Share your rig specs and pics/videos

I didn't see a current sim racing thread, so here 'tis. Putting our new rig together. About 18 years ago we had two triple screen CXC full motion rigs on loan at our shop. Videos on our youtube. Those went away in 2008.
Since then we have had a few G27 level of rigs in various states but I've wanted to build a proper semi-pro level rig for the shop for a while. Finally pulled the trigger and started ordering bits.

TrakRacer 40x120 quad screen
MSI Aegis
-Ryzen 9 9900X
-RTX 5080
-64GB
-2TB SSD
34" QHD curved Sansui
27" QHD flat data screen
Slip Angle 4 channel haptic transducers and suspension
Simagic FX-Pro yoke wheel
Simagic round wheel
Simagic Neo X hub
Simagic Alpha U base (23nm)
Simagic P2000R hydraulic pedals
Simagic TB-1 handbrake
Simagic DS-8X H pattern/seq shifter
Pedal slider kit
Logitech Z906 5.1 speakers
Simagic haptic for brake pedal
PC tray
Floating keyboard tray
Button Box mount

So far, I haven't actually ordered a button box. I wanted to see if we actually needed more controls after mapping the stuff on the wheels and hub.
We'll upload pics and video once we have it assembled and dialed in. What games?
ACC
AC Evo
AC Rally
Dirt Rally
Dirt 4
RF2

I think we're most excited for AC Rally.

 

Le Mans Ultimate is supposedly pretty good as well. I haven't played it yet but I believe it's based on RF2, which I've really enjoyed the physics on.

I've only dabbled in AC Rally since there isn't official VR support yet, but it felt very promising. Unfortunately there are only a couple stages available right now.

Jealous of that rig! Looks like it'll be excellent to drive. Ryan's Road to Rally is a good series on youtube if you want some inspiration.

 

May as well try out Hydrosim too, just because it's free. And when else will you ever get to drive a hydroplane!?
https://www.uhlhydroplanes.com/hydrosim

If you can get over the graphical looks of it, the game is pretty accurate.

That's about the only thing i play on my sim at home. I certainly don't have a very nice setup, just a simple play seat and Logitech controls.

 

With our old CXC machines we were heavy into RF/RF2. Great physics and sound. Graphics were OK for the day but have since been eclipsed.
Watched several of Ryans Road to Rally videos over the last month or so. V cool.

From 16 years ago. Sims nights in our cramped lobby were always a blast. I remember the room would get so hot with all the machines a blazin.

 

This is my setup. Cheap eBay chassis, free Honda Civic seat from marketplace.
Generic Chinese shifter and handbrake which actually get the job done pretty well.
Fanatec V3 pedals and CSW 2.5 wheel. 8 NM but still belt driven unfortunately. A DD will likely replace it next time I have a big sim racing kick.
HP Reverb G2 Headset

Everything was purchased used and pieced together. Pretty easily under $1k all in and likely closer to $800 from what I can remember.

The Utah Autocross group has been doing a sim racing league in the winters the past year, so I've mostly been playing iRacing for that, plus most of our local guys are iRacing elitists. Personally I'm usually playing more Dirt Rally 2 and the original Assetto Corsa. Once VR performance is improved I'm excited to get some laps done in AC Evo. AC Rally is great so far but the non-native VR support and lack of content has kept me from digging into it too far.

 

It's Rigged!

Here's mine.
Floppy Used Fanatec Wheel Stand: Goodwill
Framework and Bracing to try to keep the wheel stand from flopping around: Home Depot (and a lot of elbow grease)
GTOmega Racing Seat: Goodwill. Unfortunately it's too narrow for my fat old backside, ergo the cushion.
Upgraded to the Simagic Alpha wheel via a Black Friday sale just over a year ago. I'm still smarting over that one. Amazing upgrade compared to the logitech wheel I was using before.
Simcraft Racing Pedals: Facebook Marketplace. These replaced a set of old fanatec pedals I got from goodwill, which replaced some logitech pedals that came with the wheel mentioned above. Amazing pedals, mostly because it's a set of Tilton Race Pedals with sensors strapped on (and various doohickeys to provide resistance.)
Thorn Shifter: New from SHH Simulation. I was using an inexpensive chinese ebay shifter but eventually upgraded to this one a few years ago - it's a lot more solid feeling and just plain works. Still doesn't feel like a real shifter but it functions well.
Haptic Feedback and Button Box: New from Sim 3D after waiting many, many, MANY months. Really cool upgrade; just painfully slow wait to get them.

I shove the whole rig under my desk and use my existing computer and monitors because it's what I've got. *Shrug*
Software:
Mostly used for AC because I've got mods for almost every local track and I can use it to learn the tracks and get a rough idea of what lines I might want to work (or at least what not to do if I want to stay on the track.)
I do have AC Evo which is Pretty but doesn't have any tracks or cars I have access to - I had fun (well, mostly) getting all of the licenses but haven't touched it much since.
I bought a copy of AC Rally when it first was released but I haven't had time to install and play yet. I'll get to it eventually. *Sigh*
Automobilista 2 - played it a few times, learned to love the Porsche 911 GT1, left it at that.

Someday I'd like to do online racing. Hasn't happened yet, but someday. Right now it's practicing the local tracks which has been absolutely invaluable.

 

Looking to put a middle of the road sim setup together.

1. Already have a very capable CPU but may need to upgrade video for 3 monitors that would become dedicated.
2. Already have (3) 27" Asus monitors

Looking for recommendations on:

1. Wheel setup, preferably force feedback
2. Pedal setup, same as above
3. Any addons that're considered "must have"?
4. VR? I wear glasses...

I'd probably opt for an ebay chassis

IRacing probably although I've been out of gaming for so long I definitely am not up on the latest racing platforms.

Thanks

 

originally a Logitech G920 for PC+Xbox(Forza Motorsport)
Next Level Racing GTLite Pro chassis
Next Level Racing monitor stand
MSI curved 27” 1440 240hz
used Aorus 3070 and microcenter 12th gen i5 bundle PC.
Razor usbc soundbar mounted right behind the monitor.
wired headset for discord/buddy sessions.
recently upgraded to second hand Moza R9 wheel and Moza SR-P load cell pedals.

My local SCCA does a winter weekly TT league on a private Assetto Corsa server that is super fun. Week long TT so you can lap on your own schedule. Sometimes I buy a month or two of iRacing, but it’s 95% just plain old heavily modded Assetto Corsa.





I have zero qualms about my cheap folding chassis. I’d highly recommend it to anybody looking for a value compromise if starting from scratch. Way cheaper than an alloy frame + bucket seat, and plenty stiff enough even for the Moza R9 wheel.

 

iRacing is great for online racing, but the cost adds up. AC and LFM are cheaper alternatives. Differing opinions on the physics models, graphics, quality of racing and policing of bad drivers between these.
Only one of us here has an iRacing acct. The rest of us will most be in the AC ecosystem
For wheelbase, I think 16nm is about the max that anyone actually needs. Most drivers will prefer 8-12nm. If you run your FF at its max setting, you risk clipping. So choosing a base that is just above what you think you'll need make sense.
Absolutely FFB. I'm not sure you could even buy a sim wheel without it these days.
4K is nice but QHD (1440) is good enough for most drivers. Reduces costs too.
VR is fun but the human eye resolution stuff is still $$$. Anything less than that has visible pixels. We tried a few different VR's and they all sucks IMO. I have good vision and found I couldn't see apexes due to the pixelation. I'd stop the car at the braking marker on a fast turn and the apex was a blob. Yuck.
For us, we often take turns driving in the evening so triples allows easier spectating. We also switch drivers and that can be cumbersome with VR. Triples allow switching drivers a bit easier.
Decide what games you will play, what cars.

Open wheel and GT cars work with a yoke wheel. Yokes suck for production style turns that are like 3-4turns lock to lock. Drift and rally demand a round wheel.
Keyboard tray of some sort makes life easier.
If you don't already have the PC, check PC requirements for the games you want to play. If console games (xbox/PS5), that doesn't matter.
Seat and/or pedal slider if you plan to swap drivers of different sizes.
Good headphones if you need to stay quiet. Otherwise an old Z506 logitech speaker set of FBM is a good starting point

I'm probably missing a bunch of key points. But that's my .02

 

@bahurd

I agree with Emilio about the FFB. Almost any wheel made in the past decade is going to have FFB. Most of the entry level wheels now a days are direct drive as well, removing the gears and belts that were prevalent a while back. Pretty large improvements in the technology for this stuff in the past 5 years or so.

Fanatec, Moza and SimMagic are the names that I'd look at. I believe they all have bundles that would probably be good to get started with. I'd say a 5 NM is fine and 8 NM is plenty for most people. I'm currently running an 8 NM belt driven wheel and don't feel like I need more power, but wouldn't mind having the smoothness of a direct drive wheel. Also, like Emilio mentioned having a wheel with a quick release is pretty nice if you like to swap out wheels. A round wheel is on my rig 90% of the time but sometimes it's fun to break out the GT3 style wheel for certain cars.

I've played in VR exclusively for the past 6 years or so. I used to wear my glasses under my Rift S but I believe I scratched one of the lenses doing that, so I don't wear my glasses under my headset anymore. I usually go without, or will wear contacts if I'm doing a league race. I know some guys who have bought prescription lens inserts for their headsets which might be worth it depending on how bad your vision is. Another thing to consider is that VR isn't as easy to run and isn't always supported or well optimized. I can't even play EA WRC or AC Evo right now because the VR support is so bad.

For addons I think it's just about what kind of racing you want to do. If you're trying to drive GT3's then you probably don't need an H pattern or hand brake. I consider a handbrake a must for rally driving and an H pattern a must for anything that would have one in real life. I have cheap eBay units for both handbrake and shifter which work fine. Each of those was around $60 from what I remember. I've also used an old joystick as a handbrake which worked well enough.

 

Older GTR frame with an older Fanatec belt drive wheel/ Clubsport pedals and shifter. I recently added a Fanatec handbrake to play with AC Rally. Amazon 32" triples on a Trakracer stand.



I'm mostly doing AC, and run with a weekly race group from the GRM forums. The consensus there is that a 5-8nm wheel is sufficient for most online racing. I'd like to upgrade to a DD wheel, and my shifter has started giving me some issues, so I'm looking at other options. A couple guys in our group are happy with the Moza stuff. I tried VR and didn't like it. Triples are almost as immersive, but you still have peripheral vision to help with wheel buttons or if you need to use mouse/keyboard without taking off the headset. The important thing for me was to be able to look into an apex by turning your head, like in a real car, and that doesn't work with a flat or curved single screen. It does with triples.

I've spent a while tweaking the Spec Miata in AC to be an analog for my K swapped car, and I've got it pretty close (within ~ 1 second of real lap times). It has helped immensely with learning new tracks before going in person, and to evaluate things like moving back to a 5 speed from a 6 speed and how performance was affected on different tracks. It's never a perfect translation to real life, but getting the basics of a track memorized helps a lot in getting up to speed in a shorter time frame.

 

ASR6 Rig
PT Actuator Motion
Fanatec DD2 wheelbase
GSI X-29 Wheel
DDU
Simagic p2000 pedals
3x 65" 4k 120hz (Sony x90k)

Only race on iRacing, mainly do endurance racing (6+ hour races).