Last year I wrote about building a PC for Project Cars … which is very good. Although I found it harder to initially get to grips with than Forza 6 I think it does feel more realistic … but some of the spins are just impossible to catch, for which I’ll happily blame the game. Couldn’t possibly be me. Well, ok, it could but I do think it’s slightly too eager to spin you round.
I finished the case a couple of months after blogging but hadn’t completely finished the project. And I still haven’t. But at least I’ve finally hooked up the reset switch. Hurrah!
The Fanatec wheel I have is epic though. I’ve got the same old pedals now mated to a CSW v2 and XBox One hub adorned by a Momo racing wheel with a gearstick for decoration (well not purely decoration: I use it occasionally but simply for entertainment value as I’m hopeless racing with it!).
The force feedback is excellent: smooth, yes, but it’s the strength that really gets you. Several users suggest starting with a low strength and work your way up. I cranked it up to 100% without an hour or so and it hasn’t moved away from there since … unless there are kids around who want a go (and they pretty much all do 
) - at 100% you can feel you’ve been playing after a couple of hours.
I tend to play in batches: sometimes not at all for several weeks, then most nights for a couple of weeks. This is in part because evening time is pretty crammed these days with necessary pain and a small increase in squash playing… But I’ve also tended to play Forza 6 more often than Project Cars. The social aspect adds another dimension: proper competition. The challenge of hot-lapping slightly faster than your XBox friends never goes away The fact that I’m quickest (amongst friends … at least the last time I looked 
) at my local track, Brands Hatch, is highly pleasing. Let’s agree there are no other tracks.
A Rift has been on order for a month or so. Project Cars is apparently intense with it. Hurrah! For delivery in August 
They say patience is a virtue … it’s gonna have to be!
Sadly the wheel base threw in the towel about 90 seconds into me having a crack at Top Gear’s Nurburgring GP time in a LaFerrari: an ominous smell of burning plastic was followed by no force feedback and a forced end to the session. Bugger. A quick support ticket with Fanatec and they’re raising an RMA so I can send it back for repair. I’m hoping it won’t take too long … in the meantime there may be a sneaky little fly with Elite Dangerous or Real Flight! Can’t quite justify a HOTAS setup though…
The wooden case has pretty much been a success. Access is reasonably easy with its tool-free hinged lid. Although getting access to the shiny bits could be easier. If I ever make another one I wouldn’t follow exactly the same design. Cooling is perfect though (although it does make the lair rather hot after a couple of hours) and it’s relatively quiet (unnoticeable whilst racing but you wouldn’t watch to watch a film with it going).
The power button took a lot of effort but I think it was worth it given an Aston Martin isn’t even on the horizon right now so this is the closest I’ll get to one Prize to the first commenter to state correctly what I used.