These last few years we’ve seen an explosion of new Sim Racing on the scene. One of the brands that have generated a lot of hype is Asetek Simsports. Asetek Simsports impressed us with their Invicta and Forte pedals, and we have been eagerly awaiting their wider ecosystem with extremely high expectations.
With bold claims from Asetek SimSports of the Invicta Wheelbase being a genuine rival to the likes of the Simucube 2 Ultimate at around half the price, that may seem like wishful thinking.
They’ve sent us both the Invicta (27NM) and Forte (18NM) Bases, as well as their Forte wheel, so let’s dive in!
We start with the Invicta base to see what the best of the best brings to the table in terms of build quality, user experience and of course driving experience. In the second video, we compare the Forte to the Invicta Wheel base to determine where the best value sits. Importantly there is also a La Prima Wheel base which has a peak torque of 12NM, we will be checking that one out as soon as we can get our hands on it.
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Asetek Simsports Ecosystem Overview
You might be familiar with Asetek for their exotic PC cooling gear which has been at the forefront of PC cooling for over 20 years now. And if you run an all-in-one cooler in your PC, chances are it’s actually built by Asetek. But you may not have known that Asetek is an organisation with a rich heritage in motorsport, making their entrance to Sim Racing make a lot of sense!
We first reviewed the Asetek Invicta Hydraulic Pedals about 18 months ago and were immediately impressed. They provide a very authentic race car feel with one of the stiffer brake pedals around. But also offers the build quality, adjustability, and ease of maintenance which is so valuable to your everyday Sim Racer wanting to smash out the laps at home without the fuss of real-life race car parts and problems.
The Asetek Forte Load Cell Pedals then came along and were equally as impressive. They provide a remarkably similar feel to their hydraulic counterparts for a fraction of the price.
With the anticipation of a full ecosystem from Asetek over the last 18 months, we have been very excited to see if they can bring that same level of performance and simplicity to an entire racing simulator rig.
Wheelbase only available in bundles:
Wheel and Wheelbase:
US$/€882,34
(Excl. VAT)
Wheel, Wheelbase, and Pedals
US$/€1.134,45
(Excl. VAT)
Direct Drive Wheelbase
12 Nm Torque
22 Bit Encoder
LEDs: 0
H: 133mm W: 132mm L: 293mm
Weight: 8.5kg
PSU: 180W
Formula Wheel
Programmable Rev Lights: 15
Programmable Flag Lights: 0
Other Programmable LEDs: 0
Push Buttons: 12
2-way Toggle Switches: 0
7-way Kinky Switches: 2
Rotary Encoders: 3
Thumb Encoders: 2
Carbon Reinforced Nylon Housing
Swappable grips
La Prima Pedals
Brake and Throttle:
US$/€336,13
(Excl. VAT)
Clutch:
US$/€126,04
(Excl. VAT)
Direct Drive Wheelbase:
US$/€882,34
(Excl. VAT)
18 Nm Torque
22 Bit Encoder
LEDs: 4 x 21 LED Strips
H: 133mm W: 132mm L: 293mm
Weight: 8.5kg
PSU: 400W
Formula Wheel:
US$/€546,21
(Excl. VAT)
Programmable Rev Lights: 15
Programmable Flag Lights: 6
Other Programmable LEDs: 28
Push Buttons: 12
2-way Toggle Switches: 2
7-way Kinky Switches: 2
Rotary Encoders: 3
Thumb Encoders: 6
Carbon Reinforced Nylon Housing
Swappable grips
Forte Pedals:
Throttle and Brake
US$/€462,18
(Excl. VAT)
Forte S-Series Pedals:
(Separated mounts)
Throttle and Brake:
US$/€ 504,19
(Excl. VAT)
See our Asetek Forte Pedal Review
Direct Drive Wheelbase:
US$/€1.302,51
(Excl. VAT)
27 Nm Peak Torque
22 Bit Encoder
LEDs: 6 x 25 LED Strips
H: 133mm W: 132mm L: 327mm
Weight: 11.3kg
PSU: 400W
Invicta Pedals:
US$/€ 756,29
(Excl. VAT)
2 Pedal set with Hydraulic Brake
Invicta S-Series Pedals:
US$/€ 798,31
(Excl. VAT)
Separated mounts for throttle and brake
Invicta Clutch System:
US$/€ 252,09
(Excl. VAT)
Invicta Formula Wheel
Asetek have shared their intentions for a high-spec Invicta Formula Wheel but details are not available at this time.
Mounts are an additional cost and there are also bundles available for all Asetek Direct Drive Wheelbases. Check the Asetek website for full pricing. You’ll need to factor in import fees etc too.
SPOILER ALERT:The Asetek Direct Drive Wheelbases are good. Here's why:
Make sure to watch our detailed close look at the Asetek Direct Drive hardware and software in our video review to get a complete picture of these products. But let’s skip ahead to what makes the Asetek Invicta Wheelbase stand out as one of the best…
- At comparable torque levels, Invicta Base offers the best Force Feedback I’ve felt in terms of raw detail and communicating what the car is doing, and at a significantly lower price point than the likes of the Simucube 2 Ultimate.
- At comparable torque levels, Forte Base offers performance that is difficult to distinguish from the Simucube 2 Ultimate at a fraction of the cost.
- Extremely smooth operation. Generally less filtering is required to achieve a quality feel. This means sharp and highly detailed force feedback is retained without grain, noise or torque ripple.
- Polarising Forte Wheel design, but rigid construction and good ergonomic layout with high-quality components for the price.
- Clean software that integrates the entire ecosystem into one convenient package.
- Force Feedback quality is relatively consistent between different sim titles (except Assetto Corsa which felt quite robotic and notchy without some in-game filtering added).
- High general build quality throughout.
- Relatively small form factor which is less likely to interfere with monitor placement than some alternatives such as the Logitech G Pro Direct Drive Wheelbase.
- Very convenient Quick Release with upcoming partner wheel support which will allow third-party wheels to be connected in a cable-free manner.
The cost-to-torque comparison of Direct Drive Wheelbases. To be able to say the Asetek Forte drives as well as a Simucube 2 Ultimate is incredible!
But What's The Catch?
I’m not sure you should consider it a catch, as there is no taking away from the fact these wheelbases give an incredible driving experience. However, we did run into a number of Quality Control issues with our samples. Keep in mind the units used for this review are from the first production batch. They are not pre-production or prototype.
We spoke to Asetek at length about the issues we encountered and they have provided us with the following details of how they will address the issues.
- No power to the wheel initially.
- This was caused by a faulty crimp connection internally. They tell us they will be re-terminating these connections on all stock to ensure nobody else experiences this.
- Random Power Cutouts
- This has now been fixed with a firmware update to reduce transient power draw spikes. We have not been able to reproduce the issue since the fix.
- Wheel can be pulled off the quick release without pulling the lever due to the slope on the latch
- This is being addressed by replacing the QR spring with a stiffer one. We will re-test once a new part is available.
- Front mounting brackets had material defects that had to be ground off to fit properly.
It should be noted that at the time of this article being written, Asetek Simsports have put a hold on shipping to customers while they make the necessary fixes above, so we are confident the issues we encountered during our review process will be resolved before the majority of customers receive their orders. We will do our best to keep this article updated with any additional notes on this as information becomes available.
Room For Improvement:
- Power and E-Stop buttons have no shrouds when mounted on the front mount. Not a danger, but just looks messy.
- Proprietary front mount doesn’t use a standard front mounting hole pattern, so it won’t work with current aftermarket front mount brackets available at the time of writing without using one of Asetek’s mounts.
- Front mount requires minor disassembly to install.
- Bottom mounting rails are different spacing to anything else currently on the market which again means you’ll either have to drill your rig or buy one of their mounting brackets.
- While well presented, RaceHub software is still somewhat immature and lacks cloud-based profile-sharing features found in other ecosystems.
- With the exception of Clutch Bite Point, adjustments can’t be made on the fly from the wheel itself.
- No console compatibility at the time of writing.
- At the time of writing, can only be used with the Forte wheel as the QR adaptor is not yet available.
Asetek Invicta Vs. Forte Wheelbases
Is the Forte all you need?
There is one main difference worth considering when putting the Asetek Direct Drive wheelbases head to head, and it’s not Peak Torque.
The Asetek Forte Wheelbase has more than enough strength for the vast majority of people so I don’t think the extra 9Nm of torque available on the Invicta is a compelling reason to pay more on its own. As with the Invicta, I also tested the Forte with a variety of heavier and wider diameter wheels, and again these added a slight dampening to the FFB but didn’t detract from the driving experience overall, so should not be a factor here.
However, the Forte wheelbase is noticeably less reactive in more rigid cars like GT3, F1, etc. The difference is less noticeable in softer cars like street cars, GT4, GR86, etc to the point where in the GR86 for example I would struggle to tell the difference between the two bases. I believe this is due to the Slew Rate. That is the motor’s ability to change its rotational speed over time. Specifically, the slew rate is a measure of how quickly the motor can accelerate or decelerate its speed from one level to another.
Asetek state that the Invicta wheelbase has a max slew rate of around 9.5Nm/ms. Which is similar to that of the Simucube 2 Ultimate, although hard to compare directly as the measuring method may vary.
The Forte wheelbase has a reported max slew rate of 6.7Nm/ms which could be the reason why the Forte is “only” on par with the force feedback experience of the Simucube 2 Ultimate, and doesn’t quite match the responsiveness of the Invicta.
At the torque levels I run, the Forte feels almost indistinguishable from my Simucube 2 Ultimate which is extremely impressive when you consider it is around one-third of the price.
So having experienced both the Forte and Invicta, I would say there is definitely value in going for the Invicta if your budget allows it. But I certainly don’t think anyone would be disappointed with the Forte.
Make sure you check out our library of Sim Racing Hardware Reviews for detailed reviews of all the products mentioned in this review, and way more!
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