Almost every detachable sim racing rim and consumer wheel has paddle shifters, but when it comes to tricking your brain into thinking you’re actually in a car, standalone USB shifters add immersion. Nothing connects you to your sim like an H pattern shifter with a realistic gear engagement. If you like simulating historic sequential cars it’s fun to have a sequential shifter. Shifters won’t make you faster, in fact they will probably make you slower. However, physically taking your hand off the wheel and rowing the gears can provide a far more tactile driving experience. They can also improve your understanding of vehicle dynamics and potentially make you faster when you go back to paddles. The “touch points” of a car are extremely important to car designers and you should pay attention to them as well as you construct your simulator. Most sim drivers looking to recreate the experience of driving a manual car will appreciate the feel of high quality sim shifters.
H Pattern Shifters
Below are the H Pattern shifters that check many of the boxes for the quality immersion bar that’s continually being raised.
Quaife Engineering Pro-Sim H Shifter
- Arguably the most realistic H Pattern shifter currently on the market
- Hydraulic shift lock mechanism
- $1,800 + taxes and shipping
- Fully adjustable with the force of both centering and going through the gate easily adjustable by the user
- The pivot point of the gear lever is also adjustable
- Most sim shifters lack significant mass to truly feel like gears are being shifted. The Pro-Sim H shifter uniquely accomplishes this by incorporating a massive shifting linkage that gives this shifter it’s heft.
- When you pull the handle you aren’t simply moving a stick from one spot to another, you are moving an entire shifter linkage just like there would be in an actual gearbox.
Frex H-SHIFT+
- The Frex H+ shifter feels more like the bolt action in a protoype car or vintage race car
- 4 mappable buttons on top
- ~ $520 + taxes and shipping
- Fully adjustable with the force of both centering and going through the gate easily adjustable by the user
- Adjustable resistance of the shifting action
- H pattern type shifter ideal for historic car drive training.
- Linkage system engagement feels very realistic
BDH H Pattern Shifter
- Beautifully machined BDH H-pattern shifter
- Feels like a real gearbox engagement
- ~ $750 + taxes and shipping
- Fully adjustable with the force of both centering and going through the gate
- Adjustable resistance of the shifting action
- Aesthetically very handsome bit of kit
- Linkage system engagement feels very realistic
VNM H Pattern Shifter
- All metal construction H-pattern shifter
- Linkage system engagement feels very realistic, especially for the price point
- ~ $200 + taxes and shipping
- You can tighten it so far that you literally can’t move the shifter
- Adjustable resistance of the shifting action
- Aesthetically very handsome bit of kit
- Quick release knob can change how deeply the rod seats inside the knob which effectively changes the length of the throw
Fanatec H Pattern Shifter
- All metal construction H-pattern shifter
- Linkage system engagement feels very realistic, especially for the price point
- ~ $250 + taxes and shipping
- You can switch from the H-Pattern Mode to sequential mode without having to unplug or reboot the shifter, without having to remove the knob and even without needing a tool
- Adjustable resistance of the shifting action
- Easy to mount
- Change the knobs according to your own personal taste
Sim Racing H-Pattern Shifters:
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Sim Racing Sequential Shifters:
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If you are a bit masochistic, you may want to try building your own DIY shifter. If you pursue the path of shifting immersion, you might find yourself speaking with sim artisans in countries you’ve never visited and conducting commerce in unfamiliar corners of the Silk Sim Road. New shifters are coming out all the time so we will try and keep this page up to date.
– Conor Murphy, Sim Racer Academy, Product Reviewer
