Let’s dive into another review of an Asetek product. Let’s see how this Asetek Invicta Clutch fares, completing their high-end pedal range.
Asetek continues to push hard in the simulation market. It’s growing and sees the weakness of its competitors, so it’s taking advantage by releasing high-quality products and occasional offers. The 10% discount on bundles ends (15% if you add our code) now at the end of August, but that doesn’t mean there won’t still be smaller offers on the same items.
This time we are reviewing a product that has been in their catalog for a while and completes the Asetek Invicta pedal range. The often overlooked and underestimated third pedal, the clutch.
Packaging and Presentation
Given its smaller size, it’s obvious that we’re going to find more compact packaging. The product is well protected, with perfectly finished packaging, and it offers completely recyclable content that Asetek is proud of. In this high-end range, more accessories are offered than in the other ranges.
As always: it protects, looks good, and delivers.
First Look
The pedal is made of aluminum, making it much lighter than others. We’re talking about less than 1,6 kilograms. You can feel it when taking it out of the box, handling it, and even when mounting it. Honestly, it’s appreciated, and its anodized black finish with orange touches only enhances the impression of a quality product.
Noteworthy for some is the LED strip on the footrest area. It can be customized from the Asetek RaceHub app and can display a full range of colors. Race interaction has greatly improved since version 3.0 of the software.
Tools and Customization
As with the rest of the company’s pedals, the tools for customization are included. The customization options for the clutch are greater than those for the other pedals, as here, in addition to the usual adjustments like height, stiffness, travel, or angle, you can add four options to modify the clutch curve. This allows you to feel more or less of that second phase where the pedal should drop without resistance to the bottom.
Unlike other times, I was forced to change several things, but I didn’t touch the curve.
Regarding the height adjustment of the plates, there are the usual holes where they can be mounted at different heights. You unscrew and screw using the provided Allen keys. No mystery there.
The pedals can also be adjusted by angle. You detach the arm and use the front wheel of each pedal for this. Complete instructions with illustrations can be found in the manual, which you can download from the product website.
The stiffness of the pedal can be adjusted by setting the preload, also detailed in the manual, by adjusting the regulator located at the back of the pedal.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the travel can also be adjusted in terms of extension.
Compatibility
The pedals use the Direct Input interface, so any PC game should be configurable without too much trouble. You have USB C and USB A cables to connect directly to a PC. The USB C cable is used to connect to Asetek bases, as we’ve shown in other reviews.
Assembly
Well… it’s not hard, but it is tedious. Removing the pedals from the cockpit, opening the bottom part, and connecting the clutch cable is not the most satisfying thing in the world. Still, this and fastening the screws is something anyone capable of withdrawing money from an ATM should be able to handle.
Configuration
Very simple in RaceHub. Calibrate, adjust the dead zones, and you’re good to go. The only thing is, if we calibrate a very hard stop, it will be difficult to reach, so we recommend a position where you’re comfortable reaching 80%-90% of the clutch for simulators like iRacing.
Feelings
Note: On race cars, the clutch is a very stiff pedal which barely compares to a street car clutch pedal. This one comes like a modern race car clutch.
My first impressions of this clutch were extremely bad. A very stiff pedal, as long as a year of darkness, and with a dull linearity. Not ideal straight from the factory, so adjustments were necessary.
As I mentioned, I lowered the height, changed the angle to match the other pedals, and reduced the travel as much as possible while softening the stiffness.
After these adjustments, it feels much more like a real clutch and not like an extremely stiff and long accelerator. At least now it’s usable, and you can feel a slight curve in the activation of the so-called second stage. In that regard, I left the factory settings as they are, since the manual suggests this configuration makes the most impact on this second stage.
Conclusions
I have mixed feelings. The pedal is not bad at all and follows the philosophy we’ve seen from Asetek, with high-quality products, a characteristic aesthetic touch, and a high price, but not excessively so.
Aside from all the good points, like weight, customization, performance, and reliability, I still miss a clutch with a clearly defined second stage. And I mean “as defined” as in any street car, where it’s very obvious when the clutch is engaged.
This issue bothers me because I feel like we’re taking steps backward instead of forward. I remember having great experiences with this type of pedal in 2015, less good ones in 2018 with another brand, and now definitely more subtle ones with this Asetek Clutch . While this is a purely personal issue, I don’t think it should affect the overall judgment, but I also shouldn’t omit mentioning it.
It can be purchased on their website or through the distributor Simufy for 299 euros.
- Simufy (2% discount using our code at checkout: SFYJ5IPC1Y1KS)
- Asetek (5% discount using our code at checkout: SIMRACER.ES)
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