If you’re can’t quite afford the £160,000 for an Aston Martin DBS you might want consider the Vision Racer 3 racing game chair for around a hundredth of the price. You might not be able to order your upholstery to match but you won’t be so concerned about your mates having a go.

Today was the lauch of the third generation of the Vision Racer to site alongside the Logitech G25 racing wheel. The whole set up is designed to work with games consoles and in full comes with the wheel, steel alloy peddles (adaptable to both automatic and manual), a six speed gear stick, Logitech 2.1 surround speakers with sub-woofer vibrating directly under your bum and now the ultimate in gaming chairs too.

The Vision Racer 3 was created by ex-rally car designer Geoff Turton and features a steel alloy chassis, full adjustable seat and optional gear stick and monitor mount designed to house the sub 26″ flat pannel of your choice. It’s not about gimmicks – the seat doesn’t move about or rumble when you crash – it’s all about the racing position which is apparently so spot on that Geoff assures me he is nummber 10 out of 14 million players in the world of online motor racing.

I’m not in the slightest bit interested in motor racing games but there were some petrol head gamers there at the launch slavering as they accelerated out of the chicanes of virtual Monaco. What I can tell you is that, yes, the seat is comfortable and it does sit you at just the right viewing angle and position for a proper drive. I’m not sure you’d ever choose the gearstick instead of the levers behind the wheel but it does look good, if feel a little on the plastic side compared to the quality of the rest of the set up.

At £1,699, with all bits and pieces included, it’s actually not a bad deal considering the wheel alone costs £279. Better still, it comes in a reasonable sized box and with the kind of tool kit you’ll be proud of forever. Definitely one for the enthusiasts but not necessarily the filthiest of the rich.

Vision Racer & Logitech