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The Next Level Racing ES3 Carbon is one of those products that makes a very strong first impression long before you even sit in it. It looks outrageous, costs an outrageous amount of money, and very clearly is not trying to be a normal sim racing seat. In fact, the easiest way to understand it is probably to stop thinking of it like a normal sim racing product altogether.
Because if you do judge it like a normal seat, it starts becoming very hard to justify. At around $1,400, it is wildly expensive, highly aggressive in its shape, and far less practical than many cheaper alternatives. But at the same time, it also looks absolutely stunning, feels genuinely special, and gives a simulator a kind of visual presence that most bucket seats simply do not. So yes, this is a strange one.
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The first thing worth saying is simple. There is no denying how good this seat looks. From the hypercar-inspired shape to the full carbon fiber shell and the custom molded cushions, the ES3 Carbon is easily one of the most visually striking dedicated sim racing seats on the market today. Whether the price makes you laugh or close the page immediately, the styling itself is difficult to argue against.
And honestly, that is its biggest selling point. This is not the kind of product that wins people over with practicality or value. It wins on pure presence. The carbon shell looks immaculate, the overall design feels dramatic without becoming tacky, and the whole thing gives off the kind of halo product energy that brands usually reserve for something made more to impress than to make perfect sense. In that respect, Next Level Racing knew exactly what it was doing.
It is also worth noting that there is a fiberglass version of this same seat available for much less money. That version keeps the overall design but brings the price down to a far more approachable level. It is still not cheap, but compared to the carbon version, it at least starts to sound a little more sane.
Once you get past the looks, the good news is that the seat itself does feel properly high end. Next Level Racing includes side mount brackets with it, and those look good while also offering plenty of side-to-side adjustment along with some tilt and height flexibility. The brackets feel strong, and paired with the stiffness of the carbon shell, the overall structure is very solid.
Out on track, I genuinely did not notice any meaningful flex coming from the seat, even when using a very stiff brake pedal. If I put a lot of body weight into it and tried to force movement, then yes, you may be able to spot a little bit of it, but in actual use it felt planted and rigid. Would I say it is dramatically more rigid than every other good seat out there. Not really. But it is absolutely as rigid as you could reasonably want, and that is ultimately what matters.
In fairness, I do think my use of seat sliders underneath it may have softened the total setup slightly as well. So if anything, the seat itself could probably feel even more uncompromisingly stiff when mounted as directly as possible.
This is the part where the ES3 Carbon starts making much less sense for a lot of people. Because while it looks like a hypercar seat, it also behaves like one. It is tight, aggressive, and not especially forgiving. And if you know anything about hardcore carbon bucket seats in real cars, that should not really come as a surprise.
In my case, the seat fit, but it definitely felt tight through the upper body. My waist and thighs sat in it comfortably enough, but my upper torso felt more constrained than I would ideally want. That makes it great for shorter, more immersive sessions where you want to feel locked in, but far less appealing for long stints where comfort starts to matter much more. Personally, it is not something I would want to sit in for extended periods of time.
The padding also plays into that. It uses high-density foam, which means it feels more stiff than soft. The result is that the seat holds you in place very well and adds to the hardcore feel, but it also makes the experience less comfortable than more forgiving alternatives. There are some ventilation openings around the lower back and upper neck area that help airflow a bit, which is a nice touch, but they do not change the fact that this is still a very aggressive seat.
More than most sim racing seats, this is a product where body shape is going to dictate the experience you have with it. The tighter shell and more extreme overall design mean that this seat simply will not work for everyone. In fact, I had multiple people try it, and the reactions were very different. One could not get in at all, one felt far too restricted, and one loved it.
That pretty much tells the whole story. This is not a universally usable product, and it does not even really pretend to be. If your build suits it, the seat can feel immersive, supportive, and special. If it does not, then it is going to feel expensive, cramped, and completely unreasonable. That is a pretty risky combination at this price point.
The cushions use synthetic suede with PU leather on the sides, and visually they do look very good. They absolutely add to the premium feel of the seat and help complete the whole hypercar-inspired aesthetic. But this is also one of the areas where I think it is fair to be critical.
At $1,400, I do want to see real suede and real leather. This is a product that is already asking buyers to accept an extreme price, so at that point the details really matter. I also think it would have been a smart move for Next Level Racing to include one of its harnesses with the seat. Not only would that have added more value, but the sort of buyer interested in a seat this hardcore would almost certainly appreciate the extra immersion as well.
What you do get besides the seat itself are the mounting brackets and a protective cover, which is nice, but still does not quite feel like enough at this level.
The easiest way to judge the Next Level Racing ES3 Carbon is to stop treating it like a normal sim racing seat. Because if you judge it like a normal one, it basically makes no sense. It is too expensive, too compromised, and too aggressive for the vast majority of sim racers. There are many cheaper seats that will be more comfortable, more accommodating, and much easier to recommend.
But I also do not think that is really the point here. This feels much more like a halo product than a normal seat, the same way a hypercar works for a real car brand. It exists more for the high-end dream build side of sim racing than for practical value, and from that perspective, I do kind of respect it. It looks ridiculous, feels special, and gives a rig a level of visual drama that very few other seats can match.
So no, it is probably not for you. Honestly, it is probably not for most people. But for the right person building a no-compromise, garage queen sort of setup, the ES3 Carbon is undeniably cool. Very cool. And sometimes in the luxury side of this hobby, that is exactly what a product is meant to be.
