For the longest time in modern sim racing history, the lower sub-four-digit price point has always been the realm of cheaper gear drive and belt drive systems. If you want a “true” direct drive wheel, your best hope is that the additional cost of the entire system will not wander too far beyond $1,000.
Today, with the introduction of budget direct drive wheels, the entire sim racing landscape suddenly opened its doors to an even wider variety of enthusiasts. It brought about many changes to consumer expectations, revealing other aspects that further diversified sim racing setup options today.
Gear and Belt Drives are “Effectively” Obsolete
When the Fanatec CSL DD officially launched in late 2021 (after a significantly long hype period earlier that year), there was no other competitor within the price range it stood against. At least from a consumer perspective, the CSL DD seems to have been intended as a direct competitor for the price range it was officially introduced. This price range happens to clash directly with mainstream gear and belt drive wheel models, effectively disconnecting the technology with the price point people expected these products to exist on.
As a result, even though well-known belt drive wheels like the Thrustmaster TX and T300 RS can still compete feature-wise and somewhat performance-wise, they are effectively rendered technologically obsolete once direct drive wheels finally dip below the $400 threshold.
Granted, you’re still only offered the base motor as always. But even when combined with Moza’s rather expensive-ish rims, you’re still getting somewhere just right below the $1,000 mark. In fact, traditionally, entry-level features such as tabletop mounting being available for the CSL DD makes the cost argument even more useless. It’s just that much of a game changer, which many CSL DD review articles have also confirmed.
Torque Specs No Longer Related to Technology?
Fanatec CSL DD originally games with a power brick that pushes it to 5 Nm. This was rather weird, given that the lowest force feedback torque spec ever available to direct drive wheels prior to its existence usually hovers near 20 Nm or higher. In fact, when it was first announced, sim racing enthusiasts were a bit concerned, given that the comparatively low torque might diminish its motion translation advantages and make it feel the same with similarly torqued belt drive wheels.
These worries were immediately put to rest when the first batch of pre-orders finally came around November 2021. A 5 Nm powered direct drive wheel does have a significantly less oomph to it, but the technology still displays its simulation prowess nonetheless.
Of course, Fanatec did know about this beforehand, and so the 8 Nm boost kit was also unveiled along with the CSL DD. Opinions are mostly mixed when enthusiasts are asked if it is a necessity, but the added “bite” to the steering was agreed universally appreciable. As some users described, it was as if the CSL DD was designed to perform with 8 Nm force feedback torque in the first place.
The power brick is sold separately though, so that is still a bit more added investment to what otherwise would have been a base direct drive wheel unit that “only” costs $350.
In the future, we may see the sim racing landscape adopt such reduced torque specifications even further when the market introduces more and more budget direct drive wheel models. So the differentiating factor is no longer the technology itself, but the ”level of simulation” that the wheels can provide. The higher the cost tiers you go, presumably the better the motion translation is to the player.
“High-Quality” Sim Racing Would Be the Norm
Finally, budget direct drive wheels would simply change the expectations of the entire sim racing genre itself. People would soon have a unified concept that sim racing is exactly what it is, racing that attempts to simulate reality with one-to-one vehicle force feedback in mind. No longer would people have to associate the idea with crazy $2,500+ Simsterring base wheel setups. And if you play it smart, you might even be able to build a worthy setup that should have been reserved for a high-end belt drive wheel system just a few years ago.
Of course, ultra-budget tiers would still cater to the bouncier “reset-to-default” type of crowd. After all, gear drive wheels like the Logitech G29 and Thrustmaster T150 RS are still excellent very-low-cost options to introduce people to the wonderful world of sim racing.
But for the most part, sim racing will ultimately be taken a lot more seriously, especially now with Formula 1 racinggetting more popular by the day, and so does the sim racing in this genre. At least, in pretty much the same way as how people are willing to invest a minimum amount of “premium” for fighting games, FPS shooters, and other competitive genres.
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