For the booming sim racing community, the realism, immersion and experience of racing can be just as important as the results on the virtual track, and there are now plenty of options for serious sim racing equipment that provide just that.
For beginners or even intermediate-level sim racers, a simple table mount with a wheel attached or a foldable budget racing cockpit in front of a TV or monitor will suffice. But for the more serious sim racers, who are looking for the best experience possible, things can get expensive very quickly, particularly when you factor in the additional cost of a decent racing wheelbase and pedals.
So if you're planning to spend a significant amount of money on sim racing equipment, you want it to be high-quality, compatible with a range of wheel manufacturers, easy to assemble and built to last. That's where Next Level Racing comes in.
Next Level Racing, who recently became Veloce Esports' Official Cockpit Provider, pride themselves as industry leaders when it comes to specialist sim hardware and equipment. The Australian-based simulation brand offers a range of options when it comes to sim racing equipment, with a whole ecosystem of products that allow you to build up to the rig you want, or simply get what you want straight away.
We had the opportunity to review a number of products within Next Level Racing's ecosystem of products, from cheaper more portable solutions to full-on semi-permanent solutions.
Next Level Racing GTtrack
The most premium solution we tested was Next Level Racing's GTtrack Racing Simulator Cockpit, priced at around £650. At this price point, you get a full racing cockpit with an all-metal construction complete with an adjustable racing chair, adjustable pedals and adjustable wheel angle and distance. It's inspired by feedback from professional racing drivers and some of the world’s fastest esports drivers and has every feature that you would want. It's for serious sim racers.
All of Next Level Racing's simulation products we tested are made from carbon steel which is laser-cut and robotically welded for a premium and consistent finish. Next Level Racing says that this manufacturing process provides a higher quality product and ensures a strong and rigid solution, and it's hard to argue with the results.
Every Next Level Racing product we tested oozes quality, from the finished structures right down to the quality of the nuts and bolts, the build quality is truly impressive. With more basic sim racing cockpits, there almost always tends to be a niggling sense of movement when you're racing hard, whether it's the pedal, the frame flexing or the actual material that you're sitting on.
But with these Next Level Racing products, the carbon steel structure means that there's absolutely no movement whatsoever, even when you're using a direct drive wheelbase. It may sound a bit strange, but I found that it gave me more confidence and allowed me to focus more when driving, as there wasn't that slight distraction you get with the flexing and movement in cheaper solutions, especially when you try and bolt a direct drive wheelbase to a cheaper cockpit that can't handle the vibrations and feedback.
And it's the same story with the pedals too. Because you're bolting them to an ultra-strong carbon steel structure, you have complete confidence that when you brake hard, there's going to be no movement, so you can focus on your intended actions, rather than trying to move the pedals as you're driving.
But for products that are so premium, they're actually pretty easy to assemble too, and this is coming from someone who takes hours to assemble IKEA furniture. The included assembly instructions are clear, descriptive and easy to digest, there are even spare nuts, bolts and spacers, which can come in handy if you're someone who tends to misplace small pieces!
It's also a semi-portable solution because you can choose between feet or wheels for your GTtrack, allowing you to move it around fully assembled, but you'll probably need someone to help you! Next Level Racing also offers a Free Standing Single Monitor Stand, which also features the same carbon steel construction and is around £135. It supports 24”- 85” monitors, has a universally designed VESA mounting range and also has a wider design, so you can wheel it over your GTtrack and have it as close as you like.
The advantage of Next Level Racing's ecosystem is that you can actually build up to the GTtrack, by combining some of their other solutions.
Next Level Racing Wheel Stand 2.0
If you start off with the more basic and more portable Wheel Stand 2.0 priced at around £175, which you can use with the Elite Gaming Chair Leather Edition or other gaming chairs, it features a very handy cradle on the base that prevents your chair from sliding away under heavy braking, making it a much better solution than a desk-mounted stand. It also folds away, which is useful.
The Wheel Stand 2.0 can then be easily transformed into the full GTtrack solution with the purchase of the GT Seat Add On, priced at around £450, offering sim racers an upgrade path from a more basic option to the most premium one.
The Wheel Stand 2.0 also boasts pre-drilled holes for most major wheels and pedals, including products from Logitech, Thrustmaster, and Fanatec, so they're easily mounted to the plate. If you combine the Wheel Stand 2.0 with a suitable gaming chair, it's still a really great sim racing experience, especially with the cradle on the base that prevents your chair from sliding away.
Next Level Racing Elite Gaming Chair Leather Edition
In regards to gaming chairs, there are now so many premium options from reputable brands including Secret Lab, Noble Chairs and more, but Next Level Racing's Elite Gaming Chair Leather Edition deserves to be in the conversation. Priced at around £400, it's certainly in that premium price bracket but it has the features to justify the price.
Features include 4D armrests that allow height, rotation, width and back and forth adjustments, it's got a high-density cold moulded foam seat base, included suede lumbar support and headrest cushion and is constructed from high-quality PU leather, making it both extremely comfortable, good for your posture and most importantly, good for racing.
Next Level Racing GTtrack and ecosystem review score: 5/5
As we're talking about products made from high-quality carbon steel, they weigh a fair bit and come in huge boxes, our products had to be delivered on a big pallet for example, so if you are thinking of getting some Next Level Racing products, make sure you have room for them to be delivered.
There's also the cost of this quality, with all of the products tested, minus the Wheel Stand 2.0, priced at a premium. However, when you compare these products to other sim racing solutions, including Playseat's Pro Formula series which starts at over £1000, and other companies such as Sim-Lab and Trak Racer, Next Level Racing's products are competitively priced, particularly when you factor in the quality of the products.
If you're looking to spend a significant amount of money on quality sim racing equipment, Next Level Racing's ecosystem of products won't disappoint even the most serious of sim racers, offering everything from a more basic setup to a fully-fledged sim racing setup.
