Sim Racing Gear: What do You Run and Why?

[Paul Jeffrey]

We ask you the community what sim racing gear you run with and why you have made your choices...

This is something a bit different and will (hopefully) be an interesting topic to discuss. Sim racing gear...

I believe we in the sim racing community are a bit of a unique gaming bunch, more often than not willing to spend considerable amounts of money on our hobby in a quest to find that perfect balance between comfort and realism. If you think of popular games like the FIFA football series or the many first person shooting games, we in sim racing usually have quite a bit more kit behind us when we take to the screens and engage in our hobby of choice.

Now pretty much every sim driver has a wheel and pedals, some picked up at bargain prices either new or used and some of us lucky enough to have a budget for something more high end like a direct drive wheel from one of the many manufacturers springing up in the marketplace.

But a wheel and pedals aren't the only thing a sim racer can use to help improve their driving experiences. We have things as minor as button boxes for additional things to press during a race event, all the way through to some truly impressive looking full motion rigs out on the market today (please, if you are rich and appreciate my articles do feel free to buy me a motion rig, I'd really really appreciate it ).

So what do you use, and why do you think it improves your racing experience out on track?

Let's have a debate


For more news, discussion and support on the hardware side of sim racing, take a look over at our Sim Racing Hardware sub forum and get yourself involved in the conversation!

* Picture credit taken from Pintrest

 

[Matt Orr]

Wobbly desk (because a desk works)
Wheel-less office chair that leans to the left naturally now (because that is all you need)
Fanatec CSW v2 (because it's a solid package without going totally stupid expensive even if it is expensive)
HE Sim Pro Pedals (because they are one of the few companies I'd even want as a sponsor)
1 27" 1440p Gsync monitor (because 4k outside sim racing is going to be a GFX card money sink for a few years still)

 

[TzZyO]

A G27 with a single screen here. Nothing fancy at all. Does the job just fine.

 

[franz21043]

For years, all I had was a Logitech DFGT and desk chair, but recently upgraded to a Logitech G29 with a shifter and an Openwheeler racing seat/stand. After extensive research, it seemed to be the best value for the quality. Ive had it for almost 8 months and haven't had an issue with it once, even moved during that time and was easy to pack up and re-assemble. Would recommend it to anyone who is new to sim racing and looking for a high quality chair.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

Cool subject to discuss @Paul Jeffrey
Had a few wheels & DIY rigs in my 18 yrs of sim-racing, 1st rig was on PS1 running a Madcatz wheel, Vrally etc etc.

I started with a Logitech Formula Black (before the days of FFB) on PC, it endured many hours of hard racing before it started to fail, upgraded to a Logitech Formula Momo which was only used for a short period, as the newly released G25 was it's replacement, which lasted for many years, in fact both the Momo and G25 are stored in the shed, just in case
Ive made a few DIY rigs over time too, I'm pretty handy with a pile of steel, mig welder and tape measure

Today's rig is of far better quality, I have a very understanding wife, plus she's a rev head too which tends to help
Fanatec V2 coupled to Formula Carbon, GT2 wheels & CSS Sq 1.5 shifter.
DSD Black Max2 Bttn box & Hydraulic type 2 handbrake.
CST F1 pedals
El cheapo racing seat via Ebay, it does what I need it to
Triple 31.5" monitors,
Lenovo tab running SLI Max Mngr Pro dash for Android.
5.1 surround sound, (so I can hear the aliens coming to lap me ) and Coolermaster CM Storm headset for Teamspeak.

And I have plans to build a new rig in the not to distant future, hopefully it will be the last

 

[Brian C Hayes]

Ditched my triple screen and million cables for a nice clean HTC Vive set up ... got a G27, modded the g27 shifter as a handbrake and TH8 shifter mounted on a Apiga 2 rig ... looking to upgrade the pedals to either a fantec or T3PA-PRO ... just managed to work out how to get revive working ... been racing through the forests of Wales in the rain in a mini and lovin every minute of it

 

[*CF*]

Rig was built on 2005 with a Logitech Momo Force, VPP Pedalset Pro and an Act Labs Shifter .... after 2 years went to a Logitech G25 and this February had a major upgrade with Thrustmaster TS PC Racer wheel, TH8A Shifter, and Fanatec Handbrake ....enough for my DIRT and RBR adventures....

 

[Hyper Beast GER]

Awesome gear from the community just wow

I'm pretty new to SimRacing, started with a Logitech G27 then G920 and now ill got a Thrustmaster T500RS. Next Step was to try the Oculus Rift and what should ill say - amazing. With a GTX 1080 and a 6 Core i7-5820@4,30Ghz i am able to play with Pixel per Display 2.0. Think the next step should be a Fanatec Wheel and a Playseat.

 

[Reiche]

Playseat Challenge with Logitech G25 with GTeye springs mod. I'm still quite new to sim racing, got limited room available (although the move from ~24m^2 to 60 was one big leap, but that's for two, now).
I should hopefully get some extra money soon, so I'm already thinking of swapping the pedals, maybe HE Pros or the new Fanatec CSP V3i. When the time has come, there'll be a lot of research needed if my seat is suitable for these as there's no "facility upgrade" planned for the near future.
On the wheel side: I'll probably be waiting for the DD wheel by Fanatec, although this might take two more years or so. I really like their product universe, seems much more comfortable than building my own OSW + one GT wheel + one formula wheel etc..

 

[TheSourceOfTheNile]

I'm only rolling with an old Driving Force GT with custom paddle shifters (one of them held together by duck tape). I don't have the money for a good rig yet, but in a year or two I'll probably upgrade to a G29 with the Driving Force Shifter as a minor upgrade. It really would be nice to have a H-shifter, clutch pedal, and actual shifting paddles. The old thing does work with Gran Turismo 4, which I still play after 10 years, so that's pretty nice. Force feedback on the wheel itself isn't half bad either.

 

[Helldriver]

Pedals: Fanatec V2 mounted upside down
H-Shifter: Thrustmaster
Seq. Shifter: BMW-Steptronic DIY
Wheel: Direct Drive Mige by Tomo
Buttonbox: DIY
Handbrake: DIY
Seat: Recaro Orthopäd with lots of adjustments
Rig: DIY
Screens: Oculus Rift or in front of a large projector screen

 

[Filip Carlén]

T300, G27 pedals and shifter, home-built rig and a cheap chair I found on a car show (they supposedly have errors and small defects, but I haven't found what is wrong with mine yet ). Works great, had the G27 at first for 3-4 years, then upgraded my self around Christmas partly because I wanted something new, and partly because the drivers for my G27 stated acting strange. Choose Thrustmaster T300 because of the price, belt driven and lots of experience from people online who can help with setups and if it acts strange. Noting special, the screen is as close as I can get it to get a more realistic view without having to use super low FoV. Next up is a bass shaker (just need an amp, already got simvibe and a second soundcard), a buttonbox that is in the making, and after that, probably a Thrustmaster TH8 shifter

 

[HUM24H]

Running a Thrustmaster TS-PC with Stock Rim, Leather GT Rim and 599x EVO Rim. got it paired with a set of Fanatec CSL Elite Pedals with Load Cell Brake on a Next Level Racing Wheel Stand with a GT Omega Racing Office Chair. The chair doesn't move around as got quite thick carpets which help the chair dig in to stop it moving. Monitor is a 32" LG 1080p TV at the moment, potentially getting a VR headset or triple screens.

 

[Phoenix77]

I have a 27" monitor on a pretty normal desk, office chair and a G29 (no shifter yet)... So not really what you could call a rig...
But considering I've recently upgraded from the wheel that came as a bundle with Gran Turismo 3 eons ago...
(Logitech Wingman GP Force with 180° steering range, no clutch... )
My nice new, shiny G29 is lightyears more advanced...
I'm still trying to adjust to having 720° more steering resolution, but it's a nice problem to have

 

[Insert Coin]

I had some problems with neighbors since and a handfull of vibration dampeners under the rig not only solved this problem. This cheap rubber-feets making the rig shaking and adding some kind of motion to it just for 30 Euros.

Which rubber feet are you using?

 

[slowpoke]

Great subject Paul. The top pic is my current setup but, it's been more of a dust magnet then anything as of late. I'm currently running a 40" 4k monitor but I think I'm going back to
my triple 27's.
wheel: SimSteering2 FFB system (54) Ascher racing button box with a sparco P310
Pedals: MPPC Sim-Pedals
Shifter: DSD Pro Sequential
Sim racing has always been a passion of mine and, I love discovering new hardware. I've
kinda been all over the place with wheels and setups from triple monitors to widescreen
to single screens. One things for sure I never seem to get enough time to enjoy my hobby,
life is always getting in the way. Maybe down the road I would like to add a set of Heusinkveld Sim Pedals.

 

[Queequeg]

Thrustmaster T500RS and a Wheelstand Pro.

This makes it reasonably compact and comfortable, since the wheelstand can be adjusted to fit my frame on basically any ordinary chair I want to sit on and the T500 has three pedals and nice FFB.
Also the wheelstand eliminiates the wobbly-desk-problem. It does flex a little, but a lot less than a desk! I am very pleased with that setup.

I am planning on a PC upgrade because my PC is getting old (almost 7 years).
Apart from that I am a satisfied. Maybe getting a bigger screen somewhere down the line. I have a 21" now.

 

[M-Bimmer]

Started with logitech DFGT on ps3 and upgraded to T300rs for ps4. Fanatec is not compatible with PS4 so i had no choice back then. Then moved to PC (for over a year now) and never going back to console (always been a mac user which means i missed all the legandary PC titles ).
So i had to go big (spec wise) back then but without having a big unnecessary desktop taking too much space so went with MSI Nightblade X2 with Nvidia GTX 980ti, i7 6700k, 16 GB ram, M.2 SSD 512GB+ 2 TB HDD and Dell ips 27" to get into the sweet spot (2k resolution mark). Have an LG E6 4K HDR OLED but it is mainly used for media consumption.

Upcoming upgrades:
- Rseat RS1 Alcantara or AC edition
- Fanatec CS handbrake and V3 pedals
- 34" or 35" Curved (not settled on which brand yet)

My guess this will do for now since i've got three young kids and play 5 hours at most in the weekends.
Otherwise, i get my fix from the fast diesel and petrol cars i own(ed) over the years (but that's off topic i guess)

 

[Ville-Samuli Mutanen]

This is my rig designed and built by myself. Rigid, "compact", movable and built as cheaply as possible but from bulletproof hardware. The reason to use OSW and Heusinkvelds was because of my endless troubles with Fanatec hardware. Went with a triple screen setup because that's the cheapest way to get proper FOV. 2nd or 3rd generation of VR will hopefully change my mind.

I'v been quite happy with my decisions and the only things I would do differently today would be the width of the rig and wheel mounting. But those are things I can easily live with. Also at some point I'll do a proper one-size-fits-all wheel rim equipped with enough buttons and magnetic paddle shifters. So far the Fanatec rim and paddle shifters (with custom electronics) have been working ok but is lacking some buttons and rigidity. The shoes I use is a pair of karting boots. Shoes are because they last longer than 20 pairs of socks and my foot feels nicer against the sharp edges of pedal plates.

 

[Witti]

I'm a broke student. An old PS3 controller. Can't attach my G25 to my current desk.

 

[Peter Stokman]

I enjoy my sim racing (since 1998) and I've been lucky enough to be able to indulge myself.
Accuforce SimXperience

Sam Maxwell SMZ1 wheel with Z1 Dashboard

MPPC pedals

BenQ XR3501 monitor

Obutto Ozone frame and seat
DSD button box
Fanatec manual gearshift
DSD bent shaft sequential shifter
MOMO MonteCarlo steering wheel (for the classic cars)
Immersion is important and all the gear helps. (really!)

Special the mppc pedals are great with like RL car hydraulic brake cant imagine without them anymore