Fanatec has announced a price cut on their direct drive wheels as part of their Ready2Race bundles. Do these bundle that include a direct drive wheel base, steering wheel and pedals represent the best value in sim racing right now?
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Fanatec does sell a direct drive bundle for under $/€400. Their CSL DD Ready2Race bundle comes in at just $/€399.85. This is thanks to a price cut on the CSL DD wheel base when purchased as part of a Ready to Race bundle. This is pretty crazy value when you consider a CSL DD alone normally costs $/€349.95.
Fanatec has given their small direct drive wheel bases a pretty big push thanks to a hefty price reduction. Fanatec has lowered the price of the CSL DD when purchased as part of a bundle that includes a steering wheel and pedal set.
These price reductions make purchasing a Fanatec direct drive racing wheel as affordable as they’ve ever been. But are there any catches to these budget-friendly sim racing bundles? And are there any better alternatives?
In this guide, I’m going to look at whether Fanatec’s Ready to Race bundles represent true value, as well as how much you can save with these new Fanatec price cuts. And finally, which Ready to Race bundle is the best one to pick up.
Before I go any further, I thought the best place to start is by outlining what Fanatec’s Ready to Race or Ready2Race bundles are. Fanatec has sold various sim racing bundles in the past, so how are the Ready to Race bundles different?
While Fanatec has sold bundles such as the GT DD Pro bundles when that wheel base launched. And the Podium F1 bundle which paired a wheel base and steering wheel together. These bundles have been few and far between.
Normally, you have to buy Fanatec products individually of each other. While you can create your own configuration on their website, the products are normally always full price when checking out.
Fanatec has curated a selection of different bundles to make the whole buying journey easier, as well as cheaper. Their Ready to Race product range includes a series of different bundles, with each one including a steering wheel, a direct drive wheel base and a set of pedals.
You can now browse these bundles to quickly find which products are compatible with each other. And you can purchase them as one complete product bundle.
Each Ready to Race bundle includes a different combination of wheel base, steering wheel and pedals. Some premium bundles feature upgraded pedals and more premium steering wheels.
Other bundles focus more on providing value for sim racers by offering their more budget-friendly products together. And the great news is that most of these bundles include discounts that reduce the price compared to purchasing individually!
The easiest way to show how much Fanatec has reduced prices is to compare a Ready2Race bundle to the cost of purchasing the same products individually.
Below is a price comparison of the CSL DD Ready2Race McLaren Bundle with each product individually. You can see from this comparison that the Ready to Race bundle offers a saving of €150.
| Product | Individual Price | Ready2Race Price |
|---|---|---|
| CSL DD 5Nm wheel base | €349.95 | €199.95 |
| McLaren GT3 V2 wheel | €199.95 | €199.95 |
| CSL pedals | €79.95 | €79.95 |
| Total | €629.85 | €479.85 |
This saving is due to a promotion that Fanatec is currently running at the time of writing this guide. Fanatec is currently selling the CSL DD for just €199.95 when purchased with any steering wheel and pedal set.
This promotion is available on any combination of a wheel base, steering wheel and pedal set, and it isn’t restricted to the Ready to Race bundles.
If you fancy a more premium setup that includes a load cell pedal set and the more powerful 8Nm CSL DD wheel base, you can still save money. Below is an example of a premium Ready to Race bundle compared to the individual prices.
| Product | Individual Price | Ready2Race Price |
|---|---|---|
| CSL DD 8Nm wheel base | €499.95 | €299.90 |
| McLaren GT3 V2 wheel | €199.95 | €199.95 |
| CSL Elite Pedals V2 | €299.95 | €299.95 |
| Total | €999.85 | €799.80 |
You can see in this example, that upgrading the bundle configuration to include the 8Nm CSL DD wheel base represents even bigger savings. This is because Fanatec is also currently selling the Boost Kit (which is required to increase CSL DD strength to 8Nm) at a reduced price when bought with the CSL DD wheel base.
This Ready to Race bundle comes in at €200 cheaper than the normal price of buying each part of the bundle individually.
Below is a current list of every Fanatec Ready to Race bundle. These include both 5Nm and 8Nm variants of each wheel base to give you a full comparison of prices. While the GT DD Pro is an older bundle and not technically a Ready to Race bundle, Fanatec do still categorise it with their Ready to Race products.
Above you can see every single Ready to Race bundle along with how each one differs in price. This gives a very quick and good sample of the rough prices of each bundle. Deciding on which bundle is best comes down to your own budget.
Choosing between the CSL DD Ready2Race 5Nm Bundle or the 8Nm bundle is one of the biggest questions.
The 8Nm version of the CSL DD is far superior with a much higher ceiling for performance. The force feedback is stronger allowing you to really customise it to your exact requirements for each car you drive.
You can also feel much finer details in the track surface which can sometimes be too subtle with the 5Nm wheel base. For these reasons, I’d always recommend opting for the 8Nm CSL DD if your budget allows it.
The second big choice is whether you should upgrade to a load cell brake pedal. The standard 2-pedal CSL pedals are fine. They feature contactless hall effect sensors to translate your pedal movements into in-game pressure.
However, a load cell brake pedal allows for a much more realistic feeling under braking which can lead to much better consistency throughout a lap. It also turns the pedal set into a full 3-pedal set with a clutch.
The Best F1 24 Racing WheelsI would recommend opting for the load cell brake pedal if possible. And if your budget only allows for one upgrade, I would choose to upgrade the brake pedal before you upgrade the wheel base to 8Nm.
The last real decision to make is which steering wheel to choose. There is a wide variety of steering wheels from circular wheel rims to formula-style steering wheels and even branded wheels such as the McLaren and Nascar wheels.
Which wheel you choose is completely down to personal preference more so than finding extra performance. It is worth noting that choosing an Xbox-compatible steering wheel is required to use the Fanatec CSL DD wheel base with an Xbox console.
These Xbox-compatible steering wheels include the McLaren GT3 V2 wheel, the Nascar steering wheel and the Forza steering wheel. All other wheels in the Ready to Race section don’t offer Xbox compatibility.
The Ready to Race bundles that Fanatec have introduced offer a nice user-friendly way of showcasing a variety of different product bundles. This makes the whole purchasing experience much easier.
The fact that each of the Ready to Race bundles also offers a good saving of over €/$150 in most cases is a great incentive.
Buying a direct drive Fanatec wheel base in the past used to set you back over €350. Now, you can buy a complete sim racing bundle for just a little more than this. That is great value and makes sim racing even more accessible which is always a good thing.
View all of Fanatec’s Ready to Race bundles here.
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 co-founder, and one of the main F1 setup creators and content writers 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.
View all articles written by Rich
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