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Racing Sims, Gear, and Games


BoomMF

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So I've been getting into racing sims and upgraded my trusty Logitech G29 to a direct drive setup by Fanatec. Brother, let me tell you, it's a whole different immersive experience. Covid sent racing sim interest into the stratosphere, and there are a bunch of products that elevate the experience - you can achieve quite a lot of fidelity nowadays.

 

Here's what I ended up with so far:

 

Fanatec DD2 wheel base

Fanatec R300 wheel and a 2021 Limited Edition F1 wheel

Fanatec Clubsport Pedals V3 Inverted

Fanatec Clubsport Shifter SQ and Handbrake

Sim Lab P1-X racing cockpit (Sparco Evo II US seat)

Samsung Odyssey G9 49" curved display that switches duty with an Oculus Quest 2

Alienware M15 w/ RTX 3080

 

I'm looking into adding a seat mover (like Next Level Racing's Motion Platform V3), but there are options here, like those from DOFReality. Other than that, I might collect a few more wheels, but the setup is pretty done for a while.

 

The way all the road information gets transmitted to the wheel is something else. You get some great force feedback with the Logitech, but it caps at around 2.5 Nm of force. That's not a lot of headroom to convey it all. The DD2, on the other hand, has 25 Nm of force at the ready, coupled with a free-floating, non-geared drive shaft that feels like butter to spin, which is enough to break your wrists (not broken bones, but broken grip - I GUESS it could break your bones too if you crank up the juice and don't pay attention, who knows...)  and deliver an immersive experience like no other.

 

20210624_144607.thumb.jpg.f85deb65f8b14b32ac01a75d9a2ce40b.jpg

 

20210625_031805.thumb.jpg.9e1592ba26b5c6efa63665da5ce1dd0c.jpg

 

After I skill up a bit, I'll try my hand at racing with the crazies in iRacing. Steam's current sale has the year membership at $30, so that's almost a no-brainer.

 

If anyone else wants to hop on and race in Project Cars 1, 2, 3, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, or rFactor 2, holler. I'll try any game, just pick your poison.

Edited by BoomMF
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I love the idea of getting one of these set ups, I just don't have the time to spend actually racing with the young kiddo. I'm thinking once he can use it I'll spring for a mini and a normal sized setup so we can race together. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

CSL DD is the first big disruptor to hit this market.

I was wave 1 for the pre-order, and while we're waiting for fulfillment I came across a killer deal on the DD2 (which was very lucky since there are NO deals to be had with sim racing gear atm) so I cancelled. Had I not I'd be eagerly anticipating it with the 180W power supply. I don't know how Thrustmaster intend to respond (properly), but they need to quickly. Once the CSL DD becomes stocked, that segment will be on lock.

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Well I bought F1 2021 and the Logitech G923. If I get into as much as I think I will then I’ll start looking into a chair thing. 
If not a chair, check out a wheel base of some sort (Wheel Stand Pro kind of thing) since a sturdy mount is the best upgrade next to a wheel. But for seats, if you don't want to go the aluminum profile route, check out Next Level Racing's rigs. I started with a GTTrack and that thing was rock solid. But they have quite a few good solutions up and down the lineup.

In other news, I decided to upgrade the button cluster to a Podium Button Module. Should have just done this in the first place, those other buttons didn't really solve any problems. Now I can map far more than I can remember which is a perfect amount.

fb568ca26e768570948ff0c601ea25ad.jpg
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1 minute ago, BoomMF said:

If not a chair, check out a wheel base of some sort (Wheel Stand Pro kind of thing) since a sturdy mount is the best upgrade next to a wheel. But for seats, if you don't want to go the aluminum profile route, check out Next Level Racing's rigs. I started with a GTTrack and that thing was rock solid. But they have quite a few good solutions up and down the lineup.

In other news, I decided to upgrade the button cluster to a Podium Button Module. Should have just done this in the first place, those other buttons didn't really solve any problems. Now I can map far more than I can remember which is a perfect amount.

fb568ca26e768570948ff0c601ea25ad.jpg

Ended up getting some kinda stand type thing from Vevor. Should work fine with my gaming chair I think.

https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Steering-Logitech-Thrustmaster,Wheel-Included/dp/B077PZKNDH

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On 6/26/2021 at 10:36 PM, BoomMF said:

So I've been getting into racing sims and upgraded my trusty Logitech G29 to a direct drive setup by Fanatec. Brother, let me tell you, it's a whole different immersive experience. Covid sent racing sim interest into the stratosphere, and there are a bunch of products that elevate the experience - you can achieve quite a lot of fidelity nowadays.

 

Here's what I ended up with so far:

 

Fanatec DD2 wheel base

Fanatec R300 wheel and a 2021 Limited Edition F1 wheel

Fanatec Clubsport Pedals V3 Inverted

Fanatec Clubsport Shifter SQ and Handbrake

Sim Lab P1-X racing cockpit (Sparco Evo II US seat)

Samsung Odyssey G9 49" curved display that switches duty with an Oculus Quest 2

Alienware M15 w/ RTX 3080

 

I'm looking into adding a seat mover (like Next Level Racing's Motion Platform V3), but there are options here, like those from DOFReality. Other than that, I might collect a few more wheels, but the setup is pretty done for a while.

 

The way all the road information gets transmitted to the wheel is something else. You get some great force feedback with the Logitech, but it caps at around 2.5 Nm of force. That's not a lot of headroom to convey it all. The DD2, on the other hand, has 25 Nm of force at the ready, coupled with a free-floating, non-geared drive shaft that feels like butter to spin, which is enough to break your wrists (not broken bones, but broken grip - I GUESS it could break your bones too if you crank up the juice and don't pay attention, who knows...)  and deliver an immersive experience like no other.

 

20210624_144607.thumb.jpg.f85deb65f8b14b32ac01a75d9a2ce40b.jpg

 

20210625_031805.thumb.jpg.9e1592ba26b5c6efa63665da5ce1dd0c.jpg

 

After I skill up a bit, I'll try my hand at racing with the crazies in iRacing. Steam's current sale has the year membership at $30, so that's almost a no-brainer.

 

If anyone else wants to hop on and race in Project Cars 1, 2, 3, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, or rFactor 2, holler. I'll try any game, just pick your poison.

That's crazy.  That isn't running off of a laptop, is it?  Assuming no, what is the laptop for?

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7 hours ago, Elvis said:

That's crazy.  That isn't running off of a laptop, is it?  Assuming no, what is the laptop for?

Yeah. Alienware m15 R4 with an RTX 3080 doing the heavy lifting. It can push that 49" monitor (effectively a 6k panel) at a comfortable 140Hz. It's crazy what laptops can do these days.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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