Playseat Formula Instinct F1 Edition review: "A sign you’re taking sim racing seriously"

From a basic wheel clamped precariously to the edge of a coffee table, right through to a rig Max Verstappen would be proud of, every sim racing setup is different and there’s a combo for everyone. While they may vary in size and budget, a common name across them all is Playseat. With 20 years of experience, the brand offers everything from simple folding options like the Challenge X right through to full-size rigs costing thousands.

The new Playseat Formula Instinct F1 Edition sits somewhere in the middle of the field. At $599/£519 this rigid, fixed-position racing seat is a sign you’re taking sim racing seriously. This is a best gaming chair contender for those who spend more time on the virtual tracks than in any other genre, but it could just be versatile enough to be a mainstay of any console setup.

Inspired and officially licensed by Formula 1 it’s an eye-catching option, but with plenty of alternatives around, including Playseat’s own Trophy Logitech G Edition, is it the one to go for?

Assembly

While it takes a massive team of engineers to construct an F1 car, you’ll need to put together the Formula Instinct F1 Edition yourself. Thankfully Playseat has kept things as simple as possible. Arriving fully flat packed it’s remarkable how few individual pieces make up this racing seat and going step-by-step through the easy-to-follow instruction booklet I was able to construct it on my own in about an hour.

I did face a couple of hiccups courtesy of a particularly stubborn connection that just wouldn’t budge, but I imagine this was more a tolerance quirk of my unit rather than a major design flaw. You’ll find all of the required bolts and tools in the box along with a pair of white fabric gloves if you’re feeling particularly fancy.

Design

Playseat is a familiar co-pilot for me, I’ve tested a number of its seats in the past and the excellent Playseat Trophy has been my daily driver over the last 12 months. While the Playseat Formula Instinct F1 Edition is a similar concept, it follows a noticeably different design language. The Trophy is flowing and almost organic in style with rounded edges and a soft flexible seat. The Formula Instinct is almost industrial in comparison with a hard-shell seat and angular metal frame.

Build quality is excellent, not that you’d expect anything less from a $599 cockpit made by a brand with Playseat’s reputation. The metal construction gives this racing seat a noticeably solid and sturdy feel with a slightly textured finish on the main frame and glossy white highlights to break things up. It’s certainly not as sleek as the Playseat Trophy but with a few flourishes of strikingly red F1 branding it’s smart enough to look at.

Interestingly, despite being larger according to the spec sheets, the Formula Instinct felt smaller and less commanding in my room than the Playseat Trophy. I don’t have an explanation for this except vibes, the seat itself on both cockpits is a relatively similar size and shape but there was a definite visual difference. Maybe it’s just an optical illusion. Optical illusions don’t apply when it comes to footprint though and the size of the Playseat Formula Instinct shouldn’t be underestimated. This isn’t a compact, living room-friendly option like the Playseat Challenge - this is a full-size rig that realistically needs a dedicated gaming space.

I also quickly discovered that with just four small rubber feet, it’s not particularly carpet-friendly either. These are the only points of contact with the ground and bearing the full brunt of the weight were quick to leave alarming marks in my medium-pile carpet. I could see this causing permanent damage in the long run so I ended up grabbing some furniture sliders to place underneath each foot to spread the load. These were cheap enough to grab online so not a major issue but it’d be nice to see Playseat include something similar in the box to screw to the bottom.

Features

The Playseat Formula Instinct F1 Edition includes a fixed, molded seat and while the bucket shape is deep and welcoming, it’s also my only disappointment when it comes to build quality. Playseat might give them funky ‘Modufoam’ branding in an attempt to jazz them up, but the cushions seem out of place and generic compared to the rest of the seat. They do the job, but the back panel in particular feels thin and while the base seat is a little thicker and nicely sculpted, it all just seems like basic foam. They’re not uncomfortable, they’re just entirely unremarkable and I was expecting more.

More so than other sim racing seats I’ve tested, the Formula Instinct is wonderfully customizable. Everywhere you look there seems to be another way to dial it in to your liking. From the angle of the pedal tray to the height of the headrest cushion, it’s up to you how you want it and I played around for almost an hour making little tweaks here and there. It was surprising just how much of a difference small changes would make to the overall feel and I’d definitely recommend investing some time to really understand the impact changing each part makes. At a quick count, I found no less than eight different points of adjustment, some allowing for detailed fine-tuning with others delivering broader changes moving between a range of fixed positions.

On the whole, each of these adjustments was simple to make, though I felt like some mechanisms were stronger than others. The main crossbar that supports your best racing wheel features the jazzily named ‘X-Adapt quick release adjustment system’ while others are more basic and use a thumb screw or hex bolt. I have no major complaints about any of the choices Playseat has made here and I’m sure simplifying in a few places would have helped keep costs from spiraling, though a little spot to store the required hex keys would have been a nice touch and saved future searches I’m sure I’ll have to make.

Annoyingly the most common adjustment you’ll probably want to make is also the most awkward to do. Just like an F1 driver’s seat fitting is the first step of their journey in a new car, sliding the Formula Instinct’s seat back and forth is the main starting point for sim racers and the first thing you’ll want to change if a new player is hopping behind the wheel. Playseat has improved things from the Trophy which needed multiple hex bolts to be removed and the Formula Instinct now just needs four knobs to be loosened. This is great, but with these undone actually sliding the seat itself was stiff and more difficult than it needed to be. It may loosen over time as it wears or perhaps just needed a little squirt of WD-40, but a more assisted or at least less resistive solution would have been very welcome.

Performance

Jumping into F1 24 any pent-up tension from the build process or frustrations over underwhelming foam instantly vanished into the rearview mirror because out on track the Playseat Formula Instinct is lovely to use. I’ve spent a lot of time (pretty poorly) racing F1 cars in the Playseat Trophy over the last few months so it was surprising how different the experience in the Formula Instinct was. Playseat’s marketing boasts an ‘authentic F1 racing position’ and while I’ve never set foot in a Formula One car and can’t say whether that’s true, what I can say is it’s a noticeably different driving position to the Playseat Trophy and Challenge. It’s also by far the easiest of the bunch to climb in and out of. The cockpit feels far more open with fewer places to bang your knees and fewer ways to lose your dignity trying to clamber out of it.

While much of my racing is generally done with the compact MOZA R12 wheelbase, I thought I’d stress test the Playseat Formula Instinct with the beefiest wheel I had available, the Logitech G Pro Racing Wheel and Pedals. Not only does that generate 11Nm of torque through its direct drive motor, but it’s also an absolute beast of a thing that weighs 8.5kg and has a hefty overbite that makes it noticeably front-heavy. I figure if the Formula Instinct can handle this, it’ll handle pretty much any wheel - and it handled it with ease.

No matter how much the force feedback shuddered and how quickly I whipped the wheel around tight corners the Playseat Formula Instinct kept it locked in. The X-Adapt clamp system does a wonderful job of not allowing any give or loosening and the wheel remained in exactly the same position at the end of 70 laps as it did when the lights went out. Perhaps more importantly, so did I in the Formula Instinct’s rigid bucket seat. The fixed position means this is a very different experience than with Playseat’s other mid-range chairs and while I’m a fan of the Playseat Trophy’s hammock approach that gives and moves with you, there’s definitely a more professional vibe that comes from this more static seat.

By far the least elegant component of the Playseat Formula Instinct is the pedal tray but it’s a textbook example of function over form. Just like the wheel platform I had no trouble lining up the aggressively large Logitech G Pro Pedal base but it’s a far fiddlier and more frustrating affair. Admittedly this is probably on me, so a word of advice; don’t try to mount the pedals with the Formula Instinct on its feet - tip it on its side or you’ll be there for twice as long as you need to be. Pedals attached - and my bright papaya McLaren out on track, however, the pedal tray was capable of withstanding serious strain. With exposed bracing arms on either side the Formula Instinct certainly looks far less slick than the Trophy’s all-in-one system, but they’re mighty effective as even when slamming the G Pro’s 100kg load cell brake pedal down the Formula Instinct never budged. The braces also allow for a greater and more granular range of positions than other Playseat racing chairs too, complimenting F1-inspired seating position well with a tray that can reach some pretty extreme angles.

Should you buy the Playseat Formula Instinct F1 Edition?

There’s a lot to like about the Playseat Formula Instinct F1 Edition, this is a racing seat that ticks just about every box for the right kind of gamer with the right kind of setup. Build quality is noticeably strong, it’s deeply customizable, and most importantly it’s a joy to race in. For $599/£519 you get a lot of rig for your money and the Formula Instinct stacks up well against the rest of the field as a result.

I’m not sure it’s as universal a rig as some of Playseat’s other options though. The Playseat Trophy Logitech G Edition is sleeker and less harsh on carpets while the Playseat Challenge X is cheaper and considerably more living room-friendly. One isn’t necessarily better than the others though, just better suited for different situations. If you have a dedicated racing space and you don’t mind sacrificing some aesthetics for a little extra adjustability, or if you like the fact it has an F1 logo on the side, then go for the Formula Instinct. It’s a great rig and unlikely to disappoint.

How we tested the Playseat Formula Instinct F1 Edition

The Playseat Formula Instinct became the center of my sim racing setup for a few weeks, paired with both the MOZA R12 and Logitech G Pro Racing Wheel. I supplied my own furniture sliders as the racing seat was tested solely on carpet however this did not impact the performance of the unit. I completed a number of races and general driving sessions in EA F1 24, Forza Horizon 5, and Forza Motorsport, along with some dedicated stress testing.

For more on how we test the latest gaming chairs, have a read of our hardware policy.

If you're still trying to narrow down your choices of the best console gaming chairs, take a look at our handy guide. If you're in need of a wheel to mount to a Playseat cockpit chair, check out the best PS5 steering wheels and the best Xbox steering wheels.