ES1 Haptic Seat Review – The Best Mid-Range Haptic Solution?

Today we take a deep dive into the Next Level Racing ES1 Haptic Racing Seat — a fixed-back sim racing seat with eight integrated haptic motors built directly into the shell. Unlike add-on solutions like the HF8 pad, the ES1 Haptic integrates the motors into the foam itself. That means no added thickness, no shifting pads, and no changes to your seating geometry. At $599, it sits at the top of the ES1 lineup — but does the integrated design actually improve immersion and performance? In this review we cover: • Installation and fitment • Comfort and rigidity under braking • Software tuning and effect mapping • Driving impressions before and after tuning • Comparison to HF8 and higher-end haptic solutions • Performance benefits like brake lockup and traction loss feedback Is this the sweet spot for sim racing haptics? Or should you stick with a pad — or go higher end? Let’s find out. — Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:36 Installation 02:45 Driving Impressions 05:40 Software Tuning 07:36 Dialed-In Performance 11:38 The Good, The Not So Good, and The Bottom Line — Thanks to Next Level Racing for providing the ES1 Haptic Seat for review. As always, all opinions are my own. If you enjoy sim racing reviews, hardware testing, and in-depth performance breakdowns, make sure to subscribe. This is The Simpit. 👉 Patreon:   / thesimpit   👉 Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5PaiCCi... 👉 Discord:   / discord   👉 Instagram:   / thesimpit   👉 Facebook:   / thesimpit   👉 Twitter:   / thesimpit   👉 Email: [email protected] [email protected] 💻Our Equipment: 👉Shaun's Recording: https://kit.co/TheSimpit/shaun-s-reco... 👉Shaun's Sim PC: https://kit.co/TheSimpit/shaun-s-sim-... 👉Ameer's Recording: https://kit.co/TheSimpit/ameer-s-reco... 👉Ameer's Sim PC: https://kit.co/TheSimpit/ameer-s-sim-...