All the gear

Finally, I think I might be somewhere near the rig I want... certainly I've run out of things I can stick to it.

Like one of those weird little crabs that stick things to themselves, this rig has just about all of it, sensible budget permitting.

I've posted a few times about the build, notably here for the main rig build: https://gtqld.blogspot.com/2021/01/new-sim-gear-trackracer-fanatec-tears.html 

Since then I've been busy. Below is a bit of a breakdown on some of the additional stuff, and some learnings... 

 

Behold in it's full glory

 Steering wheel

The steering wheel is controversial to those that race GT3 exclusively and judge all other games by the one game they play with one car, on one track. Getting out and about means a variety of driving, and this is by far the most universal. Fanatec 918 rim mated to a DD1 25nm direct drive hub. I'd not go bigger, and I'd not go smaller either. Having that hub does mean you're somewhat aligned to that eco-system, and everyone loves to hate Fanatec - it's worked for me though. Setup is pretty straight forward and is only getting more complicated as per-car features are added to their config app.

No plans to change any of this. 

Pedals

The pedals are Fanatec CSL Clubsport. They have load-cell, they are great. They're probably not the best, but then neither are the ones in either of my real cars. And all of them are mated to my feet, which are low spec at best. The rumble motors in them are crap. When they work they're OK, but very hit and miss as to when they'll do their thing.

 

 Sparco Gear knob / Fanatec H pattern

This has been a love-hate relationship.
I'll start by saying the Sparco knob is excellent, and adds to the general feel. The shifter... I thought it was great until a little spongy bit inside it decided to fail. 

Much upset, as it meant the shifter had no stiffness to it (it pushes a ball bearing into a race/holes to create clunk). So I bought a replacement, more on that below. But I did also pop to my local rubber store and buy a $5 bit of rubber that I fashioned into shape and fitted. I'd say it's better than it's ever been. 

Still not a patch on the OB1 below, but I'll explain that next. The reason this stays is that it is slaved to the paddle shifters on the wheel - so I can sequential shift with this. That and some games (cough-PMR-cough) just don't get the second H pattern, so it does get used. Would I replace it? No, not without serious research for a sequential shifter mod for the Fanatec.

Gear lever(s)

I think technically I have x42 forward gears, 7x6 on the small forest of levers. 

But no, what I have (in addition to Fanatec) is the Old Boy Simracing v1 shifter. For not a massive amount of cash. Here's an online review I did for someone looking to buy a new shifter:

-----

I had a Fanatec H pattern for a few years, thought it was pretty good actually. Then the bushing on the tension adjuster gave out. Epic slop.

Whilst pondering fixing it, I found the OBI shifter (https://oldboysimracing.com/), and it's much cheapness - so ordered it, complete with extra tension springs on the shifter.

To compare...

With the 'tough' springs in the shifter it's just not real. Many like the extra tension, but as a gear box user (as you are) you'd be horrified if you had a shifter that stiff. Luckily it's a fiddly session and they can be swapped out - in fact the whole unit is user serviceable which I like as a NB owner!

Post change, I love it. It's positive, but not over the top. No gate into reverse and the top plate acting as the guide is interesting - going from the Fanatec it's like going from a modern car to something proper retro.

Tension wise, with the basic springs I'd put it in-line with the NBmk2 gearbox (post refresh of bushings).

And that's a good thing. Early on I miss-shifted heaps - you really do have to concentrate on gear placement, no slamming it into gear (at least until you get your muscle memory sorted).

As to the Fanatec - I bought a tiny bit of rubber (<$5) and replaced it, making the shifter more solid than ever. But it still feels low spec compared to the OB1 in H mode.

Given a choice, what would I do the next time around... I think I'd buy a decent sequential, so long as I could slave it to the paddles on my Fanatec rim, and an OB1 shifter, not much doubt about that.

If you're wanting to be quick in the gears in an online race, it might not be right. If you want the satisfaction of a decent shift in something pre-80's racecar. The OB1 is a wise choice.

 -----

Handbrake

I did have a Fanatec handbrake. But I'd never buy another...

Firstly, the cable/plug setup into the handbrake is terrible. I ended up building a bracket to stop the dog knocking it - but it was already fragile.

Secondly, it just wasn't great. With a potentiometer it really wasn't 'accurate' insofar as it just didn't react like a real handbrake at all.

Thirdly, it's mated to the same axis as the clutch (go figure) in the config/code of Fanatec. This means that in some games it just plain doesn't work. Thankfully most end up sorting it.

So I bought a cheap one off eBay, and then cut the handle off the Fanatec one (the one good bit about it) and bolted it to my cheapo. It's great, feels good, looks better than the Fanatec one and I would replace like for like again.

Button boxes

I think I've covered these before. 

Top one is a home made setup, I like it, the project was great, but if I was doing it again I'd probably just buy one - it's not much more expensive once you buy all the gear. Does look good though.

The bottom one is the most scary bit of kit here - it's the panic shut off for the wheel. Why? because a 25nm wheel going nuts can break bones in fingers so I wanted something. But I didn't really like the panic button that Fanatec did. 

A quick bit of research and I have a master toggle and a power button on the box, and I love it. The ceremony of firing up the rig is awesome to say the least. It would be great to slave the PC into button there, and not that hard, but maybe another time. Oh. and we don't talk about the wiring inside... lord no. 

 

Flag box

Bought on a whim, but probably my least liked thing on the rig. It's fine, and it is handy to have an arrow for car right/left and also the immersion of the flags is cool. Just not really worth the effort. I may change it to a gear display as that's more handy for me at the moment.

Of all the gear on here, this is the one that shits itself the most, and it's damn bright when it does. 

Dashboard

I love my dashboard. For years I've used the Sim Dashboard app from Stryder (https://www.stryder-it.de/simdashboard/index.php), and if you're using a console I'd still recommend it. In fact the only reason I moved away was the whole move to SimHub for rumble motor, flag box and Racelogic. Moving meant I could rationalise the apps and traffic relating to this data.

I ended up using this comprehensive dashboard for just about everything, it can be found

here:  https://github.com/thekingm249/AIO-DASHBOARD?tab=readme-ov-file 

 

RaceLogic 

A frivolous purchase maybe, but this isn't the $1.5k version, this is from AliExpress, and was more like $250 at most. At first I didn't rate it, but I've moved it to under the dashboard, and have buttons (see below) to change screens etc. And it's great. a nice little +1 is when you complete a lap, it appears to flick across to the main dashboard - it doesn't, but it looks like it does, all in the timing!

 

 

Rumble motor

Probably one of the better things to have done to my rig. Certainly for the price. Only issue is how it loses it's default device in SimHub on a major windows update. That's to do with my PC though, so can't really complain.

See below for the build blog posts on what I did.  

 

Amplifier (for the rumble motor)

Including here as totally chuffed with fitting it. It's in the blog below, but look at it....!

Read all about it, here: https://gtqld.blogspot.com/2023/09/kick-ass-pt1.html

And here: https://gtqld.blogspot.com/2023/12/kick-ass-pt2.html 

 

Control box / car computer

This is my most recent purchase, a Ulanzi stream controller. No, not about to go streaming. But what you can do it program the buttons to do a myriad of things. 

For now I've got basic buttons to replicate the computer buttons in AMS2 (and a few other games), and it's great. It has the capacity to be very useful indeed - if only the editing software wasn't so pants. Handy bit of kit though.

The result

Overall, it all adds up to a pretty engaging setup.
 

What would I do again...

1. I'd do Fanatec Wheel/Base/Pedals again - I'd look about, but out of the box they're great.
2. I'd not do the Fanatec H pattern again unless no option with the sequential.
3.  The Fanatec handbrake, nope. In the bin!
4. OB1 Shifter, yep, for the price it is great. 
5. Flag Box, as it's configured, no... maybe as a gear indicator.
6. Button boxes, for sure, but I'd probably buy.
7. RaceLogic, I actually would, it's a cool gadget.
8. Dashboard, I would and I have, when this one packed up, bought a new android tablet ASAP.

Not covered here is the monitor, I like the wide screen, but not too wide and I'm happy it's flat too. With this setup I get to experience the racing with a good FoV but don't have to mess with perspective, triples and the likes. 

No plans for VR, at least until I've had a decent trial of someone else's.

What's next? Not sure really. The setup really is as complex as it needs to be, and I think now time to just get on and enjoy, maybe tweak a few bits and bobs in layout.

 Cost? who knows.. it wasn't cheap, but it also is around six years of build. 

Project Motor Sport: aka Project Cars 1.8

 

This image is. Done. To. Death.

 

Well, here we are at launch plus essential patching, and how is it?

 

Summary:

It's a modern take on Project Cars, generally slightly less good than Project Cars 2 - except FFB is done right (if not well).

Graphics

Starting here as this is in fact my biggest issue. It's just not great. It's a tough month to release in, AC Evo is getting somewhere, AMS2 has released much of the same content (and is polished to within an inch of it's life now) and then AC Rally has come along and aced visuals hard.

To compare... RRRE is in the same ballpark, and actually what worries me most at the moment, it's on par with the last Farm Sim I played. There's just something inherently not real about the graphics. And I'm not talking about how cars float then drop through the road (they do) on regular occasions. It's just meh (a common theme).

Car Selection

Yes, there are epic cars in this game. No doubt about that. But if you've maxed your RRRE & AMS2 DLC you've got them all, except some Marcos & TVR stuff. Those you can find in AC, everything is in AC.

Are the cars well modelled, yep, they look a lot like any other game, that's essentially realistic, as it shoudl be. Meh, then.

Control Mapping

I'm greedy. I have:

• Fanatec wheel
• Fanatec H pattern (set to sequential)
• Off brand (old buy sim racing) H pattern - which is awesome btw
• Button box, home made, basically joystick buttons.
• Flag box - Simhub
• Digital Dash - Simhub
• Racelogic wannabe - Simhub

 They all work fine in the main sims out there. They don't work fine in PMR.

1. Despite the update, the button box doesn't work
2.  My (not) fancy H pattern doesn't map/work
3. The flag box goes nuts. Worst is if I return to pits I'm subject to flashing chequered for the duration 

Handling

This is very subjective, car, track, weather, FFB setup... it all adds up. I took some time to find the DD1 settings as recommended, dialled them back from ape, as always, and then went out for a spin. I'd say similar to AMS2, but without the finesse. It just doesn't feel as good. And as to actual "handling" - great, very sticky tires for sure. A good game one might say. Meh. 

Circuit Selection

Hard to believe they're laser scanned to within an inch of their lives when they're not licensed, or at least don't have real names associated with them. Derby, Dolton, or whatever they've called Donnington isn't too bad. Spa... it's just not quite right. Or maybe every other version of this circuit isn't, hard to say.

See above for comments on not great graphics... And no tractors in the fields, just saying.

AI (Offline)

I've only raced offline so far. And honestly it's not as bad as all that. It's not AMS2, but of my benchmark of GT3s around Bathurst, it's better than the GT'esq cars of AC Evo. That's a shitfest - as an aside, take the Evo 190 round a Bathurst race in AC Evo, that at least is excellent. 
So, overall... Meh. It's not the best by far, but it's not the worst. In fairness there's been a decent patch to fix it before I played it. Note that when you're reading other reviews too. 

So how is it?

Honestly, Meh. It doesn't feel big production, certainly doesn't live up to the hype.
Frankly there's better out there.

With RRRE and AMS2 everything in this game is covered pretty much. 

I raced some old GT cars in PMR, did the qualifying and a few laps, then went and did exactly the same race in AMS2 and whilst that game is an old slipper to me, it's also better in every single aspect.

I'd not say PMR is a confused mess, but it's trying hard to be. If they'd released it with some caveats then there's every chance folks wouldn't have been too hard on it.

Will I get a refund? Nope, same way I have Forza Motorsport in my library - it'll get some irregular racing, and we'll see if it improves. Hard to see a wow factor coming in though. 

Kick Ass - Pt2

 The long-awaited sequel to my ordering of a rumble motor is here!

The question to answer first is, is it worth it?

Yes. Yes, it was worth the $250 or so I spent on DIY. And No, no it wouldn't be worth the $600+ (Aud) you'd spend on a kit to do exactly the same thing. Right, now that's out of the way, as you're doing this anyway, to the build...

Installation was easy. There's any number of gadgets and plates you can buy online to fit a DaytonAudio shaker to 8040 profile rigs. All of them look terrible.

Why? You want your shaker to be as tightly coupled to your rig as possible, any flex is lost fidelity. And looking online various Etsy and eBay sOlutions looked great, would have been a pain to fit, and would have ended up with something akin to a big guy on the end of a diving board (ask me how I know what that's like). So rubbish... 

I did briefly toy with 8040 cross members (two of them) and all the accompanying bracketry and in that the price went through the roof - so I decided to go ghetto on it, behold;

The only sticker on my rig. Tasteful.

Yes, it looks crap, but read on!

It looks like a poor fit, but in fact, works really well... the reasoning for this two-bolt approach?

Essentially the magnet being flung about inside is only going up and down, there's no lateral movement, so no need to worry about the thing rocking back and forth.

Fitting like this I drilled out the mounting holes to take the standard t-slot (M8 I think) bolts, then bolted it down directly to the rig. Above you can see the seat, so it's directly beneath my butt. Perfect placement in fact.

As an aside, there's a soft pad that sits on the base of the speaker. I get that if I were fitting that to a sofa or something as a movie kicker, but I want the full flex, so I re-tightened it a few nights later and sure enough, it had relaxed. 

Are there better ways to fit it? Not for $0 there isn't. I'm not sure if another way would get more "action" out of the kicker, but how I have it is plenty so I'm happy. If I'd not been I'd have invested in something more designed. Try this approach first!

I had a win on the amp side of things too! With my original rig purchase, I bought a keyboard and tablet mounting rig, it was ridiculously over-engineered, resembling an armored car mounted on the end of a Waldo arm. So I had spare parts (I should post all the places I've used the kit, it's impressive), specifically the lower clamp bit for the keyboard, hard to describe, but it mounted under my mouse plate like this:

By Design!

I don't think it could have fitted better to be honest. Loose cabling has since been sorted with Etsy cable clamps which is far cheaper than the official - no way I'm paying $20 postage for 10 tiny bits of plastic!

Configuration

One of the key reasons I shunned a proper solution was reviews talking about using SimHub as a driving app for the "proper" kits - so there's no benefit in having to pay for the software, and then it becomes easy to buy the hardware (see Pt1).

I'll not bore with the technical details of connectivity and running a usb sound card to the back of this amp, it's all simple stuff.

SimHub is comprehensive, I found that out the hard way, and you can set your rumble shaker up to basically be on all the time, it's easy to saturate the effect. 

So I took an informative + immersion route and set this:

What do we have...

• RPMs - set to a slow(ish) rumble at idle, and then cut out at any revs. 
• This is for immersion - as I join the grid or am in the pits my whole rig rumbles like it's a lumpy idle. Excellent.
• Gear Shift - set to kick on up/down shift. This is really apparent in paddle and sequential shifting,
• This is immersion - it's just cool to feel a bit of a kick on shifting - most reviewers have this on too, and I can see why.
• Wheels Lock - set to screech (high frequency) on locking. Overrides every other setting.
• This is informative - it really is a shocker when you lock up. Feels horrible, training me nicely!
• Road Impacts - set pretty low, still rubbish on Bathurst
• This is mostly for immersion - it does let me know if the track is really bumpy, as in losing traction. I don't have this setting very high as it can saturate the shaker easily.
• Road Rumble - set for curbs etc.
• This is informative and actually does help with immersion. This is an excellent setting that means when I clip a curb I feel the rumble. That coupled to sound in headphones and I'm tricked into 'feeling it' on the left and right-hand sides respectively. Very cool.

And that's it. It's worth noting I'm using a DD1 with a 918 rim - which has rumble motors in the wheel itself. I'm also using V3 Clubsport pedals which have near-useless motors in the brake and accelerator. All of this in a fairly stiff rig means I get an absolute ton of feedback, any more and it would be counter-intuitive. 

As it is, I'm sure it's not to everyone's taste, we all want different things and indeed race in different environments. But for me, it's just right, I use this profile on every game I race on (AMS2, ACC, AC, RRRE, Forza, and so on) to get a consistent feedback experience, and I love it.

Would I do it again, yep, it's worth the initial cost and effort to set up for sure.

Why Forza, Why?

Don't buy before release. 

That's the advice in my head, the scars from No Mans Sky run deep, and yet here I am spending up on Forza '23 (for want of a better way to distinguish it).

And I can tell you, I wanted to like it, I wasn't bought into the hype, there was clearly so much of it around it was unreal, and being a refugee from the PS4/GT Sport era now in PC land, I was prepared for the worst - better to be pleasantly surprised.

So, you'll have guessed by now, that I'm not the happiest camper out there. Let's do a list and unpack...

• UI
• Handling
• Peripheral devices
• AI

That's the sh*t list, but before that, let's talk about what I do like...

The game itself, the way it flows and the upgrades, etc - that's all fantastic. Coming from GT6 on PS4 (I rage quit PS4 land with GT Sport, but this is not that tale) I have long missed a game where it's a case of buying a road car and working my way up to a race car - club racing like that is excellent fun.

And I'm new enough to this franchise to not worry about upgrade points being limited to one car, or over-tuning my car so it's un-raceable, I like to buy a few bits and get in. This is that. If you liked old-school Gran Turismo, this game is for you (mostly). 

The content and graphics aren't half bad either, I'm running a 3080 Ti at 4k, so it's hard not to look good, and if I'm honest, I like RRRE and don't mind their "overly dated" graphics. I thought I was a snob, clearly I like a bit of rough.

But let's get to the list, it is most of the game after all...

UI

The easy one. It's a pet hate and a frustration that games that are ported to/from console don't do it properly. This game is no exception. Half the time there's a back button, the rest it's press escape. The continuity tester should be shot, or maybe made to spend a day with only one shoe on. 

It's not the end of the world, but having to pick a mouse or keyboard depending on what screen I want to get out of is a pain for me, and smacks of poor design. 

Outside of that, it's not so bad. Placing it on the spectrum... RF2 (as it was in '23) is the bottom, RRRE is the top (it really is easy to use, except when you change your mind in track selection) - I'd put the UI closer to the top for sure, it's easy to get to what you want when you want it, just not the way you want.

Handling

Ah yes. For context I'm using a DD1 and 918 Rim with V3 pedals, a solid upper-middle-of-the-road setup. Day zero I had serious doubts about the game...

Feedback through the wheel was wooden, no ripple strip feedback and just really lifeless, but patience... and I knew there were some settings to change. 

A setup guide was released, and it's so much better. It's not AMS2, and never will be, but it's certainly enjoyable now and the wheel talks to what's going on, I'm OK with that.

So why is handling in the bin list?

This is an easy test... get an Audi GT3, go to Spa, and take it through Raidillon & Eau Rouge. Then do that with AMS2 (you'll need another GT3, doesn't matter), RRRE, AC and ACC.

It's terrible in Forza.

The best I can say is it's like racing in the rain, you get wash-out, then grip, then oversteer. It really does feel like the wet in other games.

That corner is iconic, that car is a classic, and having watched any amount of GT3s go through that bend I reckon I could drive through there with my eyes closed on the right line. Except in Forza '23, in which it's a lottery as to what happens next.

To be fair, it's not so bad in the club (tweaked road) cars, they handle OK, but I'm not looking forward to the higher-class races in the game for sure. In fact I said the exact same thing of Shift 2 years ago. It's the same; Physics that have been applied to some road cars the devs had access to have been cranked up (in the numbers) to make "racecar" - and that's just not the case.

I do like to be thorough in my disappointment though, so the plan is one evening to do a test and tune and see if it's a tuning issue for the car on that track. I'm not going to hold my breath though.

GT6 - better through Raidillon

Peripheral Devices

I recently bought a ghetto bass shaker - it's surprisingly cheap to do so (and you'll see the post below about that). And it's excellent.

I also run a couple of dashboards - a shift/racelogic dash on an old phone an ancient tablet with full dashboard on it, from the excellent https://www.stryder-it.de/simdashboard/ site. I love the immersion this gives me - in AMS2 for example every gear change is a shift light flashing, then a kick as I change gear - the intensity of immersion that gives is fantastic.

Couple that with crew chief, Fanatec's shift lights on the wheel & mini-dash on the DD1, and I'm well stocked with info while I race. I use all of it.

Not in Forza.

Forza, I'll accept it's day zero (or so) and devs haven't nailed the peripheral apps yet. But none of it works. I managed to get one device working - the large dash. You basically have to point the game to that specific device on your network - which is great, but I have many other devices that are now without info and won't work. 

So, by design, I'm unlikely to be able to use all the gear I've built into my rig. 

And that's a poor show - GRID does it fine, Dirt2 is fine... the list of older games working is right there MS... do the right thing and make it work as per the other games.

Apparently, it has to do with the sandbox game environment. Whatever, that's called an excuse, not a reason. 

AI

I grew up on a farm, and for many years AI was Artificial Insemination (side note, proud to say I never lost sight of my hands in all the years of working on the farm). I actually wonder if that's the manual that was used by the devs in gathering requirements for this game's AI.

Truly I've not been f****d by AI as hard as I have in this game.

No two ways about it, I've had cars side-swipe me off the track, even if I'm off the racing line, and alongside - maybe it's meant to be a blocking move, but with a 5ghz PC I'd like to think the decision to 'change lanes' could be a bit more snappy and happen before I'm there. If it was real it would be dangerous driving.

And then into the first few corners. This is masterful - the devs have managed to recreate the open lobby experience to perfection. It's a total sh*tfest on the first few bends. Again, I'm at club level to be fair, but there's really no attempt by AI to avoid collisions, none whatsoever. 

If crew chief worked, I'd expect a "hold your line" moment, but they'd need to add in some more commentary along the lines of "Car front, left, right, behind, all closing in on you" - which would aptly describe the moshpit of the early race.

In summary...

I sat down to race last night, finally after a busy week I had a spare hour or so. I was looking forward to some Forza, it's my new game after all.

10 minutes in and I was back out. 

All of the above just doesn't make it a game I want to play. It's OK as a game, but the experience is very shallow for sure. 

And I found myself racing a new track in RRRE in 1992 DTM cars. And it was glorious, the ripple strips rumbled, the crew chief called it, and the cars handled well (as they do for that age). I could feel the grip coming on and dropping off. The AI was behaved but assertive. And so on...

I thoroughly enjoyed the race.

And surely, when it boils down to it 99% of us are here to enjoy the racing. Forza has a way to go before I get to that point I think, and I wonder if I ever will when there are alternatives out there.

Kick Ass - Pt1

A cursory spin through this blog and it's clear that thanks to zero actual budget I've spent a relative fortune on my sim budget. It's all simulation, right?

But what to spend some cash on this month... One thing that many reviewers (and some that don't have the gear for free even) have stated really improves their game is the Butt Kicker system - honestly I avoid online FPS games for the very reason I don't want my ass kicked, but this is different...

You see, one of the things missing in sim racing is haptic feedback on anything other than the wheel, which is very unlike real life where there's feedback all over the place, much is in the seat of your pants in fact.

And whilst my setup does have rumble motors in the wheel (not just the steering, it's complicated) and also some weedy things going on with pedals too, it doesn't really do much 'seat of the pants'. Somehow, and I'm not really sure, it does shake the frame occasionally, and whilst it's mild, it's certainly something that extends the immersion beyond the wheel - I want more!

Enter the Butt Kicker. In every sense, imagine stapping a sub-woofer speaker to your seat and then having it rumble for things like hitting the curbs. This is exactly what it is, just the official "butt kicker" does it in a nice package, pre-built and plug-and-play. It's also priced to suit the I don't care, I just want it, brigade. I'm not that.

What I am though is happy to drill holes in seats and frame (maybe not the frame) and to make up my own sweet solution for less. And this is that...

A bit of research and it's really not hard:

• A speaker/shaker
• An amp to drive it
• Some form of sound card output
• Software to make it work
• Just enough cable to make it look terrible, and not fit perfectly

The software is easy, https://www.simhubdash.com/ is free and actually has a module to drive third-party butt kickers - in fact, it's recommended for the official gear which has its own solution anyway.

The rest I've had to buy, I probably have the cables, but they'll be old and feeble, and frankly I'd like new gear!

(prices are in Aud$, which basically is ten times whatever you think you're spending).

Speaker

Research led me to the DaytonAudio driver, which if I get from a fancy shop is upwards of $200 easily, on Amazon is $170 or (And guess where I went) from eBay is $109 + $10 delivery. Bargain.

Fitting is going to be easy enough if I'm brave enough to drill holes in the base of my seat. Clue: I am.

Amp

Nobsound seems to be the way to go (why is everything butt/nob related!).

There are two options, one (Nobsound G2 Mini Subwoofer) which appears to be well tested and plugs into a sound card, and the other which can do Bluetooth & be a sound card. The latter seemed to have a few "it keeps dropping out" comments, and whilst it's the work of a moment to pause a movie (if you're using this setup for movie kicks) it's a pain if you're getting mixed messages whilst concentrating on making it to last within two laps.

So I've opted for the simpler (and slightly cheaper) option, which looks to be easy to set up in any case. I'm all for simple!

That was also an eBay special at $63 shipped. Also cheaper than anywhere else I might add.

The rest of it I got from Amazon. I probably could have hunted around on eBay for the cheaper cables, but frankly, it was a pain, and really down in the lower-priced stuff you're gambling a bit for a few dollars. One order it was then...

Sound card and cables

The princely sum of $53 shipped. And no stress over the sound "card" - this is not recreating the Teatro la Fenice, this is sending some rumbles so my ass (with less fidelity than my ears I reckon) can sense a gear change or something.. low-fi it is. Oh, and the sound card is needed for the Butt Kicker setup too, so not a unique cost.

Wrap up

So all up around $230 or so compared, and I just checked, to the $649 for the 'official' gear. Quite the saving and that was without adding in shipping.

Will it measure up? Some folks reckon it's easily as good as the official gear, time will tell. I certainly have the challenge of mounting this in a way that won't break my seat, something that I'm actually looking forward to - once I have the gear I'll figure it out.

I'll also post in a pt.2 to this once I've done it, detailing how I built it and how it plays out.

Till then!

Adventures in replays continue...

Following the F1 as any self-respecting motorsport fan should, my friend and I like to enjoy the same track that's being raced in one of the plethora of games that we own.

And so it passed that we raced Hungary in ACC, spoiler alert - the replay below isn't that.

But it's worth mentioning as ACC is the very best and worst game all at the same time...

The best bits...

• Amazing handling and immersion
• Easy tuning really, compared to many other games
• Graphics are stunning
• The online community is alive and well and quite active
• Fully licensed cars

And the worst bits are all the same...

• Handling that is on point, but my word it's picky
• How hard, really, how hard would it be to do the fuel/lap thing in-game as a predicted laps value?
• Graphics you need to borrow something from NASA to fully maximize
• The online community is full of psychopaths
• Cars are real mmkay... which means some are just faster than others, no matter what.

So it's a frustrating game to play online. For a long time I took the game seriously, played it, did the tuning and ran races, constantly getting upset by no mark torpedo driver who felt your car should be used as a breaking point. I left the game alone for a long time.

But last weekend (or so) we were talking about it and thought we may as well get back into racing there, and I'll confess I have a passion for Porsche Cup racing - and in that the game has the best content.

In preparation for a race at Hungary, which was upcoming, I decided to fire up ACC, but rather than race the proletariat I decided to race the AI, ranking scores be damned! - for those never playing this game, if someone punts you, you lose safety ratings or something. Only an issue if you want to move out of banger racing and into something more civilised. 

The choice, the new cup car at Donnington, a marvelous combination in anyone's eyes I think you'll agree.

As is the norm, recording HDR to youtube involves everything going crazy dark, however, as I realise now, I race ACC at "nearby nuclear strike" levels of brightness. Meh.

Behold...

And because you've read this far, and not really other reason, here's my current lock screen (you'll have read the previous post in which I talk about Brands)...

This is my lock screen

Most people treat their lock screen like it's the main entrance to the Louvre.

It isn't.

Anyway, why post? Because I do have an image on there that I like, but for a different reason, and no not some overcoming adversity in life way (still working on that), it's this...

I like it. 

I like it because this race typifies all that I am about sim racing...

• It's at Brands Hatch, an iconic track that's made it to just about every racing game of note
• Group C - and a healthy collection of them, I love Group C
• A field that's bourne of questing the Internet to get them
• Assetto Corsa, a game I don't think can be beaten really

and last and by no means least...

• A race that I can achieve in, win even, but for the life of me I can't manage.

Which sums up sim racing for me. I come back to this race regularly but it's a challenge every time, and the car/track combination means that a 10+ lap race is tough to master.

I've managed 5th so far, the highest placed Porsche, so there's that, but certainly there's more, and that's so very frustrating.

Every time I see my lock screen I see this and am inspired!

Adventures in replays continue

 I'm practicing sharing my replays.

The last one, in Assetto Corsa, didn't go too well insofar as it recorded it in HDR, or rather didn't - it recorded HDR not in HDR. Or something. The upshot was 90's filter...

So a couple of nights ago I decided to try the same method with AMS2 - and pleasantly surprised with the results I am.

I thought I was recording in 720p, but this replay seems to be upscaling or whatever to 4k, which is what I play at anyway, certainly watching this at 1080p is great. I recommend it...

Until around lap 5 which is when I start to make mistakes. In my defense I never meant this race to be aired, it was late, real drivers don't get asked if they want a cup of tea, or a dog's nose in their thigh going into a bend... perhaps they should. Mind you, then I think they'd need to have damage turned off too, as I do (it's about the race, not the pits).

And on pits, I have mandatory pits turned on. Why? Because it introduces an element of suspense and strategy into the game. I pitted early to gain track time (no overtaking), but also, had no idea of my final win until lap 9.

So, Adelaide (RIP such good racing there) in Porsche Cup cars. With a few errors...

Addressing the missing

 As per my previous post, I miss GT5/6.

Well, the magic the internet has Deep Forest for Assetto Corsa, and with some tasty GT500 class cars I was able to recreate some great racing.

What I also recreated in the replay was HDR not transferring to MP4, consequently, I have period-correct image quality too.

Ah well, my care factor of the replay is zero, as the race was so much fun...

And so it passes

 Today I listed my G29.

It's been a great wheel, but I've had my epic Fanatec for over a year now, so it's time to retire it, and by retiring it I mean sell it and pretty much for the price of the G29, shifter and stand buy a stop button for my current rig. Such is the scale of things.

A reminder of what it was...

Tidy unit

#Improved

To get it fit for sale there was a bit of work, not least as the potentiometer for the throttle wasn't really showing much potential for the future.

The lucky purchaser will have a unit that has:

• A deep cleaned unit - I stripped it right back and blew out every cat hair I could find...
• I even put dubbin on the leather wheel!
• A replaced throttle with the clutch unit from a spare - this potentiometer does less work so lasts longer. I.e. refurbed the throttle.
• Replaced cover - I had a spare, better condition one (one that I hadn't cut in half to get to the pots' to clean them*)
• An upgraded shifter. It's not Fanatec, but it's a mile better than standard.
• A cleaned Fanatec stand (still can't believe they put their name to it). I did remove the 'triangle' brace that was on it, though I might chuck that in once explained to the prospective purchaser.

And for all that, someone will hopefully enjoy sim racing just a little bit more.

*My not great potentiometer on the throttle used to flutter at full throttle, a quick blast of contact cleaner and it used to work for a few nights - to facilitate this I cut the back off the pedal casing, it looked ghetto but actually worked better. Not fit for sale though!

And what of the new rig, the one that's roughly 20x the price (OMG saying it like that!).

I re-did all the cabling, that's what. And whilst it doesn't make a great pic, it's far better now than it was...

A lot of cables. Not quite cablegore.

I also put blanking capping in all the channels that are likely to accumulate dust, and by dust I mean red wine when I knock over a full glass getting into the seat. Nothing to see here, move along...

And update time:

Gone...

$300 and that's a good deal for everyone actually.

I hope the two kids who've bought it enjoy it just as much as I did - they'll never know it's had upgraded springs I bet!

Upgrade your Rim

 

You might be the owner of the fantastic Fanatec Porsche 918 rim - suitable for racing in all positions and classes with the shift lights that can be seen from space...

Possibly like me, you’ve considered upgrading the 918 rim’s shifters, they’re smooth, but not ‘snick/click’ like a shifter should be, in my opinion.

To cut to the chase, I bought some of the cheaper magnetic upgrades of eBay, it’s a bolt-on accessory so no harm no foul, etc.

Fitting, easy. Four bolts + a bit of fettling of the 3D printing that was ‘ok’ spec at best.

But, the magnets aren’t touching the shifters – so no click. On reflection, I’m divided on this as it’s kept it all quiet (midnight racing goodness), but then again I’ve not got a definitive click on pulling.

I think there’s more weight, but it’s a bit like putting a K&N on your car – it goes faster because you’re trying harder to notice…

Overall, would I do it again? No. The risk of something bad happening (threading the plastic hole that the M3’s go in, something else breaking) is actually not worth the return on the particular set I got. It’s not a monumental upgrade.

I might be saving for the proper upgrade, they do look good.

You had so much potential

A late post edit to this...

On the 918 wheel you can adjust the shifters fore and aft with a few turns of adjustment. I did this and now these are nearly my favourite addition to the overall sim rig - my shifters snick and click as I wanted them too. And it's very noticeable.

Happy Days!

Automobilista 2 - skinned

 AMS 2 is a great game. 

Actually, it's a fantastic game that's been getting better and better over the past year or so.  

But they're a small setup and don't waste money on race series liveries (assuming licensing costs). But they did waste a little time on being able to add skins to the game. And it's transformed it from one with great racing to one with a much deeper immersion.

I'm not really sure why, but I'm assuming it's because the races look so much realistic. Whatever the case is, this is a game worth getting and spending time in.

Supercar v8s -they're all the same underneath right?

GT1 Porsche - how could you not like this!

Actually, unskinned, but still awesome.

Around about now I get confused as to what's skinned and what isn't. Carrera Cup racing is awesome in any case.

Put a bit of time into looking at this, and you can see that it's more than just an action shot - there's tyre deformation, suspension travel and the car is rolling. Impressive really.

This month I've mostly been driving this...

 It's all about Automobilista 2 at the moment.

This game gets better and better frankly - the tracklist has passed a tipping point that there's now a decent selection, even being able to pronounce some of them now... And the car list has gone up too, with some notable additions like a historic 911. This latter has been compared to the Kunos version, and I think I'd say that they are comparable, at least Kunos 'feels' like it probably should, but the AMS2 version is more trackable. I'd rather race it (safely) frankly.

And the racing... recent updates have made all the cars handle well, even the somewhat shonky GT3 cars that were outshone by ACC are better, I think still in the shadow, but certainly worthy of racing now.

But what prompted this (infrequent) post? Two things, a go at using the AMD 5700 XT's recording feature and also trialling skinning my cars in the game, and no, that's not some weird fetish.

What it was is a happy hour or so searching for decent liveries for the cars of AMS2 and then testing them out. I was a bit sceptical at first, but a recent go with the Carerra Cup car in AC (in which I was blown away by the awesome look and immersion generated) had me reckoning that it was worth a shot.

So, sans backup (idiot) I did a load of the cars, and barring one class that lost most of its skins but was easily fixed I did it.

And below is just one of the many fruits of my labour... I recommend clicking through and watching in glorious 4k (as that's what I play and recorded at) - note the little FPS counter top left, in-game racing it's a solid 60Fps which marries up with my 65" TV/Monitor, but replays certainly hurt the PC.

Anyway, behold:

2 Minute Buyers Guide

Right, here it is, the racing games I play with a fortune cookie's worth of commentary to go with them.

1. Automobilista 2 / AMS2

Buy it. A fantastic game with a great collection of cars and tracks that is only getting better. Not an outright sim, but better for it. Current graphics etc make for a great game.

2. Assetto  Corsa Competizione / ACC

Great GT3 and GT4 sim. The game is unforgiving, but the cars are. If you're planning on running this on a potato forget it. Rewards great everything, driving, equipment and mates. Online shines but also stinks as often frequented by myopic angry people who think they're Fangio.

3. Assetto Corsa (the older one) / AC

The everything sim. If you collect cars and tracks then this is the game for you. Content Manager is essential. You're rewarded with a game that is still current, runs on the aforementioned potato and drives amazingly well. Online marred (for me) by not having AI to race against in race nights.

4. Rfactor2 / RF2

The great grandparent of racing games, and as just as delusional. The physics in this game are as great as the UI is bad. And if you're planning on setting up a server and racing, be prepared for some serious madness. If you do manage the masonic ritual of setup then you're rewarded with excellent racing for sure, just mangled in a UI and setup environment that's less than optimal.

5. Grid (the new Grid, not the old Grid, etc)

I do actually really like this game. It's a great arcade racer for chilling out with. Every bit as good (as far as I can tell) as that Project Cars version that shall not be named. Oh and it looks great too. Pro advice, get a digital dashboard so you have shift lights, etc - it makes the game far better.

6. Project Cars 2 / PCars2

A dated game now, but get all the content and ramp up the settings and it still feels current. Probably one of the best all-round packages for content in any game (not including community mods). Largely speaking it's the same physics as AMS2 which is based on this, just less polished. I'd say hard to tell the difference for average gaming.

7. Grid Autosport (the old Grid!)

If you can get this to run with your wheel and can max the graphics you'll be pleasantly surprised. Worth the sub $10 it often is as a true simcade game erring towards the 'cade end. Everything is very last-gen but great for all that. 

8. Race Room Racing Experience  / R3E

I so want to like this game but I can't. Content adds up to eye-watering prices too quickly. The physics feel remarkably PCars2 for all that, and getting wheels to work seemed too much like hard work. If I had patience and money (No, I've not got my mind set on you, like the song), I'd get into this as generally an OK game. But not remarkable when you have the catalog of games above.

9. Dirt Rally 2.0

Buy this game if you like rally racing. It really is exceptional. Racing the slower club cars feels great as you can thrash the bejesus out of them and still get to the end of the stage. Whoever can race the old 911 on gravel in the rain has my respect. An uncompromising rally sim that's not half bad.

8. WRC 9 

Loved WRC 7 & 6 on the PlayStation. Not really getting it on the PC. It looks great, and I think generally is. But the arms race of reality rallying with the Dirt series has made this less accessible to the casual gamer. Does look great though. Loses points as no fancy digital dash data feed.

9. Spintires / Mudrunner

Yes I know they're separate games, but to the rest of us they're one and the same, and frankly, little to chose between them. Polish vs. Mod mostly. All sorts of sordid history in these two games. So very East European. On PS4 Mudrunner was a great beer and chill game, somehow it doesn't seem to have the same feel on PC.

10. Dirt 4

A favourite on PS4, uninstalled on PC. It is the same game and looks and feels the same. And it is an excellent game. But, on PC the controls interface, specifically saving it to the next time you play is severely broken. It's so annoying, I wanted to like this game on PC, but frustration at actually getting into it outpaces the enjoyment. Avoid on modern equipment.

11. Dirt 1.0 (the one before Dirt 2.0)

Free all over the place. The first attempt at a rally simulator from the Dirt team and they nailed it. Just not as polished as Dirt 2.0 I find. Somehow harder. Looks and feels great though for the price.

12. Seb Loeb Rally

Exactly the same issues as with Dirt 4, except you can't even set the gear up in the first place. Great game on PS4 though!

And so there it is. My current collection of games, most installed, a few not. The reality is that race night is on AMS2, off nights is Dirt 2.0 and AC with a smattering of PCars2 and ACC when I want to mix it up.

Close call

 I do thoroughly enjoy Automobilista 2. Since upgrading where I sit to race it's only got better.

Tonight for example I had a top race at Bathurst in the V8s. They're not real V8s insofar as they are called Super V8s, and they only have Chevrolet V8s, or Holdens. So all the best bits then.

This is that race, or a bit of it.

At some point, I'll sort out capturing replays and put that up, but for now, it's just stills.

But why a close call? Back when I first started racing AMS2 I had a close race, and I've just found the shots I took to show just how close, behold...

That's a zero difference finish with the AI, to a thousandth of a second. I'm mightly surprised that's even possible. But there it is.

And I took an in-game picture or at least got as close as I could with slow motion, not frame advance...

It certainly was close.

One Month - Buyers Remorse?

It's been a little over a month now that I've had 'the rig' and I'm pleased to say that buyers remorse hasn't set in. It might be because it was actually a few months ago now that I bought all the gear, or it may be that I'm still getting to grips with the whole setup.

Anyway, like all good projects it's never finished, so this is Rig Evo, or Stage I tune, or whatever bullshiat that we like to call bolting things on to improve (what generally broke anyway).

Here's a rundown of what I've done to change things up a bit...

The standard Fanatec knobs are OK. But the cylindrical one looks like a low earth orbit resupply ship and is about the same size. And the traditional round knob has a rubber band around it of some sort - you'll see them in product shots. Thankfully the shaft (way too much knob/shaft words, sorry profanity filters) is standard fare for car parts. And so a happy half hour lining up this Sparco thing and life is better. I'd prefer a smooth one (not using that word again), but in terms of size, weight and general feel, that'll do for some time I think. Note to buyers, this would be huge on a car though - having similar, but smaller and smoother on my MX5, vicar.

I've posted this elsewhere as a hilarious 'see the bottle of red' holder. But in reality, this is plain and simple a water holder. It is ace. I drink plenty of fluid through my night's gaming thanks to this. The engineering of it is pleasing too....

I bought a metal (and of course black) holder and a couple of bottles from the local store, drilled out the mounting holes, ground down two T-slot bolts (they were too proud for the bottle), and fitted. 

And it works well, it's not in my line of sight, is close enough to reach without being in the way, and without a bottle it is unobtrusive enough to not detract from what is surely a piece of art.

As an aside, I 'stole' a quick-release clippy thing from the pedals (cos there's nothing quick about releasing them) and used it as a hook for my headset, perfect actually. And before I'm lambasted about cheap headsets, this is voice-only and has the great feature of sitting away from one's ear, very important when it's 30.c+ in the room with the air-con on.

Lumbar support is key in this setup. The seat doesn't tilt quite far enough back to support my thighs. It's comfortable enough, but early on I grabbed a cushion from around the house to push my kidneys back to where they should be in the scheme of me. But it was some dour checked affair. 

Then I found this online. It is a thing of beauty and really does sit well in the whole setup. And if you look closely (i.e. inside) you'll see the same house cushion doing its thing. Happy days.

Not so much a new thing, but an adjusted thing, and worth noting for those with these pedals and without simian proportions in arm and leg.

Talking to a fellow TrackRacer owner they mounted the hinges (the silver bit) on the main rail and did away with the uprights. I like this idea, but to do so would mean moving the diagonal supports back further towards the seat - and as you can see, that's not happening.

The solution, and maybe when a mate is around... is to spin the pedal plate by 180 degrees, so they're at the bottom of the plate then I can move the whole thing out away from the seat. The challenge there is that then the setup will be getting too close to Big Rig ergonomics, not Sim Rig. Hmmm. I remain less than enamoured with the pedal setup, but for now it works OK and is comfortable enough.

---

Next? I'm waiting on a handbrake, and as this is a no expense spared build, I've spared no expense at all and bought damn near the cheapest one I could find...

Before I fit this though I'm thinking I'll swap the cheap sponge grip for something more in keeping with the setup - that'll be a case of removing the brake shaft where the two vertically aligned bolts connect it and replace with a length of old bike handlebar (I have plenty). This will allow me to then pick any number of quality grips. Quality.

Certainly, I'll be pulling this apart to get a good look at how it works and see if there are any corners I can uncut in its relatively cheap build.

---

And that's it. I was tempted by the Fanatec McLaren V2 rim that's recently been released, but my racing is all sorts of cars in a single night, so it would be a constant switching of rims. And yes, I have the full quick release shenanigans, it's just not "OMG I'm on fire" quick. So my current rim is fine, very fine in fact, and for the money it all costs, bloody marvellously fine for sure.

New Sim Gear - TrackRacer Fanatec Tears

There's no easy way to say this, I've spent a small fortune on my racing.

What's more, I've limited my options somewhat, with no more PS4 racing (*sniff*). Actually, I'm not so worried about that - the games I rated on there, PCars2 and Assetto Corsa are both equally fine on PC, and the only way I'm going to miss GT Shart is if I take a shot at it.

Rollback to mid-year 2020, the year I suddenly had a lot more free time and a one-time paycheck that would cover a fairly fancy car... and like many, I went through the mill. Towards the end of the year I got myself together, found some work and more importantly got fed up with my G29's pedals.

I'll do an end-of-life review for my old G29, it won't be pretty not least as in the years I owned it I bought at least three of them. The final straw was the never-ending issues with throttle potentiometers, culminating with me angle grinding most of the casing out and like using easy start on some old banger, spraying contact cleaner in before every race night.

From there it wasn't a hard stretch to get where I ended up, I recommend using this list (without prices) on your other half to justify what's close on 1/2 a ton of gaming gear in the living room...

1. Have a clearly inferior product.
2. Justify new pedals that don't rely on potentiometers... that's the Fanatec V3 BTW.
3. As you're doing new pedals, you need a new wheel.
4. As you're doing Fanatec, might as well be them.
5. You're only doing this once, so get a direct drive - DD1 < Cheaper than the DD2!
6. You need a wheel. Any will do, but I opted for a Fanatec Porsche 918 rim, as I race sports and historic more than GT. Glad I did.
7. Now you've got a DD wheel you need to mount it. TrackRacer's TR8020 is reasonably priced (LOL) and more to the point very configurable and extendable into the future.
8. Oh yes, almost forgot... (use those words), I'll need a H pattern and sequential, Fanatec does a single unit for that, so that's a saving too!

That's how I ended up waiting for many boxes to arrive that had, all up:

• TrackRacer TR8020 frame
• TrackRacer mouse plate add-on
• TrackRacer digital dash add-on
• Fanatec DD1 base
• Fanatec Clubsport V3 pedals
• Fanatec Porsche 918 rim
• Fanatec H pattern shifter.

And a serious build exercise, which I'll dig into below. Before that, a very brief summary of what I've learnt through the build experience.

Must Do's:

I watched a review build on the TR8020, and they recommended getting a measuring/square tool thing, I'm sure there's a proper name for it, whatever. Anyway, these were essential tools:

The tape measure is a no-brainer. The socket drive with Allen key adapter was a godsend in the end (so many bolts!), the cutters are to nibble tabs off brackets (you're instructed to) and the blue thing is the fancy measuring thing - also highly important.

Another must do is to watch a few youtube vids of the build, there are a few out there including the official '10min quick start guide'. That's genius, as there is nothing quick about this build other than the realisation that it's going to take a lot of time.

Like me, you'll probably have a cold sweat moment over the lack of instructions. You can find them on the TrackRacer site. They're not great. 

My 'rig' doesn't look like the one in the picture.

In fact, I don't think it ever could. The instructions aren't for the wheel clamp I have (for the DD1) and I struggle to see how the pedal plate lines up. The must-do out of all this - don't be afraid to set the frame to suit your situation.

Wheels... I bought wheels to move it around. In fact, I bought two sets, and have six wheels on my rig (EuroTruck anyone?) to spread the weight a bit. I'm glad I bought that many. And I can tell you I also hate those wheels. I must have fitted them half a dozen times - lining up stuff and making sure the spacer is in the right place. The advice here - experiment with one until it spins freely when mounted to its plate. Did I mention using a ratchet Allen key... 

The last must-do. Learn to dislike the pedal plate set up with a passion. It's the last thing in the instructions... there's a light at the end of the tunnel. But it's a train coming the other way and it's the 'Over-engineering express' train, destination compromise via complex-city. I'll explain below.

The Build:

First post of my new sim-rig. Rate my sim rower!

Was still laughing at this point...

For posterity, this is the build space. Basically, I emptied out the TV room and made space on one side. The rig is on wheels so I roll it across on race (every) night.

Little wins. I have a USB switch box, which allows me to flick headset and keyboard between PC and PS4 Pro. It used to flop around in front of a TV cabinet. No more, in fact, the cabinet is no more either...

Part of the exercise was to remove the old TV cabinet. Over a decade of fluff sat behind there along with a myriad of cables and 'too hard' to remove stuff. 

Yes, that's twin subs, one active, one passive, both romp.

All this got pulled out from the old TV cabinet and behind. Colin Chapman would be proud.

Obligatory box shot. F'ing heavy box shot for that matter.

This was the first box I opened, it is the dash holder - I have a 7" digital dash (old tablet).

This is when I realised that the TR8020 is over-engineered - somewhere there's an armoured car missing a side plate...

Built. I didn't use it like this in the end. The bottom holder is too big for a smaller keyboard. And the top one... well I took an angle grinder to that to get plug space. 

Finally, the waldo arm affair... no. I just used one and some angle clamps to fit it to the frame, it's much simpler and not a meter away from me!

At this point I started opening boxes. Some bags are labelled some are not.

Scaffolding. Some covered, some not. It's a very inconsistent kit.

Manufacturing fail. The DD1 clamp was delivered with paint damage. I'm not surprised, I'm not certain but I think the paint is a black mist that the parts are passed through. You do need to be careful or you're going to have a beater of a rig...

What makes up for the lack of paint is the amount of steel involved. This is for the DD1.

And it's all heavy-duty stuff. 

Wheels. I hate you. I'm glad I have you. You hate me.

On a side note, if you're building this in your living room and you don't have these, good luck.

The amount of wheeling around I did as I worked on the frame, I'm not sure I could have built it without them. Hateful things. Also, brakes, why? No one has a slope in their living room!

The old adage, measure twice cut once is true.

The new adage, measure twice, fit thrice.

Fitting seat rails - measure the bejesus out of these or they won't work.

Also, note that you'll need to move them again anyway when you realise you've maxed adjustment after you've fitted the pedals. Measure twice fit thrice...

This is in fact a happy shot. For some reason fitting the wheel and chair felt like I was nearing the end of the build.

I wasn't.

In true over-engineering style, the shifter plate is on a heavy-duty adjuster plate. I'm tempted to pull that off and have it direct to the 8020 bar that's fitted. It doesn't wobble noticeably in use, but certainly, there is leverage to be had and feel in time.

Fitting (for the fist time) the pedal plate.

You become a man fitting these (several times).

I looked round and all the bits were nearly all used up. Amazing, and very satisfying, somewhat clouded by the tears of drained mojo (this was night three).

Fitted. Note that this is not the final form, I moved it all as the pedals were too high. The adjustment gubbins on the plate is tosh in my opinion. I'm sure it works, and it does allow for a shorter main frame. Except that really you're not going to be altering this very often. I'd have preferred a basic 8020 T-slot affair.

OMG it's actually built

Final form. Note that the pedal plate is now lower where it hinges. 

That was a monumental effort to do. I also had to move the uprights (angles means lower is further away) and only just managed to get the diagonal parts to fit. There's no more adjustment.

In fact, I think at some point I'll buy some T-slot bars and convert to something altogether easier to setup. 

The mouse mat is fitted too, not sure if that's how it's supposed to be done, I think possibly not (as I used dash parts), but it's perfect there like that and only a minor coincidence that beer will sit on there...

---

And that's it. Q&A Time:

Q: Would I do it again.

A: Not without someone to help, it was hard to hold, measure and tighten at the same time.

Q: Buyers remorse then?

A: Not at all. I skip past the cost and just enjoy driving so much more now.

Q: Comfortable?

A: Somewhat. When the pedals were too high it really wasn't. Lowering them and putting a thin cushion (not some epic lumbar roll) behind my lower back helps. And my back is stuffed from a few things. So I'd say ultimately yes.

Q: Do anything different in the build?

A: I'd do the base frame, then pedals then seat. Fit my pedals and get them right before the wheel frame etc. In this way, I think adjustment could have been easier to manage.

Q: Recommendations to TrackRacer?

1. The above point for the pedals. 

2. Sell a six-wheel kit, not four. 

3. Re-design the button/dash setup, it's too heavy and has no cable portholes. 

4. Not sure any picture of a build I've seen works ergonomically. I'm not a freak (mostly) but my rig does not look like others with the pedals off out into the distance.

5. Pre-assemble the seat slider frame - it's the same for everyone and that's complexity that can be avoided.

Q: Of the Fanatec gear

A: All awesome, another post some time into the future...

----

And that's it for this post, a bit like finishing the build, huge, and ultimately something you stare at and wonder why you did it in the first place...

More posts on usage soon I'm sure.