I like things that are cheap and different. That is why when I upgraded my steering wheel setup to VRS DFP I chose to buy a Penguin R/C button box from Brion instead of going for a more common route of Cube, Ascher, etc. For me the Penguin box is different in 2 major ways: (1) using spring paddles instead of magnets (2) a selector switch that changes the function of +/- button which makes it function-rich and easy to remember how to use. For a detailed teardown of the box you can check Barry's video here, and in this post I will not repeat what Barry already presented in his amazing production:
The model I bought is PSMod_AFlc, which is the cheapest Penguin box intended for use on Accuforce formula rim. I bought a duramold version of the rim.
Let me start by talking about the overall experience. Brion offers lifetime warranty on his products and he offers amazing customer support. The build quality of the wheel is mostly great except for the 3D printed parts whose quality/toughness is impacted by its material nature. The carbon fiber shifter paddles and the G10 front/back plates feel great and quality made.
Then I would like to share the experience out of the box. I think Penguin box's spring paddles feel amazing. I actually prefer these paddles over magnetic paddles (I've only tried DIY version, Fanatec, Ascher, and Innato magnetci paddles so take my opinion with a grain of salt). The reason is that you get increasingly greater resistance as you press it down, and that is very satisfying. The springs are also quite strong and the tactile feedback is much better than Fanatec's stock spring paddles. The selector switch has a great clicky feeling, too. However, the other buttons fall short of tactile feedback in my opinion, and on this PSMod_AFlc version the +/- buttons are smaller knitter switches and I don't like them. The other buttons don't have clear click and they feel very generic like some Aliexpress buttons. However they do the job. I highly recommend Penguin RC's box and I think people should not be overlooking this option just because it does not have magnetic shifters.
Next I would like to share all the different modifications I did to the wheel and why I did them.
Mod #1 Selector switch color mod.
The lc version is the even cheaper version of Penguin RC's products, and on this version the selector switch does not have a colored line on it to clearly indicate its current function. So I stole my wife's nail polish and drew a line on it. It worked and my wife didn't find out.
Mod #2 Bigger function selector text
The selector switch has a small notch on it and it reveals the text for different functions. However the text is pre-printed but I don't personally use things like TC2 so often so I wish to re-arrange the labels. Besides, the switch knob protrudes, and shadow easily covers the small text so I can't really see what the current function is. To get around this problem, I 3D printed a thin piece of 70 mm bolt pattern plastic, and wrapped it with colored labels that I made myself. Now the functions are fully customized including audio volume up/down and look left/right. Controlling these functions feel very intuitive: you switch to the function you want, and then just use the +/- buttons to up it or down it.
The results of Mod #1 and Mod #2 can be seen in these pictures.
Mod #3 Switching +/- buttons to bigger ones
As mentioned above the tactile feedback on the buttons are just meh, especially the smaller +/- buttons. I find myself using these 2 buttons a lot more than the other ones, and it makes more sense to me to use the bigger buttons for these 2 functions. The mod is quite easy. You just open the box, and switch the cables. However, the wires on the buttons are just long enough for its stock setup, so switching the cables means stretching the wires and also cross them over.
The inside of the box after switching buttons can be seen in this picture. Note the wires of the 2 top buttons are crossing over ,the the farther button's wire is very stretched.
Mod #4 Changing the wheel rim and modding shifter pad
This button box is designed for the Accuforce formula rim. I don't know if the alcantara version would feel better, but the duramold version really is quite slippery, so I have to hook my thumbs hard into the rim when I drive. To make things worse there is no padding on the handle, and where my thumbs hook is very stiff. I get blisters a lot. Without knowing the compatibility, I took a risky move and ordered a QSP 300 mm leather steering wheel directly from QSP in the Netherlands. The reason I chose this rim is (1) I heard good things about it from Sim Racing Coach wheel users (2) its 300 mm size means it is not too far from the 290 mm diameter of the Accuforce rim so the chance of compatibility is higher (3) I don't like taking care of alcantara or wearing gloves. I'm glad that I bought it in the end. This wheel is so much more comfortable with good cushioning.
However, while it kind of works with the wheel box, it has a slight dish. This means the original shifter paddles are just a tad too far and that created enormous amount of stress on my fingers surprisingly. Now another shortcoming is found on the box: the adjust-ability of shifter paddles is very minimal, especially that they cannot be moved closer or farther from the driver. To solve this issue I designed and printed a pair of shifter paddles that have the same bolt pattern as the original paddles so I directly use the same bolts and nuts. They worked really well. I later sanded and painted the paddles and they feel great.
The results of Mod #4 can be seen in these pictures.
Mod #5 Custom USB cable
One thing mentioned in Barry's review of the button box is that the included USB cable is very short. This is because the inside of the button box is very crowded, and a microUSB cable with a left-handed 90 degree angle has to be used. There aren't many readily available options for this setup, and the super short 15 cm coiled cable is almost the only option. This cable also has a quite stiff coil. This means when the cable is pulled, instead of extending the coil, the cable has actually a tendency to be pulled on the outlet from the button box. This has led to 2 cable failures on my unit, both from me playing Dirt Rally 2. Brion told me that this had been a known issue, he had not found a better cable for his design, and provided me with free replacement cables.
Replacing the cable is easy but annoying. I have to lift the Teenzy board from the box to disconnect the microUSB connection, and I am really scared that one day I might accidentally break the microUSB female connector on the Teenzy. After some thoughts and checking other wheels, I think if I can get a coiled cable with something like a GX12 connector that can be fixed on the wheel, so that if the wheel is pulling the cable it would be the coil getting extension, I should be able to avoid stress being put on the straight part of the cable. In addition, if the coiled cable does get broken, the section between the GX12 connector to the Teenzy will not need to be replaced so I don't have to open the button box.
After some trial and error, I soldered 4 wires to a micro USB connector, slightly bent the wires, carefully routed it from inside the button box to outside. Then I printed a special 70 mm pattern 8 mm spacer (I always had to use a 8 mm spacer because I use an NRG quick release), and on the spacer I made a hole to mount a male GX12 connector. The spacer is designed to protrude a bit to allow some space between the wheel rim and the quick release. Then I soldered the 4 wires to the male GX12 connector and mounted on the spacer. It works quite well. Now everything from the Teenzy board to the male connector should always be relative stationary, and turning or even throwing the wheel will only have an effect on the coil portion of the cable. GX12 coil cable is widely used in the DIY wheel community, and I can easily get a long coiled cable and wrap it around the steering hub.
The progress of Mod #5 can be seen in these pictures. I actually made 2 versions of the spacer but ended up with a version with longer protrusion for now because I feel uneasy that with the shorter version the wires are quite bent.
From my understanding Brion is currently in his final stage of making improved coiled cable based on his original design, but I guess I'm just a bit impatient and have done it a different way.
To summarize, I really like the Penguin RC button box and I have learned a lot in all these mods. Probably in the future I will try DIY a steering wheel when I have some free time. And last but not least, Brion's customer support is really great.
The model I bought is PSMod_AFlc, which is the cheapest Penguin box intended for use on Accuforce formula rim. I bought a duramold version of the rim.
Let me start by talking about the overall experience. Brion offers lifetime warranty on his products and he offers amazing customer support. The build quality of the wheel is mostly great except for the 3D printed parts whose quality/toughness is impacted by its material nature. The carbon fiber shifter paddles and the G10 front/back plates feel great and quality made.
Then I would like to share the experience out of the box. I think Penguin box's spring paddles feel amazing. I actually prefer these paddles over magnetic paddles (I've only tried DIY version, Fanatec, Ascher, and Innato magnetci paddles so take my opinion with a grain of salt). The reason is that you get increasingly greater resistance as you press it down, and that is very satisfying. The springs are also quite strong and the tactile feedback is much better than Fanatec's stock spring paddles. The selector switch has a great clicky feeling, too. However, the other buttons fall short of tactile feedback in my opinion, and on this PSMod_AFlc version the +/- buttons are smaller knitter switches and I don't like them. The other buttons don't have clear click and they feel very generic like some Aliexpress buttons. However they do the job. I highly recommend Penguin RC's box and I think people should not be overlooking this option just because it does not have magnetic shifters.
Next I would like to share all the different modifications I did to the wheel and why I did them.
Mod #1 Selector switch color mod.
The lc version is the even cheaper version of Penguin RC's products, and on this version the selector switch does not have a colored line on it to clearly indicate its current function. So I stole my wife's nail polish and drew a line on it. It worked and my wife didn't find out.
Mod #2 Bigger function selector text
The selector switch has a small notch on it and it reveals the text for different functions. However the text is pre-printed but I don't personally use things like TC2 so often so I wish to re-arrange the labels. Besides, the switch knob protrudes, and shadow easily covers the small text so I can't really see what the current function is. To get around this problem, I 3D printed a thin piece of 70 mm bolt pattern plastic, and wrapped it with colored labels that I made myself. Now the functions are fully customized including audio volume up/down and look left/right. Controlling these functions feel very intuitive: you switch to the function you want, and then just use the +/- buttons to up it or down it.
The results of Mod #1 and Mod #2 can be seen in these pictures.
Mod #3 Switching +/- buttons to bigger ones
As mentioned above the tactile feedback on the buttons are just meh, especially the smaller +/- buttons. I find myself using these 2 buttons a lot more than the other ones, and it makes more sense to me to use the bigger buttons for these 2 functions. The mod is quite easy. You just open the box, and switch the cables. However, the wires on the buttons are just long enough for its stock setup, so switching the cables means stretching the wires and also cross them over.
The inside of the box after switching buttons can be seen in this picture. Note the wires of the 2 top buttons are crossing over ,the the farther button's wire is very stretched.
Mod #4 Changing the wheel rim and modding shifter pad
This button box is designed for the Accuforce formula rim. I don't know if the alcantara version would feel better, but the duramold version really is quite slippery, so I have to hook my thumbs hard into the rim when I drive. To make things worse there is no padding on the handle, and where my thumbs hook is very stiff. I get blisters a lot. Without knowing the compatibility, I took a risky move and ordered a QSP 300 mm leather steering wheel directly from QSP in the Netherlands. The reason I chose this rim is (1) I heard good things about it from Sim Racing Coach wheel users (2) its 300 mm size means it is not too far from the 290 mm diameter of the Accuforce rim so the chance of compatibility is higher (3) I don't like taking care of alcantara or wearing gloves. I'm glad that I bought it in the end. This wheel is so much more comfortable with good cushioning.
However, while it kind of works with the wheel box, it has a slight dish. This means the original shifter paddles are just a tad too far and that created enormous amount of stress on my fingers surprisingly. Now another shortcoming is found on the box: the adjust-ability of shifter paddles is very minimal, especially that they cannot be moved closer or farther from the driver. To solve this issue I designed and printed a pair of shifter paddles that have the same bolt pattern as the original paddles so I directly use the same bolts and nuts. They worked really well. I later sanded and painted the paddles and they feel great.
The results of Mod #4 can be seen in these pictures.
Mod #5 Custom USB cable
One thing mentioned in Barry's review of the button box is that the included USB cable is very short. This is because the inside of the button box is very crowded, and a microUSB cable with a left-handed 90 degree angle has to be used. There aren't many readily available options for this setup, and the super short 15 cm coiled cable is almost the only option. This cable also has a quite stiff coil. This means when the cable is pulled, instead of extending the coil, the cable has actually a tendency to be pulled on the outlet from the button box. This has led to 2 cable failures on my unit, both from me playing Dirt Rally 2. Brion told me that this had been a known issue, he had not found a better cable for his design, and provided me with free replacement cables.
Replacing the cable is easy but annoying. I have to lift the Teenzy board from the box to disconnect the microUSB connection, and I am really scared that one day I might accidentally break the microUSB female connector on the Teenzy. After some thoughts and checking other wheels, I think if I can get a coiled cable with something like a GX12 connector that can be fixed on the wheel, so that if the wheel is pulling the cable it would be the coil getting extension, I should be able to avoid stress being put on the straight part of the cable. In addition, if the coiled cable does get broken, the section between the GX12 connector to the Teenzy will not need to be replaced so I don't have to open the button box.
After some trial and error, I soldered 4 wires to a micro USB connector, slightly bent the wires, carefully routed it from inside the button box to outside. Then I printed a special 70 mm pattern 8 mm spacer (I always had to use a 8 mm spacer because I use an NRG quick release), and on the spacer I made a hole to mount a male GX12 connector. The spacer is designed to protrude a bit to allow some space between the wheel rim and the quick release. Then I soldered the 4 wires to the male GX12 connector and mounted on the spacer. It works quite well. Now everything from the Teenzy board to the male connector should always be relative stationary, and turning or even throwing the wheel will only have an effect on the coil portion of the cable. GX12 coil cable is widely used in the DIY wheel community, and I can easily get a long coiled cable and wrap it around the steering hub.
The progress of Mod #5 can be seen in these pictures. I actually made 2 versions of the spacer but ended up with a version with longer protrusion for now because I feel uneasy that with the shorter version the wires are quite bent.
From my understanding Brion is currently in his final stage of making improved coiled cable based on his original design, but I guess I'm just a bit impatient and have done it a different way.
To summarize, I really like the Penguin RC button box and I have learned a lot in all these mods. Probably in the future I will try DIY a steering wheel when I have some free time. And last but not least, Brion's customer support is really great.
