F-GT

I like the driving position and solid mounting of my wheel and pedals. Once you're sitting in the cockpit nothing flexes or shifts. The one thing I had a problem with was the fact that a very few of the holes didn't line up absolutely perfectly. One of them was on the left side of the seat back mounts. I, unfortunately, stripped out the allen head recess on the mounting bolt, due to its not being perfectly lined up with the threaded mating part, and the bolt can't be tightened down completely and correctly. I was using an alignment tool to line things up, but on this one it was not possible. Subsequently, when I encountered a similar situation when mounting the wheel motor, I took a rotarry tool and adjusted the hole in the mounting plate and had no further issues. I guess I should contact Next Level Racing and get a replacement bolt and perform the same operation on the seat mount, but I haven't gotten around to it. It does take a substantial investment in time to complete assembly, but the results warrant it. I love it. I put sliders under the supports and am able to easily move it around the room. It's great!

This thing gets some bad reviews in some places but I'm very impressed by it. It's very sturdy and I'm 6'1" 230lb. The seat is actually really comfortable in the F1 setup (haven't tried GT) and I tend to have back problems. No issues for me, and I don't use the lumbar pad. Comes with the strengthening kit, bonus. I do have one complaint: the shifter location is absurd. Its really far forward, and too high. I ended up doing a pretty extensive modification to bring it down and back. I am a die hard H pattern manual guy, but for many this won't be an issue. Use it to mount a beer holder. Happy with it. It walks a line between the cheaper folding lawn chair setups that I know my size and weight would destroy, and the very expensive extruded aluminum setups. Those seem like a similar price, but they nickle and dime you and often don't come with a seat. Once you get what you need its usually like 800 at least for those. F-GT a good compromise, no regrets. They need to fix the shifter in the next update though.

So after searching around for months, I decided to pull the trigger on this rig. First off I will say, for the price, this will be very hard to beat. Most similar cockpits I came across were double the price or even more expensive. I could not find any similar style cockpits, that actually included a seat, for a comparable price. The few that I did find around this price or cheaper had obvious design flaws or just simply weren't sturdy enough for the setup I planned on having. I got mine and decided to put it together the next day when I ended up getting off work early. I would give this a 5 star review but the assembly is well... a bit of a task. I personally have quite a lot of experience building/assembling things like this and I’m normally pretty confident in that ability. I never get things assembled for the “extra $20” or whatever, but man I wish that was an option for this. If you aren't proficient in building things or something like furniture assembly, I recommend getting a friend who is to help out with this one. Honestly, its a pain in the neck but the finished product was worth it. The directions are oddly vague, and they don’t accurately label the hardware (nuts, bolts, washers etc.) so there is a bit of guess work involved there. Some pieces already have the hardware attached or in the holes but they don’t tell you that. There is no mention of washers in the directions either so make sure you use them on every connection. The bolt heads are very narrow so be sure to NOT forget the washers. Especially on pieces that attach in the slots/channels on the sides. The only other issue I had was with the felt pads they include for making the wheel podium more stationary and not as easily moved. Basically, it’s a pad that decreases the gap where the wheel stand attaches. Without this pad, there is some play in the wheels stand. It wiggles just a little bit, front to back but not laterally. It’s supposed to allow you to make adjustments easier but if you’re using any decent wheel, you’re going to feel it moving when driving. I had this issue so I quickly removed the bolts, popped in the felt pads and started to reattach them. Except now the holes don’t line up. I understand the concept of making that gap smaller to reduce movement, but it’s so small you can’t fit the bolt in as it should be. I had to remove the pads, reattach the back half of the wheel stand, tilt it back and slide the pads under the bracket, then smash it forward and put the front screws back in. So it’s not exact but it stopped the wiggle and my wheel stand is incredibly solid now. There is ZERO wiggle room, and no flexing anywhere when under force now. I use a Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base V2.5, and while it’s no direct drive, it’s not too far off and has the strongest FFB I’ve ever felt from a base that’s NOT a direct drive. I wanted to include as much of the info as I could because I know it was difficult for me to finally decide on a setup. It may seem like a negative review based on my comments about the assembly, but all that frustration still only knocks off 1 star for me. Let that speak for the quality and design of this cockpit. In saying all that, this setup is very sturdy, and can be adjusted to fit just about anyone. It’s comfortable and even looks pretty good while not being over the top. I’m extremely happy with this purchase and I would highly recommend this cockpit for anyone who’s looking for a complete setup (minus wheel/pedals obviously). I also purchased the TV mount attachment and put a 36” TV on it. It is perfect for the setup. Very sturdy and I would recommend getting that attachment as well.

So you're sick of the hassle of hooking up your racing wheel to your desk and then packing it all away again when you need to do desk stuff. So was I. Shopping for a racing cockpit is kind of a challenge. Do some googling, see an interesting cockpit... $3,500. OK, too much. At the other extreme if you spend $100 for a pedestal with a post between your legs, still sitting at your desk, is that really going to improve the experience? Enter the NLR F-GT cockpit. For me, it ticked all the essential boxes: Included a seat, adjustable in every sense wheel height/angle, pedal distance/angle, and no post between your legs making pedal work awkward. The F-GT also gives you an option to angle yourself more horizontal (like a Formula 1 driver) or more upright like a GT race car. The delivery came in a single 89lb box that I broke down in the garage and carted smaller boxes up to my "VR room". Assembly took a few hours. There are a few tricky parts. The seat assembly to the frame will require you to tighten down bolts that thread through multiple pieces, and increasing the complexity is that the part of the seat you are threading into is buried behind faux leather and foam, so you have to go by feel. Suggest keeping things loose as you get all your left and right sides aligned and threaded together, then tighten things down. Giving yourself those critical few mm to "jiggle" things into place helps quite a bit. I assembled in Formula mode, leaving two support legs unused, which I actually found a use for. Next Level Racing sells a HOTAS kit to mount your flight stick and throttle, but the images and reviews I've read all point to the stick location being too high and outside for comfortable long sessions of flying. Those two unused leg supports gave me an idea. With just a few cuts on some plywood I was able to build a HOTAS mount that put the stick and throttle perfectly aligned with your arms. using the two felt/foam pads that they provide to create a tighter fit for the wheel supports, these support arms for the HOTAS tightly fit without having to drill any holes in the main frame. You can see in the picture that basically those supports slide onto the frame horizontally and the plywood creates a platform for mounting the stick and throttle. . Overall, this is a really solid cockpit. No wheel shake (though I have a modest Logitech G27 FFB wheel), with a relatively comfortable seat and unexpected flexibility to mount a HOTAS without any additional purchase. I don't think you'll be disappointed with this cockpit if you are moving up from desk-jockey racing/flying. My only small critique is the seat angle adjustment mechanism is cumbersome, and the robustness of the metal plates that you adjust with bolts to keep the angle is a bit suspect. Would not recommend large amounts of force applied at the top of the seat, for example if using the seat to push yourself up and out.

The seat is very solid but it does have some issues. I use it for racing while in VR. This was an upgrade from a Playseat Evolution I had for many years. It came damaged. :( The seat was torn at the top. It took about 3 weeks to finally get a replacement. They sent a complete set out again instead of the part I needed. After further inspection, the new seat bottom was also defected. I just swapped out the top portion and sent the rest back. They need better quality control. Putting it together is pretty straight forward, but the instructions are awful. I was a avionics technician for 20 years, so I know its not my capability for understanding. I don't think the person who wrote the instructions understands how to explain a build process. Fire that person and get a new one. Additionally, the added supports have instructions and they too suck. Really, you all need to invest in quality writers. It now comes with additional brackets for extra support. One of the extra support brackets are for the pedals and the other is for the wheel mount. I used the extra pedal support for my load cell pedals. The pedals do not flex. The seat flexes, but not enough to impact braking. The stability is very solid for the whole rig. I didn't see a need to use the brackets for the wheel mount. I don't use a direct drive wheel. The seat also comes with buttkicker support. I added a Buttkicker Gamer 2 to the seat. Since the rig is solid, the vibrations transfer very well through the whole unit. This is a plus when it comes to VR. If you are using the F-1 position, mount the support on the front part of the seat. This will give just enough clearance. If you are using the GT position, placement in front or back does not matter. One design issue is that they tell you to put the middle support bracket all the way in the back for the F-1 position. Well if you do that, you will not be able to move your seat all the way back. Not an issue unless you need that extra room like I did. Im 6ft tall. Keep it in the middle and there will be no issues. Another design issue is the ability to easily adjust the positions to your liking. It took me three days to find that perfect spot. You have to get in and out of it after each adjustment. Take a few laps, see how it feels and then repeat the process to get the right feeling. The loosening and tightening of the bolts is what slows this down. Even the angle of the seat takes time. You have to remove two knobs to adjust the angle. Put those back in and try again. Once you get it set up, its great. It will take time if you want that perfect feel. Don't change from GT to F-1 if you can. If you do, mark your positions on the frame so you know where the sweet spot is for each position. If not, you will go through the whole process again. The seat is pretty comfortable. Its made from metal and has pretty good cushions. The races I participate in usually last about an hour. So sitting long time is not an issue. The top and bottom are joined together using brackets that overlap and are joined with a bolt. To keep the seat in the position you want, there are knobs that screw in. To change the position, you have to take out the knobs, move, and then reinsert the knobs. One issue the seat does have is the angle of the top portion. They did not account for VR helmets when designing the angle. I use the Oculus Rift S and on the back of it there is a knob. This knob will hit the back of the top portion of the seat causing your head to lean forward. This is very uncomfortable! To fix this, I added extra padding behind the two cushions on the top seat. It was enough to push me forward and prevent the knob hitting the seat. Before this, I tried every seat angle and none of them prevented this and made it comfortable at same time. The only thing that worked was adding the extra padding. I read you can take out the cushion too from another reviewer to help with VR. The shift mount does not work depending on your size. If your a tall person like me, the position to place the shift will be too forward. I dont use it because of this. I thought about buying their flight addons, but decided against since they will more than likely be too forward. I didn't buy their monitor or TV mount. Just create a simple wood mount. Cost about 20 bucks and works just as well. Plus my buttkicker will not transfer vibrations to the monitor since its separate. Overall, it is solid and comfortable. It gets 3 stars due to the design issues, quality control, build instructions, adjustment limitations, and finally seat angle for VR. Just because its an entry to middle level racing seat does not excuse it from being a quality product. Fix these issues and it could easily be 5 stars.

I give this Sim Cockpit 5 stars, not to indicate that it's the best overall "out there" - there are (much) more expensive ones with more options/features - but to say that the quality is top notch and that it does exactly what it promises to do. I have it set up in GT mode, but it's a really nice feature that it can be changed to F1 mode where you lie back further and have the pedals up higher. I use it with a Logitech G29 wheels/pedals combo on a PS4 - so all in all an entry-level set up with a TV (no VR). The assembly instructions are straightforward to follow and everything you need is included. I recommend assembling everything loosely (except the seat, obviously) and then get in the seat and see where everything needs to go. I'm 6'4" and need the wheel all the way forward and up a notch to fit my legs. The seat slides back and forth so it's easy to find the perfect driving position. Once everything is in the right spot, then tighten everything up as per the assembly instructions. I don't have another rig to compare with, but it appears to be very rigid - no give or sliding around when driving. The seat is quite comfortable and supportive - there's a lumbar support cushion included that I haven't needed so far. I have immediately shaved a couple of seconds of my lap times on the Nordschleife - highly recommended.

I received a racing rig with a seat bottom that had significantly misaligned tracks. Although I managed to secure it to the rig, it has a detrimental effect on the entire seatback. As an avid VR player, I constantly feel like I'm falling out of my seat, and after a few hours of racing, my back is aching from being in a crooked position. The issue became so severe that I decided to contact the company and request a replacement for just the seat bottom. As evident from the photo, adjusting the cross beams is not a straightforward process. It requires unmounting the base and reattaching it to the seat base, which is further complicated by the fact that every attached screw is stripped. After contacting the company, their representative, Caleb, acknowledged the problem and assured me that he would order and ship a new base. However, several days later, Caleb sent me an email stating that, after further investigation, their design team and factory concluded that I should be able to adjust the seat base mounting points to align it straight and eliminate the offset issue. While I appreciate the suggestion, Caleb failed to provide any guidance on how to go about making such adjustments. The main concern is that it's not an easy fix, and it would require removing the entire base and the felt. Even after completing the repair, the rig would not be in "new" condition. This is an unacceptable solution and demonstrates poor customer service. It's unreasonable to assume that it's the customer's responsibility to correct factory defects. I am usually the type of person who would void the warranty and make the repair myself to avoid waiting weeks for a replacement. However, in this instance, the condition of the rig would be compromised after the repair, which is unacceptable for a $600 product. Next Level, I strongly urge you to rectify this situation before I am forced to return the entire rig.

My original purchase was the openwheeler but I couldn't see\understand the middle bar between my leg nor comfort of getting in/out, so I passed it for Next Level instead. Granted Next Level cost a lot but the layout looks nature, I thought it would be a great cockpit for casual and party driving when having friends over. So far, the cocking did not ruin my expectation. The price is high, but quality wise its totally worth it and is justifiable. I'm sure there are other good/better setup out there but I couldn't find one that is to my liking or price worthy. Pro: -The build is sturdy and hefty when all put together. -Assembly process was straight forward, no mess, no scratching head over the direction. -Set does not rock or flex when you get in/out or driving hard. -Use the seat to watch movie on my 65' ole tv that is 5' in front of the cockpit. haha Now for the con: -The cushion is alright. I've been using the set since early christmas and the seat has taken some dent from my boney butt. If your a$$ is big then you won't have any issue since you already have extra cushing. :) -I couldn't move the chair on the rail any further closer to the wheel to be totally comfortable. There is a 4-5in gap between my back to the seat. I ended up using the provided back support and extra pillow to buffer the gap. I'm 5.3 so if you're shorter, you may/will need more back patting. So I couldn't tilt the seat. -The seat tilt plate attachment to the cushion is kind of flimsy. Even after I tighten the screw, the seat still tilts. Since I don't rock when driving, I think it'll be ok. That's it. Nothing in life is perfect, you win some, you lose some. But overall, I think the cockpit is good for me since I'm a starter driver and take care of my stuff and don't abuse it, I think the cockpit will last me a while until I upgrade to Fanatec wheel...