Modern car-related video games have ultra-realistic graphics, but it is still quite hard to replicate the feeling of a real car when sitting in your living room. A petrolhead from Poland found the solution to this problem by building a DIY driving simulator using genuine interior parts from Alfa Romeo models.
Adriano, who drives an Alfa Romeo 147 in real life, explained how he came up with this idea. He is a big fan of the interior of the Alfa Romeo Brera with the inclined center console, and he wanted to be able to “drive different cars without limits” in a safe manner from the comfort of his own home. The project started with a humble Logitech G29 steering wheel and continued with plenty of car parts, slowly realizing the owner’s vision.
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The resulting driving simulator – which is being improved over time with new additions – is impressive, to say the least. The cockpit comes from the Alfa Romeo 159 / Brera, including a large portion of the dashboard complete with the instrument cluster, the climate vents, and the entire center console. The dials, audio head unit, and controls are illuminated, with a matching orange light on the aluminum pedals creating a wonderful atmosphere when it’s dark.
As the dashboard and all of its gimmicks weren’t enough, Adriano bought a genuine driver’s seat and mounted it on the stock rails. The centerpiece is the multifunction steering wheel sourced from an Alfa Romeo Giulia, with some modifications to make it compatible with its new role. As a finishing touch, Adriano covered the exposed panels with car-like upholstery so the driving simulator looks nice from every angle.
As proven by the videos, the pedals, steering wheel, and gearshift knob are fully functional in the game. Just like the Logitech G29 which was the starting point, the whole setup is compatible with both the PC and the Playstation. Adriano’s next goal is to make the dials on the instrument cluster follow the ones in the game, although this will only be possible in PC games.
You can follow the process of improving this home-built driving simulator on Adriano’s dedicated profile on Instagram called @simalfaproject_sneyk23. Would you like to have something like this as an accessory to your PC or gaming console?
Thanks to Adriano for sharing his cool project with us
