One of the challenges facing Revosim, Nacon’s sim racing equipment brand, is its name.
Not how it’s spelt, or how it looks printed on a product, but the lack of cachet.
Competitor brands have either been around for decades, with a large and loyal install base, or seem to be China-backed and able to undercut or rapidly iterate.
The French brand debuted its RS Pure (9 Nm) wheelbase and a matching set of load-cell pedals last year, entering a fiercely competitive oligopoly in the process.
That lack of brand recognition, however, should change with this new product, the first optional wheel rim for the ecosystem. It’s an officially licensed Aston Martin F1 product, which should mark the beginning of a wider range in future
Yes, that team. You know, Adrian Newey, Fernando Alonso and soon Jonathan Wheatley. Green mixed with fluorescent green.
One key criticism of Reovsim so far has been a lack of an accessory ecosystem. Well, the shifter, clutch pedal and handbrake are now available, and this means there’s finally a formula-style rim to go alongside the round unit available since the base’s initial release.
Handily, unbeknownst to me, I already had the hub needed to marry with the rim. The RS Pure Steering wheel, available separately or as part of a bundle with the base, is already two parts merged into one. Undo six bolts on the front, and the electronics (buttons, shift lights, quick release and shifts) detach.
After this, simply swap the round rim for the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team Rim, and place the magnetic Formula 1-team bolt cover on the front, and hey presto – you’re now transformed into Alonso (minus a serious case of vibration white finger). At least, I think that’s how it works…
The shifts can also be changed, with two natty genuine carbon-fibre paddles included in the set to replace the bare metal original units. Just two screws for each here, although I did notice that there were cross-headed units, as opposed to the Allen-key utilising nuts described in the instructions.
That aside, the colour booklet included is clear and easy to follow, and the packaging is also smartly branded inside and out. It’s all about the details.
Rounding out this particular bundle, labelled the ‘customisation set’, are matching button caps, which are super-straightforward to replace, plus a button sticker set.
Two further surprise additions include ‘decorative strips’ for the wheel base – bright rubber pieces that slide into the existing side strakes, before a magnetised Aston F1 team icon can be slapped on. Then there are the fully branded sim racing gloves to complete the look. Neat.
On (the virtual track), the rubberised grips happened to feature a comfortable design (other hands may have different opinions), and I enjoyed its 30cm diameter. It’s not that size, really, that makes the difference, but rather the gap between those grips that your thumb must reach to the nearest button. With my fingers at least, everything is nearby.
Sure, there are no scroll buttons on the side, and there’s a complete lack of a screen, but we’re talking £129.90 / €129.90 with everything but the gloves, or £149.90 / €149.90 with them – there’s also a new bundle including the RS Pure base. This isn’t a range-topping, all-singing, all-dancing sim racing rim.
It’s an affordable rim that also happens to be endorsed. It’s sturdy enough for the peak torque of the Revosim base, ergonomic, a breeze to affix and (this could be a placebo effect) the carbon shift paddles seem to respond keener than the metal ones.
Someone who works at Revosim’s Nacon parent company once told me that they had “thought of everything”. In that case, they were referencing the base, its app, phone holder and included desk mount.
But that philosophy carried across to this wheel rim. It’s a doddle to swap across, and has clever branded details that go above and beyond most companies’ efforts. It’s a promising start to the Revosim range expansion.
Discussion