My first racing simulator build (Details, cost, part list and videos) Fanatec Rseat

So I've had a bunch of questions about my racing simulator that I built from scratch. I was thinking to myself after attending Long Beach GP, and Formula 1 at COTA about how I'd love to feel these tracks for myself. I've managed to spend some time at Laguna Seca, along with Thermal and a few other amazing tracks. It really inspired me to save the money on bashing my M3, tires, engine, brakes, etc on a full racing sim... and here's what I ended up with.

So I decided to go with all products from Fanatec. They're the top dog for simple entry level systems, along with direct drive. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a seat, since you have to build these separately. Most companies don't have a full kit, which is confusing to me?? So I found an RSEAT, which was a solid choice for a comfortable seat and a great base to start with.

The seat came separately from other packages, but the Fanatec gear came together in a bunch of boxes. The seat and seat base was in a huge box. It was so layered, I couldn't believe how much packaging they managed to use. I apologize in advanced, these are screenshots from my video I made so they may be a bit low of quality.

I unboxed all of the Fanatec gear, it felt like Christmas morning not going to lie, haha. It was so rad to see all these products together. I decided to go with the F1 wheel, and BMW ClubSport wheel. This made it so I could switch between classes, but also have a well rounded wheel to go with GT cars, street cars, drift etc. I also went with the ClubSport pedals, shifter, and handbrake. I didn't want to go too crazy and go direct drive, so I just got the normal wheel base which still had plenty of strength in the response/feedback.

I spent an insane amount of time taking things out of the packaging. It was terrible, not going to lie. Took me about 4-5 hours to build everything.

So this is what took the most time, building the platform the seat/rig sits on. This took awhile, but if you just take your time reading the instructions, it's not too bad. You can really get mad though if you don't stay organized. Put all your bolts together, layout all the pieces, read the instructions and you can get it done.

After the platform and rig was setup, I could start building the TV stand. I went with a large TV stand from RSEAT's website. This stand was expensive, but it worked well for being able to move the TV towards you or away from you. I'd prefer a 3-monitor setup, but this worked for my "First real rig". This is a 60" inch TV. Had no problem holding it up.

At that point, I was ready to start getting the steering wheel and pedals setup. I put my rig in my bedroom and gave plenty of room around me to move, put the computer and overall have a space to work with that didn't feel crammed.

All the products I went with are mentioned in the video. But this wheel base and pedal setup had me excited. I was stoked to have quality stuff. When I turned it all on, it just sounded and felt like high quality stuff. I was a bit lost, but the direct drive system needed an update. so I went on Fanatec's website and looked it up. I simply just downloaded the new file and the setup was good to go. When you turn on the steering wheel, it does two complete spins, and then it's ready to go. (Pretty slow spins), but I think it's to center the wheel before you start playing.

I love unboxing new stuff, it's so fun. The pedals, steering wheel and other items came in a nice black bag. Everything was very well packaged and easy to open.

I ended up going with an IBUYPOWER PC, which I've included the specs below. I believe it was around $800? It worked GREAT. I ran iRacing and Asseto Corsa. No issues at all. Now I couldn't find the exact model because this one I bought from a friend of mine and I believe it was a bit older of a model, but here's a similar one by the same company.

https://amzn.to/2VsdYgK

I set everything up and it was time to go. I had moved my room around a few times to make the PC work with a mouse, the other monitor, all my stuff I needed, my webcams etc... so sorry if it's a bit confusing through-out the room, but this was the final place I kept it!

Formula 1 was my favorite hands down, it was the fastest and felt the best to rip through corners. It was SO rewarding.

I ran the Logitech C922 Pro HD Stream Webcam. I ran 3 of them, one of my steering wheel, one of my feet, and one of my face. I joined Twitch and streamed a bit, but mostly shared my fastest times on YouTube, which was SUPER fun.

I spent the first few days learning the system, downloading cars on iRacing, learning how to adjust the settings and more. The steering wheels have a lot of settings, between feedback, response time, etc. You can really go crazy with your own settings.

Overall, it was amazing. I had a blast building it and sharing the experience. The video I made has almost 500,000 views. I've helped a lot of people buy the Fanatec products and join the sim racing family.