I wrote this back in 2006 after just getting the
Saitek Pedals. They are still going strong no issues at all.:
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Having just bought a set of
Saitek pedals I thought my initial impressions might be of some intrest. I compare them here with CH Pedals and Thrustmaster Elites with Hall mod.
CONSTRUCTION
Construction. Good quality throughout. There are some "Footrest" bits that go on the trailing edge of the base behind each pedal. Probably a good idea to fit these for added stability. Bottom of the entire unit is totally flat. A grip mat is essential. With a slice of Anti slip mat thrown on the carpet pedals are rock steady.
The pedals are well made as robust as either CH or TM pedals.
Construction .... 8/10
ERGONOMICS
Pedal separation is greater than CH pedals and just a little less than Thrustmaster Elites or RCS. Feels good. Pedal travel is about the same as in CH pedals maybe a shade more. Brake pedal deflection angles are less than CH pedals feels better.
Ergonomics..... 8/10
INSTALTION.
Pretty straight forward but does not give you a choice of folder. Also installs a bunch of unkwown
Saitek stuff like "Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse". I would like more control here.
Instaltion....... 4/10
PEDAL CALIBRATION
Worked okay straight up. Dead zone setup is clever as it allows for a neutral dead zone and dead zones at the extrmities.
Calibration..... 9/10
PEDAL SIZE ADJUSTMENT
Unless you drink Thalidamide regularly or have a club foot there is only one practical setting .. As big as you can get. The adjustment is easy, These pedals are begging for a steel Luftwaffe Pedal insert... seems pretty straight forward to do.
TENSION ADJUSTMENT
Works on a ratchet system. Can easily be operated by using your feet on the ratchet knob. For me there is only one setting Max tension. Personally I would like to be able to tighten it up more than you can. The ratchtet settings allow Micro adjustments but this imo is a complete waste of time. I think all that was really needed was perhaps 3 settings. At the minimum setting the tension is similar to the standard CH slack tension. At the maximum tension setting its about 80% the tension of the standard TM Elite pedal tension. A nice attempt at a neat feature but not quite there.
Tension adjustment ..... 6/10
HARDWARE CONFIG
When installed the pedals will take up a new ID so some dabbling of the
HOTAS section of the FB setup is required. Pretty straight forward took about 2 mins. Since they take up a seperate ID you wont see them in the FB stick slider screen. So use the IL2 sticks utility which will pick them up straight away. Its a better tool imo anyway.
Saitek SST PROGRAMMING
For a newbie to SST compared with Cougar and CH programming it is pretty difficult. The Bands logic for the toe brakes beggars belief. The lack of any refrence to the rudder pedals in the SST documention on the CD is inexcuseable.
SST useability for a newbie ...2/10
FB IN GAME
The rudder portion works flawlessly. Control is precise. The increased pedal separation and spring tension makes them clearly superior to the CH pedals.
Accuracy is as good (if not better) than Hall modded TM Elites.
On attempting to set the Toe brakes as Brakes as
HOTAS controls in the FB settings screen resulted in brakes being locked on. I guess I will need to do this in the
Saitek SST software.
so FB use .... 9/10
OVERALL
So far I am very happy with the product. They are much better than the CH pedals. They work well with CH stick and throttle setup