GT Omega Racing Simulator Pro Review

GT Omega Racing Simulator Pro Review

Manufacturer: GT Omega Racing
UK Price (as reviewed): £350 (inc VAT)
US Price(as reviewed): TBC

Update: Since publishing this review, GTOmega has been in touch to discuss our findings. We’ve preserved the original review, below, to avoid confusion and added the information from this discussion on a new page 2, which also has a revised score.

If you’re a racing fan, you’ll have grappled with the problem of either settling for a gamepad, or having to construct your wheel setup every time you fancy a race. Of course, a dedicated racing chair is great fun if you’re lucky enough to have the space, but these tend to cost upwards of £1,000.

By contrast, the GT Omega Racing Simulator Pro costs £350 and can hold all your racing peripherals, ready for a seamless switch from desk to cockpit. However, despite the Simulator Pro resembling a giant Meccano kit, the build process was extremely annoying. The instructions are presented on a single side of A4 paper featuring silhouettes of parts magically appearing, with no indication of how to achieve this or which bolts to use. Worse still, we’re convinced that the build sequence is wrong – there’s no point in joining both halves of the frame together until all the parts of each half are attached, for example.


We’re PC enthusiasts, though, which means that we’re used to instructions only getting us halfway to a working product and then leaving us to figure out the rest. However, even our inquisitive minds and brute force couldn’t finish off the build properly. There’s a tray under the screen mount, for example, that should secure the screen-mount rod to the wheel-mount rod (we only discovered this from the website – a serious failing of the dire printed instructions), but the bolt holes don’t align with each other.

Similarly, there’s a set of holes further down the wheel-mount and screen rods that also don’t match up. This leads to a very wobbly screen, as the only elements securing the 116cm-high screen mount (with a weight of up to 17kg-worth of screen on top) were gravity and two hand screws at the base. The screen wasn’t in much danger of falling off, although we were only supplied with two of the four nuts needed to bolt the chair to the frame.

If you have the patience and tools to construct the Simulator Pro properly, though, then you'll end up with a sturdy piece of kit. The red and black synthetic leather chair is attractive and comfortable, and the wheel can be adjusted to a suitable position. We had a few niggles with the arrangement of some mounting points, however. The gear-shift platform (which is officially only compatible with the Logitech G25 and G27 kits) is too low and far forward, while the adjustable wheel mount can leave pieces of metal hanging between your knees, ready to attack as you dismount or get carried away during an overtake; it’s also too easy to hit an elbow on the rear speaker stands.

Competent DIY skills can rectify some of these issues, though. We were also annoyed that the wheel mount uses four bolts to achieve its two-plane adjustability – getting the position just right was a lengthy process.

Conclusion

The foundations of a decent racing chair are all present in the Simulator Pro, but you’ll need to perform some DIY first. That might be acceptable if you’re handy at metalwork, given the low price, sturdy frame and quality of the chair. However, basic manufacturing errors spoil what could have been a solid choice for an affordable racing chair.

Update: Since publishing this review, GTOmega has been in touch to discuss our findings. We’ve preserved the original review, below, to avoid confusion and added the information from this discussion on a new page 2, which also has a revised score.

• Dimensions (cm): 52 x 159 x 116 (W x D x H)
  
• Weight: 42kg
  
• Materials: Seat: red and black synthetic leather; Base: power coated steel
  
• Height adjustment: None
  
• Seat adjustment: Forward/back, recline
  
• Arm rest adjustment: Not applicable
  
• Extras: VESA screen mount (up to 37in, 18kg), wheel mount, gearshift mount (Logitech G25/27 only), keyboard tray, pedal mount, 2 x rear speaker mounts