In 2020 during Covid lockdown I built up a bit of a rig to mount my 20 year old steering wheel and pedals, all the gory details in here:
It has been a lot of fun, but the 20 year old steering wheel and pedal set was getting past it, not enough functions for the modern racing sims, and being mainly plastic construction, it was getting worn and the bearings (nylon I guess) in the wheel were shot. Did a good job though, and amazingly still working ok. It was a Thrustmaster Ferrari 360 model, and I decided to stay with the Thrustmaster brand, it's one of the quality mid-range products available, but upgrade a few levels to get a more robust setup with Force Feedback, which transmits simulated road feel, vibrations, etc, back through the wheel to enhance the experience. So after a bit of research, I have bought a Thrustmaster T300 RS GT outfit, which is definitely a big step up for me. About $650 for the wheel and pedals, but don't worry, these things can cost well over $1000 just for a home setup, but also for as little as about $200 for a similar product to my old one (without FFB).
The T300 immediately feels more robust, and the motor drive in the head unit to give the force feedback (FFB) certainly adds a bit of weight, the old wheel and head assy is approx 1.25kg, the new one 5.0kgs. The pedals also much more robust, old pedal set about 1.0kg, new 3.4kgs. A feature of the new model is belt drive FFB in the head, as against the model below this, which has gear drive FFB. According to reviews (what else can you do to try to get a decent product) the belt drive is smoother and quieter, and first impressions are good. It feels just so much better, strong feedback, but unfortunately so far, hasn't improved my times around the track!
But have only just set it up, and there are many fine adjustments one can do, so maybe I will improve my times. However, I am happy that it feels more realistic and quite solid. Here are a few pics:
Old and new Wheel heads above, and pedal sets below.
New Pedal set has metal pedal faces, but robust plastic levers, and if you wanted, there are better optional pedals.
Brake pedal mod. The rubber cone/bracket is included in the set as an option if you want a realistic feeling brake pedal (who wouldn't?) instead of a full travel pedal which my old unit had. Then from reading a few hints on line, I fitted the adjustable stop myself, which gives a positive end to the brake pedal travel and allows for better calibration of the pedal in the setup. Now I see it, I could have used a shorter bolt, eh?
Only a few small adjustments were required to fit the new unit to the old frame. Here I'm raising the accelerator pedal to a higher position - for big feet!
Also had to raise my keyboard holder about 50mm to clear the larger head unit.
Wheel is pretty fancy. Paddle shifters a bit hard to see in this photo as they match the outer diameter of the head boss, dark fingers pointing up just inside the wheel rim. L and R buttons are to look Left or Right - a quick press puts the screen view as though you were looking sideways. Other buttons for various other functions, many of which you can set up yourself in the program for each vehicle. Another feature of this model is removable steering wheel, which can be changed for various optional wheels, eg, an open top and bottom F1 type, or a nice leather one.
By the way, I still haven't built a proper racing seat, just using an office chair, many other time-consuming home considerations (priorities) have come along since I built the basic frame in 2020.
Just one way to satisfy the inner petrol head.
Got the racing sim bug.
Following the recent e-racing events, my interest in sim racing has been rejuvenated, so I dragged out the 20 year old Thrustmaster 360 steering wheel and pedals, downloaded Assetto Corsa onto my desktop, and voila, having a bit of fun. With the Italian Assetto Corsa program, what else to start...
www.aussiefrogs.com
It has been a lot of fun, but the 20 year old steering wheel and pedal set was getting past it, not enough functions for the modern racing sims, and being mainly plastic construction, it was getting worn and the bearings (nylon I guess) in the wheel were shot. Did a good job though, and amazingly still working ok. It was a Thrustmaster Ferrari 360 model, and I decided to stay with the Thrustmaster brand, it's one of the quality mid-range products available, but upgrade a few levels to get a more robust setup with Force Feedback, which transmits simulated road feel, vibrations, etc, back through the wheel to enhance the experience. So after a bit of research, I have bought a Thrustmaster T300 RS GT outfit, which is definitely a big step up for me. About $650 for the wheel and pedals, but don't worry, these things can cost well over $1000 just for a home setup, but also for as little as about $200 for a similar product to my old one (without FFB).
The T300 immediately feels more robust, and the motor drive in the head unit to give the force feedback (FFB) certainly adds a bit of weight, the old wheel and head assy is approx 1.25kg, the new one 5.0kgs. The pedals also much more robust, old pedal set about 1.0kg, new 3.4kgs. A feature of the new model is belt drive FFB in the head, as against the model below this, which has gear drive FFB. According to reviews (what else can you do to try to get a decent product) the belt drive is smoother and quieter, and first impressions are good. It feels just so much better, strong feedback, but unfortunately so far, hasn't improved my times around the track!
But have only just set it up, and there are many fine adjustments one can do, so maybe I will improve my times. However, I am happy that it feels more realistic and quite solid. Here are a few pics:Old and new Wheel heads above, and pedal sets below.
New Pedal set has metal pedal faces, but robust plastic levers, and if you wanted, there are better optional pedals.
Brake pedal mod. The rubber cone/bracket is included in the set as an option if you want a realistic feeling brake pedal (who wouldn't?) instead of a full travel pedal which my old unit had. Then from reading a few hints on line, I fitted the adjustable stop myself, which gives a positive end to the brake pedal travel and allows for better calibration of the pedal in the setup. Now I see it, I could have used a shorter bolt, eh?
Only a few small adjustments were required to fit the new unit to the old frame. Here I'm raising the accelerator pedal to a higher position - for big feet!
Also had to raise my keyboard holder about 50mm to clear the larger head unit.
Wheel is pretty fancy. Paddle shifters a bit hard to see in this photo as they match the outer diameter of the head boss, dark fingers pointing up just inside the wheel rim. L and R buttons are to look Left or Right - a quick press puts the screen view as though you were looking sideways. Other buttons for various other functions, many of which you can set up yourself in the program for each vehicle. Another feature of this model is removable steering wheel, which can be changed for various optional wheels, eg, an open top and bottom F1 type, or a nice leather one.
By the way, I still haven't built a proper racing seat, just using an office chair, many other time-consuming home considerations (priorities) have come along since I built the basic frame in 2020.
Just one way to satisfy the inner petrol head.
