Last Sunday, margar and me (pitman) had the pleasure of attending the SimRacing Expo in Dortmund, and it was nothing short of an exciting day.
3DRAP
One of the first highlights of the day was reconnecting with our friends at 3DRAP. Beniamino and his colleagues gave us a quick overview of their latest products. The highlight was an exciting update on the Feeling Pro, which is launching soon. This kit adds two extra rumble motors and fans to simulate increasing wind speed, along with six powerful vibration motors for immersive tactile feedback. It’s universal and can be installed on various pedal boards, shifters, or handbrakes.
It felt great in the test we did and seem to be an interesting update for our own rigs.
https://www.3drap.it/simracing-mods-devices/3drap-feeling-upgrade-rumbles/
Short after we met up with Heusinkveld as well. Linda told us news about their latest developments. For example their Sequential Shifter and their Rest Pedal. Unfortunately Remco wasn´t in Dortmund. Would have been a pleasure to meet him again. So I take a chance to greet him via this article!
The Expo was buzzing with energy, and we got to check out some of the latest hardware releases from Sim Racing giants like Simucube, Thrustmaster, Logitech, and Fanatec.
- Simucube showed of their new Active Pedals, which are stunning but still expensive 😉
- Thrustmaster promoted it´s new T598 - Direct Axial Drive, which felt little weak (might have been the settings) but surprisingly smooth and reactive.
- Logitech showed the whole range of its Sim Racing products on a large booth.
- Fanatec also had a massive presence at the Expo, and while their stand was impressive, it felt like business as usual despite some of the problematic noise surrounding them lately.
As we explored the event, we stumbled upon a few standout innovations from smaller brands that really caught our attention.
BDH Race Sim Hardware
One of them was a high-quality Dual Mode Shifter (H-pattern and Sequential) from BDH, a company based in England. The Shifter, composed of the H1 ‘Bazooka’ H-Shifter and the BDH SQ Sequential Shifter within one sturdy chassis.
https://www.bdhracesim.com
Endgametec
We were also impressed by the premium SimRigs on display from a new German company, Endgametec. Two guys with background in the metal industry (SimRacers themselves) founded the company and transform their expertise into very stable rigs. It is important to them that the connectors are stable to give the whole rig strength.
You can feel their passion for sim racing when Sebastian and Udo talk about their rigs.
Many thanks for the time you spent with us and we are already looking forward to the factory tour we have arranged with you.
https://endgametec.de
Sim Reactor
Another exciting find was a "budget-friendly" 3DOF motion system from Reactor, another up-and-coming German brand. With a high movement speed of 250 mm/s they conquer the best systems in the market but one of their main goals is to be cheaper then the existing brands.
https://sim-reactor.com
Gravideck Motion Systems
There are so many different concepts of motion systems out there, but this one was "interesting".
The whole system moves around the floor to to let you feel the movement of the car.
Difficult to explain. Better take a look at the system in action for yourself.
https://gravideck.com
A particularly special moment for us was when our former THR driver, Alessandro Bezzi, recognized us and invited us to visit the booth of the company he is working for, Racing Unleashed. Their racing cockpits were simply stunning, and it was great to catch up with him and get so many insights about the factory and the development of the cockpits.
Oh and it was also nice to hear, that he has great memories about the time he was active in THR.
We had the opportunity to test Assetto Corsa Evo, and while our first impressions were positive, there remains uncertainty about the type of modding support – a crucial factor for THR's future use of the sim.
PIMAX
One of the major highlights of our day was meeting with PIMAX.
COO Ying personally greeted us and gave us a detailed rundown of their latest headsets, discussing everything from product specifications to their plans for global markets and marketing strategies.
It was also interesting to note that PIMAX was the only VR headset manufacturer represented at the Sim Expo.
To our surprise, Ying arranged for me to borrow a Crystal Light headset, which I now have at home. While I haven’t had much time to dive deep into it yet, the FOV and clarity are truly impressive. I will test it and share more detailed thoughts on it in the coming days.
PIMAX Crystal Light
As the day came to an end and we made our way out of the Expo hall, we were struck by how quiet it suddenly was. After spending hours in the noisy and busy hall, the silence was remarkable.
All in all, it was an amazing day at the SimRacing Expo. So amazing that I was to focused on talking, testing and experiencing it that I forgot to make a lot more photos. I promise that I will be better next year.
We can’t wait to dive deeper into the tech and experiences we discovered. Stay tuned for more updates, especially my review of the Crystal Light headset!
