Racing Sim Cockpit Build

Z

ZJChaser

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
80
I figured I took enough photos I might as well put a post together of my sim cockpit I finished last week. Over the last year I've got into iRacing a good bit for practice, training, and fun when not at a real track. My setup started super ghetto and progressed.

The complete gallery: http://imgur.com/a/FqOlF

I used to play with my logitech G27 clamped to my office desk. When I moved to my new place we had a basement/storage area so I decided Id use my old desktop as a dedicated sim rig and set it up in the basement.

Ghetto Sim in original form with folder chair
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After getting tired of poor frame rates on some of the tracks I decide it was time to finally upgrade the Sim PC. Out with the Q6600 and in with a 3570.

Build: Intel 3570K @ 4.2 : ASRock Z77 Pro4 : NZXT Red Phantom Mid : Visiontek HD7970 : 8gb Crucial DDR3 1600 (2x4gb) : Corsair TX650 PSU : Samsung 830 128gb SSD
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I also inherited a leather recliner from my parents that got put to use to replace the folding chairs:
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I bought plans for a sim cockpit from ricmotech over 6 months ago but never got around to actually building it. Finally picked up the materials and went to work.

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base completed with carpet and paint. We actually used casters under the base as well to make it easily movable. They stick down only about 1/4" below the base so it looks like its resting on the ground but isnt
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a few coats of paint and sanding later and we decided it looked nice enough to replace the dining table that we never used so upstairs it went
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completed
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switched to a ubiquiti wireless bridge(on top of the speaker) for the time being
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Total cost for the cockpit was around $200-$250 with the materials, paint, tools, plans. The seat is temporary as it has to go back into the race car. I'll add some 5.1 speakers as well at some point but most serious racing is done with a wireless headset anyways so I'm not in any rush
 
Which bucket seat did you end up getting? If it's not a Bride, this project is a fail. :p

j/k nice work I wish I could do stuff like that.
 
very nice, i like it. $250 is cheap compared to the $600 i paid for my obutto! :)
 
Set up looks great! Have you considered adding base transducers to the seat or platform for a little extra oomph?

I'd like to build a sim pit of my own someday soon!
 
Thanks guys! Clean was what I was going for with this one.

mesasone said:
Set up looks great! Have you considered adding base transducers to the seat or platform for a little extra oomph?

I'd like to build a sim pit of my own someday soon!
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I might do transducers some day but honestly I doubt it. I spend a lot of seat time on a full motion sim and in race cars so I'm content with a simple setup at home.

TheMadHatterXxX said:
Which bucket seat did you end up getting? If it's not a Bride, this project is a fail. :p

j/k nice work I wish I could do stuff like that.
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ugh.....I actually used to have a Bride seat in my car. That is a Reverie XC Narrow Carbon Seat. I will be using the stock Lotus Exige drivers seat on the sim when the carbon seat goes back in the car.
 
stellar job, it looks full of awesome. i love seeing builds like this. i've considered doing a single monitor build myself just for gran turismo but don't have the room.
 
Very well done. Impressive work. I really like the clean look it has. The racing seat really brings out the serious driver look.
 
Nice setup, I hope one day to get a nice wheel and create my own cockpit as well to play iRacing.
 
Awesome setup, I've wanted to build one for years. If only my house was a bit bigger. Maybe I'll get to when one of my daughters grow up and move out :D then it will be goodbye daughter, hello new game room!
 
Impressive job :eek:
Love the seat. Looks like one of those Formula 1 carbon fiber seats :p
 
I don''t know what specs are in that computer, but how do you play other games on it besides racing games? Or is the PC specifically built for racing games and you plan on playing nothing else on it?
 
That's a cool setup. The biggest turn offs of steering wheels and pedals is that at a desk it doesn't feel right, like your not actually driving a car. You're setup looks to make driving feel like it should.
 
zamardii said:
I don''t know what specs are in that computer, but how do you play other games on it besides racing games? Or is the PC specifically built for racing games and you plan on playing nothing else on it?
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He says in the first post that its a dedicated sim machine. He also says the specs in that same line. Great reading comprehension!
 
DraginDime said:
Awesome setup, I've wanted to build one for years. If only my house was a bit bigger. Maybe I'll get to when one of my daughters grow up and move out :D then it will be goodbye daughter, hello new game room!
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theBAYsics said:
stellar job, it looks full of awesome. i love seeing builds like this. i've considered doing a single monitor build myself just for gran turismo but don't have the room.
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you guys complaining about room :rolleyes:.....remember I got rid of my dining table and this sits in the dining nook in my living room now..... Where theres a will(and a bachelor pad), theres a way :D ;)
 
FighterAce124 said:
He says in the first post that its a dedicated sim machine. He also says the specs in that same line. Great reading comprehension!
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Thank you. I didn't want to be a dick and also didn't feel the need to repeat myself so they were just on ignore from me. Its not like the first posts were overly wordy
 
Tgrove said:
Nice setup and lotus
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Thanks, at least I know you went though the gallery :D That poor thing hasn't been running in close to two years. Finally getting close to bringing her back to life.

Quicksilver_ said:
What racing games have you tried already?
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80%+ of the time is spent in iRacing then the rest is split between rfactor2, Dirt3, and occassionally F1 2012. I'd love to find a decent rally game(more modern than CMR). I need to check some reviews on that new WRC game I guess.
 
Hello,

came across this topic just searching on the internet. I was curious where did you get that piece that holds the mounts for the monitors? I was looking at the DIY plans you purchased and I'm interested in them but I don't see that piece anywhere on their site so I'm guessing that is something you purchased elsewhere maybe?

It looks like the piece allows the mounting brackets to slide so you can fit the monitors perfectly!

Very clean setup. Hope to hear back! Thank you
 
Chad711 said:
Hello,

came across this topic just searching on the internet. I was curious where did you get that piece that holds the mounts for the monitors? I was looking at the DIY plans you purchased and I'm interested in them but I don't see that piece anywhere on their site so I'm guessing that is something you purchased elsewhere maybe?

It looks like the piece allows the mounting brackets to slide so you can fit the monitors perfectly!

Very clean setup. Hope to hear back! Thank you
Click to expand...

I actually picked up two of those mounts that came with the 6 monitors I purchased at once. It was from a big mapping 6 monitor setup at a company I do work for.

The mount is a rebranded Ergotron mount. Its a wall mount version of this one: http://www.ergotron.com/ProductsDetails/tabid/65/PRDID/197/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Its also the older more adjustable type. I do have a spare if you are really interested, shoot me a pm.
 
Chad711 said:
Hello,

came across this topic just searching on the internet. I was curious where did you get that piece that holds the mounts for the monitors? I was looking at the DIY plans you purchased and I'm interested in them but I don't see that piece anywhere on their site so I'm guessing that is something you purchased elsewhere maybe?

It looks like the piece allows the mounting brackets to slide so you can fit the monitors perfectly!

Very clean setup. Hope to hear back! Thank you
Click to expand...

No offense intended. That monitor mount "looks cool", but it's less than ideal for a triple screen sim racing setup because it won't allow the side monitors to be adjusted to the correct angle.

I'm sure that ZJ probably knows that, just thought I'd mention it for those who are unaware.

Why does it matter?

-> "Sim-Racing Monitor Placement and Field-of-View (demonstrated using iRacing.com)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rri19PqJ3qU

and

-> "Sim Racing 101 : Field of View - Seeing is Believing " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yYeiAHsdr0

p.s.

In b4 someone comes along to say that it doesn't matter. ;)
 
Lith1um said:
No offense intended. That monitor mount "looks cool", but it's less than ideal for a triple screen sim racing setup because it won't allow the side monitors to be adjusted to the correct angle.

I'm sure that ZJ probably knows that, just thought I'd mention it for those who are unaware.

Why does it matter?

-> "Sim-Racing Monitor Placement and Field-of-View (demonstrated using iRacing.com)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rri19PqJ3qU

and

-> "Sim Racing 101 : Field of View - Seeing is Believing " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yYeiAHsdr0

p.s.

In b4 someone comes along to say that it doesn't matter. ;)
Click to expand...

LOL, thanks for the bump I guess. And yes it is true that the mount is not ideal but it is the mount I had and works just fine for me.

On a side note I did swap out the seat last week since the other seat finally needs to go back in the car. The new one will also stop the bitching of my friends that didn't fit in the old seat

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FighterAce124 said:
He says in the first post that its a dedicated sim machine. He also says the specs in that same line. Great reading comprehension!
Click to expand...

I can read just fine thank you. It's just hard for me to imagine justification of a entire gaming computer with those specs just for racing cars. I suppose i'm not as passionate about racing as the OP. I'll ask this then, does OP ever use that computer for anything else OTHER than driving like flight sims or other games? I imagine some FPS games and others would look great on a tri-monitor setup like that unless OP's desk computer also has a tri-monitor setup.
 
zamardii12 said:
I can read just fine thank you. It's just hard for me to imagine justification of a entire gaming computer with those specs just for racing cars. I suppose i'm not as passionate about racing as the OP. I'll ask this then, does OP ever use that computer for anything else OTHER than driving like flight sims or other games? I imagine some FPS games and others would look great on a tri-monitor setup like that unless OP's desk computer also has a tri-monitor setup.
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That is indeed just for racing Sims. They are pretty much the only games I play. I also use it as a training tool. I race cars and do side work as a driving coach. I'll occasionally have my clients come over to learn new tracks on the sim before we travel to them with the race cars. It massively speeds up the learning curve on new tracks.

Ooh and yes my workstation has a PLP triple setup if I want to game there: http://imgur.com/a/mgUiK
 
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