iRacing

[Rusko187]

What's the cheapest way of falling down this rabbit hole? I had one of those Logitech steering wheels but it was so damn loud, are the Fanatec quieter? And is it a must to have a racing seat to begin with?

[Zear0]

The fanatec is quieter as its not belt driven and is just an electric motor with a steering wheel bolted to it. 

 

The main reason for the racing seats is that for higher torque wheels, clamping it to a desk just isn't strong enough.

 

I raced on a G920 for years and it was fine. Only worth upping to direct drives, and the costs, if you really like it. 

 

They're less known, but if DD is something for you, check out Moza. Less well known than Fanatec but good quality and less dear. 

[Trumpet]

15 hours ago, Zear0 said:

The fanatec is quieter as its not belt driven and is just an electric motor with a steering wheel bolted to it. 

 

The main reason for the racing seats is that for higher torque wheels, clamping it to a desk just isn't strong enough.

 

I raced on a G920 for years and it was fine. Only worth upping to direct drives, and the costs, if you really like it. 

 

They're less known, but if DD is something for you, check out Moza. Less well known than Fanatec but good quality and less dear. 

Yeah I echo all of this. I’d also add that a dedicated rig means your pedals and seating position are always the same, which can be important with being consistent. 
 

I have a T150 wheel, which is probably as entry level as you can get. I’m looking to upgrade, but it’s not going to give me as much as an advantage as my pedal upgrade did. Pedals are king for sim racing.

 

@Rusko187 what set up do you have at the moment, console / PC? If PC, what are your specs?

Edited 2 May by Trumpet

[Rusko187]

12 hours ago, Trumpet said:

Yeah I echo all of this. I’d also add that a dedicated rig means your pedals and seating position are always the same, which can be important with being consistent. 
 

I have a T150 wheel, which is probably as entry level as you can get. I’m looking to upgrade, but it’s not going to give me as much as an advantage as my pedal upgrade did. Pedals are king for sim racing.

 

@Rusko187 what set up do you have at the moment, console / PC? If PC, what are your specs?

I've got a Logitech G29 just hooked onto my desk.

Got a decent enough PC spec with a 3080 but processor/RAM is bottle necking that.. it's due a major upgrade in the next year or so. I have both PS5 and XSX.

 

Been looking at Direct Drive as I think it will be quieter and a Playseat Trophy. Happy to spend the money as I do like to play but it's a bit of a faff setting up/dismantling all the time hence reason why I want to move to a dedicated set up.

[Trumpet]

14 hours ago, Rusko187 said:

I've got a Logitech G29 just hooked onto my desk.

Got a decent enough PC spec with a 3080 but processor/RAM is bottle necking that.. it's due a major upgrade in the next year or so. I have both PS5 and XSX.

 

Been looking at Direct Drive as I think it will be quieter and a Playseat Trophy. Happy to spend the money as I do like to play but it's a bit of a faff setting up/dismantling all the time hence reason why I want to move to a dedicated set up.

I’d recommend sticking with the G29 whilst you’re getting started, but if it’s a matter of needing something quieter then you could definitely look to a new wheel that might give you that.

 

As I’ve mentioned, pedals are going to give you the edge, however the better the pedals, the more likely you are to need a dedicated rig.

 

My timeline looked a bit like this -

 

- T150 wheel hooked to desk for a month or so (2021)

 

- Bought dedicated aluminium profile Trak Racer rig with bucket seat and continued with t150 wheel and pedals for 6 months. Also bought a Quest 2 VR headset around this time - wouldn’t go back to screens now.

 

- Upgraded to HE Sprint pedals - took a while to get used to them but they were a massive upgrade on the plastic t150 pedals.

 

- Various PC upgrades over the years

[Zear0]

Similar to me.

 

Had a G920 that I bolted to my desk and used the normal pedals with carpet grip for months on end.

 

Decided the slipping pedals was a nightmare so purchased a Next Level Racing 2.0 stand to mount the G920 on.

 

When I knew I was into this stuff I got the CSL DD 8NM, CSL Elite Steering Wheel McLaren GT3 V2 and Fanatec Clubsport V3 pedals.  Quite soon after getting the CSL DD I realised how much better direct drive was but thought the 8Nm of torque wasn't enough to really get the immersion so picked up the DD2 from Fanatec.  As the DD2 is much more powerful my frame wouldn't work with it so bough the Sim Lab P1X frame.

 

Like @Trumpet, I swear by VR for iRacing and use a HP Reverb G2.  Currently in the process of selling my business and upgrading that will be the first thing I do!  Snap below of my little racing cave.  Headset sits nicely on a mount behind the desk that gets used for iRacing and DCS/Flight Sim when I have the time.

 

[Trumpet]

4 hours ago, Zear0 said:

Similar to me.

 

Had a G920 that I bolted to my desk and used the normal pedals with carpet grip for months on end.

 

Decided the slipping pedals was a nightmare so purchased a Next Level Racing 2.0 stand to mount the G920 on.

 

When I knew I was into this stuff I got the CSL DD 8NM, CSL Elite Steering Wheel McLaren GT3 V2 and Fanatec Clubsport V3 pedals.  Quite soon after getting the CSL DD I realised how much better direct drive was but thought the 8Nm of torque wasn't enough to really get the immersion so picked up the DD2 from Fanatec.  As the DD2 is much more powerful my frame wouldn't work with it so bough the Sim Lab P1X frame.

 

Like @Trumpet, I swear by VR for iRacing and use a HP Reverb G2.  Currently in the process of selling my business and upgrading that will be the first thing I do!  Snap below of my little racing cave.  Headset sits nicely on a mount behind the desk that gets used for iRacing and DCS/Flight Sim when I have the time.

 

This is important - there’s a larger second hand sim racing market and I’d guess the primary reason for it is people going all in on equipment early on, to then lose interest. 
 

There’s definitely value in starting out on cheaper gear, as you’ll appreciate the step up the better gear gives you.

[Rusko187]

Ok, going to stick with my G29, but will get a seat.

 

Been looking at the Playseat Trophy as a choice, originally seen the Playseat Evolution but tried sitting in that over the weekend and wasn't a fan. Think the Trophy is a good starting point?

[Trumpet]

2 hours ago, Rusko187 said:

Ok, going to stick with my G29, but will get a seat.

 

Been looking at the Playseat Trophy as a choice, originally seen the Playseat Evolution but tried sitting in that over the weekend and wasn't a fan. Think the Trophy is a good starting point?

If you’ve got the room for it then I’d recommend aluminium profile instead. I’ve only ever known playseats to fall apart over time.

 

I’ve got this, with the rally seat -

 

https://trakracer.co.uk/collections/simulators/products/tr80-lite-racing-simulator

 

Had it for 3 years and aside for the odd bolt needing tightening I’ve had no issues.

[Rusko187]

1 hour ago, Trumpet said:

If you’ve got the room for it then I’d recommend aluminium profile instead. I’ve only ever known playseats to fall apart over time.

 

I’ve got this, with the rally seat -

 

https://trakracer.co.uk/collections/simulators/products/tr80-lite-racing-simulator

 

Had it for 3 years and aside for the odd bolt needing tightening I’ve had no issues.

The only thing that puts me off is that the £499 price point they don't include the seat.. otherwise I'd have been all over that.

[Trumpet]

10 hours ago, Rusko187 said:

The only thing that puts me off is that the £499 price point they don't include the seat.. otherwise I'd have been all over that.

Yeah, you’re right. I just checked my order invoice and I paid £750 for the rig and seat 3 years ago. The same bundle is now £150 more.

 

I used Upshift Store for my rig and I’ve just had a look on their site. I reckon something like this would be decent too.

 

https://www.upshiftstore.co.uk/products/r-pro-black-edition

 

They sell seats for ~£250. It’d just be a case of buying the rails for the seat if either don’t come with them.

 

Check out the reviews for the PlaySeat though, they might have improved and my experience of them rattling and falling to bits may be on the older versions of them.

[Rusko187]

2 hours ago, Trumpet said:

Yeah, you’re right. I just checked my order invoice and I paid £750 for the rig and seat 3 years ago. The same bundle is now £150 more.

 

I used Upshift Store for my rig and I’ve just had a look on their site. I reckon something like this would be decent too.

 

https://www.upshiftstore.co.uk/products/r-pro-black-edition

 

They sell seats for ~£250. It’d just be a case of buying the rails for the seat if either don’t come with them.

 

Check out the reviews for the PlaySeat though, they might have improved and my experience of them rattling and falling to bits may be on the older versions of them.

I did look at loads of reviews for it, but I'm wondering if I just bite the bullet and go with something like what you've linked there. It's pretty much exactly what I would love to have and suits budget a lot more. What's your experience with these?

[Trumpet]

3 hours ago, Rusko187 said:

I did look at loads of reviews for it, but I'm wondering if I just bite the bullet and go with something like what you've linked there. It's pretty much exactly what I would love to have and suits budget a lot more. What's your experience with these?

I’ve no experience with the last one I linked, but it’s aluminium profile, so I don’t think you’d go wrong with it. The good thing with that kind of rig is you can build on to it in any way you’d like - they’re completely customisable. 

Edited 9 May by Trumpet
I’ve not rice

[Rusko187]

26 minutes ago, Trumpet said:

Rice no experience with the last one I linked, but it’s aluminium profile, so I don’t think you’d go wrong with it. The good thing with that kind of rig is you can build on to it in any way you’d like - they’re completely customisable. 

I'm ordering it, it's the type of cockpit I've been looking for and that price is far more agreeable. Helps that it's a proper bucket seat too.

 

Exciting thank you for the link

[Zear0]

1 hour ago, Rusko187 said:

I'm ordering it, it's the type of cockpit I've been looking for and that price is far more agreeable. Helps that it's a proper bucket seat too.

 

Exciting thank you for the link

Still got the wounds from fitting the slider on my seat.  What an absolute sod that was.

[Trumpet]

2 hours ago, Zear0 said:

Still got the wounds from fitting the slider on my seat.  What an absolute sod that was.

I remember it well. I thought I’d finish work, build it within an hour and get to racing. Think it ended up being a two evening job 

 

@Rusko187 let us know how you get on with it. If you need any advice or help with iRacing too. 

[Zear0]

4 minutes ago, Trumpet said:

I remember it well. I thought I’d finish work, build it within an hour and get to racing. Think it ended up being a two evening job 

 

@Rusko187 let us know how you get on with it. If you need any advice or help with iRacing too. 

Finding a fixing that had loosened during assembly, causing the frame to wobble, was also a low point.  Was obviously one that obscured and required remoiving the entire wheel mount.

 

Still, love these frames.  Got the wheel mounted and also the joystick on a swing arm so can use that for DCS too.  So customisable.

[Trumpet]

29 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Finding a fixing that had loosened during assembly, causing the frame to wobble, was also a low point.  Was obviously one that obscured and required remoiving the entire wheel mount.

 

Still, love these frames.  Got the wheel mounted and also the joystick on a swing arm so can use that for DCS too.  So customisable.

Do you have a link to the swing arm? I’ve got a Boeing yoke that sits on the floor when not in use but I’d like to give it a home in the rig if possible.

[Zear0]

3 hours ago, Trumpet said:

Do you have a link to the swing arm? I’ve got a Boeing yoke that sits on the floor when not in use but I’d like to give it a home in the rig if possible.

It's a complete bodge.  I had some old monitor arms around that I took apart and fitted a bike skewer too so they completely lock in place when I've adjusted them.  The actual mounting ia the Thurstmaster HOTAS mount from Simlab which I drilled the Vesa mounts into.

 

Works perfectly and doesn't look as tragic as it sounds.

Edited 9 May by Zear0

[Rusko187]

So back when you guys gave me some recommendations, @Trumpet you kindly linked Upshift over to me.

 

I received the frame but the seat and wheel sliders have been on back order to which I've had a note today to say they will be arriving Wednesday. So when I can I will post pictures of it all built up.

 

Exciting times.

[Trumpet]

2 hours ago, Rusko187 said:

So back when you guys gave me some recommendations, @Trumpet you kindly linked Upshift over to me.

 

I received the frame but the seat and wheel sliders have been on back order to which I've had a note today to say they will be arriving Wednesday. So when I can I will post pictures of it all built up.

 

Exciting times.

Ah good stuff! Is the frame built, just awaiting the seat? If so, on a scale of 1 to horrendous, how was the build? 

[Rusko187]

5 hours ago, Trumpet said:

Ah good stuff! Is the frame built, just awaiting the seat? If so, on a scale of 1 to horrendous, how was the build? 

Haven't started building it yet, been getting the room set up but it's all laid out and ready... will be my job for the weekend.