FANATEC ClubSport DD Review | Force Feedback Reinvented!
This is the Fanatec ClubSport DD, the company's newest direct-drive wheelbase, equipped with what they claim to be the latest generation of force feedback technology. Continuing the design characteristics of the highly popular CSL DD and GT DD+, the ClubSport DD, along with the DD+, serves as the new mid-range direct-drive lineup for Fanatec, hitting the middle ground with 12 and 15nm of torque, respectively. I’ve spent the last several days putting the ClubSport DD through its paces. In this video, I’ll be reviewing it, telling you all about the good, the bad, and whether it’s as significant a change as Fanatec claims it to be.
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PRICE
Retailing at $800, the ClubSport DD, which lacks PlayStation compatibility, is most comparable to the 8nm CSL DD, currently retailing for $450. Acting as an upgraded version of the latter, its nearly double price is certainly significant. In the current US market, it is the highest-priced mid-range direct-drive wheelbase when compared to competitors with similar torque figures. For reference, the 10nm Simagic Alpha Mini is priced at around $560, the 12nm Asetek La Prima wheelbase at $750, and the Moza R12 at around $590. Of course, I have made separate reviews on every single one of these, so feel free to watch those if you’re interested. With regards to price, it’s also worth noting that the ClubSport DD+, released alongside this product, goes for $1000, offering 15nm of torque and, most importantly, PlayStation compatibility.
With the price in mind, it’s worth noting why Fanatec demands this figure. So, let’s go over its specs and features, as well as figure out what’s new.
Specs & Features
Housed in a primarily metal casing and longer in length than its CSL counterpart, the new ClubSport DD is a serious piece of gear, weighing in at 12.65kg, or close to 30 pounds. With this substantial weight, alongside the 12nm of force it can output, using this wheelbase on a dedicated cockpit really is the way to go, and what I would most certainly recommend. If you are bold enough to spend $800 on a wheelbase but still don’t want to buy a dedicated cockpit, Fanatec now offers the ClubSport DD desk clamp, which allows you to achieve that. Notably, they're charging $100 for a desk clamp, so I don’t know why you would actually want that instead of putting that money aside for an actual rig, but to each their own.
On the subject of mounting, I have absolutely no complaints here, as the ClubSport DD facilitates side and bottom mounting with slidable T-nuts. It’s worth noting that, despite this wheelbase having front-mounted thread inserts, those are only intended for Fanatec or third-party accessories, such as button boxes or digital dash displays, and not made for front-mounting onto a rig. As opposed to the CSL DD, this product comes with ball spring T-nuts, which makes mounting easier, as they won’t slide all over the place while you’re trying to hard mount it onto your wheel plate.
Behind the wheelbase, you’ll be greeted with the new yellow accent, as well as the power supply and USB-C port, alongside all the others used to directly connect Fanatec accessories.
Unlike the $1000 DD+, which was released alongside this, the ClubSport DD does not have PlayStation compatibility, but—and it’s a huge but—if used with an Xbox-compatible Fanatec wheel rim, you will be able to use this wheelbase on Xbox consoles. Of course, make sure that the wheel you have, or plan to buy, works on Xbox if that’s something you’re looking for.
What’s New?
With their newest iteration of direct-drive wheelbases, there is a lot that is new for both the ClubSport DD and DD+. Unlike competitors who advertise 10 or 12nm of peak torque, Fanatec claims a constant 12nm of force on the ClubSport DD, which, with their enhanced cooling mechanism, will allow it to remain consistent with no drops in performance even after hours of use. From my experience, I would agree with these claims as I didn’t notice any overheating issues or drops in force after extensive use. More than that, I was at the Sim Racing Expo this year, where this wheelbase was in constant use literally all day, and it seemed just fine when I gave it a go.
Most notably, with this new lineup of bases, they now come included with the new Fanatec QR2 Base-Sides equipped. Designed with QR2 in mind, it’s recommended that you use a wheel with the new quick-release system attached. However, it is still possible to interchange this system and revert to the original quick-release system if you do not have the new QR2’s attached to your wheel rims.
A very important thing to keep in mind, and a huge downside in my opinion, is that if you’re using the original quick-release systems OR the QR2 Lite Wheel-side, the base will limit itself to only 8nm of torque, which completely undermines what is a main selling point of this new base. Hence, if you want to maximize the 12nm or go anywhere above 8, you will have to shell out an additional $100 for the proper quick-release system, essentially for every wheel you have.
Unlike the CSL DD and GT DD Pro, which you could purchase an upgraded power supply for in order to increase torque output, this new lineup of ClubSport DDs offers no such option, meaning it is not possible to increase the torque output of the ClubSport DD above 12nm.
And finally, and what you guys have been waiting for, the newest feature of these next-gen series of direct-drive wheelbases is what Fanatec is calling Full Force. Fanatec Full Force grabs in-game sound and telemetry information and, instead of providing force and resistance like we’re used to, it gives off low-latency vibrations to enhance fine details in things like road texture, different surfaces, and similar granular effects. The idea here is to go beyond force feedback and provide more haptic sensations for added realism and performance. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s essentially what Logitech introduced with the G923 and calls “TrueForce”. There is a massive drawback of Full Force, but I’ll touch upon that in the negatives section of this review.
So, enough jargon about this product, let’s actually take it out on track and feel how it performs.
As opposed to other reviews which use a lot of technical terms to describe the feeling of the force feedback, I can put it simply: it does feel really good.
From the 12nm perspective, I ran this wheelbase maxed out for quite a while, and after around half an hour of hard use, my wrists and arms would begin to get exhausted. It was always at this point, while making adjustments with my wheel rim, that I would lower the max force to around 80%, or about 10.5nm, where it felt more comfortable to me. In this aspect, I feel confident saying that most people, including casual enthusiasts, would not feel the need to go above 12nm from just a force and resistance point of view.
One of the main selling points of this new wheelbase, which has been heavily marketed by Fanatec, has been their slew rate, which they claim is superior to others. What is slew rate? Well, it’s essentially a term to describe how fast output can be exerted, and thus, a wheelbase with a higher slew rate than others would be more responsive, sharp, and accurate. Is the ClubSport DD all of those things? Absolutely, but so are all the competitors. As such, this wheelbase is staggeringly quick and responsive, and maybe when looking at fine data points you can make some distinctions, but from just a hands-on, on-track performance point of view, I can’t say with confidence that it feels vastly more responsive than others.
From an on-track detail perspective, I really have no complaints with this wheelbase. With others in this segment, I’ve said that road effects and different textures could be more pronounced, but this really isn’t the case with the ClubSport DD, which after lots of fine-tuning, I got to the point where it gave me a ton of road and surface details that did feel genuine and immersive. With in-game road effects turned up, the tight QR2 connection, high torque output, and high details, this is something that left me very impressed.
Of course, everything else you would expect from a direct-drive wheelbase will be found here, and in this regard, I don’t think there’s anything any other wheelbase offers from an on-track perspective that the ClubSport DD does not. Simply put, it is very good. So, what’s the catch?
The Bad
You may have noticed that I didn't mention anything about the innovative "full-force" technology, and that’s because this new feature, which ultimately is the main selling point of this new wheelbase, doesn’t work on any sim racing game... yet. Currently being integrated into iRacing and Gran Turismo, and supposedly later coming to a wider range of games, unlike Logitech, which didn’t release the G923 until TrueForce was available in at least a handful of titles, Fanatec has released the new ClubSport DDs with no real in-game integration of this new feature, leaving me, at least, with more to be desired. Now, I did use the ClubSport DD at the Sim Racing Expo where full force was active, and Thomas, the CEO of Fanatec, specifically walked me through it. Yes, it was seriously cool, but of course, it sucks that it’s not quite out yet and probably won’t be out on the majority of games for at least a year. That said, I know there is HUGE potential here, so I am anxiously awaiting to see what it feels like in the comfort of my setup.
Another huge downside of the ClubSport DD is that the price tag is a little deceiving. $800 is already a lot, and as I mentioned, it's priced above competitors in the segment, and that’s not accounting for the QR2 wheel-sides, NOT QR2-Lite wheel sides, you will need to purchase separately for your existing rims. Downgrading to the QR1 base side will also come at a cost, as Fanatec sells the downgrade separately, though it is not yet available, and I also don’t know why anyone would do that.
Finally, another downside is that if you want extra torque similar to the DD+ but don’t care about PlayStation compatibility, it’s not possible to get that extra torque by just upgrading the power supply. Instead, you’ll just need to upgrade the whole thing to the DD+, which goes for $200 more. I think this is a missed opportunity for Fanatec, as they could have offered a $100 power supply for users to get 15nm for $900 and forgo PlayStation compatibility, something I reckon many people would be willing to do.
How Does it Compare?
I’ve mentioned the Simagic Alpha Mini, Moza R12, and Asetek La Prima wheelbase, all of which are direct competitors to this wheelbase. So, how does this compare? Well, at its current stage without Full Force, they all feel relatively similar across the board, with the Alpha Mini lacking some road effects that I could feel more prominently in the La Prima and ClubSport DD, and the Moza R12 not quite feeling as powerful when maxed out.
However, that’s all at a very fine level, as in general, they’re all really strong contenders, and ones that I would be more than happy going with full-time. Price will, of course, be a big factor here, as looking at that alone, the Moza R12 and Alpha Mini jump out, and going that route is perfectly suitable. However, the reason I believe Fanatec is demanding a higher price tag than all the aforementioned is for two main reasons:
The first is the Full Force technology, which I know can be a very nice, albeit not game-changing, feature, and secondly, because you get access to Xbox compatibility and the Fanatec name that comes with their extensive lineup of wheels, pedals, soon-to-be cockpits, and even more. As such, by paying just a little more, you’re getting yourself into this extensive and well-known ecosystem, which of course carries its weight and reflective price tag.
Conclusion
In conclusion, do I think the Fanatec ClubSport DD is worthy of its price tag, and would I choose it over competitors? At its current stage, without Full Force, I can’t simply say yes based on a cool feature I experienced for a few minutes in Germany a few weeks ago. Without Full Force, the ClubSport DD is great, excellent in fact, but I wouldn’t say there's a $260 difference when compared to the $540 current retail price of the Alpha Mini. That said, I think the price is justified. Not only are you getting Xbox compatibility, something you don’t get with any other wheelbase in this segment, but you also get constant, not peak, torque, a massive ecosystem of gear, Full Force which is set to come at least eventually, and frankly, an extremely capable wheelbase that simply performs great, albeit not noticeably better than those with which it competes from just a force feedback performance standpoint.
Keep in mind that I am planning on directly comparing all of these mid-range direct-drive wheelbases in a separate video, but just at a high level, I can easily recommend the ClubSport DD. Just be wary that you are paying a premium for the Fanatec name, and those other things I mentioned, which may or may not be important to you.
