Asetek SimSports Invicta Sim Racing Pedals
Born of pure passion for racing! André Eriksen, the CEO of Asetek Liquid Cooling, has been passionately active in racing for years. With his knowledge and experience in racing he got to work and built a solid foundation for the pedal sets of Asetek Simsport. Thanks to our good relationship with Asetek, we already had the privilege of reviewing the Asetek SimSports Forte Sim Racing Pedals. Now we also have the opportunity to put the Asetek SimSports Invicta Sim Racing Pedals to the test. And of course, we are very happy to do so!
At the time of writing, the Asetek Invicta Sim Racing Pedals (brake and accelerator pedal) are available for €849.00. We also received the Asetek Invicta Clutch System, which comes with a price tag of € 249.00. Because we like to drive wearing socks, we also received the Forte Pedal Face Plates. These additional Pedal Face Plates have a price tag of € 40.66.
Packaging & Contents
Our package was delivered to us by DHL within a few working days. We received a large brown box containing 2 large white boxes and a small black box. The white boxes contain the Asetek Invicta Sim Racing Pedals and the Asetek Invicta Clutch System. The small box contains the Forte Pedal Face Plates. Everything is neatly provided with a plastic wrap, so that we received the packages in excellent condition. It’s almost like a Christmas Eve experience to unpack!
The Asetek Invicta Sim Racing Pedals are protected together in a beautiful box that immediately shows that we are dealing with high-end pedals. In addition to the pedals, the box also contains 2 extra elastomer inserts (medium and hard), 2 USB cables (USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-C), an extra spring for the accelerator pedal, a whole bunch of stickers and some necessary mounting materials for an aluminum sim rig. The Asetek Invicta Clutch System also comes in a separate box together with some necessary mounting material, again a lot of stickers and an extra* Forte Pedal Face Plate. The extra face plate is included so that the clutch can be used on both the Invicta and Forte pedals.
*In our case, this face plate was not included in the box. For this we have created a ticket at Asetek Support and they have sent the missing face plate to us within 2 working days. We think this quality of support is certainly worth mentioning.
Technology & Quality
The first thing we notice when unpacking is how sturdy this pedal set feels. From the first touch and the first eye contact, one thing becomes immediately clear, we are dealing here with a high-quality product. Every part looks well thought out and certainly seems to be able to take a beating. Nevertheless, the weight of the pedals is not too bad and they do not feel heavy. One of the reasons for this is the choice of materials Asetek uses for the baseplate. Many higher end pedal manufacturers stick to a traditional design where the individual pedals are attached to a heavy baseplate. At Asetek they have opted for a different model in which the pedals are incorporated into the baseplate itself. Just like the pedals themselves, this baseplate is made of die-cast aluminum, which means that it takes a lot less weight than other pedal sets. In addition to the fact that the baseplate acts as a mounting for the pedals themselves, it is also nice and long at the front, leaving enough space to rest your feet. There is also a comfortable raised edge at the base of the pedals that you can rest your heels against while riding to ensure that your feet do not come close to the moving parts.
Seen from right to left, the first pedal is of course the accelerator pedal. In terms of functionality, Asetek also uses a system that has proven itself time and again, which is a Hall sensor for the signal and a simple compression spring for the pedal feel. This way you can press your pedal endlessly without the precision of your sensor deteriorating. The looks of the pedal are a lot more striking. The pedal has a beautiful black rounded body which gives a very chic impression. On the back we find a nice logo of Asetek SimSports which, although you will never see the logo while driving, gives even more flair to the pedal. The footplate gives a somewhat rawer look to this pedal. It is a neatly finished plate which has a 3 x 7 upright hole pattern on the front. Besides the fact that these upright hole patterns should give a good grip, they can also be used to move the footplate higher, lower or sideways. If you look at the pedals, you will immediately notice that the pedal has orange accents. These are certainly not just for decoration. On the front of the pedal we find two orange rotary knobs. Where the first knob is a retaining ring, the second knob serves as an adjustment knob. By turning this knob, the angle of the pedal relative to the baseplate can be adjusted. Directly behind the pedal we find an orange rotary knob with an Allen screw in it. Again, the first ring is a retaining ring for the bolt that is in it. This bolt is a rock-solid end stop for your accelerator pedal and is used to set the travel of your pedal. If we look slightly up at the back, we find two holes on the body of the accelerator pedal. These two holes can be used to determine the angle of the spring, which can be loosened with a simple locking pin and also tightened again without breaking a sweat. The spring mechanism itself can be called traditional and actually works the same as on most pedals. It is a simple shaft with a compression spring slid over it. This compression spring can also be set and secured with two beautiful orange rotary knobs to define your personal preload. Something that can be called somewhat unique is that almost all adjustment options of this pedal can be operated completely without tools. This means that every small adjustment to your pedals, except for moving the footplate, is realized in no time.
The brake pedal of the Invicta can be called special. This is certainly one of the reasons why we have been so excited to test this pedal set. The looks of the pedal are almost the same as that of the accelerator. Just like in most cars, the footplate is shorter and wider than that of the accelerator pedal. For the brake it’s also a plate with an upright hole pattern, but in a 4 x 5 pattern instead. The real special feature of this pedal lies in its braking mechanism. Asetek has developed a new system for the Invicta pedals called T.H.O.R.P. This stands for “Twin Hydraulic Opposing Rapid Pistons”. In a nutshell, this is a hybrid system that uses both traditional polymers and a hydraulic system. If you want to know more in-depth how the system works, Asetek has a video online in which CEO André Eriksen explains how it works in detail. Both components in the hybrid system have their own function. The polymeric insert that sits in the back of the large T.H.O.R.P. housing provides the initial stroke in your pedal. With the different hardness settings of the supplied inserts you can make this stroke a bit more flexible or stiff to your liking. An additional advantage of the placement in the housing is that at high braking pressures the polymer will not expand too much, which means that it has a longer life. Due to the extra support that it receives from the side, it will therefore remain good for an extra long time. In their own words, the system is designed for at least 1 million braking cycles. That extra support for the polymers is certainly no superfluous luxury, because after the initial blow, the rock-hard wall of the hydraulic system comes. Just like in a real car, the braking system works with a liquid. Because liquid is not compressible, it can build up considerable pressure. Asetek indicates that the system is made to withstand up to 200 Bar (!!!) of pressure. The advantage of working with a braking system that builds up pressure is that you can also work with a pressure sensor instead of a load cell, which means that your brake signal is even more accurate and your braking system even more durable. All in all, the brake pedal of the Invicta can be called an impressive piece of technology.
The last pedal we got with our pedal set is the optional clutch pedal. Basically, the clutch pedal is often the same as the accelerator pedal with the foot plate of the brake pedal. At the back of this pedal we also find a Hall sensor and a compression spring. In order to simulate a good bite point this spring is incorporated in a tumbler which can be set in different positions. Despite the fact that the clutch is a separate module, it comes with a number of mounting materials which allow the clutch pedal to be attached to the baseplate of the accelerator and brake pedal in an instant.
Finally, there is also the visual aspect of the pedals. The pedals themselves are of course a feast for the eyes. To further enhance the aesthetic feel of this pedal set, they have engraved their own name and logo on the baseplate. Above this logo we also find an LED strip over the entire width, which also extends into the clutch module. This LED strip can be completely adjusted in the software to your own style by using RGB LEDs. As if the pedals are not stylish enough, we find the logo of the Invicta series on the raised edge, which looks very much like a very nice signature that completes this work of art.
Assembly & Adjustment
After unpacking all the boxes and mounting the clutch module to the Invicta pedals, we can attach the Invicta pedals to our FSR Avanzata. With the supplied mounting materials and tools, it is a piece of cake to mount the pedals directly on our pedal deck, which consists of aluminum profiles. In theory it’s straight forward; insert six Allen screws through the baseplate and tighten them in the supplied t-slot nuts that you have placed in the aluminum profile. This is indeed the case for five of the six bolts. The last bolt that we have to tighten is behind the accelerator pedal. In itself this is not a problem, however, the axis of the accelerator pedal is right above the bolt, which made screwing on a bit difficult. Fortunately, the axle can be removed within a minute, allowing for a very quick attachment of the pedals to our rig.
With the pedals mounted, the important detailed work can begin, the adjustment. Beforehand, we were very skeptical about the concept that the pedals are in a fixed position on the baseplate in relation to each other. The philosophy behind this is that this is not adjustable in a real racing car, but it would still be nice to have the option to do so. While most pedal sets allow you to slide the pedals mutually from left to right to increase the distance between the two, this is not possible with the Invicta pedals. Are they completely wrong about this? No, actually not. For our taste, the pedals were a little too close together by default. Fortunately, there is a hole pattern both in the footplates and in the base of the pedal itself. By moving the foot plate of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, we were able to create a few centimeters of extra space. This doesn’t seem like much, but in our case it was absolutely sufficient to be able to comfortably put our feet next to each other on the pedals.
Pedal spacing isn’t the only thing that gets adjusted when customizing your pedals, of course. Because we drive in a formula style rig, we like to have the pedals upright, preferably with a very short stroke. We may now focus our attention on the beautiful orange accents of the pedal set. Adjustment is very simple and relatively quick thanks to the fact that it can be done completely without tools. Because getting in and out of the formula rig is quite an intensive job, we did get the help of a lovely assistant who can turn the knobs while we can stay in our seat to immediately feel whether the pedals feel comfortable. With two people, adjusting the pedals is a job of less than five minutes. The pedals are of course also easy to adjust on your own.
With all hardware in place and comfortably adjusted, the connection to our PC can be made. Via a USB-C connection in the baseplate, the information is sent to the standard USB port of the PC with 1 simple cable. With the USB-C port pointing towards the driver, and a small clip as strain relief on top of the baseplate, it is ensured that no mechanical stress can be exerted on the cable. A small point of attention here is that the clip is very narrow and the jacket of the cable was slightly damaged when pressing the cable in.
Once connected to the PC, there is only one step left before we can use our new pedals, which is calibration. Asetek has its own software for the calibration of its pedals called RaceHub. If we had to describe the software in one word, we would choose “wow”. What a joy this software is to work with. The Invicta pedals are immediately recognized by the software, which is always a comfortable start. In the main menu of the software there are several sub-menus to choose from. The Showroom, a nice gimmick where you can look at a virtual version of your pedals which move in real-time with your own pedals. The second menu is a bit more interesting, which is Calibration. In the past we have had to deal with pedals where you had to calculate the calibration yourself or where you had to click endlessly to set dead zones. RaceHub is the exact opposite, this software is so easy that even a small child could calibrate the pedals. You simply press the “Calibrate” button, press the chosen pedal all the way down once and release it, click the “Complete” button and your pedal is calibrated. It doesn’t get any easier than that. The third menu is called “Pedal Maps” and, as the name suggests, is for the mappings of your pedals. Here you can easily set the sensitivity of your pedal, whether you have linear, progressive or a completely different idea of how your pedal should feel; everything is possible by simply choosing a preset or dragging the dots on the curve up or down. The last menu is the “LED” menu in which the color and brightness of the LED strip on the baseplate can be changed.
Usage
With everything calibrated and in place, the party can finally start. And what a party it is! From the first moment we press the accelerator, we are immediately in love. The gas pedal feels great. When pressed, you feel the pedal move with your foot completely frictionless until you hear the hard tap of the end stop and your pedal no longer gives in. It makes you feel like you’re pedaling an unrefined racing machine, which we find great. Due to the accuracy of the hall sensor, the pedals are also very sensitive to input and even the smallest throttle input is registered.
But true love hurts sometimes, and so was the case with these pedals. We always drive wearing socks ourselves and we do like that very much. However, the combination of a combined hydraulic braking system with the raised studs on the footplate does not prove to be a success without shoes. Because we can stomp on the brakes really hard with these pedals, after only two laps of racing the Formula RSS 2013 on the Valencia Street Circuit in Assetto Corsa, we already have the imprint of the upright hole pattern of the footplate in the bottom of our foot. After trying to bite through the pain a bit, it really is a bit too much to drive with. Fortunately, we also received the Forte Pedal Face Plates and we can apply the big switch trick to our pedals. These footplates are a lot gentler for the shoeless drivers among us and therefore feel much more comfortable on socks, just like on the Forte pedals. Using these you can drive endless rounds without getting your foot hurt, although the many hard brakes will still feel like a decent workout. However, we have to admit that it is a bit of a shame that it is necessary to adjust the pedals. Because this means that in addition to purchasing the Invicta pedals themselves, you also have to purchase racing shoes or the Forte Pedal Face Plates to be able to race comfortably. However, this does not alter the fact that the brake pedal is a very fine pedal. With the T.H.O.R.P. system, we are able to press the brake incredibly hard that we are sometimes a bit shocked ourselves. Thanks to the pressure sensor, all of this is perfectly registered and the signal enters the computer very sharply. The result of this is that the dosing the braking power can be carried out in a very controllable manner, which benefits trail braking.
Then we have the clutch. With the amount of race cars with a sequential gearbox, this is the pedal that is often used the least. With the necessary number of test starts, we were able to get a little feel for the pedal. Just like the accelerator, the clutch feels super smooth when pressed and there is nothing to complain about. It took us a bit of searching and playing to get the clutch to the “sweet spot” in both the hardware and the software, but the result is impressive. The pedal has a clearly tangible bite point which feels very natural.
Conclusion
With the Invicta pedals, Asetek has clearly sent out a signal to the sim racing world that they are a new party that goes for nothing less than the top. We also believe they scored a straight home run with this pedal set.
From the moment we received the boxes, the Invicta pedals breathed nothing but quality. From the beautiful box to the unique and beautiful design of the pedals themselves, the passion for their product radiates to the user. Besides that the product looks good, the pedals are also remarkably pleasant to use. The simplicity of attaching it to your sim rig and especially the tool-free adjustment of all three pedals make the Invicta a pleasure to work with. The icing on the cake is the RaceHub software. With the beautiful and above all very user-friendly software, Asetek sets the bar for the competition very high. Racing with these pedals also gives a wonderful feeling where each pedal feels nice and has good precision.
Despite all the strengths in which the Invicta pedals shine, there are a few minor caveats. While it worked out well for us by slightly spreading the footplates to create some space between the pedals, that doesn’t necessarily have to be a success for everyone. It therefore seems plausible to us that it can be regarded as a real drawback for some people that you’re not able to adjust the space between the pedals. Something that was really considered a downside by ourselves is the foot plate of the brake pedal. Where many casual sim racers drive on socks, that seems to be a thing of the past when using the Invicta. Without buying shoes or Forte Pedal Face Plates it is simply not comfortable to drive. Of course you can calibrate the pedal with very little pressure but then comes the fantastic T.H.O.R.P. system does not shine as it should.
All in all we are very positive about the Asetek Invicta pedals. The negatives hardly outweigh the list of highlights that this set entails. Our expectations for these pedals were very high and in our view Asetek has met all expectations and even exceeded them in some areas. It is simply impressive that a new player on the market successfully establishes itself among the big boys of the high-end segment. We are therefore looking forward to seeing how Asetek will develop as a brand and to see with which new products they will storm the top of the sim racing world.
If you are as enthusiastic about the Asetek pedal sets as we are, the Asetek pedal sets are available at the simwear.eu webshop or directly in the Asetek webshop. We have a collaboration with simwear.eu, meaning we have personal discount codes available. Have you become enthusiastic after reading this review and do you want to place an order at simwear.eu? By filling in our contact form, we will send you a personal discount code.
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