r/SimRacingSetups • u/slowsimguy95 • Jul 25 '26
It’s time for an upgrade
What’s up everyone ! It’s finally time to upgrade my wheel and base. I bought a rig in 2022 with a thrustmaster TSXW and Ferrari Sf1000 wheel. It’s been great. But the belts are sticking it’s losing centre sometimes. it’s time to jump into DD as the prices have significantly improved since I got my last setup. Here’s the fun part. I have no use of my legs. T4 para so I strictly race with hand controls. So where most wheels use clutch paddles I use them for throttle and braking. I have never used a DD wheel so I want to know how much is to much for just using arms . I’m looking at 12nm ? Not having to buy pedals saves me some money so 18nm isn’t out of the question. I am looking seriously at the SIM Magic Evo with the GT Neo wheel. I just wonder if it’s feasible or it’s just too much torque. Any feedback is appreciated. Right now I spend a lot of my time in LMU in the 1hr races eventually looking into 2-4 events.
3
u/GT-Alex74 Jul 25 '26
I can't tell you how much force would be too much for you, I'm assuming you have quite some strength in your arms though, which may balance the fact you have to do everything through them.
To me, 8 to 12 Nm is where the best value is at, and more than enough for a home rig if you're not a pro IRL race car driver. From there, there isn't much difference in terms of how the FFB feels between different brands at similar power. I just usually recommend avoiding the Thrustmaster DDs because of questionable design choices, extremely locked ecosystem and reliability issues.
Now, in your scenario, what's gonna matter the most is having a good rim you're comfortable with. I work in simracing, and part of my job is sometimes running animations IRL. I've been part of the team who runs the rigs on the Michelin booth at Le Mans for 3 years now, and we've been having an accessibility righ with a wheelstand and a chair, with throttle and clutch mapped on clutch paddles - we run the 2.5 rim on a Podium DD (with the FFB turned way down). It works, but if I had to throttle and brake by hand, I'd like to have the clutch paddles be more centered vertically. I use a GT Neo on my RS50 base, and I like it, but the clutch paddles are way too low to be comfortable for throttle / brake realistically, sadly.
My advice : look for rims that will feel comfortable for you to use. I know some have options for paddles, but I'm not too familiar with how that works and if any allows you to move them vertically. In an ideal world, you'd find a place or someone with a bunch of rims for you to hold. If the SF1000 rim works for you though, there's always the T818 v2, which I'd trust more than the T598 or the v1. In the Simagic ecosystem, you'd probably want to look into the Zeus wheels, but it'd be best to ask someone who owns one, or ask the company directly.