Fanatec has two new wheel bases, the ClubSport DD and DD+. What's the difference and which should you buy? In this guide, I compare both wheel bases to see which is right for you.
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While both the ClubSport DD and DD+ look almost identical apart from the coloured ring at the rear of the wheel base, they are actually pretty different. The ClubSport DD is a PC and Xbox-compatible direct drive racing wheel, while the ClubSport DD+ adds PlayStation compatibility to the mix. The ClubSport DD+ also increases the peak torque from 12N m to 15Nm, and with that comes a significant increase in the price.
Fanatec has made a pretty big splash with the reveal of two new direct drive wheel bases. These were first available to test and view at the ADAC Sim Racing Expo 2023. And we took this opportunity to take a closer look at the ClubSport DD.
Shortly after their original announcement of the ClubSport DD wheel base, Fanatec revealed a second wheel base. The ClubSport DD+ is the PlayStation-compatible version of the CS DD. This is great news as we had to wait a good while after the release of the CSL DD before we learned about the PlayStation-compatible DD GT Pro.
In this guide, I’m going to look at both these wheel bases in more detail and I’ll compare the differences. Hopefully, this will give you all the info to decide which, if either, is the better option.
Pre-order your Fanatec ClubSport DD today.
Let’s start by taking a quick look at both wheel bases and what they offer. These new wheel bases are designed to sit between the lower-powered CSL DD and GT DD Pro, and the premium DD1 and DD2. The ClubSport DD offers 12Nm of peak torque while the ClubSport DD+ offers 15Nm.
To put that in perspective I wanted to outline Fanatec’s new product offering. You can see from the table below that Fanatec now has a pretty good range of racing wheels offering a wide array of force feedback performance.
| Wheel Base | Strength | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CSL DD | 5Nm | €349.95 |
| GT DD Pro | 8Nm | €599.95 |
| CSL DD + Boost Kit | 8Nm | €449.95 |
| ClubSport DD | 12Nm | €699.95 |
| ClubSport DD+ | 15Nm | €999.95 |
| DD1 | 20Nm | €1,199.95 |
| DD2 | 25Nm | €1,499.95 |
While Fanatec was once missing a mid-range racing wheel, the ClubSport DD really fills this space. There is no longer a huge gap between the 8Nm GT DD Pro and the 20Nm DD1. There is now a much more progressive jump between each racing wheel.
However, one observation from looking at Fanatec’s whole racing wheel lineup is the price difference between the ClubSport DD, DD+ and DD1. There is a big jump between the CS DD and DD+ of €300. For this extra cost, you get PS5 compatibility and 3Nm of extra performance.
However, for just an increase of €100 on top of the price of the ClubSport DD+, you can jump up another 5Nm to the DD1 wheel base. The pricing of the ClubSport DD+ just seems a little steep in comparison to the two wheel bases directly around it.
With Fanatec announcing this new wheel base shortly after announcing the brand new QR2 quick release, it is no surprise that all ClubSport DD wheel bases will ship with the QR2 base-side adapter installed.
This means that if you don’t already have a Fanatec QR2, you will need to purchase a wheel-side QR2 adapter to use the ClubSport DD. However, if you want to stick with the QR1 architecture, there will be a QR1 adapter released at a later stage of 2023.
This adapter will allow sim racers who don’t want to upgrade to the QR2 system the flexibility to continue using a QR1 quick release with the ClubSport DD and DD+.
So let’s now take a more detailed look at the differences between the ClubSport DD and ClubSport DD+ wheel bases. The first big difference that you’ll notice is the rather large price increase.
The ClubSport DD+ costs a whopping €300 more than the ClubSport DD. For that price increase, you get an extra 3Nm of performance and added PlayStation compatibility. Whether this price increase is really justified for these features is really down to personal circumstances.
We can compare this to the difference between the CSL DD and GT DD Pro. The base CSL DD wheel base is Xbox and PC compatible, much like the ClubSport DD. The GT DD Pro is the PS5-compatible version, and it also increases the power by 3Nm over the 5Nm CSL DD.
The price difference between the 5Nm CSL DD and the 8Nm GT DD Pro is €250. This puts the price of the ClubSport DD+ into better perspective and shows that Fanatec is consistent with their price differences between PC and PlayStation wheels.
A big part of the price increase is due to the extra performance that the ClubSport DD+ offers. It increases the already respectable 12Nm of peak torque on offer from the ClubSport DD up to 15Nm. This is a 3Nm gain in the favour of the ClubSport DD+.
With 15Nm of peak torque, the ClubSport DD+ has the almost perfect amount of performance for my personal sweet spot. At this level, you have the flexibility to lower the performance if required, but enough headroom to ensure you won’t outgrow this wheel base.
Aside from the increase in peak torque, the rest of the force feedback is almost identical. Both wheel bases use the same internal architecture to generate force feedback. This includes the class-leading slew rate leading to lightning-fast response times.
Both wheel bases will benefit from what Fanatec are calling FullForce and force feedback 2.0. This refers to the new range of high-frequency vibrations that this new ClubSport DD wheel base can create.
Fanatec is generating these new vibrations at a frequency of 16000Hz which will make the force feedback feel more immersive than ever.
The final big difference between these two direct drive racing wheels is compatibility. The ClubSport DD is a PC-compatible racing wheel.
You can open up Xbox compatibility with the CS DD when using an Xbox-compatible steering wheel. With the ClubSport DD, you cannot use it with any PlayStation console.
The ClubSport DD+ is the PlayStation-compatible version. If you race on a PS5, your only option out of the two is the ClubSport DD+. You can also use the CS DD+ with both PC and Xbox as well, making it the only racing wheel out of the two which is compatible across all three major platforms.
With the added compatibility and increase in performance, it is no surprise that the ClubSport DD+ is the more expensive wheel of the two. They may look almost identical but don’t let that fool you.
The ClubSport DD costs €699.95 / $699.95 / ¥92,900 / $1299.95 AUS.
In comparison, the Fanatec ClubSport DD+ costs €999.95 / $999.95 / ¥133,600 / $1649.95 AUS.
The increase in price between the ClubSport DD and DD+ is significant, a jump of €300. For that price increase, you get the added PlayStation compatibility and the increased performance.
Whether this is worth the €300 price increase is a decision for you to consider. Although, if you’re a PlayStation sim racer and you fancy buying this new Fanatec wheel base, you don’t have much choice.
We know for certain that the Fanatec ClubSport DD will be released on the 7th November 2023. This is the date when the first batch of deliveries will be shipped. You can currently pre-order the ClubSport DD to ensure you get your order in before Fanatec runs out of stock.
What we don’t currently know is when the ClubSport DD+ will be released. Currently, Fanatec has just stated that this PlayStation wheel base will release before the end of 2023. But they haven’t specified when exactly.
The ClubSport DD+ isn’t even available to pre-order on Fanatec’s website. I’ll update this article as soon as it becomes available.
Below are links to the Fanatec web store for the new ClubSport DD. I’ll add links to the DD+ when it becomes available to pre-order.
You can use the links below to shop for your favourite sim racing products, or for any products that we may have recommended. These links are affiliate links, and will earn us a small commission, with no additional cost for you.
Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com
View all articles written by Rich
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