Fanatec CSL Pedals review

The CSL Pedals are Fanatec's entry-level pedal set, sold for 99.95 euros: two pedals, throttle and brake, with two kits available to add a third.

The two pedals, the heel rest, a two-metre RJ12 cable, a Torx key, the screws that fix the pedals to the heel rest, spacers for bolting to a rig and spare rubber pads.

The construction is entirely metal, apart from the pedal faces, and the set is heavy. Without being fixed to a rig, that mass is enough to stop it sliding on a hard floor, which is not true of every pedal set at this price. The faces adjust in height and the pedals move sideways along the heel rest.

Both pedals use 12-bit contactless Hall sensors, so nothing rubs and nothing drifts over time.

The brake works with a spring, with a polyurethane foam damper to give progressive resistance. It is a position brake: it measures how far you press the pedal, not how hard you push. Yet pressure is what your foot controls well, which is why a load cell makes such a difference to late braking.

Fanatec sells two upgrades: a clutch kit for a third pedal, the cheaper of the two, and a load cell kit that replaces the brake and adds a USB port.

The pedal set plugs into a Fanatec base and has no USB connector. Without a base from the brand it does not work, unless you buy the ClubSport USB adapter, which in turn rules out console use.