Sim-Lab GT1 Evo cockpit review

opting for a prefabricated sim racing rig is a great option for those looking to jump straight in and take their first few laps around a virtual race track you get everything you need out of the box and it's conveniently designed to fit together into one complete cockpit but if you start taking sim racing more seriously and pursue ever greater realism as most of us end up doing you'll likely run into a few issues maybe you bolt a shifter here or a handbrake there and before you know it you've run out of mounting points or perhaps you upgrade to a load cell brake pedal and you find that there's no easy way to reinforce the pedal deck the point is that you need a sim racing cockpit that can adapt as you upgrade your equipment and that's exactly what the sim lab gt1 evo is unlike most off the shelf rigs the simlab gt1 evo is mainly constructed from extruded aluminium profile this is a modular building material that has become very popular for use in custom sim racing setups it's fairly simple to work with allowing for a wide range of adjustability and there's near limitless potential for expansion and modification down the line aimed at the mid-level market the gt1 evo currently retails for 399 euros without shipping that's roughly 360 pounds in the uk or 470 in the us while you could probably source the aluminium profile slightly cheaper the advantage of purchasing a kit like this is that everything comes pre-cut with soft edges to fit together perfectly all of the hardware to assemble the rig is also included along with some spares and the bespoke wheel and pedal decks make it a lot easier to mount your equipment and fine-tune your driving position simlab has selected mid-weight 4080 profile measuring 40 by 80 millimeters for most of the rig with two pieces of 4040 profile which you guessed it measures 40 by 40 millimeters for the seat rails in my opinion it's the perfect profile choice for this rig providing the ideal balance between structural rigidity size and weight in fact with a light bucket seat attached the gt1 evo weighs less than 50 kilograms and has a base footprint of just 135 by 58 centimeters to put that into perspective that's about the same size as the next level racing challenger i reviewed last year making the gt1 evo an impressively compact rig in its own right like its bigger brother the p1x the simlab gt1 evo is available with either an anodized black or clear coating personally i think the black looks particularly well finished especially now that simlab supplies black corner brackets and end caps to match it's worth noting that the black finish is prone to showing more scratch marks but these can be minimized by taking a little care during the build additionally simlab packages all the pieces really well so it should arrive to you in pristine condition assembling the rig is mostly straightforward following a repetitive process to secure each piece of aluminium profile together it's here that you appreciate the quality of hardware sim lab has included in this kit the cast corner brackets are gusseted for extra strength and feature anti-rotation tabs that align with the channels in the aluminium profile they are secured with emitted socket cap screws and roll in t-nuts which are spring-loaded to help hold them in place the majority of the build can be completed within an afternoon but if like me it's your first time working with aluminium profile you should probably allow for an extra hour or two the downloadable schematic is easy to follow but it's pretty bare bones so i would recommend supplementing this with barry rowland's excellent in-depth build guide on the simracing garage youtube channel and i'll link to that in my article and video description barry shares a few useful tips that you don't get from the instructions such as which way to orientate the t-nuts with the neatest finish the other thing to note is that you'll need to remove some of the anti-rotation tabs from six of the corner brackets this is to allow for them to be mounted perpendicular to the seat rails and wheel mount while the instruction suggests doing this with a screwdriver the updated corner bracket design makes this very difficult so i would recommend filing them down instead the gt1 evo doesn't come with a seater standard leaving it up to the buyer's personal preference and thanks to the rig's flexibility you can mount pretty much any type of car seat you want if you live in europe though cinema offers a range of sports and bucket seats for you to choose from including the sim racing specific simlab speed 1. while not fia approved the speed one is built the same design specification as race ready bucket seats and at 329 euros or 299 pounds in the uk it's a little cheaper too the one-piece fiberglass shell finished with either a black or white gel coating is very lightweight and provides a strong and rigid frame with zero flex it's covered with an abrasion resistant floor available in either black white or blue this is well padded to provide plenty of support and the removable high density foam seat cushion keeps you comfortable drawing prolonged driving sessions the seat also features cutouts for a five point harness so this can easily be added if you want to use it with a motion platform however the high bolsters do a great job of securing you in the seat by themselves so in my opinion you probably wouldn't need a harness unless you're running the most aggressive motion settings due to the one piece design there's no recline adjustment in the seat itself however the entire seat can be reclined back as one unit using compatible side mount seat brackets sim lab supplies a standard set for 39 euros that's 35 pounds in the uk or 45 dollars in the us these provide a maximum tilt adjustment of 15 degrees which i find provides a realistic and comfortable gt driving position studies have also shown that driving in this position reduces the pressure on the discs in your lower back something that you'll certainly appreciate when racing in an endurance class comfortable it's important to note that the speed run is quite narrow due to the race seat design at its tightest point the seat measures 33 centimeters across so if you're above average build up for the extra large version or a wide array seat like the sim lab speed 2 and be sure to check the seat dimensions before ordering the wheel mount on the gt1 evo consists of two 58 centimeter uprights joined together with a 50 centimeter crossbar this forms a rock-solid structure to attach the wheel deck via two custom brackets these bolt to either side of the wheel deck and feature slots that enable the tilt angle to be adjusted through a massive 60 degree range up to 30 degrees in either direction before you mount your wheel it's worth taking the time to find the optimum tilt angle for your setup firstly because the adjustment is a bit tricky to do with a heavy wheelbase attached but also because the direction in which the tilt angle can be adjusted is determined by the orientation of the brackets aligning the brackets with the slots at the top enables upward tilt while flipping them around allows the opposite aside from this the position of the wheel that can be adjusted in any direction it can be slid horizontally along the crossbar and raised vertically to a maximum height of 66 centimeters plenty tall enough for most users you can also raise the height of the entire rig using the included rubber feet this is particularly useful if you're using a desk mounted monitor and need to further raise the height of the wheel to match however i chose not to do this because the rig slides really well on carpet without them and this enables me to easily move the rig to the corner of my room when not in use for further refinement of the wheel position the wheel mount can be brought forward or back along the base profile while all these adjustments take a little time to get just right and are not easy to do on the fly they allow you to fine tune your driving position to a level not possible in most rigs the wheel deck itself is robust at five millimeters thick and made from machined aluminium it's cut into a compact shape and nicely powder coated in black alongside colour matched m8 screws sim lab has also included a set of m8 washers to ensure a tight and secure connection to the frame m6 washers however are absent from the kit so i would recommend picking up a few to help with mounting your wheel pedals and other equipment on that note the wheel mount comes pre-drilled to fit most master logitech and fnatic wheels there are also mounting points for the fnatic dd1 and dd2 as well as the axiforce v1 and v2 direct drive wheels additionally a mid motor adapter is available to mount osw wheels once you get everything tightened down the completed wheel mount is impressively strong and stable i didn't notice any flex while testing with my thrustmaster tx on the highest force feedback settings while the tx only delivers about a third of the torque from a typical direct drive setup i tried to simulate these extra forces with aggressive motion through the wheel and the gt1 evo continued to impress with very little movement in the wheel mount certainly nothing that i would notice during the race additionally if you wanted to reinforce the wheel mount and make it even more rigid there are a few easy ways to brace it with extra aluminium profile you could either attach this to the shifter mount or the pedal deck uprights these are 20 centimeters long and allow for a wide range of pedal angle adjustment if you bolt the front of the pedal plate to the wheel mount uprights then it can be tilted up to an angle of 25 degrees however due to the size of the hill rest on my thrustmaster t3pa pedals i found that this was a little too high for my optimum driving position thankfully the flexibility of the sim lab gt1 evo meant that i could bolt the pedal plate lower using the rig's side rails instead in this configuration you can tilt your pedals even further up to 45 degrees so in theory by pairing the rig with simlab's new sf1 seat you could probably obtain a reasonably good formula position as with the wheel mount getting the position of the pedals just right takes some time and patience accessing the bolts underneath and making adjustments is a bit tricky because the pedal plate is quite weighty in fact at 17 kilograms it's the heaviest component on this rig the extra bulk though results in the pedal plate being even sturdier than the wheel deck made from a five millimeter thick piece of high tensile strength still this beast can handle any pedal set on the market and it comes pre-drilled to fit a wide range including high end options from the likes of using valve the shifter i'm included with the gt1 evo also works well it reaches out 40 centimeters from the wheel mount upright and can be adjusted to your desired height it's worth noting though that due to the compact size of this cockpit there's limited clearance between the shifter arm and the seat with the regular size sim lab speed 1 attached there's just enough space to work with however if you're using a larger seat then you may need to attach the shifter arm to the side of the wheel mount instead for more clearance you'll also need to figure out a mounting solution for your handbrake or shifter of choice some higher end models already come with a mounting bracket for aluminium profile but sim lab also supplies custom brackets for popular models like the thrustmaster th8a logitech g27 or g29 and a fnatic club sport with my thrustmaster th80 mounted in a comfortable shifting position i found that the shifter arm provided a perfectly stable platform to paddle through the gears however if you're using something a bit more heavy duty then you may want to reinforce the shifter arm with an upright similar to the p1x for those looking for an ultra compact setup simlab offers an integrated triple monitor mount or single screen holder the latter which i tested is constructed out of a length of 4080 profile and attached to the wilmat crossbar via two brackets in my opinion it's the perfect option for running an ultrawide or one of the latest generation 49 inch super ultra wides it's depth and height adjustable and mounts vaser patterns 100 by 100 100 by 200 and 200 by 200 millimeters the adjustability makes it really easy to position your monitor perfectly and dial in a realistic field of view and even though it adds a little extra load to the wheel mount i found that it performed flawlessly with my setup securely holding my 34 inch acer x34 in place overall the simlab g2 on evo is an outstanding cockpit holding its own against rigs costing nearly twice as much the aluminium profile construction makes for a strong and stable frame that's compact and highly adjustable as well as turning every surface into a mounting point for expansion and modification the channels in the profile serve as ideal housing for cable management and sim lab can even supply you with covers to hide exposed wiring while it might take a bit longer than other eggs to set up and make adjustments the gt1 evo allows you to fine-tune the position of your equipment down to the millimeter so you can get everything positioned in the exact place you want it in my case this meant that i was able to bump the seat forward along with the wheel and pedals to keep the footprint of the rig as small as possible additionally by adding a seat slider the rig can be easily adjusted to fit sim races of different heights the bespoke wheel and pedal decks are robust and more than capable of handling high-end equipment in their standard configuration however if you wanted to run a 30 newton meter mid motor for example then there are a few easy ways to reinforce the rig with extra aluminium profile negating the need to upgrade to the p1x or something similar this all serves to make the simlab gt1 evo a rig that can adapt with you as you upgrade your sim racing equipment in fact i think it will be my daily driver for many years to come [Music] you

Channel: ADAPT Network

Views: 74,923

Keywords: Sim Racing, Racing Simulator, Sim Racing Rig, Sim-Lab, Sim-Lab GT1 Evo, GT1 Evo, Review, Aluminium Profile, 8020 Profile, Sim Racing Cockpit, GT1 Evo Assembly, ADAPT Network, ADAPT Sim Racing

Id: TtfTOfG8xb0

Length: 13min 38sec (818 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 17 2020