Heusinkveld Sim Pedals Sprint Interview and First Impressions

[Paul Jeffrey]

We talk to Niels Heusinkveld and try out the soon to be released Heusinkveld Sim Pedals Sprint.

Catching up with Niels Heusinkveld at the recent very busy Sim Racing Expo over in Germany, we took the opportunity to quiz the man behind Heusinkveld Engineering about his newly announced Sim Pedals Sprint set of high end sim racing pedals. With Niels in a buoyant mood following what appeared to be a largely very positive reception to the new hardware, we took the opportunity to question him about the features and improvements of the new gear, learning plenty about how some dramatic software features and production improvements have moved the product range on from the already very impressive offerings of HE Engineering.

Not content with merely taking Niels at his word, we also couldn't quite resist the chance to get strapped into the cockpit and have a go ourselves, recording a short but sweet talk and drive segment as we give our first impressions based on the limited time we had with these brand new set of pedals.

Frankly, I was very impressed, although it is exceptionally hard to gather any serious kind of feel with something like a high end set of pedals with such a short period of time behind the wheel... not helped any by a crowd of people watching on, and a camera and microphone in my face!

However, with that said I'm going to be lucky enough to take receipt of a review set of these pedals in the very near future, so please consider this more of a taster video, with a much more in depth and detailed look at the HE Sim Pedals Sprint set to appear on our various social media channels in the near future. So stay tuned, get subscribed and watch out for some new footage in the (hopefully) coming weeks...

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[Enzo Fazzi]

You mean more side on?

Yes

 

[White Hawk]

Mine don't do that noise, for sure!

What do you have your top deadzone set to so that it always goes to 100% and stays there? And do you have that bit at the end of travel that if you push a little harder it goes further before actually stoping like I mentioned?

 

[Enzo Fazzi]

And do you have that bit at the end of travel that if you push a little harder it goes further before actually stoping like I mentioned?

This is by design, it's what soft endstops do. When calibrating, you should stop adding force as soon as you feel a bit of the endstop's resistance.

 

[White Hawk]

Here’s a couple of videos with the calibration issue.

After recalibrating the pedals with the max travel as it asks.

First one with the default 5% top deadzone where I push to max and you can hear that tick noise in the background.

Second one is set to 20% top deadzone and I just push to the soft stop and even without decreasing pressure it still goes down with 20% deadzone.

I just don’t see how this can be working correctly.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I was definitely the opposite with my Pro’s but then I didn’t like the feel of the throttle on V3’s because I though the springs were too soft.

I completely agree with you. I felt like both the throttle and clutch were too weak on the v3's with their stiff springs. However I was used to the weaker springs so I still had to readjust a bit before what I wanted felt right. Does that make sense? The OOB throttle feels great now. I haven't adjusted any of the pedals yet and I'm loving them. So for now I'm leaving them be.

 

[feher_90]

Here’s a couple of videos with the calibration issue.

After recalibrating the pedals with the max travel as it asks.

First one with the default 5% top deadzone where I push to max and you can hear that tick noise in the background.

Second one is set to 20% top deadzone and I just push to the soft stop and even without decreasing pressure it still goes down with 20% deadzone.

I just don’t see how this can be working correctly.

Something similar happened to me, I had to exert too much pressure at the end of the route to stay 100%.

Try raising the dead zone outside the accelerator to 12, 15, 20%. but I still had to keep pushing a little.

So try to recalibrate the pedals from the pedal calibration button.

When I ask you to press the accelerator to the bottom, keep it pressed to the end, in a position that feels comfortable, without having to exert too much force on the rubber stop and then press the next button, when you finish calibrating the other pedals , keep the 5% outer dead zone that comes by default on the accelerator pedal.

All this is what I did, and since then it is working without problems, also I removed a bit of hardness to the spring, by default it seemed a bit hard.

By the way, my accelerator does not make that strange noise at the end of the route, I hope that Enzo can help you with it.

 

[Enzo Fazzi]

Something similar happened to me, I had to exert too much pressure at the end of the route to stay 100%.

Try raising the dead zone outside the accelerator to 12, 15, 20%. but I still had to keep pushing a little.

So try to recalibrate the pedals from the pedal calibration button.

When I ask you to press the accelerator to the bottom, keep it pressed to the end, in a position that feels comfortable, without having to exert too much force on the rubber stop and then press the next button, when you finish calibrating the other pedals , keep the 5% outer dead zone that comes by default on the accelerator pedal.

All this is what I did, and since then it is working without problems, also I removed a bit of hardness to the spring, by default it seemed a bit hard.

By the way, my accelerator does not make that strange noise at the end of the route, I hope that Enzo can help you with it.

This is exactly how you should calibrate the pedals, as stated in the manual.

 

[White Hawk]

Can’t see anything in the manual that states I’d have to use a massive 20% deadzone when set to full travel, can only see this:

“Because the Sim Pedals Sprint use soft endstops there may be small signal variations between instances of the pedal being at rest or being fully pressed. We therefore always recommend setting a minimum bottom & top deadzone of 3%. You should get 0% or 100% pedal output without having to force the pedals into their endstop.”

That does mention the end stop being soft, I personally think it’s too soft, so much so as I sent in my message to you with the curved metal of the pedal hitting it at a shallower angle when set to full travel it seems like it’s slipping and creating that strict ion like tick noise which lessens as I set less and less travel to the point it stops happening.

I think the curved metal that hits the end stop should be redesigned so it hits it more face on at max travel and the material on the end stop changed to something slightly harder.

 

[Enzo Fazzi]

Can’t see anything in the manual that states I’d have to use a massive 20% deadzone when set to full travel, can only see this

You shouldn't have to, if you calibrate without fully pressing into the soft endstop.

 

[EsxPaul]

You shouldn't have to, if you calibrate without fully pressing into the soft endstop.

Enzo, what are your observations on the noise and friction on the throttle pedal that @White Hawk has demonstrated in his videos?

I haven't received my pedal set yet and have no experience with them but that doesn't seem right to me and others have stated that their pedals do not do the same thing.

 

[Enzo Fazzi]

Enzo, what are your observations on the noise and friction on the throttle pedal that @White Hawk has demonstrated in his videos?

I haven't received my pedal set yet and have no experience with them but that doesn't seem right to me and others have stated that their pedals do not do the same thing.

It's hard to pinpoint where the noise comes from, so I was going to ask the guys at the office tomorrow.
We haven't seen any issues with the Sprint throttle since we've launched it.

 

[White Hawk]

Enzo, what are your observations on the noise and friction on the throttle pedal that @White Hawk has demonstrated in his videos?

I haven't received my pedal set yet and have no experience with them but that doesn't seem right to me and others have stated that their pedals do not do the same thing.

As I mentioned in my last post, I Believe as I can’t be 100% sure but believe it’s the two curved metal pieces of the arm that hits the end stop slipping on the material it’s made of as at longer travel settings it’s hitting the end stop at a different angle and at the furthest travel it’s far less face on than it is at the shortest travel position.

 

[White Hawk]

Update, I’ve managed to rotate the end stop so the side the pedal hits which already had some impressions to a fresh unmarked area, putting the travel to 1 away from the furthest travel position and with extra pressure put on the pedal no tick noise unlike before at that position.

I wouldn’t be surprised that it might come back in time but I’m going to try and refrain from putting too much force into it, not something I should really have to think about and I still think a slight redesign is needed but I’m happier now than I was.

Hope people don’t think I was hating on these pedals, or over critical, I don’t think that’s so easy at the price (again I know there’s much more expensive pedal sets out there but still) and I didn’t have any issues with the V3 throttle pedal is all I’m saying. I understand that with more customisation options it brings a bigger chance for issues and even though it wasn’t a big issue it’s a lot of money for me so it has to be spot on.

Moving on, a question, how have you guys set your clutch, have you changed the sensitivity curve differently? Perhaps like one in the manual for optimal bite point? Or left it linear?

Also, I found it hard to believe when people said the brake on this is capable of bending 40mm aluminium profile, but it sure is moving on mine when set to 65KG. It might be just the lip of the slot that’s flexing, don’t know and not sure how to fix that. If it’s the whole profile piece which is a 40x80 at the front of the pedals in my case maybe one 40x40 underneath the pedal area front to back directly under the brake might help, will try later.

With regards to the the throttle, be careful with the preload, the manual says if your spring is shorter dan 40mm, readjust your preload setting, nobody wants to get dan angry so do as he says.

Proper testing awaits, Fanatec, where’s my wheel base?? Steering with a thumb stick sucks.

 

[EsxPaul]

Update, I’ve managed to rotate the end stop so the side the pedal hits which already had some impressions to a fresh unmarked area, putting the travel to 1 away from the furthest travel position and with extra pressure put on the pedal no tick noise unlike before at that position.

I wouldn’t be surprised that it might come back in time but I’m going to try and refrain from putting too much force into it, not something I should really have to think about and I still think a slight redesign is needed but I’m happier now than I was.

Hope people don’t think I was hating on these pedals, or over critical, I don’t think that’s so easy at the price (again I know there’s much more expensive pedal sets out there but still) and I didn’t have any issues with the V3 throttle pedal is all I’m saying. I understand that with more customisation options it brings a bigger chance for issues and even though it wasn’t a big issue it’s a lot of money for me so it has to be spot on.

Moving on, a question, how have you guys set your clutch, have you changed the sensitivity curve differently? Perhaps like one in the manual for optimal bite point? Or left it linear?

Also, I found it hard to believe when people said the brake on this is capable of bending 40mm aluminium profile, but it sure is moving on mine when set to 65KG. It might be just the lip of the slot that’s flexing, Don’t know and not sure how to fix that. If it’s the whole profile piece which is a 40x80 at the front of the pedals in my case maybe one 40x40 underneath the pedal area front to back directly under the brake might help, will try later.

With regards to the the throttle, be care with the preload, the manual says if your spring is shorter dan 40mm, readjust your preload setting, nobody want to get dan angry so do as he says.

Proper testing awaits, Fanatec, where’s my wheel base?? Steering with a thumb stick sucks.

Glad you got the pedal working to a point where you are happy with it. If you are able to and get the chance, would you mind snapping a few pics to show what you have done to the throttle. I'm having trouble picturing what you have changed in my mind

Sounds like I'll need to beef up my pedal deck too as it is all 40/40 profile and I'm surprised to hear that the brake pedal is able to make it flex

Thanks for the tips.

 

[White Hawk]

Glad you got the pedal working to a point where you are happy with it. If you are able to and get the chance, would you mind snapping a few pics to show what you have done to the throttle. I'm having trouble picturing what you have changed in my mind

Sounds like I'll need to beef up my pedal deck too as it is all 40/40 profile and I'm surprised to hear that the brake pedal is able to make it flex

Thanks for the tips.

Here’s a picture, I loosened the nut on the travel length adjustment with the bolt on the other side that goes through the end stop inbetween the pedal and removed them, using a very thin Allen key into the end stop it makes it easier to move the stop to the 5 different holes, but before doing that I used a plastic tool to help rotate it then placed it in the right position with the Allen key to put the long bolt back in.

Currently I have the overall strength set to just above the bottom of the slot (higher is stiffer) which along with the preload makes it just slightly stiffer than the V3’s throttle with the stiffer black spring, the default is set to the middle and I found that just a bit too stiff a throttle for me.

There’s a video tutorial on the Heusinkveld page here: https://heusinkveld.com/sim-pedals-sprint-video-tutorials/?v=79cba1185463

 

[EsxPaul]

@White Hawk

That's a brilliant picture and description of what you've done. Thanks a lot for going to the effort of explaining in such detail for me

 

[White Hawk]

@White Hawk

That's a brilliant picture and description of what you've done. Thanks a lot for going to the effort of explaining in such detail for me

No prob, the pedals come with a nice manual (quite a few spelling mistakes aside (dan instead of than for example ) ), that along with the video means it’s easy enough to do.

 

[RCHeliguy]

That one picture alone showing the adjustments available on 1 of the 3 pedals should be enough to help people understand the differences between these pedals and others without adjustments available.

Part of me has thought about adjusting the throttle pedal force down a smidge, but I love how much throttle feathering control I have now that I've never had before, so I'll wait a bit longer before adjusting anything.

I've had some marathon sessions with the pedals now and along with my FF up at almost 100% ( CSW 2.5 not DD). I'm also making very good use of my cooling fan

 

[Enzo Fazzi]

No prob, the pedals come with a nice manual (quite a few spelling mistakes aside (dan instead of than for example ) ), that along with the video means it’s easy enough to do.

V1.0 of the manual has been reviewed by me and a V1.1 is on its way

 

[White Hawk]

That one picture alone showing the adjustments available on 1 of the 3 pedals should be enough to help people understand the differences between these pedals and others without adjustments available.

Part of me has thought about adjusting the throttle pedal force down a smidge, but I love how much throttle feathering control I have now that I've never had before, so I'll wait a bit longer before adjusting anything.

I've had some marathon sessions with the pedals now and along with my FF up at almost 100% ( CSW 2.5 not DD). I'm also making very good use of my cooling fan

Certainly some time and money has gone into making the pedals as adjustable as they are, I do appreciate that, I’ve only done the throttle currently though, I’m not the heaviest or fittest guy and after a handful of laps I knew the middle setting was too much for me.

Not sure if I’m going to adjust the brake yet, I may leave the stiffness, might leave the max 65KG setting for the better dynamic range that would help with muscle memory or drop it down a bit to 50KG or something if it becomes too much over a full race, we’ll see.

There’s going to be some really sweaty sim racers over the summer that’s for sure, what with stiffer pedals and stronger DD wheels arriving, me included as this small room heats up like an oven.

But hey, not going to stop me.