The 5 Best Foldable Cockpits For Sim Racing

Sim racing cockpits make for the perfect platform to mount your racing wheel and pedals, giving you a sturdy and comfortable place to sim race from. The main problem is that many sim racing cockpits and sim rigs can be large, bulky and aren’t great for sim racers who don’t have too much space.

This is where collapsable and foldable sim racing cockpits can be great options. A collapsible or foldable sim racing cockpit is a place where you can sim race from, but when you’re finished, you can fold it up and store it away.

In this buyer’s guide, I’m going to show you my top 5 recommendations for the best foldable sim rigs.

My top 5 picks for the best foldable sim rig

I will discuss each of my 5 recommended sim rigs, cockpits, and racing seats in more detail later in this guide. But first, I wanted to highlight my top 5 picks for the best foldable cockpits.

Cockpit	Price	Pros
NLR Formula Lite Pro	£279 / $299	Sturdy enough for a 10Nm direct drive wheel.
GT Omega DD-X Wheel Stand	£159 / $199	Very sturdy, but no racing seat included.
NLR F-GT Lite	£279 / $299	Adjustable driving positions for flexibility.
NLR GT Lite	£229 / $249	A more upright, comfy driving position.
Playseat Challenge	€229 / $229	Folds incredibly small for easy storing.

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What makes a good foldable cockpit?

Ultimately, any sim racing cockpit regardless of its form factor and price needs to be sturdy enough to mount a racing wheel and pedal set. Some cockpits are built using thicker frames to be able to support more powerful wheels and hardware.

Foldable cockpits focus more on adapting to space requirements rather than being able to support high-powered direct drive racing wheels. The best cockpits that fold and store away need to be rigid and sturdy enough to support your weight, as well as the torque that the racing wheel produces. Ideally, It should fold down to be small enough to store in a cupboard.

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NLR Formula Lite Pro

The Next Level Racing Formula Lite Pro is my first pick for the best foldable sim racing cockpit. This is one of the most recent cockpits that Next Level Racing has released, and it has been incredibly well received.

During my time with the Formula Lite Pro, I definitely think it is the best of all of Next Level Racing’s foldable cockpits. The Australian sim racing company also sell the F-GT Lite and GT Lite, which are two other cockpits I’d recommend. However, this Formula Lite Pro is certainly the most rigid of the three.

Where this Formula Lite Pro differs from other Next Level Racing cockpits is that the frame is much sturdier. There are supports that join various parts of the frame to avoid flexing and weakness.

This leads to the Formula Lite Pro being able to support up to 10Nm of peak torque. However, during my experience, I wouldn’t run a direct drive wheel base that high using this wheel as it will cause some flex. 5-7Nm is the sweet spot where flexing and vibrations are at their minimum.

Being larger and having more supports and frame in its design does mean that this cockpit doesn’t fold to be as small as other Next Level Racing foldable sim rigs. It does still fold to be pretty narrow, however, it is also relatively long. Storing it up on its end is definitely the best option and doing this can allow it to fit in a cupboard and out of site.

This cockpit does lack some of the adjustments to the seating position that the F-GT Lite offers, but it makes up for it with added rigidity. Overall, this is a fantastic option for those who want a truly F1 driving position with the adaptability of being able to store it away once finished racing.

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GT Omega DD-X Wheel Stand

The second cockpit that I’d recommend as one of the best foldable sim racing cockpits is the GT Omega DD-X Wheel Stand. This isn’t an all-in-one cockpit like the others in this guide. Instead, it is a stand-alone wheel stand that can have a racing wheel, pedal set, and gear shifter mounted to it.

It does include a chair link that lets you place any office or gaming chair with casters inside. With the casters inside the chair link, your office chair won’t roll or move when you stand on the brakes or throttle pedal. You can also convert this wheel stand into a complete cockpit by adding a rear frame and a racing seat.

One of the benefits of choosing a wheel stand is that it has a much smaller footprint than a complete sim rig. The lack of a rear frame and racing seat means this wheel stand can collapse to a much smaller size, making storing it away easier.

This GT Omega wheel stand’s frame is also much thicker than the lightweight tubular frames used in many collapsible cockpits. The Y-frame design allows for direct drive wheels with up to 21Nm of peak torque.

21Nm of torque is an incredible amount and covers almost all direct drive wheels, including those from MOZA Racing and Fanatec. I wouldn’t recommend using this wheel stand with the force feedback strength set that high as you will get some instability and flexing. Instead, lower it to around 10-15Nm for a comfortable experience with much less flexing and vibrating.

One of the real perks of choosing this wheel stand instead of a foldable all-in-one sim rig is that it is much cheaper. The lack of racing seat lowers the price to over £/$100 cheaper than other options. This is a great budget sim racing cockpit choice, as well as a practical one.

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NLR F-GT Lite

The Next Level Racing F-GT Lite was the original formula-style collapsible sim rig before the release of the Formula Lite Pro. In many ways, the newer NLR Formula Lite Pro is an improvement over the F-GT Lite. However, the original F-GT Lite does still have a few advantages, making it a contender for the best collapsible sim racing cockpit.

The F-GT Lite does feature a less sturdy build than the Formula Lite Pro, which results in it not being able to handle racing wheels that are quite as strong. In fact, Next Level Racing don’t claim that any direct drive wheel can be used with the F-GT Lite.

However, while testing this sim rig, I found that small direct drive wheels such as the MOZA R3 and R5 can be used with this sim rig. You certainly couldn’t venture above 5Nm of peak torque, as it would put too much strain on the relatively light weight frame of the F-GT Lite.

One of the really good parts of this cockpit is its adjustability. The F-GT Lite was developed to offer an F1 driving position. It also features the ability to raise the seat and lower the pedals to result in a more GT-style seating position. This flexibility makes this sim rig a really good option for those who race different styles of car.

This sim rig can also be folded to be very small, even with a racing wheel and pedal set attached. When fully folded, it can be stored in a cupboard or under the stairs with ease, out of sight until you next wish to sim race.

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NLR GT Lite

While recommending the Next Level Racing F-GT Lite cockpit as one of the best foldable and storage-friendly sim rigs, I can’t recommend the NLR GT Lite. This cockpit is very similar to the F-GT Lite; however, it has a slightly stripped-back design, resulting in a lower price point.

If you are looking for a budget sim racing cockpit that can be stored away, this could be the best option.

The design of the frame allows for some small adjustments to the pedal positioning, however, you cannot set up the GT Lite in a formula position. You are committed to a single seating position.

Other than the lack of adjustments, this GT Lite features many of the same components as the F-GT Lite. The design of the wheel deck and shifter mounts is almost identical, allowing for compatibility with a wide range of sim racing wheels, pedals, and shifters from brands such as Fanatec, MOZA Racing, Thrustmaster, and more.

The racing seat included is very similar. It features lightweight, highly breathable fabric that can support you for relatively long race sessions. (Although I certainly wouldn’t want to be sitting in this cockpit for long endurance races over 5 hours!)

Ultimately, the Next Level Racing GT Lite is a cheaper version of the F-GT Lite, with some adjustability features removed. When shopping with a budget in mind, this can help save a decent amount of money when buying a new lightweight sim rig.

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Playseat Challenge

My final recommendation for a great foldable racing cockpit is the Playseat Challenge. This follows a similar design concept to the Next Level Racing Lite cockpits, using a lightweight metal tubular frame, a thin, breathable seat fabric, and the ability to fold to a pretty small size.

The Playseat Challenge initially resembles a deck chair with a wheel and pedal mount attached. This design uses your own body weight to keep the cockpit stable during racing, with the use of direct drive wheels not recommended.

There isn’t as much functionality as some other foldable all-in-one sim rigs. For example, the pedals don’t get mounted to the cockpit. Instead, they slot into position and are secured with adjustable fabric. This can lead to some movement in the pedals during enthusiastic racing.

It can also be relatively tricky to get into and out of this cockpit due to its sunken driving position. However, once you are, the Playseat Challenge is comfy for multiple hours of sim racing. And when you are done, it folds away to be one of the smallest collapsible cockpits on the market.

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Final thoughts

If you don’t have room for a permanent sim rig, choosing a sim racing cockpit that can collapse down to free up space is a great idea. My recommended cockpits in this guide show that you don’t need to compromise on quality and rigidity to find a sim rig that can be practical and storage-friendly.

If you are looking for a more permanent sim rig, read our buyer’s guide to the best sim racing cockpits for different budgets.

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