4play App

[Yaima President]

SimRacing has consumed my life steadily over the past decade. And if you're passionate about sim racing, there are inevitable decisions to be made along the way. What wheel should i get? what games will run best on "this" graphics card? should I get brand x? Or wait for brand y's new peripheral to come out and pre-order? I see countless forum posts on ISRTV and other sim forums from people, noobs and veterans alike, asking questions about hardware, hungry for reviews and feedback about products that may or may not be as good as they claim to be. This review tackles a product that I have yet to see reviewed on the forum. The 4Play racing rig. Made from 8020 extruded aluminium.

For the past 6 or 7 years I had been driving on a bob earl VRC with a T500rs and a Th8. It's been heavily modded to be more rigid than before, but I decided I had waited long enough. The long wait on my part is party attributed to the lack of selection in rigs that fit my needs. Fortunately I recently found a rig that made sense to me. My budget was between 500-800 dollars.

The hangup for me is that alot of the rigs in that price range just don't prioritize what I find to be most important. I needed a chassis that was incredibly rigid and sturdy. Good news! That demand is covered. There are a ton of brands that meet this requirement. great.

I also wanted one that was very low to the ground, with a driving position on par with a super car, or open wheeler. After months of reading reviews and debating whether or not to just build my own, I didn't see too many... WTF?

Playseats along with the countless other brands each offer a home solution for a pre-packaged driving rig consisting of a fancy racing seat, some adjustable sliding metal bars, and a wheel stand mount, thrown carelessly into a driving postition that remind me of someone at a kitchen table or desk. And there are MANY of these. They're not for me, and I'm still shocked by how many sim racers buy these rigs. I wanted a low seated rig without any unnecesary bell or whistles. I saw Darin rockin his frankenrig, made of 8020 extruded aluminium and thought that would be perfect. But I don't have the technicall expertise or time to design, order parts, and build my own rig.

Enter 4play racing. Here's the part where I'd tell you a little bit about their history, but I have no idea who they are, and frankly I don't care. They shipped out the rig fast and they responded to all my questions within hours of posting them on their ebay page.

Putting this thing together took a long time. But I was prepared for this. If you know how to use a hex wrench, and you know how to read directions, and remember righty tighty, lefty loosey, you'll be fine.

Directions were emailed to me several days prior to the rig's arrival. there were 2 attachments: 1 for seat, and 1 for rig assembly. They also linked to several crash course videos showing animations of how 8020 goes together. this was very helpful. within a few hours of assembly, things progressed faster and faster, and the rig began to take shape.

the seat has plenty of padding. It's ultra smooth, but its very firm. If you're a wider set fellow it may be a bit uncomfortable. the sides along the torso are kind of narrow, which hugged me nicely and I had no problem, but it may be a bit unwelcoming if you're stocky and wide.

Mounting a wheel on this thing is dependent on what type of wheel you have. for me, the t500 proved very difficult at first. I suspect other wheels may be easier if they have more than 2 screw mounts. Over 2-3 hours of tinkering spanned out over the first few days, I finally found a good way to mount my T500 at the angle i wanted it, without any chance of it tilting forward or back. sadly this required 2 steal plates from a hardware store. 7$. this problem with wheel mounting isn't a huge concern. Once you get the hang of 8020, you'll see it easy to find a good mounting solution. Just takes some time and clever planning. I'll have a video and pictures to help anyone with that delema.

Solid. Very solid. Solid frame. bolts are high quality. the rig is so rigid in fact that it reveals the small design flaws of my t500. Any bend or shake in the wheel was now attributed to the plasic case of the t500 and its 2 mounting screws. It's always been that way, so I won't count it against the rig.

fortunately this rig is made of industrial legos of sorts. It's an industrial errector set. You don't have to be the most creative or tech savy person in the world to find good solutions for your mounting needs. All you need is a few sized allen wrenches and some spare time to try out all the possibilites of mounting.

Its looks pretty cool. Its also much easier to explain to casual guests that come to visit. You can't exactly claim to someone you built your human racing chassis. the fancier it looks, the more of an impression you send off to your guests. Since I'm a social bird of sorts, and I am NOT rich, I'd rather not have people ask me, Good lord how much was this? Instead of having to tell them how much you spent on a fixed chassis, glossy fairing covered, over-designed monstrosity that weighs over 150 pounds, has a huge name brand slapped on the rear of the seat under 100$ worth of clear coat paint, you can tell them the truth: I built this rig. (sure, you didn't design it), but thats still alot more believable. Plus it makes for an interesting talking peice, besides your other hardware. Maybe its just me. I think 8020 is badass. Looks way better than most rigs, and best of all, it's not trying to be a workstation / desk at the same time...OBUTTO! cough*

the 4Play racing chassis falls into a very unique category. Its sort of a Do it yourself rig, because it requires you to assumble it peice by peice, and there ARE many. Its a pain to build at first, almost a burden, but I think its a blessing in disguise. It forces your to get creative and find a mounting position exactly to your preference. This makes all the difference for me.

It removes the overall design process from the equation however. You wont have to go out and buy x amount of bolt of this type, and order y amount of fittings in precisely the length of Z inches. Ordering special parts and bolts is time consuming and frustrating for many, even those with a design background and some handy work experience. 4play racing gives everything you need to make an awesome rig.

*Stickers / decals included in the rig will get hard and sort of solidify (if you choose to use them. Not all of them say 4play racing. some are just generic silver. Additional mods require you to remove these, and they don't look half as pretty when you stick them back on.

I love it. It is a total pain in the ass to iron out the kinks and adjust it how i want it, but once i settled in for long sessions I was really pleased. I'm not the type to want a pre-set fancy rig with limited adjustability. I need it to be modular in almost every way. This review should be helpful to you if your opinions are similar to mine, and I'd encourage anyone who is as demanding as I am to consider this rig. It's made of 8020, which is great material for DIY rigs, but it removes the BS from the equation by coming shipped as a set template for a driving rig that fits the specs of a super car driving position. where you decide to take it from there is entirely up to you, and that alone is a great freedom to have.

You nailed the big advantage of 80/20 is it can grow with you, it's easy to modify in the future and it's strong. The seat looks really good quality unlike many sim seats... sadly not many racing seats are comfortable for us guys who are no longer slim!

I'd like it in black, but I walk past this thing at night in route to the bathroom, in the dark, and the ol' Bob Earl VRC nearly broke by toes several times when i tripped over it, so I'm ok with silverish aluminium for now, lol. not as stealthy but that can be a good thing sometimes too.

Outstanding Johnny! I've made a few mods since the initial review to tilt the base of the seat just a liiiitle bit back, so the delayed video is due to waiting for a few extra pieces to make this happen. Also, I contacted 4play racing about ordering some extra custom pieces in order to mount a set of SimTech PT1 pedals (if I'm lucky enough to get batch 1). They responded fast and said they're be happy to ship me a custom order! This is a huge help to me because tapping the ends of those 8020 pieces is tough for a guy like me, who doesn't own a drill tap set, nor do I care to mess with it.

I don't see the accuforce having any issues with stability, but since we are all here because we demand the most rigid rig possible, you should get the double post version, then use the manual as a guide to decide which pieces you'd like to order as extra. 4play racing responds fast, and they even sent me pictures of a few guys that have bought their rigs that are doing the same thing, which is mounting an accuforce.

Added a few updated pictures. Chassis has been reinforced with about 75$ in 8020 hardware, most importantly the side plates for the left right wheel frme bars. Not a si gle creek to be heard afterwards.

They can produce whatever you want. My rig is BLACK with some modifications. Definitely a solid setup. The counter bored connections are extremely stiff; actually seems to be stiffer than using only the big plates. It also aligns things much better than using the plates alone. I am impressed thus far.

Picking mine up soon as well. I've got the T500 and will be interested to figure out the most stable wheel deck mounting solution. I can't really tell by the photos also because I'm just not familiar with the setup yet. When I spoke to John he asked if I wanted the wheel deck bar in between the deck posts or outside... I just didn't know what would be more stable so I told him outside as it may be more flexible in terms of additional mounting options...

3a8082e126