Magnetic shifters on a CSL Universal Hub V2

Well.. I jumped on the mag shifters wagon and it’s nice ;)

Pictures are now vs before.

Probably many of you would argue that is not worth it to mod the CSL Universal Hub V2.

It’s a fair point, build quality is more similar to gaming controllers than hi-end sim wheels, but it’s reasonably priced and versatile. My plan is to buy F1 and GT3 wheels at some point and I’m not interested in upgrading my round wheel to a more fancy hub.

My only complaint with it has always been the shifting, which is toyish. I wanted a mod that blended perfectly with the product and without additional parts visible from outside.

SimMakerZ shifters looked great and I pulled the trigger. The guy is nice and answered the emails quickly. He shipped everything on time.

Installation requires to open a couple of plastic panels. While it was easy to me I would not say is super beginner friendly. The hub is not made for replacing the shifters and that’s clear. Not a fault of SimMakerZ.

I have to say the result is very satisfying. Crisp and clear shifting. Everything works perfectly. I added a tiny bit of silicon grease at the sides of the carbon plates to make them smoother and more silent.

I have no complaints but if you are looking to also mod the hub you should know that: - shifting is going to be considerably more noisy; - these magnets are very strong and, while shifting, the plastic ‘button boxes’ flex around 1 mm during the action. It’s not a big deal and I don’t think anything will be damaged on the long term, but it’s clear Fanatec designed the hub for dealing with the soft springs of the shifters.

On the pro side, the carbon paddles are very very nice and makes everything look more serious.