Playseat Challenge - Original vs New ActiFit model
I cannot seem to find anything online about this but it appears there's a new model of the Challenge which has an "ActiFit" material instead of the Alcantara.
Has anyone seen or tried the new model? I'm about to buy my first sim racing setup and decided on the Challenge but here in Australia almost everywhere is only stocking this new ActiFit model.
From this 22 second video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_0z1LIz1A4)it looks to be a breathable mesh material. Breathable sounds good but I did quite like the look of the Alcantara, I think my cats will enjoy using something with mesh like holes as a scratching post and I'm unsure how it affects comfort (a feature which the existing Alcantara seems to be mostly approved by the community). But I'm also wondering if there have been any other improvements with the new model.. I've emailed Playseat and will update if I get a response but I thought I'd see if the community has any real life experience with the new model.
Amazon seems to show the best comparison in their high res pictures:
Challenge EU/Alcantara - https://www.amazon.co.uk/PLAYSEAT-UKC00288-Challenge-Black-UK/dp/B009ZELZDS?th=1
Challenge NEW/ActiFit - https://www.amazon.co.uk/PLAYSEAT-UKC00288-Challenge-Black-UK/dp/B092RKQKFT?th=1
Posted Feb 5, 2022, 7:57 AM UTC
What a disappointing update. The Playseat Challenge is such a great concept (I very happy with mine, but requires a lot of DIY) but it really needs a proper overhaul.
With a new pedal mount (just copy the one from the NLR GT-Lite), and revised wheel base plate and a shifter mount, it could become even more of a goto rig for us without enough space for anything else.