2023 SIM Review, Making an Immersive SIM Racing Cockpit on a budget 

Thanks!

Thank You so much!

Thanks! I love my MOZA gear. Waiting on delivery of the MOZA CS V2P so I can start doing some rallying. But the KS is great for GT racing. Now if MOZA would just make a U shaped wheel.. MOZA if you’re listening…just sayin’

Thanks! Yes it was definitely a lot of trial and error. For the cage more or less I found photos of the interior of the car I wanted to mimic: the BMW M4 GT3 and GT4. It started with a rough sketch and dimensions on paper based upon the pictures and measurements from my real car. Plus I sat in sim seat and got some basic clearance measurements for above my head to the cage. For the large elements like the main hoop I cleaned off a spot on the floor to lay it out flat and used some tape to mark out sort of a template. The hardest part for the bending was getting even heating with the heat gun around the pipe and enough "length" of heating to make the bend without crimping the pipe. Thats where the sand inside helps it maintain its shape without crushing. I did end up having to use pipe elbows in the upper corners of the hoop as I just couldn't get the bend tight enough, plus that's where one of the screwed together joints is for later disassembly. And then a lot of hot glue for the win. But yeh... start with a vision... find some reference pictures and jot down some dimensions... then just create! :) Really the only limitations are your imagination and budget.

And it makes sense too in a way if the cockpit is physical. That leaves the monitors displaying only the exterior view which in reality is pretty narrow vertically. I bet 3x 27" curved would be pretty sweet. I am planning a monitor upgrade too as these ones are capped at 75 hz at 1080 p. Plus being LCD they don't display blacks very well.

Sorry I don't actual have a document, but the actual size of the cage will depend a lot on your rig... how high off ground, how wide, how long etc. I would suggest doing what I did: draw a rough sketch of what you would like it to look like, then go sit in your real-life car. plan on a certain amount of head room from top of head to cage etc. measure the width of your car cabin as the basis of the cage width at the floor, then measure the width at the top across the ceiling of your car etc. length forward and back will depend alot on how you intend to clear your monitors and their size etc.

@@rickswanracing3139 many thanks for your answer! I will certainly give it a go with your suggestions! I'm also going to take some screenshots from within iRacing by rotating the cockpit cam to see how the cage of the Porsche RSR GTE looks like as that is one of my favourite cars.

The displays I have on top are custom DIY ones that I designed and 3d printed. The GT style screen uses a 7" Android tablet and an arduino board. I designed them to be swapped out quickly when going from GT to LMP. PM me and I can give you more details if you are interested.

Thanks! Thats some good advice and i will do more research when i get ready to pull the trigger. Next step hopefully is monitors. But once spring comes I have a track car to be working on too so.. have to wait and see which one gets priority :)

I didn’t actually try other adhesives as I think that that is sort of the concept behind the PMF idea. When I researched it I found that people would use PMF by applying canvas onto wood and then more or less saturating it with the wood clue. The catch is that the wood glue is not entirely water proof. SO they then would use a paint over the PMF. This way there was some structural integrity and the creation of a really water resistant surface. I saw this being used by people for like DIY camper tops etc. I wanted to create structures in the cockpit on a super tight budget and thought that maybe the PMF on cardboard would work and be pretty cheap. I had 3d printers and can do decent cad work but trying to get models and dimensions off from car cockpit components was pretty tough. So I fabricated the base structure by eye and some simple estimates of dimensions, then laminated with the PMF and it was pretty fast and cheap. The downside I will say though is that the card board does OK… but obviously isn’t as strong as a wood panel… but you CAN form it into complex shapes easily. I do though think that you could do a PMF style build using resin or similar.. but then you may as well just go with fiberglass or carbon fiber at that point. The wood glue is cheap, easy to dilute and work with, and easy to clean up being water based. :)

@@rickswanracing3139 thank you for the response, it makes a lot of sense. To reciprocate some helpful advice, I too added Dayton Audio exciters to my rig and tried the little 2-channel amp a lot of other RU-vidrs mention, it was a fire hazard that could have burned my house down, but I caught it when it was thermal ramping before it burst into flames. I scrapped the 2-channel and bought a good used 7.1 Home Theatre amplifier with RCA multi-channel inputs and three USB to Line Out adapters all linked to 4x exciters on the Pedal Plate and 2x exciters in the seat. It’s a massive improvement and safer than those Amazon amps.

The R5 bundle seems like a really great place to get started. Both of my boy's sim race as well (15 and 22 yrs). My oldest ended up with the Fanatec CSL DD and my youngest as he is a freshman in High School and on a tight budget ended up buying the same R5 bundle and it has treated him really well. When I bought my gear, I bought the SRP pedals they are good for the money, but I do recommend getting the spring kit upgrades wherever possible. I've heard great things too about the R12, and the KS wheel for the money kicks butt. It's pretty nice and very affordable. If you have a solid stand and the R5 DD... I would say that what may be a good upgrade if you have the space is a larger monitor or even a TV. I'd argue one of my biggest single improvements to the cockpit was going from a small TV to a larger TV to eventually triple monitors. The addition of the side peripheral vision makes a pretty big difference in spatial awareness. Immersion too. But if you are looking for specific upgrades to the DD gear the pedals are a good option and should give you better brake feel and control. When you are ready for a different style wheel the R9 and the KS is a great combo. If your budget permits, the R12 is a good option too if you want to stay with MOZA and want more force feedback. I personally have not had a chance to try the R12 but would LOVE to get my hands on one. But again if I have to pick one thing to upgrade, and limited money in hand, I would probably try to upgrade from the 27" monitor to something larger, whether a TV or maybe an ultrawide display. Whatever you do... just have fun with it!

@@rickswanracing3139 wow!! Thanks so much man! I actually have been thinking about getting the bigger Fov to! Frick yes man thanks so much for your response and experience/expertise firm 🤝

I actually went the route of the Dayton audio bass shakers: one under seat, and another on the pedal box. It's crazy how much information they provide.. and now it's to the point I don't even like driving without them lol.

@@rickswanracing3139 cool hahaha. 👍

Nice! It seems a lot of people settle into either 27’s or 32’s .. likely depending on budget and space. But I would imagine either of them would work really really well. The only potential issue I could see is if you build a full cage, the bar would have to likely run over the top of the monitor which may make it feel a little too high up. It depends I suspect on how you have the cage attached to the rig and if it’s free standing etc. Regardless I suspect a 32” monitor setup that it would still work just fine and look great. The bezel kits are so worth the money if you can find them as well and do a great job blending the monitors together. Good stuff!

lol noonoo...I have so FEW wheels.. but I am super happy with what I have got. That being said Id love to try some other brands out.. you know.. if any vendor is looking to get a product review... just saying..

SO as far as heating, it does get pretty warm when worked hard. Because my rig is all wood I don't get the benefit of a metal rig to act as a heat sink for the base. I do though have the base mounted to two large pieces of aluminum angle and this is how it attaches to the wood rig. The metal I suspect helps give it some heat sink mass, plus allows the base to be open more to the air. I think what could help is more airflow such as a computer muffin fan. But it has never over heated and the ONLY time I have ever lost FFB was do to the LMU application not working with MOZA pit house properly. Otherwise NEVER had an issue. I did though on my Fanatec CSL DD frequently lose FFB intermittently. I have alot of respect for Fanatec and they are certainly going through a challenging time right now. I genuinely hope they can get it all worked out. But for a premium price I felt they didn't meet expectations as a customer. Other than that I LOVE my MOZA gear and have been very happy. Since that video I have moved the SIM to a new room and added a simpush flag box and lap timer... SO COOL... I need to do a video on them..

Thank you for your reply! I would love to see your updated rig.

That’s for sure! My wife is super patient with me. she said no to putting a real car cabin in the house ;)

It would seem like such a simple feature to add: really lit buttons and an in-wheel display. I would have loved to have the BMW GT3 wheel.. but that price was just too heavy. :(

If you are trying to stay with the MOZA platform I feel the SRPs with the spring kit are pretty decent way to go for the money. That being said, there are a TON of really great options out there in the market and at a wide variety of price points.

What would you consider a “budget” rig? My frame is 2x4 wood, the cage is pvc pipe, the roof is black cloth, and the displays are cheap Walmart tablets. The single most expensive piece in the rig is the seat which arguably is a budget race seat. I’d say “budget” is subjective in a way. What would be the threshold for what you would consider a “budget” immersive rig?

@@rickswanracing3139 When I said rig I'm taking it all into account. Triple monitors, really nice wheel, pedals etc. I guess I didn't realize you were just talking about the cockpit itself which is a great way to go. (Mine's $40 of2x4's and some ply with a free car seat. Wheel and pedals traded for a old bike.) All of your setup together comes off as anything but budget. 😂(Take that as a compliment!)

Oh for sure, and I totally get your point! Mine has definitely evolved over time. I know for myself I just couldn’t afford to get a metal cockpit, premium FFB setup, high end monitors, etc. That combined with a desire to build kind of set me on my path. When I am on the forums and I see people talking about getting into SIM racing I always say… look.. get what makes you happy… get what you can afford… build whatever you can within your budget. I have only ever tried the Fanatec CSL DD and the MOZA gear.. Both are great but arguably for the money.. hands down I recommend MOZA. Very affordable and loaded with features. My original triples were very budget monitors and worked OK… but someone could easily go with a large smart TV if they have the space. And then as you mentioned…going to a salvage yard and getting a cheap seat out of a car for like $35 is a PERFECT way to start.. and likely more comfortable. Just shake it out for mice before bringing it home. There are so many ways to get started and race on a budget. The goal of my video was to promote creativity and fun on a budget . But yes I concede… my rig has grown and evolved. lol IN the end JUST HAVE FUN DOING IT! :)

@@rickswanracing3139 Oh ya I agreed with 90% of what you were saying and the important part is having fun! Even the Moza stuff is not really budget for everyone. (R5 bundle is more than a mortgage payment for example. Let alone the cost of rent for younger kids these days to afford some of this stuff. 😳) I would also tell someone new if they had the money for it it's a great place to start.) Suppose at the end of the day the term 'budget' is fairly subjective. 🤣Sorry if the original post came off as a little aggressive. I was caught off guard by the I'd imagine thousands of dollars of gear and thinking the whole thing was 'budget'. Very much enjoyed and appreciated the chat! Sub definitely earned. 👍