0-60 builds its own Need For Speed racing cabinet, tells you how
For the first time in a long time, we sat down and played a racing game the other night. Fine, it wasn't a racing game -- it was the VirtualGT racing simulator. What did we learn? Georgia ought to pass a law against letting us onto Road Atlanta in a Porsche 997 Cup car. Also, instead of sitting on our buddy's couch and stuffing our face with Collisions: Pizza Cravers and Ranch flavored Doritos (a real flavor -- we swear!) while mindlessly hitting everything on the streets of Monaco in GT4, being in a race cabinet (and having a Cup instructor barking instructions in our ear) allowed us to pop off a 1:43 run around a 2.54 mile course. Not too terrible. And we're totally sure the cabinet added a second or two. Ahem.
Sadly, those high-falutin' racing rigs cost a fortune -- $18k at the low end, and that's without a display of any sort. You'd have to be a Porsche Cup racer to afford one. Not so fast, say our pals over at 0-60. In fact, they built a cabinet for Need For Speed: Shift and they're calling it the D.I.Y. R-Cade. First of all, how much will it cost you? $500, minus all the electronic stuff (which you probably already own anyhow). How long does it take? Not sure, but there are about 60 pages of instructions. We figure pretty long. Still, the end result is pretty cool looking, and you'd have your own racing cabinet.
[Source: 0-60mag.com]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
click_playaz 12:48PM (9/19/2009)
Wow I also have NFS Shift. hmm But I don't think it's as good as GT5P. I don't feel sense of the real car like I play GT5P.
Reply
Rhawb 1:25PM (9/19/2009)
Yeah, NFS Shift is an odd choice for such a serious setup. I mean, I guess it's an arcade racer to fit the arcade cabinet theme, but if I put that much work into a huge racing setup like that, I'd have it running one of the awesome PC sims or at least Forza/Gran Turismo.
GeoSB8K 1:00PM (9/19/2009)
How VirtualGT gets $20K for a non motion rig with a cheap 42" screen (its not even 1080p but they charge $2K for it?!) is beyond me. Playseats isn't a bad option and on the high-end for simple rigs there is: http://us.visionracer.com/us/
Hats off to 0-60 for their home made setup.
Reply
Stumpy 1:03PM (9/19/2009)
That is sweet, though I would have GT5 on mine. =)
..
Reply
cool_ozzyfromkalush 1:18PM (9/19/2009)
SWEEEET!!!
Reply
Jake 2:04PM (9/19/2009)
$500...60 pages of instructions...a few days of manual labor..Consistent lower lap times ...end result?
Never getting laid again
Reply
ksmith 2:07PM (9/19/2009)
Forget GT, I'd love to have this as an iRacing setup.
Reply
Motor_Yakuza 2:14PM (9/19/2009)
What? No cup holders?
Reply
Dave Ellis 3:21PM (9/19/2009)
Virtual-GT stuff rocks. I was lucky enough to work with them at Daytona and Long Beach in 2006. Great guys, great equipment. A bit on the expensive side, but the quality is outstanding. Seems they have upgraded to the Logitech G27, rather than the old Logitech Black Momos they used to use.
Like ksmith, I'd love this is an iRacing setup. But I'd put a Fanatec GT3 RS Clubsport in. :)
Reply
carbabys 3:57PM (9/19/2009)
i like it
http://www.autoblog.com/
Reply
Fernando 3:59PM (9/19/2009)
Why would anyone spend that much money to play that crappy racer. Please forza or GT the only games even worth the time and money. Maybe even DIRT 1 not 2.
Reply
MachinaDC5 4:17PM (9/19/2009)
The wing on the back is necessary btw.
Reply
Spartan 5:02PM (9/19/2009)
You can say what you want, but for $500, this ain't a bad deal.
Reply
Ricky 7:00PM (9/19/2009)
Nice rig... too bad the game it is built around sucks.
Reply
Chris 8:49PM (9/19/2009)
Make no mistake, if you want to compete on a high level in GT5, you will need a racing wheel and pedals. If you want to compete on a high level for 2 or 3 hours at a time, your wheel and pedals need to be attached to an ergonomically sound racing rig.
I use a Logitech G25 bolted to a Playseat. The best part about it is that I can move it out of the way when I need to. It cost me $400 without the wheel. I had it built in one hour! If you have money to burn, the Vision Racer is the way to go.
This 0-60 unit looks nice, but you need a designated area for it. Its hard to tell how comfortable it is and how much leg room there is....you really don't want your knees bending much or its gets uncomfortable. The shifter location looks nice, but the G25 stick is a little flimsy...it needs to be finessed. Paddles are the better option until they make the stick better.
Reply
F50 9:16PM (9/19/2009)
Will this work for NFS Shift only or can it work for other games, also is it PS3/PC only or can the 360 Work, I've been looking for a good 360 wheel with a stick shifter for some time now.
Reply
ropeburn 11:01PM (9/19/2009)
0-60 is THE BEST CAR MAG
glad you're giving them some coverage here.
Scotto has brought great stories
and some of the best photos....
this is a magazine by younger guys
and I think it shows in their style
and the fun projects they get involved in.
ohhh, and they're on Twitter
http://twitter.com/ZeroToSixty
Reply
BrianM 6:31AM (9/20/2009)
To those commenting about the crappy game choice, maybe you did not notice the EA Ads placed all over the article and in the PDF, they were a sponsor of the project and the magazine, plus this is a cabinet, if you want to play GT5 then put in the disc, if you want to hook up a PC via HDMI and play warcraft on it, you can do that too! If you want to get a date ever again, well this will not help with that at all.
Also the G25/27 wheels are really great but on a budget the Driving Force Pro's still have 900 degrees of rotation work on both PC and PS2/3 and are usually around $200 cheaper, no 6 speed shifter or clutch though.
Finally how many people are bashing NFS Shift when they have not even played it, it seems to be getting some great reviews and was just released last week. I realize that the other NFS franchises have been crap but I am looking forward to trying this installment.
Reply
Benfolio 9:40AM (9/20/2009)
I've heard from those who HAVE played it that the default settings are trash, you need to use a custom setup that has been posted online, and the slider for Understeer-----Oversteer has been labelled backwards.
Sounds about right for a EA product.
IRONFIST 2:38PM (9/20/2009)
I have played Need for Speed Shift and it's an absolute pile of crap. Don't even bother with it. Its full of bugs and has one of the worst driving models I've ever seen.