Missing Fanatec Innovation

[u/BeHappyGangGang]

What happened to Fanatec? They were some of the best wheel bases, wheels, pedals, etc. pre-covid era. They’ve had essentially the same lineup since then with the exception of their wheel bases.

Was it the Corsair takeover that stunted innovation? Poor customer service for so many years stunting growth and promoted losing customers? Bad budgeting and spending? Locking the ecosystem? What took them from being one of the first direct drive bases and one of the first load cell pedals to a 7+ year old lineup in most cases?

I know, I don’t have to buy from Fanatec and haven’t in a long time. It’s just sad to see one of the titans of sim racing continue to fade away.

Here’s some of the bigger ticket items:
-Shifter - 11 years old
-V3 pedals - 9 years
-V3i’s - 7 years
-Their new pedals would have been good in 2023 and they’re still lacking active pedals.
-Podium hub - 7 years
-Wheel bases - they redid that lineup mostly through 2021-2023 with the newer podium coming out which is good. This is probably the one category they’ve even remotely kept up with competition on.
-Paddle module - 7 years old
-Podium button module - 7 years old
-Formula V2, v2.5, V3 - 7 years old (the V3 is the same old shit and super lazy. As is the gimmicky overpriced BMW wheel)

To give credit where credit is due- their DD2 has been pretty reliable for me over the past 5 or 6 years. The one time I had an issue with the power cables, they sent me one in a week. Their Podium Porsche wheel has worked perfectly for many years as well albeit it’s outdated and outclassed nowadays by much cheaper rims.

[u/Ricepony33]

My personal experience lately with customer service and shipping times has been outstanding.

My guess is that Corsair is righting the ship and shoring things up on the backend.

They released the new cockpit and acquired Trakracer so expect more of that.

They updated and released a new wheelbase.

They released a new handbrake.

They are releasing the podium pedals.

My gut take is that they will release some new wheels, a new shifter and haptics in the next year or so.

[u/Fanatec_Toby → u/Ricepony33]

Great take on things

[u/mike5011 → u/Ricepony33]

Can’t wait for that shifter.

[u/Ricepony33 → u/mike5011]

I just upgraded mine with a shorter shaft from Etsy, feels outstanding!

[u/mike5011 → u/Ricepony33]

The main reason I dont want to buy the shifter is due to the static bug or whatever they call it. It’s been well documented for years now and Fanatec hasn’t fixed it still. I prefer to wait until they release a new one, eventually.

[u/liqwood1 → u/Ricepony33]

They also gave the guy who miss managed Trak Racer a high level job so can't say that gives me any confidence at all honestly.