Racing sim hardware

[delankster]

looking good:worship:

[Doorman]

Fabulous job Steve. I'd have one of those if my friends didn't laugh at me.

[Gone_Away]

Thats it Slider - make him 'av it,

I actually take offence to that comment. Are you sure you meant it?

[Romus]

As requested, a few more pics. It has a coat of primer on it now but my man with the paint is a man without paint at the moment so it will have to wait. At least you can see the wheel lifts up out of the way and also the screens rotate for more normal office type duties.

Screen and wheel mounts look very interesting. Looks like they are custom built just for this setup.

I bet you'll improve your times and consistency with that cockpit. I could improve my driving quite a lot, because I did not need to straing my body to stay in the driving position and could stay relaxed and concentrate on the driving.

Are you already using new Z16 multiple monitor settings? It looks quite realistic on the picture. Did you have Matrox box for the three displays? I did not get Z16 working with the SoftTH.

[Penfold]

Granted it's on a slightly different scale but when I first got my headset and microphone I was really proud of it..........

That was until my wife gave me a withering look and told me I looked like I should be landing planes at Heathrow.... kinda took the edge of it somewhat lol .

PS. Ninja apologised in his post and Slider's superbly-crafted retort stands as one of the most amusing I've ever read. Can we leave at it at and move on lest it denigrate?  

[delanvital]

Granted it's on a slightly different scale but when I first got my headset and microphone I was really proud of it..........

That was until my wife gave me a withering look and told me I looked like I should be landing planes at Heathrow.... kinda took the edge of it somewhat lol .

PS. Ninja apologised in his post and Slider's superbly-crafted retort stands as one of the most amusing I've ever read. Can we leave at it at and move on lest it denigrate?  

Pen, your wife has a great sense of humour :lmfao:...but I hear you. I love driving with the TrackIR to be able to look into the apex and see who is on my side - but my gf just stares at me with a weird look, when I sit there with head phones on and the stupid reflection clip for the TrackIR on the most dreadful, ugly cap you can imagine because that was all I could find... and if I forget to take if off she does not hesitate to help me

I wish I had a setup like the ones showed here. If only I had the space I would do it. Atm I just want a proper seat but even that I can't find a place for in this apartment :sideways: ..and if i get one, I reckon the table will be too high, so I would have to get some arrangement for mounting my wheel. Also, the screen would then be too high up and I would have to place that somewhere else as well, and, and, and...

[Gnomie]

OK, time for a review of the Fanatec Clubsport pedals. I won't go into features and stuff, as you can find all that information elsewhere. Instead I'll talk about the most important differences compared to the G25 pedals that I used before.

First some background info:
There's no doubt that for me, pedals are more important than the wheel. Ever since I started simracing I've spent a LOT of effort learning various pedal techniques, and I quickly started trying to learn heel&toe. A lot of work also went into modding my G25 pedals (including the Nixim mod), and eventually, I arrived at a configuration that I was rather pleased with. I also made a youtube video showing the "fruits of my labour".

But even with everything "perfected", I still suffered a big problem: I was simply unable to maintain a constant pressure on the brake while heel&toe-ing. As I blipped the throttle I would inevitably loose some brake pressure.

Now, moving on to the Clubsport pedals.. Inside the brake there's a piece of rather stiff foam which, as you press the pedal, offers progressively more resistance. (unlike a spring, where force and distance increase in proportion all the way) So at first, it's rather soft and squishy but then it stiffens progressively.

"Hold on a minute", you might say. "I can get the same effect in my G25 pedals by using the Nixim mod, because rubber and foam have quite similar characteristics when you push on it!"

Yes, that's true. But as you'll probably know, the brake pedal on the Clubsports uses a load cell rather than a potentiometer (which is used on the G25). This means that rather than measuring how far you push the pedal, it measures which force you're applying. And for me at least, it's much easier to maintain a constant force than a constant distance of depression while braking.

The net result: I am now able to maintain an (approximately) constant amount of braking when heel&toe-ing! :yahoo: To illustrate, I'm attaching two replays: one old one with the G25, and a new one with the Clubsports. You'll quite clearly see the difference, I think.

G25 Nixim demo
Clubsports demo


Another big plus with these pedals is their great adjustability. No modding necessary -- these things can accomodate all styles of driving and all drivers. Alltogether, I couldn't be more pleased. Definitely my best ever sim-related purchase, and I thoroughly recommend them.

Please ask if there's something you'd like to know!

[Slider 46]

Thats quite impressive Gnomie. I didn't think i would notice the difference on those replays but your right, it is alot more constant. I havn't really mastered the ol' h&t but then i havn't really tried that hard to be honest. Its on the list though:D. Would i faint at the price of those pedals if i looked or not?:g:

Screen and wheel mounts look very interesting. Looks like they are custom built just for this setup.

Are you already using new Z16 multiple monitor settings? It looks quite realistic on the picture. Did you have Matrox box for the three displays? I did not get Z16 working with the SoftTH.

Sorry Romus, i seemed to overlook your questions before.
The screen/wheel mounts are a one off and they are made from 'Trilogiq'.
http://www.trilogiq.com/en/    I did a job for a company that use it so i blagged a few bits off them:) You can make allsorts from it but i have no idea what it costs to buy. The screens are held together with a lightwieght steel frame that myself and Nozz made in his garage. Cheers Nozz :thumbsup:

I just run a Geforce8800oc card and an old pci Geforce5500 with softh so nothing clever or expensive and yes, Z16 went straight in. The new Z18 is much better though as i can see out of the side windows alot more while keeping a good 'drivers seat' position. Have look at the pic and in the bottom of the left screen, you can just see the passenger seat. It will go further but all you get is more seat in the way, lol.
It looks abit odd on the photo as you are looking at a flat image but in RL with the screens angled in aproximatly 30 degrees, it all looks spot on.
The main screen Fov is 90. The screen angle setting is at 62 which gives a total view across the three screens of 223. Loads of degrees:D

[Gnomie]

They cost €200 unfortunately.. quite a stiff price, I agree, but you definitely get what you pay for. Contactless magnetic sensors on the gas and clutch, and a load cell on the brake. The build quality leaves nothing to be desired either.

What's also kind of cool is the infinite adjustability. Take a look at this to understand the anatomy of the brake. There's at least three different things to play with:

• Which hole the pin goes in (which determines the throw)
• The length of the metal bar (which determines deadzone and stiffness)
• The type of foam/whatever you use (determines stiffness)

I actually machined a slightly longer metal rod (to reduce squishiness and deadzone) while still using the lowest hole for the pin (to get a large throw). The options are limitless.

And, of course, there's the resolution. 1024 bits should be enough to please anyone. With the G25 pedals you have 256 bits spread evenly throughout the whole throw. If you use the Nixim mod, you effectively only get 1-2 centimeters of throw, so that means you only get ~ 25 bits to play with. That's such a low number that you might start noticing some notchiness. I dunno, I can't say that I really noticed with my old pedals, but anyway.. it's a thing to consider I guess.

[obsolum]

Ahhhh, the things I would buy if I had money to throw out the windows... *dreams* I envy you guys

[Gnomie]

It's hardly "throwing money out the window", though.. simracing is my #1 hobby, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Besides, I'm a bit of a hardware geek, and I find it very rewarding to try to come up with the best possible tweaks and stuff.

I even worked an extra week last winter to justify spending more money on simracing stuff! That's right, I'm an addict. Ã,£700 can buy you a lot of nice sim gear.

[obsolum]

Oh I didn't mean to imply that buying sim gear is throwing money out the window I just figure if I had money to throw out the window I could spend it on sim gear

[obsolum]

I've got a question. I'm planning on buying a Lightning SST shifter when I've got the money to spare, as my G25 is getting more faulty every day and it's really taking a lot of the fun out of racing.

I just realized, though, that the SST Lightning doesn't have a sequential option. So what do I do then when I drive a car with sequential gearbox? Is there like a mod or something for the SST shifter to make it a sequential shifter? Or any other solutions? I'd rather not use the paddles on the wheel, 'cause that just feels wrong, to me. The only car they feel right in, is the BF1, for the simple reason that that car is just too bloody fast to shift any other way

[Romus]

I've got a question. I'm planning on buying a Lightning SST shifter when I've got the money to spare, as my G25 is getting more faulty every day and it's really taking a lot of the fun out of racing.

I just realized, though, that the SST Lightning doesn't have a sequential option. So what do I do then when I drive a car with sequential gearbox? Is there like a mod or something for the SST shifter to make it a sequential shifter? Or any other solutions? I'd rather not use the paddles on the wheel, 'cause that just feels wrong, to me. The only car they feel right in, is the BF1, for the simple reason that that car is just too bloody fast to shift any other way

SST Lightning cannot be used as a sequantial gear shifter, because the sequential shifter should return to the middle position after you have pushed it up or downwards, and the SST does not naturally do it. I can't think of a mod that could do it without a risk of ruining the shifter. I suggest that you just get the SST and then buy the Frex sequential . I'm happy with the paddles for now.

[obsolum]

Hmm, that's a damn shame. I'll have to reconsider if I'm going to buy the SST then :g: Maybe I should look into the ACT labs shifters, see if they're any good. I find they look a lot better than the SST at least