When it comes to improving your simracing equipment, the very first thing you need to think about is your pedals. It’s in your brake pedal that tenths of a second are hidden, ready to make you lose or gain places in the race. And when you’re looking for a good pedalset, there’s one name that inevitably comes up:Heusinkveld.
But while they’re best known for their Sim Sprint and Sim Ultimate pedalsets, they’ve got other cards in stock too. Like a sequential shifter and a handbrake. But that’s not all, as we shall see.
Some swear by this brand, others find that the quality/price ratio is no longer up to scratch. In any case, among enthusiasts, everyone has their own opinion of Heusinkveld and their products. So let’s take a tour of their products and find out exactly what you can expect from their simracing pedalset models.
A range dedicated to serious enthusiasts
Let’s face it, you need a big budget to afford this brand’s pedalsets. We’ll talk more about this in a moment, but one thing is certain: Heusinkveld’s models are definitely not aimed at the general public. Two models are available. The Heusinkveld Sprint and the Heusinkveld Ultimate.
So let’s get to know these two models!
The Heusinkveld Sprint in brief
The Sprint model is available with 2 or 3 pedals. At the tip of your toes, you’ve got a Load Cell brake pedal that can take 120Kg of pressure.
But that’s not all. In fact, you’ve got Load Cell on every pedal. Yes, even the gas pedal and clutch!
I’m not one of those convinced of the usefulness of placing load cells on other pedals, but who am I to complain?
As far as adjustments are concerned, the inclination of the pedals can be changed among 8 choices. Construction is 100% steel and metal. So durable 😉
To install your pedals, you’ll need a plate. So you can pull out the blue card once again for the Sprint Baseplate. And you’re ready to hit the track.
If we’re talking budget, count on €86.79 for the plate and €681.67 for the 3 pedals (or €584.15 without the clutch). That’s a total of between €670.94 and €768.46.
The Heusinkveld Ultimate in brief
Forget compromise, we’re bringing out the heavy artillery. Once again, we have Load Cell on every pedal (why deprive ourselves). But the level of pressure adjustment has gone up a notch.
There are also hydraulic dampers behind each pedal. These dampers are maintenance-free and add to the realism of the pedalboard experience.
Of course, you can still choose between a 2 or 3 pedal configuration. And if you don’t have a plate or aren’t a DIY enthusiast, the Baseplate Ultimate is there for you.
Budget-wise, this time we’re talking 91.67€ for the Baseplate and 1052.25€ and 1296.05€ for the 2 and 3 pedal configurations. This gives us a total of between 1143.92€ and 1387.72€.
Heusinkveld SmartControl
Well, when you’ve got a top-of-the-range pedalboard, you want to fine-tune it, don’t you? And for that, you’ve got Heusinkveld SmartControl.
It’s the brand’s dedicated software, and in concrete terms, you can do EVERYTHING in it. Each pedal can be precisely parameterized to produce exactly the curve you want.
You can also save your settings and reinstall them in a matter of moments. This allows you totailor your pedalboardprecisely to the type of vehicle you’re using live.
The Heusinkveld range of accessories
Now, everyone knows about Heusinkveld pedalsets, but we sometimes forget that they do other things too! Let me take you on a tour of the brand’s accessories 😉
Heusinkveld Sim Shifter
Pour limiter le bruit, les ingénieurs de la marque ont eu la bonne idée de faire finir la course du levier sur des pads en caoutchouc. Nos oreilles les remercient !
Heusinkveld Sim Handbrake
Et sur ce sujet, le Sim Handbrake ne fait pas les choses à moitié.
Comme sur un vrai frein à main vous avez deux duretés de course. La première est souple puis on passe sur une course dure pour imiter la pression mise sur les discs de frein.
Bien sûr, au coeur du système se cache encore une Load Cell, vous vous en doutiez n’est-ce pas ?
Heusinkveld Sim Rig GT
Que ce soit par votre volant Direct Drive ou par la pression que vous mettez sur votre pédalier, les châssis souffrent.
To meet riders’ expectations, Heusinkveld has launched its own simracing chassis. All in aluminum profiles and with all the standard options that are usually billed at a premium by other manufacturers.
- The Direct Drive base frame
- Pedalset plate (relieves you of the need to buy baseplates)
- Heel support
- Triple monitor mounting bracket
- VESA monitor mount
- Gearshift bracket
- But also the handbrake bracket
- Seat support
- Adjustable feet
Not a bad list of features for a simracing chassis that’s almost affordable!
A long list of partners
If there’s one thing Heusinkveld seems very proud of, it’s its many, many partners. They supply many, many racing drivers and some very fine ESports teams. I’ll let you be the judge:
- AMG Petronas ESports Team
- Williams ESports
- Team Redline
- Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing Team
- Otto Rensing (24h Nürburgring winner)
- Nick Tandy (24 Hours of Le Mans winner)
- Benny Simonsen (winner of the 24h of Spa in the Blancpain endurance series)
- Raffaele Marciello (Formula 3 and Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup champion)
- And the list goes on like that for hours, I’ll put the link here if you want to discover them all 😉
What we’re looking forward to
I’m not going to hide the fact that I haven’t yet had a Heusinkveld pedalset between my toes. But it won’t be long now, as I’m very much looking forward to testing them for you over the coming months.
So let’s get together soon and talk about them in even greater detail. If you’d like to find out more about their range, just click on the button below. But before I go, I’d like your opinion on this emblematic brand in the world of simracing! I’d love to hear from you in the comments 🙂
