Our Verdict
Pros
- Nice chassis design
- Strong enough to support high end wheels
- Comes with shifter add on
- Very easy to construct
Cons
- Not quite strong enough for direct drive
- A little flex in the pedal plate
- Seats are a little snug
The ART cockpit is GT Omega’s entry-level full-sized sim cockpit. It sits just underneath their PRO and TITAN cockpits and gives sim racers the perfect first step into a full sim rig.
Design and First Impressions
We like the design of all of GT Omega’s cockpits, as they all feature relatively open designs—apart from the PRO, which has a support beam closer to the chair. This open design concept makes getting into and out of your rig extremely easy.
Gone are the days of squeezing into a Playseat Evolution and trying not to hit your knees on the central support beam! Getting in and out is as easy as swinging your legs out or simply stepping, just like in a real car.
The seat adds to the feeling of getting into a real car. The RS6 seat, which is the seat we tested, the RS9, and the XL RS, all look as though they belong in a real car.
The seats feature relatively comfy and well-padded side bolsters and a nice leather finish. They are a little on the snug side, with some racers possibly finding them a little too tight. The XL RS seat does offer a little more room, but not overly much.
Building the GT Omega ART
Now comes the part where every sim racer sighs. The building of the sim rig. Unlike racing wheels, which we can plug in and mount, we’re racing. Sim rigs and cockpits require some reasonably skilled assembly. After all, this is the only thing stopping your very expensive sim wheel from hitting the floor!
We have spent full days in the past, assembling 80-20 sim rigs, and although some may thoroughly enjoy the build part. We, really do not. However, I’m delighted to report, that the GT Omega ART is one of the easiest sim rigs to put together.
The instructions were reasonably thorough and did a good job of showing where parts fit together. All in, we probably spent around an hour and a half to two hours from start to end. We were extremely proud of ourselves and that time!
How sturdy is this racing cockpit?
For the majority of our testing of the GT Omega ART cockpit, we opted for a Fanatec ClubSport wheel and pedal setup. This wheel produces some of the strongest force feedback from a belt-driven wheel. So we thought it was a perfect test subject.
We mounted the wheel base using the Fanatec table clamp. The pedals were hard-mounted. The Fanatec shifter was mounted to the shifter mount, which is supplied with this cockpit. We also used the triple monitor mount that GT Omega sells for testing.
We were surprisingly pleased with how little flex there was in this cockpit as a whole. We thought that because this really is an entry-level cockpit, there would be some flex, especially given the strength of the Fanatec ClubSport wheel base.
Other than a little lateral flexing in the wheel plate, the steel framework was strong enough to not move at all really throughout our playtesting. And we think this is due to the clever chassis design.
The support, which runs around the pedal plate and up to the wheel mount, is one continuous piece of steel. That is then supported by two vertical pieces of steel that essentially stiffen and hold the wheel mount beams in place.
This design performed very well, and it is no wonder that GT Omega continues to use a similar design in their more expensive cockpits.
The pedal plate had a little more flex to it. Probably more than we would have liked. But it is certainly much sturdier than Playseat sim rigs. The pedal deck touches the framework at the bottom and is then adjusted via the pre-drilled holes towards the top.
What racing wheels does the GT Omega ART support?
Officially, the GT Omega ART cockpit will support almost any wheel and pedal combination you could think of. The wheel plate does come pre-drilled with a variety of mounting combinations supported.
You can also use a table clamp to mount your racing wheel, as the wheel plate is essentially just a thin piece of metal. We used the Fanatec table mount attachment, which worked fine.
The ART cockpit does come bundled with a shifter mount, which is a nice touch. This can be mounted in a variety of positions, on either side of the cockpit, and again supports most shifters.
Is the GT Omega ART strong enough for direct drive?
As mentioned, we spent most of our time testing with the Fanatec ClubSport wheel. But we did slap on our direct drive Podium wheel base for a quick test. I mean, it would be rude not to!
With the ClubSport, the chassis flex was minimal, and we could quite comfortably race without noticing the rig at all. With a direct drive wheel, there is much more movement, which takes away some of the force feedback.
There was not much sideways movement at all. In this department, the ART rig is braced very well. However, the wheel mount did flex and shake in a forward-to-backward motion.
There is a selection of wheel braces that you can purchase and are designed to strengthen the wheel plate. These could solve the issue of forward motion, but we didn’t test this, so we couldn’t say for sure.
Should I buy an ART Cockpit?
All in all, the GT Omega ART cockpit is a fantastic piece of hardware. It features a great design which allows for ease of movement, both in and out of the seat. The seats themselves are decent for long play sessions, although a little on the snug side!
There weren’t any performance issues with the cockpit as a whole until we introduced a direct drive wheel that was! The pedal plate moved a little under hard braking, although over time, you don’t really notice it.
But as a whole, we would highly recommend a GT Omega ART sim rig especially if it is to be your first-ever stand-alone cockpit.
If you are looking to upgrade from a Playseat Evolution or Revolution. Then this is a natural progression. It is slightly bigger, much better designed and can support higher-end racing wheels.
Technical Specifications
Review written by Felix König
