Best pedals with a $600 USD budget

[TShrimp]

Hi all. I am in the market for some new pedals. I found a lot of posts about low end (~200) and high end pedals (>$1000), but I was wondering what the best pedals would be if my budget was ~$600. I have searched the web, and can't really seem to find much if anything in at price. I am in the US, and it seems our choices are more limited here than in Europe, but it could just be I am just not looking in the right place. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: I forgot to add that I have not been able to find much in the US for used pedals. It may just be a sign of the times with Covid-19.

 

[Squared Circle]

From what I understand you are limited to HE Sprints or ALL4SIM MecaCups. Both being a little over the budget you mention (in the 2-pedal-variants) including shipping I guess. Alternatives are like you said: > 1.000$/€
There are also the DC Simracing pedals that seem to be very well inside the 600$-range including shipping. I just haven't found any usefull review as my spanish is limited. To zero.
Regarding US manufacturers I think you are right - I also could not find any around the given price point.

 

[Emery]

Stretch your budget to the Heusinkveld. Otherwise, you're looking at Fanatec.

 

[TShrimp]

Stretch your budget to the Heusinkveld. Otherwise, you're looking at Fanatec.

Does Heusinkveld ship to the US, or do you know of a distributor in the United States? It is hard to tell from their website. I have the wife factor to consider, so may end up having to just get Fanatec. If I do go Fanatec is the price premium for the Clubsport V3 worth it over the CSL Elite LC. I read the load cell on the Elite feel better to some than the one on the V3. But I also read the CSL Elite LC can have potentiometer issues. There is also the new Thrustmaster T-LCM that is getting some good reviews, but can those come close to the CSL Elite LC or Clubsport V3? One last thing. I noticed the CSL Elite and the TM T-LCM are 16-bit and the Clubsport V3 is 12-bit. Is that something I should consider?

 

[Goes To 11]

Protosimtech pedals are great at that price point and it looks like a batch should be going up for sale at the end of the month: https://www.protosimtech.com/
Check out Barry's review:

 

[Jim Layee]

Protosimtech pedals are great at that price point and it looks like a batch should be going up for sale at the end of the month: https://www.protosimtech.com/
Check out Barry's review:

They appear to be closing down at the end of year

 

[Goes To 11]

They appear to be closing down at the end of year

Yes, he is moving on to something else. I doubt he makes much money on these. Just look at how they are constructed. Amazing price for what you get. In the past, they would sell out in a couple of minutes. I believe that last couple of batches have lasted longer but that was before Covid.

 

[TShrimp]

Protosimtech pedals are great at that price point and it looks like a batch should be going up for sale at the end of the month: https://www.protosimtech.com/
Check out Barry's review:

They appear to be closing down at the end of year

Those look great. Not sure about buying something that will basically be without warranty, or ability to get replacement parts if there are any issues.

 

[Goes To 11]

Those look great. Not sure about buying something that will basically be without warranty, or ability to get replacement parts if there are any issues.

I doubt they would be without warranty but that is a valid concern. I'm sure you could email him to see what his plans are for supporting the pedals when he is done. Most of the pedals just won't break or wear out. Most of the parts that can, are easy to find replacements. He uses Bodnar boards, and looks like off the shelf potentiometers and load cells. Comparatively, my CSP v2 pedals have much worse construction (except for maybe better polished pedal plates), use a custom board that is no longer available and use a custom hall sensor that is also no longer available. Both the boards and hall sensors are known to have issues.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Does Heusinkveld ship to the US, or do you know of a distributor in the United States?

Yes, absolutely, they ship worldwide, the shipping charge was reasonably too from what I remember.

 

[Emery]

If I do go Fanatec is the price premium for the Clubsport V3 worth it over the CSL Elite LC. I read the load cell on the Elite feel better to some than the one on the V3. But I also read the CSL Elite LC can have potentiometer issues. There is also the new Thrustmaster T-LCM that is getting some good reviews, but can those come close to the CSL Elite LC or Clubsport V3? One last thing. I noticed the CSL Elite and the TM T-LCM are 16-bit and the Clubsport V3 is 12-bit. Is that something I should consider?

There are tradeoffs with both designs. Potentiometers will eventually have troubles as they are a wear item, but you should get many years of use before that happens. The CSL Elite LC does have, IMHO, a stronger & more adaptable physical design and the equivalent of the V3's extra cost performance kit is already included.

16-bit (65536 steps) vs 12-bit (4096 steps) is irrelevant. Once you have more than 10-bit resolution (1024 steps), there's no benefit. Somewhere on the web, Niels describes why that is. As I recall, part of the reason is that the components used in conjunction with a 16-bit a/d encoder lack the necessary precision (12-bit=0.02% and 16-bit=0.0015% vs. a strain gauge precision of 0.15%).

 

[TShrimp]

There are tradeoffs with both designs. Potentiometers will eventually have troubles as they are a wear item, but you should get many years of use before that happens. The CSL Elite LC does have, IMHO, a stronger & more adaptable physical design and the equivalent of the V3's extra cost performance kit is already included.

16-bit (65536 steps) vs 12-bit (4096 steps) is irrelevant. Once you have more than 10-bit resolution (1024 steps), there's no benefit. Somewhere on the web, Niels describes why that is. As I recall, part of the reason is that the components used in conjunction with a 16-bit a/d encoder lack the necessary precision (12-bit=0.02% and 16-bit=0.0015% vs. a strain gauge precision of 0.15%).

Great reply. Will the performance kit bring the brake on the V3 to the level of the Elite LC? From what I can tell the V3 throttle and clutch are slightly better, and if I can get the brake as good or better than the Elite's then that my sway me toward them.

 

[f4ri4]

From what I understand you are limited to HE Sprints or ALL4SIM MecaCups. Both being a little over the budget you mention (in the 2-pedal-variants) including shipping I guess. Alternatives are like you said: > 1.000$/€
There are also the DC Simracing pedals that seem to be very well inside the 600$-range including shipping. I just haven't found any usefull review as my spanish is limited. To zero.
Regarding US manufacturers I think you are right - I also could not find any around the given price point.

DC3 Simracing Pedals

Professional pedal set with load Cell and hall sensors. Best quality at the best price

iovaluetech.com

I made a order yesterday after selling my V3 inverted. Was thinking about buying the HE sprints, but they are out of stock everywhere (some resellers release a new batch today btw).

So i came by this brand on youtube, and really liked the pedals and pull the trigger.

They got some new options and they are working on dampers etc.

I choose the DC3 (3 pedals) 459€ + 60€ for the new option for the throttle pedal that replace the hall sensor with a load cell (the clutch still have the hall sensor) + 60€ for the base plate + 25€ shipping to Portugal.

In total 459+60+60+25= 604€

The HE sprints delivered to Portugal will cost me 780€ nearly 800€ in some resellers.


But i think the best option will come with the VRS Pedals (load cell in all pedals, custom rated Spring instead of elastometers in the brake pedal etc), everybody is saying it will be better than the HE Ultimates, and in conversation with the VRS staff the price should be a little over the HE sprints, but i can't wait 3\4 month for them without playing.

VRS DirectForce Pro Pedals - Development update

Our goal with VRS DirectForce Pro Pedals is to offer the best performance and functionality out there, without the ultra-premium price tag.

virtualracingschool.com

 

[Emery]

Great reply. Will the performance kit bring the brake on the V3 to the level of the Elite LC? From what I can tell the V3 throttle and clutch are slightly better, and if I can get the brake as good or better than the Elite's then that my sway me toward them.

I would think so, but I've not tried them both and can't think of anyone that has.

 

[TedBrosby-]

I own V3's. If I had it in my plan to own HE Sprints within a year, I wouldn't have bought them. They're definitely a stop gap but they're very nice. You're already willing to spend $600. IMO, wait and get the HE Sprint 2 pedal set when they're in stock.
Demon Tweeks ships to the US.

 

[TShrimp]

DC3 Simracing Pedals

Professional pedal set with load Cell and hall sensors. Best quality at the best price

iovaluetech.com

I made a order yesterday after selling my V3 inverted. Was thinking about buying the HE sprints, but they are out of stock everywhere (some resellers release a new batch today btw).

So i came by this brand on youtube, and really liked the pedals and pull the trigger.

They got some new options and they are working on dampers etc.

I choose the DC3 (3 pedals) 459€ + 60€ for the new option for the throttle pedal that replace the hall sensor with a load cell (the clutch still have the hall sensor) + 60€ for the base plate + 25€ shipping to Portugal.

In total 459+60+60+25= 604€

The HE sprints delivered to Portugal will cost me 780€ nearly 800€ in some resellers.


But i think the best option will come with the VRS Pedals (load cell in all pedals, custom rated Spring instead of elastometers in the brake pedal etc), everybody is saying it will be better than the HE Ultimates, and in conversation with the VRS staff the price should be a little over the HE sprints, but i can't wait 3\4 month for them without playing.

VRS DirectForce Pro Pedals - Development update

Our goal with VRS DirectForce Pro Pedals is to offer the best performance and functionality out there, without the ultra-premium price tag.

virtualracingschool.com

I only see the option to put the DC3 in a wish list

 

[Squared Circle]

@f4ri4 : Thanks for pointing me to the VRS Pedal option. This: https://virtualracingschool.com/academy/hardware/vrs-directforce-pro-wheel-base-pricing-update/
would place them between the Sprints and Ultimates price-wise. Being not a member I don't get any more information which is strange. Anyway, they seem to not be available which is not a USP these days

 

[f4ri4]

I only see the option to put the DC3 in a wish list

Oh I forgot to mention that you can still place an order directly to the Dcsimracing pedals CEO Daniel Catalá. Talk to him, if interested. He will help you and explain everything about the pedals.

dcsimracing@gmail.com

I know it's in Spanish but you can take a closer look of the pedals in this video.

He had the v3's and said the dc3 are miles ahead. Well I hope so. I'm done with Fanatec.

@f4ri4 : Thanks for pointing me to the VRS Pedal option. This: https://virtualracingschool.com/academy/hardware/vrs-directforce-pro-wheel-base-pricing-update/
would place them between the Sprints and Ultimates price-wise. Being not a member I don't get any more information which is strange. Anyway, they seem to not be available which is not a USP these days

They have the information burried on the website, the site and news page are very confusing.

I bought the VRS Direct Force Pro recently so Im used to browse through the website .

I posted the wrong link, try this:

pedals Archives - Virtual Racing School (VRS)

virtualracingschool.com

In conversation with Peter Dimov at VRS they're setting up production. The pedals will be available to buy (make reservations) in 2 to 3 months.

 

[TShrimp]

Tried to order the CSP V3 last night, but Fanatec servers seemed to be having issues. Once they came back up I couldn't add the brake performance kit to my cart. Maybe a sign from God that I should just be content with what I have, or that I need to take a different route. I am bad at sim racing, and always have been (funny thing is in the real world I did well), so I figured I should probably just get the best set of low end pedals I could and be done with it. It isn't like I am going for professional status. Frustrating thing...A friend of mine could sit at my sim rig, and with just a few practice laps beat any of my best times.

 

[Squared Circle]

It's not about being better. It's about having more fun.
A webshop not working is not a "sign" - it's just a webshop not working Try again and have fun.