Off to the Races
This holiday season threatens to inundate us with racing games. From the already released Dirt 2, and Need For Speed: Shift to unknown’s like Project Gotham Racing developer’s Blur to Xbox 360 exclusive Forza Motorsport 3 and PlayStation 3 exclusive Gran Turismo 5 (okay, early 2010). Just like last year was hitting us with fighting games (Street Fighter IV, King of Fighters XII, Blazblue, and more), this year is all about the racers.
With that in mind, I set out to build my own racing cockpit to replace my less than stellar Playseats Evolution Gaming Seat.
Luckily, I discovered some plans for an “R-Pod” (racing cockpit) while browsing the Shoryuken forums. It turned out the R-Pod’s designer, ericleroi, was working on a home built Vewlix of his own.
So, I did what I always do: I created my own plans using Google SketchUp based on ericleroi’s R-Pod plans (not actually on Shoryuken forums).
I ended up using my Playseats “seat” (temporarily) and here is the finished product (pre-finishing):
I haven’t taken photos of the finished product yet, but I ended up buying an actual car seat of ebay. If you search for “UNIVERSAL RECLINABLE RACING SEAT” on ebay, you should find plenty of results in various colors and prices. It can be had for less than $150 (shipped). Having owned a pair of Recaro SRDs, I can’t say that I am in love with the seat, but I guess you get what you pay for. The back is pretty flat and stiff and the side bolsters are in the wrong position for my frame (6′ 1″ – 160 lb) so it can be pretty uncomfortable for long play sessions. That being said, it’s still a major upgrade from the Playseats piece of junk.
I plan to make a mini-worklog post to show off how I accomplished making the R-Pod Imperial Unit measurement (inches) and compatible with the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel as well as the PlayStation 3 Logitech Driving Force GT Racing Wheel.
Until then…
Not for the faint of heart (or skills)
Just after finishing my R-Pod, I came across 0-60 Magazine’s Need For Speed: Shift “Arcade” racing cockpit. If I had it to do over again, I would have gone for the full Monty (this bad boy) instead of my R-Pod.
You can download a PDF containing the full plans to make the arcade cabinet at 0-60 Magazine’s website here since it’s been taken down and you can download my Google SketchUp file accurately recreating it here (I had to see just how it all went together in 3D).
Hi Donovan, I’m putting some plans together for the Vewlix slim I’m working on. I wanted to include a link to your site and found that you’ve not only built the pod but put plans together as well. Good job!
Thanks, and thanks for being a like-minded individual and sharing your R-Pod plans! I just referenced you as “he” because you used 2 different names in the forums I found. I’d like to update my post to include your name/nickname and a link to any website you want.
So let me know what you’d like. Thanks!
Like you, I find it really rewarding to share!
You can use the ‘ericleroi’ nickname, I’ve grown a bit tired of spacehedgehog!
I don’t have a website at the moment but will get around to it at some point.
Take care.
Thanks, can’t wait to see the slim plans. I saw the work in progress on Shoryuken forums. Will probably have to build one of my own as well!
Hey Donovan,
I love the site. As many others have stated the work you did basically kickstarted my own cabinet project. It is basically a modified vewlix. I will send pics and a link to my website when the cabinet is finished (and when I create the site). I’m thinking a racing cabinet may be the next step. Do you have the 0-60 pdf plans? The link on their site is broken. Please let me know.
Thanks,
Brian
Brian,
Thanks! What a bummer they took the PDF down. I’m mirroring it here for you (or others) to download.
Donovan
Donovan, you are brilliant mate.
I do not have the skills to do anything like that but i would like to purchase a couple of arcade cabinets from you if its possible.
I would like to get in touch.
Angelo,
I appreciate the interest, but I do not have the time, tools, or business sense to build any cabinets for sale. A few people have had luck taking the PDF plans to a local cabinet maker and having their cabinet built that way. A few other shops were going to start building and selling the cabinets, but none of that has materialized yet either. If someone starts selling Vewlix clone kits, I will definitely post something about it!
Donovan