Simulator rental and sales

[Blair Robertshaw]

Hello all, ROBERTSHAW RACING is now a distributor for VRX Full Motion Racing Simulators. Prices for purchase start at 44K. The sim is available for rent at $75.00 per hour in house location. For corporate functions it is available for $3000 per day based on a 10 hour day, subsequent days rental rates drop provided the Sim stays in the same location.

For those of you who may be traveling to a new track this year, and provided it has been mapped by iRacing, this is the best way to learn a track without the expense of fuel, tires, track rental, crew expense, travel and potential car damage. The iRacing track mapping produces a track surface identical to what you would be experiencing if you were at the track and includes all permanent track-side buildings, trees, objects to use as turn in points etc . The full motion simulator gives you the feel of under steer, over steer, the back end sliding, the back end taking a set, you can feel when Aero kicks in and all in all its very close to real world save the refinance expense when you have an off or crash.

I book about a week in advance. Should you require or desire data review, we can provide that via the MOTEC i2Pro full compliment of data sets available within MOTEC i2Pro system. Data sets for: braking, accelerating, throttle position, damper histograms, GG plots or scatter plots, tire usage, car usage, tire temps and so on. It is as comprehensive data set that comes with most high level data systems. For stock car applications all the same adjustments you get in low to high level stock cars is available.

Corporate signage on the Sim can be tailored to your company needs or company partners and or suppliers.

Thank you for your time reading this post.

Blair Robertshaw
ROBERTSHAW RACING

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[navelgazer]

I had the chance to experience this simulator first hand yesterday at Blair's house and have to say I was VERY impressed.

Blair has this simulator set up in a room in his basement and runs iRacing on top of it. An excellent combo as there are various cars, tracks and other competitors 'online' at any given time. I selected a Radical SR8 to use (which is similar to my SR3 chassis-wise but a whole lot more powerful) and was blown away by the level of detail displayed to the 3 wrap-around 60" Samsung monitors. The seat/wheel/pedals/speakers are also "very real" feeling, using a real Sparco race seat, 4 pt harness and real feeling pedals. This is truly unlike ANY video game/sim/wheel and pedal system I have ever tried.

There are a large number of tracks to select from and I chose Mosport as I had driven it a VERY long time ago in an old Lola 1600 (at the John Powell racing school way back when) so I sort of knew my way around the track. Well let me tell you, driving a FF1600 and a Radical V8 around that track are two very different experiences. So after a few learning and re-acquainting laps, it got to the point where the mind is in full 'trickery' mode and you completely forget you are in a sim and not an actual race car on track.

You are able to play with setup and can change suspension, wing, ride height, tire pressure, fuel load, etc.  - everything you would need to do in a real race car - and then go out and try it out and get realistic feedback and results. I was impressed with how the car would change its behavior - just like a real car - by tweaking the settings. You even have to warm the tires and brakes.

The sim provides up to 2G when cornering, braking acceleration and you feel curbs, bumps and track surfaces. It is also mentally and physically draining, again just like a real race car. the concentration effort is no different and I will tell you, when you go off (and you will), it is very VERY real. It sure is nice to just push the 'reset'button (ir as Blair rightly calls it - the re-finance button).

At the end of the session I felt like I could unload my Radical at Mosport (for real) and be up to speed right off the trailer. For a daunting track like that (yes, turn 2 is still terrifying even in a sim!), it would be a huge advantage to spend time in the sim before getting there for real. I'd say that for ANY track it would be time well spent actually. Not all tracks have been mapped yet (i.e. Miller isn't available) but for the ones that are, it would be a huge benefit to just learning the track and getting a hbig head start on set up.

Blair also set me up for a few laps at the end in an Indy car as well as his own Pro Mazda, just for comparison. Was quite something to feel the 'stick' of an Indy car at speed.

Again, I was very impressed and would recommend it to anyone who 1) want to learn a track, 2) try out a car, 3) get some real race track simulation or 4) just have a whole lot of fun for a few hours. BTW, you can also set up a race (with practice and Qualy) and have a real time race against others from around the world. But beware, there are some that seem to spend A LOT of time on sims and iRacing! If anyone would like to pick my brain on it, or get more detail about my experience, give me a shout.

Thanks Blair for the opportunity.

[Blair Robertshaw]

Thank you Jeff for coming over to try it and thank you for the kind words about the simulator. I agree that there are many benefits to the sim. learning tracks, learning what a castor change does when also changing a spring rate. seeing and feeling the effects of more toe and less toe, more rake less rake, softer sway bars and all the changes we have at our disposal when setting up any race car. One thing you didn't mention was the data and how you could see your braking patterns and where it could be improved, throttle inputs in concert with your turn in. I think this is also a huge benefit. Checking the scatter plots on the tires and see where your working the car and where a guy isn't working the car, all real world stuff and all helping to make a driver faster, more competent behind the wheel, learning and understanding just what the change you just did, does!

You originally commented that you couldn't feel the car drift but after you actually got the car up to proper speed I think that your opinion changed did it not? It really is a good training tool and the best part is when you do crash, you hit reset NOT refinance. I have never been to Watkins Glen in the real world but I know that if I were to roll into that track I would be reasonably quick out of the gate. I could not have learned that track for under 10K... not including any damage.

So, if anyone else would like to give it a try, please shoot me an email, first 1 hour session is complimentary, I usually need about a weeks notice to schedule a person in. The simulator is available for rent here at my residence, available for corporate trade shows / functions and I am also the western Canadian Distributor for the sim so if you have any purchase or related questions feel to call me or shoot me an email.

Thanks again Jeff for coming over, glad to read your feedback and happy to read you had a excellent experience!

[widebody]

I have also tried out the sim,,,outstanding realism,,,great for off season practice. After the first 2 minutes you forget you are driving a sim. Oversteer, understeer, braking, suspension feedback is unbelievable. A real workout. This is not a toy,,,,run a track anywhere in the world, learn that track front to back before you take your race car out for the first time. Invaluable tool to rent and practice on. I will be a returning customer!
Ralph
RC Speed & Paint