New pedals!

I finally upgraded my racing pedals. I’ve been racing with a Logitech Driving Force Pro wheel and pedals since 2005. At some point I did add a Leo Bodnar USB pedal adapter to increase the resolution of the pedals but while that was an improvement it was a spit shine on a rusty car.

The new pedals I got are the Heusinkveld Engineering Sim Pedals Pro 2 pedal set with their baseplate. I only got 2 pedals because it was cheaper and most of the race cars I race in sim racing don’t have a real clutch pedal anyway. Formula cars use a clutch paddle on the back of the steering wheel and GT cars use a clutch button on the steering wheel, just like I’m doing.

These are just the Pro pedals that have a maximum force of 55 kg (125 lb) to press the brake pedal. The Ultimates have 138kg (300 lb) maximum force. The clutch pedal on the Ultimates go up to 45 kg just on the clutch. For real world brake pedal force examples; a GT car is at about to 60-100kg and a F3 is 100kg+ to fully depress the brake pedal.

If you're wondering, the two pedal pro set with the plate ended up costing $726 USD shipped to the US.

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The new pedal box (I’m bad at woodworking)

After I ordered these bad boys from somewhere in the Eurozone I needed to make a base. I have an Obutto Ozone racing rig but I read that just mounting the pedals to the existing pedal plate will result in a lot of flexing with these kind of forces. Also I figured I should try to adopt a proper racing position between my seat and pedals so I would build an elevated base. Heusinkveld Engineering has some suggestions for height on their site and I went with somewhere between the sportscar and GT position at just under 100 millimeters between the bottom of butt and pedal base height.

After a lot of forum browsing for inspiration and more trips to Lowes than I thought I could do in a weekend I thought I was done. When the pedals arrived, I mounted them up and low and behold, the pedal box I made was too wide. I had forgotten to take into account the front angled vertical bracket of the rig. A couple more trips to Lowes, a nip here and a tuck there and the pedal box and pedals were mounted and secured to the rig. Now to finally try them out.

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So how are they? (I need to workout)

I can honestly say the gas pedal on the new pedals is similar to the pressure required for the brake pedal on the Logitech pedals. After using the new pedals for a few minutes I quickly realized I was mostly using my toes to adjust the gas and brake pressure with the old pedals. With the new pedals it takes the muscles from my lower back, hips and my whole left leg to press the pedal at 75% full calibration or 41kg / 93 lb of force required.

I’d equate the motion of pressing the brake pedal in the new pedal height to using one of those leg press sleds at the gym. Something I haven’t done in years. But now I understand the seat to pedal positioning in real race cars more. It lets you use your core more than just your ankle to press the pedals.

I used to race in socks. It let me feet slide over the pedals comfortably with the old pedals. That sliding wasn’t helping and I needed traction. I tried in just my running shoes but it felt dead to me, I was used to being able to feel the pedal more. I ended on barefoot but wonder if thin soled racing shoes might be the best answer.

After about 3 straight hours of practice yesterday I got to where I felt pretty good at that 75% pressure. Still a bit slow but I was close to where I was before, I think. I wasn’t quite getting all the brake pressure I should but I thought I was almost there. So I had dinner, etc and then hopped in a race late last night. That was a disaster. After 10 incident points by lap 3 I retired. I wasn’t getting near the brake pressure I had after my previous session. It was just too difficult to press the brake pedal hard enough to get slowed down enough and I kept spinning out. I seriously think I need to workout now just to work the pedals in my racing rig.

I did another practice session and backed the calibration back to 50%. It’s a lot easier to use most of the brake now but I’m not sure if I should go with this lower calibration or get used to 75%. More practice is required, that’s for sure. The old pedals were junk but I had thousands of hours with them. Now I have to take the time to re-learn with proper pedals. Practice, practice, practice, right?