Danish brand Asetek SimSports has been making a lot of noise lately! After their top-of-the-range Forte and Invicta cranksets, they’ve added another layer. There will indeed be a Direct Drive, a steering wheel and an Asetek Quick Release in the brand’s ecosystem.
We already knew that, but we hadn’t seen anything yet. This time we have, thanks to a video released on their YouTube channel. I invite you to discover what Asetek CEO André Eriksen has to say. Then, let’s take a look at what the Danish team has in store for us in terms of developing its range.
The Asetek announcement shakes up the Simracing world once again!
If you’re not bilingual, here’s a summary of what André Eriksen, CEO of Asetek, has to say:
In preparing their Quick Release, they faced a challenge. Quick Release systems for real racing cars and Simracing hardware are very different. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, a racing car is not used on a daily basis. All in all, the QR will only have to undergo a few hundred connections and disconnections. It’s not designed to be used thousands of times over years and years.
In the world of simracing , things are very different! A wheel is connected and disconnected thousands of times over very long periods. And the slightest slip means disappointment for the user. The demand for reliability and durability is not the same.
Then there’s the challenge of the clearance between the steering wheel and the steering shaft. To illustrate this, André Eriksen shows us the play present in the QR of the real Audi R8 GT3 and then in a Formula Renault steering shaft. The play is quite pronounced! And in the world of simracing, we’d immediately cry foul on the part of the engineers. But the drivers don’t worry about that during their race. They concentrate on the track and their opponents.
Armed with these first two observations, the Asetek SimSports teams thought about the features that the ideal Quick Release should have.
Asetek Quick Release design criteria
- Affordable: For obvious competitive reasons
- Reliable: The QR must be able to be used thousands of times without flinching
- Quality: materials and components must last for years
- Transmit energy to the steering wheel: to power LED and LCD displays
- Information transmission system: for buttons, LCD screen and LED displays
- Ultra-simple to use: anyone should be able to understand it
- Extreme resistance: So you don’t blow it up if you do anything stupid
To succeed, there’s no choice but to analyze other brands’ models. Among the whole simracing range, the Asetek teams have found one they particularly like. Maybe the design will ring a bell 😉
So they bought the license to use it, but the model had its limits. So Asetek worked on all the improvements they could make.
The connector problem
One concern is that the Asetek steering wheel due for release in the coming months features LED displays and an LCD screen. To power the steering wheel, there were 3 choices:
- Use batteries : admittedly a pain in the ass..
- Connecting a cable : but again, this isn’t an ideal solution, and even real pilots are fed up with it.
- Transferring energy from the Direct Drive base via induction or connection pins
In the end, the latter solution was chosen. But unlike Moza and Simagic, for example, which transmit power via connection pins and data via Bluetooth, Asetek has chosen to transmit information via physical connectors too.
Why? To ensure optimum transmission between the base and the LCD screen of their steering wheel. I’d like to add that I personally congratulate them on this choice. Being sensitive to electromagnetic fields myself, I get a hellish headache every time I use Moza or Simagic. So, in theory, I should be able to enjoy the new Asetek Direct Drive without a headache (literally).
How to block or remove the Quick Release effectively?
On the license purchased by Asetek, the Quick Release is locked by a metal pin which is inserted into the QR.
It’s very effective, but not very practical. Sohere too, they’vecome up with an innovative solution. A lever on the steering-wheel-side QR that you simply press to release the mechanism.
The Asetek Direct Drive and their first steering wheel!
Behind all this info on the Quick Release, there are other ultra-important elements. For the first time, we get a glimpse of the brand’s complete ecosystem. We still know almost nothing about the base or the steering wheel. But that doesn’t stop us from trying to analyze the images!
Compared to the size of the wheel, the Direct Drive Asetek base appears to be about the same size as a Simagic Alpha.
We don’t know if this is the final design, but for the moment there doesn’t seem to be any possibility of side-mounting.
As for the steering wheel, we don’t know if it’s close to the final design. For the moment, at least, here’s what we can see:
- LCD display (not yet visible on pre-prod versions, apparently)
- 15 LEDs for lap counter 2×3 LEDs for display of flags and loss of grip
- 4 paddles
- 6 thumbwheels
- 3 rotaryencoders in center
- 2 joysticks
- 12 buttons
- 2 3-positionselectors
I’m at the height of impatience
I don’t know about you, but personally I’m extremely anxious to find out more. Given the level of quality offered so far by the brand, and their partnership with Kevin Magnussen who helps them fine-tune their cranksets… They’ve really got what it takes to make a name for themselves on the simracing market.
But there are still a number of unanswered questions. We know nothing about the release date, or the price at which these models might be offered. All we know so far is that Asetek is far from having said its last word. And this Quick Release, if it lives up to its promises, is going to be a slap in the face.
We’ll probably have some news by the end of August, as Asetek will be taking part in GamesCom Cologne.
Until then… See you in the comments! What are your expectations and forecasts for the brand? Are you as impatient as I am? We’ll be right back 🙂
