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Fanatec CSR racing combo (photos)

We compare the new Fanatec CSR racing wheel, pedals, and shifter to the older Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo combo.

Antuan Goodwin
Antuan Goodwin gained his automotive knowledge the old fashioned way, by turning wrenches in a driveway and picking up speeding tickets. From drivetrain tech and electrification to car audio installs and cabin tech, if it's on wheels, Antuan is knowledgeable.
Antuan Goodwin
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1 of 17 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Fanatec CSR wheel

The new Fanatec CSR wheel features an aluminum face, but the rim is mostly plastic.
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2 of 17 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Fanatec CSR wheel

Forza Motorsport iconography marks this wheel's compatibility with the Xbox 360 game, but this wheel can also be used with PCs, Macs, and the Playstation 3.
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3 of 17 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Fanatec CSR wheel

The unit's strong force feedback motors are housed in the glossy black body.
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4 of 17 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo wheel

The older Porsche 911 Turbo wheel featured inferior buttons, but I liked that the entire wheel was wrapped in a soft faux-leather.
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5 of 17 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Fanatec CSR wheel

The CSR wheel's buttons are laid out intuitively and fall nicely under the thumb.
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6 of 17 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo wheel

The older wheel's buttons are plasticky and are forced into odd positions by the Porsche wheel's design.
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Fanatec CSR wheel

Both wheels feature LED displays where wheel performance parameters can be adjusted on-the-fly.
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Fanatec CSR wheel

The wheel connects wirelessly to the Xbox 360 console in the same manner as any other controller.
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Fanatec CSR wheel

Beefy aluminum paddle shifters feel like they could take a beating.
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Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo wheel

The older wheel's paddles are just small metal tabs and don't travel very far when pressed.
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Fanatec CSR shifters

The CSR shifter set ships with both an H-pattern (left) and a sequential (right) shifter.
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Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo shifter

The old H-pattern shifter was my least favorite part of the combo. The new units don't improve tremendously.
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Fanatec CSR shifter

Users attach the shifters to the body of the wheel on this two-rail mounting system. When shifting quickly, this whole assembly can rotate quite a bit, contributing to the inaccuracy of the shifter.
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14 of 17 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo pedals

If I had to upgrade any one component of my old system, it would be the pedal set.
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Fanatec CSR Elite pedals

The CSR Elite pedals were a treat to use and represent the single biggest jump in quality over my old pedals.
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Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo pedals

The old pedal set looks like a toy when compared to the Elite.
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Fanatec CSR Elite pedals

The heavy CSR Elite pedal set stood its ground even when pressed with my full strength. I also liked that each pedal could be adjusted and repositioned with simple hand tools.

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