Direct Drive on a Budget? Feel VR Kickstarter is Here, But Act Fast!

[Paul Jeffrey]

We heard about the FeelVR Direct Drive wheel project back at the 2017 Sim Racing Expo, and now the plans are a reality with a new Kickstarter campaign launched today.

The team behind Feel VR had an ambitious target to develop and ship a Direct Drive wheel and pedal set for considerably less than any other DD product on the market, and it looks like they are now finally in a position to open up the long awaited Kickstarter campaign, having already surpassed their funding target in just 75 minutes!

At the time of writing the campaign has received over $200,000 in the first day, and if you want to take home an early bird discount you only have the rest of today to act!

I spent a considerable amount of time on a Skype video call with the team at the back end of last year, and it looks like the plans they have in place are very solid and well thought out, with several demonstration models already in action even back in 2017. In fact, the team would be at the Sim Racing Expo in September of last year, although unfortunately we didn't get an opportunity to pop over and say hi whilst we were on site ourselves.

So what is it the team are offering exactly? Well if done correctly, this could be something of a game changer for sim racers looking to invest in direct drive wheel technology - the team are offering a full Direct Drive wheel, and pedals, for the same price as a traditional mid range standard wheel setup.

At present "early bird" investors on Kickstarter can order a DD wheel, two rims (GT and Formula), all the cables and a set of load cell brakes for.... $549! That's cheap.. very cheap indeed..

So what does it look like, and what are the specs? Read on to find out..

The Wheel

As for the pedals, the team at Feel VR have developed an affordable load cell unit that promises to offer a more detailed and consistent performance that traditional spring loaded versions, as anyone who has tried loadcell can testify I'm sure, and if you wanted to pick them up as a standalone item, early bird prices are $149!

The Pedals

All sounds pretty good on paper, let's see what happens once the units begin to ship towards the end of the year...

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Like the look of these offerings from FeelVR? Will you be investing? Can a budget DD set such as this compete in a competitive marketplace, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[BrainsBush]

No thanks, didn't think of searching Youtube

Bummer that this ambitious project ended so abrupt. I'm sure they really tried and put a lot of hours in it but running a business also needs proper logistics, production etc. Maybe it was too ambitious?

 

[RCHeliguy]

Business isn't easy and the suggestion some people get from a kickstarter project like this is that everything else is overpriced and it simply isn't.

 

[Dirk Steffen]

Bummer that this ambitious project ended so abrupt. I'm sure they really tried and put a lot of hours in it but running a business also needs proper logistics, production etc. Maybe it was too ambitious?

You think?


Having grown up in industrial manufacturing I simply smile every time someone comes up with a clever idea that is completely doomed to failure the moment a complete lack of cost structure, business sense and apparent optimism in manufacturing cost becomes apparent.

People love to comment on how expensive this thing is and how they can do it so much cheaper DIY'ing it in their garage ...

Often times it is not that easy.

I was VERY skeptical ANY business in 2019 could possibly be able to offer what Feel VR claimed to work on at the price point they were mentioning, not even with slave labor.

To make matters worse, they have chosen one of the more complex consumer product sectors to startup in - not just making a bracket to market, but a very complex product package, involving manufacturing in several cost intensive sectors.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

What do you guys think?

 

[blekenbleu]

What do you guys think?

I think that one can search AliExpress for near-lowest delivered unit costs
for most manufactured products not involving recent significantly novel tech
(e.g. Fanatec CSL DD).

Direct drive steering based on ceiling fan motor tech
would have wanted a good working relationship with a ceiling fan OEM.

 

[Emery]

What do you guys think?

It's the right solution. Pity it took 3.5 years to get here. Glad I didn't buy into the original plan.

 

[TedBrosby-]

They had a great idea, but they were too late to market, and should've got real investors in the beginning so they could have had the money to get to market fast enough.
Now, there's Simagic M10, CSL DD and VRS DFP crushing them from all sides.

Throw in the towel, sell the designs and use the money from the designs sold to pay refunds. Kickstarter doesn't require delivery of a product so, who knows what he'll do. He could sell the pedals with a little bit of profit on top and use that to fund the wheels maybe?