Asetek Forte Sim Racing Pedals

£499.99
Price Includes 20% VAT

The Asetek Forte Sim Racing Pedals provide a less expensive pedal set without compromising in quality from their Invicta pedals, hence the obvious similarities between the Forte and Invicta pedal sets. The reason the Forte pedals are cheaper is because they've engineered the brake using a load cell instead of the more expensive hydraulic cylinder used on the Invicta pedals; however Asetek have still engineered the Forte pedals to provide their now trademark 2-stage soft and hard brake feel. The Forte pedals do have a very short travel and very firm brake pedal, making the Forte pedals a very unique sim racing pedal set.

As an official UK supplier of Asetek products, when you purchase from Upshift the price we advertise is the final price you will pay - you don't need to worry about import duties/fees etc because we store our stock in the UK.

The Forte pedals are available as Brake + Throttle only, or a Clutch can be added at the same time as ordering, or it can also be added at a later date - the modular aspect here is ideal. We provide preferential pricing when a Clutch is ordered with a Brake + Throttle in the same order versus purchasing separately. The Clutch utilised with the Forte Brake + Throttle is the very same used with the Invicta pedals, however the pedal faces it comes with of course are the corresponding Forte pedal faces as in the product imagery. All Asetek pedals come attached to a baseplate, which makes the Forte pedals very good value for money when compared to the competition.

The unique feature of the Asetek Forte Sim Racing Pedals is the M.L.C.P.C.™ (Mechanical Load Cell Powered Cylinder) patent-pending brake cylinder, which provides the resistance you feel when applying brake pressure. The Forte pedals will come with 3 different elastomers that will provide varying degrees of travel and resistance, so you will have options to get more/less pedal travel (longer/shorter pedal) and a softer/harder pedal, because Asetek appreciates that we all have different preferences and so provide options to allow more users to find their optimal setup. More information on the M.L.C

.P.C.™ can be found below. Asetek are planning an upgrade path for the Forte braking system to the Invicta braking system from their flagship hydraulic pedals, so if you want to start off with load cell pedals with a viewpoint to upgrading to hydraulic later, the Forte's are definitely for you!

Asetek have worked with real racers and sim racers to deliver a flagship set of pedals that will give you the tools to consistently perform at your best. When we say that the Forte pedals are designed to allow you to consistently perform as your best - this isn't a marketing slogan, this is backed up by the design of the pedals! You will often hear racers referring to 'muscle memory', which is the brain remembering how much your muscles move at a given action. Muscle memory is so powerful and useful because once an action is muscle memory, you can consistently recall this muscle memory again and again with extreme precision and reliability. In the case of real & sim racing, your muscle memory will allow you to train yourself to brake with maximum force at every corner consistently, lap after lap. By maximising your braking force and being the last of the late brakers; you'll be ensuring you are maximising your braking efficiency and minimising your lap times. The science behind the speed!

Furthermore, again with the viewpoint of maximising every last tenth of a second of potential time saving, Asetek have engineered a short travel in the brake pedal for enhanced brake efficiency. By having a short travel, the time taken between you pressing the brake pedal and the brake pedal reaching full travel (and as such higher braking force) is lower than that of pedals with longer travel. This means that with the Invicta pedals, you are braking harder fractions of a second earlier than somebody else using different pedals; when you are pursuing the fastest lap time, anything that can bring you an advantage is an invaluable asset.

Asetek's CEO André explains the various features of the Forte pedals in this video:

 

The Forte pedals are assembled by Asetek's trained engineers in Denmark and they also carry out the QC here, so you can be assured of the highest quality products. Asetek has carried out extensive testing on the pedals, to ensure they can withstand very high braking forces over and over again, in fact to over a million activations! Asetek's complementary software, RaceHub, provides an easy-to-use and feature-rich suite in which to configure and customise your pedals to your preferences, including the LED strip along the footplate, custom throttle maps and more.

Asetek's vision with the Forte was to produce the best in class Sim Racing Pedals at a very competitive price, providing race car like feel and performance to help you consistently maximise your braking performance. The brake pedal is not only used to stop the car, but is used to rotate the car also, so having a reliable and quality brake pedal is a must to maximise your speed.

 

 Manufacturer description:

Inspired by real-life racing standards, the Forte™ Sim Racing Pedal set has been thoroughly tested by racers and sim racers alike. With that feedback in mind, the sim pedals are engineered and designed. The M.L.C.P.C.™ (Mechanical Load Cell Powered Cylinder) brake cylinder is designed to give you a realistic brake experience and is rigorously tested with up to 180 kg pedal force.

If you have been looking for the best race car brake pedal feel, without going full hydraulic, look no further! The brake pedal on the Forte pedal set can be adjusted from soft to hard and it will stay that way – unlike many other sim racing pedals on the market, where the hardness and feel will degrade over time. It is not a coincidence a race driver wants a brake pedal, when fully depressed, feels like pushing a wall. Furthermore, Forte, while not hydraulic, will still offer you the “hydraulic sensation” of a fully depressed brake pedal, where you can still pressure modulate/trail brake thanks to the 2-stage system inspired Invicta, In real life, it will feel like the brake pedal when pressed 100% and hard, still will react to further pressure like when trying to compress the fluid in a brake system.

The design is engineered with user experience in mind, where all adjustable elements are colored to get you started quickly, and to ensure intuitive and mostly toolless use. The Forte sim pedals are highly adjustable to help you channel your inner race car driver, by changing the travel and hardness settings to your exact preference. And by using the Asetek SimSports RaceHub™ software, you’re ready to race in no time.

The Asetek SimSports™ M.L.C.P.C (Mechanical Load Cell Powered Cylinder) brake cylinder gives you, shy of a full hydraulic system, an authentic race car driving experience. The sim racing pedal set is in every sense Made in Denmark – designed, engineered, and assembled in Denmark. The brake cylinder features a load cell sensor (up to 180 kg of pedal force) detecting actual changes in force on the pedal plate, which makes it the closest you will come to a realistic brake experience.

Forte™ Pedals Brake and Throttle are compatible with the Invicta™ Clutch System. Forte Pedal plate for the clutch is included when you buy the Forte Pedals.

 

 

INSPIRED BY REAL-LIFE RACING

As well as being inspired by real-life racing, Forte™ Pedals have been thoroughly tested by both racers and sim racers, and with that feedback in mind, the pedals are engineered and designed.

If you have been looking for the best race car brake pedal feel, without going full hydraulic, look no further!  The M.L.C.P.C.™ brake pedal on the Forte pedal set can be adjusted from soft to hard and it will stay that way – unlike many other sim racing pedals on the market, where the hardness and feel will degrade over time. It is not a coincidence a race driver wants a brake pedal, when fully depressed, feels like pushing a wall. Furthermore, Forte while not hydraulic, will still offer you the “hydraulic sensation” of a fully depressed brake pedal, where you can still pressure modulate/trail brake thanks to the 2-stage system inspired Invicta, in real life it will feel like the brake pedal when pressed 100% and hard, still will react to further pressure like when trying to compress the fluid in a brake system.

Why does it matter? When applying brake pressure as late as possible you want to be able to use muscle memory to replicate that trail brake feeling going into the corner. By using muscle memory your brain is wired to be able to brake at the same spot over and over on the track.

Conversely, if you use a soft pedal, you will have to rely on foot or pedal position, disallowing your brain the ability to replicate with the same accuracy and you will – guaranteed – lose important lap time. Just consider the fact that on a racetrack with 10 corners, gaining or losing 1/10 of a second on the brake, means 1 second on your lap time….

The design on the Forte Pedals is engineered with user-experience in mind, where all adjustable elements are coloured to get you started quickly and to ensure intuitive and mostly tool-less usage. The sim pedals are highly adjustable to help you channel your inner race car driver, by changing the travel and hardness settings to your exact preference.

 

GENERAL TECH & DIMENSIONS

  • Exquisite, radical, and minimalistic industrial Danish design
  • Made in Denmark
  • Adjustable pedal stops
  • Adjustable travel settings
  • All-black anodised aluminium pedal base and pedal arms with CNC machined contrast cut 
  • All-black anodised aluminium smooth and sock-friendly pedal plates allowing hours and hours of comfortable use. The pedal plates can be adjusted vertically.
  • Pedal base with integrated heel rest and RGB LED that can be adjusted, dimmed, or turned completely off in the RaceHub™ software
  • Calibrations made in RaceHub will automatically be saved in our EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). This results in calibration (pressures, deadzones and more) will remain saved for every simulator/game (You do need to set 0 and 100% value in the game)
  • Only one USB connection to the PC from the pedal base regardless of 2 or 3 pedal utilisation
  • All adjustable mechanical features are by default coloured orange
  • Inhouse-developed electronics with 16-bit resolution
  • Easy to add clutch pedal to the Forte Throttle & Brake combo
  • Sustainable manufacturing with 100% on-site re-use of waste material
  • Designed and tested to +1,000,000 activations, which far exceeds any race car specification
  • Sock-friendly clutch plate included

 

Brake System

  • The M.L.C.P.C.™ (Mechanical Load Cell Powered Cylinder) patent-pending brake cylinder gives you the experience of driving a real race car
  • Die-cast aluminium zero play pedal arm with integrated long durability ball bearings and bronze bushing at the clevis rotation point
  • Sustainable manufacturing with 100% on-site re-use of waste material
  • Load cell will sense up to 180 kg of force on the face of the pedal plate
  • Two-stage system that mimics the hard- and soft stages of a real race car
  • Three interchangeable elastomers for adjustment of hardness combined with an integrated physical stop and expansion chamber to mimic race car feel as well as not overloading the elastomers
  • Manually adjustable initial touch hardness to mimic perfect brake pad to brake disc distance
  • Load cell will sense up to 180 kg of force on the face of the pedal plate
  • Pedal arm designed for 200 kg of force and a burst pressure of up to 700 kg!

 

Throttle System

  • Die-cast aluminium zero play pedal arm with integrated long durability ball bearings and bronze bushing at the clevis rotation point.
  • Sustainable manufacturing with 100% on-site re-use of waste material
  • 16-bit magnetic wireless hall TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) with no mechanical wear and zero maintenance
  • Custom throttle curves can be adjusted and 100% customized in the RaceHub™ software to mimic a real race car butterfly opening. For example, a linear curve in dry conditions and a progressive in wet conditions
  • Adjustable pedal hardness
  • Adjustable pedal travel
  • Adjustable pedal stop
  • Interchangeable spring for bigger step in pedal hardness
  • Pedal arm designed for 200 kg of force and a burst pressure of up to 700 kg!

 

 

HOW DOES THE M.L.C.P.C.™ SYSTEM FUNCTION?

A hard brake pedal is faster because you can brake later, and it is required to properly trail brake and use your muscle memory to do so, as explained later. You can consider a race car braking system as 2 stages:

The “soft stage”: When you apply pressure on the pedal, it will move 10-20 mm (measured on the pedal plate), while you build up pressure, while the caliper pistons are traveling to and pushing the brake pads against the brake disc, and to compensate for the small amount of play in all the mechanical parts on the pedal system that is required for them not to seize up.

The “hard stage”: When hydraulic pressure is built up, the brake pads are squeezing the discs hard and all mechanical play is compensated. In this stage, your foot is basically “pressing against a wall”, because now your muscles are pressing directly against the hydraulic forces (the brake fluid). Since the fluid cannot be compressed, you will feel the pedal is hard. When a race car driver complains about a “long” or a “soft” pedal, it is typically because there is air in the system, and since air CAN be compressed, the pedal will feel soft and long. The mechanics then bleed the brakes for air, meaning there is only fluid left in the system, and the pedal is once again hard after passing the “soft stage”.

Most mechanical sim racing pedals on the market, have an “unlimited” travel, as it is essentially a question about how hard you squeeze the elastomer. Oftentimes, the elastomer is overworked (compressed more than designed for) and it provides a spongy and inconsistent brake feel and eventually the elastomer will brake because of being overworked out of spec. But worst of all: with the long brake pedal travel, you will have to brake earlier to build up full brake pressure!

In our quest to mimic the perfect race car feel, we have implemented a mechanical stop in our M.L.C.P.C.™ brake system. You can adjust the hardness of the “soft stage”, by changing elastomers, but the travel will be limited to 15-25mm on the pedal plate, to simulate the “hard stage” where the pressure has built up, and the feeling is like “pressing a wall”. In the transition between the soft and hard stage (when hitting the mechanical stop) we have implemented a rubber damper, which will simulate the fully engaged brake caliper but still enable the load cell sensor to measure additional pedal pressure, which again allows for a perfect trail braking. This is the same feeling you get in a real race car.

And THAT is the Asetek SimSports Forte M.L.C.P.C. difference!

By adjusting the piston and thumb lock nut in front of the mechanical brake cylinder, you can adjust the preload of the system to closely mimic the gap you will experience in a real car (between disc and brake pad). We have made this adjustable, so you can have the feeling just the way you like it – and just like your favorite car. Using the RaceHub™ software, you can also adjust your dead zone on the brake pedal. This allows you to rest your foot on the pedal without getting inputs to the game.

It may surprise you, but as described above, having a hard brake pedal will help you get around the track faster. It has to do with muscle memory and efficient trail braking.

Having a hard brake pedal will allow your muscle memory to be trained to perfection. Muscle memory is the subconscious telling your muscles just the right amount of pressure, leaving your conscious mind to take care of more important things at that moment – like watching traffic or hitting apex. Your muscle memory is not wired to remember a position. Try to lift your hand with your eyes closed and reach the same spot within 0.5 mm 10 times in a row, and you will get the point. But your muscle memory can memorize a pressure extremely accurately, meaning going around a track, your muscle memory can make you brake the same way again and again. This cannot be achieved with a soft pedal – especially when trail braking.

Furthermore, a hard and short travel brake pedal will allow you to brake later. Imagine having a brake pedal with 50 mm (common for many sim racers) of travel versus a brake pedal with almost zero travel. Imagine this scenario: You are going 300 km/h down a straight. With the long travel brake, it will physically take you perhaps 1/10 of a second more to reach full braking power. On the stiff brake pedal, you will reach maximum braking power instantly. If you have three hard braking zones on a track, you will lose 3/10 of a second each lap.

The Top 10 in F1 or GT3 is frequently determined in way less than 3/10 of a second. The conclusion is that we at Asetek SimSports have developed the Forte pedals to replicate a real race car. Why? Because it is the fastest but may not be what feels the most comfortable. It is your choice whether to be the quickest or have a brake pedal that feels soft and comfortable. The Forte will allow both a softer and a longer brake pedal.

NOTICE
Should you wish to change the pedal stops, and thereby the angle of the pedals, it can be done entirely toolless. It will require you to recalibrate the pedals and remove the brake cylinder at the pedal arm and adjust the rod length to prevent any preload on the brake cylinder.