Is The Fanatec CSL DD Boost Kit Worth It?

Hmmmmmmmm wheel, or 3 minutes of iRacing?

When do you hit the point of dimishing returns e.g. going from 5nm to 8nm to 12nm to 20nm, when have you hit a wall where the higher nm no longer really makes a differance?

Whats that rig? like the idea of the both sides fixing.

I am on that dilemma myself. At the price of the boost kit in sim demon £160, I can add £40 and get the GT3 Mclaren wheel...

But as to your review.

It seems like the csl dd is a proper 8nm wheelbase.

And then they just sold a lesser psu to have that 5nm option.

Ahhh

CSL DD with formula v 2.5 wheel or the t818 ferrari edition? I have no idea what to buy.

So what if I’m coming from the csw and I never have FFb turned up past 50-60? I feel like the 5 should be sufficient right? Also I the csl elite was 5mn. That’s what I remember when I purchased the csw

Just got my 8nm Fanatec DD Would have to agree 100% with dirt rally 2.0 and it being way too much for counter steering on dirt and gravel.

Back in the 80's, I raced Formula Atlantic for a couple seasons in a Cosworth powered Ralt RT-5, and I purchased the Fanatec DD Pro for my PS5 and GT7 with the 5nM power supply combined with the CSL Elite Pedals V2. I can honestly say that although there is no Ralt RT-5 in GT7, the feel of the wheel and the pedals is really pretty fantastic and very close (not technology-wise but feeling-wise) to feeling like actual racing in a REAL Formula car. Pretty neat how technology has advanced over the past 40 odd years............................

Take a 5 mn setup first. Get it home and try out with your needs. If you like a higher boost with 8 nm, then get the boost kit. I got DDPro with 8 nm but only like use 35 to 40 FFB in kind of all my setups.... Overkill for me, YES.... And with DD Pro, I only got the big powersuply, not both....

just bought a psu from amazon , 8NM for 59 euro

The CSL DD is in my opinion the best of the Fanatec DD wheelbases. The 8Nm version has the most precise feeling ffb Fanatec offers. For me the 8Nm is spot on, I've used more powerful units and ended only using half the available torque (approx), I've been lucky enough to have had some track experience in a couple of Lola's (no power steering) and the CSL DD 8Nm is the closest I've come to recreating that feeling. Unless your vehicle of choice is something very old I think the CSL DD 8Nm has got you covered, all at a very reasonable price. Wheel choice limitation maybe my only reservation, I use mine with the WRC wheel, (for track cars, i find a wheel i like and stick with it) chosen for it's light weight, it's a 300mm wheel about a kg. Heavier wheels or larger diameter may not feel quite the same (i don't know but I'd recommend trying before buying) One thing I would suggest changing on the CSL DD is the runout clamp on the shaft, a two piece, twin bolt version will work much better. I also have had excellent results with the QR1 Lite, unlike the more expensive aluminium QR1 there is zero wheel movement on the shaft. This is a rare product, one that Fanatec got absolutely spot on, bravo Fanatec.

iRacing? Might as well stick with a G 29 for iRacing. Yes it's worth the extra, not for 💥 More 💥 Power 💥 but for the subtleties. I previously had a 5Nm wheel base but when researching the CSL DD and test driving them whichever had the boost PSU on (blind testing of course) I was able to pick out the 8Nm unit every time, from the greater detail.

Amazing video, a great analysis and you described things perfectly

It's an essential upgrade. It's dumb it's a seperate item. It should be stock.

for sure not necessary for ps5 gt7

if you but the bundle you don’t save nothing… 20 dollar less but they don’t give the normal supply

I remember watching this a year ago when I was looking to upgrade from the g29. Looking back at this now I'm glad the review is so detailed and thorough because I LOVE playing assetto on my xbox with My fanatec setup. Kudos to you and your team!!

Fanatec canceled my order and took my money $941.42

In most games, down the straights and in low effort turns I feel some bumps and rumble, but once I turn in it just feels like a constant pressure. I have never driven a race car so I have no idea if that's what I'm meant to feel or not.
Ah yeah fuck it, I'm ordering it since my other living expenses are low anyway

The “boost kit” is exactly the same PSU as the Clubsport PSU with a ATX connector. Funny enough Fanatec were selling off all their Clubsport PSUs cheap just prior to the launch of the DD CSL. €40 I believe the price was. So yes it’s a rip off. I bought a used Clubsport PSU from eBay for £19 and put the 4 pin connector on it. Works a charm

Not worth it thru Fanatec. Buy an equivalent PSU off eBay for ~$55 USD. If you can even get a CSL DD 5nm unit to begin with.

While it may exceed your technical capabilities, it is super easy to measure a power supply and they are also cheap to manufacture. Electronics 101.

I had a G29 before I was forced to sell it. 2nm of torque, and it killed my shoulders. I will never understand the whole, "More torque more torque!" thing. I was really happy with my G29, would still be using it even now if I had it. I feel like 5nm would be just a bit too much for me, with 8 being way too much.

Great review.

BEST REVIEW on this subject. Thanks for your great work!

Hi Can you let me know what rig you're using in this video?

This type of stuff makes me mad. A freaking PSU is a "boost kit"? Why didn't it just come with that and then you could turn it down or up from there, i expect this from 3rd parties to bump up power, but from the oem it's just a rip off cash grab. And I don't want to hear how the oem had to spend so much more for this unit and that it would increase the cost of the wheel, that's horse crap and would cost way way less then 150 plus more shipping and waiting to "unlock" your product.

Is the difference between 8nm and 20/25nm in the dd1/2 very noticeable? And would you actually ever use the full amount in the dd1/2?

That's a really nice wheel side rail mounting kit, can you tell me who makes it?

No one seems to comment on this, but my desk (I have a wife, no rig possible) may struggle to handle 8nm comfortably so have just gone for 5nm. It also uses less power, 180W for quite some time is quite a bit of power to pay for if you're on a budget. I know these things are not on everyone's mind, but for those with boring regular lives I'm hoping the 5nm is going to be aenough if a step up from a G29.

I see a cheap Knock off boost kit 8nm on EBay for $45.00 is it worth it?

I'd love to jump in with the CSL DD and its boost kit but the price to switch to fanatec is prohibitive. For a decent CSL DD + wheel + 3 set pedal, you're already spending more than a grand which is not possible for me yet.
And I'm not including a change of cockpit as my playseat challenge will surely be too weak to handle this wheel.

the difference between the csl dd 5nm and 8nm is the power supply? which you can buy separately?
but on fanatec's website they have the 8nm DD base and are out of the 5nm DD base?
sounds fishy...

EDIT: or maybe they're out of the smaller power supplies

Sry but the question itself is dumb af. 150€ for a power supply

Of course it’s not. The fact they’re charging $150 for a $10 power supply is an insult to their customers. I get the motor and wheel is budget but you don’t punish you’re customers on the back end cause you price your product competitive.

These shouldn’t be more than $40

Before even watching the video... my answer is yes it is worth it for a couple reasons. One, the CSL DD with the boost kit is in stock, I bought one two days ago and it will be here next week. The 5 nm version is out of stock with no date to be in stock again. Two, I have a Thrustmaster T500 wheel that does close to 5 nm already. I want an actual upgrade in power.

Also, there's a cheap chinese knock off boost kit selling on eBay for over $60. I would not trust one of those to power my shiny new DD wheel base so the extra money is worth it, although way over priced for a simple power brick.

Motors have a sweet spot and an 8Nm motor is unlikely to perform its best when it is capped at 5Nm.

Ok, I'm getting the DD Pro but there's a limit to what my wife will put up with money-wise. Should I get the 8nm kit or the McLaren wheel??

Great review! Tks

Sooooo......its down to game designers implementation, if RF2 shows you don't physically need it.

Insightful, valuable review.

Good video thanks. What is the wheel mounted on? It looks really sturdy.

Make sure you only get the boost kit after getting the base package otherwise it is a massive rip-off. Check the prices carefully and you will see why.

can you just get a power brick of the same specs and just cut the connector and sold it to the newer one? i mean i know this whole thing about the different adapters is the propietary connector, so that way the force people to overpay for something so common.

This video helped so much, saved me tons of money, couldnt have described any of it better, if i could give a vid a 5 stars i would. 💯💯

what if you plugged in a 4pin/6pin PCI cable into a PC power supply say 850-100 watts? will that increate Torque NM or will it kill the wheel?

The wheel and motor are designed for the gran turismo playstation combo system, why did'nt you test that? The people how are going to invest in this model
are going to use it for that....

can you buy that wheel by itself or is it just in the D1 playstation F1 combo