Simulator Pedals a new era

Simulator Pedals

What do you want from a set of Simulator pedals?

1. Robust construction and quality to last.

2. Accuracy

3. Adjustability

a. To fit the rig and driver

b. To be any car

4.?????Feedback

a.?????vibration

b.?????Clutch & Brake feel

Here, I am talking about high-level pedals that pro sim drivers and race car drivers require. These high-level pedals and sim set ups give high reliability, and robust quality that will last for a long time and can feel close to a real car in terms of force and weight and it goes without saying they are accurate and consistent.

The leader in pedals for a long time has been Heusinkveld.

I really wanted a set a of these, but I chose a lesser known Russian make called Alien Zadrotti who in my opinion make a very similar pedal but at a much reduced price point. That was pretty much the game, make a pedal as robust as the Heusinkveld and make is adjustable so it can fit any driver and rig. For me the price point and the adjustability of the Alien Zadrotti pedal set was a winner.

Although the Heusinkveld has bespoke dampers there isn’t really much difference. You can change the weight and feel on the Alien Zadrotti pedal as well, using a combination of lever and damper angles and rubber inserts. The Heusinkveld set is about ￡1200 inc vat right now and the Alien Zadrotti is ￡652 (Tegiwa still have some availability) The problem is it is a Russian company and I have not heard of them since the conflict. Other players on the market in the hydraulic market are Invicta Hydraulic Pedal Set at ￡1100. It comes with a clutch that is supposed to simulate the real feel of a clutch and thrust bearing. It doesn’t come with height adjustability on the pedals and this might be an issue for some rigs or drivers, but certainly seems to cover a realistic setup to give real feel on the clutch and brake. The Alien Zadrotti also has an addition available for the clutch pedal that can add the feel of the clutch bite point, it’s a mechanical device but quite clever. I don’t have this and I expect it would take some setting up to match the game bite point.

I’d love to give this clutch addition a test on my rig.

The Invicta pro Hydraulic Pedals below look amazing too I’d love to test these. I think they could be a very nice set of pedals.

So are Heusinkveld still the leaders, can anyone knock them off their perch?

Simucube have turned up with a totally revolutionary approach to pedal actuation. Instead of the physical replication of the pedals and either load cells, hydraulics, custom dampers or rubbers, they went for an active electronic solution instead. Its quite lateral thinking in its approach to the issues and provides a number of unique features because of it.

Lets compare the pedals and approaches

Simucube have been the top of the sim wheelbase scene for ever, Fanatec’s upper bases are close but Simucube’s is still top dog, with the biggest power range and best feel. Let’s not go there, but agree they are one if not the top dogs on the simulator seen. So when they finally enter the pedal market you know its going to be top quality and have amazing feel. It looks like no other pedal too so all good on the initial front.

Delving deeper into the requirements of pro sim racing and particularly race teams and pro drivers is where this pedal sets itself apart from all others.

Adjustability

a. To fit the rig and driver

• This is covered by only the adjustment of the pedal pad, which can be tilted but there aren’t any height adjustments so the Heusinkveld system gives some more range here. The only option you have is to mount the whole pedal higher in the Simucube system, effectively just chocking it up on the floor plate. This might work out ok, I have size 10 feet being 6ft tall and the initial set up was ok for me, but I know that I tweaked my rig to have the pedals where I wanted them so having that ability without having to add or find a different thickness of floor plate riser was very useful. Let’s say 1-0 to Heusinkveld

b. To be any car

• The option to change the feel has been there in these mechanical systems, but you are basically into getting your tools out to change rubbers, adjust dampers, adjust angles of levers etc. So not really viable to change between drivers or cars that you are driving. Simucube have blown these issues away as everything is electronic they can change the feel of the brake, clutch and throttle at the click of a button. Revolutionary! Now you can have a clutch that not only feels like a generic clutch, but a clutch that feels like a Lotus 7 or an Audi R8 so you can tune into your specific race car. Or if you are sharing one rig you can have different driver profiles for the endurance event you are in and these can be changed over with the driver, so you could in effect take your rig feel with you when you go to another rig! It’s a total game-changer.

Feedback

a. Vibration

• I’ve kind of touched on feedback already, but some of the systems can add vibration feel, but this is normally added by another system butt kicker type electric motors etc can add modules on to brake pedals that make some attempts at vibration. Fanatec’s system has a vibration motor that tries to simulate this, but I didn’t find this much more than a gimmick when I used it. There isn’t enough control and adjustability and not enough feel from it.

b. Clutch & Brake feel

• Brake feel, in Simulators has been about weight of the pedal. Nobody can really simulate ABS on the brake pedal, or locking up, until now that is. Simucube can provide the whole gambit of ABS, brake fade, long brake pedal, etc. It's all programmable.
• Clutch feel is the same, not only can it feel like a real clutch you can change where the bite point is what it feels like so that it really feels like your race car.

Conclusion

The game has changed completely with the arrival of the Simucube system. This is very interesting for high-level race teams and pro drivers that want the sim rig to practice how to go faster in the real car. Or for Pro-sim drivers that want to take their Sim setup feel with them without using a lorry!

Figure 7 Simucube Active Pedal design

It gives race teams the opportunity to adjust rigs for each driver or for each car they are trying to simulate. For pro-sim drivers who are sharing one rig at an event, you can have different driver profiles for the endurance event you are in and these can be changed over with the driver, so you could in effect take your rig feel with you when you go to another rig! It’s a total game-changer.

For the home sim driver it’s a step more immersive with the feel on the pedals you could experience the actual feel of an original GT40 and that might be worth the cost, which is something we haven’t mentioned! Simucube know they have something special, they have also been developing this with race drivers and sim drivers for a long time and its been an expensive journey so Johanna Pelttari of Simucube explained to me when I demo’d the pedals. However, when you move the game on like this you can choose your price point. Currently, a Simucube pedal is around ￡2000 inc vat, yes each, So a 3-pedal setup will set you back ￡6000! I know for one that’s in another ballpark for my personal rig. You can mix and match with other competitors' pedals so that is an option, but I am not 100% on whether you can use all the nice UI with that, which is kind of the whole point of the pedals. That’s why I think this sits with the pro-teams and race teams that need that extra feel and quick adjustability. I’ll get my spanners out and make an adjustment until Simucube sponsors me… ?