Heusinkveld Sim Pedals Sprint Interview and First Impressions

[Paul Jeffrey]

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...

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[Fujiwara tofu shop]

So i finally received my gt1 evo, and got to try out my HE sprints. First impression: i need to get some shoes for sim racing, socks aren't gonna cut it for these haha. I also have noticed that even when mounting a 35cm piece of 40x120 profile beneath the pedal tray, there is still noticable flex under hard braking. i can visually see the other pedals move a couple of mm. I didn't really notice it while driving, but it is slightly bothering me. Anyone have an idea on how to stiffen it up even more?

 

[RCHeliguy]

So i finally received my gt1 evo, and got to try out my HE sprints. First impression: i need to get some shoes for sim racing, socks aren't gonna cut it for these haha. I also have noticed that even when mounting a 35cm piece of 40x120 profile beneath the pedal tray, there is still noticable flex under hard braking. i can visually see the other pedals move a couple of mm. I didn't really notice it while driving, but it is slightly bothering me. Anyone have an idea on how to stiffen it up even more?

I have mh Sprints mounted to a piece of 40x120 as well. The 1/4" aluminum plate has taken care of any flex, but that was a side effect. I wanted the plates so I could easily slide the brake and clutch to the side when I am not using the clutch.

 

[Fujiwara tofu shop]

I have mh Sprints mounted to a piece of 40x120 as well. The 1/4" aluminum plate has taken care of any flex, but that was a side effect. I wanted the plates so I could easily slide the brake and clutch to the side when I am not using the clutch.

View attachment 338534

Seems like the difference between my and your setup is that your pedals are mounted directly onto the profile where as my profile is just used to sandwich the pedaltray and provide a bigger area for the force to be applied. The alu plates seem like a good idea, i could try to put one on top of the pedaltray and then mount the pedals onto that as well. if it still somehow flexes through what is like 8 mm of alu and a profile then i might just have to give up lol. What did you use to make the holes with? I'm not too knowledgeable on drilling.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I used a drill press, machining bits and WD40 as a cutting lubricant. I also counter sunk the 5mm holes and used lock nuts on top.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Wondering if with P1-X upgrade kit the flex is eliminated as it's using 40x160 profile.
What is flexing anyway, profile itself or the mount.

P1-X upgrade kit

This kit upgrades your current P1 to the newer P1-x sim racing cockpit. Included: Pedal plate & feet 15 mm lasercut brackets 40x160L Aluminium profile - 470 mm long 40x80L Aluminium profile - 470 mm long Hardware for mounting

sim-lab.eu

 

[Furnace Inferno]

Wondering if with P1-X upgrade kit the flex is eliminated as it's using 40x160 profile.
What is flexing anyway, profile itself or the mount.

P1-X upgrade kit

This kit upgrades your current P1 to the newer P1-x sim racing cockpit. Included: Pedal plate & feet 15 mm lasercut brackets 40x160L Aluminium profile - 470 mm long 40x80L Aluminium profile - 470 mm long Hardware for mounting

sim-lab.eu

The slight flex in the original I could see was in the back 40x40 profile twisting, however if you use a base plate then it spreads the load better and doesn’t flex. So I got the sim-labs plate with sliders instead as it’s easier to adjust and doesn’t flex at all and I’m guessing it being thicker profile will do the same.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Wondering if with P1-X upgrade kit the flex is eliminated as it's using 40x160 profile.
What is flexing anyway, profile itself or the mount.

P1-X upgrade kit

This kit upgrades your current P1 to the newer P1-x sim racing cockpit. Included: Pedal plate & feet 15 mm lasercut brackets 40x160L Aluminium profile - 470 mm long 40x80L Aluminium profile - 470 mm long Hardware for mounting

sim-lab.eu

The profile itself. With 40x120 is was very minor. I suspect 40x160 should be even less.
Originally I had two pieces of 40x40 and the flex was very noticeable. I bolted some aluminum plate between them that helped.

BTW i just ordered a single piece of 40x120 cut to size. The new P1-X upgrade wouldn't work for my configuration.

 

[Fujiwara tofu shop]

Finally got my pedals adjusted to my liking, and found an almost flex eliminating mounting solution on my GT1 EVO:

Underneath the pedaltray there is a 40x80 profile, originally the shifter mount. This works wonders but i'll have to fabricate a DIY heelplate to raise my feet up to level, it feels weird having the pedals "bend" from above where your heels are. I have to say, these pedals feel better than some actual car pedals i have tried, so definitely satisfied, although i haven't completely gotten used to load cell yet. Also noticed my throttle has a bit of left and right play in it, more than the clutch and brake. Is this normal, or is there something i need to tighten? My clutch has a small "ping" sound near the beginning of the travel, so i'm wondering if i can do something about that, does it need to be lubricated? I also wanted to ask how you guys are maintaining these, are you following the instructions in the manual or is it not needed?

 

[EsxPaul]

Finally got my pedals adjusted to my liking, and found an almost flex eliminating mounting solution on my GT1 EVO:

Underneath the pedaltray there is a 40x80 profile, originally the shifter mount. This works wonders but i'll have to fabricate a DIY heelplate to raise my feet up to level, it feels weird having the pedals "bend" from above where your heels are. I have to say, these pedals feel better than some actual car pedals i have tried, so definitely satisfied, although i haven't completely gotten used to load cell yet. Also noticed my throttle has a bit of left and right play in it, more than the clutch and brake. Is this normal, or is there something i need to tighten? My clutch has a small "ping" sound near the beginning of the travel, so i'm wondering if i can do something about that, does it need to be lubricated? I also wanted to ask how you guys are maintaining these, are you following the instructions in the manual or is it not needed?

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I've just checked mine and found the following:

My throttle has a slight amount of left to right free play whereas the brake and clutch have none (when held at the highest point)

My clutch pedal did have an occasional "ping" sound when I first used it. I had to loosen the preload locknut and back off the preload so that I could easily rotate the spring a few times. I think it was binding a little so I just kept rotating it, reapplying the preload and rechecking until I got it sitting in a position where it was silent.

 

[Fujiwara tofu shop]

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I've just checked mine and found the following:

My throttle has a slight amount of left to right free play whereas the brake and clutch have none (when held at the highest point)

My clutch pedal did have an occasional "ping" sound when I first used it. I had to loosen the preload locknut and back off the preload so that I could easily rotate the spring a few times. I think it was binding a little so I just kept rotating it, reapplying the preload and rechecking until I got it sitting in a position where it was silent.

I'll try loosening the preload a bit, thanks!

 

[dragonbeard]

Hey all, I've recently put all my stuff together. I'm noticing a lot of flex around the slots of my GT1 Evo pedalplate, so I ordered the HE Sprint baseplate.

Do any of you know whether the HE Sprint baseplate will fit on a sim-lab seat slider?
I'm considering getting one of those as well, so I can move the pedals when friends visit or when I convince my girlfriend to go for a drive.
If I can move the pedals without having to move the seat, I won't have to do any FOV adjustments...

 

[White Hawk]

Hey all, I've recently put all my stuff together. I'm noticing a lot of flex around the slots of my GT1 Evo pedalplate, so I ordered the HE Sprint baseplate.

Do any of you know whether the HE Sprint baseplate will fit on a sim-lab seat slider?
I'm considering getting one of those as well, so I can move the pedals when friends visit or when I convince my girlfriend to go for a drive.
If I can move the pedals without having to move the seat, I won't have to do any FOV adjustments...

The baseplate actually comes with the slider (it’s a sparco one) as an option when you order. https://sim-lab.eu/product/pedal-slider-baseplate-heusinkveld-proultimate/

 

[dragonbeard]

The baseplate actually comes with the slider (it’s a sparco one) as an option when you order. https://sim-lab.eu/product/pedal-slider-baseplate-heusinkveld-proultimate/

Well that's the sim-lab pedal plate. I expected the slots in those to be the same size as the plate on my GT1 Evo, which is a fair bit wider than the m5 screws that go through the HE pedals.
I got the HE baseplate, to get a better fit for the pedals and am now looking for a slider to put between the GT1 Evo and the HE baseplate. If there is one...

 

[White Hawk]

Well that's the sim-lab pedal plate. I expected the slots in those to be the same size as the plate on my GT1 Evo, which is a fair bit wider than the m5 screws that go through the HE pedals.
I got the HE baseplate, to get a better fit for the pedals and am now looking for a slider to put between the GT1 Evo and the HE baseplate. If there is one...

Ah yeah sorry, I read it wrong, yeah the slots on sim labs one are bigger than M5 and it’s a shame Sim Lab don’t include a solution for that but I just used two sizes of washer to stop the nut underneath going through, works fine.

Looking at the HE Sprint baseplate (this one? https://heusinkveld.com/products/sim-pedals/sim-pedals-sprint-baseplate/?v=79cba1185463) I’m not sure, the diagrams say there’s a 235mm distance between the mounting points and that’s very narrow, from that it’s clear that it’s not made for it, you might be able to bend the pull bar enough to do it but that’s bending it a lot, for comparison the distance of my seat slider on my seat is 400mm wide and the distance between the mounting points on the Sim Lab baseplate for mounting to the same type of slider is 360mm.

Looking at the distance between the holes front to back on that baseplate it’s 208mm, so that actually means I don’t think it’s possible as that’s far too short to get to where the holes are on the slider, it’s about 300mm on the slider, so I guess the only way that would work is you’d have to get a metal plate to make an adapter.

 

[White Hawk]

You might have to ditch the Evo pedal deck and make your own design with profile pieces. I’ve ditched the P1 pedal deck design completely as I want to be able to slide the whole deck back off the rig a little to make room to attach rudder pedals temporarily for flight sims and the original wasnt going to do that or slide forward for other people as the plates would hit the upright plates on the side of the rig.

 

[Fujiwara tofu shop]

Hello guys, i've recently started having a bit of an issue with my throttle pedal. In a previous comment i mentioned left and right play when the throttle is in resting position, however that appears to be normal and around the same amount as the clutch and brake. But i just noticed that when i actually depress the pedal a bit, i get a lot more play, like enough that you can feel it move side to side under the foot, and you can hear the sound it creates. Upon further inspection it seems it's the main pivot point on the front of the pedal that allows some movement because of too much side to side space when it is pressed down, but i don't know what has caused it, since i don't think it has been like this for more than a couple of days. I think it may just be a matter of tightening something to fix it, but i don't know what.

 

[Jeremy Ford]

Hello guys, i've recently started having a bit of an issue with my throttle pedal. In a previous comment i mentioned left and right play when the throttle is in resting position, however that appears to be normal and around the same amount as the clutch and brake. But i just noticed that when i actually depress the pedal a bit, i get a lot more play, like enough that you can feel it move side to side under the foot, and you can hear the sound it creates. Upon further inspection it seems it's the main pivot point on the front of the pedal that allows some movement because of too much side to side space when it is pressed down, but i don't know what has caused it, since i don't think it has been like this for more than a couple of days. I think it may just be a matter of tightening something to fix it, but i don't know what.

Email Heusinkveld, their support is amazing and will help you sort this out. Try and video the problem as that will help them.

 

[Kieran527]

Anyone have any knowledge of when the Sprint pedals will be available again?
It’s been about a month out of stock, and im
Getting an itchy trigger finger

 

[EsxPaul]

Anyone have any knowledge of when the Sprint pedals will be available again?
It’s been about a month out of stock, and im
Getting an itchy trigger finger

Demon Tweeks is your best bet. They are showing a 14 day wait for the 3 pedal set and a 5 day wait for the 2 pedal set.

 

[White Hawk]

Anyone have any knowledge of when the Sprint pedals will be available again?
It’s been about a month out of stock, and im
Getting an itchy trigger finger

Have you been checking the every other Friday when they put stock up? As far as I was aware they managed to get on top of things a bit better at least 6 months ago, and the stock on those Fridays was lasting a day or two then, of course they could be a peak in demand right now.

Otherwise as Paul said have a look at Demon Tweeks.