communication. I thought I hadn’t needed a “Pit in” button, but if I was in a group competing, I might not be able to enter the pit if the other car passes over me from the pit side.
Though I thought a switch box will be good before getting the VR, I understood I couldn’t manipulate it during the race with the VR.
So, I gradually thought I needed a steering wheel which has a lot of buttons. As I often drove formula and GT, it was enough with one formula wheel. I used this FANATEC Clubsport Steering Wheel F1 Esport. Basically, as the material is aluminum, rigidity is good, and quality is definitely no problem, though the colors around the buttons are a little bit flashy.
Though I got this wheel, I’ve been fascinated by this wheel, FANATEC Clubsport Steering Wheel Formula V2, actually.
This has a lot of buttons.
You may think, “instead of buying the bundle, it’s better to buy only this steering wheel, because you have the CSW V2.5 which quality is the highest of all the belt-drive wheelbase.”
Am I dissatisfied with FANATEC CSW V2.5?
Till today, I've used below CSW V2.5 for about 6 months. When I was asked the question “were you dissatisfied with this?”, I'll answer "Not especially dissatisfied. CSW V2.5 is enough."
Still, the reason why I wanted the DD is, as I wrote at the beginning, I will definitely kill time with iRacing for another year. the steering will be always touched, and the FFB will always communicate with me. What’s more, I don’t think I’ll spend a lot of money this year except for the sim racing, so that’s no problem to buy them.
It’s been 6 months since I bought the CSW V2.5. If I sell my CSW V2.5 and F1 Esport wheels, someone in Japan will buy them for a decent price so I don’t have to worry too much about the negatives when I buy a new FANATECs. If I will sell my used DD1, someone in Japan may buy it for about only 70–80% OFF. When I thought about it, the cost of a two-year wheelbase will be actually $500 to $1000 So it will cheaper than going on a trip, having a drink, or going to the circuit by car, won’t it? I fell into a strange sense. I don’t know if this sense is correct, but from the general sense of society, I’m a dangerous person.
Nice price with Podium DD1, Formula V2 Steering and, Advanced Paddle Module
This bundle consists of Podium DD1, V2 Steering, and Podium Advanced Paddle Module, which has 6 paddles. This set was discounted by around $300 compared to buy individually in Japan.
I tempted:
“Buy this together. It’s cheaper than buy separately.”
So, I ordered.
Why didn’t I bought the Simucube?
After I tweeted that I would buy this bundle, someone asked me, “Have you consider buying simucube?” “Simucube will be better.” From some information, I thought simucube’s quality seems better than Podium DD, actually, though.
“I want V2 steering, the bundle lures me. Anyway, I wonder if I should change to a direct drive or not. Wow, it comes with a paddle. Also, it’s in stock.”
It is a fact that
・bargain
・it was easy to order
・I’ll get them in about 2 days.
In Japan, actually, Simucube is harder to get than FANATEC with a fair price. Some resellers are selling it. So I have to import the Simucube by myself. As a result, even I’ll import by myself, Simucube will be a little more expensive than FANATEC.
On the other hand, FANATEC has customer service and a warehouse in Japan.
If something happens to my wheelbase, I have to send it back to the company to fix it. I have to wait for the period.
I don't need to modify my sim cockpit
According to my survey, the screw holes are common with FANATEC CSW V2.5 and CSL. The result of the research is below.
Also, some people will select the FANATEC Podium DD with the reason they can use it with Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.
Anyway, all things considered, I selected this bundle.
