About two months ago, I wrote about Building My First Sim Racing Rig. After a lot of waiting, backorders, and a few lessons learned along the way, the build is finally complete.

First of all… it’s awesome.

One thing I really appreciate about the Simagic ecosystem is how simple everything is. The hardware works well together, setup was straightforward, and the entire ecosystem only needs a single USB connection to the PC. Coming from someone who has built plenty of technology over the years, I always appreciate products that are thoughtfully designed and just work.

The first thing I did was install the Simagic software to calibrate all of the hardware. After that, I looked up recommended settings for Forza Horizon 6 and ended up losing about two hours just driving around.

Then I installed Assetto Corsa.

I had no idea the community around Assetto Corsa was so massive. It didn’t take long before I discovered Content Manager, mods, custom cars, and community-made tracks. I am always at Overtake.

Naturally, the first car I downloaded was a Nissan 240SX/180SX (screenshot above in a Miata ND2) to relive my youth. Then I found the Santa Monica Mountains map, which includes many of the roads my friends and I used to cruise growing up, especially Stunt Road.

It’s funny how a sim can instantly transport you back to being a young rebel… except now with a sore back.

The Waiting Game

The biggest reason this build took nearly two months to finish was because two major components were on backorder.

The first was the Simagic Zeus Sport Steering Wheel, which I pre-ordered and finally received in mid-July.

The second was the Sparco EVO M seat, which also arrived around the same time.

Once those two pieces showed up, everything finally came together.

My Experience with Distributors

Throughout this journey, I ordered from several Simagic distributors.

Overall, Sim Motion and SIM HQ were excellent. They were responsive, attentive, and provided great customer service. One tip if you’re considering buying Simagic gear: check the authorized distributors before ordering directly from Simagic. Their shipping costs were considerably more competitive in my experience.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about SimRacing Pros.

The first monitor mount they shipped arrived with missing parts. To their credit, they quickly sent a replacement.

However, the replacement kit included the wrong hex bolts. The bolts were too long, which meant the hinges for the monitor support bar couldn’t tighten correctly. Instead, they spun freely, making it impossible to install the monitor safely.

I documented everything with photos and detailed explanations and emailed their support team multiple times. Unfortunately, I never received a meaningful follow-up.

In the end, I made a trip to Home Depot, found the correct hardware myself, and solved the problem.

It wasn’t the end of the world, but customer support matters. If you’re spending good money on sim racing equipment, you shouldn’t have to engineer your own fix because support stopped responding.

My Final Build

Here’s the completed setup:

• Wheel Base: Simagic Alpha Evo Pro 18Nm
• Steering Wheel: Simagic Zeus Sport
• Shifter: Simagic Alpha DS-8X
• Handbrake: Simagic TB-1 Handbrake
• Pedals: Simagic P1000i RS Hydraulic Pedal Set
• Seat: Sparco EVO M
• Monitor: Samsung 49″ Odyssey OLED G9 (G93SD)
• PC: Custom Build (Ryzen 9, 64GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti)
• Speakers: PreSonus Eris 3.5 Studio Monitors

All links are to their respective websites, no affiliation with products, just sharing link for more information.

Final Thoughts

I’ve genuinely been having a blast with this setup.

After a long day of work, it’s become one of my favorite ways to unwind. Whether I’m casually cruising through the streets in Forza Horizon or carving through canyon roads in Assetto Corsa, it lets me enjoy driving whenever I want without leaving home.

And yes… sometimes that includes a glass of my favorite whisky while taking a relaxing drive.

Cheers!