Racingcockpits.com: Buyer’s Guide

I’ve watched a lot of US sim racers go through the same routine: find the perfect aluminium cockpit, realise it ships from the Netherlands or Australia, then wince at the freight quote. Racing Cockpits exists because Eric – a club racer out of Carlsbad, California – got sick of that exact loop. He builds 40-series T-slot rigs using the same 6061 aluminium as SimLab and Trak Racer, ships them domestically, and bundles the seat in. Nobody else does that last part.

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RCP sits in an interesting spot. More premium than Rigmetal‘s budget frames, less sprawling than the European catalogues. Two cockpit models, Heusinkveld pedals and shifters distributed from a US warehouse, and a Sigma motion platform if you’ve got deep pockets. The pricing looks steep until you remember the seat’s already in the box and you’re not paying $200 in customs fees.

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Why Racing Cockpits | The RCP Cockpit Range | Pedals, Shifters & Peripherals | Seats & Monitor Mounts | Compare by Investment Level

Below I’ve covered their full product line – cockpit frames, bundles, the Heusinkveld pedals and shifters they stock, plus seats and monitor mounts. I’ve also flagged where the gaps are, because there are a few.

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Why Racing Cockpits?

Eric’s story is one I’ve heard variants of from half a dozen sim racing founders: he raced real cars, got into sim racing, wanted a proper cockpit, couldn’t stomach the international shipping costs. Rather than just complain about it on Reddit, he started machining parts in Carlsbad and selling rigs to mates. Then the mates told their mates. Standard 6061 aluminium T-slot profiles, fully compatible with the 80/20 ecosystem that SimLab and Trak Racer also use – brackets, mounts, accessories, all interchangeable.

So why pick RCP over SimLab when the aluminium’s identical? Convenience, basically. Two models, seat bundled in, domestic US shipping, and you can text Eric directly when you’ve bolted something on wrong at midnight. Kevin Madsen – 8-time US Road Racing Champion – runs their rig, which is a fairly pointed endorsement from someone who’d notice a flexy chassis within about three corners of Laguna Seca.

Community Sentiment

The community feedback I’ve seen on RCP is overwhelmingly positive, but it’s a small community. You won’t find hundreds of Reddit threads like you would for SimLab. What you do find is consistent: people praise the “solid build with no flex and lots of adjustability” (that’s almost verbatim from every review I’ve watched), and the customer service gets mentioned in nearly every testimonial. Eric apparently responds to texts same-day, which is genuinely unusual for any sim racing company.

The honest caveat? It’s a tiny outfit. SimLab’s catalogue runs to 200+ accessories; Trak Racer drops new kit every other month. RCP can’t match that breadth, and probably won’t try. But if you want a rock-solid rig with a seat, shipped inside the US without the customs dance, they’ve nailed that specific brief better than anyone else I’ve seen.

The RCP Cockpit Range

Racing Cockpits keeps it dead simple. Two cockpit models: the Pro and the Sport. Both come as frame-only or bundled with an NRG racing seat. That’s the entire lineup. No 47 variants to agonise over, no product pages longer than a Wikipedia article. Just two rigs, both good – pick the one that fits your wheelbase torque and your wallet.

RCP Cockpit PRO

The PRO is RCP’s flagship, and it uses 40x120mm and 40x160mm profiles – the thicker stuff that OC Racing correctly points out is what separates a $500 rig from a $1,200 one. Higher-end rigs generally use thicker, larger profile beams for greater rigidity, and the PRO leans hard into that philosophy. At $875 for the frame or $1,095 bundled with the NRG seat, it sits right in the mid-premium segment where you’d expect zero flex from a direct drive wheelbase.

When you’re dropping north of a grand on a cockpit frame, flex isn’t something you tolerate – it’s the entire reason you ditched the desk clamp. Worth noting: the PRO was on pre-order last time I checked, which tells you demand’s running ahead of what Eric can ship. Factor that into your build timeline.

• 40x120mm and 40x160mm aluminium T-slot profiles (6061 alloy)
• Frame only: $875 / Bundle with NRG seat: $1,095
• Compatible with all standard 80/20 accessories and mounts
• Adjustable wheel deck with +/- 18 degree tilt (hardened steel)
• Currently on pre-order – check availability before ordering

RCP Cockpit Sport

The Sport was RCP’s entry point – 40x80mm profiles, $595 for the frame or $845 bundled with a seat. Still proper aluminium profile construction, still the same adjustability and compatibility as the Pro, just using slimmer extrusions. For anyone running a belt-drive or lower-torque direct drive, the 80mm profiles are genuinely plenty. You don’t need 160mm beams to hold a Moza R9 in place.

Bad news, though – the Sport’s sold out. Both frame-only and bundle, gone. Whether that’s a temporary stock blip or a quiet discontinuation, RCP haven’t said. I’d text Eric on 833-RACING2 and just ask; he’s responsive, and he’ll tell you straight. If the Sport’s properly dead, the Pro’s your only option from RCP.

Pedals, Shifters & Peripherals

RCP doesn’t make their own pedals or shifters. Instead, they distribute Heusinkveld gear from their US warehouse – which is actually a clever move. Heusinkveld pedals are excellent (the Sprint and Ultimate are among the best load cell pedals you can buy), but ordering them from the Netherlands to the US usually means a long wait and hefty shipping. Buying them alongside your cockpit from RCP means one shipment, one tracking number, one point of contact if something goes sideways.

The Heusinkveld Sprint Black is currently in stock at $585 for the two-pedal set – that’s a solid load cell pedal set that’ll pair well with any of RCP’s cockpits. The Ultimate+ at $1,599 and the Sequential Shifter at $225 are both out of stock at time of writing, so availability fluctuates. It’s convenience distribution, not a deep inventory commitment, if I’m honest.

Seats & Monitor Mounts

Most aluminium profile cockpits ship as bare frames – the seat is rarely included, and they’re usually pricey at the $300 to $400 range when bought separately. RCP’s bundle approach sidesteps this entirely, but they also sell seats standalone if you already have a frame. The Carbon PRO Adjustable seat runs $250, and there’s a Black Fabric comfort seat at $398 for longer sessions where a fixed-back bucket starts to punish your spine.

Monitor mounts follow the same PRO/Sport split as the cockpits themselves. Single and triple options for both chassis, with 4-axis adjustability on the singles and 5-axis on the triples. All VESA 75/100 compatible, so they’ll fit virtually any monitor on the market. The Sport triple mount even has built-in angle meters on the pivot plates – a small but genuinely useful detail when you’re trying to get three panels aligned without a protractor and a prayer.

Compare by Investment Level

Right, let’s talk money. I’ve sliced the RCP range into three tiers below – and remember, the sticker price here includes US domestic shipping and the kind of customer service where you can literally text the bloke who built the thing.

Entry point (~$875): PRO frame only. You bring your own seat, pedals, and mounts. What you’re getting is the beefy 40×120/160mm chassis – zero flex, full 80/20 compatibility – and nothing else. Budget another $500-800 minimum for the rest of the setup.

Sweet spot (~$1,095-$1,700): The PRO Bundle at $1,095 gives you the cockpit plus the NRG racing seat – that’s the configuration I’d recommend for most people. Add the Heusinkveld Sprint Black pedals at $585 and you’re looking at about $1,680 total for a properly rigid rig with load cell pedals. That’s a complete setup minus the wheelbase and monitor.

No compromise (~$2,500+): PRO Bundle, Heusinkveld Sprint or Ultimate pedals, sequential shifter, triple monitor mount. You could technically push this north of $6,000 if you add the Sigma Integrale DK2 motion platform at $4,400 – but at that point you’re in a very different buying conversation entirely.

If the PRO’s price point feels steep and you’re US-based on a tighter budget, Rigmetal and Advanced SimRacing both have options in the $300-$600 range. If you’re in Europe, just buy a SimLab – you’ll save on shipping and get a wider accessories catalogue. RCP’s sweet spot is the US buyer who wants proper aluminium profile quality, doesn’t want to deal with international logistics, and values being able to text the founder when they’ve got a question about their build. That’s a surprisingly specific niche, and they fill it well.

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