INTRODUCTION
Racing cockpits used to be very expensive and thus only a handful of people were able to afford this kind of luxury in their gaming experience. But in the last few years we have seen quite a few products that are specifically made for the everyday “consumer”. With its price at $299, Virtual Racing Chassis certainly is not going to break the bank of the average sim-racer. If you think that racing behind a desk in an office chair is fun, then just wait until you take this baby for a drive!

Bob Earl designs the Virtual Racing Chassis. Bob has a 30 year career as a Road Racing Driver and Instructor and has raced in all sorts of racing series ranging from GT cars to Formula Ford. He made the VRC with one goal in mind – to simulate the driving position in a real racecar.

TOOL TIME
One day I got a call from the local airport that a big, 25 kilos package is waiting for me. The box was a little over 1 meter long and around half a meter wide. It was no problem for me to pick it up alone and put it into the car.

Before I go through the assembly process let me just mention, that VRC always comes fully assembled. It was only taken apart for me to lower the shipping costs since it had to travel all the way over the pond. I know it’s a bit strange for me to write about putting it together but it’s just that this will give you an idea on how easy and brilliant VRC really is.

As I arrived home, I started unpacking. All the parts were packed neatly and wrapped into plastic bubble wrap. I went quickly through the assembly instructions and began putting things together. Basically you just put part A into part B, tighten the screw and you are done. Good thing is that the screws that allow you to adjust the length of the assembly are done in such a way, that you don’t have to use any tools. You just grab the handle, unscrew it, adjust and screw it back. Bottom line is that putting it together was so easy, even my grandma could do it in five minutes.

With the chassis all together the last task of assembly is mounting the seat. The support is made out of fibreglass and dressed in leather with foam inside for staying comfortable during those long endurance races. Next on the to do list were pedals and steering wheel. The Steering Plate is 25cm wide, 15cm long and 0.4cm thick with a hard foam pad for wheel stability. With so many wheels on the market and so many different mounting mechanisms, Bob came up with some special parts to make it all work (for detailed list of wheels check this link - https://bobearlracing.com/features_compatibility.htm). To prevent pedals from moving around I had to apply self-adhesive Velcro strips on both the chassis and the pedals unit. And once you put them together, they won’t move an inch, yet you can always remove the unit if you wish to do so. If you are one of the lucky owners of the Logitech G25 wheel you have nothing to worry about. VRC comes with holes drilled for the pedals and wheel plus the 6mm bolts are supplied with the instructions. You can also buy a G25 shifter mount separately. Inside the package you will also find Velcro straps, which will help you keep cables neat and organized. With cables secured to the chassis all that was left to do was to put the footrest next to the pedals and I was ready to burn rubber. Another nice feature is that VRC doesn’t have a single sharp edge where you could injure yourself and thus makes it safe for the home use.