Fanatec Clubsport Pedals V3 Inverted Review

this is the FinFET I'm your host Jean cold but the real stars they show are the fanatic Clubsport petals v3 inverted now these look very similar to the standard v3 pedals but they are turned upside down or at least two-thirds of them are turned upside down now to be honest they are a bit more than just a standard set of v3 pedals these do come fully loaded they come with the damper kit pre-installed and that's a $70 upgrade over the standard v3 pedals now before I get this show going before I get things started I have to give fanatic some credit they really change the sim racing world with the introduction of the club sport pedals at $2.99 before that we sim racers all we really had to choose from were plastic lifeless pedals that came with a logitech a Thrustmaster or even the 911 body wheels from fnatic the other option was to go to customer e maybe something like a fennec cannon pedals it and set you back up thousand dollars or more very easily but with the club sport pedals they offer the mostly made of metal heavy duty very realistic pedal set at a reasonable price and ever since then the club sport pedals have continued to evolve until we get to the v3 inverted version which goes for $499 and included with the pedals in the Box are a full set of rounded foot pads a third pedal extension a USB cable rj12 cable a heavier gas spring and it's guide stabilizer feet the hardware for them and some lithium grease the club sport pedals v3 and Burton are beautiful set of pedals and as you can see they're quite a bit more to look at than the standard v3 pedals are they're made completely of metal a black anodized aluminum to be more specific the base is made up of two heavy-duty side rails with three steel bars between them that create the width and allow for the gas pedal floor mounted pivot this also holds the heavy duty shield plate and the control box concealed underneath this much is all based on the standard v3 pedals and from there is where things turn upside down the inverted version have a new heavy duty side pieces metal that extend up from the base there is another set of crossbars running between them and a top plate with the fnatic logo these cross braces provide the mount and pivot point for both the brake and the clutch pedals allowing them to hang down into the range with the gas pedal the top bar holds the pedal arm itself while the bottom bar holds the brake load cell the damper kick and the clutches cam mechanism with the gas and brake pedal having their own shaker motor or vibration device on each arm the pedal arms are built to balloon them and are a box shape for additional strength in the case of the brake and clutch it is the standard fanatic pedal face made of aluminum and it has multiple mounting holes the gas pedal is also made of aluminum and is long in length and smooth and it's finished each pedal arm is mounted in the pedals with a brass bushing that will provide a long-lasting smooth movement from the pedal arm and for those of you not hard mounting this into the ribs there are these little feet or stabilizer legs that stick down off the back and prevent it from tipping over when the pedals are being pressed now on the electronic side of things the fanatic club sport pedals me3 inverted feature magnetic Hall effect sensors to measure the movement of the gas and clutch pedal these are 12 bit sensors and offer 4096 points of resolution through the pedals total throw Hall effect sensors have no wearing parts like a potentiometer and should last for a very long time the brake pedal uses a load cell to measure the braking pressure applied by your foot this load cell is a 90 kilogram version and is faster reading than previous versions of the club sport pedals the pedal can be used as a standalone set via the USB cable or they can be plugged into any of the fanatic wheel bases via the rj12 cable and when plugged into the fanatic wheel base the pedals will maintain the cost compatibility of the wheelbase you're using so if you have a PlayStation compatible wheelbase this is still going to work with it as long as it's plugged into that wheel now let's talk about some of the dimensions and the adjustability of the Phanatic club sport pedals v3 inverted and you can see the overall dimensions are very similar to the club sport standard v3 model and measures in it thirteen and a half inches or 34 centimeters front to back at the base and 17 inches or 43 centimeters including the upper framing that does extend and going left to right it's 13 and 1/2 inches or about 34 centimeters they also maintain the same mounting hole positions as the standard club sport pedals so if your rig is pre-drilled for fanatic pedals it's going to work with the inverted version as well now the biggest difference in dimension is the overall height with the inverted version coming in about 12 and a half inches tall or 32 centimeters and as I mentioned and as you can see they are quite a bit taller than the standard version and that's something that will have to be taken into consideration if you're trying to mount these into a rig with a smaller foot box area now the pedals faces end up being about six and a half inches or sixteen and a half centimeters from the leading edge or front of the pedals the gas pedal which is floor mounted extends up about nine and a half inches or 25 centimeters and is two and a quarter inches or six centimeters wide the gas pedal when pressed will travel about three and a half inches or nearly nine centimeters from off-ball to full throttle the brake and clutch pedals are both the same dimensions they each stand about eight and a half inches or 22 centimeters above the heel plate each pedal faces three and a half inches or nine centimeters tall by three and a half inches or nine centimeters wide the clutch pedal will travel about four and three-quarter inches or twelve centimeters from off to full row now the brake pedals movement will actually be affected by what setting you choose on the resistance for the damper that's something we're going to come back to in a minute but at its widest setting it will move about three inches or almost eight centimeters from off to full braking and with a firm setting on the brake the travel is limited to about an inch and a half or four centimeters the fanatic club sport pedals v3 inverted are also extremely adjustable and each pedal has its own set of changes that you can make to really dial them in starting off with the gas pedal the throttle pedal spring can be changed out fairly easily the pre-installed spring is a lightweight one but that can be changed out for the stiffer spring and a handful of steps first we remove the two bolts to the back of the gas pedal where it connects to the back cross brace this allows a back cover to be removed we can then push it in slightly and rotate it upward so that we can pull off the metal box we can now remove and change the spring and then reassemble it the way it came out and we could actually change out that throttle pedal for the rounded one on the extender if we are going to go with a rounded one hood make all three pedals match but I happen to be a pretty big fan of the long skinny throttle pedals they have on the set now for the comfort or fit side of things the pedal phase can be mounted in different spots it can be moved up down left or right via the holes drilled into the pedal phase as well as the three different holes on the pedal arm also for comfort or the ergonomic side of things is the extension for the pedal face it can be tilted to change the angles of the faces resting at for me I found that I like to rotate the bottoms away a little bit more than normal and then finally on the comfort side of things is that you can change the rounded panel face if you prefer it mounts through the holes drilled into it and then on to the two or three holes of the pedal arm when it comes to the feeling of the pedal or the way it moves we have few more adjustments starting with that resistance that I mentioned earlier there is a cylinder with an elastomer bumper within it there is also a dial on the brake that will adjust the resistance of the pedal as is pressed in it is easy as turning the dial in or out until you have your desired resistance this will also affect the travel of the pedal and you will want to recalibrate it if you adjusted it here for even more precise resistance control there's a breaker formance kit with additional elastomer bumpers to really dial in the feel and we will cover those tuning options in another show the other adjustment is to damper where you can change the dial setting of the damper of the braid there's a small allen screw that locks down the knob on the end of the damper loosen this screw and then turn the dial until the desired release speed is found then tighten the allen screw and then finally the clutch like the brake I can move this pedal face around left/right up/down anywhere I want with the mounting hold I can also change the pivot point or the angle with the extension here as well and that's about it for the clutch adjustment now let's move on to mounting these into our rig which was actually very simple it uses the standard four holes for the clubs for pedals and most rigs will accommodate them my are seat certainly did four bolts later my pedals are ready to go I went to the Phanatic website downloaded the software installed it then I fired up the Phanatic software and allowed it to update the firmware on the pedals the club sport pedals auto calibrate but they're also overrides for custom calibration within that same software now comes the fun part these are mounted on my rig software is installed time to get out on track and dry them and the first time that I put my seat well these are my hands the first time I put my feet on these pedals but all level design was very noticeable if you're coming from a Logitech or a Thrustmaster set of pedals this will feel foreign it first the metal ultra sturdy design build confidence at first touch the gas pedal is very snappy and solid and if you hit it hard or soft it moves freely under your foot the white spring allows for very fast application of the throttle pedal and at its full stroke you're met with a rigid stopping point there is no additional movement at this point it was crystal clear that you have achieved full throttle the overall travel of the gas pedal is a little less than I would have expected but it does allow for enough movement to modulate the gas of the car the pedals movement is extremely smooth and it's easy to slide your foot on the pedal face the brake pedal is by far the most complex and rightfully so because it's the most adjustable and it's really the most important when it comes to sim racing for the club sport brake pedal you have a couple of different things going on the pedal travels very smoothly through its movements with very light resistance that continues to grow as the pedal gets pressed further in again this resistance can be adjusted by moving the dial beyond that there's the feeling or the Flex of the load cell the load cell is not only measuring the pressure being applied but it is also creating part of the resistance that we are working with within the pedal when I say working with I really mean it through the urethane bumper and the load cells there is a pressure that we are pressing against as it presses back on our foot when dialed in this can be used to modulate the brake in and out and create our own anti-lock braking for maximum braking on track instead of trying to brake by how far the pedal moves like a potentiometer you are measuring how hard you press just like a real brake pedal the brake pedal does take a fair amount of pressure to fully apply but can still be done with Sox versus needing a driving shoe with the bumper turned up the higher the pressure required is quite a bit more and might even send you running for your shoes even with the pressure turned up the pedal arm is rock solid and any resistance any pressure or any movement you're feeling is within the measuring device and the urethane bumper not the pedal arm or the frame or anything in the club sport pedals thing when at it's lighter setting the overall throw of the pedal is more than I expected and a bit more than the standard set of clubs for pedals the clutch pedal also a ton of travel and has its unique cam that creates a clutch plate release type of sensation this allows for some smooth travel that is followed by the pedal freeing up the leverage point and almost falling to the limit and then upon release it snaps back at you as it's the fork to the clutch we're springing it back into action this is a pretty good feeling of a clutch pedal the fanatic Club sport pedals v3 inverted were actually extremely easy to get used to and I didn't even have to think about it very much I made a few very small adjustments I lowered the faces and the angle of the brake and clutch pedal I added some resistance to the brake and I had that natural feeling that made it just automatic for me right away that was all it took to get these pedals to where I was very happy with them the pedals immediately built confidence over stock pedals and they feel like they're built to last then came the next waves of realization for me with these pedals not only was I using the load cell resistance not only was I using the urethane bumper resistance to get a feel and really judge how far is pressing the pedal but this angle the drop down angle actually was doing something different for me I found that when I pressed with my foot that I get about a certain distance and hit almost threshold braking but if I needed more finding that oh no braking that I got a stop lock him up kind of braking I actually had to curve my foot a little more to press on the bottom of the pedal to even achieve that distance it created a safety zone for me that I could really use when I got dialed in with these pedals for me this was a nice added touch of the drop down pedal beyond just looking cool now I am NOT a heel toe down shifting master by any means and for me the clutch in simracing for the most part is something I use for pulling out of the pits for doing burnouts for doing donuts or for recovering when I'm spun out on the track but for a lot of people in sim racing sim racing is about recreating a real life driving scenario whether it be their street car whether it be their race car but getting things to the point where it's as close to one to one as possible is very important in those cases heel-and-toe shifting can be a critical part of Tim racing I did spend some time doing my hybrid version of this technique and found that the pedals work pretty well for it that little extension on the lower portion of the gas pedal is perfect for my heel as I tilt my foot over the brake pedal as I get ready to downshift a flick of the heel and I get my rpm matching blip of the throttle I also have the ability to adjust the brake pedal position to a spot that makes this better for my shoes or socks for my testing I had these pedals bolted down to my rig but I also wanted to test out the stabilizer bars for those who might not be using a rig with the hardware supplied with the pedals I can put one to each rear side of the base and then put them down on the floor in the end I found the stabilizer bars were very effective at preventing pedals from tipping over and they even added the overall grip on those surfaces I always prefer to mount or secure my pedals but these do do a better job than most of staying still and staying on the ground now I did test out the shaker motors that are included on the gas and brake pedal on the gas it's going to start to spin or shake as soon as the rear end of the car is starting to slide and for the brake it's going to start to spin or shake as soon as you start to get wheel lockup now this will only work on the PC and it requires some third-party software like sy manager Pro orphan annelids to make it function I will cover that in a future show but you can feel these little motors doing their job and that could be a great added feature later so at this point you've heard all of the details about the fanatic club sport pedals v3 inverted model you've heard about their adjustability you've heard about how they performed on track but just to summarize let's go ahead and break things down with the they're not so good and the bottom line starting things off of the good and the first thing you're going to notice about these pedals is they're heavy-duty aluminum construction great looking pedal set realistic feel highly adjustable load cell brake pedal high-resolution sensors smooth operation built-in heel plate built-in vibration motors comes with rounded or flat pedal faces compatible with fanatic wheels even on the appropriate console works on most floors without hard mounting and they're inverted and I'm going to tell you I think that's pretty cool both in function and the way it looks now let's move on to the not-so-good and I'm going to tell you right off the bat I had a very hard time coming up with any flaws in this pedal set I had a hard time finding anything that I couldn't rationalize or make an excuse for or justification for so I really did have to go out on a limb to find a few things and the first one being the hold on a brake pedal can be felt on my foot while pressing hard in socks hard to get all of the pedal faces lined up must use third-party software for the shaker motors and hard to access the mounting holes and now onto the bottom line I really enjoyed using these pedals I found them to be a really good combination of aesthetic beauty and total function now despite not needing drop-down pedals for sim racing I did find them a nice change of pace for my feet or a different feel that was really nice the added distance of travel and changes angle for the brake pedal gave me a new way of measuring pressure and that was great for threshold braking now I've already seen some of the comments about these pedals online and I've seen some people even said that they thought it was overpriced but for me I think if you work backwards on a price point they actually come out being fairly fair let's start off with a set of clubsport b3 pedals which are going to go for $9.00 then you as a dancer kit that doesn't come with the b3 pedals and that's an additional $70 so that really puts us at about three hundred and seventy dollars which is a hundred and thirty dollars short of the pedal price so that gets us the whole side bracket can upper assembly to do the inverted pedals all that is for a hundred and thirty dollars that includes the tooling that includes the design time and that includes all of the metal and I think that's a pretty fair price the other thing when I compare this to other drop-down pedals have been on the market you might pay a hundred or thirty or 150 for a mounting kit in order to actually have them if you don't have a rig that can hold the pedals in addition to that these already have the built-in heel plate which is something that on a normal drop-down set is something that you're going to have to build for yourself anyway now in general when using a plastic or stock set of pedals I always use my socks when driving if I even try to use shoes I get that blind feeling and I can't feel or see anything on the pedal set when I upgrade to a heavier set I almost always use driving shoes for that extra added power with the club sport pedals I found them right on that line with the lighter settings on the gas and on the brake sock for no problem at all but if I really skipping things up I might just want to go with shoes for that endurance for that longevity just to not get a sore foot and I didn't have that blind feeling and I also think about the amount of travel within the brake pedal having that range of one and a half to three inches I talked about sin Racing and emulating real life driving having that ability to move the pedal from one and a half to three inches change the stiffness really allows you to get it dialed in and get it close to what that preconceived notion you might have of what it should be or if you're really trying to match a real-life car but for those looking for an ultra stiff non-movement f1 style brake pedal this is much more like a GP or street car brake pedal and one other thing I will mention the pedals did come with a Quick Start Guide and it has some good tips and instructions in it but do yourself a favor go to the fan Mattek website and download the full manual as much more detailed instructions on how to do some of the adjustments on this pedal set so in closing I will say this one more time I really enjoy driving on these pedals I had a very hard time finding any flaws or any reasons that would not make things the perfect pedals from the average tim racer at this point fnatic really has this point in the market all to themselves with Logitech and Thrustmaster making just generic pedals stock pedals fanatics comes in with beads when I look at the high end you're looking at a thousand dollars for all-metal heavy-duty pedals and then if fanatic comes in with these so whether you're talking about the b3 standard at three hundred dollars whether you're talking about the inverted version at five hundred dollars we are talking about the best bang for the buck pedals on the market well done fanatic so I hope you've enjoyed this review of the fanatic club sport pedals b3 inverted model I hope I have answered every question showed you everything that you possibly want to know about these pedals but if I did miss something if you do have a question I urge you to please email me at Sean at the sentient calm and I'll do my best to answer your question this is the simple I'm Sean Cole and I'll see you on the track you

Channel: The Simpit

Views: 148,378

Rating: 4.8408842 out of 5

Keywords: the simpit, sim racing, simulated racing, online racing, motorsports gaming, automotive gaming, pc peripheral, clubsport, fanatec, thrustmaster, iracing, rfactor, shifter, h pattern, inside sim racing, sim racing tonight, shaun cole, Simulation Cockpit, Race, Racing, v2, brushless, force feedback, porsche, accufroce, sim xperience, sim experience, sim steering, sim steering 2, leo bodnar, direct drive, csl elite, v3, v3 inverted

Id: ix7mBf6jdRg

Length: 23min 20sec (1400 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 23 2017