Brian Clancy
Premium
Update: The GT Omega rigs can now come pre-drilled to accept the new Thrustmaster T500 RS Wheel and pedals, offering great flexability as the rig can handle the pedals being either floor standing or inverted easily.
Original Review Below:
The review this time in our 'Xmas Present' series is for the GT Omega rig. It promises to be a very fully featured setup for budget money, a shade under 300 euros for the base model and 360 for the Pro model with all the options included, but can you really get this much rig for that amount of money? Lets see...........
First Impressions :
The rig comes in two boxes, one with the seat in it and the other with all the frame work. Leo from GT Omega kindly sent me the Pro version to evaluate, the pro comes with a few extra's including a monitor stand, shifter mount and a keyboard holder. The first box was opened and inside was the seat. once removed, I was very impresses right away with the seat, beautifully covered in letherette in a really nice red/black scheme. Deep bolstering, solid metal framework and very good foam. It was obvious that this was a REAL GT car seat and not a cheap mockup that alot of rig manufacturers use. The next box contained alot of carefully bubble wrapped frame work, a bag with all the fastners and a spanner allen key etc. I have to say that the powder coating on the rig wasnt the best I have seen, a few runs and one spot was flaking a little! but overall a good start!
Nuts and Bolts :
Okay, this is a full frame, tubular steel rig. This arrangement has a number of real positives if you can have a rig permamently assembled in the house. Its VERY stable, there is no center spine (a huge bonus for serious racers who heel n toe) and this kind of rig can accomodate far more in the way of attachments and extra's. This is very much a simulator rather than a race 'seat' and has the potential to be added to in many ways.
(base unit with no extra's)
(pro version)
Build up :
Once I had unpacked everything, it was time to assemble it. To be honest it was pretty easy to put together, nothing fiddlly, just very basic nuts n bolts stuff. The included and online instructions were quite detailed and easy to understand so I wont say much more than this about the assembly other than pretty easy! I should also add the inclusion of some frame extenders that simply fit on the bottom frame rails and wheel rails to give even more room for very long legged drivers (I'm 6'4" and I didnt need them!)
Seat :
This is a real plus point for the GTO, the seat is great quality. Very, very comfortable, reclines and slides forwards/back, offering great adjustability even as you drive! The finish of the seat is top notch, tidy and accurate stichwork, the panels have been well tensioned and even the embrioded logo's look good too. It bolts firmly to the frame and judging by the overall quality should last years, top marks here!
Fitting out :
The wheel plate on the GTO comes pre-drilled for both logitechs G25/7 and Fanatec's wheels. It's adjustable for both reach and hight by a simple bolted hole arrangment (See pic below) Pluses for this system are rigidity and it sure as hell wont budge once set up! Downsides are no fine adjustment (negated to some degree by seat adjustment) and the fact its a pain to adjust for other drivers (although again, the seat does take care of 75% of this). I actually preffer this setup, for me, I'm the only driver so once set, its done and it cant slip or move in a race!
The pedal plate is excellent! It is very rigid, wide enough to fit Fanatecs clubsports or almost any other pedal set with ease. I took me a few minutes to drill the plate for the clubsports, but comes pre-drilled for the G25/7 pedals. It has by far the best angle of any rig I have yet tested and works perfectly.
Another nice feature of the rig is the included rear speaker stands. The stand can be removed if not needed by simply unscrewing two plastic knobs and lifting it off, but to be honest, its an ideal location and was designed with logitechs 2.1 and 5.1 speaker systems in mind, but would suit almost all makes. The front speakers sit nicely on the tray that comes with the monitor stand and the subwoofer will easily go under the seat, making for a very tidy instalation.
Next up is the shifter stand. It fixes to the frame with 3 bolts and once tight is pretty solid, unusually, the G25/7 shifter BOLTS to the stand rather than using the original desk clamps. This is a great improvment and once bolted up, the shifter isnt going to move or slip mid race, another nice design touch!
We now move on to the monitor stand, its pretty impressive that it even comes with a stand at this price, but once again, its another very solidly engineered item, usual VESA compatability and comes with a handy tray or shelf too. The mount can handle up to a 37" tv/monitor and is pretty robust. It does have a small amount of movement or wobble, but I have never noticed it in game at all. The guys at GT Omega will be releasing a triple screen stand soon for the rig also.
Last up is the keyboard tray. Now mine was a pre-production unit and had a fair degree of wobble in it. The tray is actually placed by a roller bearing, so I decided to fit a second bearing to reduce the wobble. This worked a treat and really improved the tray, when I told Leo about this, he immediatly took this mod on board and all trays will now have 2 bearings. The tray is a real godsend on a rig like this and the huge adjustability by being swiveled on its base and at the tray makes it very easy to use. The only other thing I did was make a small stand out of some simple threaded studding to tilt the keyboard a little.
Driving with the GT Omega :
Okay, now were at the important bit that everyone will skip to first lol! Well, I can say very confidently that driving with this rig is an absolute pleasure! The seat as I said before is excellent and once you have the rig adjusted to suit it really is superb! The lack of a central wheel support spine gives you so much extra room to move about in, the shifter and keyboard are ideally placed (again, both are adjustable) and the monitor stand places the monitor in an ideal position. The biggest thing with this rig though, is it feels like you sit IN it, not on TOP of it, this adds to the 'immersion' factor greatly and lends itself well to modding and building the rig up further into a realistic simulator!
Conclusions :
If your looking for a fully featured rig without breaking the bank balance, this is 100% the rig for you! I have to admit to falling in love with this unit. It packs a mighty punch for very little money compared to its competitors. Okay, the powdercoat isnt great, but everything that matters is spot on, top quality seat, SOLID construction and a superb design brilliantly executed! This IS the best value rig I have come across by miles!
You can find the GT Omega Website HERE
Value: 100/100 At 360 Euro's for the full Pro version with all the extra's mentioned above, it had to be a TOP SCORE and the only review to ever score a full 100! (The base model is just under 300 Euro's but I would recommend the pro for the small increase in cost)
Functionality: 97/100 Great stability and driving position and all the extras means a top score!
Quality: 93/100 Superb design, very solid construction, only lost a few points to cosmetic issues with the powder coat
RD Rating: 290/300 one of the highest scores ever, Recomended!
Buy One?: Simply YES!
Finally : The above prices are Pre order ones, the units will be ready to ship on the 19th Dec, after this date there will be a small price increase (see website). I would like to thank Leo from GT Omega for his assistance in this review.
Original Review Below:
The review this time in our 'Xmas Present' series is for the GT Omega rig. It promises to be a very fully featured setup for budget money, a shade under 300 euros for the base model and 360 for the Pro model with all the options included, but can you really get this much rig for that amount of money? Lets see...........
First Impressions :
The rig comes in two boxes, one with the seat in it and the other with all the frame work. Leo from GT Omega kindly sent me the Pro version to evaluate, the pro comes with a few extra's including a monitor stand, shifter mount and a keyboard holder. The first box was opened and inside was the seat. once removed, I was very impresses right away with the seat, beautifully covered in letherette in a really nice red/black scheme. Deep bolstering, solid metal framework and very good foam. It was obvious that this was a REAL GT car seat and not a cheap mockup that alot of rig manufacturers use. The next box contained alot of carefully bubble wrapped frame work, a bag with all the fastners and a spanner allen key etc. I have to say that the powder coating on the rig wasnt the best I have seen, a few runs and one spot was flaking a little! but overall a good start!
Nuts and Bolts :
Okay, this is a full frame, tubular steel rig. This arrangement has a number of real positives if you can have a rig permamently assembled in the house. Its VERY stable, there is no center spine (a huge bonus for serious racers who heel n toe) and this kind of rig can accomodate far more in the way of attachments and extra's. This is very much a simulator rather than a race 'seat' and has the potential to be added to in many ways.
(base unit with no extra's)
(pro version)
Build up :
Once I had unpacked everything, it was time to assemble it. To be honest it was pretty easy to put together, nothing fiddlly, just very basic nuts n bolts stuff. The included and online instructions were quite detailed and easy to understand so I wont say much more than this about the assembly other than pretty easy! I should also add the inclusion of some frame extenders that simply fit on the bottom frame rails and wheel rails to give even more room for very long legged drivers (I'm 6'4" and I didnt need them!)
Seat :
This is a real plus point for the GTO, the seat is great quality. Very, very comfortable, reclines and slides forwards/back, offering great adjustability even as you drive! The finish of the seat is top notch, tidy and accurate stichwork, the panels have been well tensioned and even the embrioded logo's look good too. It bolts firmly to the frame and judging by the overall quality should last years, top marks here!
Fitting out :
The wheel plate on the GTO comes pre-drilled for both logitechs G25/7 and Fanatec's wheels. It's adjustable for both reach and hight by a simple bolted hole arrangment (See pic below) Pluses for this system are rigidity and it sure as hell wont budge once set up! Downsides are no fine adjustment (negated to some degree by seat adjustment) and the fact its a pain to adjust for other drivers (although again, the seat does take care of 75% of this). I actually preffer this setup, for me, I'm the only driver so once set, its done and it cant slip or move in a race!
The pedal plate is excellent! It is very rigid, wide enough to fit Fanatecs clubsports or almost any other pedal set with ease. I took me a few minutes to drill the plate for the clubsports, but comes pre-drilled for the G25/7 pedals. It has by far the best angle of any rig I have yet tested and works perfectly.
Another nice feature of the rig is the included rear speaker stands. The stand can be removed if not needed by simply unscrewing two plastic knobs and lifting it off, but to be honest, its an ideal location and was designed with logitechs 2.1 and 5.1 speaker systems in mind, but would suit almost all makes. The front speakers sit nicely on the tray that comes with the monitor stand and the subwoofer will easily go under the seat, making for a very tidy instalation.
Next up is the shifter stand. It fixes to the frame with 3 bolts and once tight is pretty solid, unusually, the G25/7 shifter BOLTS to the stand rather than using the original desk clamps. This is a great improvment and once bolted up, the shifter isnt going to move or slip mid race, another nice design touch!
We now move on to the monitor stand, its pretty impressive that it even comes with a stand at this price, but once again, its another very solidly engineered item, usual VESA compatability and comes with a handy tray or shelf too. The mount can handle up to a 37" tv/monitor and is pretty robust. It does have a small amount of movement or wobble, but I have never noticed it in game at all. The guys at GT Omega will be releasing a triple screen stand soon for the rig also.
Last up is the keyboard tray. Now mine was a pre-production unit and had a fair degree of wobble in it. The tray is actually placed by a roller bearing, so I decided to fit a second bearing to reduce the wobble. This worked a treat and really improved the tray, when I told Leo about this, he immediatly took this mod on board and all trays will now have 2 bearings. The tray is a real godsend on a rig like this and the huge adjustability by being swiveled on its base and at the tray makes it very easy to use. The only other thing I did was make a small stand out of some simple threaded studding to tilt the keyboard a little.
Driving with the GT Omega :
Okay, now were at the important bit that everyone will skip to first lol! Well, I can say very confidently that driving with this rig is an absolute pleasure! The seat as I said before is excellent and once you have the rig adjusted to suit it really is superb! The lack of a central wheel support spine gives you so much extra room to move about in, the shifter and keyboard are ideally placed (again, both are adjustable) and the monitor stand places the monitor in an ideal position. The biggest thing with this rig though, is it feels like you sit IN it, not on TOP of it, this adds to the 'immersion' factor greatly and lends itself well to modding and building the rig up further into a realistic simulator!
Conclusions :
If your looking for a fully featured rig without breaking the bank balance, this is 100% the rig for you! I have to admit to falling in love with this unit. It packs a mighty punch for very little money compared to its competitors. Okay, the powdercoat isnt great, but everything that matters is spot on, top quality seat, SOLID construction and a superb design brilliantly executed! This IS the best value rig I have come across by miles!
You can find the GT Omega Website HERE
Value: 100/100 At 360 Euro's for the full Pro version with all the extra's mentioned above, it had to be a TOP SCORE and the only review to ever score a full 100! (The base model is just under 300 Euro's but I would recommend the pro for the small increase in cost)
Functionality: 97/100 Great stability and driving position and all the extras means a top score!
Quality: 93/100 Superb design, very solid construction, only lost a few points to cosmetic issues with the powder coat
RD Rating: 290/300 one of the highest scores ever, Recomended!
Buy One?: Simply YES!
Finally : The above prices are Pre order ones, the units will be ready to ship on the 19th Dec, after this date there will be a small price increase (see website). I would like to thank Leo from GT Omega for his assistance in this review.
