I’m a sim racer and amateur racer with a passion for Motorsport, good racecraft and the technical and setup aspect of sim racing.
Featured: Moza HBP Sim Racing Handbrake
Today I’m delighted to test out Moza’s new HBP Handbrake. Another excellent new addition to the Moza range. It’s a robust, all-anodized aluminium handbrake designed for sim racers who crave the thrill of Rally, Rally Cross and Drifting.
As with any sim racing gear, everything starts with a first impression when you open the box. I sort of knew what to expect already, having fitted and tested the SGP shifter. Like the SGP, the HBP Handbrake is sturdy, and its all-metal build is very solid indeed.
I cannot emphasise enough how good the build of this thing is. There’s no side to side play in the mechanism, it has a beautifully smooth mechanism and the endstops provide a soft, quiet ending to a rapid handbrake input. For around 100 units of your local currency, this seems like a steal.
Open the box and you’re greeted by the sleek, black-coated handbrake base with the Moza logo prominently displayed on the side. Get started by taking out the handbrake lever, and emptying out the tools, spare spring and elastomers onto your worktop.
Everything you need to assemble the unit and then fit it to your sim is provided, from the two 10mm spanners and the hex keys you’ll need.
Attaching the handle is a slightly more involved affair than assembling the SGP. The HBP has two long bolts, nuts and several washers supplied. You’ll need these to attach the handle.
The shaft is drilled with a few different options that, when mounted, will affect the angle of your handbrake. I opted for a few degrees forward. Tighten the bolts by holding the spanners at either end of the threads (tightening the nut and bolt simultaneously). The spring washers will ensure you’ll probably never need to tighten the shaft again.
My only gripe is there aren’t a huge number of angles for the handle to choose from. But that’s OK, as you can see from my photos I found something that works.
Installation on the sim is easy too.
I mounted the HBP mine directly to the aluminium profile of my Sim Dynamics rig using the bolts provided. There are no slide/t-nuts supplied so if you are mounting to profile, be aware you might have to sort through your spares box to find the right fittings.
There’s a spare spring and two elastomers (damper) provided in the spares bag. You can customize the feel and resistance of the handbrake to your preference. If you choose to do so, the tools are provided with instructions on how to remove the plastic cover and the procedure to replace the spring and elastomer.
I advise you to repeat the calibration process after replacing the spring, which will change the stiffness and return speed (rebound) of the brake.
The spare elastomers influence the SBP’s resistance and overall feel under compression. The harder elastomer provides more resistance as you pull the handbrake. Conversely, the soft elastomer reduces the resistance. To be perfectly honest, the HBP is really good out of the box, and I doubt you’ll feel the urge to change it.
With that said, you can experiment with combinations of springs and elastomers if you like, and the fact that Moza has provided this functionality at such a low price is astonishing.
I was a little disappointed that Pit House didn’t detect the handbrake when I daisy-chained the HBP handbrake with the SGP shifter using the provided RJ11 cable. I just expected this to work, but it seems RJ11 cables are only meant to connect directly to Moza wheelbases. It would be nice to avoid using up another USB port, but there you go.
Configuring the handbrake is a simple process using Moza’s Pit House software. If you’re new to Pit House, the installation is straightforward:
- Download the executable from the Moza website.
- Install the software, following the prompts.
- Open Pit House and select your language.
- Activate the HBP Handbrake in the device activation screen.
- Calibrate (although this was not necessary for me).
Once you’ve activated the handbrake, you can adjust the start and end points, calibrate the handbrake, and tweak the output curve. I like the non-linear options, preferring less of a ramp in the curve as I approach maximum pressure.
For just over £100, the Moza HBP Handbrake is an exceptional value. It’s a high-quality and nicely manufactured accessory to any sim racing setup. I love how it feels and frankly, I’m amazed by the build quality. It also looks really good as a pair with the SGP shifter.
Much like the SGP, the HBP is an essential option if you’re looking for a handbrake. It’s an easy choice to add to our handbrakes buyer’s guide, which I’ll be doing as soon as I’ve published this article. Kudos to you, Moza!
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Topic: Sim Racing Handbrakes