Simucube 3 Ultimate review: 35Nm on an IPM motor for $3,299

The Simucube 3 Ultimate makes 35 Nm on a 23-bit encoder and lists at $3,299 without a Simucube Link Hub. Simucube’s own product page says one hub is required to operate, so the base that runs in a rig with nothing else in it is the $3,399 option, $59 under the $3,299 base plus a $159 hub. One hub covers a whole rig, which is why the cheaper option exists: an ActivePedal or Valo GT-23 owner already has one.

The wheel is the purchase after that. The $169 Link Quick Release is not, because every steering wheel Simucube sells arrives with a quick release, so the cheapest way to a base that steers is the $949 Valo GT-23 in its Simucube 3 configuration, for $4,348. Simucube sells that exact pair as a bundle at the same $4,348 regular price, discounted 5% to $4,130.60 on the day these figures were read. US store prices read 1 August 2026, before tax.

Against the Simucube 3 Pro, $1,700 buys 10 Nm. That is double the running price for 40% more torque, and Simucube’s FAQ names six differences between the two and nothing else: the motor type, the torque, the warranty, the response speed, 2 kg of weight, and 20 mm of length. The encoder, the power supply, the box, the mounting pattern, the control box, and the hub requirement are the same on both listings.

Generation	None published. Simucube prints no revision marker beside this model name, and the "3" names the product line: it sells Simucube 2 and Simucube 3 as two catalogs on one menu
Drive type	Direct drive. Simucube's spec row reads "Motor type: IPM motor. Maximum response speed. Direct drive optimized IPM motor", the only motor row in the line that names a different magnet layout rather than a different tune
Max torque	35 Nm. The spec block reads "Max torque: 35 Nm" with no metric; the page's own meta description writes "35 Nm peak torque"
Angle sensor	Simucube's row reads "Angle sensor: 23-bit absolute (8 000 000 steps)", the same figure it gives the Sport and the Pro
Warranty	"Warranty: 5 years", against 3 years on the Sport and the Pro, which Simucube's FAQ repeats under its own warranty heading
Price	$3,299 without the Link Hub, $3,399 with it, on Simucube's US store, checked 1 August 2026, before tax; bare base, no wheel or pedals
Platforms	PC. Simucube's FAQ denies PS4, PS5, and Xbox outright, checked 1 August 2026
Quick release	Link Quick Release, not in the box; Simucube's own wheels ship with one, and a rim you already own needs the $169 part
Mounting	Front and bottom, on 135mm and 78.4mm bolt circles, with a fasteners kit in the box, all identical to the 15Nm Sport's
Size and weight	135 × 135 × 323 mm including the quick release, 13 kg, on the same 360 W supply Simucube rates to 450 W peak on the Pro
Software	Simucube Tuner 3.0. This listing heads its software section "SIMUCUBE TUNER 3.0", as do the Sport's and the Pro's, checked 1 August 2026
Best for	A PC racer buying response speed and a 5-year warranty, who has already decided that torque is not what the money is for

Who it’s for

The top of the Simucube 3 line and the hardest sell in it. A real GT or prototype puts roughly 10-12 Nm through the wheel on a flying lap, so 35 Nm is about three times what any car asks for and the Pro’s 25 Nm already cleared that. The $1,700 buys the motor Simucube built to hold that number, and the number itself is spare.

Buy it if:

• You want the motor Simucube reserves for this base. Its FAQ says the Ultimate “uses a spoke-type IPM motor for faster response and more torque efficiency,” where both cheaper models run an SPM motor, and it is the only spec row in the line that changes in kind.
• The warranty is worth $1,700 to you. Five years against three is the one difference here that a fault, rather than a lap, cashes in.
• You’re committing to the Link platform: one Link Hub for the rig, a Simucube wheel that brings its own quick release, and a wheel budget starting at $949.
• You have a rig built for it. This is a 13 kg base making 35 Nm, and Simucube sells nothing that puts it on a desk.

Not the one if you race on a console, since Simucube denies all three, or if the torque figure is the argument: the Simagic Alpha EVO Ultra states 28 Nm as continuous torque for $969, and the Moza R25 Ultra states 25 Nm sustained for $899.

What it’s like to drive

Three times what the car makes. Nobody runs a base at 35 Nm. Set it high and trim in-game gain to avoid clipping; the per-base tuning guide has the starting settings. What the headroom does is keep a heavy formula rim off the ceiling in the moments a lower base flattens, and past the Pro’s 25 Nm there is very little ceiling left to buy.

The IPM motor is what the money is on. Simucube’s own block reads “An Interior Permanent Magnet motor built for sim racing. Dense magnetic flux, low inertia, and optimised thermal paths deliver 35 Nm of torque with the fastest response and the coolest run in the category.” The claim under that is slew rate: force that changes faster, so a kerb strike or a rear stepping out arrives with less smoothing. The strings “slew” and “Nm/ms” appear zero times across all three Simucube 3 listings and Simucube’s FAQ, counted 1 August 2026, where Asetek publishes a figure per base, so the response-speed claim here is the manufacturer’s with no measurement beside it.

The power supply says what the motor is for. The Ultimate runs the Pro’s “360 W (450 W peak)” supply while making 10 Nm more, which is Simucube’s efficiency claim printed as a specification rather than as marketing. The encoder does not move either: 23-bit absolute over 8 000 000 steps on all three models, so resolution is not what the top of the range buys.

Watch-outs

• The base does not reach a PC on its own. The box holds an RJ45 cable and no USB cable. The Link Hub is what plugs into the computer, and it is $100 as the option here or $159 on its own. Run an ActivePedal alongside the base and Simucube adds a $69 Teltonika Ethernet Switch to the list.
• Simucube’s own page says this base is unreleased while selling it. The FAQ accordion on the listing answers “When will the Simucube 3 Ultimate be ready for purchase and shipping?” with “Simucube 3 Ultimate will be released in 2026,” on a page whose two options both reported in stock at $3,299 and $3,399 on 1 August 2026 and whose shipping block promises 2-6 days. The live price and stock are the fact; the accordion is boilerplate Simucube has not retired.
• Budget the wheel, not the quick release. $4,348 is the base with the hub and Simucube’s cheapest wheel. The $169 Link Quick Release is the purchase for a rim you already own, and a 50.8mm formula rim needs another $99 adapter after it.
• PC only, and Simucube states it. No console path, in its own FAQ’s words, and nothing licensed for a console comes near this torque.
• Rig, not desk. Simucube names a rig and a cockpit and never a desk or a table, and it sells no clamp: the only mounting part in its 9-product Simucube 3 accessories category is the $109 Simucube Mount, a steel bracket. Its FAQ puts it plainly: “Our wheelbases cause quite a lot of stress to the rig so please make sure that your rig can sustain it.” At 13 kg and 35 Nm through the same two bolt circles the 8.7 kg Sport uses, that matters more here than anywhere else in the line. See rigs and mounting.
• Locked into Simucube Link. Hubs, quick releases, and wheels are Simucube’s ecosystem, and its own $69 70mm adapter, the way out to a third-party quick release, was out of stock on 1 August 2026.

Alternatives to consider

• Simucube 3 Pro: 25 Nm for $1,599, the same encoder, supply, and box, $1,700 and 10 Nm below this one. The whole Link platform for half the money, and the base a 35 Nm shopper is really choosing against.
• Simagic Alpha EVO Ultra: 28 Nm at $969, and Simagic’s own FAQ calls that figure continuous rather than peak, checked 1 August 2026. Eighty percent of the torque under a stronger label, for 29% of the money.
• Moza R25 Ultra: 25 Nm that Moza rates sustained, for $899, checked 31 July 2026. The Pro’s torque under a stronger label, at 27% of this base’s list price, from a maker that states its platforms.
• Fanatec Podium DD: $1,199.99 for “25 Nm holding torque (33 Nm peak overshoot)”, with a console license, checked 31 July 2026. The strongest base a PlayStation or Xbox racer can buy.
• Simucube 3 Sport: 15 Nm for $1,399, the same encoder and the same box. The cheapest way onto the Link platform if the wheel and the software are what you came for.

Price the hub and the wheel before you decide: $3,399 gets a base that runs and $4,348 gets one that steers, and both figures are before pedals. The step from the Pro is $1,700 on a purchase that changes the motor, the warranty, and 10 Nm nobody uses, and leaves the encoder, the supply, the box, and the wheel floor where they were. If the torque figure is what you want, Simagic and Moza both sell most of it for under a thousand dollars; if the platform is what you want, the Pro is the same platform. The high-end wheelbases overview and the buying guide by budget show where the Ultimate fits.