chilicoke's cockpit *03/15 UPDATE: Carbon fiber shifter paddles (pg8)

[HN7]

Hey chilicoke, have you tried to put aftermarket shifter knob (Momo) on your G27 yet? Would it be easy to change?
Also, I plan on buying your adapter to change steering wheel, can you still reach the paddle shifter easily?

 

[Mastakojo]

Very inspiring Chilicoke! I just got a Fanatec porsche wheel and an Impreza front seat. I was planning to make a simple rig until i saw yours. I wonder if anyone has experience modding the Fanatec standard pedal to inverse, not the clubman version. The handbrake and the oversized button are really nice touch. And the whole thing is very well made and has a nice finish on everything. Something that you can actually put in the living room and not feeling out of place

Great job!

 

[SomeStrangeSin]

hey chilicoke could you do a video of the handbrake mod? Ive read about it and seen pictures from another user here but it would be nice to see a step by step video.

 

[Bugman]

I'm wondering if you used 1" and 3/4" square tubing or was it 3/4" and 1/2"?

I've constructed a similar one before using 1"; but yours, looks a little smaller when comparing other components in the photos. If it was in fact the two smaller sizes, about how much does is it weigh? Using 1", mine, when everything was said and done, was difficult to move without a "come-along" or a second set of hands.

Additionally, how rigid is it (again, if it is the smaller 3/4 and 1/2 sizes)?
At 1", that thing was a rock (and heavy as a boulder)

 

[Live_Fr0m_NY]

Is that button next to your shifter wired to "Triangle" to engage the clutch?

 

[chilicoke]

Thanks for the kind words,

hi chilicoke Sorry for my bad English
can you post your cockpit size ?

Your English is fine and there's no need to apologize:tup:, cockpit size is approxmitely 62" x 29"

Hey chilicoke, have you tried to put aftermarket shifter knob (Momo) on your G27 yet? Would it be easy to change?
Also, I plan on buying your adapter to change steering wheel, can you still reach the paddle shifter easily?

Depends on size of the wheel you go with. I recommend a wheel around 320-330mm for a good balance between increase in size and paddle reach-ability.

Replacing the shift knob is on my to-do list. Though I would like a simple looking sphere knob, and most have threaded fittings. Might try to fab something up in the future.

Very inspiring Chilicoke! I just got a Fanatec porsche wheel and an Impreza front seat. I was planning to make a simple rig until i saw yours. I wonder if anyone has experience modding the Fanatec standard pedal to inverse, not the clubman version. The handbrake and the oversized button are really nice touch. And the whole thing is very well made and has a nice finish on everything. Something that you can actually put in the living room and not feeling out of place

Great job!

Thanks!👍 If you are comfortable with taking things apart (and putting them back together), I'm sure you could do similar with Fanatec pedals.

I'm wondering if you used 1" and 3/4" square tubing or was it 3/4" and 1/2"?

I've constructed a similar one before using 1"; but yours, looks a little smaller when comparing other components in the photos. If it was in fact the two smaller sizes, about how much does is it weigh? Using 1", mine, when everything was said and done, was difficult to move without a "come-along" or a second set of hands.

Additionally, how rigid is it (again, if it is the smaller 3/4 and 1/2 sizes)?
At 1", that thing was a rock (and heavy as a boulder)

I also used 1" square tubing but bit thinner compared to those I used on my GT4 cockpit. Even with the slight increase in size, the frame alone weights around 45 pounds which is a bit lighter when compared to my previous design.

Is that button next to your shifter wired to "Triangle" to engage the clutch?

Yup, it enabling clutch.

hey chilicoke could you do a video of the handbrake mod? Ive read about it and seen pictures from another user here but it would be nice to see a step by step video.

Just added it in my video guide thread. 👍

 

[THE HOG]

hi chilicoke that setup is the best.
You are quite handy with your tools, but do you think there is any way that the analog sticks from a PS3 pad could be added to the circuit bourd of the g25 shifter some how because doing this would give steering wheel users the option to look around.
As in a lot of online races i find it hard to avoid people.

Could this be done or is it too ambitious ??

 

[PiRacingChamp]

Nice setup. I just picked up my G27 last weekend, and I'm chasing down a Recaro sport seat from the BMW E30. I will be purchasing a steering adaptor in the next week or two, as well. Once the weather breaks, my friend and I will begin a similar design. Yous is well thought out. I think I'm looking forward to the peddle mod, the most. I can't decide whether to replicate the cockpit from my E30, or my 1st gen MR2.

I was just looking at some racing cockpits, and many have the throttle pivoting from the bottom....hmmm.

-Pi

 

[TEK9[R]]

Wow! I've learned alot from this thread. The vid with the motion simulator was awesome!

 

[Jguy]

Hi chilicoke,

I have been lurking over your progress with your custom cockpit and I have to say I'm amazed. It looks so sturdy and well built.

I have a couple questions as I have planned to do this for quite some time (closer to the GT5 release and when I can get more money)

1) Where does your cockpit come apart? I'm guessing the seat and gearshift is one half and the wheel and pedals are the other? Do you bolt it together, pin it?

2) Just a personal observation: Your console with the gearshift and e-brake seems higher than normal. Maybe it's just me? Maybe I'm seeing things?

3) do you think it's possible to separate the gearshift from the rest of the electronics in that module (based on your past experiences)?

4) How difficult do you think it would be to make the portion of the table that the steering wheel sits on adjustable, just like a normal car? (so the steering wheel tilts?) Same with the seat (I would think just for the seat adjusting that you'd take the whole seat assembly out of a car, not just the actual seat)

5) Your pedals seem a bit high as well, my car they are much lower to the floor, therefor, my heel is able to rest on the floor and my entire foot covers the entire pedal while my foot is still resting. Maybe it's the fact that the pedal isn't exactly a car pedal as the car pedal can pivot where there pedal attaches to the throttle arm.

6) Speaking of pedals, do you think the actual pedal can be removed to that an aftermarket pedal (custom) can be attached, maybe to be bigger or different looking?

Thanks for answering my questions. I also plan on making the brake pedal hydralicly resistant as is a car pedal, how do you think I could go about doing that? I would imagine that the hydralic would put a little more resistance on the pedal but would still be able to travel to the floor if pressed slow enough. I haven't gotten my G25 yet (it's on the way, finally got out of some financial troubles) but I'm wondering if by the use of hydralics it would be possible to make the clutch feel somewhat real as well, with the 'catch' and the resistance afterwards.

thanks again, and awesome work!

 

[StOBeR]

WOW is all I can say...

Ok maybe not, but I had a few questions about your angles...

Did you make it easier on yourself and run everything on a 45 degree or is the first step up angle for your feet at a 30 degree?

I know you said something about lowing the table top 10 degrees to make it a bit more comfortable since Logitech puts there wheel at a slight angle out of the box.

Also did you pretty much build the cockpit around the chair? Or did you use something else as your building block?

I am building something similar, but for the pc so I will be adding a keyboard holder off to the left side and some few other add-ons, but I'm trying to gauge on what to start with. I'm guessing the seat is obviously the way to go but wanted to get your advice/opinion.

Thanks again and great work it really paid off.

StOBeR

 

[chilicoke]

... but do you think there is any way that the analog sticks from a PS3 pad could be added to the circuit bourd of the g25 shifter some how because doing this would give steering wheel users the option to look around.
As in a lot of online races i find it hard to avoid people.

Could this be done or is it too ambitious ??

Have had much thoughts on camera movement, moved it a few times with D pad right when Prologue came out but never touched it again. Might be possible but with playstation eye head tracking that's suppose to be in GT5 I'm not sure if it'll be worth the trouble.

Give it a try?

... I can't decide whether to replicate the cockpit from my E30, or my 1st gen MR2.

I was just looking at some racing cockpits, and many have the throttle pivoting from the bottom....hmmm.

-Pi

Two very cool cars! 👍

1) Where does your cockpit come apart? I'm guessing the seat and gearshift is one half and the wheel and pedals are the other? Do you bolt it together, pin it?

The cockpit comes apart in two big pieces, right side including the center shifter tunnel, left side that runs through the entire length of the cockpit, and multiple bars/panels that joint both sides together.

They're held together with multiple machine nuts and bolts, only for the ability to take apart to move through doors or storage, not something you'll want to do often because it does take a while to put everything together.

2) Just a personal observation: Your console with the gearshift and e-brake seems higher than normal. Maybe it's just me? Maybe I'm seeing things?

Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I replicated the dimensions directly off my Honda S2000, which has very tall transmission tunnel (part of the x-frame chassis) and the shifter/e-brake are positioned much closer to the steering wheel than most cars.

3) do you think it's possible to separate the gearshift from the rest of the electronics in that module (based on your past experiences)?

Yes it is possible, all the internals can be easily separated from the shifter enclosure. All you need to do is built a steady mount to secure the internals in their natural position, check out my video guides on how everything come apart in the shifter unit:

4) How difficult do you think it would be to make the portion of the table that the steering wheel sits on adjustable, just like a normal car? (so the steering wheel tilts?) Same with the seat (I would think just for the seat adjusting that you'd take the whole seat assembly out of a car, not just the actual seat)

Shouldn't be very hard as long as you've used proper components. I can't imagine you'd want to adjust the steering wheel very often once you find a ideal seating position. In this case I would recommend drilling extra mounting holes to give it a more permanent mount for strength.

I mounted the seat on original seat rails which kept all the original backwards/forwards, recline, and height adjust-ability.

5) Your pedals seem a bit high as well, my car they are much lower to the floor, therefor, my heel is able to rest on the floor and my entire foot covers the entire pedal while my foot is still resting. Maybe it's the fact that the pedal isn't exactly a car pedal as the car pedal can pivot where there pedal attaches to the throttle arm.
Same with shifter above, the seating position in the S2000 is very very low, where the top of pedals are basically at the same height as seat's most forward leg (thigh) support. Speaking of pedals, G25's clutch/brake pedals are almost the same size as my car, with the exception of slighter shorter gas pedal.


6) Speaking of pedals, do you think the actual pedal can be removed to that an aftermarket pedal (custom) can be attached, maybe to be bigger or different looking?

Sure, just measured the mounting holes of your favorite pedals and drill/tap new ones if they don't match.

Thanks for answering my questions. I also plan on making the brake pedal hydralicly resistant as is a car pedal, how do you think I could go about doing that? I would imagine that the hydralic would put a little more resistance on the pedal but would still be able to travel to the floor if pressed slow enough. I haven't gotten my G25 yet (it's on the way, finally got out of some financial troubles) but I'm wondering if by the use of hydralics it would be possible to make the clutch feel somewhat real as well, with the 'catch' and the resistance afterwards.

thanks again, and awesome work!

This won't be easy, especially without sacrificing either of those you are asking.
If you want pedal to feel like hydraulic brakes on your car, you won't be able to have the same travel distance as G25's stock spring brake without reconstructing the pedal assembly. If you want to be able to slowly depress into full travel you won't have the firm feel and rebound of hydraulic brakes.

On top of that, to simulate real hydraulic, it would have to measure pressure applied on the pedal with either fluid presser sensor or load cell, not the pedal angle which is what the stock pedal is measuring with potentiometers.

Not sure if most of us have the knowledge/resources to DIY that ourselves. Check out Perfect Pedal and/or AP Electrix.

Clutch "bite" is definitely much to complex to simulate realistically, and actually does not have anything to do with hydraulic. Sure cars do use hydraulic on clutches, but it ultimately pushes against the pressure plate which basically is a very heavy spring, so clutch pedal is "angle based" just like stock G25/27 pedals.

WOW is all I can say...

Ok maybe not, but I had a few questions about your angles...

Did you make it easier on yourself and run everything on a 45 degree or is the first step up angle for your feet at a 30 degree?

I know you said something about lowing the table top 10 degrees to make it a bit more comfortable since Logitech puts there wheel at a slight angle out of the box.

Also did you pretty much build the cockpit around the chair? Or did you use something else as your building block?

I am building something similar, but for the pc so I will be adding a keyboard holder off to the left side and some few other add-ons, but I'm trying to gauge on what to start with. I'm guessing the seat is obviously the way to go but wanted to get your advice/opinion.

Thanks again and great work it really paid off.

StOBeR

Thank you very much for the compliment. The bar angle/placement were secondary after seat/wheel/pedal to replicate my car's seating position, the pedal mount just happened to be 45 degree. But keep in mind that seating position is much lower and the pedals are much more vertical than most cars, which is why I purposely left out the angles from my guide.

10 degree downward tilt on the steering wheel was perfect for me, but once again, depends on your seating position.

I wouldn't say I build the cockpit around the chair, but it's fair close because that's where I made the most adjustments to ensure seating position is true to the car. I actually sketched out the cockpit directly on a a tracing paper over a S2000 blueprint.

 

[chilicoke]

Sorry to double post, but it just occurred to me that after almost three months I still have yet to post pictures of the new pedal mounted to cockpit,

I'll try to get some videos of it up soon...

 

[Dijital Majik]

Awesome, I really want a perfect pedal, but will probably have to settle for the APelectrix.

Does the PP work well with GT5P, or do you really need to use deadzones and sensitivity settings found on PC sims?

 

[chilicoke]

It works extremely well right out of the box. Absolutely no dead zone and feels extremely natural in GT5P.

It's much heavier and has shorter travel compare to G25's standard brake pedal, which does take a little bit of getting used to initially. Braking/diving into a corner is no longer just mindlessly jamming on the brake pedal while simply keeping the car in check with steering wheel. The lack of springy-ness in pedal feel really gives you a sense of how much stress you put on brakes under heavy braking in real life and you become much more careful with how much force to apply (vs how far you step into it), especially with ABS disabled.

this might or might not be an advantage for lap times in GT5P with ABS on because the game does not simulate ABS realistically. But besides that, the change in feel and the overall racing experience is just awesome! 👍

 

[Radracing]

FourusTwentius is exactly right. My original plan for my very first cockpit was to use aluminum extrusion as I had access to tig welder back in highschool. That WAS the plan until I found out the prices of aluminum.


Guess what came in early.

Okay, what company did you get this from? and how much did it cost? Is it pretty much plug n play? Details, details, inquiring minds want to know. Are you marketing this product too? If so how much again? How do you like it so far? will it still fit in the original pedal case or do you have to have it mounted without the case like yours?

 

[chilicoke]

I am not marketing the pedal, I got it from the gentlemen at sim-sport.net for my own personal use.

It's a direct plug-n-play replacement for original G25 pedal casing. I just prefer top-hang pedals to match my car, so it went into the same spot my old brake pedal did.

 

[Radracing]

Thanks, I just checked out their site pretty interesting. Cost a pretty penny too, but I'm sure its worth it.

I found this other brand. I don't know if its just as good but for much less.

http://apelectrix.com/index.html

 

[HackiRoku]

Incredible cockpit my friend, looks clean and all mod youve done to it gives it a nice unique touch. I like the clutch ignition buttom you add, it never cross my mind to add this, if GT5 still this way ill do the same for sure, great idea

The hydraulic brake pedal mod is really something too, i still have my old G25 pedal set with the brake pedal already remove so ive check the website and im planning to getting one somehere else betwen full GT5 released. Lill question here about that, how you came over such a good product/mod like this, do you know more stuff like this?

And more in detais,l i very like your video on youtube for G25 shifter Mod, looks really pro with the blank background and the simple but nice editing, good job

 

[Woyta]

I am actual working on my own G25 modification. May I ask you for position of your pedals? Acording your videos position looks ideal.
Down position of pedals seems almost vertically. Maybe 5-10deg difference from vertical axis. I used 10deg to compensat higher seating position. (I have no place for complete cockpit) I am struggling about hight from floor and distance between pedals.

Thanks for response.



PS: CAD model not finished.
PS2: I appologize for my terrible english.

 

[chilicoke]

HackiRoku, Thanks!👍 I came across the pedal conversion a long time ago while searching for something else. I'm afraid I don't know any more about other mods than other members here.

I am actual working on my own G25 modification. May I ask you for position of your pedals? Acording your videos position looks ideal.
Down position of pedals seems almost vertically. Maybe 5-10deg difference from vertical axis. I used 10deg to compensat higher seating position. (I have no place for complete cockpit) I am struggling about hight from floor and distance between pedals.

Thanks for response.



PS: CAD model not finished.
PS2: I appologize for my terrible english.

Sorry I didn't see your post till now. My pedals are mounted on 45 degree supports and the pedals feel very close to my car. Though if you sit in a more upright position you might want them to be less vertical.

Your design looks excellent. 👍



03/15/10
Small update.

I was never a fan of G25's paddles and also felt they look chunky and a bit too close to the steering wheel for my liking. So I finally decided to make a replacement pair to my size/location preference.

This is the end result, 1x1 carbon fiber laid from scratch to match my dead pedal. Most noticeable changes are the slight increase in length to compensate the larger steering wheel, much lighter (irrelevant), more streamline shape (inspired by Ferrari 360), shorter on the bottom, and much longer up top.

Just picked up Dirt2 this past weekend and had been having tons of fun clicking these little things.

Can't wait to use them in GT5 rally (I absolutely LOVE rally in GT4)!

 

[Masi_23]

Chilli, you should invest on a PC Rig and try out RBR

Awesome wheel!

 

[chilicoke]

I'd love to, RBR looks super fun. Though maybe after I get a delicated TV and move the cockpit out of the living room.

 

[HN7]

Very nice paddle 👍
Any plan on making and selling them like you did with the wheel adapter?

 

[Mars Attacks]

Congratulations Chilicoke, great job, everything looks so professional…👍

 

[SomeStrangeSin]

chilicoke you are the golden god of modifying

 

[ItsHim]

That makes me rather jealous looking at your pics. Again Well done!

 

[SipnDzl]

please tell me that you are going to sell these.......

 

[chilicoke]

Thank you guys for the kind words,

Possible in the near future, though making composites is very messy.

 

[Joylord]

You truly come out with the most amazing modifications. It must be good to be your friend. Well done chilicoke great inspiration.