GT Omega ART Simulator Cockpit Review

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Presenting our review of the GT Omega ART Racing Simulator Cockpit with the RS6 Seat.  The ART is the newest chassis from GT Omega and is designed as the company’s entry level chassis.

The ART cockpit we received came with all the bells and whistles that’s offered from GT Omega’s UK website.  This included the base chassis, single monitor mount, triple monitor mount, tabletop, casters, floor mat, and a plethora of flight stick add-ons.  For this review we stuck with the base chassis and single monitor stand and added the tabletop and caster options.

GT Omega has five distribution locations around the world, the US, UK, Spain/Portugal, France and Australia/New Zealand, and availability of the ART differs between them all.

The UK has not only the ART but all the accessories.  Austrialia/New Zealand’s only option is the casters.  US and Spain/Portugal can only get the ART cockpit and single monitor stand.  France doesn’t even have the ART.  Keep in mind, if there’s an option not available in your country, you can most likely order it from the UK store but shipping will be significantly more.  GT Omega also insured us that more options are coming to more of the distributors by Christmas.

Our first impression of the ART was of frustration.  The only instructions that came with the ART was a single piece of paper with a schematic of the chassis in Chinese.  Since we don’t speak or read Chinese, this wasn’t very helpful.

During the construction of the chassis we also noticed a few oddities.  Unlike most chassis, the ART doesn’t come with locking washers.  Also, the adjustable frame  didn’t feature any holes for the pins, leaving you to just cinch the two frame pieces together.  Lastly, the pedal plate is made of MDF and only secures on a post about 2/3 up the plate, allowing the bottom part to freely rest on the frame.

With that said, once we started to use the chassis, two of these three quirks disappeared.  Even lacking the locking washers and pin holes for the frame adjustment, the chassis is very stable.  Any movement exhibited was minor and far from distracting. The ART chassis also proved to be versatile.  Featuring an adjustable frame, steering wheel plate, pedal plate, shifter mount and seat, the chassis was able to comfortably seat 5’6″ John to 6’4″ Darin.

Part of that comfort has to also be credited to the R6 seat, which is one of the best chassis seats out there.  Not only does it look and feel nice but it offers great support, allowing you to drive for hours without any discomfort.

Really, the only discomfort from the ART is a piece of the frame between the seat and the pedals which is hard not to step on when getting in and out of it.

Adding to the versatility, from a hardware standpoint, are the pre-drilled wheel and pedal plates which were able to accept all the offerings from Fanatec, Logitech and Thrustmaster.

Beyond  versatility and comfort, another pro is the overall compactness of the chassis.  The ART ranges from 123 – 132 cm in length, 55 cm wide (65 cm with shifter), with a seat height of 107 cm.  This small footprint – compared to other chassis – and its lightweight (39 kg) makes the ART very easy to handle in tight spaces, such as an apartment.  Add on the optional lockable casters and the ART becomes easily mobile, perfect for rolling up to your TV/monitor when you want to race and storing away when you’re done.

And speaking of being mobile, this is primarily how we tested it.  With the optional aluminum tabletop installed, we were able to set the Xbox or PlayStation on it and create an excellent console chassis that only had to be rolled up to a power outlet.

The tabletop even came in handy when testing on the PC.  It is large enough to hold the BenQ 35″ Ultrawide XR3501 monitor, eliminating the need for the monitor mount.  Of course, mileage may vary depending on what wheel and monitor you have so keep that in mind before axing the monitor mount.

While there are many things we like about the ART chassis, it does have one glaring issue, its pedal plate.  First off, the MDF plate feels cheap compared to the rest of the metallic chassis.  More important than the material though is the mounting of it.  By only securing the plate in one spot, a pivot point is created.  It isn’t an issue if you mount your pedals below this point, but if you mount it above, the pedal plate swings backwards when you apply pressure to the pedals.

Mounting the pedals above the pivot point was a must for Darin to fit the chassis, so this forced us to modify the design and slip the leading edge of the plate below the frame, wedging it in place.  While this worked, it only works if you have the casters installed, and even then, it’s far from ideal.

Pros:

• Competitively Priced
• Solid
• Compact
• Great Seat + Ergonomics
• Mobile
• Pre-drilled
• Fits All Shapes and Sizes

Cons:

• Terrible Instructions
• Would Have Liked Set Holes for Frame Length Adjustments
• Frame in the way when Entering and Exiting
• Unstable Cheap MDF Pedal Plate
• Limited Options Available Outside the UK

The GT Omega ART chassis has a lot going for it.  It’s combo of size, mobility and comfort at a reasonable price make it a chassis you should definitely consider.  It’s a good PC chassis and a fantastic mobile console chassis if staying married is important to you.

Even some of the poor attributes of the chassis could potentially be rectified if you’re a bit handy.  Holes could be drilled to really give you piece of mind that the frame isn’t moving.  The leading edge of the pedal plate could be zip tied down if you must run the pedals higher.  It’s far from ideal, and should have never been an issue to begin with, but it’s really the only major con in an overall good package.

One con though that you can’t fix is the lack of options outside of the UK.  We found the tabletop and lockable casters to be very handy.  Being able to set an Xbox or PlayStation or even a monitor on the tabletop and move it around makes for a very attractive option that few other chassis offer.  Unfortunately if you’re not in the UK, you’re looking at high shipping costs to get these options.  At what point does it become more economical to just build your own table top and put your own casters on?

Hopefully these options arrive to the other distributors soon and round out this jack of all trades chassis.