Sim Racing Without a Cockpit

While having a full-featured, dedicated sim racing rig such as the ClubSport GT Cockpit or CSL Cockpit delivers the most immersive driving experience, this option may not be feasible for everyone - due to space restraints, or maybe because you’re just starting out in the world of virtual racing.

But you can still get great results, and lap times, at your desk. This is how most experienced sim racers start their virtual racing careers.

If you want to transform your desk into a cockpit, the ClubSport DD Table Clamp will offer you a perfect mounting solution for your wheel base such as the ClubSport DD, CSL DD, or Gran Turismo® DD Pro. It supports table thicknesses from 5 to 60 mm, various mounting angles and even inverted mounting – perfect for Kart racing or Trucking sims.

When going with a table clamp, the sturdier your desk is – the better. The table clamp can be mounted to a wide variety of surfaces. When going with a table clamp, the sturdier your desk is - the better your driving experience will be. Ensuring a sturdy surface, will improve the effects of the detailed force feedback, since less force produced by it will be “lost in the wobble”.

In addition to mounting your wheel base, the ClubSport Shifter Table Clamp gives you even more possibilities of transforming your workspace into a full-blown cockpit. As the name suggests, it will enable you to mount a ClubSport Shifter SQ V1.5. With this Shifter – or by adding the ClubSport Handbrake Clamp Adapter – even the ClubSport Handbrake V2 can be part of your setup.

And if you already have an Elgato Stream Deck, a button box is also right at your fingertips. With their endless customizability, Stream Decks are a perfect fit for expanding the functionality of your rig.

Racing with pedals at a desk can be quite a challenge. Depending on the surface of your floor, and your pedal configuration, your pedals might be prone to move a lot or slide around, especially when braking.

To counter that, try to have your pedals pressed against the wall, to minimize slippage. If this is not possible, try using an old box or the books you got for Christmas and never read. Use them to stabilize your pedals by placing them between the wall and your pedals.

This works best for our entry-level CSL Pedals. If you add a loadcell into the mix like the CSL Pedals Loadcell Kit, or pedal sets that already have a loadcell installed like the CSL Elite Pedals V2 or ClubSport Pedals V3, things get a little more complicated.

Generally speaking, loadcell pedals are much “stiffer” than pedals that either use magnetic hall sensors or potentiometers. So instead of travel, your braking force is literally dependent on how much force or pressure you put into the pedal. However, you can easily fine tune this required force. If you have your Fanatec loadcell pedals connected to a Fanatec wheel base, this “Brake Force” can be adjusted in the wheel base’s tuning menu. The lower the value in the Tuning Menu – the less force is required to achieve full braking input.