Playseat Evolution

[foggletosh]

Hi,

I have recently ordered a playseat EVo and G27 package. I had researched and considered other options for wheels and seats, but was attracted to the playseat Evo bundle (seat+shifter mount+G27).

I had read good things about the playseat, however, have just come across some reports about the chair being uncomfortable and the centre wheel stand getting in the way of racing.

Can anyone set my mind at ease, or confirm these problems? I had read many other people saying the chair was awesome etc. but...

Thanks!

 

[bevo]

I think the chair is fine. I just recently had a friend get the obutto r3volution and he said my seat was more comfortable.

The center psot can get in the way if you like to left foot brake. You will have to set you pedals offset to either side depending on which foot you primarly brake with. i haven't been bothered by the center post much at all because I am a right foot braker, but it would be a pain if you liked to drive some with right foot and other with left foot brake.

I've been pretty happy with mine for awhile, but recenltly almost bought a r3volution until my friend with one kind of talked me out of it. For the money the playseat evo is a good buy. I'm not sure what they go for now but when I bought mine it was 250$ with free shipping from amazon, and it is well worth 250$.


I think the chair problem people have is with a center bar that's on the back of them. The only time I have ever noticed it is when I lat completely back in the chair and push hard against it, which you never do sitting in a chair unless it's to stretch or something.

I'm pretty sure you will be happy with it. It might take a little tweaking to get the pedals just like you want them, but I had almost no trouble gettimg me G25 pedals on it when I had them.

 

[foggletosh]

I bought my bundle (g27+playseat evo white + shifter mount) for £460, including shipping. Maybe a little overpriced? But it was the best option for a good wheel and seat included, I thought.

Good to hear that you dont mind the bar annoying, I would be a right foot breaker as well! Hopefully I find the chair comfy enough, for the money I spent on it it should feel like i'm sitting on a fricken cloud! lol

 

[Mahnegold]

I am using exactly this combo, most of the time for console racing.

The chair is fine. I have no idea how it feels after a mega long endurance racing session. But 2 hours or so are no problem. I always felt comfortable in it.

Same with the centerpost. I have my pedals set up "standard", using the mounting holes of the Playseat. In this configuraion (right foot braking and using clutch) you notice the centerpost. But it never disturbs me. It is there, but I don't care

So it is good value for the money. However my next setup will be the r3volution, because it is more than just a racing rig.

I would also recommend the seatslider-upgrade for the Playseat. It makes things a bit easier. 👍

 

[Ripster]

I have the Playseat with the Fanatec wheel and have plans to upgrade to the RSeat. Think the seat depends on your size and weight. I am not that tall and the bar is not located where it bothers me. However I do have a second seat that is a Playseat knockoff and the bar on that one does bother me.

As for the centerpost you get used to it, and like others here said you just need to adjust it a little left or right.

 

[NjLowrider]

Yup I have g27 white playseat evo and shifter mount.

The rig is very adjustable. You can put the bar way up close to your thighs and get plenty of room for footwork. Also the pedal plate has multiple holes for placement and the g27 pedals themselves can move over a bit left and right.

It's comfy enough, mine is well used and 2+ years old and I use it everyday. I use a memory foam pillow as a backrest just because mine is well worn and I can feel the bars in my back a bit.

It is kinda low.. You gotta really get down into it. My larger friends have trouble getting out of it. I actually used old boxes of porcelain 12x12 tiles under the whole rig area to lift the rig up about 6 inches. (Draped with a blue satin bedspread matching my blue satin memory pillow.)

White vinyl still looks good and I never clean it, I have been known to eat a few meals in it aswell.

All in all I have had the best experiences with this rig and wouldn't trade it for anything. Solid durable and adaptable.

I even welded up brackets to attach 4 speakers to it and have a powered subwoofer tucked under the seat!

Enjoy grasshopper!

 

[foggletosh]

Well it is good to hear mostly positive reviews! I am not very tall/ big, so I should be fine as well... Although My TV is quite high up and is LCD, so it gets dark if you look at it from the wrong angle... I might have to do something similar to yourself NjLowrider, in terms of putting it on a raised platform.

SO EXCITED for it to come... You gotta know how to treat yourself!

 

[fatkrakr]

I think youll be very happy with the evo. Ive had mine over 2 years now with no issues. I do recomended getting the seat slider though as suggested. It makes getting in and out of it so much better. Plus if you have friends over to race its easier for adjustments than lossening the knobs.

 

[oqvist]

Hi!

I had the Evo for some years. I had the classic before and the tradeoff with the bar between the legs was much preferrable to the wobble on the old version. The classic had on the other hand had a better pedal tray and some wielded extra support arms to it to fix the wobble. I am a left foot breaker but the middle bar didn´t bother me much at all. I am 188 cm and had no issues with getting a comfortable position. You probably want to raise it up. I used some of these http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europapall to raise mine up a bit to get my tv to eye level. Dress it with some cloth and you have a very easy and cheap piedestal. It´s not ergonomic to look up to the monitor your eyes get dry.

I would say it was certainly solid enough for G25 stock but I ran into big issues when I installed the nixim brake mod which give a stiffer brake. It´s not super stiff by any mans but enough for the entire rig to flex. The pedal plate couldn´t take the pressure. The aluminium bar underneith also flexed. The chair flexed too and that bar on the back got more noticable.

It´s not a cockpit you can grow with heavier duty wheel and pedals but if you keep it at the current level it will do the job. I had no luck with the shifter holder though. I just couldn´t get the G25 shifter in a decent position. And there doesn´t seem to be any other shifters that fit on it. I got use to it as a buttkicker gamer holder though. Buttkicker gamer felt quite ideal for the evo. You don´t need anything beefier then that or you may get stomach issues .

 

[oqvist]

I think youll be very happy with the evo. Ive had mine over 2 years now with no issues. I do recomended getting the seat slider though as suggested. It makes getting in and out of it so much better. Plus if you have friends over to race its easier for adjustments than lossening the knobs.

Loosening the knobs whent pretty fast though from what I remember? I personally never had an issue getting in and out but I wasn´t as stiff when I had the Evo as I am now. But I rarely use the sliders on my current cockpit either. Hardly anyone seem even interested to sit in my cockpit. Dunno if it´s scary or they don´t want to endulge it. A lot of mom type characters get quite upset about me wasting a third of a room for this thing.

"Are you still having that cockpit"

 

[fatkrakr]

Loosening the knobs whent pretty fast though from what I remember? I personally never had an issue getting in and out but I wasn´t as stiff when I had the Evo as I am now. But I rarely use the sliders on my current cockpit either. Hardly anyone seem even interested to sit in my cockpit. Dunno if it´s scary or they don´t want to endulge it. A lot of mom type characters get quite upset about me wasting a third of a room for this thing.

"Are you still having that cockpit"

Yes Im still using it. I started with a DFGT when I first got it. Upgraded to the G27 after a couple months. 6 months later I installed the perfect pedal with no flex issues. Then switched the G27 shifter for the TH8 shifter. Mounted up in the already drilled holes in shifter plate. About a month ago got the CSW drilled some new mounting holes and no issues with that either. 👍

 

[oqvist]

Lol well wasn´t asking you though I understood it appeared so

Impressive that you could mount the CSW base on it. I see they advertise it with the T500RS so they surely have had to improve their design. I believe it was more then 7 years since I bought mine.

 

[avens]

Doesn't deserve the bad rep it gets sometimes, but it's no obutto.

With a bit of customization the combo improves significantly. What I remember doing was adjusting the length available for feet (second bottom bar), moving the pedals plate a bit to the left (g27 pedals plastic hardmounted, therefore the only adjustable thing are the plates themselves), and what I did recently that's making the shifter gears tighter (chilicoke diy mod)

 

[JogoAsobi]

I would also recommend the seatslider-upgrade for the Playseat. It makes things a bit easier. 👍

Actually, no matter what rig setup you may use, seat slider really makes getting in and out a lot easier.
Especially if you are dealing with a center post.

 

[Mahnegold]

Doesn't deserve the bad rep it gets sometimes, but it's no obutto.

That's so true!

And also it has to be considered, that the basic design is more than 6 years old. It is normal, that newer seats have improved over the time. But also a lot of the other rigs are basically inspired by the Evo I think.

I own my Evo since 2006 and upgraded (shifter mount, seat slider, carpet and DIY Buttkicker mount) it in 2012.

 

[Racingworld68]

I have a playseat Evo and G27 aswell. It is a good starters setup. In my case I sometimes spend up to 10 or 12 hours in a row, and then it is less comftable. I will probably upgrade to an Rseat and T500rs.

 

[bevo]

I've had my playseat evo since around 2008 and just got the seal slider. I advise strongly to order the seat sloder because it has made it so much easier to adjust and get in and out of. I really didn't think it would be that big of a deal. You should have seen people including me try and get in and out of my triple screen setup with it. They usually got in pretty easy but would just look at me confused whenever they would have to get out of it. i had one guy just roll onto his side and have to roll out of between it and the side screen. This sleder is going to make it alot more user friendly.

 

[oqvist]

I am 188 and could easilly jump out. But perhaps it´s easier the taller you are

 

[bevo]

I am 188 and could easilly jump out. But perhaps it´s easier the taller you are

I'm about 6'2 245 and I can get in and out pretty easy, but it gets pretty hard when you put triple screens with it or start mounting other devices to it like ipads, or telemetry screens. With the slider you can back up away from all that stuff really easy, and still be able to mount things on the side that you exit from without worrying baout hitting it when you get out. With triples there is no where to go, because you have the screens right beside you.

I've also had some really big guys around 6'4 and another my height but around 275 or so and he had a pretty rough time, and he had trouble also before I installed the triple screens.

Another thing it should help is that people can move it back and you don't have to watch that they don't use the wheel for support to get out with. That's something I have always had to tell people, because they want to use the wheel for leverage to help flip their leg over the center pole and then push themselves up. The sloder brings you back far enough that you can't really use that wheel for leverage anymore because it's to fat away.

It's not a must to get the slider and the seat is fine without it, but it is really convienent and i wish i would have bought it when I first got mine.

One thing I am going to now do since I have the slider, is bolt my center post legs to something so that they have no side flex at all. It should really stiffen up the wheel mount pole which doesn't have that much play, but bolting them down should do away with what play is there. Since the seat slides I won't have to worry about moving the wheel for other users as much or when I switch rims. i can just move my seat and adjust my pedals.

 

[Garagefather]

Hi,

I had read good things about the playseat, however, have just come across some reports about the chair being uncomfortable and the centre wheel stand getting in the way of racing.

Can anyone set my mind at ease, or confirm these problems? I had read many other people saying the chair was awesome etc. but...

Thanks!

I have my own rig with a center post design and don't understand what all the concern is about a center post. Unless you like your legs crammed together or the mount for your pedals is really restrictive in regards to locating the pedals left or right of center a bit, I can't see a problem.

I am a two foot driver and never have an issue with this. Even if I added a clutch, it wouldn't be an issue.

Someone will have to show me pics or a vid to convince me that there is a problem with any of the center post designs like the wheel stand pro, Playseat, Pro Am (my brilliant design), or their clones.

Check out my rig-

here is the side view:

Might look a bit bulky between the legs until you look at this angle. Even if I added a clutch pedal, I would still have all day to move my feet over the pedal. My unit has a wide platform to place the pedals so that might help make it a non issue for me:

or this angle:

I even have a beefier HD version that I built and it doesn't even bother me and it is 3 times as thick in the center post due to the design:

The center post just makes for an easier and more efficient build while maintaining a huge range of adjustment. Most of the open center units lack adjust-ability at the same level. You either cannot change the tilt angle of the wheel, its height, its distance to the pedals, w/o making a pretty complicated and hard to adjust mechanism. Then, you need a big space to store it in.

For all those concerned about a center support post, please try and explain to me what is so obstructive about it? Beyond not being able to cross your legs while racing, I don't see the problem.

 

[bevo]

If you have a clutch and want to right foot brake that post would about have to be in the way. If it's like on the playseat you can work around it because the bar isn't near as close to the pedals as that is. You could slide it over I guess but then you couldn't left foot brake.

Where the problem with a center post as close to the pedals as that one would come in to play, is with a clutch. At least for me I need to be able to reach the brake with both feet. I use my right foot for most situations with a clutch, but I need to be able to reach it with my left foot also for trail braking. With alot of cars you need to be able to use the throttle and brake at the same time and be able to make adjustments to each at the same time, but you also need to be able to use your right foot to brake for when your pushing in the clutch to downshift.

Maybe if you could get the brake right in the center to be behind the post it would work ok. It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures if you would have to bend your ankle around the post to reach it or not. the playseat evolutions post sits far enough away that you can easily place the pedals where you can right and left foot brake easily.

Don't get me wrong though, that looks like it could fit the needs of alot of racers. anyone who wants a compact solution with no clutch should take a look at it.

 

[BlacqueJacques]

You'll be fine