Two weeks ago, we took a look at the world of sim racing and their fanatical followers. We spoke to Fanatec about their racing wheels and how they enhance the sim racing experience.
 
This week, we continue this two-parter with a look at the proper racing cockpit setup. What’s a good racing wheel without a proper cockpit setup? Take it from me; a racing wheel is nice, but if you’re forced to sit in an office chair with the wheel clamped to a 2 x 4 attached to a rudimentary stand, you’re not getting the full experience. In fact, it’s an incredibly uncomfortable experience. A cockpit setup is necessary because it places the wheel and pedals at the correct distance so that you can focus on your driving and not how uncomfortable you are.
 
No one knows the importance of a proper cockpit more than VisionRacer CEO David Harvey, a sim racing enthusiast and one of the biggest car nuts I know. Not only does Mr. Harvey create some extremely high quality cockpit setups, he also has been restoring and building race cars from scratch for years. If anyone can tell you why a cockpit/wheel setup is necessary to play a sim racer, then he can.
 

 
GAMING EXAMINER: Let’s get the most obvious question out of the way first: obviously you’re aware of Playseat and the popularity of their cockpits. What makes yours different from theirs, and why should gamers consider a VisionRacer as opposed to a considerably more affordable Playseat?
 
DAVID HARVEY: We feel Playseat have filled an important role to date. The more people into virtual driving and racing the better.
 
The VisionRacer VR3 product will stand on its own merit. As sim and real race car builder/drivers we had a set of criteria we desired in a rig to meet. Like cable management, I hate messy cabling. The wheel and pedals require power, usb normally and connection to the shifter via cables. I personally like the my race gear to be a statement in style, form and practical function.
 
We would suggest the actual differential is made up of the a few element. Quality of the materials go hand in hand with style, fit and finish. Secondly, we have gone past just the VR3 product with SimRoom. Our clients are asking us for parts right up to complete “ready to drive” solutions. So as opposed to saying whats the difference between the rigs we would suggest what the difference between our solutions today and going forward?
 
Without getting too far ahead of ourselves we have stated our mission is to provide 2D/3D full stereoscopic motion based simulators at an affordable price. That has every component compatible and integrated. Our clients typically do not see themselves as “gamers”. They uses technology daily, love driving cool cars, likes quality and longevity. Client service and support is important. Style, design and build quality is a must. Price is not a prime consideration but value for money is calculated.
 
Playseat sell mainly direct which has not built an agent service base. Their clients don’t consider value added services such as builds and installation are important. We feel with the complexity of the technology clients prefer service and support readily at hand.
 
The next step is a new approach to involving our community in the design of the products and when they are produced. Watch this space.
 
GE: Please tell us a little more about the features that make a VisionRacer cockpit unique.
 
DH: To us style and attention to detail. We spend 100′s of hours going over every detail from the product design to photography. We design our own websites and sophisticated CRM workflow systems behind the scenes to deliver clients service .
 
We talk through and evaluate every client interaction because we are interested. We care. Our philosophy is we are servicing a growing user base and clients demands and desires for a virtually real experience.
 
Due to this client interaction we made 20+changes and improvements to our last version. Most not seen but important to our clients so vital to us.
 
We see the VR3 base as a platform to add accessories to, which make the experience and ownership of our product better.

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