Fanatec Reveal New Bentley Podium Racing Wheel

This certainly isn’t the first time that Fanatec have revealed a sim racing wheel which can also be used in a real-world race car. Fanatec previously announced the BMW GT3 wheel, which you can check out here.

This time around, it’s an announcement which features British car manufacturer Bentley.

Fanatec’s newest racing wheel has been developed in partnership with Bentley, and therefor will be used in their Pikes Peak race car, as well as being fully compatible with sim racing.

In fact, if you happen to own a Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak race car… You could use the exact same wheel in your race car and connected to a Fanatec wheel base to run some practice laps in Assetto Corsa.

What is the Fanatec Bentley GT3 Steering Wheel

This extraordinary looking racing wheel is a fully Fanatec compatible sim racing wheel, which can be used across the whole of the current Fanatec Podium range. This means it should be compatible with the DD1, DD2 and CSL DD wheel bases, although we haven’t had confirmation of this just yet.

The wheel itself is a carbon fibre masterpiece, which features a large 3.4″ round display which acts as the heart of this wheel.

The carbon fibre itself features a lovely Bentley-esque green weave, and the wheel is finished in real Alcantara®. The quick-release that is attached to the Fanatec Bentley GT3 wheel, is the new QR2. This will allow it to be compatible with Fanatec’s latest wheel bases.

The stunning LCD screen

Let’s talk about that screen, as it does dominate a lot of this wheel. The screen itself is 3.4″ in diameter, and acts as the heart of the wheel. You can use it to display live game telemetry, along with other in-game features.

It is an LCD screen, and is heavily linked to the four rotary encoders which surround it. The encoders themselves are CNC-machined aluminium and can be used to change in-game settings such as traction control, brake bias etc.

---

Other features

As well as the mighty screen, the QR2 quick-release and the Alcantara® grips are a host of usual Fanatec goodies, including a host of rev lights across the top of the wheel.

There are a host of snap-dome buttons across the top of the wheel which allow you to toggle certain in-game functions. These are all cleverly positioned to be accessible with your thumb while driving. These buttons all feature backlit LED lighting to be easily visible in all conditions.

There’s two 7-way FunkySwitch™ sticks which serve as directional joysticks as well as extra encoders. Then there is also two thumb encoders as well as magnetic shifters and a dual-clutch which sits just below the main shifters.

The shifters themselves are a fully-integrated varient of the ever-popular Podium Advanced Paddle Module which normally retails alone for
€179.95.

And if you want to really delve in to the Pikes Peak experience, you can look at the optional lower handle. This is designed to address the issue of the tight hairpins at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb course. It gives the driver an extra grip to help maneuver the car around tighter corners.

---

A fancy clock

If you want to marvel in the beauty of the Fanatec Bentley GT3 wheel even when you aren’t driving in the simulator. Then you can set the wheel up as a fancy desk or wall clock.

The wheel comes packaged with a detachable stand, which allows you to display the wheel on a desk. Then once connected via a USB cable, you can set the wheel to act as a clock, which mirrors the traditional in-car clock found in the Bentley Continental GT road car.

---

How much and where to buy

Fanatec have kept the price and release date of this Bentley GT3 steering wheel close to their chests, and haven’t actually revealed them yet.

However, you can check out all of the official details about this wheel by visiting the official Fanatec webstore.

---

Watch the reveal video

---

Official spec list

• Officially licensed Bentley product
• Comfortable 310mm diameter wheel with Alcantara® grips
• 5 mm-thick carbon fibre plate with custom green weave
• Magnesium alloy core for maximum stiffness and weight saving
• Exchangeable quick release (QR2) allows for use with real Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak race car and compatible Fanatec wheel bases
• Unique digital, circular display in centre of wheel to show telemetry and other features
  • 3.4” 800 x 800 px RGB vertical stripe LCD
  • Forged carbon bezel
  • Four CNC-machined aluminium rotary encoders
• Eight snap-dome buttons with 900 g activation force
• Backlit button surrounds
• Two 7-way FunkySwitch™ directional sticks with encoder functionality
• Two aluminium thumb wheels with optical encoders
• Nine RGB RevLEDs
• Six RGB FlagLEDs
• Paddle design based on the Bentley Continental GT shift paddles
• Four magnetic paddles, two for gear shifting, two for additional functions
• Two analogue clutch paddles using contactless Hall sensors
• Dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 microprocessor @800Mhz
• Aluminium, USB-powered desk/wall mount (included) activates the display to show:
  • Analogue clock function
  • Preloaded telemetry replays of famous laps
• Integrated USB-C port for firmware updates (cable included)
• Sticker set with 50 labels included
• Interchangeable button caps (compatible with the Button Cap and Sticker Set)
• Weight – 1900 g (approx.)
• Robust travel case included