The Victoria Sponge is a good example of a typical cake. It’s simple and understated, but delicious nonetheless and ideal if you’ve never tried cake before...(Bear with me, here.)
The Fanatec CSL Elite V2s are a good example of a typical pedal set. They’re a bit generic, but they are a safe entry into the world of load cell brakes that can take you from beginner all the way through to advanced level sim racing.
Let’s take a look into the Victoria Sponge of sim racing pedals, the CSL Elite V2’s.
Note: Using the links below to travel to Fanatec's site helps support my videos and reviews at no added cost to you. If after watching/reading my review you've made a decision on whether to buy or not, using them will be much appreciated.
First up, a quick round-up of the key points in this review:
Materials and build are better than the site photos would suggest. It looks fresh and grown-up.
The brake pedal is very much a typical example of a load cell brake. Nothing unusual or quirky, just a tried and tested layout.
The included tuning kit for the brake pedal is a big bonus. It’s super quick and easy to swap the different grade bushings/springs in and out, making experimentation simple.
The throttle is fairly light with no adjustment, so if you can’t stand light throttle pedals then bear this in mind.
The clutch is also quite light with no bite point simulation, so if you’re all about manual gearboxes and real world driving then these won’t be the ideal pedals for you.
The 100 euro gap between the CSL Elite V2s and the CSL Pedals is clear to see - the Elites do almost everything better and are well worth the extra.
The 100 euro or so gap between the Elite V2s and the Clubsport V3s is primarily in the clutch pedal. If you absolutely need a good clutch pedal then the V3s would be the better option, otherwise the Elite V2’s get all the other jobs done.
Overall, I consider these pedals to be a good, safe choice for you if you’re stepping in or stepping up your sim racing gear. In mine and many others eyes these are the best value pedals out of the current Fanatec three. The simple clutch is the only major dealbreaker working against it.
Overview
The CSL Elite V2 pedals are available in one variety only; 3 pedals, no optional accessories, this is it! Very simple and straightforward when buying, but also when explaining this product to others. There’s no ‘Oh, did you get the damper kit or performance kit? Is the tuning kit worth it?’ - none of that. They also arrive in a huge box, but at least they come 95% assembled and ready to go.
They are constructed from cast aluminium with a powder coated finish that has a bristly graphite-like effect that I’ve never seen anywhere else. These are probably the stealthiest and most understated looking pedals I’ve seen so far. The build seems stocky and reassuring, nothing looks too skinny in any one area. The pedal faces come with rubber shoes that are removable and refittable, which changes how sticky/grippy the pedals feel under your feet. The pedal faces are completely sock friendly, so whether you’re driving with or without shoes you should get along with it just fine.
Mounting is done via through-holes at the front and back, offering plenty of potential contact points with wide compatibility with any known-brand cockpit. You can also move the pedals horizontally to a limited degree, though it’s not a 5 minute job (It could potentially take up to 30-45 minutes!)
In terms of ergonomics and scale, the V2's are what I would describe as full adult-sized. When compared to Logitech pedals you’ll see what I mean by that. Point here is that this is not toy-sized.
The clutch and throttle are fairly simplistic to look at because all the business is done at the pivot point. That’s where the springs and hall sensors (contactless sensors) are, so there is nothing interesting to look at or on display, merely the rubber backstops which very successfully dampen the noise of the pedals when you put them to the floor - this is a nice quiet pedal set as a result of that noise dampening.
The brake features a typical load cell layout, using a stack comprising of 1 preload spring and 3 rubber bushings, with the load cell sensor at the bottom of the whole assembly. This style of load cell is what I would describe as tried and tested, not reinventing the wheel or trying to be flashy, it’s about as direct and simple as a load cell can be and this is a good thing - there are so many pedals nowadays that aim to stand out by experimenting with the formula and doing something quirky, that’s not the case here.
The load cell is rated to 90kg, which is plenty. This covers just about everyone’s potential needs - bar the absolute top professionals with specific needs - and should provide some headroom for progress too. I use shoes to sim race, which typically allows for stronger brake pressing, and I only have my brake pedal set to 50% force, so I’d have bags more capacity to use if I wanted to.
These V2’s come with a tuning kit featuring a stiffer preload spring and 2 sets of bushings with different hardnesses to the prefitted set. The inclusion of this kit had a big impact on my opinion of these pedals instantly. The cheaper CSL Pedals have nothing like this included or even available to buy from official channels despite badly needing them, and although the more expensive Clubsport V3 pedals have a brake tuning kit available, it'll costs 20 euros extra despite almost everyone agreeing that it's a virtually mandatory purchase given how much improvement it brings.
This is right on the bullseye, providing a brake tuning kit as standard that is also very simple to change - this is something that many brands, including Fanatec, would usually sell separately for additional cost - including them in the price makes a pedal set immediately more recommendable, allow people to customise to taste without feeling like they’re being taken for a few extra quid. Some would say it’s a bit out of character for Fanatec considering the sort of accessories they do charge separately for.
It takes a mere minute to swap the springs and bushings around, it’s super easy.
Driving Impressions
Up to this point, my impression of the pedals has been one of simplistic, straightforward design, but how do they drive? You’ll be spending a lot more time stomping on them than looking at them, so this is really the important bit.
The throttle pedal is a little bit on the light side, at least for me personally, but as there are no adjustment options for that I have to adjust myself and to be fair I do get over it, pretty quickly. It is however nice and smooth with that rubber backstop firmly cushioning the noise and feel at the end. It may be a little lightly sprung, but it doesn’t feel hollow or harsh.
The clutch pedal is much the same but with a slightly stronger spring load, however it is too light to be even close to realistic with no attempt to replicate a bite point so in this regard this is a very basic clutch pedal, it would need to be at least double to triple the resistance to resemble anything like a realistic clutch pressure. For this reason, if a good clutch pedal is an absolute must for you, you won’t find it here and that could be a deal-breaker.
The brake pedal is clearly where the focus lies for the Elites. For the purposes of sim racing, a good quality brake is always the most important asset of a pedal set and I judge the quality of a brake pedal by the amount of time it takes to mentally calibrate myself to it. That is something made quicker and easier when a brake is well constructed and well set up from factory. In that respect it took next to no time to feel right at home with it, this is just a very good representation of a typical load cell brake and the full size proportions of the pedal set itself mean it feels far from a toy.
A brake tuning manual is provided to give you some indication of what you’re looking at and how to go about swapping the spring and bush elements, it’s thankfully very simple to do. After some testing I’ve settled on the blue spring with the 85 hardness bushings, which gives me a bit of a preload squish followed by a firm stack underneath for the holding pressure.
Although you get a respectably varied tuning kit, you won’t be able to customise or fine tune the character of the brake all that much besides overall stiffness. If I could have my way, I would love to have a bit more of a preload stage so the pedal travels further before engaging a hard main stage, but that’s because my braking foot has developed over years and I have a strong idea of what I like, but I clearly remember that I started that path on a brake pedal that felt just like this.
If you’re just exploring load cell brakes, getting used to them, honing your senses, then knowing that what you’re using is well representative of a load cell brake is all you need to worry about, and in that respect it’s not really possible to put the CSL Elite V2’s in a configuration outside of that broad, safe middle ground. That’s what makes these pedals pretty good for you if you’re anywhere from beginner to early advanced, you can tweak them but you can’t accidentally put them into the gutter, the lane barriers are up.
Overall the driving feel of these pedals is familiar, I had no issues absorbing myself into the car and getting into my groove, and it’s easy to dial in a good foot feel on the brake. I’m not comparing myself to Usain Bolt, but if you give him a pair of running shoes and he says they work fine, then you know you’re OK to start your training in them.
Considerations
With the CSL Elite V2 being the middle child in a family of three, it’s worthwhile going over some basic comparisons between these, the cheaper CSL Pedals and the more expensive Clubsport V3’s.
You can adjust the horizontal position of the pedals on the CSLs and Elites, not on the clubsports, not without third party mods anyway.
You can’t adjust the pedal faces at all on the Elites, whereas you can on the Clubsports and also on the CSL’s to a minor degree. I don’t expect this to be a problem for many people at all because they are well proportioned and pretty universally appealing.
You can’t adjust the throttle or clutch stiffness on the Elites or CSLs, whereas you can on the Clubsports with their included optional springs.
You don’t get any pedal vibration motors on the Elites or CSLs whereas you do on the clubsports, they’re an unusual thing to have anyway but the Clubsports nonetheless do have them, even if they’re only small.
The clutch pedal on the Clubsports is vastly superior to the Elites and CSLs, so if you are an enjoyer of things with manual gearboxes then this is a very important distinction and a potential dealbreaker.
A brake tuning kit is included in the cost of the Elites, but come as an added cost for the Clubsports and none are available for the CSLs unless you turn to third party mods
Now if you look at this table, the CSLs seem to be nearly as capable as the CSL Elites, so why pay more? In truth, the CSLs feel relatively like the CSL Elites but with all the comfort taken away - by this I mean the CSLs feel quite cold and harsh to use compared to the Elites. They’re louder, worse to look at and the lack of a brake tuning kit means you just have to deal with what you’re given in terms of brake stiffness, and a lot of people report the CSL brake is too stiff and I completely agree. If the Elites are within your budget then the extra 100 euros is well worthwhile in my opinion.
Conclusion
When I judge sim racing gear that occupies the lower to mid level, one of my top considerations is to ask myself: "If this was the first piece of kit you came into contact with, would it give you a good impression of sim racing as a whole and would it be a good partner for you as you progress from interested to obsessed?"
The Elite V2s are a good ambassador. They’re simple, look great, built well and perform perfectly well under my feet, so I would be comfortable recommending them for those either picking their first setup and wanting to come in strong, or to those looking to step up to something mid level with a solid load cell brake and of better proportions. It’s a shame it doesn’t have a convincing clutch, for that's the only real weakness and the only thing that gives away the CSL Elite name.
These pedals should look after you for a long time and give you a comfortable, standard experience. That’s not the most exciting way to describe anything, but it’s the truth, and they don’t seem to mind that at all.
Got an opinion, experience or comment to make? Go drop it over on the Youtube video!
Links to Buy: