Fanatec CSL WRC Rally Wheel Review

At a diameter of 300mm. This wheel is large enough to give you a good feel for driving. It has an alcantara cover on the rim grip that is also nice feeling to your hand. There is some bright orange stitching all the way around the rim that is properly done without any defects that I could find. The aluminum front of the wheel has a brushed finish that is resistant to fingerprints. The
button layout is intuitive and easy to use. I do like that instead of the usually analog joystick found on most Fanatec wheels they have added detents to it’s action which allows you to be precise with its movement. The rear of the wheel has an injection molded plastic housing covering the internal electronics. Which are done in the usual professional way I have come to expect from fanatec. There is a shift light and digital display at the top of this wheel. The bright orange shifter paddles are easy to reach for most drivers I think. And when I was using them they did not have any issues. They have the usual CSL Elite type of light feeling resistance that makes them easy to use for hours. While overall this is a good wheel package, the most notable item I found here is the new quick release design Fanatec will be using moving forward. They call it the Simplified QRA. It has a simple but very effect clamping mechanism. When I connected it to my wheelbase I noticed an improvement in the clamping force over the previous band type of solution Fanatec has been using. It looks to be backwards compatible with other CSL Elite
wheels. There is still some flex in the connection to the wheelbase shaft when I applied as much force as I could. But not as much as before. Most of the flex we see here is from the the
injection molded plastic housing on the back of the wheel. I really like this new quick release solution. I can only hope that fanatec will be implementing a similar solution to their ClubSport
and Podium quick release systems in the near future. This wheel should be available for order starting on September the 4th. At a price of 200.00 dollars.