In the world of sim racing hardware, we are actually used to groundbreaking new features being reserved for the latest and most expensive flagships. Anyone who wants to feel the newest technology usually has to open their wallet wide. But at its recent Spring Showcase, Fanatec dropped a bombshell that genuinely surprised us at SimUltimate in a very positive way. The Landshut-based company is bringing its highly praised FullForce system to two Wheel Bases that have been considered the absolute price-performance kings in the entry-level segment for years: the CSL DD and its PlayStation counterpart, the Gran Turismo DD Pro.
Until now, this haptic protocol was strictly tied to the significantly more expensive ClubSport DD and ClubSport DD+ models. The fact that a base which, at its core, is already three years old and, with 5 or 8 Newton metres, boxes in a completely different weight class, is now inheriting this modern signal processing is a strong signal to the community. It shows that the hardware built into the CSL series has significantly more reserves than many of us originally thought.
What exactly is FullForce?
To understand the hype, we need to briefly look at how Force Feedback traditionally works. Normally, the game calculates physical forces at the steering column, meaning the resistance of the tyres, the weight of the car and hard impacts from curbs, and sends these signals to the motor of your Wheel Base, often heavily filtered. FullForce breaks away from this old standard. It is a protocol developed specifically for the latency-free response of Direct Drive systems, which merges highly precise, high-frequency vibration signals with the central Force Feedback signal. So instead of only simulating heavy steering resistance, the technology directly accesses the game physics or even audio sources of the simulation.
Your steering wheel is thereby transformed into a kind of acoustic-haptic speaker. You feel the fine hum of the engine, the exact texture of the asphalt, hard gear changes or the onset of the rev limiter. The highlight: if your CSL DD is firmly mounted to a stable aluminium profile rig, these fine vibrations can transfer through the entire frame and literally bring your static cockpit to life.
This is exactly where the massive driving advantage lies, which we at SimUltimate emphasise again and again. You feel the sudden loss of tyre grip, Wheel Slip, milliseconds earlier, before the chassis visually breaks out on the monitor. But for this early warning system to work and not disappear into pure chaos, the right setup is absolutely essential. Using iRacing, the pioneer of this technology, as an example, it becomes clear how to do it properly. iRacing controls FullForce via the “Wheel LFE” options, Low-Frequency Effects. You set the overall strength directly in the Fanatec tuning menu of your steering wheel under the abbreviation “FUL”.
The biggest mistake you can make now is simply turning all sliders in the game up to maximum. This leads to signal clipping, where the fine nuances are completely lost. We strongly recommend leaving constant and very dynamic channels such as engine vibration at zero and even reducing road texture significantly into the negative range, for example to ‑25 dB. Why? Because constant road vibration would completely mask the truly vital peaks, such as wheel slip, curb rattling or the hard engagement of gear shifts. If you mix the system cleverly, FullForce turns from a pure immersion gimmick into your strongest weapon for consistent lap times.
The unvarnished truth: The games have to play along
Despite all the excitement about the free update, we also have to provide honest expectation management at this point. FullForce is not magic that suddenly transforms every old racing game. In order for your base to output these high-frequency signals, the respective game developer must have natively integrated the FullForce protocol into their code.
The good news is that the major players are already doing excellent work here. If you use iRacing, Gran Turismo 7, Assetto Corsa EVO or Project Motor Racing, you will experience a completely new driving feel from 16 June onwards. However, if you drive older titles that do not support this API, your Force Feedback will remain exactly as it was before the update. The technology in your base is then ready, but the software also has to feed it with the right data.
We often and gladly criticise manufacturers when hardware is made artificially obsolete too quickly. All the more, we have to praise Fanatec for this step. Upgrading a proven, affordable Direct Drive Base after years via software, as they recently already did for the ClubSport DD and DD+ Wheel Bases, and giving it a premium feature is fantastic for the entire sim racing ecosystem.
So mark your calendar with a big red reminder. On 16 June, you should fire up your PC or console, open the Fanatec App and download the firmware update. We guarantee that afterwards you will see your CSL DD with completely new eyes, and above all, hands.
