Heusinkveld Sequential Shifter Review by The Sim Racing Garage

Barry Rowland of the Sim Racing Garage reviews the Heusinkveld Engineering Sequential Shifter. As usual, Barry takes an in-depth look at the product design, build quality, inner workings, and hands-on usage before sharing his final thoughts.

Heusinkveld Sim Shifter Sequential Product Description

(Source: HE Website) The HE Sim Shifter Sequential as it is officially named is a durable and compact sequential shifter solution which emulates the feel of a real sequential shifter and can be set-up in many different configurations. It has specifically been designed to mimic short throw sequential shifters. These can often be found in junior formula racing cars.

Using a ball spring resistance system, shifting requires an early peak force after which resistance drops. This simulates the feeling as if your gearbox slides into the next or previous gear when the lever is engaged. The shifter is fitted with soft end-stops for the lever, resulting in a relatively low amount of noise when shifting through gears.

Every shifter is supplied with three different levers: one straight 30mm lever, one straight 50mm lever, and one bent 50mm lever. As the resistance in the shifter unit itself is fixed, you can vary the shifting force by attaching a longer or shorter lever. Additionally, every shifter is supplied with 3 types of plastic shifter knobs with lengths varying from 46mm to 90mm. Combined with the different levers, this allows you to vary the combined length of the lever/knob assembly (measured from the top of the main shifter unit) from 76mm to 140mm.

With three different levers and three different knobs, you will have a total of 9 possible configurations. The lever uses M10 thread, so you’ll also be able to attach any other 3rd party knob which is compatible with this size. Changing the lever or knob can be done in under a minute.

Every shifter is supplied with a table clamp. This allows you to connect the shifter to any table-like surface. The table clamp can be detached from the shifter if you require a different mounting solution. An alternative mounting plate is supplied with every shifter in order to assist with mounting to a structure to the side or underneath the unit. It is possible to rotate the shifter unit relative to this mounting plate in order to optimize the position of the shifter. This plate fits directly onto aluminum profiles with a size of up to 40mm. You can also use your own mounting solution. The bottom of the shifter unit has 2 M4 bolt holes which allow you to connect the shifter to virtually any horizontal surface.

The Sim Shifter Sequential has a controller board integrated into the shifter unit which offers two connectivity options, all integrated into one unit. It is possible to use the shifter as a standalone controller, connecting it to your pc with the supplied USB-cable. This means that the shifter will show up as a separate device in Windows.

Next, to the USB-port, there is also a 4×1 2,54mm female Molex socket. This allows to you interface/integrate the shifter with an external controller, such as our own Sim Pedals USB controller (or any other third party controllers which offers an interface for switches). You will need to build your own cable if you want to use this method. The integrated controller board can be seen from the outside, but it is protected by an acrylic plate.

The HE Sim Shifter Sequential is available at the Heusinkveld Engineering website for €209.00 Incl. VAT.

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Heusinkveld Engineering is a Dutch company that offers a broad array of products and services to the real and virtual racing scene. From advanced vehicle simulation software to simulator hardware. Sim Racers might also know Niels as the main physics creator for the Automobilista racing simulator by Reiza Studios.

Official Webpage – www.h-engineering.net  –  www.game-automobilista.com