CSL Elite Racing wheel compatibility with both PS4 and Xbox?

[m4t3y]

Hello racing fan fellas,

after the Win10 creator update making my old Logitech Formula Force EX useless in all games (even now in Dirt Rally which I played before the creator update and it worked perfectly there) I have decided to finally purchase a new wheel. I don't play too often so although looking at new wheel for quite some time I decided now it finally has come the time to buy.

I decided on Fantec CSL Elite but getting a bit confused about the compatibility with consoles. Currently I play on PC only, but I always loved playing forza series at my friends place and actually was thinking of buying Xbox just for racing games about two years ago when there were not many good racing titles on PC. Then the Project CARS came up and I have participated in the WMD program to enjoy some good racing on PC so my need for Xbox has been a bit eradicated. Of course we had rFactor and other Simbin games, but I wanted something more fun to mess about in like you can with crazy Forza Motorsport customizing options and not just pure sim.

So my preferred console compatibility gotta be the Xbox, but since MS is starting to push the Xbox titles on Windows 10 it might not be actually needed in future. I do not need to always have the latest title available and can have fun playing older titles as MS keeps making them available on PC platform too. So in that sense I might not need the Xbox compatibility and might in future purchase PS4 (or the next one) if I feel in need for new racing titles.

Of course I would want to have the option to be able to use the wheel on all 3 platforms if I ever feel like doing that. If I understand it correctly the CSL Elite should be able to do that.

In the Fanatec CSL Elite Wheel For The PS4 video review from The Simpit they say the PS4 version of the Elite wheel can be made Xbox compatible with the use of Xbox compatible wheel.



The CSL Steering Wheel P1 says compatible with PC/Xbox/PS4 and they do not sell one version for PS4 and one for Xbox, so I don't really understand what is the difference between:

CSL Elite PS4™ Starter Kit for PC and PS4 (Model: B-CSL E RWPS4EP for 519 EUR)
and
CSL Elite Wheel Starter Pack for Xbox One & PC (Model: B-CSL E EPP1X for 499 EUR)

both the packs look to me as the same CSL Elite Wheel Base with CSL Steering Wheel P1 and CSL Elite Pedals, the only difference is the logo on the steering wheel (and the PS4 has brushed aluminium plate on front istead of the mozaic plastic), but since the wheel is compatible with all 3 platform I don't understand what's really going on with these bundles. Is this just some marketing gimmick that Sony / MS do not want "their kit" to appear compatible with the competitor platform? Just some Sony licensing extra fee or the cost of the brushed aluminium plate? It all looks a bit unnecessarily confusing to me.

I don't want to rule out the compatibility because of 20 eur, so is my assumption that the PS4 bundle is actually compatible with all 3 platforms correct?

In the CSL Elite PS4™ Starter Kit for PC and PS4 description they say: Other platforms: Compatibilities to other platforms depend on the used steering wheel. For more information, please check the product page of the steering wheel you plan to use.

and since the wheel bundled is the CSL Steering Wheel P1 it seems to me that makes it also compatible to Xbox.



They even state all 3 platforms in the CSL Elite PS4™ Starter Kit for PC and PS4 description but don't say if the steering wheel in the bundle already fullfills that requirement for Xbox compatible steering wheel:


Imho it should:



Can someone knowledgeable please explain to me the details of this? Are actually both packs compatible with all 3 platforms and it's all just marketing gimmick or are the wheels in the bundles "programmed" to only work with one console even though the steering wheel offered standalone supports both? The bundle price advantage is not really much so should I just buy the standalone parts?

thx

 

[m4t3y]

so I exchanged few emails with Fanatec and sadly it is not possible to order the parts I need individually.

For those who want to know the details:
The PS4 compatibility is built-in the wheel base (the PS4 CSL Elite base is not the same base as the Xbox/PC base, it has additional Sony chip inside). Currently that base is only being sold in the PS4 bundle and cannot be purchased alone. As of now Sony doesn't allow Fanatec to sell it alone, just in the PS4 bundle. Might be possible later, but not know when or if it really will be possible.

The Xbox One compatibility is built-in the CSL P1 Steering wheel and connecting it to any compatible base will result in the whole setup being Xbox compatible.


BUT the problem is that the P1 steering wheel in the PS4 bundle is not the same P1 steering wheel as they sell standalone and it does not have the MS chip inside.
So althought "PS4 base with Sony chip + standalaone P1 steering wheel with MS chip = one base and one wheel supporting all 3 platforms" you cannot buy that combo now. If you want the PS4 support you must have the PS4 base which only comes with the non-Xbox compatible dumbed-down version of the P1 wheel. So you will need to purchase the standalone P1 wheel as well, or some other Xbox compatible wheel that will add the Xbox compatibility to your PC/PS4 base.

Kinda sucks having to spend money on a dumbed down version of the P1 wheel. I suspect it's Sony to blame here as I don't think it would make sense for Fanatec to complicate the manufacturing process by creating 2 versions of the same wheel, one with MS chip and one without.