How to build the best sim racing rig for your budget – FOS Future Lab

Beginner

If you’re just dipping your toe into sim racing or want to keep the budget modest, you can’t go wrong with the G29/G290 wheel and pedal set from Logitech, currently available for £200. This is the lowest priced wheel that will actually give you good force feedback, allowing you to feel what the car is doing through the movement of the wheel. It a sturdy bit of kit and what many sim-racers started on. The wheel has a clamp that can go onto any kind of table and the pedals can rest on the floor.

The main improvement you can do to this wheel is to buy a wheel stand. Instead of using a table, you can get a sturdy metal frame to bolt the wheel and pedals onto, giving you a better driving position and a more robust setup. One like the Next Level Racing Wheel & Pedal stand also folds away so it doesn’t take up too much space. The image above is of a Cool Performance simulator rig.

Intermediate

Looking to go up a level or have a bit more cash to splash? You can start looking at belt driven wheels. Whilst the Logitech G29 above is a geared wheel, belt driven wheels use a rubber belt as an intermediary between the wheel and a motor. This enable faster and smoother force feedback with more torque (power).

Wheels in this category vary in price dramatically from the Thrustmaster TMX Pro at £240 to the top of the range Fanatec ClubSport V2.5, which starts at £850. At this level you start to see things like interchangeable steering wheels and load cell pedals, which simulate the progressive, hydraulic feel of actual car pedals.

As the wheel’s power output grows, a more robust wheel stand is required. At this level, many people will get one with a racing seat incorporated, like the Next Level Racing GT Cockpit. This is an all in one solution that provides the seat, wheel deck and pedal board. It’s not as moveable as a smaller wheel stand, but it offers unrivalled rigidity and comfort for long sessions in the chair.

Advanced

This is where it all starts getting a bit crazy and you get equipment that compares to that of real life racing cars.

As far as wheels go, the king of the castle is a direct drive wheel. This is a large electric motor which the wheel mounts directly too. Because there is no intermediary, the force feedback is lightning fast and because the power output is so high, the fidelity of the force feedback is incredible. You’d be able to feel the painted lines of a track through your fingertips.

There are a number of indy options for direct drive wheels, all of which require a bit of fiddling to get working and all of which require a PC. Fanatec, with their Podium series, is the first major manufacturer to offer a direct drive wheel that is plug-and-play and will also work on some consoles. It’s quite fun to head to their ‘build your own bundle’ feature on their website and enjoy racking up the price. For a direct drive base and a couple of different steering wheels, say one for F1 and another for sportscar, you’re looking at around £2,000.

Now come the pedals. Again Fanatec offers a nice all in one package, but other companies like Heusinkveld make bespoke sim pedals, offering resistances up to 110kg on the brake pedal, the same as an F1 car…

With all of this power and resistance, you need to up the cockpit/rig as well. At this level people are generally creating their own rigs to match their specific needs. It is popular to use aluminium extrusion (also called 80/20) to build extremely customisable, lightweight and rigid cockpits. It’s fairly common to see Sparco seats bolted onto these cockpits to provide the ultimate real life experience, too.

The basic premise is whatever your budget, there’s a way into sim racing. It’s a lot more engaging and fun than racing via a controller and once you’ve tried it, you won’t ever want to go back.

Main image courtesy of Motorsport Images.

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