Fanatec Podium DD2 Review

The overall build quality of the DD2 is typical Fanatec style. It’s presents itself as a very polished piece of Sim racing hardware. With features that some other wheelbases don’t have. The main one that sticks out to me is the front OLED panel display. Here the user can get live real time information on the status of certain wheel functions. Like motor data, temp info and fan speed, system info, and my personal favorite FFB torque output in real time. Very handy indeed. With cooling air drawn in from the front of the motor case and expelled out of the back, I never even
heard the fan running. With a peak torque rating of 25Nm this unit requires a large power supply to keep it happy. I do like that the power supply has its own fan for cooling duties. The E-stop button is a nice add on for this wheelbase. Being able to turn the wheelbase on and off with its included power button feature is a welcome addition. I found it interesting that the E-stop button
actually powers down the motor instead of disabling the motors torque like most other DD motor solutions. I like how solid the wheelbase quick release assembly felt here. I did have to tighten
the M6 bolts on the locking collar on my sample to eliminate the wheel losing its center point when driving. Something that you should not have to do on a new wheelbase, but easy enough to fix. Now because the this assembly is so stiff with no flex, it did cause attention to be drawn to the not new issue of the flex in the wheel side quick release that is used on most all Fanatec wheels, Universal hub, and upcoming Podium hub. Even with the expanding rubber ring cinched down as tight as I could get it, and using the fixing bolt, there was still some visible flex in that area. I would love to see Fanatec come out with an adapter that would connect directly to the  DD2’s motor shaft like the current wheelbase side quick release unit does. With a 70mm PCD bolt pattern in a plate that would allow users to attach their own quick release solution. This would allow us to squeeze the last bit of force feedback fidelity that the DD2 has to offer. Speaking
of which, the driving experience with the DD2 is quite good. It has all the power that most any Sim racer would ever want I think. With the overall driving experience to be just as good as other
newer direct drive solutions I have tried to date. And now we have the new Fanalab tuning software to make dialing in your preferred Force feedback feeling a rather easy thing to do. I was able to get my DD2 setup where I really didn’t want more adjustments that are not already available using Fanalab. Of course not every feature was available on the 1.08 beta version that I was
using. But this is early days for Fanalab and am sure it will be tweaked a lot as it matures. Just like other direct drive wheel tuning software that’s available from other vendors has. Really looking forward to seeing how this application improves moving forward. Overall I really like the DD2 wheelbase. I couldn’t find anything to complain about when it comes to driving with it. No obvious
bad habits were detected. I wasn’t sure how a direct drive motor using an out runner design would function in this role. But I’m happy to say it does this job quite well.