iRacing x Next Level Racing Cockpit: What to Expect
A few weeks ago, both Next Level Racing and iRacing revealed on social media that they are collaborating to bring the sim racing community quote “the most immersive simulation experience”. They’ve revealed only very little information, but today, I'll be talking about it and speculating on what I believe the final product will look like.
As I mentioned, most of what I will say is purely speculative since there is only a very limited amount of information about this new rig but with just the snippet of information provided, I think I can make a decent, or at least slightly justified case of what it might look like. The photo seen above is the teaser, and from my knowledge, the only image available of this product. It’s not much. I know. But let's analyze it. Just by looking at the metal, it’s intrusions, and its squared nature, I’m very confident that this will be an aluminum profile rig. Popularized by other sim racing cockpit manufacturers, Next Level Racing has no aluminum rigs in their current lineup and thus, this will probably be their next big thing. It also seems to have some type of matte dark grey/black finish just like all of their other current products. The iRacing logo is featured and will probably be scattered around other parts of the cockpit since Next Level Racing typically goes a little ham on their branding. You of course will also notice this shiny blue L-bracket which accents the iRacing logo nicely so I’m expecting other blue or even red accents scattered around the rig as well. Ok so let's recap what we have so far real quick. A dark grey aluminum profile rig with blue and potentially red accents scattered around alongside a few iRacing logos.
Now let's talk about the seat. Obviously, there is no official image released but it will most likely be a synthetic leather bucket seat, similar to what you would find in their GTTrack model with the iRacing logo and Next Level Racing logo stitched on the headrest. In the PlayStation GTTrack model, the seat has a massive PlayStation logo embroidered on the headrest so they will not shy away from including the iRacing logo on this seat. If not covered completely in synthetic leather, it may also feature swede on the backrest and accenting the seat itself since the company has recently released the standalone GTTrack seat which comes with suede accents. Will the seat itself be completely redesigned, slightly modified, or not changed at all compared to the GTTrack? Honestly, I don’t think it will look too different since it's generally praised among its users for its comfort.
Let's talk about its compatibility. In their teaser, they announced this will be their "premiere sim racing chassis", so definitely count on it working with direct drive wheels, high-end pedals, and all other gear. It will be interesting to see if it will work with their current motion platforms system, although I doubt they would release an all-new so-called premium cockpit that wasn’t compatible with their already existing premium motion platforms. The aluminum profile will make it a lot more compatible with other hardware and will make mounting things up so much easier. As a result, this may be compatible with, and maybe even come with, a keyboard and mouse stand. Next Level Racing’s GT-Ultimate cockpit features a keyboard and mouse stand that connects to the rig itself, so they might implement this on this upcoming release considering it’ll be replacing the GTTrack as their new premiere rig.
Of course, let's talk about pricing. Next Level Racing’s current flagship model, the GTTrack retails for $900 US dollars. The company itself says that this new rig will be their “brand-new premium simulator chassis.” meaning it will most likely be more expensive than the GTTrack which will probably drop in price by some amount. So at a minimum, this new cockpit will be priced at $900, although considering it has the iRacing logo, will be more compatible with its aluminum profile, and is the new shiny thing, I'm expecting it to retail at around the $1200 range. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments below.
Anyways, that’s all I’m gonna speculate regarding this new cockpit for now. While nothing is confirmed and I’m working only off one image and a few things listed on Next Level Racing's website, I think most of my claims are justified and I would be very surprised if I were to be completely off. Regardless, this is sure to be an exciting hardware release in the sim racing community as two large players in the sim racing scene collaborating to bring us a new shiny rig is always a good thing nonetheless. Please let me know what you think in the comments below, do you agree with me, do you disagree, and how do you think this new rig will stack up to its competition.
