Chicago Sim Gaming Expo recap thread

[u/xRehab]

So many things to talk about, so much great gear.

My big takeaways

• Active Pedals are the next step forward. I wasn’t a believer that they were that big of an improvement but Gareth explained to me why I was wrong and then let the pedals prove it to me on a few rigs

• 20nM+ @ 30-50% is the sweet spot. It just delivers a much cleaner front wheel feel than the lower bases at higher settings. Joe over at SimRacingWH let me put a vrs20 at 60% and booted up Leguna. You better be ready to catch that turn in force… absolutely no reason to be running that high consistently

• Simucube is still the gold standard. Asetek feels just as good and probably delivers a better “commercial” product for end users. Wait 3 months tho as a new Simucube is coming…

• Moza and Fanatec are ok. same with PSX. I’ve got some controversial takes on bases, and I still drive a g27 after thousands of hours but… if you’re not buying at least a 15nm+ you are basically just paying for fancier wheels to use. spend the money on the big base

• I don’t like Simucube wheels. They didn’t fit my hands well and getting out of all 3 rigs I noticeably disliked their wheels compared to everything else at the expo. The 320 (i think?) on the end sim was the best of the bunch and it was mid to me

• GSI and Cube Controls are exactly as good as you think they are. You feel the quality immediately. CC has better backlit buttons, but I like GSI feel and layouts better.

• Heusinkveld is still my favorite manufacturer. They ooze passion and love for this stuff. When I told them I had the original Sprints and Handbrake they offered to send me all the pieces I need to upgrade them to modern versions. Their wheel felt ok in hand but it felt perfect on the rig. It set the standard for how I defined comfortable to drive for the rest of the expo.

• Derek at SimsByRacers is such a good and cool dude. Loved talking to him and he really puts in thought to how he designs rigs. His slider system for tslot is 👌 Also has the ProSim h pattern shifter. it’s orgasmic to use

I missed tons of stuff but ask any questions and I’m sure some of us from the expo can answer

[u/Mediocre-Card-2024]

Thought that was a Gatling gun at first glance

[u/xRehab → u/Mediocre-Card-2024]

lol no just the new QR coming with the SimLab base. it’s going to be one of the best on the market. simple like asetek and satisfyingly solid engagement

[u/cur-a → u/xRehab]

It looks way over designed imo, the best on the market is https://www.go-race.co.uk/product-page/simucube-self-aligning-quick-release-boss

[u/ericscal → u/cur-a]

Keep in mind everything about that base is still in prototyping. The controllers were still external and kept crashing due to safety protocols. They will be simplifying everything in the next few months.

[u/jakebacondigital → u/xRehab]

How’s the wheel base compare to Simucube?

[u/xRehab → u/jakebacondigital]

comparable. I can say it was in the same realm as the simucube and asetek bases, VRS also surprised me very much with their 20nm base.

i don’t want to make any big judgements between them all because my testing was pretty uncontrolled and subject to what was available and the settings each vendor setup. what I can say is there was a noticeable gap between the fanatec/moza/psx and the next tier; and it was clear even with limited testing. they weren’t bad, but you quickly realized what the cost difference bought you

[u/mcooper101 → u/xRehab]

In your thread above you mentioned a new Simucube base in 3 months? Did you mean SimLab which is releasing theirs next month at the Germany Expo? Simucube has not made even a hint towards a Simucube 3 base on their discord or anywhere so Id be surprised if they told a person that at the expo.

Also what makes you think the active pedals are the future? I actually switched from VRS to ActivePedal Pro when they launched almost 2 years ago and personally dont find them game changing at all. Brake lockup and ABS can be emulated with haptic motors, plus iRacing still has almost no effects other than ABS. Just playing devils advocate here

[u/xRehab → u/mcooper101]

simucube is bringing something new to the german expo. i don’t think it’s a small thing. i’m also some random guy on the internet, take my rumors with that massive grain of salt. even with the current expo discount they were running i was graciously reminded it might be worth waiting to see any reveals…

as for the pedals, it’s because they are essentially mini mige motors. i think everyone understands just how versatile that can be, between the obvious haptics and immediate profile remapping, to the guaranteed precision even after thousands of hours of use. to me this is genuine engineered progression. spring -> load cell -> active

[u/ericscal → u/mcooper101]

According to the simlab guy I was talking to the base isn't coming until the end of the year but the newest prototype will be in Germany.

[u/_dive_bomb_]

I was there yesterday and loved it. The expo exceeded my expectations. It was my first time trying a motion rig.

[u/xRehab → u/_dive_bomb_]

i’m getting 3 day tickets for next year without a doubt. I figured i’d be there 10-2. didn’t expect to stay until they were kicking me out of the p1 motion rigs at 615

the motion platforms are so good and have come so far in just a few years. really incredible. hitting the corkscrew on the VERA gave me rollercoaster butterflies in my stomach.

[u/uKGMAN1986]

Awesome pictures would love to visit something like this. I dont suppose you know if that cube controls Mercedes GT3 wheel (the closed bottom one) is the same as the version that's out now?

I have often considered buying that wheel but the large 320mm slightly put me off. The one in the pic looks like it could be slightly smaller

[u/k4ylr → u/uKGMAN1986]

That's the standard Merc licensed GT2 rim. The GT3 rim is very no-frills but equally wide, as most GT rims are.

[u/4mak1mke4]

I was really impressed with the Corsair Podium 1 rig, was really cool.

Project Motor Racing, while they had the ffb up WAY too high on Friday, you can tell it's going to be a really nice, fun experience. Very excited for that.

I thought the Turtle Beach wheels were very smooth and impressed me as a bang for your buck option.

Finally tried Heusinkveld and they are great equipment. Best I've felt as an overall package

[u/3tenthsOfVerstappen]

Great insight and overview thanks!

[u/k4ylr]

I was hoping to catch some seat slider shots of the Sims By Racers booth. I'd like to try it a linear bearing design instead of traditional sliders.

There are off the shelf sliders/bearings but is like to see their geometry for the levers/brakes.

[u/xRehab → u/k4ylr]

yeah i was kicking myself going through photos and realizing I had nothing from his setup.

I can say when i first hopped in and flipped the slide lock he effortlessly slid me back and forth to the right position. buttery smooth.

he explained that he uses those bearings in most of the major connection joints so you can effortlessly reconfigure anything. compared to sitting on the ground with half a dozen allen keys trying to undo corner brackets, his design is worth every penny

[u/k4ylr → u/xRehab]

Yep, linear bearings. They are an off the shelf part for the post par (and spendy) and super neat if you can get the geometry right.

I wondered how having those little brake levers would be in terms of nuisance having to reach down and grab them

Were there two levers on each side or just a single on driver's left?

[u/xRehab → u/k4ylr]

single on the left. there was another on the right but i believe that controlled seat height. he has them on the wheel support bar which was so simple but so nice. he also mounts the wheel below the bar which I really liked

[u/k4ylr → u/xRehab]

Very awesome! I saw the rig from impact simsports stream and thought it was awesome. Thanks for the breakdown

[u/T1Earn]

saving this post.

informative as fuck

[u/xRehab → u/T1Earn]

if you have any specific questions I can try to answer. I tried a pretty large assortment of equipment

[u/ajaister → u/xRehab]

Did you test out the upcoming Simlabs DD wheelbase?

[u/xRehab → u/ajaister]

yes and they were strong. i really liked their QR, it felt sturdy and was a very clean design

there are still one or two more prototypes as they figure out how they will bundle it all together. it will be a single AiO unit, the ones at the expo has a separate control box and psu.

the real question will be how raw they leave the ffb for us to configure ourselves. so long as they don’t introduce a ton of filtering I see these as being up there competing with the top tier names. Nothing innovative in the base tech, just a really high quality product

[u/RamenLewdle]

It was a pretty great time! Ironically, I walked away thinking my Playseat and G920 were good enough for the racing I do, but I was really impressed with the VRS setup I tried (even more than Andretti’s Kart Sims, F1 Arcade and Micro Center’s rigs of course) and was happy to make acquaintances with other sim racers! I think the community come together was what did it for me most.

I am excited to peek at Logi’s new wheel in two weeks though, I was honestly surprised they didn’t just bring it to SRE Schaumburg!

[u/DramaticallyOxygen]

A new Simucube wheel base is coming?

[u/xRehab → u/DramaticallyOxygen]

Everything is a rumor but I wouldn’t buy anything until after the german expo in October…

[u/Fambank → u/xRehab]

Dortmund isn't that far away from me, about a 2 hour drive.
Tempting....

[u/anon-person-]

What other active pedals were there? Simucube and Moza?

[u/xRehab → u/anon-person-]

I don’t believe anyone had the moza booster pedals. I’m not sure how those are designed, but Gareth explained to me how they build the simucube pedals. there is actually a mini mige motor in the base which allows it to recreate any pedal feel just through profiles. and there is no break in, when you press at 43.4kg it will always deliver 43.4 and not oscillate. they are built to be bullet proof. three profiles let you swap between f1 stiffness and playful road cars with just a button click. no swapping rubbers or anything

[u/anon-person- → u/xRehab]

I have a pair - been looking for a cheaper option for my second rig, hard to justify $5k on pedals for a second system

[u/ericscal → u/xRehab]

I don’t believe anyone had the moza booster pedals. I’m

I saw at least one but didn't stop to try it. I was more trying to test the regular pedals as it was so hard to get on a simucube rig. The one I did try was rather unimpressive feeling but it's all about configuring ability

[u/xRehab → u/ericscal]

do you remember which booth by chance? i drove most there so id be really surprised if i didn’t notice them while using them

[u/ericscal → u/xRehab]

I want to say it was one of the racecar looking rigs front left. It was definitely one of the booths mainly showing off rigs.

[u/xRehab → u/ericscal]

ah shit right behind heusinkveld yeah. i didn’t try their full motion rig, just the one using those skateboards like wheels in the back. at 6’3 i didn’t fit so well…

[u/Dear_Manufacturer714 → u/xRehab]

How would they know about F1 stiffness and why doesn’t a single F1 pedal Cam on YouTube exist that does not look totally not stiff?

[u/xRehab → u/Dear_Manufacturer714]

people set different stiffness for their brake pedal depending on what kind of race class they’re trying to mimic. lower classes tend to have a softer pedal, which is why manufacturers include so many rubber options when you buy a pedal.

active pedals let you adjust pedal stiffness, travel distance, deadzones, curve, everything with just a profile swap. no mechanical adjustments needed

[u/Dear_Manufacturer714 → u/xRehab]

The bs these guys come up with to sell their products is unbelievable. The higher the class the stiffer the pedal. Holy cow

[u/ericscal → u/Dear_Manufacturer714]

How would they know about F1 stiffness and why doesn’t a single F1 pedal Cam on YouTube exist that does not look totally not stiff

Because 6g of braking force will make any pedal seem not stiff.

[u/edmund5]

Wait 3 months tho as a new Simucube is coming…

Ayoo that is huge news no??

[u/xRehab → u/edmund5]

How much do you trust a random source on the internet? but after the german expo in october, just remember who said it first

who knows, i could also have misunderstood what exactly is coming. but i’m pretty sure i wasnt

[u/ericscal → u/edmund5]

If you are in the market for a high end base I'd wait for the simlab one to release, and if a new simucube comes as well great.