Kids in the Cockpit – Sim Racing Setups for Children

There are really only two things a child needs from a sim racing setup, and they’re a rig that fits them and a wheel with modest force feedback. The rig can be a kids’ cockpit built for their size or your own rig adapted with a slider, a booster seat and pedal extensions. The wheel should be one like the Logitech G923 or Thrustmaster T128, with its force feedback turned down before they start. Fanatec’s CSL DD, Moza’s R5 and Simucube’s bases all carry age warnings, and Fanatec’s product page says the CSL DD is not suitable for children. What they play comes down to the game’s age rating and, in iRacing’s case, its own terms of use.

I built an OverPower OP Child Rig for my son in November 2023, and it still sits beside my own cockpit. I’ll start with that build and how I fitted it to him, then move on to the cockpits and wheels you can buy and what the wheel makers and the game ratings say about age.

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My son’s rig | Fitting a rig | Kids’ cockpits | Can a child use an adult rig? | Which wheel for a child? | Safety and age limits | Which games suit which age? | Headphones | Where to start

The rig I built for my son

The OP Child Rig was a press sample from OverPower, and I built it at home. It arrived in parts, with the fixings bagged and labelled. The rig is made from high-pressure laminate (HPL) board and aluminium profile, with steel brackets on the pedal deck and neoprene padding for the child. It weighs 26.8 kg and comes with a two-year warranty.

The wheel and pedal stand adjusts for height, angle and distance, and the seat adjusts for angle and distance. The adjustments use aluminium handles and hex bolts, which makes changing them quick. OverPower makes it in Rovaniemi, Finland, and sells a monitor mount, a gaming platform tray, a cable box and a mount for a shifter or handbrake to go with it.

On it I put a Fanatec CSL DD base with the QR2 hub, and the CSL wheel and pedals from its bundle. An AOC monitor went on the rig’s VESA mount. I turned the CSL DD’s force feedback down in Fanatec’s software for my son. Fanatec’s own product page says the CSL DD is not suitable for children, and the safety section below has the rest of the makers’ rules.

Fitting a sim rig to a child

I fitted the rig to my son in two rounds. I built it, sat him in it and made a first set of adjustments, then fitted the wheelbase, wheel, pedals and monitor and sat him back in for the rest.

The checks I made will work for any child’s rig. Can they reach the pedals and press the throttle all the way down? Can they see the monitor, and is it at a height where the horizon in the game meets their eye level? Are the wires tidied out of the way?

The pedal tray on my son’s rig moved forward more than once before it settled, so don’t expect to get the fit right first time. And as they grow you’ll be doing it all again, so it helps that the OP Child Rig adjusts for height, angle and distance.

Kids’ sim racing cockpits you can buy

The OverPower OP Child Rig is out of stock at the moment, with pre-orders open. OverPower builds it for children aged 3 to 10, and its compatibility list covers Logitech (G923, G29, G920), Thrustmaster (T300, T150, TX and others), Fanatec (CSL Elite, CSL DD, ClubSport, Podium DD1) and Simagic Alpha bases, along with Fanatec, Heusinkveld, Thrustmaster and Logitech pedals. OverPower also makes an OP Child Seat for its adult OP Formula rig, for ages 5 to 12, and that is out of stock too.

The Advanced SimRacing ASR-K is built for kids aged 4 to 12, and for karting. It’s an aluminium profile chassis sized for children up to 5 ft and around 110 lb, and the wheel deck and pedal plate adjust as the child grows. It takes belt-driven or direct drive bases, with four wheel-deck options to choose from. Advanced SimRacing makes each one to order, with a lead time of 10 to 15 business days, and it’s in our daily price monitor below.

The Next Level Racing GTLite Junior is for ages 5 to 12. It’s lightweight and folds away, and the backrest, wheel position and pedal plate all adjust without tools. Its manual says it’s not suitable for children under 5, and that an adult must assemble it, make every adjustment and directly supervise the child using it. It also warns that the moving parts are a pinch hazard. Next Level Racing sells it direct, without a wheel or pedals.

The CONSPIT GT-B Kids Rig is for children 105 to 150 cm tall. It’s an 11 kg carbon steel frame with an adjustable backrest, and CONSPIT’s page lists it as restocking.

Can a child use an adult rig?

A lot of parents who sim race adapt their own rig rather than buy a second one. A seat slider or a pedal slider closes the gap to the controls, and a booster seat or an old car seat lifts the child up to the wheel. Pedal extensions bring the pedals closer for shorter legs. Mark where your own seat and pedals sit before you move anything, so you can put them back.

The catch is that every time the rig swaps between you and your child, the slider, the seat and the pedals all move again, which is where those marks come in. A kids’ cockpit only ever has to fit your child, and your own rig stays where you like it.

Which wheel for a child?

Force feedback (FFB) is the wheel pushing back through the rim, and how hard it can push is its torque, measured in Nm (newton metres). A child needs far less of it than an adult.

The Logitech G923 is rated at 2.3 Nm with TRUEFORCE, and it comes in PlayStation/PC and Xbox/PC versions. Logitech G HUB adjusts its wheel settings, TRUEFORCE strength included, and in older games you turn the force feedback down in the game’s own settings menu. The Logitech G29 (PlayStation and PC) and G920 (Xbox and PC) use dual-motor force feedback. The Thrustmaster T128 uses HYBRID DRIVE force feedback and clamps to a desk, and it comes in PlayStation/PC and Xbox/PC versions too. Neither Logitech nor Thrustmaster publishes a torque figure for the G29, G920 or T128.

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The Thrustmaster T248 has a FORCE setting on the wheel’s screen that changes FFB in real time, which means you can turn it down from the wheel itself. Thrustmaster says it’s 70% more powerful than the T150, and it comes with three force feedback presets. It works on PC, PS4 and PS5, and the T248X is the Xbox version. Thrustmaster now points buyers to the newer T248R. Our daily price monitor for the T248 is below.

On a direct drive wheelbase, the motor turns the wheel shaft itself, with no gears or belt in between. The Moza R3 is rated at 3.9 Nm, and the Moza R5, which runs on PC only, is 5.5 Nm. The Fanatec CSL DD is 5 Nm (8 Nm with the Boost Kit 180) and runs on PC and Xbox but not PlayStation. The Logitech G PRO is 11 Nm. Fanatec’s product page says of the CSL DD: “Not suitable for children. The fast movements of the steering wheel and strong torque can be dangerous.” I used a CSL DD on my son’s rig, with the Force Feedback Strength turned down in the Tuning Menu of Fanatec’s software. That was my choice, and it doesn’t change Fanatec’s warning.

Safety and age limits for kids in the sim

Fanatec’s product page says the CSL DD is not suitable for children, because the fast movements of the wheel and the strong torque can be dangerous. Its manual also says it isn’t intended for children under 6 and contains small pieces that are a choking hazard. Moza’s R5 manual says it isn’t suitable for children under 6 and that its smaller parts may be a choking hazard. The same manual says children under 13 should have a guardian with them when they use the R5.

Simucube’s safety pages go further still, saying that only a physically fit adult may operate the device, and telling you to always keep children away from it. Even the GTLite Junior, which Next Level Racing builds for children, comes with a manual saying an adult must assemble and adjust it and supervise the child directly.

Fanatec’s CSL DD manual also recommends a 5-minute break every 20 minutes and no more than 2 hours a day, and Moza’s R5 manual recommends the same 2 hours a day. Fanatec’s manual carries a photosensitive-seizure warning, and it asks parents to watch for the symptoms or ask their children about them.

iRacing’s terms of use don’t permit under-13s, though a parent can authorise one minor aged 13 or over. Meta’s minimum age for a Quest headset is 10, and children aged 10 to 12 need a parent’s help to set up an account. Meta says the age may be higher in some countries.

Which games suit which age?

PEGI and ESRB are the European and North American age ratings. Forza Horizon 5, Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo 7, F1 25, Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione are all rated PEGI 3 and ESRB Everyone, as the table below shows.

Game	PEGI (Europe)	ESRB (North America)
Forza Horizon 5	PEGI 3	Everyone
Forza Motorsport	PEGI 3	Everyone
Gran Turismo 7	PEGI 3	Everyone
F1 25	PEGI 3	Everyone
Assetto Corsa	PEGI 3	Everyone
Assetto Corsa Competizione	PEGI 3	Everyone
iRacing	PEGI 3 (terms bar under-13s)	Everyone (terms bar under-13s)
Wreckfest	PEGI 12	Teen
BeamNG.drive	Unrated	Unrated

Wreckfest is PEGI 12 and ESRB Teen, and BeamNG.drive has no PEGI or ESRB rating. iRacing is rated PEGI 3, but its own terms still bar under-13s. Forza, Gran Turismo 7 and F1 25 also carry in-game purchase notes on their PEGI entries.

Headphones for a young racer

The Logitech G435 weighs 165 g, connects by LIGHTSPEED wireless or Bluetooth and runs for 18 hours of play. Logitech says it’s optimised for the comfort of younger players and smaller heads. Logitech doesn’t state a volume limit for it, so setting the volume is down to you.

Where to start

If you already sim race, you can adapt your own rig to start with, and if you don’t, or you’d rather leave yours alone, you can order the Advanced SimRacing ASR-K now or pre-order the OverPower OP Child Rig. Pick a wheel like the Logitech G923, Thrustmaster T128 or T248, turn its force feedback down, and check the age rating and the game’s own terms before you install anything.

Our sim racing cockpits guide and our racing wheels guide go further on both. Good luck with the build, and enjoy those first laps together.

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