CAUTION: TAKE EXTREME CARE WHEN WORKING WITH A DREMEL. Those discs turn at high revolutions and they can break off pretty easily and the pieces will fly , fast, so PLEASE wear eye protection when using one on ANYTHING you working on.
Once that was sorted assembly was going smooth and easy until I hit another snag. The unit comes with round threaded feet that can be used to level the Gameseat RR 1000 for uneven surfaces. Nice touch on their part, however mine came with one foot that had it's thread reversed. While I was able to attach the foot by flipping it over, it made that foot useless for leveling purposes. Now this would normally seem like nothing and won't stop the show by any means but it's innocuous, it CAN turn out to be your worse nightmare over time. As with most things that are going to bare a load if it's not leveled right over time it can stress over parts weakening them and making parts of the unit not as stable as intended. But not to worry, custom support is on the ball. I called and they have assured me that a replacement foot is on the way. They understand that a good deal of money is being spent and they want to make sure your right. For the meanwhile I just put the foot in use where it should have the least impact on the rig.
The foot on the left (bad one) is different than the others as can be seen here
Other than these two issues assembly went very smooth and parts fit as they should and as expected.
Attaching the seat to the two side frames will also take a little wrestling but a little elbow grease and you'll be ok. A note about that, it'll help if you hand tighten first with the seat before you use the Allen wrenches to really tighten it down. This will make assembly much easier.
Getting these two together is going to take a little muscle
Paying the Price for the "Good Life":
Fanatec users will have some additional work to do however as the rig was mostly designed for use with the Logitech G27. The wheel deck won't accommodate a Fanatec Wheel so a plate is necessary. They sell the plate but you will have to drill the holes for it to hard mount it. And to have it perfectly centered you'll have to drill through standard plate as well. Or at least I did. Also I have the Clubsport pedals which are wider than the pedal box. However they will sit on the pedal box so that is really not a concern and can also be hard mounted by drilling. So G27 users are good right out the box but Fanatec users are going to need a drill handy but hey it's a Fanatec, ain't it worth the trouble?
Check me out:
When it comes to the looks department it's a nice looking piece of equipment. The black with red trim and embroidered "RACEROOM" seat looks the part of a serious racer. The design looks strong and clean and not an eyesore. The cutout logo on the side of the pedal box and seat stand proves a nice design addition giving the RR 1000 a little more flair.
Get to work:
What can one say about this rig other than it gets the job done and does it well, very well. Almost everything about the rig is designed well and clearly has been thought out in detail. Sitting in the seat gives you the upmost confidence. It feels rock solid and at no point you feel you're about to crash to the ground because of weak design or lack of strength. The seating position is well made. The steering post is rock solid. No slop, no play. Your wheel stays exactly where it's supposed to stay at all times. I'm heavy with the wheel and the force feedback. The Gameseat RR 1000 isn't' going to give. You'll break your wheel before you break it. I have the utmost confidence in any move I make in this rig because it's solid and gives you the feel of dependability. This is a VERY important point for me and was the number one criteria when searching for a rig (next to price of course, I did say I'm cheap).
The performance is there and there's no doubt about it. The seating section has a support frame that is just as beefy as the framing you see in the pictures that hold the steering bracket. Most of the weight of the frame come from these two pieces. How strong and weighty are they? Put it like this, if you have an intruder in your home ,and you can take your rig apart in time, hit them over the head with one of these two parts and then call mortuary, police and hospital in that order. Mortuary for him because his days are over, police because well you gotta and hospital in case you might have twisted your shoulder or something. I don't know exactly what kind of metal their made of but it I had to guess it would be some kind of steel but it feels more like iron to tell you the truth. Very strong stuff with strong welds. This is what helps keep the steering on point and the wheel in place. Make no mistake though, the steering bracket that sits on the frame is made of the same stuff just a little smaller and is just as strong.
This is the only heavy metal I like
The weakest point on the rig would be the pedal box. Here's one of the few "flaws" with the rig. And believe me I'm getting into nitpicking territory here. For ABSOLUTE "no give at all stability" the pedal box could have used a plate or bar on the bottom connecting it making it a complete box. When pressing hard , and I mean "OMG I'M ABOUT TO CRASH AND DIE" hard there is some give in the box. The two sides (where the logo is cutout in the metal) will spread apart some from the pressure. For some reason this seemed to be an idea they had already but decided to cancel as the instructions that came with my rig show attaching a plate at the bottom of the pedal frame however mine came with no such plate. I understand trying to keep the cost down but I think it would have served them well to at least include a bar that can be attached to the two feet at the bottom for added strength and getting rid of any play whatsoever. But rest assured you won't notice this play at all. And believe me when I say I've seen more expensive rigs have way more play in their pedal boxes.
I think it's important to point out here I'm not being critical with the rig against other racing seats. I'm comparing the stability against a real car. I've seen plenty of rigs online with major weak points in almost all of them. I've seen them have one feature that's great and something else that just stinks but this thing does it all very well to great. I've read plenty of reviews and seen all the vids where the reviewers claim how solid the frame is only to see a video of it in action and the wheel deck is all over the place, this one gets it done.