Operation Sports:

Fanatec Speedster 3 ForceShock: Take the Wheel!

By Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor, OperationSports.com

Sure, you already know that Forza Motorsport™ is the world's best and most realistic driving simulator—and it's only on the Xbox® video game system. But did you know there was a way to make your driving experiences even more realistic? There is, and like the famed Nürburgring that demands the finest performance from cars and drivers alike, it comes from Germany. The equipment in question comes from Fanatec, a company that touts its products as "Advanced German Gameware."

Turn a few hot laps with Fanatec's new Speedster 3 ForceShock wheel-and-pedal setup, and you'll know this is no idle boast. The Speedster 3 ForceShock is durable, flexible, and highly customizable, and it performs like a champ.

While the pedals and their base are plastic, they're quite sturdy and responsive, providing just enough "give" on the gas and brake so they feel completely natural. While driving with the pedals is obviously the best and most realistic way to go, Fanatec understood that not all gamers have the space necessary to use them often, and wisely made the system usable without the pedals attached. The pedal set plugs into the wheel itself, and since it doesn't need its own power source, so you can simply stow the pedals at your convenience.

The wheel is ingeniously designed. The pedals plug into it, as I mentioned, as does the AC adapter for the unit's power. A standard Xbox controller cord runs from the wheel to your Xbox unit. The cable is extra-long and includes an inline release for safety. A clamp can be snapped into the bottom of the base for easy table mounting, but the unit also has two contoured "legs" that snap out from the side and make it easy to drive with the wheel resting comfortably on your lap. On the right side of the wheel's base are two memory card slots. These provide easy access for both memory cards and your Xbox Live™ Communicator. After all, what good is it to breeze through Forza's tracks online if you can't hear the other drivers describe the custom paint job on your rear bumper?

On the face of the wheel is the control panel for the unit. Each of the Xbox controller's six face buttons are easily within thumb's reach, and two additional buttons representing the "clickable" analog sticks are nested there, as well. In the center of the wheel is a D-Pad, the Start and Back buttons (another nice touch: there's another Start button where the engine ignition switch would be in a real race car), along with two of the buttons that make the Speedster 3 ForceShock so special: the Setup and Tuning buttons.

The unit comes fully configured for three of the most popular Xbox racing titles, Forza Motorsport (which will recognize the Speedster 3 ForceShock immediately and re-map the buttons accordingly), ToCA Race Driver 2 and Need for Speed™ Underground, along with another "blank" memory slot for users to configure for their own games and preferences. The three pre-configured settings can be modified or replaced entirely at the user's discretion, and all four setting can be quickly toggled through with the Setup button.

Two Formula One-styled shifter paddles rest on the steering column. They are programmable and can be easily mapped to any button on the Xbox controller, ensuring that the Speedster 3 ForceShock is compatible with any driving game you can imagine.

Fanatec keeps an updated list of recommended settings on its Web site, along with recommendations on how to re-map the shifter paddles to best effect when necessary.

Here's a quick list of what can be tuned on the wheel to change its performance. The changes can be so dramatic that it's almost hard to believe the same wheel handles this many different games so capably—so be judicious when changing them.

• Dead Zone: Thirteen different settings. The Dead Zone can be reduced or increased, depending on how much "play" you want from the wheel before your car reacts to it.
• Sensitivity: Six different settings. This setting changes how much your car reacts to movement in the wheel.
• Force Effects: Four different settings. This determines when force effects are triggered: Do you want to feel the car against the road, or only the shaking of the wheel when you scrape a wall?
• Force Filter: Five different settings. This works in conjunction with the Force Effects setting to ensure that you only feel vibration when and how you want to.
• Vibration: Four different settings. This setting minimizes or maximizes the vibration/force effects that come through the wheel.
• Steering Resistance: Four different settings. This adjusts the "springiness" of the wheel—how hard it fights you through high-speed turns and movement.

All the tuning changes you make are saved on the wheel, even after it's been unplugged! Any unwanted changes can easily be reset to default by holding down the Tuning button for 10 seconds.

All of this design and construction combines to create a flexible yet sturdy and reliable package that serious Xbox racers should rush out and add to their collections. Simply put, the Fanatec Speedster 3 ForceShock will make you a better driver at all your favorite games—and you'll have a lot more fun in the process, too!

As for me, I'm off to take my Speedster 3 ForceShock on another 200-mile-per-hour tour around Forza Motorsport's Road Atlanta. See you on the track!

Comments about this article?