F.A.Q. Z-Ring For Fanatec Podium DD1/DD2 (US/UK/FR)

 

Z-RING F.A.Q. EN FRANCAIS

Z-RING ENGLISH F.A.Q.


Salut à tous,

j’ai reçu des questions concernant le Z-Ring mod pour le Fanatec Podium DD1/DD2 (voir mon article sur mon dev blog pour plus d’info ) et malheureusement je ne peux pas répondre à chacun la même choses donc j’ouvre cette FAQ et je vais m’efforcer d’y répondre ici, si vous en avez d’autres n’hésitez pas à remplir le formulaire ICI.

Cheers,
z
Info sur le Z-Ring:
voir mon article sur mon dev blog pour plus d’info sur le Z-Ring Mod

Lire les questions&réponses sur le Z-Ring en Français:

Z-RING F.A.Q. EN FRANCAIS

 


Hi,
I received some questions about the Z-Ring mod for the Fanatec Podium DD1 / DD2 (see my article on my dev blog for more info) and unfortunately I can’t answer to each person the same things so I open this FAQ and I will try to answer them all here, feel free to fill out the form HERE if you have any other question.
Cheers,
z
The Z-Ring Info:
see my article on my dev blog for more infoRead the ENGLISH FAQ:

Z-RING ENGLISH F.A.Q.

 

UPDATED: Podium DD1 And DD2 QR Issue The Z-Ring Solution

NEW VERSION 15 of the Z-ring


Z-Ring version 14 and 15
2019-2020 On an original idea by Zappadoc – EKSIMRacing.org

The Z-Ring increases the stability of you Fanatec rim loaded onto the Fanatec Podium DD1/DD2 QR system WITHOUT THE NEED TO USE THE LOCKING SCREW which is much more convenient when you have more than one wheel and want to change it quickly and that’s also the big interest of a QR system. Your rim feel more sturdy to get a better ffb feedback.

LICENSE:
License under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Abstract:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

Read the terms & conditions of uses here (English):

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Lire les conditions d’utilisations ici (Français):

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.fr

3D PRINT THE Z-RING:

Files: z_ring_v14b or z_ring_v15

Lock Nut M27x1.5 mm STL 3D file for version 15

Filament: PETG 1.75mm (Black or Gray Sunlu or Real)

Nozzle: 0.2

Resolution: 0.1800 (layer height)
Infill: 100%
(better than infill at 100% set “bottom Solid Layer” at 120 (the part contains 115 layers)

Rafts: No
Supports: needed for version 15 only

Extruder: 240° first layer; 235° during 3 layers; then 230° until finish
Bed: 80°

DOWNLOAD THE 3D STL FILE:

License under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Z-Ring v15zring_zappadoc.zip

Changelog:

v14a 08/26/2019: first release to general public

v14b 08/30/2019: a little bit smaller channel for the internal QR guide bracket

v14b 10/22/2019: 2 versions of the Z-Ring 3D stl available, standard and 1mm deeper

v15 03/20/2020: short heel and a recess bottom to make room for a lock nut (see installation for more information). This allows a complete stability of the QR even in the event of repeated big vibrations.

INSTALLATION:

(the operation is totally safe and reversible)

Changing_QR_DD2-Manual-EN PDF Page 16

– follow the Podium manual (page 16) to remove the QR System


– unload the metal locking ring and the pressure ring (put the pressure ring in safe place we no longer using it)


– to be able to remove easily big black rubber (put the black rubber in safe place we no longer using it), the big rubber is the main cause of the flex of your rim.

VERSION 15

– insert the Z-Ring (see the image)
– load the locking ring (IN REVERSE for version 14 only)
– follow again the Podium manual to put back the QR system
– Tighten the big locking ring over the Z-Ring
VERSION 15 Only: Tighten a lock nut (M27x1.5) to block the QR

once installed and when changing the rim on the Podium base you have nothing to do other than remove the current rim and put the new rim.

It is therefore more stable (no lateral flex anymore) but also faster when changing rim.

That’s it!

if you find the z-ring useful please feel free to share your thoughts (EKSIMRacing “Contact Us” form). Thank you.

Cheers,
z

Z-Ring Podium QR Mod Review By Sim Racing Garage:

Published on Sep 5, 2019


Attention, the big locking ring in video is not reversed be sure to load it on the QR shaft in reverse
(see the installation above)

Great Article From Richard Baxter

(Richard seems to use the old v14 with reversed locking wheel and not the v15 which have a recessed hole on back to allow the the big locking wheel to be inserted inside the z-ring for even more stability, we recommend to use the latest v15)

We still hope Fanatec is going to create a new shaft for the Podium like the one below:

Disclaimer

Disclaimer for all information related to the Z-Ring

Neither zappadoc.com nor any of its providers of information shall have any liability for the accuracy of the information contained in the Service, or for delays or omissions therein. None of the foregoing parties shall be liable for any third-party claims or losses of any nature, including, but not limited to, lost profits, punitive or consequential damages.
The information provided within these pages is not guaranteed to be accurate, nor does the management take responsibility for it. The information comes from other sources and therefore may be wholly unreliable, and the management does not guarantee its suitability for any purpose.
Although the information contained herein may be completely useless, all rights are retained by their respective owners, including, but not limited to, the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, and the right of passage.
zappadoc.com specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Codematers F1 2019 Plugins Are Available For Download!

 

Codematers F1 2019 Plugins are available For SLIMax Mgr Pro, SLIMax Fanatec Edition and MotionMax FREX 6DOF! (2019-06-26)

CHANGELOG 2019-06-26

– plugins for Codemasters F1 2019 added

37 SLIMax setup added for Modern F1 2019, Classic F1 and F2 car. This is a good base to create your own custom setups.

– Fanatec F1 Shiftlights with DRS feedback, methods #8 and #9 are now available
(In Modern F1 car steering wheel DRS/ERS/KERS feedback are on first green LEDs)

To get the latest Plugins for SLIMax (v3.4.6 must be already installed),
run the manager and select menu « Check For Update… »
and then click the « Download And Install All » button

DO NOT FORGET TO ACTIVATE THE PLUGIN after the update.
Cheers,
z

 

 

UPDATED: SLIMax Manager Pro and SLIMax Fanatec Edition Updated Today!

 

SLIMax Manager Pro and SLIMax Fanatec Edition Updated Today!

CHANGELOG 2019-06-06:

– compiled with the new Fanatec SDK v3.9

Good News! The FLAG LED of Fanatec Formula V2 on CSW Base v2.0 are now fully supported! in addition to all newer wheel bases (CSW V2.5, Podium DD Series, CSL Elite v1.1 ).

ATTENTION: The latest driver v336 + latest Base v2.0 Firmware v656+ is required to enjoy all features of your Fanatec Formula V2 steering wheel with the CSW Base v2.0. This new driver is available on Beta Driver area of Fanatec website

To get the latest Plugins/Software for SLIMax Manager,
run the manager and select menu « Check For Update… »
and then click the « Download And Install All  » button

 

UPDATED: Unfortunately we found an issue without workaround yet with latest driver/firmware of CSW Base v2: the OLED Display of the Fanatec Formula V2 rim on CSW Base v2 not working properly and stays blank under some circumstance, the OLED of the McLaren rim on CSW Base v2 works fine…

 

NEW UPDATE TODAY: I found the bug, this is a performance issue of the combo CSW Base v2 + Formula V2 rim with latest driver/firmware v336 which needs more CPU cycles to refresh the OLED display correctly. The previous driver/firmware v335 on this combo works fine (but without FLAG LED obviously).

 

 

WORKAROUND: if you downgrade your Base v2 to driver v335 with previous wheel base firmware OLED will work again but the LEDs are not working with apps compiled with latest Fanatec SDK v3.9 like the latest SLIMax Manager!

 

if the OLED display of your Formula v2 is important for you (more than the FLAG LED), then simply downgrade the driver and the firmware of your CSW Base v2 to v335 and download SLIMax Mgr Installer (which is compiled with previous version of Fanatec SDK v3.8) from EKSIMRacing website and obviously DO NOT UPDATE SLIMAX until Fanatec fix the problem.

We already reported the issue to Fanatec so they will fix it asap, hopefully.

A workaround has been added to SLIMax Manager (All Editions) and already deployed, Check For Update as usual to get the latest software.

 

Cheers,
z

DiRT Rally 2.0 FFB Patch, Fanatec Podium DD And Simucube DD

Hi,

Codemasters just released the most anticipated patch! so is theFFB fixed or not? Well I’m not going to reply to this question cause it depends on your driving skill level and obviously on your hardware.

For now, I’m just going to say FFB of latest DR2.0 build is now acceptable to PRO or serious sim racer if it’s associated with a 6DOF motion simulator (or a 3DOF+TL simulator) and obviously if it’s correctly setup. Alone, so without a motion simulator, the implementation of the FFB suffers from a huge lack of information. The default FFB game settings/preset of DR2 is really bad for direct drive, do not use it ever!

 

Device type and id consideration:

Read my post to fully activate the support of the Simucube DD to Dirt Rally 2.0, here.

For Fanatec install the High-Torque dongle.

Then be sure to add official=”false” in the corresponding line of your direct drive device to get access to all FFB parameters of DR2.

The line in input/devices/device_type.xml file should looks like this:

For Fanatec DD, be sure to set the SEN to AUTO and keep in mind the Fanatec DD full rotation is 1080° not 900°.

Run the game and select your direct drive device in the input settings and start to calibrate the steering wheel. Calibrating is important to enable the softlock in game.

During the calibration, when the game asking you to turn back the wheel at 90° simply turn gently the wheel until your reach the 900° (attention for Fanatec DD it’s 1080°).

Then go to FFB settings and set params using the values below. These params are a good base for quickly get started with the DD and can be tweaked to suit your needs.

The “self aligning torque” in game settings should not be decreased to much to get the perfect “weight” feeling of the steering wheel, decrease the FF value from the Fanatec wheel or in the Simucube settings instead if needed.

 

The 6DOF FREX motion platform with MotionMax 6DOF software complete nicely your experience and immersion. This is a “must have” with latest DiRT Rally 2.0 to get a complete driving feeling, a good balance between forces and movements to avoid exaggerations that “disconnect” you from the road and for a more natural driving.

 

 

The MotionMax DiRT Rally 2 profile is a very good base and should be used to get started, then I suggest to reduce the TL effect a bit and increase the smoother effect.

 

If you’ve more than one device and app to connect in UDP to your Codemasters game (or any other game using UDP network protocol) I suggest to use the Sim Racing Proxy Server (SRPS), it’s 100% free.
For example, sharing UDP communication from the game with the motion simulator and a device display or a virtual dash using SLIMax Mgr Pro and MotionMax apps is easy. Read the SRPS web page for more info, here.

Cheers,
z