Once again, we had the pleasure of interviewing André Eriksen, CEO of Asetek, at the ADAC Simexpo to talk about the latest news from the brand, as well as the new products to come. New product range, upgrades… There was a lot to talk about!
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Asetek’s big news for ADAC SimExpo 2024
Sam: Hello André, here we are again at ADAC SimExpo. What are the big news you’re announcing this year?
André: The biggest news this year is the arrival of the Formula Invicta steering wheel. I’ve already told you about it, and we wish we’d launched it 18 months ago, but it’s here now.
–Testing the Asetek Formula Invicta steering wheel
What took you so long to develop this steering wheel?
I’d say the software and firmware took us a long time. Most of our colleagues design their steering wheels with USB screens. So they don’t really have to worry about integrating firmware or software.
At Asetek, we wanted to go in a different direction, because from the very beginning I wanted a single piece of software for our entire Asetek ecosystem. I wanted to respect that! So we went for a totally different screen, but we had to develop everything ourselves. All the firmware support of course, but of course we also wanted SimHub compatibility. That way, more advanced people can create their own displays. And it was a massive job!
OK. Wasn’t it possible to use a Vocore-type USB display, for example?
Not really in the way we wanted to do it. Well, I’m not a software engineer, obviously. But we really wanted to control absolutely everything about the screen ourselves, without having to rely on a USB connection. We use our own processor.
On top of that, it’s a high-resolution 60Hz screen, but above all it’s an industrial screen! And the manufacturer guarantees that this precise screen will be produced for the next 20 years. It’s an industrial product.
The challenge of manufacturing by hand in Denmark
Now I understand. Of course, we’ve noticed the ton of customization possibilities. But isn’t it a huge challenge for your team to produce these steering wheels by hand fast enough to meet demand?
It is! I think there are 58,000 different possible combinations. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the SimRacing industry, it’s that it’s like when my wife buys herself a pair of Gucci shoes or a Chanel bag? It’s fashion!
What I mean by that is, some people like orange buttons, some like green, some like yellow… And I think it would be a real shame for a steering wheel of this quality to get stuck on a single physical aspect. That’s why we decided to open up customization as much as possible. Just like when you buy your next Ferrari, you have to choose the interior, the quality of the materials, and so on. That’s how we wanted our steering wheel, now we need to move on to the execution. Since the launch yesterday, we’ve already had a huge queue of buyers. So from Monday morning, we’ve got to get going!
Asetek’s new low-budget range arrives in 2025
You’ll soon be launching a new range of entry-level products with possible console compatibility. What can you tell us about it so far?
I can talk a little about it, it’s coming and we’ve already got the prototypes. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved over the last three years. We’ve managed to make a name for ourselves in a short space of time. But we also have to be realistic! With taxes and shipping, a Formula Invicta quickly costs over €1,600. Not many people can afford that. It was really hard to make it cheaper, too, because there’s a lot of technology inside and high-quality materials.
When we started three years ago, our La Prima range was supposed to be our entry-level series. But the market has since driven prices down, and the La Prima isn’t really entry-level anymore. It’s mid-range.
–Testing the Asetek La Prima base-
I’d say it’s still better than other products, but its price isn’t entry-level. To give you my opinion, I think a lot of budget products are… I wouldn’t say poor quality, because for me quality is whether it’s going to break or not… But I don’t think the performance is great.
What we’d like to do is use more exotic materials and other manufacturing techniques to lower sales prices while retaining the performance and quality of the products for which the Asetek brand is known.
So, what we want to bring out next year (2025) is a new range of products that, when you look at them, look like Asetek products. For example, that the base has the same shape as our other bases, but is smaller, and that the feelings are the same. That we still have the same Quick Release, which may or may not be made of aluminum, remains to be seen, but that it’s there and that we can mix all Asetek products together, whatever the range. And all at a much lower price. You’ll be able to buy a complete ecosystem from the new range for less than the Formula Invicta steering wheel.
Do you have a general idea of when you’d like to release this new range?
We’ve just been validated to create products compatible with a home console. That will determine the release date. In fact, today we have two choices. Either we release a PC-only version, then bring console compatibility later. Or we can do it all at once. We don’t know yet. I’d say it could come out early in Q2 2025, or probably around September.
Can we talk a little about the pedals in this new range?
What I can tell you is that they’ll look a lot like our other pedalboards. They’ll be made from a different material, and the manufacturing techniques will be different. These pedals can be used on the ground or on a chassis. The price will be very good, and we’ll be able to upgrade them.
By the way, do you have any new options in the pipeline for the Invicta pedalboard?
Two years ago I presented and promised an ABS module. It’s coming! But to be perfectly honest, we haven’t had time to concentrate on that. There have been so many big projects and while it’s a very exciting option, even for me, it’s still just a feature. It’s not going to make the store go round. Right now we have to focus on that because we’re running a business. But yes, it will! And if I had all the employees I wanted and the time, it would have been here a long time ago.
–Testing the Asetek Invicta- pedalboard
While I’m on the subject, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your Danish championship victory with your LMP3!
Thank you, Valdemar! You know, I’m seeing a lot of brands coming onto the market at the moment. Everyone claims to have the “real” feel… As you can see, we’ve got the LMP3 right there, the championship title is there too. We’re racing. We (Valdemar and André) are drivers. And I think that even on the new product range, you’ll be able to see this difference too.
How far have you got with upgrading from La Prima to Forte bases?
We’ve had a lot of questions about the upgrade between the La Prima base and the Forte base. In fact, I think I’ve already said in a video that we’re ready. And we are! But we still don’t know what’s going to happen with console compatibility, because that’s out of our hands. We’ll have to see what we can and can’t do.
I don’t want to sell people an upgrade today, make everyone happy, only to find out in a year’s time that they can buy another upgrade to get console compatibility. It sounds easy, but it’s not!
That’s what we want to clarify before offering this option. For the moment, for example, you can change your grips, change your paddles – for example, carbon paddles are also available for our other steering wheels.
You can upgrade a La Prima crankset to Invicta… We have a lot of upgrades available, but for Direct Drive bases this isn’t the case yet, because we don’t want to disappoint people. We don’t want to sell them something today when they could have much better features in a very short time. I don’t know yet whether we’ll do it this way or not. But until we know, we won’t release it.
The video interview
Watch Asetek’s interview at ADAC SimExpo 2024 and more in the video below!
