The Best Sim Racing Cockpits: Our Ultimate Rig Comparison

Featured image: My cockpit (right) and my son’s Overpower kids’ rig (left)

Sim racing rigs (or “sim racing cockpits” – the chassis upon which you mount all of your racing simulator gear) come in many shapes and sizes, with a huge variety of choices in terms of build quality, strength, rigidity, material and of course, price.

Whether you’re searching for your first sim racing cockpit or upgrading your racing simulator setup, this guide covers everything from basic rigs to professional-grade sim racing frames. I’ve tested these setups in my home sim room (office!), putting each racing sim through assembly and user testing to help you make the best choice for your needs and budget.

It is possible to buy a sim racing rig as a separate unit or as part of a cockpit bundle package with a seat, and plenty of other accessories too.

In today’s article, I’m looking at what to consider for your first purchase or next upgrade:

• Overall value for money
• Frame rigidity and ability to handle high torqe loads from direct drive wheels
• Pedal deck stability under heavy braking to avoid flex
• Build quality and materials
• Ease of adjustment and setup

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Beginners | Features | Fanatec Clubsport GT | Sim Lab P1-X Pro | Sim Lab GT1 Evo | RCP Cockpit Sport | Alpine Racing TRX | Playseat Formula Intelligence

When I’m testing, I usually install the Simucube and occasionally, my Fanatec CSL DD. However, I also have a Moza R3, R5 and R12 to choose from. If you’re looking for direct drive wheel recommendations to accompany your new cockpit build, take a look at my buyer’s guide.

If you’re not sure where to start, try our beginner’s guide to sim racing, first.

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Sim-Lab P1X Pro

Quick Note: If You’re a Beginner

My article assumes that you’re building a sim racing cockpit from scratch (and if that’s the case, do check out my guides to wheels, direct drive wheelbases, seats and pedals).

Combine this with a good starter sim racing PC and either the SimLab GT1 Evo ($449.00) or the RCP Cockpit Sport + Racing Seat. It’s possible to build a complete sim racing setup for around $1200, if you already own a gaming PC.

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In my list below, I’ve chosen rigs I’ve tested, built and owned. The main points to be aware of for me are always budget, compatibility and accessory availability. Aesthetics are somewhat important, but for the most part, you need to find a cockpit that is affordable, stiff and can support your equipment as you upgrade over the years.

Scroll down to the reviews or keep reading to learn more about details that make a good sim racing cockpit.

What Features Make a Good Sim Rig?

When you pick your seat and frame, keep in mind the available space you have, how powerful your equipment is, and how much you want to spend.

When testing racing simulator frames, I focus on these key points:

• Frame Stability:
  – No noticeable flex under heavy braking
  – Stable mounting points for direct drive wheels
  – Solid construction that won’t shake or move during racing
• Setup Flexibility:
  – Easy height and reach adjustments
  – Compatible with most racing seats
  – Space for add-ons like shifters and handbrakes
• Build Quality:
  – Strong mounting points and brackets
  – Quality nuts and bolts that won’t work themselves loose with vibration
  – Clean welds or solid profile connections

Above all other things, rigidity is crucial. Higher-end sim racing wheelbases and pedals tend to create far higher forces (in some cases up to 30nm torque on the steering wheel and between 25 and 120 kg on the pedals). This can create what we all refer to as flex, the unintended movement of the rig itself under duress.

What is Flex in a Sim Racing Cockpit?

Flex takes away the mechanical feeling of the equipment and the feedback you get in return. At worst, you can see it happening with your eyes; most obviously on the pedal base. It’s the unintended movement of an item that should be firmly fixed. Some materials will bend or twist under pressure – this is flex and to be avoided wherever possible.

If you’re not sure what flex looks like, check out this video I made while recording a how-to heel and toe article. Note the movement of the pedal base as I apply the brakes:

The flex of this pedal base (attached to an old RSEAT RS1 cockpit) is around 4 degrees at a 25kg brake force. The video demonstrates the problem; suffice it to say I upgraded my rig shortly after upgrading the pedals.

The quality of your rig will mean less flex, which is a requirement for high-load pedals and high torque wheelbase.

That’s because Sprint sim pedals can handle more load than the pedal base on this rig is designed for which, is why it’s flexing a little.

But if I were using Thrustmaster or Logitech pedals, there’d be no flex at all because the brake force would be perhaps a fifth of the brake forces required for the Sprints.

Without wanting to dwell too much on flex in sim racing cockpits, you do need to consider if you’re going to upgrade your pedals or wheelbase.

If the answer is yes, you need to decide if you’ll want to upgrade the rig at the same time, or just buy the stiffer rig now and save the hassle later on. You’ll need a stiffer pedal plate if you’re adding higher-end sim racing pedals to your setup. It’s an awful lot of work stripping down a fully built sim rig and it’s something I prefer to avoid.

Generally, the more expensive the seat and the cockpit, the sturdier they will be, allowing for more powerful wheels and pedals.

While I demonstrated the issues that high brake forces can create, it’s the same for your wheelbase mounting too.

Cockpit Material Choice

If you’re considering using a direct drive wheelbase and your rig is not robust enough to handle the forces that will be exerted upon it by the wheelbase, the frame that supports the wheelbase will flex too.

The cheapest material to prevent flex, and for extendibility is extruded “8020” profile aluminium, a square, boxy-looking material.

While the profile might not look as pretty to the untrained eye, the experienced sim racer will immediately go for a rig like the Sim Labs and so on (all featured below). If you’re serious about sim racing and you’d like to progress over a long period of time, an extruded 8020 aluminium rig is the way to go.

Aluminium isn’t the only material to build a sim rig, it’s just the most popular. There are now rigs made from plywood that demonstrate less flex than profile rigs; which we’ll also be looking at in this buyer’s guide.

Choosing Your Frame Material

8020 Aluminium Profile
✓ Outstanding strength-to-weight ratio
✓ Infinite adjustability
✓ Easy to modify and upgrade
✗ Can look industrial

Steel Tube
✓ Clean, professional look
✓ Often cheaper than profile
✓ Good for basic setups
✗ Limited adjustment options

Premium Plywood (RSR-21/OP)
✓ Surprisingly rigid
✓ Unique, premium look
✓ Environmentally friendly
✗ Fewer mounting options

The Buying Process

When you’re buying, some choices are sold as a seat and rig combo, while others require that you purchase the seat separately, and thus the seat is not included in the listed price. The other thing to take into account is the wheel deck and what, if any, monitor stands you’d like included.

Wheel deck options take into account how you’re planning to mount your wheelbase. The CSL-DD (for example) is side mounting, whereas MiGE-based wheelbases (such as the Simucube) are front mounting.

Finally, my recommendations are the three offerings from Sim-Lab and the very impressive offering from RCP. For lower budgets, it’s still better to go with an 8020-style extruded aluminium chassis if you possibly can.

At a higher price, Advanced Sim Racing’s rigs are all very special indeed – with customisable paint jobs, they look pretty nice.

Fanatec Clubsport GT

Fanatec ClubSport GT Cockpit Quick Facts:

• The tool-free adjustment system simplifies setup changes
• Build Time: 2 hours (even with limited instructions)
• Sturdy steel frame with sports car-inspired design
• Minimal flex with direct drive wheels up to 30Nm
• Multiple seating positions from GT to Formula style
• Price starts at $799.99 (frame only) or $1,099.98 (with GT racing seat)

The new Fanatec Clubsport GT sim racing cockpit features a sleek, matte black tubular steel frame design with distinctive yellow accents, creating a nice-looking aesthetic (similar to the Trak Racer tube designs actually) that would look pretty good in any sim room.

Fanatec has gone to town on an extensive accessory ecosystem. The cockpit itself includes a PC tower mount with adjustable width, a keyboard/mouse tray that can be mounted on either side, and an upper accessory mount system for additional screens or streaming equipment. The front-mounted PC tray includes clever cable management solutions, addressing a pain point that can be really problematic for our cable-tidy-obsessed friends.

For serious sim racers, the cockpit offers both side and front-mounting options for direct drive wheelbases, making it compatible with Fanatec’s own DD range and other manufacturers’ offerings. The pedal plate can be configured for both GT and Formula-style positions, with an optional inverted pedal mount available for authentic Formula-style setups.

Notable features include:

• Tool-less adjustment system for quick position changes
• Integrated shifter mounts on both sides
• Upper accessory rails for cameras and additional displays
• VESA-compatible mounting points
• Adjustable pedal deck angle

This looks really nice, I must say it is leagues ahead of the original Rennsport and Clubsport cockpits. The genesis of this particular item is of course, via the Corsair acquisition. It seems that Corsair have appeared with some tools ready to rebrand and sell to the sim racing market. Fair enough too – Corsair are known for making very high-quality gear – so I think this is 2026’s go to cockpit.

Sim Lab P1-X Pro

Sim Lab P1-X Pro Quick Facts:

• The custom bracket system helps the build time
• Build Time: 1.5-2 hours (thanks to improved bracket design and bag labelling)
• Lightweight yet stiffer profile design
• Zero measurable flex under maximum loads
• Highly adjustable pedal plate for a raised leg (F1 style)
• Prices starts at £742.00/$849.00

Sim-Lab’s P1X PRO Cockpit is the newest arrival at SIMRACINGCOCKPIT HQ, I’ve completed the assembly of what will become our “test rig” where I test and evaluate all of our sim racing components. It was, by some, touted as an “evolution” over its predecessors, but that would be an understatement!

The rig itself was very easy to assemble. Each bag of bolts, nuts, washers and spacers is clearly labelled and, while the cockpit arrives in multiple boxes, those boxes are labelled clearly too.

Sim-lab has made a significant investment in its manufacturing process. The rig is assembled using a lighter-weight profile (although this takes nothing from its rigidity) and a series of custom brackets for the wheel deck, pedal base and handbrake stand.

The cockpit is spacious and sits on raised legs, although my preference is always to use high-quality castors, as moving a fully built rig around the room isn’t particularly easy!

The standard wheel mounting solution on the P1X-PRO Cockpit is forward-facing (a Front Mount for Simucube style direct drive wheelbase); however, there are optional mounts for the P1-X PRO, a wheel deck or side mounts, which cover every flavour of direct drive wheel on the market at the moment.

There are several monitor mount options, both supplied with my favourite Vario VESA mount.

All peripherals added to the P1X Pro Cockpit can be adjusted and positioned to your preference, allowing you to find the most suitable driving position possible. There is an option to supply the rig with a seat including a Speed 1 Black, Sparco Circuit 11or a Sparco Grid.

It’s important to note that the seat brackets and Sparco seat slider are included with the seat option and won’t come with the “barebones” cockpit.

For a complete list of compatible sim racing hardware and to configure your order, head to Sim-Lab here.

Sim Lab GT1 Evo

Sim Lab GT1 Evo Quick Facts:

• The pre-drilled mounting points speed up the initial setup
• Build Time: 2-3 hours (with clear instruction manual)
• Strong 4080 profile construction withstands 25Nm torque at the wheelbase
• Minimal flex, even with load cell pedals up to 80kg
• Wide-range pedal plate adjustment from GT to F1 position
• Price starts at £449.00/$449.00

This is one of my favourites: replicating a GT car driving position, the less expensive sibling of the P1-X, the GT1 Evo is a very popular, stiff aluminium profile hybrid sim chassis.

I recommend this rig if you’re building a “high-end” rig on a tight budget:

The wheelbase mount is compatible with any base-mounted wheel, including Thrustmaster, Logitec, and Fanatec devices.

The glossy, black powder-coated finish looks the part, and the pre-drilled pedal base will easily accommodate all known pedal manufacturers, Heusinkveld, Logitech, Thrustmaster, SimTrecs or Fanatec pedals.

This is a brilliant starter rig on a very reasonable budget and is one of my top recommendations as a solid base to forge a promising sim racing career. That’s mostly because you probably won’t need to replace it with higher-torque equipment!

If you want to mount a Simucube 2 Pro or other front-mounting direct drive wheels, the attachments are available via Simlab. There’s also an upgrade kit available to turn the GT1 into a P1-X.

Alpine Racing TRX by Trak Racer

Alpine Racing TRX Quick Facts:

• The commercial-grade rig was developed with Alpine F1 Team
• Build Time: 3-4 hours (professional assembly recommended)
• 2″ round steel frame handles 180kg brake force without flex
• Formula and GT positions with precision adjustments
• Official Alpine F1 Team simulator design
• Price starts at £999.00/$999.00

The Alpine Racing TRX is a commercial racing simulator co-developed by the Alpine F1 Team and Trak Racer. Engineered and designed in Australia, it has been crafted with input from F1 engineers to closely resemble a “real-life” racing experience.

Playseat Formula Intelligence

Quick Facts:

• FORCELOCK system handles extreme direct drive forces
• Build Time: 45-60 minutes (precision engineering assembly)
• Knob-free sliding system for tool-free adjustments
• Flex-free F1 seating position developed with F1 teams
• Compatible with all direct drive wheels (unlimited torque)
• Price: £/$2,000 (standard black) / £/$2,999.99 (team liveries)

The Formula Intelligence is Playseat’s flagship F1-style cockpit. It’s engineered specifically for direct drive wheelbases and professional-grade hardware. You’ll see Max Verstappen sat in one of these in the many photos of him online.

These types of tube rig have really developed over the years and I picked this one as a solid contender to take on the classic, profile rigs. As a equipment tester I’d really like to keep one of these because they;re infintely easier to set up and assemble than a profile rig!

The wheel and pedal plates adjust via a quick-release lever system. You can assemble with no tools (untile you need to start mounting things. It’s highly adjustable too. To make an adjustment, slide it where you need it, lock it down, job done. If you’re sharing the rig with family or your friends, this makes life considerably easier.

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