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Good to see Elliott Skeer here! Not only is Elliott a fine driver, but also a trailblazer in effective remote sim coaching.
Why practice the wrong things when you can have Elliott help you practice the right way around a particular circuit?
Also, go through a set up sweep in a session and SEE/FEEL the difference in the way the car behaves, and talk through these changes with Elliott or another experienced remote sim coach. Hit the track at speed, instead of spending all weekend getting there.
All kinds of good things can happen using resources readily available...
Thanks for the kind words Pete, trying my best but have a long way to catch up to you!
Exactly the point, NBA players can just go shoot a thousand shots a day, cant run a thousand laps a day without a Scott Tucker budget!
The beauty of the sim is being able to get as close to a real race mental mindset as possible, I've had heart rates on the sim be higher than the real car at times, helps create the pre-race nerves commonplace
Seat shakers (many good ones are versions of subwoofers) are very effective for providing some realistic vibration cues and are relatively low cost and compact.
Originally Posted by ProCoach
Agreed. Well calibrated Buttkickers are great!
What are your thoughts on the best way to wire the seat shakers? I'm in the process of replacing a single Buttkicker with 4 smaller puck shakers. I plan to drive the 4 shakers in stereo (rather than LFE/mono with the Buttkicker) so that the left channel drives the 2 shakers on the left and the right channel drives the shakers on the right. I'm hoping this will result in more realism with the left side acting independently from the right (over curbs for example). I haven't tried this stereo approach on iRacing yet, so I really don't know how well it will work. I'm just going to wire it up (when I can find time) and see what happens.
I've also seen some software you can buy (can't recall the name off the top of my head) that, combined with adding a separate sound card in the PC dedicated to shaker control, intelligently and independently drives 4 shakers (left front, right front, left rear, right rear) in iRacing. I'm not planning to do that yet, but might if the stereo effect isn't what I hope.
So I ended up selling my seat mover NLR V3. It was fun in VR but the problem is getting thrown around in the seat and trying to be consistent in driving. I'm sure everyone has a different level of what they consider to be immersion. I enjoyed it while I had it but I'm quite happy to have moved on. Also, the feedback from the direct drive wheel is more granular, now that I'm no longer using the wheel to hold myself in place. There's also a notable improvement with the consistency on the pedals as my distance to the pedals is not being altered by the seat moving around.
For an easy DIY setup, get a 8020 simlabs rig with a direct drive wheel and high end pedals. Add VR/tripple screen and you're set for a long time.
What are your thoughts on the best way to wire the seat shakers? I'm in the process of replacing a single Buttkicker with 4 smaller puck shakers. I plan to drive the 4 shakers in stereo (rather than LFE/mono with the Buttkicker) so that the left channel drives the 2 shakers on the left and the right channel drives the shakers on the right. I'm hoping this will result in more realism with the left side acting independently from the right (over curbs for example). I haven't tried this stereo approach on iRacing yet, so I really don't know how well it will work. I'm just going to wire it up (when I can find time) and see what happens.
Your idea for left/right cues by buttkickers sounds like it would be worthwhile to try. Report back here and let us know how it worked out.
So I ended up selling my seat mover NLR V3. It was fun in VR but the problem is getting thrown around in the seat and trying to be consistent in driving. I'm sure everyone has a different level of what they consider to be immersion. I enjoyed it while I had it but I'm quite happy to have moved on. Also, the feedback from the direct drive wheel is more granular, now that I'm no longer using the wheel to hold myself in place. There's also a notable improvement with the consistency on the pedals as my distance to the pedals is not being altered by the seat moving around.
For an easy DIY setup, get a 8020 simlabs rig with a direct drive wheel and high end pedals. Add VR/tripple screen and you're set for a long time.
Absolutely this is the way to go. Full motion is much more of an ineffective party trick when trying to make the sim driving as consistent as possible. 8020 is a fantastic way to build a rig, the one thing I would say is to start looking at curved monitors vs triples. They are really starting to drop in price and IMO are more effective than Trips because of the single screen without bezels cutting right though the view.
Absolutely this is the way to go. Full motion is much more of an ineffective party trick when trying to make the sim driving as consistent as possible. 8020 is a fantastic way to build a rig, the one thing I would say is to start looking at curved monitors vs triples. They are really starting to drop in price and IMO are more effective than Trips because of the single screen without bezels cutting right though the view.
im looking at building a rig, but my concern with 1 large curved is the field of view is still less than triples. Do you find it ok?
Absolutely this is the way to go. Full motion is much more of an ineffective party trick when trying to make the sim driving as consistent as possible. 8020 is a fantastic way to build a rig, the one thing I would say is to start looking at curved monitors vs triples. They are really starting to drop in price and IMO are more effective than Trips because of the single screen without bezels cutting right though the view.
Yeah, if you're not going VR, the large curved monitors are probably a good way to go.
What are your thoughts on the best way to wire the seat shakers? I'm in the process of replacing a single Buttkicker with 4 smaller puck shakers. I plan to drive the 4 shakers in stereo (rather than LFE/mono with the Buttkicker) so that the left channel drives the 2 shakers on the left and the right channel drives the shakers on the right. I'm hoping this will result in more realism with the left side acting independently from the right (over curbs for example). I haven't tried this stereo approach on iRacing yet, so I really don't know how well it will work. I'm just going to wire it up (when I can find time) and see what happens.
I've also seen some software you can buy (can't recall the name off the top of my head) that, combined with adding a separate sound card in the PC dedicated to shaker control, intelligently and independently drives 4 shakers (left front, right front, left rear, right rear) in iRacing. I'm not planning to do that yet, but might if the stereo effect isn't what I hope.
Believe your talking about Simvibe. Its rcommended that a 5 channel amplifier along with a dedicated sound card be utilzed. They have a great site for tech support,
Your idea for left/right cues by buttkickers sounds like it would be worthwhile to try. Report back here and let us know how it worked out.
I will report back when I have had a chance to try them out. I've had all the shakers and amp for a while, just haven't had time to hook them up. I did pull everything out of the box and organize it for installation, so I'm making baby steps.
Originally Posted by 38D
im looking at building a rig, but my concern with 1 large curved is the field of view is still less than triples. Do you find it ok?
I have the same question about curved ultrawide FOV being enough. I have no experience with curved ultrawides, but from what I've read the BenQ Curved 21:9 35" (XR3501) seems to be one of the preferred ultrawides for iRacing. Also from reading (not experience -- please correct me if I'm wrong), 144hz refresh seems to be important for any iRacing monitor. I saw a an even wider curved "ultrawide" monitor on display at a Microsoft store -- I think it was 32:9. I have no idea whether 32:9 is good, or even works, for iRacing, but it seems like it would come even closer to the FOV of triples.
Originally Posted by brake dust
Believe your talking about Simvibe. Its rcommended that a 5 channel amplifier along with a dedicated sound card be utilzed. They have a great site for tech support,
I will check it out if stereo doesn't get the job done.
im looking at building a rig, but my concern with 1 large curved is the field of view is still less than triples. Do you find it ok?
I run VR, but I dont find it to be an issue when I have raced on setups with a large curved screen. And personally I dont feel one has to have the exact correct FoV, when I ran a single screen I was running 86* FOV when the correct number was like 55*. I also run the rear mirror at like 120* so it gives me all of the rear/side visibility I need!
Your idea for left/right cues by buttkickers sounds like it would be worthwhile to try. Report back here and let us know how it worked out.
It took many months, but I finally had time to hook up the shakers with a stereo signal and it works great. A million times better than mono because it definitely gives you left/right cues, but it obviously doesn't give you as much granular control as sim vibe software does. I used 4 small Dayton pucks (https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...8-ohm--300-386) mounted under the the 4 seat supports and they are plenty strong enough for cues. I wired 2 on the left and 2 on the right in parallel to create a 4ohm load on each side and am driving them with a small stereo T-amp. The key is to get the crossover setting exactly right and low enough so that sounds don't bleed through and create false shaking (for stuff that shouldn't shake).
I had a single Buttkicker Gamer 2 before and I really disliked it -- way too large, and it would rattle with the way it mounted clamping on a post, the power button on the wired remote almost never worked. Adding another Buttkicker would have provided left/right cues, but I did not like the Buttkicker I had at all. The tiny Daytons are not individually as powerful (though shockingly powerful for their size), but 4 of them, well placed, works really well for cues. If you want to bend the 80/20 frame with vibration you probably need something stronger, but if you want cues, the pucks are really good despite their tiny size.
It took many months, but I finally had time to hook up the shakers with a stereo signal and it works great. A million times better than mono because it definitely gives you left/right cues, but it obviously doesn't give you as much granular control as sim vibe software does. I used 4 small Dayton pucks (https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...8-ohm--300-386) mounted under the the 4 seat supports and they are plenty strong enough for cues. I wired 2 on the left and 2 on the right in parallel to create a 4ohm load on each side and am driving them with a small stereo T-amp. The key is to get the crossover setting exactly right and low enough so that sounds don't bleed through and create false shaking (for stuff that shouldn't shake).
) to mount the Dayton pucks on small blocks of wood, then bolted that wood on the 80/20 frame using 5/16" x 1.25" bolts with slider 5/16" nuts in the frame.
I agree with most of these posts.. really good static rig is the way. Many options depending on budget and how much realism you are willing to pay for.
Strongly recommend a 80/20 style rig as you can infinitely adjust in the future. Several good manufacturers from the cheaper 4play rig to the HE setup and beyond.
HE Pro pedals (now replaced by the "Sprint") are amazing for the price point of 750 (then several great options at around $1200) and direct drive wheel is a must for realism (1000-1500) Sim-vibe+butt kickers for road feel/revs etc is really good (though setup getting more complicated now with a second sound card, amp, etc).
Triple screen or VR. If you go triples.. do your research on the monitor.
Ballpark numbers: (10k will build a very good static rig, don’t even think full motion at that number). Of course can go cheaper in lots of ways - back to the first point of how much realism are you willing to pay for.
Rig 1000
Wheel 2000
Pedals 1000
Triple screen 2000
Shakers/amp 500
PC 2500 (1000 on the GPU with 144mhz 27” triples)
Other peripherals/stuff/software 1000
02-12-2019, 02:14 AM
