Racing simulators XBox 360/Forza 4 and PlayStation 3 (PS3)/GT5

Gentle reader,

Thanks to a friend/co-worker who's son is in Germany in the USAF. I have temporarily switched back from the PS3/GT5 to the XBox 360 and Forza 4. He too lent Dad his XBox 360 with Forza 4. Steve became obsessed with it, racing for hours and hours everyday. 

When I showed him where to look, he was very surprised that there was a garage, let alone that it had more than 40 cars in it. Then he (and I) was shocked to see he had accumulated over 14 million credits! Of course, we don't know how many he started with, but............

Since I was driving using my son's profile and thus gaining cars and credits for him, and he was too for his son, plus since we wanted to race each other, we both signed up for XBox Live and created our own account.

This meant starting at zero. I chose a VW Fox for my first car and since I had a little of the initial credits left, I upgraded it first. 

Now, my friend uses the controller which I simply can not do. I've tried, I'm just too traditional. Now, our kids generation grew up playing video games which I think is why they find it natural plus can and have adapted to "smart" phones and such so easily. I also can't use one of those. "Where's the mouse and keyboard?"

OK, now to the subject matter. You may recall that since we got a bigger TV, I moved the old 32" flat screen into the den/listening room and created a Racing Simulation station:

The Robb Collections: Racing/Driving Simulation Station

That was in an alcove that leads to the upstairs bathroom. Well, I found that downloading from XBox Live was very slow. I have a long CAT6 cable, but it was a bit too short to reach from the router in here to the alcove in the next room. 

As an experiment, I moved it all in here with a short cable and found I liked it better. Then, I realized that I could no longer get to the clock to pull the chains to wind it, nor get to the window. So, this morning, I began the move.

I slid the desk's chair mat back against the wall and after removing the heavy stuff, moved the desk back as well. This gave me room to make a path to the left of everything. I can get to the back of the TV or the consoles, plus the clock and the window.

I added a fan to cool me, and have the SuperCheats.com manual for Forza 4 right next to me as well. 

The consoles are both behind the TV on the incredibly heavy walnut and granite table. Plus, should my son or someone else that wants to race comes over, I can slide it all out enough to put two chairs and two steering wheel/pedals assemblies side by side. 

Behind the fan, (which is very user friendly in that it is designed to be easily taken apart and cleaned) are the 1:6th scale Soldiers and Marines I've started collecting. More on them later.

Below, shows the manual in a binder which features an article about the Nurburgring. 

Now, as my friends have been asking to see my driving/racing setup, I have made a bunch of photos showing the XRocker gaming chair, and the two steering wheel/pedals assemblies that I have made. Below, first is the chair, bought for me by my VERY loving wife:

It has a built in amplifier, stereo speakers on each side of the headrest, and a low frequency driver under the seat. I added the extension for my thighs. The seat is made to fit youths as well as adults. To sit without the extension, my back covers the speakers. Slide down and there was not enough support for my thighs. Thus the extension.

Below, is the first steering wheel/pedals assembly device that I built. I used square aluminum tubing and it is easily collapsible, strong and lightweight. Mounted on it is the Microsoft brand
steering wheel/pedals assembly for the XBox 360 that I bought my son.

I'm showing details for each of the two assemblies in case you should like to build yourself one. Of course, no ALL the details! Each wheel shelf is fully adjustable for rake and can be moved forward and down the angled upright pieces for shorter drivers.

The foot pedal assemblies of most steering wheel/pedals assemblies are not ergonomically correct for racing. One must bend their feet forward at an uncomfortable angle. I conquered that by making the bases angled upward. They too are angle adjustable.

With my own steering wheel/pedals assemblies, I simply drilled two holes in them and mounted them to the wood. Since this one is not mine, I came up with a way to hold it in place without holes.

Here are some more detail shots of the steering wheel base mounting, See the other holes in the uprights?

Here it is in collapsed form. 

Note the small pieces that support the uprights. I'm really quite pleased with design. 

Here it is from the side.

Below, is the second bracket assembly I made for steering wheel/pedals assemblies.

Above it is collapsed. Below, is ready to race. Mounted on it is Logitech's steering wheel/pedals assembly made specifically for (and endorsed by) SONY's Grand Turismo 4 for the PlayStation 2.

I'd bought up all the square tubing except for two pieces and the store had not replenished it when I decided to build a second one. So, I had to make changes. 

"Angle" aluminum rather than square tubing. Note the "T" bracket I had to use to support the uprights. Not nearly as strong, but it still does the job.

The wheel shelf is still rake adjustable, but not for length/height of  the driver. Just for me.

Logitech now makes fancier (much more expensive) steering wheel/pedals assemblies for the PS3 and other consoles. I want one, because it has three pedals, and a regular gear shift which one can place on the left or right depending on what they are driving/racing. 

You can see, the wheel shelf is deeper than it needs to be, but so what?

As this design is flimsier than the original unit, I ended up adding a cross brace in the form of 3/8" all-thread rod. I covered it in heat shrink tubing so that I wouldn't cut/scrape my knees. The wing nuts and regular nuts on the outside tie it all together and are removed/backed off to collapse it.

So there you have it. If you are good with tools and fabrication, you can make one yourself. Have you ever priced commercially made ones? Sheesh!

Thanks for looking,

Scott