Sim Gaming Expo 2026 - Chicago, Sept 18–20
North America's first expo for sim racing, flight & VR. Test the latest gear, meet the creators, score show-only deals. Schaumburg, Chicago - September 18–20.
The Next Level Racing ES3 Carbon is not a normal sim racing seat, and honestly, that is probably the first thing worth understanding. The moment you see it, the whole point becomes pretty clear. This is a product built to look outrageous, feel special, and sit at the very top of Next Level Racing’s seat lineup, even if that comes at the expense of practicality, comfort, and common sense.
And that is exactly why it is interesting. Because if you judge the ES3 Carbon like a normal sim racing seat, it becomes very difficult to justify. It is extremely expensive, aggressively shaped, and far less versatile than many cheaper alternatives. But if you look at it more like a halo product for the dream-build side of sim racing, then it starts making a lot more sense. So with that in mind, here is everything you need to know about it.
Verified purchase options at lowest current prices:
Affiliate disclosure
Get 5% off your order at NLR using code “OCRACING” at checkout
The ES3 Carbon is Next Level Racing’s flagship carbon fiber seat, designed as the most premium and most visually dramatic seat in the company’s current range. It takes heavy inspiration from hypercar design, and that shows in pretty much every part of it. The shape is aggressive, the shell is full carbon fiber, and the whole thing is clearly trying to make a statement before you even sit down in it.
That also means this is not a seat designed around broad usability or mainstream value. It is designed to be desirable, dramatic, and expensive. For buyers who want their rig to feel like a no-compromise centerpiece, that is going to be a big part of the appeal. For everyone else, it will probably be the first red flag.
There is no getting around it. The ES3 Carbon looks incredible. From the overall silhouette to the exposed carbon shell and molded cushions, this is one of the best-looking dedicated sim racing seats on the market right now. It has that kind of visual drama that instantly makes a rig look more serious, more exotic, and much more expensive.
And honestly, that is where a lot of the value here lives. This is not the sort of product that wins on pure comfort-per-dollar or practicality. It wins on presence. It looks like a seat made for a dream setup, and in that respect, Next Level Racing absolutely nailed the brief. If the goal was to make something that feels like the hypercar of sim racing seats, then visually, it gets there.
It is also worth keeping in mind that Next Level Racing offers a fiberglass version of the same general design at a much lower price. That seat keeps a lot of the same visual appeal while being much easier to justify. So if the design is what attracts you most, but the carbon version feels excessive, there is at least another route in the lineup.
Once you move past the styling, the good news is that the ES3 Carbon does feel properly premium in the way you would hope. The full carbon shell is stiff, the included side-mount brackets look good and feel substantial, and the overall construction comes across like a serious high-end product rather than just an expensive styling exercise.
The included brackets offer solid side-to-side adjustment, along with a little height and tilt flexibility, and once everything is mounted up, the seat feels very secure. Out on track, even with a stiff brake pedal, I did not notice any meaningful flex from the seat itself. If you really force it and put a lot of weight into it, then yes, you may be able to see some movement, but in actual driving it felt planted and rigid.
Would I say it is in another universe compared to every other good seat on the market. Not really. But it is certainly as rigid as you could reasonably want, and that part of the experience does match the price tag much better than some of the other areas do.
This is the area where the ES3 Carbon becomes much more niche. Like many hypercar-inspired bucket seats, it is tight, stiff, and clearly not designed with long-session comfort as the top priority. The shape locks you in well, which helps with immersion and support, but it also means the seat feels much less forgiving than more traditional sim racing buckets.
In my case, the lower half fit reasonably well, but the upper body area definitely felt more constrained. That made the seat feel great for shorter, more focused driving sessions where the goal is to feel planted and supported, but much less appealing for anything extended. It is not unbearable, but it absolutely is not something I would call broadly comfortable either.
The padding itself also reflects that approach. It uses high-density foam, so the cushions feel more firm than soft. That helps the seat feel serious and supportive, but it also adds to the overall hardness of the experience. There are ventilation openings around the lower back and upper neck areas that help airflow a bit, which is nice, but they do not transform the fundamental character of the seat.
More than most sim racing seats, this is a product where body shape is going to decide whether you love it or hate it. The tighter shell and more aggressive design mean the ES3 Carbon simply will not suit everyone. In fact, that is one of the most important things to know before even considering it.
For smaller or slimmer users, it may feel immersive, supportive, and very special. For larger users, it may feel cramped or not fit properly at all. That makes it one of the least universal premium seats in the market, which is not automatically a flaw, but it is absolutely something buyers need to take seriously before spending this kind of money.
So if you are looking at the ES3 Carbon, fit should not be an afterthought. It should probably be one of the first things you think about, because if the shape does not suit you, the rest of the product really stops mattering.
The cushions use synthetic suede with PU leather on the sides, and visually they do look good. They fit the seat well, they add to the premium feel, and they help complete the overall high-end aesthetic. But at the same time, I do think this is one of the areas where the product feels slightly less premium than the price would suggest.
At this level, I would really want to see real suede and real leather. When a seat already costs this much and is clearly aimed at the luxury side of the sim racing market, those smaller material decisions start mattering more. I also think it would have been a smart move to include a harness with the seat, because the sort of buyer considering something this aggressive would probably appreciate that extra immersion immediately.
What you do get are the brackets and a protective cover, which is fine, but it still feels like there was room to make the overall package feel more complete.
The ES3 Carbon is not for most sim racers, and I do not think Next Level Racing expects it to be. This feels much more like a halo product than a mainstream seat. It is there to be desirable, visually dramatic, and aspirational. In other words, it is the sort of seat that makes sense in a no-expense-spared dream build far more than it does in a rational buying guide.
And that is probably the fairest way to look at it. If you want the best value, the best comfort, or the easiest seat to recommend to the widest range of people, this is not it. But if you are building a top-end simulator and want a seat that looks ridiculous in the best way, feels special, and gives the whole rig a much stronger sense of occasion, then this becomes much easier to appreciate.
The Next Level Racing ES3 Carbon is one of those products that is both very cool and very hard to recommend at the same time. It looks stunning, feels properly premium, and delivers the kind of rigidity and visual drama you would expect from a halo product. But it is also expensive, tight, niche, and nowhere near as universally usable as the price might lead some people to expect.
So the short version is simple. If you treat it like a normal sim racing seat, it probably does not make much sense. But if you treat it like the hypercar seat of sim racing, something built more for the dream setup than for everyday practicality, then it becomes a lot easier to understand. Not for 99 percent of people, probably not. But for the right person, still very cool.
