If you're like me you're broke. Or at least have to avoid checking out fancy multi-thousand dollar 'sim rigs' cos why spend it on the sim when there's a car begging for a new set of pads.
So it's budget time, and I suppose in that space it's cheap shoes - the saying goes buy expensive shoes as they wear out less than cheap ones and ultimately will cost less in the long run (just noticed the pun!). The challenge is to be able to afford expensive shoes upfront. Barefoot it is then.
And so it is that I came to own three G29s in the space of around two years and vowed to never buy another one (one was a warranty swap in fairness). Simply put, anything that's electrical and has contact points is a cheap point of failure. For me, it was the buttons on the wheel and twice pedal pot woes - albeit once self-inflicted (very thin wires inside it turns out).
But this one has lasted - and this the journey I'd like to share, one of customisation on a budget that's ended up with an excellent experience to say the least, and super cheap. I'll go through this in a bit of instruction, a few links and generally share my journey, I hope it helps.
Firstly, the approach - for me enjoying driving is key, and that's about enjoying the sensory touchpoints - it has to sound good, feel good, smell good and probably taste good if that's possible. And the one that's highly subjective, has to look good, but not necessarily in an "I spent a fortune on this" way, no, more an "It's usable and enhances the experience" sort of way. Function over form if you will.
It started with the wheel stand, this one in fact:
It is terrible.
Name and shame, it's actually a Fanatec (yeah man, a Fanatec rig, heh), which goes to show you can swing your manufacturing genius too far to one end of the spectrum, and that's the far end from this to be clear.
The issue, and it's twofold - is firstly as you'll know from elementary maths, is that the hinge at the bottom is a long way away on a lever from the steering wheel - and the clamp thing at the bottom is never ever going to cope with long term abuse on a wheel up top, and it didn't. The second issue is that the pedals just don't sit on the stand, it's polished aluminum for sure (and looks nice) but you'll soon be collecting your pedal box from the carpet with this. There is a sneaky third issue - it's not very heavy, it's OK for standard pedals but if, like me, you awake (quite literally) as you crest the curb at the end of the Mulsanne straight you'll be heavy on the brakes from time to time. This moves the unit.
The solution...
First, Isambard Kingdom Brunel would be proud, build a triangle. So that's what I did.
I bought a length of threaded rod from the local hardware shop (always, always Bunnings) and then fashioned ways to attach it top and bottom. I was going to weld something, but in fact, using wingnuts means I can adjust it - albeit not needing too very often.
It looks something like this:
It doesn't interfere with feet at all, and in fact, became a very handy way to route the myriad of cables up from the floor, and in later pics, you'll see I mounted (cable tied) the power pack on the sled bit at the bottom too. It's still cable mayhem on the floor, but at least my cockpit is clean - always clean your cockpit gentlemen.
This solution is stiff enough that the wheel moves not at all, but has enough give that it'll be the bit that breaks if something does happen, if it's possible to roll a sim in real life I suppose...
Next was pedals - I'll not post the pics here, they're not exciting, but check your pedals for a threaded hole underneath, they'll likely have one. Then it's a matter of fashioning a length of metal to make the clamp. Be careful though - if you clamp down too tight the top casing bends in and cracks - I solved this (on the second set) by using the same material across the top too - so basically the metal does the clamping. You might see it in later pics.
Next, the upgrade of the pedals. If you've not done the GTEye thing for your pedals then I heartily recommend it - just be careful not to catch a (very thin) wire in the casing as that kills them I know...
These are they:
Thrilling.
The final upgrade on the pedals is probably the most important, behold:
This simple (post-race) addition stops the accumulated fluff of household pets from dropping in and carefully wrapping itself around the exposed potentiometers of the pedals. The lesson learned, every so often I spray contact cleaner in there and also a can of air to buff the fluff out basically. Bad design by Logitech frankly.
So to the gears.
There's not really too much wrong with the Logitech gearbox, it's a bit limp but as a H pattern it works OK. But I wanted better feeling in the gears.
So I bought this kit from 3DRap:
Yes, initially it was Strong V2, but it's calmed down now I think. Mostly it's a satisfying snick into gear. First has become a bit softer. It's a non-intrusive change though, so I can replace or remove easily enough. What does it look like on the wheel? Well, err, that is to say I didn't stop there.
No, being the closet Ferrari fan I also bought the gated shifter add-on as well as a metal top plate... and then I bought (more recently) a metal shifter. Originally for my car as a replacement, I didn't like it there. But it works very well indeed on my 'rig'. I can't stress enough the good feeling of a metal knob to fettle through the gears.
It is a thing of beauty to use I must say. Fun times.
And did I stop there? Nope.
I was looking at button boxes, but blimey they're pricy, and they're limited in what they can do - it's a one-trick pony basically. But I happened to be clearing out the tat cupboard (one of them at least, and by cupboard think room) and came across an old tablet. I'd been playing with the idea of a raspberry pi and making that into a touch screen device, but that really is hard and I think the hobby is in the making it, not the using it which is what I wanted.
Enter
Stryder. Stryder-IT is some chap who's made an entire touch screen ecosystem for sim racing. It's amazing frankly.
So from a button box, I've gone to full sim dash on the side, with shift lights and lap times the lot. You need to go have a look for yourself - it works on android phones (the best ones) and allows multiple screens per game.
I've done a few of my own in fact:
Assetto Corsa - all the basics
Project Cars 2 - Handy addition to wheel
Rfactor2 - Pit In controls plus essentials
These are awesome, as are some of the amazing designs done by others, all free with the very reasonably priced pro version (<$20).
The tablet itself is so out of date it won't update the O/S anymore and is crazy slow for all but this. I think it's well over five years old. I've left it plugged into the PC to make sure it's charged all the time, and in fact may remove the battery too as don't want battery failure - this thing is more dear to me than any other device I've owned given its current service!
And the installation is like this:
The TV does look a mile away, but it's 65" and not so bad. All a matter of perspective!
And there it all is. But remember I said the stand was too light - yeah, fixed that for sure with all this bolt-on stuff. I rarely notice any carpet creep in the night, even with the stiffer pedals.
Total cost?
One should never price a hobby, so here's the list of bits;
- Wheel - G29. Prices vary frankly - don't buy second hand, they fail gradually and you'll buy scrap.
- GTEye upgrade - I did all three springs. Plus an afternoon carefully fitting them (the second time).
- Fanatec stand - get something else, or get this and build the triangle. Useless without.
- 3DRap shifter upgrade - I thought it was worth it. Necessary if you're putting a metal shift knob on (weighted throw), which is essential now I've done it.
- Metal knob - Get onto eBay. Consider how you're going to fasten it to the shift lever, Logitech's isn't standard, so pull it apart and have a look.
- Sim Dash - get onto eBay, buy the cheapest decent-sized android WiFi tablet you can buy, and install the Stryder-IT dash, even for PS4 it'll work (Assetto and PCars, not GT Shart).
Do I like my solution? Not sure. I like that I've done it, but offer me a proper rig with seat and I'll change in a heartbeat. I'd still have the dash, but could forgo the shifter - actually I'd buy a proper metal shifter and avoid using it on the PS4 I think. In fact, I may even still do that - I feel the shifter won't age well.
I am in fact still tempted, but then I like driving old cars and this very much is not a quick release solution. I think an upgrade to Thrustmaster, or save many pennies and Fanatec is the way forward. We'll see!
Links to the places I went to buy stuff:
