Nitro Concepts S-Racer Compact Sim Racing Cockpit Review

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Aluminium profile sim racing cockpits will always be more modular, versatile, and open to custom solutions than tubular-based frames, thanks to the profile system's universality. That isn't to say, though, that tubular-based cockpits don't have their place, and today I am going to be taking a look around the Nitro Concepts S-Racer.

Nitro Concepts markets the S-Racer as a compact racing cockpit, aimed at intermediate sim racers who are coming from a beginner's setup, such as a compact wheel stand or a desk-mounted setup. Priced at $299, plus taxes and shipping, it's an affordable next step into the sim racing world. The Nitro Concepts S-Racer, however, doesn't come with a seat, but is compatible with Nitro Concepts' own seat range, noblechairs, and other bucket seats when using the seat slider and mount add-on.

While there is no compatibility list on the Nitro Concepts web page, it appears suitable for gear- or belt-driven systems, or perhaps lower-end direct-drive wheel bases that won't try to pull the frame apart. The same applies to pedals, with load cell and hydraulic-based systems perhaps pushing the limits. Remember, we are still towards the lower end of the cockpit market here. You never know, though, it might just surprise me, so let's jump in and take a look around the Nitro Concepts S-Racer compact sim racing cockpit.

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Packaging

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The Nitro Concepts S-Racer arrived in quite a large box. Packaging is quite plain on the outside, with images of the chassis on the front and rear, accompanied by the Nitro Concepts logo in the top left corner. The sides of the box are plain, except for the S-Racer logo, with a label indicating the package weight. The Nitro Concepts S-Racer has a net weight of 26.5 kg (58.5 lbs), so it's fairly light to move around the home. With not a lot else to look at, let's get unboxing this cockpit.

Unboxing the Nitro Concepts S-Racer

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Cutting through the packaging tape, we can see inside the top of the box. Everything seems very well packaged, with large blocks of polystyrene filling the voids to protect the included parts. As I unpacked the contents, nothing was damaged. The frame, being tubular, is split into front and back sections that nestle between each other for shipping.

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After getting everything out of the main box, we have a smaller box included that contains the pedal plate, chassis feet, screws, and other accessories. We will cover all the components as we build up the chassis.

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The rear section of the frame is fully wrapped for protection during shipping. Cardboard blocks protect the seat mount, with foam sheets wrapped around the tubular section.

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A huge sheet of foam wrapped up the front section within the main box. Once removed, some areas have extra protection, such as the mounting points, wheel deck, and pedal plate mount.

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Now that all the packaging is removed, you can see the front base on which the pedal plate will sit. This has multiple mounting locations to allow for front-to-back adjustment of the pedal position. You can also see the mounting locations for the front feet we will add later.

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The front and back sections connect via add-ons at the ends of the tubular frame. Three holes are positioned on top, and underneath each side.

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Side on, the front frame has a nice angle, with the pedal plate attachment offering adjustment rails on the sides. Welds to the side panels are good, neat, and don't feel flimsy. It would be nice to have these fully welded all the way around, but for the price of the chassis, the spot welds should be more than sufficient.

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Viewed from the front, the pedal mounting plate is nice and flat, with three cutouts to the center. I suppose these are to save a bit of weight, but they could also be used to run cables underneath from the pedals.

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Turning our attention to the rear part of the frame, with the packaging removed, we can take a closer look. Nitro Concepts also includes small silver rings at the tubular ends to protect them during transit and maintain their round shape.

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Viewed from above, at the top of the image, you can see the mounting holes to connect to the front of the frame, with the seat mounting points also visible. The steel frame, when built, will measure 129 cm long, 55 cm wide, and 68 cm tall. Dimension-wise, it is quite compact compared to something like a Trak Racer TR80S, but closer in footprint to the GT Omega TITAN.

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Nitro Concepts states that the S-Racer is compatible with a range of bucket seats, including their own in-house range and that of noblechairs. Other brands may be a direct bolt-on or require minor modifications, so check before you buy. Nitro Concepts also offers an optional seat slider for additional adjustment to the S-Racer. Mounting points for the seat are on the frame sides, with the brackets braced in the center and welded to the tubular frame. More feet mounting holes are also included underneath.

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Time to go over the accessories and parts included with the Nitro Concepts S-Racer. First, there are the brackets and inserts that connect the front and back of the frame together. The plates are externally mounted, with the inserts providing threaded holes for bolting; these look extremely robust, and I have no concerns about their strength.

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Next, Nitro Concepts includes six feet for the S-Racer; they offer some height adjustment to level out the frame and include rubber non-slip pads on the faces.

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The last of the smaller parts to check out are the screws and tools that you will need to assemble the frame, along with an easy-to-understand instruction manual. I like that Nitro Concepts includes a paper copy. It's not a complicated frame to build, but having a paper-based version is nice, something that I noted that Trak Racer didn't include with the TR120S V2. Nitro Concepts also includes a few ties for wiring and some stickers for the seat mount area.

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The included wheel deck is compact, but it feels really sturdy in hand. The wheel deck includes a number of mounting patterns for various wheel bases, but the Nitro Concepts website page for the S-Racer doesn't provide a compatibility list, and neither does the user manual. If you are looking at this chassis and don't know if your wheel will fit, it might deter you from the purchase, so I will feed this back to Nitro Concepts, to hopefully get this updated and the information out there. Underneath, the chassis mounting brackets also feature elongated holes for vertical adjustment.

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Moving our attention to the pedal deck, the same applies here: lots of mounting holes but no indication of what can be installed. This pedal plate feels sturdy, as does the wheel deck, but we won't know if there is any flex until we move into testing.

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With the front part of the main chassis allowing for front-to-back adjustability of the pedal position, the actual pedal deck includes a tilt function that can be adjusted using the side-mounted bolts. Here, there are five different positions the pedals can be adjusted to, getting them into a comfy position for racing. With everything covered, it's time to build the chassis and mount some kit!

Building & Hardware Installation

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To get the chassis up and running, I inserted the two tubular brackets into the front and rear sections of the frame and aligned everything. With the threads visible through the holes, I added the top and bottom plates and then bolted everything together.

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Throughout the whole build, everything lined up really nicely. I didn't run into any issues with poorly mounted threads, cross-threading, or other problems that you sometimes find with cheaper sim rigs. This is a real credit to Nitro Concepts and the quality assurance process that seems to be in place.

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Now that the main frame is assembled, I then mounted the pedal deck using the included bolts and nuts. I have opted for a fairly central position front-to-rear, but may adjust it if needed during testing. Only four bolts are required, and no washers are needed according to the instruction manual. I would have preferred to add some washers here, but you only get enough for the wheel deck that I will cover shortly.

Just to touch on something else, if you look at the manual, there is a section that specifies pedal deck orientation, depending on the type of pedals used and the angle of the faces. This can also be used to invert the tilt from up to down, as needed.

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As you can see, installing the pedal deck is painless. This is a really easy chassis to build, and as I have done, it shouldn't take more than around half an hour to complete.

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Next, I screwed in the feet, all six of them. Again, they mounted really easily with no thread issues. They include a nut to help lock the foot in place when adjusted to level out the rig.

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The final part to install is the wheel deck, again using the included hardware. There is a lot of vertical and horizontal adjustment available, so I can fine-tune this once my wheel is installed and ready to go. Given the space available underneath, I would consider installing the wheel base before mounting it to the chassis, so you have more room to access the mounting points. It's still achievable, I think, but doing this beforehand might make life just a little easier.

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So that's it, the main chassis is built and ready for a seat. Before we get to that, I need to move. As you can see, I am quickly running out of room for decent photos in my main work area. Into the house we go!

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For this review, I was sent over a noblechairs EPIC Gaming Chair - Black Edition to use as a sim racing seat. Featuring unique, breathable vinyl upholstery, it is well-suited to desk-based gaming and office work. While I am not reviewing this seat as such, it is nice to cover it in part here.

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Removing the base and arms of the chair allowed me to mount this directly to the S-Racer, as the frame uses the same mounting holes as the armrests and reuses the armrest bolts. Installation is simple, but the seat is fairly heavy when you do it yourself and try to line everything up. With the seat installed, it was time to rest, sit down, and see how comfy this seat is. Well, being sat in a rigid bucket seat most of the time, it's a nice, refreshing change to have this much comfort! No rest for me, though, I need to get the wheel and pedals mounted next!

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Today I will be using the Asetek Initium bundle that I reviewed in October last year. I have chosen this set because it comes with 5Nm as standard and an 8Nm power upgrade kit, and I will be using both variants to test the rigidity of this frame. Given the price of the Asetek Initium standard bundle, it's likely a good choice to pair with a tubular frame chassis such as the Nitro Concepts S-Racer. Would I bolt the all-new Simagic Alpha EVO Ultra 28Nm wheelbase to this rig? No, I don't think so.

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It was here that I started encountering issues, since there isn't a compatibility list readily available. The mounting holes on the wheel deck weren't spaced far enough apart to mount the base, but luckily, I have an adapter plate here that I can use. For me, it's been a small issue, but if I didn't have the adapter plate, I could have potentially used the included Asetek Initium desk clamp. Your mileage may vary depending on the wheelbase you plan to use; I suppose you could drill your own mounting holes to suit if needed, but you don't want to do that on a brand-new rig that should come with the correct mounting holes. While MOZA, Thrustmaster, Logitech, and the like may bolt straight on, the Initium isn't out-of-the-box compatible.

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Mounting the Initium pedals, on the other hand, was simple, with so many mounting holes on the pedals themselves and the pedal plate; it was an easy bolt-through job that took only a couple of minutes to complete. Despite some compatibility queries, I don't hold much concern for the pedal plate with the large number of mounting points available to cater for a wide range of pedal sets.

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Now complete, I sat in the cockpit to get a feel for the driving position, and for me, at 5' 8" tall, it is a little cramped. Having a seat slider kit installed here would certainly be useful, but for shorter adults and teens/kids, there should be enough room, and you can also move the pedals further out.

Now it's time to wire it up and get testing. I have put the rig in front of the TV, so I can drag a system through, connect it all up, and get some laps in. Time to get on with that, so I can give you my final thoughts on the Nitro Concepts S-Racer.

Kris' Sim Racing Test System Specifications

Final Thoughts

After some time testing the Nitro Concepts S-Racer, I have a very simple conclusion. It offers good value for money and a suitably stable platform for racing, though a few asterisks dot the landscape here and there. Let's elaborate some more on that then.

First, the build process is about as easy as it can get for a sim racing frame, unless you go for an even more simplistic fold-out wheel stand, and you don't have the space for a full-blown setup. Here, there is nothing to overcomplicate the process; everything is simple, and for what you get, Nitro Concepts didn't need to overengineer things for the sake of it.

The Nitro Concepts S-Racer is certainly compact, and is dwarfed in comparison to my Trak Racer TR120S V2, but it isn't trying to be a big, brutal, full-on serious cockpit. Its compact nature lends itself well to weekend racers, those with limited space, or those who don't need every add-on out there. With a wheel and pedals mounted, maybe a dash screen attached to the top of the wheel base, and the optional gear shift holder added, you are pretty set for a good racing experience. If you need to tuck it away, I am sure there are online retailers that offer caster wheels you could easily swap the rubber adjustable feet for, then wheel it into a corner out of the way when not in use.

Probably the most important aspect of this chassis is its performance in racing, and here it holds up quite well. I spent some time in AC EVO and Le Mans Ultimate to try out this rig, flipping between the standard 5Nm and the 8Nm upgrade package on the Asetek Initium, and I would suggest you stay within these boundaries for the best experience. It's not the most solid sim racing frame on the market; there is some flex in both the wheel plate and the pedal deck, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. The wheel plate is probably the weakest part of the whole frame and could maybe do with a revision for stronger wheelbases, but again, it's not designed for the high end or the most powerful hardware available.

Pedal deck flex would certainly increase if you go with a load-cell brake setup, or even a hydraulic one, but again, we are pushing into more of the high-end realm that the S-Racer isn't designed for or well-suited to. While there is some flex, it certainly shouldn't put you off purchasing one of these. Throw on a Thrustmaster T300RS, MOZA R3, or R5, for example, and you would have a great time with this cockpit.

My biggest concern at this point is what wheel bases and pedals you can actually mount to this cockpit, and Nitro Concepts needs to get a chart out sooner rather than later. The Nitro Concepts S-Racer has been available for quite some time now, and it astounds me that there isn't a wheel-and-pedal range listed on the website. I did reach out to my contact to chase this up, and the reply I got was: "As for the compatibility, we are working on something, but don't have something readily available right now, unfortunately." It sounds then, like they are aware, but it might not be at the top of their to-do list.

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Putting that aside, if you choose the right hardware accordingly, then you will have hours upon hours of sim racing fun, safe in the knowledge that you are not pushing the Nitro Concept S-Racer past its limits. Tubular frame rigs sometimes get a bad rep because of the additional limitations that round tubes introduce when mounting to them, but if you are looking to purchase one, do take that into account, given the somewhat limited upgrade paths available.

I am trying to think of anything I don't like about the Nitro Concepts S-Racer as a standalone cockpit for some weekend fun, and it's hard. At $299, I could go off and start looking at a whole host of alternative rigs, but of course, I haven't tried many of them, so I can't give an accurate comparison. If you want something more substantial, with the ability to customize the chassis to your liking, then I would say put the money Nitro Concepts is asking for this chassis towards something else. The only real downside I can see is the Nitro Concepts lineup of upgrades currently available: a seat slider and a gear shift holder, but that's about it. However, if you know your wheel will fit and you only need a couple of minor add-ons, then you are good to go and will be more than satisfied with the end result.