Designed with CAD and FEA, all structural parts are CNC precision laser cut steel with a bead blasted or Black fine-structured powder coat finish. It is strong, compact and incredibly durable.
Our Handbrake has retained the overall lever dimensions of its predecessor, yet can handle a higher force and does this with a much more compact base. This makes installation in your simulator much easier.
Adjustability
The Heusinkveld Handbrake features a wide range of mechanical adjustments to suit your needs.
A 2-stage spring system provides resistance when pulling the lever. An initial metal coil spring simulates the pad-to-disc gap and/or slack on the handbrake cable. The travel and preload on this spring are adjustable. You can also remove this initial coil spring if you wish to do so.
The main loading on the brake is simulator by compressing the Heusinkveld proprietary elastomers, giving an unprecedented progressive brake feel. A total of 3 elastomers are provided in order to set a soft, medium or stiff handbrake feeling.
The lever can be set in a horizontal or vertical position. Per position there is a fine-tune adjustment up to 26 degrees to set the exact position of the lever.
If you use the included optional adapter plate (which allows for easy mounting onto aluminium profiles), you have up to 22,5 degrees of freedom to set the yaw of the handbrake. This can greatly enhance the ergonomics of your simulator, allowing you to pull the handbrake straight towards you from a multitude of mounting positions.
Sensors & Output
The lever actuates a 120kg load cell, resulting in up to 22kg of actual force measured at the lever. The measurement of the handbrake force is linear. Using Heusinkveld SmartControl software, you have complete freedom to set custom non-linear output curves.
The electronics of the handbrake are integrated inside the handbrake base. The system as a whole has passed EMC compliance testing, guaranteeing a stable output signal. A USB cable is supplied with every handbrake in order to connect it to your pc.
Our Heusinkveld Handbrake comes with powerful software tools.
Heusinkveld SmartControl is a powerful software configuration tool allowing you to set up your handbrake in ways not previously possible. SmartControl allows for instant mapping of (non-linear) output curves, deadzone and handbrake force.
These adjustments can be made without having to recalibrate the handbrake. All settings can be saved into profiles, which can be loaded again in a few mouse clicks.
Brand-new Heusinkveld SmartControl Live is an innovative software tool to adjust your controller settings to your own preferences while driving. Activate SmartControl profiles for different cars and classes at the touch of a button, without having to leave the simulator software.
Shared profiles with other SmartControl compatible products
If you have other Heusinkveld products which use SmartControl, it is possible to create a single profile which includes multiple devices. This allows you to change handbrake and pedal settings quickly in just a few mouse clicks.
If you want to learn more about SmartControl & SmartControl Live, make sure to check out the overview.
There are multiple options to mount the handbrake to your simulator. The base itself can be mounted in both a horizontal or vertical position. Combined with the option to mount the lever horizontal or vertical you’ll have plenty of options to find a suitable spot for the handbrake in your simulator.
The base of the handbrake itself can be mounted in 2 ways. The first option is to use the 4 mounting holes on the base itself (2 on each side), which allow you to mount the handbrake to a flat surface. Make sure you have matching mounting holes in the flat surface to which you connect the handbrake base.
The second option is to use the included optional adapter plate. This allows you to easily mount the handbrake to aluminium profiles (aluminium profiles not included).
An added advantage of this adapter plate is that it allows you to easily adjust the yaw of the handbrake. This allows you offset the yaw of the handbrake base up to 22,5 degrees.
Using the yaw adjustment, you can rotate the base so you can optimize the direction into which you pull the lever. This can vastly improve the ergonomics and integration of the handbrake in your simulator.
Mounting materials
A selection of bolts and t-nuts is included with every Heusinkveld Handbrake. These should enable you to mount the handbrake to most aluminium profile based rigs using the adapter plate.
Because of the wide variety of rigs present in the market we cannot guarantee that the supplied materials will allow you to mount the handbrake to every rig. If you for example mount the handbrake to a (drilled) flat surface, you need to source the appropriate length bolts + nuts yourself in order to complete the installation.
Do you need a handbrake for sim racing?
While a handbrake is not commonly found in racing cars, some of the exciting forms of sim racing are rallying and drifting. You will certainly enjoy using the Heusinkveld Handbrake while sliding the back end around the tightest hairpins!
Should you buy a USB handbrake?
If you are a fan of rallying or drifting and want to recreate the sheer fun of driving these cars then the answer is a definite yes.
What is the best handbrake for sim racing?
The Heusinkveld Handbrake offers a sturdy design which allows users to fully set up the handbrake to their liking. The Heusinkveld Handbrake features for 10 different handle positions and many levels of resistance. Uniquely, the Heusinkveld Handbrake works with Heusinkveld’s own configuration SmartControl software which provides exceptional control over the output signal curve.
Will a PC handbrake work on PS4 or Xbox One?
The Heusinkveld Handbrake is designed to work on PC systems only.
How to install the Heusinkveld Handbrake?
With the Heusinkveld Handbrake you have many mounting and adjustment options – both how you mount the adapter plate on your simulator and how you fine-tune your lever. Remco from Heusinkveld Engineering explains how in a video at our YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/HeusinkveldEngineering.
