CONSPIT CPP.Lite Pedals – Review

CONSPIT CPP.Lite Pedals – Review

Until recently, hydraulic simracing pedals were considered to be the preserve only of enthusiasts and were therefore extremely expensive. With the CPP.Lite pedals, the Chinese manufacturer CONSPIT now offers a complete pedal set for well under €1000, which not only relies on a hydraulic brake, but also has three integrated vibration motors. Are the CPP.Lite pedals a true price-performance hit or do you have to make sacrifices elsewhere?

Ordering and shipping

CONSPIT relies on distributors in various countries to sell the pedals. At the time of publication of the review, these were shops from the following countries: Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Lithuania, Malaysia, Australia/New Zealand, Hungary, Brazil, France. Of particular interest to us is of course our German partner Sim-Motion, which offers the pedals at the following prices incl. VAT plus shipping:

• CPP.Lite Pedals (2er): 599€
• CPP.Lite Pedals (3er): 719€

The product tested here was provided by the manufacturer. No influence was exerted on this review at any time.

Scope of delivery

CONSPIT leaves nothing to be desired when it comes to the scope of delivery and includes everything you need to get started. In addition to tools and assembly materials, this also includes goodies such as gloves and stickers:

• Base Mounting Plate
• CPP.LITE 3 -Throttle, Brake and Clutch Pedals
• Stickers
• Lubricating Grease
• USB Cable
• Power Adapter
• Glove
• Adjustment Tool (Hydraulic Preload)
• Hex wrench 6.0
• Hex wrench 5.0
• Hex wrench 4.0
• M8x12mm Rounded head bolts (6 pieces)
• M8x16mm Hex bolts (4 pieces)

Compatibility

The CONSPIT CPP.Lite pedals can only be operated on a PC and are therefore not console-compatible. In addition to the CONSPIT Link software, all you need is a free USB port (and, when using the haptic motors, a free power socket) and the pedals will be recognised as game controllers by all common simulations.

Things get a little more tricky with the haptic motors, which can be used completely, partially or not at all, depending on the simulation. More on this in the Haptic feedback chapter.

Mounting

An important aspect for compatibility is the mounting of the pedal set on the rig. To do this, the individual pedals are first screwed onto the base plate included in the scope of delivery. The corresponding threads are already pre-drilled for this purpose, to which each of the pedals can be securely fastened with two M8x12mm screws. You are relatively free to choose the mounting position and can vary the width almost at will. For example, the throttle and brake can easily be mounted in the centre by omitting the clutch.

Each pedal is equipped with two cables that can be routed to the underside through the recesses provided in the base plate. This is also where the corresponding controller box is located, to which the respective sockets for the individual cables are attached. The only thing to ensure here is that the cables are laid securely so that they do not get jammed when mounted on the rig. Depending on the rig, you should also remember to connect the USB cable and the cable for the power supply now, as these are also routed to the rear on the underside of the pedal plate.

For the final assembly on the rig, you then have both pre-drilled threads (4xM6 + 4xM8, distances see drawing, depending on the rig, new holes may have to be drilled in case of doubt), which are ideal for mounting the pedals on a rig with a fixed pedal plate. For the review, the pedals were bolted to a TR80 Lite from Trak Racer, for example, with two additional holes drilled for the desired positioning. Screwing them directly to aluminium profiles is even easier. Four feed-throughs are prepared for this, through which the pedals can be mounted very easily and quickly without additional brackets.

Pedals

The pedals are made entirely of black and purple anodised aluminium and the individual pedal arms are mounted on ball bearings. CONSPIT takes a different approach with the base plate: the manufacturer uses a metal base frame combined with plastic panelling, which nevertheless makes a very high-quality impression. Overall, the pedals probably offer more than enough adjustment options for at least 90% of all users, but hardcore fans of customisation would certainly want a little more adjustment options.

Brake

The highlight of the set is undoubtedly the hydraulic brake, which is designed for a brake pressure of up to 100 bar. With four different mounting positions (the larger the lever, the lower the required pressure), the hardness of the brake can be varied and thus the feel of different brake pedal types can be imitated. The CONSPIT specifications with the required forces for a brake pressure of 100 bar with up to 800 N can be found in the table.

In addition, the spring preload can be adjusted using a rotary knob on the front, which allows the pedal feel to be changed significantly, especially at the start of the braking process. If you turn the knob to the left using the tool supplied, the preload is reduced. If you turn it to the right, the preload is increased, which initially results in a significantly harder pedal. After an adjustment, it is then necessary to recalibrate the pedals in the software, as the minimum value changes accordingly. The adjustment with the supplied tool is somewhat cumbersome. Especially if you want to change the preload significantly, as you then have to readjust it several times with the tool.

The brake feels very natural when braking and is particularly good on the foot when trailbraking. According to CONSPIT, an improved compression material was used here, which should be particularly wear-resistant. During the test period of over 30 hours, this could be confirmed in a first impression, the brake did a precise job throughout without changing its characteristics in the slightest.

CONSPIT doesn’t use a 2-stage system, such as the one currently used by Asetek in its pedals, due to the classic design of the hydraulic brake.

Throttle

For the throttle pedal, CONSPIT relies on a wear-free Hall sensor that converts the movement of the pedal arm into a signal. A spring is used to generate the corresponding resistance, the pre-tension of which can be adjusted via a rotary wheel in a similar way to the brake. This also influences the maximum possible pedal travel.

The basic hardness can also be adjusted here by positioning the spring, with four options available. This means that a very soft throttle pedal is possible on one side, while using the highest hole results in a correspondingly harder pedal. Fans of an extremely firm throttle pedal may reach their limits here. However, we opted for the second position, so there was still some room for adjustment.

The throttle pedal is very smooth when operated and leaves nothing to be desired in this respect. The signal is also transmitted very cleanly by the Hall sensor, and there were no dropouts or incorrect inputs during the entire test period.

Clutch

Like the throttle pedal, the optional clutch (currently not available separately) is equipped with a Hall sensor and completes the 3-pedal set. Even though most of the vehicles used in racing series today no longer have a clutch, it is still a good addition, especially in the historic and road (drift) sector. CONSPIT uses a two-part design with a normal spring and a second spring that tilts when activated. The aim is to imitate the feel of a real clutch as closely as possible, which works well in combination with the vibration motors. The preload of the built-in spring can also be adjusted here using the rotary knob.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to adjust the depth of the clutch, which can be problematic for fans of heel and toe, depending on their preference.

Pedal Plates

Each of the three pedals is equipped with an adjustable pedal plate that can be adjusted both in height (four mounting holes per pedal, of which only two are required) and in angle (0° to 15° relative to the base plate). The supplied tool is required for this, but the process itself is then completed in a few seconds. The plates are made of aluminium and have no indentations other than the mounting holes and the light accent strips. Nevertheless, they always provided sufficient grip during the test when used with karting shoes or Puma gaming socks.

Vibration motors (haptic feedback)

In recent weeks and months, users have increasingly focussed on haptic feedback both on the rig and on the pedals. Vibrations, which are usually generated by vibration motors or so-called bass shakers, offer a new level of immersion and can be used for various effects in the pedal area. It is precisely for this reason that CONSPIT installs a vibration motor in every pedal, which causes the pedal in question to vibrate in a targeted manner. The advantage here is clearly the seamless integration, including cable routing and the electronics built into the controller box. This means that no additional amplifier or even a second sound card is required.

The built-in vibration motors are significantly more powerful than the vibration motors of the Fanatec V3 pedals and slightly below the TT25 Mini Bass Shaker, which we recently presented in a DIY project. This means that they are sufficiently powerful, but do not reach the absolute enthusiast market, where you can easily spend up to €500 for a set with three shakers.

Software

CONSPIT uses the CONSPIT Link software to control the pedals. This offers various options:

• Calibration: The individual pedals are calibrated here (minimum and maximum values are set) and dead zones and individual pedal curves can be defined.
• Accessory Settings: Here you can manage the vibration motors via the CONSPIT software, assign them to the individual effects (TC, ABS, Wheel Slip, Wheel Lock-up, Clutch Bite-point) and set their strength. CONSPIT also offers SimHub compatibility for the vibration motors in a special firmware (CPP.LITE Pedal Firmware V2.07 (SimHub Dedicated Version)). However, the Launch Control function is currently not available in this version.
• Launch Control: The automatic launch control is managed here. More on this in the next section.

Overall, the software is still a little underwhelming at the moment, but CONSPIT is already working on future updates to eliminate minor issues and further refine the software.

Launch Control

CONSPIT has a unique feature in the form of Launch Control. It enables the launch process to be almost completely automated. To do this, hold down the selected hotkey with the clutch fully depressed and then release the clutch abruptly. You can now define two points and their dependencies. The first point determines the pedal position of the clutch at the beginning of the start process, which is lowered linearly to the second defined point within a freely adjustable time. The value is then lowered to 0, again in the previously defined time in milliseconds.

This feature is not necessarily intended for the ultimate fast start, but above all offers unrivalled consistency due to the fact that the start process always takes place in the same way. The feature is currently automatically deactivated in iRacing, but it is not yet known whether other simulations will follow this example.

You can see a video of the Launch Control in action here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6_MPAqNyU5

Overlays

As a nice additional feature, CONSPIT currently offers two overlays that can be displayed in the game (the simulation must not be running in full screen mode). One overlay shows the current pedal positions and the history of the last few seconds. The other overlay shows the time required to start from 0 to 100, which can be particularly useful for starting exercises.

DIY project: Brake preload adjustment

No review is really complete without a little DIY project to go with it. For the pedals, a 3D-printed handle for adjusting the preload was the perfect solution. With the printed tool, the adjustment can be made easily by hand and the tool supplied becomes obsolete. Printing takes around two to three hours depending on the settings, no support structures are required and the tool can be printed in one piece.

Conclusion

With the CPP.Lite pedals, CONSPIT has made an extremely positive start on the European market. At a currently unbeatable price-performance ratio, the 3-pedal set not only offers a hydraulic brake, throttle and clutch with Hall sensors, but also three seamlessly integrated vibration motors for haptic feedback and a well thought-out base plate with an integrated controller box.

The set masters the basic disciplines with ease, only the not yet fully developed software shows slight weaknesses.

Overall, CONSPIT surprises more than positively with a successful mix of high-quality materials, a very generous scope of delivery and a very affordable price. The set is therefore a clear recommendation.