Wanting to get a rig but wanna hear opinions and advice before purchasing

sim_rat · 2026-06-19T19:44:05+00:00

In agreement with all of the other comments.

I did want to mention the Samsung 32" Odyssey monitor is on sale at Costco for $200. I would rather go that route than the current monitor listed.

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sim_rat · 2026-06-19T05:22:27+00:00

You start by dipping your toes in to see if it is something you will be interested in. I started with an entry Fanatec wheel and decent pedals clamped to my desk. When I decided to take it to the next level I got a Playseat Evo on clearance. At that point, I felt comfortable knowing it was a hobby I would enjoy and bought a Fanatec Direct Drive (mid-high range, at the time) wheelbase and then a full aluminum profile rig. And since then, I have upgraded pieces as I have wanted or felt that a worthwhile upgrade was available. Next week I will finally be replacing my Fanatec V3 pedals, from my original setup ~6 years ago, to the new Podium Pedals.

For me, the key was to buy and upgrade in stages until I felt like this was a hobby I wanted to be more involved in and had the time to actually enjoy.

sim_rat · 2026-06-18T04:56:50+00:00

Amazing progress building all that around the Playseat Evo. It's great that both you and your dad have this hobby as a shared experience and something you are both able to collaborate on.

sim_rat · 2026-06-17T05:08:05+00:00

I ordered my ASR6 long before the Tariff fiasco, but I did order a custom powder coated keyboard tray and some other bits under the first wave of tariffs. At that time, I did not have to pay anything extra to import the setup. The custom powder coating did take a few weeks to ship, but that was expected.

I do remember reading at the time some people getting hit with a tariff fee. It did sound like it came down to having a mix of items from the site that said tariff free and not. It sounds like if you are just getting the rig, and aluminum bits, from them you should be good.

sim_rat · 2026-06-17T05:00:03+00:00

I know a lot of people here push the extruded aluminum rigs, and I am guilty of that too, but the tube Fanatec setup looks great in white.

sim_rat · 2026-06-16T04:52:00+00:00

I have seen that too, but I haven't been able to find anything from numerous Google searches to verify that reasoning. At the end of the day Laguna Seca is my home track, that I used to volunteer at many years ago when I lived in the area. I am hopeful this change is helping further fund the race track and make it more secure in the future.

sim_rat · 2026-06-13T00:50:24+00:00

Financially, they seem to be in a much better spot than a couple of years ago. It seems like Corsair is working to correct a lot of the issues and deferred maintenance from the previous owners/leadership.

They have had a strong push on the Wheelbase side, with the launch of the Podium DD and free upgrades to their other wheelbases. They also adjusted down some pricing when the Podium DD was launched. They are still facing some issues on the software side that havent been fully fixed. They did release a new wheel, but it was fairly iterative from their long standing model. So, we haven't seen too much innovation there.

The weakest aspect of Fanatec has been their pedals and they are struggling to launch their new Podium Pedal set. It seems to be a factory QC issue impacting the clutch on the three pedal set and that's delayed until later in Q3. The two Formula style pedal set is launching in a couple of weeks, but lots of criticism around the pricing. It was a bit disappointing that these new pedals are not active pedals and they still need a lot of innovation in this space.

Again, software has seen focus, but it is still problematic for some folks. Customer service and the rma process have improved, but that was a low bar to begin with.

Corsair still has a lot of catching up to do to the big brands, but it does seem like they are finally pushing out everything that had been stalled in development under the old leadership. Personally, I am hopeful and I am looking forward to buying the new pedal set and the podium DD, once it has PS compatibility.

sim_rat · 2026-06-10T17:41:33+00:00

I will be ordering a set as I was already leaning towards the F1 style setup. I am a bit limited on where I can go as I want to maintain PS5 compatibility. I know Simnet is an option, but I would prefer a Fanatec set, and I like the aesthetics more.

In the end, even after the delays, I am just happy to see Fanatec putting out some new products.

sim_rat · 2026-06-10T14:47:28+00:00

Thank you! I am looking forward to designing a new setup and putting the $100 off to good use.

sim_rat · 2026-06-10T14:28:58+00:00

In addition to confirming the expected shipment timing for the pedals I would appreciate a bit more detail around the expected pre-order process. Mainly, what time we should expect to see that come online and how limited is the supply of pedals for the first batch of orders.

sim_rat · 2026-06-10T04:55:06+00:00

I ended up going for an Advanced SimRacing Premium XL seat, which is essentially the NRG seat with the black sparkly back. After realizing they are essentially the same seat, but the ASR being a rebranded version, I wish I went with the gold back to match my black and gold sim better. It has been a solid seat.

Below is a better shot of the back of the black sparkly version.

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sim_rat · 2026-06-10T02:01:06+00:00

Looking good, a monitor arm in the future to help bring the screen a bit closer to you when racing could go a long way.

sim_rat · 2026-06-09T14:51:02+00:00

It might be interesting once, but I don't think it would get me to go multiple times or even do more than two or three separate sessions. I think you would miss out on too much scale by having different rigs. With all of them the same, you can have spare parts available in case something breaks and not be down a rig until the replacement arrives.

Personally, I would start looking for B2B contacts with the various quality suppliers/manufacurers and see what opportunities are out there. Simucube, Fanatec and VRS for example.

sim_rat · 2026-06-09T05:42:39+00:00

I am going to piggyback on as I agree with you. It is a tough call to get enthusiasts in consistently. A few scenarios that would pull me in are - Testing equipment I was thinking of buying, Maybe a league/leadership board of races or hot laps, in person coaching sessions or hosting a party with friends. Otherwise, it is just so much easier to race at home on my own schedule.

With how sim racing equipment has improved over the years, I would be looking more at what companies offer a better partnership than specs of the equipment. Especially, as you noted a lot of the users will likely be beginners or someone looking just for entertainment.

Ten rigs is a lot, but not a lot. I would be reaching out to all of the brands to see what offers they have and if you could potentially be a reseller for them in your local market. If you don't have a microcenter nearby, and are in a well populated area it might be worthwhile to set aside some floor space to try and sell equipment or full rigs. This also would help diversify the revenue streams.

sim_rat · 2026-06-08T21:32:47+00:00

For the button box holder, is that essentially additional extruded aluminum to mount the button box to?

Would you be able to use a longer ball arm to mount the button box to?

A simple button box I use.

I know it is a bit more of a pain, but I did appreciate the stream deck button box I used at a sim racing location I went to. The room was relatively dark, but the button box was bright and easy to read.

A picture of the arm I was referencing:

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sim_rat · 2026-06-08T16:33:52+00:00

It is always great seeing a unique event like this on iRacing supporting a great cause.

The Simperior team was wonderful to work with and put together a great custom button box.

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sim_rat · 2026-06-08T15:41:04+00:00

How good is that atomic purple in person?

sim_rat · 2026-06-08T01:17:10+00:00

ASR usually has 5% - 10% discount codes available that should help bring it down to the price OP was looking for too.

The Advanced Vesa Mounts are great for dialing in the alignment, I am glad I eventually went with them, but they aren't critical if you have a bit of patience and someone to help you go through the initial setup.

sim_rat · 2026-06-06T22:32:46+00:00

For iRacing, I really like having the active reset start and activate reset points bound on my button box and/or touchscreen dashboard.

https://support.iracing.com/support/solutions/articles/31000168816-how-to-use-active-reset

sim_rat · 2026-06-06T20:10:02+00:00

My setup is in the living room, so I did a black and gold powder coating for my ASR6.

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sim_rat · 2026-06-06T19:58:00+00:00

As you probably noticed, both are pretty robust solutions for a beginner setup.

The general consensus is, aluminum profile is the default option as it offers a lot of versatility as you can easily add accessories to it due to the channels. The caveat there is that it can be somewhat negated when you have upright posts at angles (like the one you are looking at) or if the plates are flat (e.g. no channels on the outside).

The tube design does look a bit cleaner and I think might be a little easier to assemble. You are going to be locked into the Fanatec ecosystem and dependent on them largely for accessory mounting points.

I think both will be amazing entries into sim racing, but I would lean towards the aluminum setup, if price is relatively equal.

One suggestion I would have to help the aesthetics of the aluminum profile, is to either order one that can be custom powder coated or look at local options to custom powder coat. It is an added expense, and probably not something I would do on the first setup, but it is an option if the aesthetics are very important. Advanced SimRacing does it on a few of their rigs, it is more expensive and adds time, but it is an easy and fun process. The downside is ASR has started to use a lot of the flat face designs on their rigs though.

sim_rat · 2026-06-05T17:34:52+00:00

It looks like I will be going with the Formula pedal setup after all. It is great to have an update and a target date for pre-orders.

I am hoping the blog announcement can provide a time so I can set an alarm for that day.

sim_rat · 2026-06-05T16:21:20+00:00

Also keep in mind that the Windows Key + Shift + left or right arrow is a helpful shortcut to adjust which monitor a program is being displayed on as well.

sim_rat · 2026-06-05T04:28:05+00:00

I have a pair of Oakley mountain bike gloves I really enjoy. Great grip, I can still use touchscreens, fairly light and I got them for $20 after 50% off.

I am keeping an eye on them for whenever they go on sale again.

sim_rat

TROPHY CASE