RaceRock - The Plan
In the beginning there was the feeling.
A small gamepad which made it impossible to drive constantly through the carousel of the Nürburgring or on the Dakota Tri Oval.
No curve without rough edges and lap times which weren´t getting better.
I needed a racing wheel.
As this site is about the RaceRock, I´ll ignore this topic, and as there are less choices for racing wheels for the XBox 360, I decided to get a Microsoft XBox 360 racing wheel.
With this wheel it has been getting dramatically better , but on Ebisu, Laguna Seca or in the streets of London, St. Petersburg or Italy I examined, how the wheel moved...
even if it was attached to the table.
Attached to a too small table, I constantly got backache and lumbago.
Sliding pedals on the floor and afterwards I felt, that driving with a gamepad was still a bit more comfortable.
The first time my girlfriend got interested in race driving and after she was getting addicted, even she felt, that it´s not the way, she wanted to drive.
We needed a seat!
"Which rubbish", I thought and I couldn´t get it, that I had to put such an ugly metal thing in my living room.
We tried several seats, we researched and sorted out, we watched YouTube videos and we combed through lots of racing game - and sim-forums.
We found do-it-yourself-constructions, which - even if looked ugly somehow - did their job:
One was able to race.
Iteratively I started "stage 2", I was going deeper and deeper into all that and I compared lots of
assumed "professional" seats!
Their prices were between 160€ and 1.500 €, their visual appearance was going from disgusting to stylish, the quality from practical , over prized, to the point of amateurish.
The ordered seats have been unpacked and repacked in the same time, as we were shocked by their quality and stability.
Connections with much too big screws, arms, which dangled like the dog wagging its tail,
welding pickles on the rig and therefore no chance to make a proper connection and scratched
tubes, if you got it halfway good connected.
The mechanical and optical mistakes were to much...much to much and as industrial- and aircraft mechanic I can say:
After my researches, I can say, that there´s only ONE seat, which is really decent, but its price is 700€.
I definitely didn´t want to afford that much money and I didn´t get the yelling of my girlfriend,
so I decided to build my own real racing seat.
In this case I started "stage 3" and researched for good materials, their connection possibilities and visual appearance.
I built several constructions in 3D and bit by bit I created my first seat, but in course of that,
I examined, that there´s only one material that is suitable, as I didn´t want to plug tubes together,
or to put welded constructions into my living room.
Furthermore I didn´t want to have a fake seating, no...it should be a real seat...one you can adjust properly.
I created a proper connection between seating and rig, as it was important to get a good weight and most stability.
I thought about the possibility to make the steering wheel adjustable, but because of the costs and the weight, I decided against, as I didn´t planned to have more people than my girlfriend and me using this seat.
In general I can say: The more connections - the less stability and if less stability, the more material is needed.
Furthermore I decided against the common connection which comes with the steering wheel, so
I screwed the wheel directly to one of the profile-arms (Attention: possibly loss of warranty!)
The pedal set of the MK1_v1 didn´t need any rotation possibility, as it´s standard angle fits
very well to our seating position.
The MK1_v1 doesn´t come with a Cup;)- and gear shift holder, but if I decide to buy the Porsche wheel (by Fanatec) or the Logitech G25, I will build an optional one afterwards.
The sport seat is equipped with kinda Force Feedback, which contains a 85 Watt kicker and
amplifier, which will be connected to the HiFi system (LFE-Pre Out) or directly to the Line-Out of
your PC.
The feeling...man...you have to feel it...it´s rockin´!
The MK1_v1 is in it´s state now a very chique racing accessoire and absolutely stable Sim-Racing equipment for a reasonable price, furthermore fully upgradable to your needs.
The connections are rockstable and strongest Force Feeback resistant.
The wheel arm is able to carry my weight of 85 KG without any problem and the seating is comfortable and well adjustable.
Right now I´m working on version 2, which will come with a different and adjustable wheel arm.
Furthermore the MK1_v2 shall be a bit more mobile, if you i.e. wanna move it into another room.
There will be a few more editions...a "Black Edition" and the "MK2 Evolution", but more you´ll find under "The Editions"
Every racing seat is handmade and manufactured only on demand.
It fill fit the interested persons desires and measurements (you get what you want and need)
or you just take the common seat "MK1_v1", which also is the "cheapest"
And of course every RaceRock is compatible to EVERY racing wheel and game console on the market and maybe you also wanna get a XBox 360-, PS3 or PC-holder?
"if it´s not fitting yet, I´ll make it fitting...!" :)
A small gamepad which made it impossible to drive constantly through the carousel of the Nürburgring or on the Dakota Tri Oval.
No curve without rough edges and lap times which weren´t getting better.
I needed a racing wheel.
As this site is about the RaceRock, I´ll ignore this topic, and as there are less choices for racing wheels for the XBox 360, I decided to get a Microsoft XBox 360 racing wheel.
With this wheel it has been getting dramatically better , but on Ebisu, Laguna Seca or in the streets of London, St. Petersburg or Italy I examined, how the wheel moved...
even if it was attached to the table.
Attached to a too small table, I constantly got backache and lumbago.
Sliding pedals on the floor and afterwards I felt, that driving with a gamepad was still a bit more comfortable.
The first time my girlfriend got interested in race driving and after she was getting addicted, even she felt, that it´s not the way, she wanted to drive.
We needed a seat!
"Which rubbish", I thought and I couldn´t get it, that I had to put such an ugly metal thing in my living room.
We tried several seats, we researched and sorted out, we watched YouTube videos and we combed through lots of racing game - and sim-forums.
We found do-it-yourself-constructions, which - even if looked ugly somehow - did their job:
One was able to race.
Iteratively I started "stage 2", I was going deeper and deeper into all that and I compared lots of
assumed "professional" seats!
Their prices were between 160€ and 1.500 €, their visual appearance was going from disgusting to stylish, the quality from practical , over prized, to the point of amateurish.
The ordered seats have been unpacked and repacked in the same time, as we were shocked by their quality and stability.
Connections with much too big screws, arms, which dangled like the dog wagging its tail,
welding pickles on the rig and therefore no chance to make a proper connection and scratched
tubes, if you got it halfway good connected.
The mechanical and optical mistakes were to much...much to much and as industrial- and aircraft mechanic I can say:
After my researches, I can say, that there´s only ONE seat, which is really decent, but its price is 700€.
I definitely didn´t want to afford that much money and I didn´t get the yelling of my girlfriend,
so I decided to build my own real racing seat.
In this case I started "stage 3" and researched for good materials, their connection possibilities and visual appearance.
I built several constructions in 3D and bit by bit I created my first seat, but in course of that,
I examined, that there´s only one material that is suitable, as I didn´t want to plug tubes together,
or to put welded constructions into my living room.
Furthermore I didn´t want to have a fake seating, no...it should be a real seat...one you can adjust properly.
I created a proper connection between seating and rig, as it was important to get a good weight and most stability.
I thought about the possibility to make the steering wheel adjustable, but because of the costs and the weight, I decided against, as I didn´t planned to have more people than my girlfriend and me using this seat.
In general I can say: The more connections - the less stability and if less stability, the more material is needed.
Furthermore I decided against the common connection which comes with the steering wheel, so
I screwed the wheel directly to one of the profile-arms (Attention: possibly loss of warranty!)
The pedal set of the MK1_v1 didn´t need any rotation possibility, as it´s standard angle fits
very well to our seating position.
The MK1_v1 doesn´t come with a Cup;)- and gear shift holder, but if I decide to buy the Porsche wheel (by Fanatec) or the Logitech G25, I will build an optional one afterwards.
The sport seat is equipped with kinda Force Feedback, which contains a 85 Watt kicker and
amplifier, which will be connected to the HiFi system (LFE-Pre Out) or directly to the Line-Out of
your PC.
The feeling...man...you have to feel it...it´s rockin´!
The MK1_v1 is in it´s state now a very chique racing accessoire and absolutely stable Sim-Racing equipment for a reasonable price, furthermore fully upgradable to your needs.
The connections are rockstable and strongest Force Feeback resistant.
The wheel arm is able to carry my weight of 85 KG without any problem and the seating is comfortable and well adjustable.
Right now I´m working on version 2, which will come with a different and adjustable wheel arm.
Furthermore the MK1_v2 shall be a bit more mobile, if you i.e. wanna move it into another room.
There will be a few more editions...a "Black Edition" and the "MK2 Evolution", but more you´ll find under "The Editions"
Every racing seat is handmade and manufactured only on demand.
It fill fit the interested persons desires and measurements (you get what you want and need)
or you just take the common seat "MK1_v1", which also is the "cheapest"
And of course every RaceRock is compatible to EVERY racing wheel and game console on the market and maybe you also wanna get a XBox 360-, PS3 or PC-holder?
"if it´s not fitting yet, I´ll make it fitting...!" :)
