One of the most detracting features of many of the wheels and pedal sets that are on the market today is the use of injection molded plastic. A racecar or anything simulated to resemble a racecar piece or part should be made from metal. And the more exotic the metal is, the nicer it looks and feels. Billet aluminum, molybdenum (chrome-moly), titanium: that’s what racecars are made from, not extruded plastics.

I was pleasantly surprised when the UPS man dropped this one little package on my doorstep. I was even a bit giddy when I opened the door to bring it into the house. I guess maybe I didn’t pay very close attention to the word, "kit" when I ordered. Seriously, all of the pictures that I’ve seen of this product had all shown this set fully assembled. Some people cringe at the phrase; "some assembly required" when they see it on an advertisement. I truly love the challenge that’s presented by that phrase. I giggled like a little schoolboy when I saw this rather small parcel that had arrived with a salutation of a doorbell chime. I just knew something was fishy because there just couldn’t be a wheel and a set of pedals in that little bitsy box. Well, once again I was mistaken. It was all in there in well-organized boxes with a legible instruction sheet complete with pictures on step by step assembly. I guess the other thing I never realized was that this kit was solely an upgrade for the Microsoft Sidewinder USB wheel and pedal set, and not a stand-alone unit. In other words, you need the guts out of another unit to put it together. Well not exactly to assemble it but to hook it to your computer and drive with it, you’ll need to be the owner of a Microsoft wheel for the crucial electrical parts required. Now for me it wasn’t an issue because I’ve built enough wheels and pedal sets that I had all the nessecary pots, cable and db 15 gameport connectors to complete the project. But just a warning here if you don’t have the knowledge, parts and patients to conquer the; "some assembly required" challenge then this is probably not the deal for you. Conversely if you are the mechanically inclined type that has a toolbox that weighs more that the car you drive and you yearn for a construction project, then the Frex GP Wheel and pedal set is an ingenious upgrade that will meet & maybe exceed your needs.

This is an outstanding upgrade for the Microsoft Sidewinder FF and the Precision Pro wheel. With a little fabrication experience you could create your own unit without hacking another wheel unit apart for the parts. The Frex GP Pedal Kit can be ordered separately and could be used to upgrade almost any pedal set on the market. The only thing that’s needed would be the pedal potentiometers and the wiring harness that goes back to the wheel base and you could turn any pedal set into something very special. So for those of you that are tired of weakly sprung, plastic pedal sets that have no travel and sensitivity, your worries can be over in less than an hour and for around $300.00 USD.

If you ever had the desire to build a set of pedals but just didn’t have the experience or the tools to complete such a venture, this would be a great place to start. All of the hard parts in the kit are anodized black aluminum incased in a steel base that is drilled for a couple of different approach angles for your feet. Depending on your chair and desk configuration, the base allows you some adjustment for comfort and function. The kit also comes with a non-slip rubber mat to keep the base from scooting around. However, with the stiffness of the two rubber stoppers that come with the kit to provide the resistance on the brake pedal, I don’t think it’s secure enough. The correction for me was to attach a piece of carpet that my chair will roll on top of to help secure the base to the floor. That secured the pedals solidly enough to get the full sensation of a panic stop. That event where a driver needs to mash the brake pedal in order to get the car to stop very quickly. I’ve been fairly critical of other pedals on the market because of the lack of feel and sensitivity. It just doesn’t fit to have the brake and accelerator with the same resistance. It just isn’t accurate. The Frex GP Pedal set has the most feel of any pedal set I’ve ever experienced, with the exception of my own hand built unit of course. The accelerator travel has a nice range and with the creative, adjustable actuators, which are the connection between the pedals and the potentiometers. You can calibrate how fast or slow the pots receive their input. The ranges of linear and non-linear input for both pedals are tunable in a number of ways.