Sim racing can swiftly become a black hole for spending money if you let it. It starts off with a wheel, then some nicer pedals, then a load-cell brake, then a sim racing cockpit, then maybe you just go out and buy a track day race experience, and eventually a hypercar. Okay, that last bit is wishful thinking on my part, but my point is it’s easy to spend a lot on sim racing equipment.
That’s why I like this deal at Playseat that shaves $100 off the excellent Trophy cockpit—it makes the sim racing hobby a touch less expensive. You can pick the whole cockpit up for $499.
I’ve been using the Trophy sim racing cockpit for around half a year now, and you can read up on my full thoughts in my Playseat Trophy review. The short version is it’s probably the sturdiest sim rig I’ve ever sat in—it’s built out of these thick tubes that don’t wobble a single iota during use. It’s also damn comfortable, and keeps you in a more aggressive racing posture than a more upright wheel/pedal stand might.
The Trophy keeps your pedals firmly in place, which is one of the main reasons I’m even after a sim racing cockpit to begin with. I hate that pedals can slip or slide around even on carpeted floors, and to be honest the block of wood I was using to keep my pedals steady against my wall wasn’t really cutting it for competitive driving. Who’d have thought it?
Not that my driving has majorly improved for the sim racing rig, but I wouldn’t dare blame my tools for my frequent understeer in Forza Motorsport. I’m more of an F1 23 guy, and I’m just used to a bit more grip through the corners.
That’s all besides the point: the Playseat Trophy is a great sim racing rig, and I’m a bit of a convert to the sim rig lifestyle. That said, the Trophy is kinda massive, and you can’t fold it down without dissembling it—that takes a while, so you won’t be doing that each time you want to use it. The best you can do is tip the Trophy onto the seat’s back and store it upright, which saves a bit of space.
If you want something more convenient for storage, you could check out the Next Level Racing GT Lite. I’ve not used this exact model, though it’s similar to the Playseat Challenge by the looks of it. It’s also quite a bit cheaper at $183.98 over at B&H.
www.pcgamer.com