Fanatec have just announced a brand new Podium Steering Wheel, the Podium Steering Wheel BMW M4 GT3, in collaboration with BMW Motorsport, and this one is particularly interesting!
According to Fanatec and BMW, this 310mm diameter wheel has been co-developed for both real and virtual racing, with the real units used for GT3 racing coming off the same production line as the units available for purchase from Fanatec.
Identical in every way, the wheel is built to BMW Motorsport’s requirements and is water resistant and shockproof, using Forged Carbon, and even features a CANBUS communication interface.
During BMW Motorsport SIM Racing’s live stream they showed the wheel being disconnected from the hub of a real life BMW M4 GT3 and connected to a sim rig with full functionality.
The wheel also features magnetic paddles (as you would expect for a PODIUM designated product from Fanatec, along with colour-adjustable and dimmable RGB LED-Backlit buttons, custom designed 12-step thumb encoders with Hall sensors and Dual-action (push/pull) magnetic shifter paddles.
According to Fanatec, the new Podium Steering Wheel BMW M4 GT3 will be available in Q2 of 2021.
Perhaps even more interesting is the new “QR2” Quick Release system. Details on this are limited right now, but we will of course do our best to get our hands on one ASAP to review for you.
Features
- Official BMW Motorsport product
- Multi-layer (8 layers) full carbon fibre body
- Meets rigorous environmental condition specifications for shock and vibration, IP65 rating (dust and water resistance)
- RGB LED-backlit front buttons (colour-adjustable and dimmable, interchangeable caps)
- Customisable via FanaLab
- Two custom-designed, 12-step thumb encoders with Hall sensors
- Dual-action (push/pull) magnetic shifter paddles
- Fanatec QR2: all-new quick release allows operation in the 2022 BMW M4 GT3 race car
- Communicates with 2022 BMW M4 GT3 via CAN bus
- 310 mm diameter
- Designed and developed in Bavaria by Fanatec and BMW Motorsport
- Rubber hand grips molded over carbon fibre structure
- 14 push buttons (12 front-facing, 2 rear-facing) with 700 g activation force
- 1” OLED display
- Three backlit 12-position rotary switches with encoder functionality
- 4-way D-pad under the BMW logo
- Two dual-Hall sensor clutch paddles
- New-generation firmware, upgradeable via integrated USB-C port
- Compatible with Windows PC
- Compatible with all PS4 and PS5 systems when connected to a PlayStation-licensed wheel base
- 1400 g (approx)
Check out our recommendations from the current Fanatec product range in our Fanatec 2020 Buyer’s Guide….
