Paul Jeffrey

Premium
We talk to Niels Heusinkveld and try out the soon to be released Heusinkveld Sim Pedals Sprint.

Catching up with Niels Heusinkveld at the recent very busy Sim Racing Expo over in Germany, we took the opportunity to quiz the man behind Heusinkveld Engineering about his newly announced Sim Pedals Sprint set of high end sim racing pedals. With Niels in a buoyant mood following what appeared to be a largely very positive reception to the new hardware, we took the opportunity to question him about the features and improvements of the new gear, learning plenty about how some dramatic software features and production improvements have moved the product range on from the already very impressive offerings of HE Engineering.

Not content with merely taking Niels at his word, we also couldn't quite resist the chance to get strapped into the cockpit and have a go ourselves, recording a short but sweet talk and drive segment as we give our first impressions based on the limited time we had with these brand new set of pedals.

Frankly, I was very impressed, although it is exceptionally hard to gather any serious kind of feel with something like a high end set of pedals with such a short period of time behind the wheel... not helped any by a crowd of people watching on, and a camera and microphone in my face!

However, with that said I'm going to be lucky enough to take receipt of a review set of these pedals in the very near future, so please consider this more of a taster video, with a much more in depth and detailed look at the HE Sim Pedals Sprint set to appear on our various social media channels in the near future. So stay tuned, get subscribed and watch out for some new footage in the (hopefully) coming weeks...

Heusinkveld Sim Pedals Sprint Talk n Drive.jpg


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So I just got my Sprints and installed them today on my simlab GT1. There is a ton of flex in the plate and I think it's causing some severe issues. When I brake hard I get a windows disconnect sound in my headset and the pedals only brake at about 20% of the actual force. This only happens during hard braking. The flex looks like the back of the brake is touching the plate. Is this dangerous for the pedals? Is it possible this contact is actually shorting the electronics that are open in the back? Pretty disappointed right now, guess I'm ordering the official pedal plate.
 
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So I just got my Sprints and installed them today on my simlab GT1. There is a ton of flex in the plate and I think it's causing some severe issues. When I brake hard I get a windows disconnect sound in my headset and the pedals only brake at about 20% of the actual force. This only happens during hard braking. The flex looks like the back of the brake is touching the plate. Is this dangerous for the pedals? Is it possible this contact is actually shorting the electronics that are open in the back? Pretty disappointed right now, guess I'm ordering the official pedal plate.

Can you take a photo? Hard to picture what’s really happening and that doesn’t sound right at all.
 
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Can you take a photo? Hard to picture what’s really happening and that doesn’t sound right at all.

The GT1 plate just has too much flex and with the brake on the lowest (stock) setting, the pedal plate flex actually allows the back of the brake unit to touch the pedal plate. I moved it up to a higher position so it doesn't hit anymore and it will have to do until the sprint pedal plate gets here (just ordered it). Does the older ultimate pedal plate fit the sprints as well, or is the sprint plate 100% the way to go?
 
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One thing that people need to understand is that the Fanatec pedals have a rigid frame that connects over a much wider footprint much closer to the edges of the frame.

The Sprint pedals are extremely compact, which is some great engineering, but it does require a.much more rigid mount because of this. The small mount of the brake creates very high localized stresses on whatever it is mounted to.

The Sprint and Ultimate pedals have very different bolt patterns.

I would suggest that you get a single piece of 120x40 40 series 8020 material to mount to. That has slots that fit the bolt pattern of the Sprint pedals and it shouldn't have any flex issues.
 
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So I just got my Sprints and installed them today on my simlab GT1. There is a ton of flex in the plate and I think it's causing some severe issues. When I brake hard I get a windows disconnect sound in my headset and the pedals only brake at about 20% of the actual force. This only happens during hard braking. The flex looks like the back of the brake is touching the plate. Is this dangerous for the pedals? Is it possible this contact is actually shorting the electronics that are open in the back? Pretty disappointed right now, guess I'm ordering the official pedal plate.
I literally smashed my GT1 evo plate due to flexing after only one month of light use with stock brake setting, no problem after reinforcing with steel (see my previous post). You will be ok with official plate and/or some alu profiles as suggested by RCHeliguy.
 
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Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully the plate ships quickly and for the meantime I'll rock the softest brake setup and hopefully not snap my GT1 plate haha. These are some mighty impressive pieces of kit. Anyone have any recommended settings for general assetto corsa use? Should I just stick with linear until I get a better feel for them or is there a setting most people change to?
 
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The GT1 plate just has too much flex and with the brake on the lowest (stock) setting, the pedal plate flex actually allows the back of the brake unit to touch the pedal plate. I moved it up to a higher position so it doesn't hit anymore and it will have to do until the sprint pedal plate gets here (just ordered it). Does the older ultimate pedal plate fit the sprints as well, or is the sprint plate 100% the way to go?
What's happening is indeed a short on the controller. Moving the angle up by one slot is the fix for this, other than using a baseplate with no flex.

Regarding the linearity, this is of course personal preference. I have been working on a bunch of presets (for now popular cars in iRacing) that you can find here: https://heusinkveld.com/sim-pedals-sprint-smartcontrol-presets/?v=796834e7a283
For cars without ABS, selecting 'sense -1' or 'sense -2' is a good start, but again, this is personal preference.
I've found myself being quicker/more consistant with a less sensitive brake, as you can use more of the travel, given that the part of the travel after locking up isn't used.
 
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I have a problem: after installing my pedals, the cable that goes from the throttle to the brake is 1 cm short. They are in a fix position so moving them close means making new drills and it would be a hassle. Is there a way to fix this problem, any kind of standard extender? I could cut the cable and join all the tiny cables one by one, but would that void the warranty?
A simple USB to USB adapter would work fine. (just don't make it too long) Keep in mind that we can't guarantee our EMI shielding when you use an adapter or cut the cables, but this should only be a problem when using a strong OSW or bass shakers that aren't grounded properly.
 
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A simple USB to USB adapter would work fine. (just don't make it too long) Keep in mind that we can't guarantee our EMI shielding when you use an adapter or cut the cables, but this should only be a problem when using a strong OSW or bass shakers that aren't grounded properly.


USB? Isn't that RJ10 or RJ9, like the connectors used in phones?
 
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Can anyone please name the font used for the "H" and the "S" or provide a vector file with the logos?

Edit: I could download it from the official site: view background image and save image; it's a vector .svg!
 
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I've fixed the problem with my throttle (short cable) using this. To my surprise the male connector, unlike the female ports, is RJ11, so I've used a Dremel to make the mechanical conversion. It took a while but finally the connector entered the brake port. Both pedals are working :) I've tried them with my OSW and the rest of devices all on. My OSW is properly grounded. In what way could I experience EMIs, if everything is already working now? Anyway, I'm going to put the adaptor inside a little plastic box. I may cover the inner walls of the box with aluminium paper, which I've read is good to isolate from electromagnetic fields.
 
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I've fixed the problem with my throttle (short cable) using this. To my surprise the male connector, unlike the female ports, is RJ11, so I've used a Dremel to make the mechanical conversion. It took a while but finally the connector entered the brake port. Both pedals are working :) I've tried them with my OSW and the rest of devices all on. My OSW is properly grounded. In what way could I experience EMIs, if everything is already working now? Anyway, I'm going to put the adaptor inside a little plastic box. I may cover the inner walls of the box with aluminium paper, which I've read is good to isolate from electromagnetic fields.
You should be fine if the OSW is properly grounded. One of the symptoms of EMI is delayed response or jittering/spiking.

@RCHeliguy Don't forget he's using an adapter, we can guarantee the EMI protection of our pedals, but nothing third party.
 
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