I compare the Sim-Lab GT1 Evo and Sim-Lab GT1 Pro to see if the newer cockpit is worth upgrading to. I'll look at the price difference, design comparison and how each cockpit performs.
Recently, sim racing sim manufacturer Sim-Lab has been upgrading its lineup of cockpits and sim rigs. This has led to a new GT1 Pro being released as a replacement for the older GT1 Evo, as well as a new P1X Pro cockpit.
In this guide, I’m going to compare the GT1 Evo and GT1 Pro in detail to see which sim rig is a better buy. The more expensive GT1 Pro with its upgrades, or the older but cheaper GT1 Evo.
I’ll start with an overall comparison of the GT1 Evo and GT1 Pro. Both of these sim racing cockpits have a lot of similarities, which shouldn’t be a surprise as the Pro is essentially an upgraded Evo.
However, both cockpits are actually quite different, with Dutch sim racing company Sim-Lab completely redesigning the overall concept of the GT1 Pro. Below is a quick top-level look at both cockpits including their price and dimensions.
|  | |
|---|---|---|
| Cockpit | Sim-Lab GT1 Evo | Sim-Lab GT1 Pro |
| Price | From €392/$449 | From €589/$699 |
| Profile | 40 x 80mm profile | 40 x 80mm profile |
| Dimensions | 1350 x 580 x 660 mm | 1350 x 580 x 770 mm |
| Buy the GT1 Evo | Buy the GT1 Pro | |
The Sim Lab GT1 Evo is designed with modularity, versatility and cost-effectiveness in mind. Despite being around for a good number of years now, it remains one of the very best value 8020 sim rigs in sim racing today. This is helped thanks to the reduction in price that followed the release of the newer GT1 Pro cockpit.
Sim Rig – Sim-Lab GT1 Evo
Price – From €392/$449
Where to buy –
Buy from Sim-Lab
The Sim-Lab GT1 Evo can be picked up today for as little as £353 / €392 / $449. It is important to bear in mind that this cost only includes the base frame and no additional attachments. Much like the GT1 Pro, you can opt for a racing seat to be included as well as additional attachments such as integrated monitor mounts and seat sliders.
All of these upgrades do increase the price of the GT1 Evo, so they are important to note. This approach is very common for higher-end sim rigs from the majority of sim racing brands.
The good thing about this approach is that you can reuse components if you already have them. If you already own a sim racing seat, you won’t need to buy another which can reduce the overall cost to upgrade your cockpit.
One of the really big selling points of the GT1 Evo is that is one of the cheapest 8020 aluminium profile sim rigs around. And for the low price point, the quality of construction, adaptability and overall rigidity are very impressive.
The GT1 Evo is an entry-level to mid-range 8020 sim rig, and that can be seen with some of the design choices. The inclusion of a shifter arm is great, however, the way it hangs out from the main vertical upright without additional support does allow for some flex to creep in.
And the same can be said of the wheel mounting plate. The standard wheel plate protrudes from the horizontal cross strut. This does make mounting a variety of racing wheels incredibly easy as you have good access from the underside to mount your wheel. But the lack of support does mean higher powered direct drive wheels may cause some flex.
The GT1 Evo can handle a good amount of power from whichever wheel you mount. I have raced for a long time with a mid-range Fanatec CSL DD attached to the GT1 Evo, and the amount of flex is easily acceptable. However, if you have a Simucube or higher-powered Fanatec base like the DD2, you will certainly notice flexing within the frame.
With the GT1 Evo using an aluminium profile construction, the amount of customisation you can do to your sim rig will always be high. You can mount practically anything to this sim rig as long as you have a few slot nuts.
The grooves in the profile let you attach elements such as button boxes, handbrakes, shifters and more without the need for additional mounting accessories.
When it comes to racing wheel and pedal support, both the pedal plate and wheel mount are pre-drilled. These pre-drilled slots can accommodate most racing wheels and pedals from big names such as Fanatec, Logitech, Simucube and more.
However, due to the GT1 Evo being released years ago, before newer products from brands such as Asetek and MOZA. This means that some newer racing wheels may not be directly compatible. The smaller MOZA R3 and R5 for example required me to manually drill some additional holes to mount them correctly.
The GT1 Evo utilises universal strips of aluminium profile around the seat area. This lets you adjust the spacing of your seat and you can mount practically any racing seat, seat slider and seat brackets to this sim rig.
The Sim-Lab GT1 Pro cockpit was released in 2023 and provided a new design aesthetic for Sim-Lab. The GT1 Pro maintains the mid-range affordability of the older GT1 Evo but introduces a completely new design with the use of slanted uprights.
Sim Rig – Sim-Lab GT1 Pro
Price – From €589/$699
Where to buy –
Buy from Sim-Lab
The new design meant a new price for the Sim-Lab GT1 Pro. It costs from £529 / €589 / $699 which still firmly puts it in the upper mid-range category. This is the cost for the base frame, and when you include a seat and seat brackets, you’ll be looking at around £900 / €999.
Although it isn’t as expensive as a more premium Sim-Lab P1X Pro or flagship sim rigs from other brands, it’s still a lot to pay for a sim rig. For this price, the performance needs to be incredibly good, as does the adjustability and customisation, as it’s likely going to be a sim rig you stick with for a good number of years.
The GT1 Pro is designed to be a very good mid-range cockpit and it isn’t designed to compete with more expensive cockpits like the P1X Pro, it definitely punches above its weight. My concern over the slightly high price point was alleviated once I started sim racing using this cockpit.
The new design using slightly slanted uprights may remind you of sim rigs from Next Level Racing who introduced slanted pieces of aluminium profile a little while ago. However, it does add a good amount of rigidity.
Sim-Lab stated that they opted for slanted pieces of aluminium profile to remove the need for corner brackets. These were often weak points of aluminium profile sim rigs as a lot of strain was placed on them. They are also a bit of a pain to work with, adding extra complexity to construction.
Sim-Lab has moved the wheel mounting tray to be more centered between the vertical uprights which is easily one of the biggest improvements over the GT1 Evo. This allows the forces of a powerful direct drive racing wheel to be more evenly distributed through the sim rig, removing some excess flex that was common in the GT1 Evo’s wheel plate.
I have run a fairly powerful Asetek Forte wheel base at around 18Nm of peak torque on this Sim-Lab GT1 Pro. Doing so, I encountered very little flex which was both surprising and impressive. Watch a detailed video showcasing the flex of the Sim-Lab GT1 Pro here.
Another improvement found on the Sim-Labg GT1 Pro compared to the GT1 Evo is additional support at the rear of the shifter mount. This means the shifter mount is now supported at the front and rear adding much-needed stability.
The compatibility in the GT1 Pro has only been improved over the GT1 Evo. Being newer, the wheel plate and pedal plate both feature additional pre-drilled holes allowing for more compatibility with newer sim racing wheels and pedals.
The Best F1 23 Racing WheelsOne downside of the new slanted uprights however is that they do make it awkward to mount some items to the sim rig. Items such as keyboard trays and button boxes are now mounted at a slight angle which can prove problematic. However, Sim-Lab is working on an adapter plate to fix this issue.
The Sim-Lab GT1 Pro and GT1 Evo both follow a very similar design philosophy. They both utilise an 80 x 40mm aluminium profile, and both come in with very similar overall dimensions. However, the GT1 Pro features a whole host of design changes that make the sim rig more appealing to look at, and functionally better.
One of the biggest design changes in the Sim-Lab GT1 Pro is in the wheel mounting. You can see from the images below that a racing wheel is now mounted much more securely. The GT1 Evo had the racing wheel protruding from the horizontal support, while the GT1 Pro mounts the wheel directly to this support.
The approach taken in the newer GT1 Pro makes for a much sturdier platform. This means you can race with much more powerful direct drive racing wheels on the GT1 Pro. I regularly use an 18Nm direct drive Asetek wheel with my GT1 Pro with very little flexing.
The two pedal trays on both the older GT1 Evo and newer GT1 Pro aren’t massively different. There are a lot of pre-drilled slots and holes which make mounting most pedals really easy. The biggest difference is in the mounting style and aesthetics.
The older GT1 Evo utilises two shorter pieces of aluminium profile at the rear of the sim rig to elevate the pedal tray. The newer GT1 Pro has replaced these with two custom-designed brackets. The brackets are much better looking and sleeker. They also allow for much easier adjustments to be made.
The new GT1 Pro pedal plate also sits on two strips of aluminium profile allowing you to adjust the position forward and backwards much easier than you could on the GT1 Evo.
One area where the newer GT1 Pro really wins out over the older GT1 Evo is in its rigidity. All of the tweaks and changes that have been made are designed to make this a sturdier sim rig. And they all succeed.
There is additional support to the shifter mount making it much more solid. The wheel deck is now better supported by the vertical pieces of profile and reduces any flex from the overhanging design of the GT1 Evo. The change to slanted vertical struts also allowed for more rigidity due to the removal of corner brackets which were inherently a weak point.
The Sim-Lab GT1 Evo remains an incredibly capable sim rig, especially given its price point of under €400/$450. However, it is a flawed design, which is almost entirely fixed in the newer GT1 Pro.
Sim-Lab has redesigned almost every part of this sim rig to make it a much more solid powerhouse of a sim rig. All changes are successful, and they really elevate the GT1 Pro into being able to challenge sim rigs that cost much more.
It may cost around €200/$250 than the GT1 Evo, however, all of the improvements go a long way towards justifying this price increase. Whichever sim rig you opt for, you will find an incredible amount of rigidity for the price. The Sim-Lab GT1 Pro quite simply has more headroom for more powerful sim racing gear to be used.
|
| | |
|---|---|---|
| Cockpit | Sim-Lab GT1 Evo | Sim-Lab GT1 Pro |
| Price | From €392/$449 | From €589/$699 |
| Profile | 40 x 80mm profile | 40 x 80mm profile |
| Dimensions | 1350 x 580 x 660 mm | 1350 x 580 x 770 mm |
| Buy the GT1 Evo | Buy the GT1 Pro | |
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