GT Omega Racing - Build and First Impressions

[Alex Ball]

Got my GT Omega seat today, which I ordered a while back after reading the fantastic reviews on RD and SRT. Both said how stable it was, and how well made it was, and I loved the fact that I could mount any of my wheels on it - I am super indecisive and switch between my G25, GT2 and G27 when I get bored.


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The Build Up
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Anyway, the build is straight forward enough, you get two huge boxes, full of metal bars, brackets, and a seat.

I had a 'helper'

And about an hour later, I was done

I mounted the monitor, and set it in position.

Then fited the GT2, and clubsports (although I need to drill some more holes for each, to mount properly).

On went the PS3 (easier than moving the PC upstairs just for testing).

And then forced the wife to have a go.

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Issues and Impressions.
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So, my thoughts? The unit is well made enough, the welding all looks good, and I think the design is pretty good. There are some issues though, and I am going to try to rectify them myself.

1) The frame bends. I have no idea how the reviewers didn't pick up on it, or if its just my super-human strength, but mine bends in front of the seat, where the two parts of the frame join. It means the monitor and wheel wobble to-and-fro when getting heavy force feedback (or when wiggling to show the issue).

2) Some mis-aligned screw-holes. This one isn't really a big deal, but I felt a bit frustrated when putting it together. I'd say three of the 15-or-so screw holes didn't line up well, I took a photo of the worst (below). Also, the 'shelf' uses really rubbish mountings and screws to hold it in place, I'd not want to put anything heavy on it.

3) The monitor is far too high (for me). Now, I am aware this is a subjective issue, but for me the monitor is way too high. My monitor is a 27" dell, and the bottom if it was still higher than the top of my wheel.

Pictures:
1) Frame bends/flexes here!

2) Mis-aligned screw holes, and poor mounting

3) Screen too high

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Ideas for Solutions
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To fix the frame bending, I am planning to build a monitor stand which is separate to the frame, so any flex in the frame won't affect the monitors. I also think adding a 2nd bar to join the two frame-sections might help. (see illilustration)

To fix the mis-aligned screw holes, and bad mounts, I will just re-drill and make new ones.

To fix the monitor height, for now, I have mounted my monitor using the bottom two mounting holes in the frame, and the top two mounting holes on the monitor, lowering it by about 6". I am planning to build a separate monitor stand, as mentioned above, so when I do this, it'll solve the issue anyway.


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Conclusion
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All in all I think the GT Omega seat offers pretty good bang for your buck. With a few tweaks It'll be a very good sim-rig, and with the addition of a buttkicker or something it could really be special. The seat feels nice, and the position of the pedals and wheel is abought right. It could benefit from some tilt-adjustment on the wheel, but then you'd introduce another point to flex, so it's probably best without.

I'd give it 6/10, but I think it has the potential to be a 7-7.5 with a few of the issues sorted.


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I'll update this when I get time to sort mine out.
you can find larger versions of most of my photos here: http://dorkish.com/index.php?a=albums/Geek/GT Omega Racing Seat/Larger


Cheers,
Alex

 

[Brian Clancy]

Hi alex

Im suprised your getting any flex???? Mine is rock SOLID no flex whatsoever! I worked as a chassis designer and can tell you now that to make it much stiffer wont help, you will just introduce the movement to another area. To actually make it much stiffer would require an unreasionable amount of added cost/material and would make using the rig harder to use tbh. My review is based on bang per buck. The monitor hight isnt an issue for me, but then im 6'4" tall and using 3x 17" monitors, but as you say, thats a personal thing anyway.

I am a little suprised you have given it a low score, I have tried a great many rigs and even forgeting the cost point, this rig is very good imho. Agin taste here, but for me at least the driving position is superb. The seat is excellent and is showing no signs of wear unlike other rigs that I have tested..... All personal taste I guess, but I stand by my review and rating to the point I recently turned down a rig that had a much higher price tag (and looked amazing) but failed to deliver like the GT Omega does in features/driving position and comfort (believe me when I say that the seat really is that good)

I hope you get it to your liking, but I cant find a better rig for anything even close to that money and I can find a few far worse that cost quite a bit more!

Anyway, hope you get how you want it

 

[Alex Ball]

Hey Brian,

Thanks for the reply. The flex is in the vertical plane - if you wobble the steering wheel up and down the monitor will wiggle away to itself. It's not a huge issue when racing, worse when you're sitting and fiddling. Also, it won't matter once I've made my monitor stand. I just need to decide whether I should go tri-monitor or not!

My score of 6 isn't too bad, as my scale would include everything from a desk with a wheel on it, to full motion rigs and what not.

Anywho, I spent this evening putting the speakers in, and adjusting it till it feels right. I then spent an hour or so on rFactor, and I think it certainly has potential. Obviously I still need to drill holes for my pedals and shifter, so it's all a bit of a guess work atm.

pics!

 

[Jim Cole]

I can see where you are at with the monitor issue. Looks like the design is for a much larger monitor to be able to be attached to the rig. If they made the mounting point adjustable, or at least give you an option on order for monitor size you plan on running would make it a little nicer.

As for the flex, are you saying that the wheel is able to flex towards and away from you? If that is the case, and this is going to be the permanent home for the rig, I would put a brace on the left side from where the wheel mounts to the bottom of the frame to hold it more secure. I know this isn't optimal, but at least it would minimize it a bit.

 

[Brian Clancy]

Hey

Its looking good! Wow, you guys like your monitors low! Im running tripple screens (3x 17" 4;3's rather than wide screens) and they are plenty wide enough to be honest. I picked up 3 excellent condition Dell ones used for £30 each, and altho the resolution is pretty much HD @ 1280x1040 its a lot less pixels than a wide screen so the GFX Card has an easier life (I.E. higher FPS) plus the aspect isnt sooooo narrow as you get with 3x widescreens

Im with you on the flex you talk about, but its very hard to get rid off that from a manufacturers point of view as I said before, but I didnt mention it in the review as once your driving its not noticiable in any way (imo). The real beauty of this rig outside of the obvious things like lack of central post and the great seat etc, is the fact that its a great base to build on!

I do think your scaling system for points score is a bit harsh lol! But thats a pretty fair score if thats your way of doing it!

One thing I have found tho, is that having changed rigs etc quite a few times, small diffrences in things like monitor height/wheel positon etc seem huge at first, but soon become the norm again. I would get a few hours use in first and play with the wheel hieght/position too as this also makes a pretty big difference.

If you need any info on tripple screens, 'gis us a shout' LOL! I did a fair bit of research/testing on a number of ways of doing it

 

[Alex Ball]

I'd love a link to ebay where you can get more for £30 each

Thanks for the comments chaps. Jim - You're bang on with the flex issue. Left/right it really is solid. I think adding a brace isn't the worst idea - I could even use the screw-togther ends of the lengthening bars that come supplied with the frame in the middle, to keep it modular. I'll keep you updated - not sure how I can weld to it now it's in the spare bedroom!

Ta

 

[George Pilkington]

Always things are different at first. Thats what you notice most, but its not anything but strange in comparisson to what you have been used to.
3 monitors Alex, 3 monitors mate. You will never look back again... : )
Regards
George

 

[Leigh Bond]

I received mine the other day and spent last night finishing it off as I spent ages routing and hiding cables. Bang for buck I think it's great but what really frustrated me was the shelf holes and screws, that really let it down as the rest is great. Like what has been said I wouldn't want to put anything heavy or expensive on there. 8/10 for me.

Overall I'm very happy and Leo was a pleasure to deal with as I had questions before purchasing it. Just need to sort the rest of the room out now.

 

[Dominant1]

I'm looking at this set up for about $600 more then the gt!



website: http://us.visionracer.com/home.html

 

[Kris Vickers]

Yeh, the VisionRacer is a seriously nice piece of kit, and the guy running the show is a nice chap too.

But still, the VR has the centre post which many people do not like. I`m hoping a newer version will come along that will do away with that piece, but we`ll see?

 

[Jayblue]

I just recieved my GT Omega rig and i agree with most of the comments of our review in this thread. Some of the holes are not drilled in quite the right positions and the monitor stand is definitely too high up for smaller displays.

These issues are nothing that can't be easily fixed though - i have a 24" display with no VESA mounting holes on the back so i have placed it directly on the shelf (which luckily for me is sturdy on my rig, it must vary between each one) In this position i feel the monitor is at a very nice height for racing!

The seat itself is very comfortable and generally it is a well designed rig. For the price i really think it is something of a bargain. For those who can justify/afford a more expensive rig like the Vision Racer or Fanatec Rennsport, well i'm sure you won't be disappointed. But if you need a rig which is affordable, has a small footprint in your room and comes well enough equipped for you to remove your desk without loosing the ability to use the PC for everyday purposes this is a good compromise.

It has added a great deal of immersion to the experience of sim racing. I would rate it highly and say if you are a handy person who knows how to add things to it the rig can be made into all you would need to have a great all round sim racing cockpit.

 

[Stuart Thomson]

I got my GT Omega on Thursday last, got it set up on Friday.

Good points - the main frame, chair etc is excellent, comfortable, adjustable, nice and solid. As we were getting a new TV for the front room anyway, I nabbed the older 32" one and strapped it to the rig. Niceness :good:

Bad points - the little shelf thing again (we are talking centimetres rather than millimetres out of alignment for the front screws), keyboard/mouse shelf (rotten, flopping about all over the place not matter how much things get tightened)

So, as most of the above people - the main frame, the actual guts of the thing - bang on, and 9/10. Some of the later addon/peripheral items, not so much, closer to a 5/10, they work, but ergonomic perfection they are not.

As the main racing frame is the overriding reason for purchase here (no-one's going to buy this to use as a desk first and foremost), that weighting make this a very solid 8/10.

 

[Dave Stephenson]

bah some guys have all the luck eh

 

[Alex Ball]

Indeed. After a while with mine, I spend every racing moment wishing I'd held out for a Nixim, or got a cheaper GameRacer and made a monitor stand.

Oh well. I am going to make a 'stand' for the whole rig out of wood, I think mounting the frame on something solid will stop some of the flex, and making a better monitor stand will frustrate me less with the wobbling.

 

[Stuart Thomson]

See - I don't actually feel like that Alex.

Once I start racing, I'm happy as a pig in plop with it.

No flex for me, nor monitor wobblage for that matter.

It's just those 2 things I mention that are irking me - even then the console tray was easily fixed down with some cable ties. It's only really the Keyboard one that's disappointing.

 

[Brian Clancy]

In my review, I rated this rig highly and I still do, infact having used it for months now, I think its brilliant. You can find faults in it for sure, but not when you take the price into account. The important bits are bang on, its seems some people do have issues with the tray, mine was 'marginally' out of alignment, but not an issue and its plenty solid for its purpose of holding a couple of speakers or a console. Its a shame your not pleased with the rig Alex, but I am suprised, for me its still the best bang for buck rig out there and seems most people think so too. Im running tripple monitors on mine and its alot of 'offset' weight, there is a small amount of wobble, but nothing you notice whilst driving. I did modify the keyboard holder (as I stated in the review) as its not perfect, but to be honest, I was amazed it even had one at this price point!

 

[Stuart Thomson]

Yep - agree with you Brian.

The bits that I found less than stellar were the bits that had absolutely zero impact on my actual racing.

 

[Stuart Thomson]

Update

I got my self a wireless keyboard and mouse (logitech 250 - £18 from amazon price-fans), and the keyboard tray is now a lot more user friendly.

The wires obviously have a lot of weight and drag that pull downwards almost constantly and the low friction pivots on the keyboard tray just went with it. Removing that drag means it works way better.

I guess I should have known/remembered about wire drag from the days where I used to dress the cables on my Turntable - leaving the wires loose would result in suspension sag/drag.

There's one for the teenagers.

 

[Sammy1990]

I got my GT Omega Last year for Christmas, Mainly for GT5
I'm hardly off the rig. Racing is a whole lot more fun with a racing rig.
I currently mounting a 32" LCD on the monitor stand and using a G25.

Planning on upgrading to a T500RS soon. anybody know when the shifter will be out for that?

The Frame overall is solid. I would definitely rate it 8.5/10
A great rig!