Product Type: Peripheral
Name\Title: F1Sim Racing Controller
Manufacturer\Publisher: Ballracing Developments Ltd.
Website: http://www.interactiveracing.com/
Reviewed By: Erik Frechette
*All photos provided by Ballracing

Testbed specifications: 400 MHz Pentium II with 128MB RAM, Turtle Beach Montego Sound Card, 19" monitor, 8MB Voodoo2 Video Card and full\maximum install of all racing simulations used in testing.
Wheel Configuration: F1Sim with clutch pedal and Personal F1 steering wheel upgrades.

General Description
The F1Sim is a device constructed entirely of metal and is intended for serious sim-racers. Standard features include: realistic 10" racing wheel with two buttons onboard, F1-style shift paddles, centering slider, gas and brake pedals, split-axis switch, adjustable pedal rake/resistance, brake dominance, military grade potentiometers and a no-clamp mounting system.

Options range from clutch pedal and suede wheel upgrades to a Variable Motion System(VMS) designed to simulate the vibrations experienced during real race driving. Ballracing also offers virtual chassis systems ranging from the basic Sym Bag Race Seat to complete cockpit and car mockups or conversions.

Prices for the F1Sim system start at US$227.00 and climb to just over $800.00 with all available upgrades.

First Impressions
Sleek and attractive in appearance. Looks and feels ready for some long hours driving. Easy to install and configure. No manual.

Setting Up
My F1Sim arrived packaged securely in a well padded, plain pair of boxes. Mounting boards, necessary screws and hardware each were bundled in individually sealed bags and all were in perfect working order. No instructions were provided, but proved unnecessary. Basic assembly instructions would be helpful to the not-so-mechanically-inclined sim-racer, as would configuration information under Windows.

Assembling the mounting board and affixing the wheel unit is a fairly plain and straightforward procedure, concluded by the placement of your monitor atop the board. Monitor placement and position is predetermined by both the space occupied by the wheel's small, diamond shaped base and the remaining board surface area beyond. This arrangement may sound awkward, but a relatively heavy monitor makes an excellent bracing device when used in this manner and the subsequent positioning provides a very comfortable "down the steering column" perspective. My 19" monitor has a rather large base and more than adequate weight. As a result, after three days of hard usage the wheel neither budged nor slipped from its original position once. The obvious downside to this setup is the essentially permanent nature of such an arrangement, as moving your monitor and wheel may prove tedious. A removable clamping system would be a very useful option, though having the wheel fixed in such a manner does have its advantages assuming desk space is not a problem or if the wheel is to be used where clamping devices are unable to function properly. Bolting the wheel directly to the desk surface is also an easily accomplished task, should you choose to do so, as the needed screws and bolts are readily available from hardware stores. Ballracing can also provide this hardware for guaranteed compatibility.

The pedal assembly need only be taken from the box and connected to the gameport. You will have to open the center plate located between the brake and throttle pedal to access the switch enabling split-axis control as well as the two dials which define pedal dominance settings. (I switched the former to dual immediately and have so far left the latter at the default position.) The wheel is linked to the system by plugging a cable running from the steering column into the appropriate receiver on the pedal base. Configure the entire setup in Control Panel as a "Custom..." device with the appropriate axes, buttons, etc. and you're ready to shred some asphalt.

The Field Trial
I chose to replace the standard circular wheel with the optional, limited edition "Personal F1" piece produced by Benetton. Though not a stock component, the wheel is wrapped in suede leather and resembles very closely the design of Ballracing's other available D-shaped, leather clad wheels. I've found the padding and shape to be very well contoured and completely comfortable after a few dozen laps at Rouen in Grand Prix Legends. Steering feel is smooth through the entire 270° of rotation with resistance that is even and consistent. From lock to lock the internal mechanisms are quiet and confidence inspiring. However, reaching for the paddles while at the same time trying to press a button on the wheel proved very difficult. This problem solved itself as I learned to reach with my "off" hand whenever a button press might have become necessary during a gear change. Overall, instances where both functions were needed at the same time came far and few between. As I said before, the clampless mounting setup kept the controller exactly where I needed it to be. No wandering, so sliding, no movement whatsoever. Overall, I loved the craftsmanship and fantastic solidity evident in the F1Sim's wheel design.

Equally pleasing are the pedals. At first glance the base's boxed shape and hard lines look potentially torturous to delicate toes and heels. However, a book should not be judged by its cover, and extensive usage has proven decisively otherwise. The pedal layout is swept back a bit compared to some less expensive units I've tried in the past, each angled so as to be pressed downward more than forward. This does much to increase comfort while driving in a seated position, though pedal rake can be adjusted to a higher angle if the user so desires. Throughout my longest test run in GPL, braking heavily and constantly working at the throttle, I never once experienced any amount of discomfort or fatigue. Each pedal is sprung to the same tension which is strong enough to keep the user aware while still being soft enough to curb irritation. Users are easily able to change springs should they ever desire to do so.

I opted for the addition of a clutch in hopes of improving starts in GPL and future GP simulators, but otherwise made no other modifications. Both the throttle and clutch travel through identical throws, while the brake is restricted by progressive resistance provided by two sections of rubber tubing mounted just behind the pedal's axis. As the brake pedal is pressed downward, the tubing steadily supplies more and more resistance until stopping forward travel completely. The basic principle is the same to that of some sim-racers using sectioned rubber balls to add a "spongy braking" effect. This proves to be a reasonably good means of gauging brake input, though it takes some getting used to. The clutch pedal functions very closely to its real-life counterpart, with a "catching" point about a third of the way through the pedal movement. Unfortunately there is no real way to feel the pedal catch point, so the user must learn to come off the clutch and feed the gas through pedal motion. This proved a rather easy task to accomplish and having the use of an analog clutch input has greatly improved my standing starts in GPL and Grand Prix 2. Any problems I may have had with previous pedal units sliding over carpeted flooring or shifting when the action became very fast and furious have been totally eliminated by the F1Sim's heavy design. Due to the angle of pedal travel, the unit's steel components and well placed rubber feet, I have yet to experience any movement across carpeting at all. Once again, I am very satisfied with the pedal unit's design and functionality.

During the first few hours of usage I did experience one glitch with the pedal unit, but once the problem was recognized a bit of bolt tightening alleviated the difficulty. The initial trouble was with the brake pedal and steadily declining brake performance in each of the tested sims. I opened the area between the brake and throttle pedals to have a look at the pedal's internals, but could find nothing amiss. Each potentiometer looked secure and was still connected to the input shafts from the throttle and brake, so I detached the clutch to have a look at the pedal-stop and mounting. Again all looked in order, each screw tightened and immovable. Finally, I removed the rubber tubing which I thought might be hampering the brake's travel, but still the problem remained. I then emailed a friend who owns a F1Sim system very similar to mine. He recommended that I check a small mounting screw that runs through the pedal base to the shaft itself. He told me that any slipping here would likely cause the pedal to "walk" around the shaft, thereby limiting the amount of input the potentiometer would receive. Sure enough, less than half a turn of this screw brought back the precise inputs I had experienced initially. I have since experienced no other problems or limitations while using my F1Sim.

Conclusions
I tested my F1Sim controller with Grand Prix Legends, Grand Prix 2, NASCAR Racing 1999 Edition, Formula One Racing Simulation, SportsCar GT, Indycar Racing 2 and Need for Speed 3. Using my Turtle Beach Montego's standard gameport interface under Windows98, I experienced no calibration or detection problems.

A majority of the testing session was done driving GPL at Rouen and Monte Carlo. Wheel shimmy within the sim at full linearity was noticeably reduced in comparison to my old NASCAR Pro system by Thrustmaster and all inputs seemed spot-on and accurate. Initially my lap times increased while I adjusted to the new controller, but quickly fell to my usual averages, eventually surpassing my previous best at Monaco by 0.2s . Not a radical improvement, but I honestly did not expect one. What has improved greatly is lap time consistency. I had often suffered jumpy steering with the aging "N-Pro" and a general lack of accuracy would often make braking response inconsistent and hard to modulate. Now a slight press of the throttle or brake brings about the expected effect on the car. Perhaps the greatest improvement in control has come with a new found responsiveness to brake modulation in the event of a wheel lock-up. Previously, locking up the tires required a near complete lift to release, but the superior accuracy of Ballracing's sealed potentiometers makes backing out of the brakes while still slowing the car a much easier task.

It is my opinion that the F1Sim controller system is a superb product constructed with a focus on precision and compatibility. I can easily give this set a V8 rating and recommend it to anyone with a passion for racing sims who wants a cost effective solution to their upper echelon controller needs. My only quibble is with the lack of a manual, which would make setup and tuning much easier to handle.

If you're considering a TSW2 or similar controller, but would like something a bit different, give Ballracing a look.

A special note: Ballracing is looking for a means of lowering shipping costs to the USA. If you are interested and can assist with product distribution, they ask that you send email to: interactive.racing@dial.pipex.com .