TorqSmith

Tune your Fanatec wheel base from a Mac.

TorqSmith reads and writes the tuning menu of CSL DD, GT DD Pro and ClubSport DD bases over USB. No Windows PC, no Fanatec software, no reaching around the wheel to change a value.

Download for macOS Fund firmware updates

Free and open source. Version 0.1.0, macOS 13 or later. Verified on a GT DD Pro; every write is read back from the base before it is shown as done.

GT DD Pro with GT DD Pro Steering Wheel PC mode
  • SETC
  • SENAUT
  • FF100
  • FFSPEA
  • NDP70
  • NFR35
  • NIN5
  • INT3
  • FEI100
  • FOR100
  • SPR100
  • DPR100

Read from the base 40 ms ago. Change a value and TorqSmith writes it, reads the menu again, and shows what the base actually stored.

What it does today

The settings half of Fanatec's Windows app, on a Mac, talking straight to the base.

  • Every tuning parameter: steering angle, force feedback, damper, friction, inertia, interpolation, effect strengths, brake level indicator, brake force, paddle mode.
  • All five advanced sets and the standard A and C sets, with the standard and advanced menus switchable from the app.
  • Presets you can save, apply, import and export. Four come built in, including Fanatec's factory defaults and two well-known Gran Turismo 7 setups.
  • Base and steering wheel identification, the same report the official software uses.
  • A USB reset that re-enumerates the base without touching the cable, for when it stops answering.
  • A warning when you are editing set A, which Fanatec reserves for games that push their own values and which reloads defaults at every boot.

Not yet: LED and display customisation, pedal and shifter calibration, and firmware updates. The first two are in progress. Firmware is the part that needs your help.

Firmware updates without a Windows PC

If you race on a PlayStation and own a Mac, updating your base today means borrowing a Windows laptop. Fanatec says so in every release note.

Making that work on a Mac means recording exactly what the Windows updater sends over USB, working out the base's bootloader protocol, and rebuilding it carefully enough that a failed flash is recoverable. That is weeks of work and a Windows machine bought for the purpose.

$20 or more, once

Early supporter

  • Firmware updating on your Mac the moment it is ready, before anyone else.
  • Your name in the app's supporter list, if you want it there.
  • The settings app stays free for everyone, supporter or not.
Become an early supporter

Checkout opens shortly; until then the button emails us and we send you the Stripe link. Payments go to CueArcade Series LLC. When firmware updating ships, it will sell for $30 on its own.

Setup

Works with the base in PC mode, plugged straight into the Mac. Your settings stay on the base, so switch back to PlayStation mode and go race.

Requirements

  • macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
  • A CSL DD, GT DD Pro, ClubSport DD or ClubSport DD+ base. Podium DD1 and DD2 should work and are untested.
  • The USB cable from the base into the Mac itself, not a hub or dock.

Opening it the first time

This build is not yet signed with an Apple Developer ID, so macOS will refuse to open it once. It is a four-step, one-time thing:

  1. Move TorqSmith to your Applications folder and double-click it. macOS says it cannot verify the app. Click Done.
  2. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and scroll to the bottom.
  3. Click Open Anyway next to TorqSmith and confirm.
  4. From then on it opens like any other app.

Prefer Terminal? xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/TorqSmith.app does the same. The download's SHA-256 is published next to it: TorqSmith-0.1.0.zip.sha256.

Questions

Can it damage my base?

The tuning menu is the same set of values you change on the wheel itself. TorqSmith reads the whole menu before it writes, changes one value, and reads it back to confirm. It never touches firmware, and the factory reset is behind a confirmation. The worst case is a value you did not want, which you can change again.

Do the settings survive switching to PlayStation mode, or a power cycle?

Yes, when you write them to set C or one of the five advanced sets. We tested that with cold power cycles, unplugging the base each time. Set A is different: Fanatec calls it Auto Setup, games such as Gran Turismo 7 control it, and it reloads defaults on boot. TorqSmith warns you when you are on set A.

Does it need the base in PC mode?

Yes. The base only exposes its configuration interface in PC mode, the red light. Press the mode button to switch, use TorqSmith, then switch back. Nothing you changed is lost.

Which bases are supported?

Verified on a GT DD Pro. The CSL DD, ClubSport DD and ClubSport DD+ share the same USB identity and protocol, so they should behave identically; tell us if yours does not. Podium DD1 and DD2 speak a close variant. Older belt-driven bases are not supported yet.

Is it open source?

Yes. The library, the command-line tool and the app will be published on GitHub under a permissive licence with the first tagged release, together with our notes on the protocol. The firmware update feature will be a separate, paid component.

Is this a Fanatec product?

No. TorqSmith is made by CueArcade Series LLC and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by Fanatec or Corsair. Fanatec, CSL DD, GT DD Pro, ClubSport and Podium are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to say which hardware the app works with.