sim racing lcd display free sample

Dashboards for sim racing can be dash displays (either pre-made or DIY), button boxes or physical dashboards that mount on your sim racing rig. In today’s post we’re going to look at how to make your own display with Simhub, make recommendations for a few of the best ready-made displays (DDUs) and look at a few dashboards that are compatible with the most popular sim racing rigs available today.

I’ve wanted to give making a dashboard display for my sim a go for ages. As it turns out it’s really, really easy to get started. All you need is a tablet or a mobile phone, your sim PC and Simhub.

In case you didn’t already know, SimHub is a clever bit of software where you can add external hardware to your simulator including dashboards to bass shakers, and lots of homemade stuff with Arduino. It’s actually pretty mindblowing how powerful Simhub is, and how many problems it solves. It supports a vast majority of sim racing hardware these days, it’s highly prolific!

The video below is a quick demo of an old Nexus Android tablet running a dashboard display on Simhub, which this article explains how to do yourself. If of course, you’ve got a bit of cash to splash, you might just want a recommendation for a dashboard – if that’s the case, this post has you covered.

There are many – all of which are easily mounted and either have Simhub compatibility (for example, the VPG wheels are all Nextion displays that Simhub supports) or are set up very easily.

Launched in late October 2022, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup DDU display is manufactured and sold by Grid Engineering who were recently acquired by Sim-Lab:

Anything with a Porsche badge gets me excited, but this isn’t some gimmicky dash. It’s quite unusual in terms of screen size and resolution. Grid Engineerings “True Size 10.3″ Display” running at a resolution of 1920 x 720px stands out as a more lifelike-looking dashboard over the typical, squarer shaped units. In terms of technical advancement in sim racing, this is a class-defining item.

It’s a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (official) replica where Porsche has approved the unit for Grid to create and sell. Compatibility-wise, it is a recognised device in Simhub’s hardware list making it customisable for every PC-based racing sim. That it will work out of the box in Assetto Corsa, iRacing, rFactor2, Assetto Corsa Competizione and more.

It’s a full-featured dashboard, meaning all critical information is relayed to you. The DDU-5 display from GRID is a professional 5” simulator dash that provides all the essential race data you need to maximise your driving performance. Attaching the DDU-5 to your sim racing cockpit will instantly make your rig feel more lifelike and increase your field of view as you will no longer need an in-car dash on your monitor.

The unit features a motorsports-grade aluminium enclosure, anodised with an industrial coating, which houses a vibrant LCD screen and 20 adjustable RGB LEDs. Both the screen and the LEDs are fully customisable.

You can use multiple software programs to assign endless combinations of racing data to the screen and LEDs like low fuel, RPMs, flags, etc., and fine-tune the brightness levels. In addition, GRID supplies all the mounting hardware needed to attach the DDU-5 display to your rig in the box. The device is compatible with most mainstream wheelbases and connects with a USB cable. For a full compatibility list, click here.

The GT3R Racing Display from Apex Sim Racing looks really nice installed (see picture below). The DDU is a 5-inch display compatible with Simhub and therefore PC only. It features a tempered scratch-resistant glass overlay and 34 RGB programmable LEDs (controlled via SimHub’s LED configuration manager) and features a 24-bit true colour 480 x 800 resolution screen.

This is a really nice unit, ideal for those of you who selected a sim racing wheel without a display (fair enough). The Simutec SDU-2, “sim data display unit” comes with a 4.3″ LCD colour display and 18 fully addressable RGB LEDs. There are customisation options available too:

The SD43-LED display is a multifunctional 4.3” simulator dash that shows all the vital race information you need to boost your performance. Mounting the SD43-LED display to your rig also adds to the overall realism of your cockpit and helps you make on-the-spot corrections that can improve your racing results.

The dash is compatible with SimHub or Z1 PC software packages and allows you to track live race data like your speed, RPMs, tire status, fuel levels, flags, etc. Plus, since you will no longer require an in-car dash on your monitor, you can increase your field of view and maximise your screen space.

With its USBD480 colour display and 23 full-colour RGB LEDs (13 LEDs along the top of the screen and 5 on either side), the number of combinations of racing data outputs is endless. Furthermore, the entire unit is encased in billet aluminium which makes it tough yet remains well-polished and not overly bulky.

The dash connects to your PC via a USB cable and is supplied with mounting brackets so you can quickly attach it to your chassis. As for hardware compatibility, the SD43-LED display works with most Fanatec and Simucube DD wheelbases. For a full list of compatible hardware, click here.

You can adjust the LED’s function, colour and brightness, making the DDU5 a customisable tool for you to create your perfect dash display. Show different flag warnings, RPMs, pit lane speed limiter activation and more.

Software compatibility is broad and the DDU5 works alongside Z1 Dashboard, SimHub and JRT (Joel Real Timing), although of course, our preference is SimHub!

Precision has designed the DDU5 to work with the LM-Pro, GT3 Wireless and GT3 steering wheels and the mounting system is compatible with most motorsport steering wheels on the market. It can be fitted to all major direct drive wheel systems including Simucube, Fanatec Podium, SimSteering and OSW direct drive wheels.  All mounting hardware is included making installation very easy.

The carbon is 2mm thick and has front mounting MiGE / Simucube compatibility. Importantly, on the rear there’s a USB socket, and much like the button box on your sim steering wheel, the buttons will be immediately assignable to game controls in your favourite sim software.

If you’re looking for alternative layouts or compatibility with Fanatec wheelbases and different cockpits, check out this list from Apex Sim Racing. If you’re a DD2 / DD1 owner, check out this beauty:

To make a sim racing dashboard with your tablet, install Simhub, select your simulator platform, then head to Dashboards and click start on whatever dashboard you want to run.

Then open a browser on the tablet (being sure that it’s on the same network as your PC) and head to the IP address that Simhub gave you when you started the dashboard.

From here, just select your dash and make the dashboard fullscreen with the options that appear at the top of the window. Your dash is now ready and will sprint to life when you open iRacing (or whatever sim racing software you use).

If the browser can’t open Simhub it’s probable that Simhub doesn’t have permission to open an external network connection. The fix is simple: open Windows Firewall and click “Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall”.

You’ll be given a list of apps in Windows and a set of checkboxes next to each app name which gives permission to access the network. Find Simhub and click both checkboxes to the right:

Once you’ve OK’d the firewall settings, return to your tablet and refresh the browser. That’s it – a quick and easy racing dash for your sim. If you’re having any further issues, try this useful troubleshooting guide.

Of course, Simhub is extremely powerful and can do an awful lot more than dashboards on a mobile phone. Here’s how to make a DIY RGB rev light cluster for your sim racing simulator using Simhub and an Arduino.

VDASH-EMU is the 2nd generation of my virtual racing dash emulator, powerful enough to simulate almost all real racing dash. It’s available for Android, Windows and a special version is bundled with the SIM Display SIM Race LCD.

The dilemma release … should I or should I not add Gran Turismo support ? SimHub is dedicated to PC games support and supporting Gran Turismo games which are console “only” was creating such big dilemma ! After a long (really long !) I finally decided to release it ! Have fun !

LEDS devices and LCD devices now have brightness control mappings (warning : some vocore models do not support very well changing the brightness on the fly)

Improved WRC telemetry automatic setup : the game tends to generate the setting file “when it wants”, SimHub will now create the file during configuration if it is still missing

Nextion dependencies are not bundled anymore, it’s available now as a separate installer : see https://github.com/SHWotever/SimHub/wiki/Nextion—End-of-support

8.0.3 was triggering kasperspy detection without any specific reasons. A simple recompilation with the very little changes listed above solved it … without any specific reasons neither … Antiviruses mysteries …

DashStudio Dashboards created with versions 7.X and prior will be automatically upgraded to the new file version. If you were using an older version and want to be able to rollback to versions 7.X make sure to do a backup first of your DashStudio dashboards contained in SimHub\DashTemplates folder.

This rework gets DashStudio editor closer to real life race dash editors (like Motec Display Creator), and gets the experience more in line to the designers “UX” standards like Visual Studio or similar. I sincerely hope you will like it !

WebSocket (the communication layer between simhub and a remote web dashboard) now uses the same TCP port as the web interface, removing the need to have two TCP ports opened in firewalls.

New exclusive Drafting effect : Feel the the front opponent getting closer and closer and the wind accelerating when finally you start to overtake !This works with games reporting real player position inside telemetry (unfortunately that excludes Iracing)

Fix : Latest IRacing cars generates malformed session data (IE : Hyundai Elantra N TC). Added a workaround to suppress the malformated data and restore simhub connectivity when encountering it.

Added a property with current simhub server url (to allow using the webpageview to display something hosted in simhub’s server (see https://github.com/SHWotever/SimHub/issues/973#issuecomment-981088011 for an example)

Fixed USB displays behaviour when computer is trying to shutdown, USB display processes will delay their process shutdown until SimHub closes them properly.

Improved usb display handling, if SimHub is “killed” (task manager, debugging with VS (when working with the plugin sdk for instance) , the child display processes will try to properly close and shutdown the displays as soon as the parent process (simhub) is lost.

Added process isolation for each display , each display will be driven in a separate process, libusb not being perfect this will protect from any device communication failure

Added a splashscreen while simhub is loading instead of a “half loaded” UI. This should also solve some random black screen issues when starting simhub,

Added a “new plugins detected” dialog instead of the sad windows message boxes when starting simhub. When a/many new plugin(s) is/are detected simhub window will open after startup even if “start minimized” option is enabled.

Added a simple plugin for Belt tensionner , this takes back all the behaviors of the custom serial examples given, but with data visualization, smoothing, button box actions (release all/force zero/live telemetry) (plugin must be manually activated from simhub settings), belt tensionner plans are available on Simhub discord…

Added support for F12018-2020 game reported inputs to control simhub actions (even if consoles are not officially supported it will allow to control simhub from those games directly from the controller)

Global simhub settings are now stored with all the other settings inside “pluginsdata” folder and using the previously described automatic recovery in case of corrupted file (previous version settings will be automatically migrated).

I had feedback about few people having overwritten inadvertently their Arduino based device firmware (motion, button box …) with the Simhub arduino setup tool.

Arduino breaking changes : Starting from Simhub version 7.2.0 compatibility with obsolete sketches is removed (built before simhub 6.6). If your arduino device still use it, please update your arduino sketch or you can download the last version supporting it here

GTR2 now uses a dedicated plugin instead of simplified game shared memory (it makes more data available) From an original idea of The Sparten (Thanks to The Iron Wolf for the credit chain clarification !)

Arduino inputs are no longer given back via serial when using the gamepad option (reduces conflicts and useless latency), game pad should now work even if simhub is not connected(please note that it’s still intended to be used with Simhub)

Resolution changes improvements when using 4k monitors or similar Setups where windows would push the dash out of the screen when resolution was changing

The G-Force LCD Pro is the most advanced sim racing display available, designed for professional use and for users who require extreme performance and flexibility. Heavily influenced by real-world racing instrumentation, it offers a very high-quality image and fast refresh rate with it’s  4.3″ 480×272 TFT LCD display.

The Pro features 17 RGB (multi-Colour) LED’s in an 11-3-3 configuration allowing for a large amount of data info to be shown, not just an RPM shift light. The unit also has 32 inputs for buttons and rotary encoders as well as 4 analogue axis inputs for pedals or paddles etc.  One of the most impressive things is that all of this is achieved with a single USB connection meaning it is ideal for use in wheels as well as a fully built display. It comes complete with a  license for our software, which is being continually updated and improved.

The unit comes complete with its black anodized case constructed out of black anodized alloy and is fully enclosed, featuring stainless and anodized fixings, and is of the highest quality. A number of brackets are available to allow the display to be fitted to wheelbases such as the AccuForce, CSW, OSW, etc as well as a ‘desktop’ stand.

Introducing the GT3R Racing Display! This premium 5-inch sim racing display is perfect for any PC-based setup. It features a tempered scratch-resistant glass overlay, 34 RGB programmable LEDs controlled via SimHub, and a vibrant, high-resolution display. The custom PCB and single USB connection make it easy to connect to your PC, while the full 6061 black anodized aluminum enclosure and real carbon fiber mounting bracket provide a sleek, real-life motorsport look. Whether you"re a serious sim racer or just looking for the ultimate realism, the GT3R Racing Display is a perfect choice!

This 5-inch screen is perfect for viewing small text and data from the driver"s seat. With its adjustable 350 Lumen backlit display it will surely be visible at any time of the day. Its high resolution and 24-bit true color make this one of the best displays on the sim racing market. The displayed layout is easily user adjustable with a few clicks.  You Can Use a layout from the simhub community or create your own!

These innovative LEDs will change the way you sim race, providing a truly immersive experience. With 34 user-adjustable RGB LEDs, you can customize the look and feel of your simulator setup to create a truly unique experience. Not only does this product add an extra level of realism to your racing, but it also provides a competitive edge. Use the Simhub app to adjust all 34 RGB LEDs to your needs. Get instant feedback on important information like RPMS, delta, race flags, and more. With the included starter LED profile, you"ll be up and running in no time.

The GT3R DDU is the perfect way to take your sim racing setup to the next level. This professional-grade display is made from 6061 anodized aluminum and features a genuine 3mm carbon fiber mount, making it one of the most durable and sturdy displays on the market. The scratch-resistant front glass overlay is printed with the Apex Sim Racing logo, ensuring that you"ll be race-ready in style. The dual PCBs are fully custom developed and offer an adjustable USB cable exit, making it easy to keep your cables tidy and out of the way. Get the race-ready look and feel you need to take your sim racing to the next level with the GT3R DDU from ApexSim Racing.

A companion dashboard app for the F1 22, F1 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, Gran Turismo Sport, Gran Turismo 7, Project CARS, Project CARS 2, Forza Motorsport 7, Forza Horizon 4, Forza Horizon 5 and Assetto Corsa games which recreates a race car dash and displays live telemetry data from the game to add depth and realism to your sim racing. This second-screen app adds to your immersion in the game.

Display key data such as speed, gear, RPM, fuel level, ERS, laptime and lap delta. The RPM lights are customisable to suit your preference and the whole display can flash at the gear shift point.

A simple dashboard is included with numerous other layouts and styles available as add-ons. Please note that some add-on dashboards are only suitable for certain games. Customisation options includes "backlight" colour, and speed, pressure, temperature units.

Comes with a 4mm carbon fiber plate to mount it on your SC2 sport/Pro/Ultimate, small/large Mige, Sim-steering, Simagic Alpha/Mini, Fanatec 2/2.5/Podium DD1/DD2/CLS DD wheel base,

The cheapest option is a simple 5-inch display, which was actually designed for use with a Raspberry Pi. It can be connected to the computer quickly and easily with a standard HDMI cable and requires only a micro USB cable as a power supply. For a case you can either get creative yourself or purchase one of the prefabricated ones online. The displays are available for sometimes under 50€. The price/performance ratio is unbeatable here.

The 7-inch display, which is slightly larger, is powered by its own power supply, unlike the smaller model, but is also connected to the graphics card with a normal HDMI cable. A stand for the display framed with a plastic frame is also included in the scope of delivery. The third image in the initial area of this page shows such a 7-inch display in use.

The display from VoCore is available for as early as 30€ and can be operated without connection to the graphics card. For this, one does not have a housing and has to plan a little more time by shipping from China.

Also available are displays from various manufacturers, which are specially designed for the purpose of Simracing. They are usually significantly(!) more expensive, but you get everything from a single source. Some available displays can be found here:

If you have chosen a kind of display, you are faced with the choice of the right software. The free software Simhub, which contains many pre-built dashboards, is compatible with almost every Sim. For Assetto Corsa Competizione, here’s a good start: Dashboards for Assetto Corsa Competizione. For iRacing there are also various providers for paid dashboards. One of them can be found here: Z1 Sim Dashboard.

Many people have taken up sim racing lately, whether it"s to supplement their real racing / driving with simulator time, to race competitively on iRacing/ACC, or for the sheer enjoyment of racing around laser-scanned tracks in a plethora of real racing and road cars, sim racing really has so much to offer.

Current F1 World Champion Max Verstappen and fellow F1 driver Lando Norris are two mega sim racers, and admit that sim racing helped refine their racing skills! We can"t think of another real life sport and corresponding esport with such strong synergy.

Sim Racing allows you to race against your idols - literally. Whether it"s finding yourself in a iRacing lobby with a Formula 1 / IndyCar / Nascar driver, or hot lapping against the ghost times of a famous driver - you can pitch yourself again your idols and see how close you are.

F1 teams rely heavily on their "simulator drivers" who provide vital information for the F1 team on the setup and behaviour of their car. If F1 teams use the technology, then it shows the tangible value that a racing simulator provides, and so these are a must for all racing drivers and racing fans.

Top sim racers are making a living from sim racing - and in some cases a good living too! F1 teams have eSports F1 teams, and there are online championships with prizes of up to $500,000, and popular Twitch streamers can earn a lot too.

Sim Racer Enzo Bonito beat an ex-F1 driver at the 2018 Race of Champions! Enzo beat Lucas Di Grassi (ex-F1 and current Formula E driver) in an on-track duel - proof that sim racers can have skills on the track as well as the sim ✊

Many people have taken up sim racing lately, whether it"s to supplement their real driving with simulator time, or to race competitively on iRacing/ACC, or for the sheer enjoyment of racing around laser-scanned tracks - sim racing really has so much to offer.

1) There is A LOT of choiceSim Racing is continually becoming increasingly popular and more and more people are getting involved - more customers means more money for brands, and so as the sim racing market grows more manufacturers will try to sell your their products. Nowadays, there are a lot of products in the market so it"s very easy to get confused and not know which product is best for you.

If you want a proper sim racing setup, you will be spending several hundred pounds to several thousand pounds - basic Direct Drive wheels start from £800, a decent sim rig starts from £500, plus a seat usually from £250 and accessories cost from at least £50/£100 each! Add it all up, and you realise you have spent a lot of money! With this in mind, you really want to ensure what you are buying is right for you, and avoiding wasting money on something you don"t need.

3) CompatibilityThe amount of different products that aren"t compatible with each other is insane. Whether it"s a wheel that works only on a specific platform, or a rim that won"t fit, shifter or a rig (we sometimes say rig, other times we say sim rig, they mean the same thing) with pre-drilled holes for specific brands - you need to consider all of this when deciding what you buy.

In this guide, we"re going to go through all the things you need to consider when deciding to get into sim racing. One thing"s for sure, all of these products are fantastic, they all massively improve your experience - it"s just about finding the right ones for you.

This is the first step, and fortunately nowadays to have so many amazing racing games, that really don"t cost that much either! We"ll refer to these simulation games as "sims" from now on.

There"s games Formula 1, GT racing, Rallying, Touring cars, NASCAR, Rallycross, Karting and Drifting. Whatever your discipline, there"s bound to be a host of great sims available for your enjoyment! This is one of the many reasons sim racing is so popular nowadays, and as sim racing continues to prosper, so will the variety & quality of the sims.

If you"re a keen sim racer who wants the ultimate racing simulator with true-to-life physicsandthe highest graphical quality/frame rate, then you need to be using on a gaming PC.

Gaming PCs are more powerful than gaming consoles, and many of the best simulation games are available exclusively on PC (though some are available on gaming consoles too).

Some highlights of PC simulations include Assetto Corsa Competizione, iRacing, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, KartKraft, RaceRoom Racing Experience. These are all PC games available for purchase from Steam and all offer (as near as possible) true-to-life simulation. Whilst a gaming PC is a big investment, we do believe it is a very worthwhile investment for any sim racer who seeks the most authentic sim racing experience. You can also install additional software on a PC to enhance the experience even further.

If you have a PlayStation 5 then Gran Turismo 7 is the king of racing simulation on this platform. Other popular games include F1 2022, Project Cars 2 and Dirt Rally 2.0.

Likewise if you have an Xbox Series X, then the upcoming Forza Motorsportgame will the king of racing games for this platform. But again, F1 2022, Project Cars 2 and Dirt Rally 2.0 are all good games. Forza Horizon 5 is less of a simulation racer, but is still great fun with a racing wheel and is so popular we had to include it, and its handling model is certainly far more realistic than the likes of Need for Speed and Burnout.

The sims you buy will depend on the platform(s) that you have: PC, PlayStation or Xbox. Some games are available on all platforms (e.g. F1 2022) whilst others are available on one platform only (e.g. Gran Turismo 7 is exclusive to PlayStation, iRacing is exclusive to PC), so do factor this in.

Most sims can be purchased by a one-off fee (typically £30-£50) and then will likely offer additional content in the form of DLC, which is charged as extra (often only a modest fee like £10).

An exception is iRacing, which uses a subscription model where the user pay for a timed subscription to the service with a selection of free cars/tracks, and other cars/track are available to purchase for a modest fee. RaceRoom Racing Experience is a free to play sim without any subscription fees but employs the same content purchasing mechanism as iRacing. We encourage you to try as many sims as you can, each plays differently and has its individual charms.

Wow - is there a lot of choice when it comes to racing wheels, and boy is that a good thing! We"re spoiled for choice these days, so to try and filer through the options we"ll broadly categorise all wheels into 4 different types:

This segment is now dominated by a range of lower-powered Direct Drive (DD) wheels, the so called entry-level division of DD wheels that we"re going to call small DDs. These small DDs offer many of the perks of a premium Direct Drive wheel, the main difference being that the wheel motor is smaller so the peak torque levels are lower (usually <10Nm). Direct Drive wheels are a game changer, and are undoubtedly the best racing wheels you can buy. Whether you choose a small DD, or a range-topping DD as we will discuss in the section below is down to your budget and requirements.

We maintain that you can still have an enjoyable sim racing experience by using small DDs as well as these full Direct Drive wheels, but if you seek a realistic and authentic sim racing experience then we believe you really must consider one of these types of Direct Drive wheel.

Unless you are buying a bundle, a Direct Drive wheelbase like the Simucube 2 will also require you to purchase a steering wheel. There are a variety of steering wheels of varying material, diameter, shape and functionality, all intended to suit the variety of racing categories. For example, steering wheels for Rallying are often round and moderate-large diameter, whereas steering wheels for Formula racing/single seater racing are often smaller diameter and open-wheel shaped (i.e. cut off top). Some people consequently choose to have multiple steering wheels, and use these interchangeably depending on what racing category they are using - that is, if they are rallying then they will attached to the rally wheel, and if they then swap to formula racing, they will swap this for their formula wheel. Whilst this isn"t mandatory, through the use of quick release adapters, one can easily and quickly switch between steering wheels.

Steering wheels typically start from around £300, and premium wheels with carbon fibre and integrated LED displays can cost £1500 or more - there are some truly exquisite steering wheels out there to complement your wheelbase. If you"re on a tight budget, then we believe it is more important to have a high quality Direct Drive wheelbase than having an exceedingly "fancy" steering wheel. Ultimately, a high quality Direct Drive wheel will make you faster; an extravagant steering wheel won"t. But the visual appeal, functionality and immersion offered by a premium steering wheel is undeniable if your budget allows it.

For professional sim racers who want a very high end sim racing wheel with integrated displays and carbon fibre construction like in the above image (Cube Controls Formula CSX2), check out the likes of Cube Controls and GSI.

In summary, we recommend Direct Drive Wheels to all sim racers who want a realistic & authentic experience. It"s no surprise that the best sim racers in the world use Direct Drive, as it allows them to get the clearest & richest information about the behaviour of their car, giving them greater control of their car and allow them to get the final few tenths and thousandths off their lap times.

Direct Drive wheels are the most expensive racing wheel...but that"s because they"re the best. Once you use a Direct Drive wheel, you will never go back, indeed because of this the only racing wheels we sell on Upshift are Direct Drive.

We have respect for this guy, but in all seriousness he is highlighting a real problem -you need something to securely mount your racing wheel and pedals to!

You can"t mount a racing wheel on your desk (or ironing board!) and then have an enjoyable experience with it, because the average desk isn"t strong enough and the desk clamp will be flimsy, so the wheel will more than likely wobble and move under load, distracting you and ruining the experience. What"s the point in buying a fancy wheel and pedals if you can"t use them properly?

We fundamentally believe that if you want to have an enjoyable & immersive sim racing experience then you need something to mount your racing wheel & pedals to!

Wheel stands are cheaper than sim rigs, but they still aren"t objectively "cheap". The most basic wheel stands start from around £150, and the premium wheel stands like the Trak Racer FS3 and Next Level Racing wheel stand are between £150 - £200. For a lot of people (ourselves included) that is rather expensive for something that one could argue is essentially a glorified TV tray!

Wheel stands may be the only choice for people who are very short of space in their room. The big appeal of a wheel stand is that once you are done playing, you simply fold it up, and they fold into a small & compact form that is easy to store in a tight space. So if you are really short on space in your room, but need a mounting solution for your wheel, a wheel stand may be your ideal solution...

They are neither rigid nor heavy enough so the likelihood is the wheel and/or pedal decks will flex, which distracts you and will ultimately slow you down. You are restricted to fewer accessories (with only one mount, you couldn"t have both a handbrake and a shifter for example, you would only be able to use one), which again limits the quality of your sim racing experience.

Anyone who has ever been in a proper racing car will know that you sit low down in a deep, bolstered bucket seat and in an optimised seating position for easy access to the steering wheel, pedals and any shifters/handbrakes for maximum control of the car. With a wheel stand, it"s likely you"ll be sitting on a sofa or an office chair.

Direct Drive wheels are become evermore affordable and popular so it"s likely that soon you will soon buy one if you don"t have one already. Wheel stands generally cannot mount a Direct Drive Wheel; therefore whilst you may save money in the short term by buying a wheel stand, when you come to upgrade to Direct Drive, your wheel stand will be redundant and so you"ll need to buy a rig then. If you"re spending good money on a Direct Drive wheel, you simply can"t waste the whole experience by attaching it to a wheel stand. Forget them and go straight to a sim rig, you won"t regret doing so!

As with the lesser racing wheel types we mentioned above, we do not and will not sell any wheel stands as we believe they do not meet the needs of our customers.

Sim Rigs are fantastic: they"re strong, adjustable, flexible, comfortable, customisable and to be honest, pretty cool looking! They give you a perfect driving position, sat in a comfortable bucket seat with a strong and ergonomically placed wheel deck and pedal deck, many with lots of adjustment so you can adjust it to your liking so you"ve got all your hardware optimally and firmly mounted in place. With your wheel and pedals firmly mounted in place, and yourself set in a comfortable bucket seat, you can fully focus on immersing yourself in the sim and attack the corners with speed and precision.

Rigs are also very customisable, so you can add multiple different mounts, for anything from shifters/handbrakes to ButtKickers and button boxes. For anyone who wants to take sim racing seriously, and have a fully immersive sim racing experience, a Sim Rig is a must buy. Pictured below as examples are theTrak Racer TR8 PRO and the RSeat C1 Black:

Another tip is that before you buy your rig, you ought to know / have an idea of which wheel and pedals you will be selecting, as ensure that you match them with a sim rig of similar quality.Upshift"s selection of Sim Rigs are all high quality sim rigs that are compatible with a wide range of wheels from the likes of Fanatec, Logitech, Simucube, Thrustmaster and more, so one of our Sim Racing Experts can advise you on the best rig to go with your wheel and pedals.

Stronger rigs will be required for small DD wheels like the Fanatec CSL DD and Logitech Pro Racing Wheel that have heavy and powerful motors, such as the aforementioned Trak Racer TR8 PRO or RSeat B1.

For high-powered Direct Drive wheels like the Simucube 2 or Fanatec DD1/DD2 then you will need the strongest rigs on the market - specifically an aluminium profile rigs like the popular Trak Racer TR160 (pictured below).

If you were to use a cheaper rig that was too weak, it wouldflex and shudder/vibrate which would be uncomfortable & distracting. It"s therefore wise to purchase a rigid sim rig like the TR160 as it"s a prudent investment that ensures you can get the most out of your high end equipment.

Aluminium profile rigs prioritise function over form; most people don"t think they"re the prettiest rigs to look at (beauty is in the eye of the beholder though), but the principal benefit of aluminium profile rigs is their unrivalled strength and adjustability, allowing the user to attach powerful equipment to them for a zero flex sim racing experience. Striving to improve on existing designs, Trak Racer applied some of their ingenuity and with a few tweaks, their TR80, TR120 and TR160 sim rigs come finished in a stylish matt black powder coating with red cover strips and end caps all provided. When all combined, these greatly improve the aesthetic and make the TR80, TR120 & TR160 smart looking sim rigs, particularly the TR120 and TR160 whose thick chunky profiles give the rig a real presence aesthetically.

The Trak Racer TR160 and similar aluminium profile rigs usually have options to buy the rig without a seat such that you may mount your own seat. Dependent on what seat you want and seat mounting options, you could go to a scrapyard and pick up a seat from an old Ford Fiesta for £30, or you could buy an motorsport style Sparco bucket for £500 seat and fit that - seriously, whatever you want! As such, there"s loads of potential to customise your rig, which is nice.

Of course, a premium motorsport bucket seat will add more cost to the overall setup, but will be more authentic and a great touch to a setup for a motorsport enthusiast. Trak Racer provide a range of gaming seats that are more affordably priced and so are a popular option. A good bucket seat and a Trak Racer TR160 will total to approximately £1000 but in return you get an ultra-rigid, zero flex rig with an authentic, immersive racing bucket seat - well worth the price tag in our humble opinion!

In real life, most racing drivers are pretty small, about 65kg and <5"10, so they just slide straight into bucket seats without a problem. With sim racers though, there"s a little more variation! And by that, we mean we get people of any and all sizes wanting to start sim racing - be they tall, small, slim or large. So the bucket seat supplied with a rig might actually not be a perfect fit for you. Most manufacturers know this, so make their seats suitable for the average adult; some brands make a variety of seats, to fit people of different sizes and weights. The point we"re making is - you need to check the sizing diagrams of the seat, by either using the information we provide or by contacting us, and then whip out the tape measure and measure yourself to to see if you will fit.

But it"s not just if you will fit in the seat...it"s if you will fit comfortably!If you"re not comfortable in a seat, you won"t be able to focus on your racing because you will be distracted by the discomfort - and that lack of focus means you"ll miss braking points and apexes and ultimately be slower! It"s no surprise that, when racing drivers get their racing seats, they go in for test fittings to ensure the seat is moulded to them so it is a perfect, comfortable and intuitive fit, so they feel at one with the car.

On the topic of seating positions, there"s usually the choice between an upright position (typically referred to as GT style position) or a single seater/F1 style position. Obviously, if you"re wanting a simulator that replicates the feeling of being in a F1 car, then you will want the single seater/F1 style position. Whereas if you"re wanting a simulator that replicates being it a GT car, touring car racing, rally car, rallycross car or equivalent, then you will want the upright seating position.

Upright seating positions are more easily accessible and versatile, fitting many different types of sim racing games and indeed other simulator games such as flight simulation, truck simulation etc. Single seater/F1 style seating positions are more specialist, so whilst are undoubtedly very cool and offer an amazing driving position, they"re less accessible. The upright seating position type sim rigs are more popular as they cater for a wider variety of simulation games/genres. Nowadays there"s a variety of excellent sim rigs in the market now, so there"s guaranteed to be a rig that meets your demands! To browse our full selection of Sim Rigs,

Can"t decide on whether you want an upright GT style seating position or if you"d prefer a single seater F1 style seating position? Then how about a rig that can provide both a GT or F1 style sim rig! The answer for you is a hybrid sim rig, and the answer to this is the Alpine Racing TRX by Trak Racer.

Trak Racer, Sparco and other companies have a varied range of seats, to suit the varied shapes and sizes of sim racers out there. It is advised to pick a seat from the same manufacturer as the rig to be assured of compatibility, however it is possible to use an aftermarket/3rd party seat on a sim rig providing it fits. We can advise on this with all the rigs & seats we sell, but as a general guide, you will need to ensure that you"ve sorted out how the seats mounts, gap between mounting holes and width of the seat - in some instances, it can be harder than you may think.

We also urge you to look at the accessories you might want for your rig before you buy it. Most sim racers will have a shifter, handbrake and some other accessories (sometimes referred to as "peripherals") so you will need somewhere to mount them! Most rigs will come with several mounts and adapters (usually as additional extras) for you to attach to the rig, and then mount your accessories to.

It is easy to spend A LOT of money on a rig, so make sure you know exactly what you need, and want!Upshift partners with all the leading rig brands, including Trak Racer, Sparco Gaming & RSeat. Furthermore, our Sim Racing Experts know everything about the rigs we sell, so if you have any questions, get in touch with us and we"ll help. Get in touch by Live Chat, Messenger, email or phone.

There are simply loads of accessories available for sim racing nowadays. It makes our sim racing experience so much more enjoyable, but the massive number of different manufacturers also raises a new dilemma - Compatibility.

Here we will highlight some of the Best Accessories for Sim Racing, including Immersive Tactile Shakers, Motion Actuators, Seat, Motion Platforms, Monitors,Shifters& more.

The ButtKicker Gamer Plus is an awesome piece of kit - it"s "half-way" towards a motion platform with respect to the immersion yet for a much cheaper cost than your standard motion set. ButtKickers lets you feel the bumps of the track and rumble strip, and when you clout of the kerbs, and the vibrations of your engine by sending powerful vibrations through your seat/rig. Factory software is adequate, but there"s loads of options available (free and paid). We recommend SimHub. Suffice to say, once you"ve used ButtKicker, you"ll never go back.

A Direct Drive wheelbase is nothing without an equally good wheel. There"s a wide variety of wheels available, many costing as much as the Direct Drive motor itself. Our recommended wheels are Cube Controls, built using the highest quality components to be durable and robust racing wheel and finished with premium materials and exquisite designs. For those with larger budgets, we like the Cube Controls CSX-3 (pictured above) and GSI.

Introducing the Qubic System QS-220-PL, an industry-leading motion actuator set. The QS-220-PL actuators offer performance unmatched by anything else in the market, with an outstanding 800mm/s maximum velocity! This higher velocity figure transforms the motion experience; the motion feels more energetic and vigorous, much more like the physical experience of driving in reality. Combined with the maximum acceleration of 0.8G (limited for safety, not by hardware capability) and 100mm actuator stroke, these performance figures translate into providing a highly immersive & authentic motion simulation experience.

A good seat is a necessity if you want an authentic and enjoyable sim racing experience; a good fibreglass bucket seat starts at around £250, and rises to well over a thousand! Entry-level price point seats like the Motamec GT02 (and their GT seat range) are great fibreglass seats for those on a limited budget. If your budget is higher, then the a Sparco Sim Racing Seat offers true authentic motorsport design & heritage, examples being the Circuit II or EVO L, offering a premium & authentic racing design and finish quality.

If you are wanting the hands-down most realistic and authentic sim racing experience, and you"ve the budget to facilitate this, then we"ve got a treat for you: introducing the Qubic System QS-S25: the Ultimate 6DOF Racing Simulator

The Thrustmaster TH8A is by no means a new product, but it is a good shifter for the money. It features as both a manual H-pattern and sequential shifter: manual is 7 forward gears + reverse, and switching to sequential shifter is an simple process.

More expensive shifters such as the Frex GP Hshift+ of course improve materials, shift feel and durability substantially, but this is reserved mainly for the aficionados and manual enthusiasts who typically have large budgets to spend on peripherals; the majority of sim racers use the wheel-mounted shifter paddles or a sequential shifter, pure manual transmission cars are becoming ever rarer these days (in reality and sims).

When it comes to authentic driving, you MUST have a good set of pedals - in our opinion, anyone can learn the racing line and how to turn a steering wheel, however the very best drivers who get the most speed from the car master their inputs of the accelerator and brake pedal; that is, being earliest on the throttle and latest on the brakes. Therefore, a good set of pedals is a crucial part of any sim racing setup, and one that we place high emphasis on.

Our favourite pedals are the Asetek Invicta pedals which offer a truly authentic and realistic brake pedal feel like in a racing car. For those on a lower budget, Thrustmaster T-LCM and Fanatec Clubsport v3, and intermediate options being the Asetek Forte & Heusinkveld Sprint pedals.

If you"ve got any specific questions, our Sim Racing Experts are here to advise you on the best product(s) for your individual requirements and can provide tailored advice to you.

The Next Level Racing free standing monitor stand finishes off your racing simulator setup to give the ultimate immersion to race like a professional supporting screens. The stand includes both lockable wheels for easy movement and height adjustable feet, the choice is yours. The design is based on customer feedback allowing you to have your screens in the perfect position of your choice whether that is directly behind the wheel or further back from your cockpit and allowing you to change the position of the screen easily and quickly. Being completely free standing and with lockable wheels it also makes it the perfect monitor stand for events, trade shows and sim racing centers.