Hi guys.
I'll apologise in advance for what may come across as a load of bragging, it 100% is not meant that way. I just wanted to share the story, in the hope that it might be of interest or help others.
I shared the pics of my recent monitor upgrade a couple of months back and am now fully used to it in all honesty. It is genuinely a real step on from the last one.
I have however changed a few more bits.
Since I first started sim racing at home on a PC in the long-ago dark mists of time that was playing the likes of CMR2/TOCA 1 & 2, it had been a shoestring affair. Second hand PCs that were passed down to me from a good friend that was really into upgrades meant I could run reasonably on fairly new games, and my old first version Saitek R440 FFB steering wheel and pedals kept me happy for many a year (think it came out in around 1998 or so with a refreshed version in 2004) whilst new games and other parts came and went.
For our 10th anniversary my other half got me the Fanatec GT3RS Clubsport edition, that came with the Clubsport V1 pedals. This was 2009, and the difference in my chosen sim of GTL was huge. I was totally over the moon with it. But the rest of my kit was still quite cheap or old, and I was still desktop racing. Those pedals now have another home with my son, and another set I bought for him found a new home with our old friend Geoffers. They were meant for me, but I had updated my kit to the Clubsport 2.5 base with a set of V3 pedals in mid 2020. At the same time, I had got hold of a second hand wheelstand to fix the wheel and pedals to, in a quest for better stability for the more powerful base than my 20 year old desk, and also so it took a lot less time to setup. Trying to stop the seat moving backwards under braking had been a constant source of problems for as long as I had run clubsport pedals, and I was hoping this might help. For 50 quid it was a no brainer at the time.
In all this, I had experienced sim rooms on proper rigs, even on motion, and it had made me realise how much better it could all be. Mainly the removal of all flex and movement meaning that every input into the wheel and pedals actually did something instead of compensating for unwanted movement in the things it was connected to. I had wanted a proper framed sim rig for years and years in all honesty, but had nowhere to put it up in the small house we had so knew it could never be an option until we moved house. This we did in December last year.
I turned 50 at the start of September. I remember like it was yesterday thinking that 50 year olds were old men, and yet here I was. Life is shorter than I had given it credit for when I was 20 it seems. I had saved money all year for a purchase, I don't aspire to much really, but it was almost a thought of 'if you don't do this now when will you?'. I did much searching online, and researched the new products available. I even got involved with a redesign of a rig with a company down in Somerset, passing on feedback to them in a quest to help them get their rig to a different price point, and they offered for me to be the first customer of that rig. But whilst it had come down in price a fair chunk, it was still going to be over £1200 with the seat and the VAT, and given the spiralling cost of living we are all in it was just too much to spend at this time.
I reverted to my normal state of looking at second hand kit. I found what I wanted after around 2 months of waiting on a Facebook group for sale, so I got myself rather a lavish birthday present. Hours and hours of fun putting it all together means that 2 weeks ago I started racing on this, and in all honesty the first time I sat in it after the build was a bit of a moment....
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s8y_PKow1-jP8BngEwK6FrvqMzq8uabO/view?usp=sharinghttps://drive.google.com/file/d/11sSWGlpzzcuvarKaXS_EPCBQHPmJ_fpx/view?usp=sharingIt is a ProSimRig1 for those that want to know.
It's not new, about a year old, but it's exactly what I was after. You might be able to see that part of the purchased kit was a Fanatec DD1 wheelbase, so I joined the ranks of the Direct Drive brigade also.
Now, initially, the base was a journey of discovery to get setup for GTL, as the game is niche nowadays, and old enough for there not to be much info on the web, but I think I have got somewhere now. It is fantastically smooth, even compared to the Fanatec belt drive which I always felt was a big leap on from the Logitech geared system, and has a huge amount of power in reserve if I wanted to be a total masochist (yes I have tried it and it nearly ended with injuries!).
The biggest impact actually is on the braking. The rig is so solid that I am having to adjust how hard I hit the brakes, as at first, I was locking up a lot. In game brake pressure in the Alpine on Wednesday was set to only 80%! Was never that low previously. I'm genuinely enjoying the experience of driving on the pc now more than ever to be honest, it has made a huge difference. I don't know if it has made me any faster, but I am sure it has made me more consistent already.
Thanks to those that bothered to read all this twaddle, just wanted to share the journey as it were.
This was a large purchase by any definition, and I will need to recoup to balance the books as much I reasonably can. Obviously that means that the bits that have done me so proud need to move on to a new home, and therefore I have a Fanatec Clubsport V2.5 wheelbase, WRC wheel rim, Universal hub and Forza GT heel rim combo and a wheelstand that need to find a new home. Inevitably they will either go on Facebook or Ebay in a short while, but if anyone has any interest in them let me know and we can work it out.
