Last updated: November 18th, 2022
Every year I try to predict what Black Friday deals Fanatec might make available to us. Historically, there’s always a lot of conjecture about what they might try to discount. If you can’t wait or you don’t have much faith that there will be much on sale this year, you could try taking a look at our guide to finding discounts on the Fanatec website.
Update: 18th November 2022 – the deals are in:
ClubSport Pedals V3 Inverted – €/$399.95
ClubSport Pedals V3 – €/$299.95
Podium Wheel Base DD2 – €/$1199.95
CSL DD Boost Kit 180 – 30% off
10% Off Any Fanatec Wheel – See All Wheels Here
There are some wheel bundles with upto 30% off too!
Black Friday Deals 2022
Every year there’s always some sort of Black Friday sales on the Fanatec website. Every year, the website goes down, so moving early is usually well advised.
If you’re in the market for some Fanatec equipment this year, will it be worth the wait?
What happened last year?
Otherwise, here’s what last year brought us:
Fanatec CSL Steering Wheel P1 V2 – €99.95 / €119.95 (check prices)
Fanatec Steering Wheel R300 – €199.95 / €299.90
CSL Load Cell Kit – €119.95 / €139.95
CSL Pedals Tuning Kit *new – €34.95
What’s interesting about offers in previous years was this: they were all product lines that were (unknown to us at the time) due to be mothballed. Most of us ordinary sim racers didn’t know this at the time, but in late 2021 Fanatec was planning to launch their brand new budget direct drive wheelbase, the CSL DD. Shortly before the CSL DD launch, items went out of stock and, you know the rest.
PSA: If you want a CSL DD, don’t hold your breath
This is a reasonably educated guess and I might be wrong. But, I’m pretty confident in saying If you want to buy Fanatec a CSL DD or a Gran Turismo CSL DD (for the Playstation) on Black Friday, don’t hold your breath. The product (and its Playstation licenced brethren)
As you probably realize, I’m a Fanatec partner via their affiliate program. Shortly before the CSL DD launch, they wrote to us to let us know that the commission from sales of the CSL DD would be approximately half that of all of their other product range. Citing, if I recall correctly, lower margins on their budget range.
If the typical Black Friday discount is 20% (which it was in 2021, so it’s likely to be similar in 2022), there’s no chance they’ll turn a profit enough to warrant a discount on those items
Further, they’re almost always out of stock on their big-ticket items leaving (I suspect) shoppers to look at the alternatives (which we’ll be covering in a blog post shortly).
So, what will be in the sale?
1. DD2 wheelbases and bundles
Again, this is pure conjecture. I think we’ll see a Black Friday sale on the DD2 wheelbase lines, in particular the Podium Racing Wheel F1®.
The DD1 and DD2 designs are almost 5 years old. In sim racing terms, that’s quite an age. Fanatec has seen its competitive landscape change massively in that time. There’s a good chance that the original direct drive product sales are being cannibalized by orders for the CSL DD, and, if that’s the case Fanatec might be working on an upgraded high-end wheelbase to compete with the likes of the Simucube. Let’s remember that Fanatec is an ecosystem provider – and they’ll certainly be feeling the pinch on their sales owing to competition from a far broader supplier landscape than we’ve ever had before in sim racing.
I suspect that they’ll limit orders of any discounted wheels and wheelbases just like last year – 2000 units.
2. Steering wheels
If you head over to the Fanatec steering wheel category you’ll notice that their new BMW M4 steering wheel is on pre-order and won’t be shipping until February 2023! Generally, Fanatec stock levels have been allowing eBay sellers to inflate their used prices to more than RRP in some cases. On that note if you’re looking for a deal I’d guess that the less expensive, in-stock products are good candidates for a Black Friday offer:
I think items from the CSL range such as the CSL Elite Steering Wheel WRC, and the excellent and very inexpensive McLaren GT3 wheel might appear in the sale too.
3. RennSport Cockpit V2
The RennSport Cockpit has been around for a while but you never really see it mentioned all that much. With the dominance of 8020 profile sim racing rigs (read our guide here) I’m not all that surprised. It’s too expensive compared to other, far cheaper, and stiffer alternatives.
I strongly suspect that in a similar vein to the budget approach to pricing the CSL DD, there’s a new Fanatec cockpit coming in 2023. And, if that’s the case – the RennSport V2 will be made obsolete. Potentially then, a clearance bargain opportunity awaits.
4. Pedals
Fanatec has run with the CSL Elite Pedals for a long time. The Load Cell version is now unavailable leaving the less desirable but perfectly adequate CSL Elite pedals looking a little lonely on their pedals category page.
Do Fanatec offer coupon codes for a discount?
No, Fanatec do not offer any sort of coupon vouchers for a discount:
You’ll find a few websites trying to encourage you to click their links to earn an affiliate commission. That’s OK provided they’ve disclosed the nature of the link (like we do) but you won’t get a discount just because you’ve seen a “deal” on someone’s website. Click carefully.
With that said it’s possible to find discounted items on the website before they announce anything. Follow this guide and, if you’re quick and savvy enough, you might get to the deals before anyone else.
How to survive Fanatec’s Black Friday
So many people complained last year about site downtime. The site was down a lot during the CSL DD launch. Expect the Fanatec website to be down! I suppose if you’re that focused on picking up a bargain then set your calendar for around midday CET on Friday, 25 November.
Watch the Fanatec forum for announcements and adjust your calendars appropriately.
If you’re hoping to buy a CSL DD on Black Friday, then you already know my opinion – I don’t expect to see them opening a sale price on that unit. You’re already cutting it fine for Christmas and *even if* Fanatec opens up a sale for their latest product, the saving at best will be 20EUR. Ask yourself if it’s worth the risk!
Will Fanatec even have a Black Friday in 2022? Who knows, although we think they probably will.
Whatever you decide to do, all the best of luck – I’ll update this page as more information comes in as we approach November.
