Next Level Racing Victory Seat Add-on review

A good seat is important for both work and play, including simracing, but in the case of simracing, it’s not just about comfort and back health. A seat should imitate the feeling of sitting in a real car. This time, we’ll discuss the Next Level Racing Victory Seat, an addition to the recently reviewed Wheel Stand Lite 2.0. Are they comfortable and worth the price? I’ll try to answer that in this review!

Assembly

I’ll skip the Victory Seat packaging, as it’s simply a shipping container. Assembly is simple, at least for the frame—just screw in two screws and you’re done. Then the challenges begin, as the seat itself needs to be unfolded and bolted to the stand, which is a good thing to have someone to help with. Besides that, assembly is the most challenging part.

Construction, Ergonomics, and Adjustment

Let’s move on to the most important thing: how does this seat perform in terms of ergonomics (and adjustments). Adjustment is unfortunately limited, as the only thing you can do is move the seat forward or backward on the rails, which fortunately are long enough for everyone to find the right distance for themselves. Despite this, the overall ergonomics aren’t impressive.

According to the manufacturer, the backrest height is designed for people up to 2 meters tall, which surprised me greatly. I’m around 190-195 cm tall, and the backrest was about 10 cm too low for me. My shoulders protruded beyond the actually supportive portion of the backrest, which, during longer sessions, caused fatigue and discomfort, which the chair was supposed to help avoid. There’s also no lumbar support, which is obviously a major drawback.

Furthermore, I’m not the biggest fan of the chair’s finish. The seat and lower backrest are upholstered in something similar to Alcantara (I rather doubt it’s actually this material). Both the seat and backrest are filled with quite thick foam. Unfortunately, this means the seat isn’t well-ventilated enough, and during longer sessions, you simply sweat a lot, which is probably not pleasant for anyone.

Fortunately, this is where the seat’s drawbacks end. By sitting lower, you can lower the steering wheel, which provides two benefits: firstly, the steering wheel itself wobbles less, and secondly, it’s a much more natural position relative to your body. Furthermore, you can feel the vibrations transmitted by the (especially the stronger) steering wheel base, which would be felt realistically throughout the seat, not just in your hands.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Victory Seat offers slightly more options when it comes to hard-mounting the gearbox. It’s a shame that a second shifter plate isn’t included. You only get an adapter that allows you to mount the plate that came with the frame to the seat, which I regret, because personally, I would use one plate for the handbrake and the other for the gearbox. As for its positioning relative to the seat, I have nothing to complain about. The Simasters shifter I used it with fits very nicely under my seat settings. I also have no complaints about flex, as it’s almost nonexistent, even with a hard shifter like the Simasters one.

Next Level Racing Victory Seat Add-on Summary

While the Wheel Stand Lite 2.0 had several advantages in my opinion, such as ease of storage, by purchasing the Victory Seat Add-on, we lose most of them and gain nothing in return. We may have better stability and easier customization, but we also have almost zero ergonomics and difficulty storing the seat, which is much more important to me.

Despite this, my biggest disappointment is the price. Paying an extra $200 for the already expensive Wheel Stand Lite 2.0 results in a very mediocre product. Honestly, I think at this price, it’s better to sell the frame entirely and look for open-source designs for aluminum profile handles and a more ergonomic seat, even a car seat.

This review was made possible by courtesy of Next Level Racing.

Original review in Polish