I've only ever been on one motion simulator. It was at the Subaru booth at the Minneapolis auto show, running Gran Turismo. Even with a DFP with no spring left in the pedals, and a somewhat iffy sim, it was an absolute blast. A Subary Legacy GT around Deep Forest raceway has never been so fun. I can't even imagine what the 301 and LFS would be like, it would be amazing...
I started Full Motion Racing. What we're doing is building a racing simulation center business. We are using Live For Speed and the Force Dynamics 301 as our platform. For the time being, we're localized to San Diego, CA only. We're still in our development phase, and so we've set up the site mostly for people who have seen our demos locally. We've tried not get the hype going too early, hence no plugs for it with the LFS community so far.
We don't have a facility open yet, but are just doing a couple of events here and there to get feedback from people. We're doing this mostly so that we have it properly dialed in by the time we open the doors to the general public. You can find details on past and upcoming events at http://www.fullmotionracing.com/Events.aspx
I can say with some conviction that the LFS/301 combination is an incredible combination. I prefer it to taking my car to autocross or the track at this time.
Just to avoid any rumors starting, the devs are aware of what we are doing. And yes, the rally crash did shake me about quite nicely, no less than i deserved.
ROFL man, I actually laughed out loud how much that 301 threw you around on those bumps Quite an experience I'll bet.
I remember talking to you about this, and you wanted me to come by and visit sometime. I was planning on going to San Diego soon, but it might be cut short because the only reason I would've come down is to visit my friend. But now he is moving back up here, so I guess I'll have to find a different opportunity :banghead:
It's awesome what you guys are doing, by taking it to certain events. Really cool :up:
How exactly are you transporting it? I see a big trailer truck you got there, do you own that? I'd imagine you might rent it or something, but heh. I just wonder if you move it from place to place when it is intact, or do you rebuild it each time (Which I doubt), heheh.
We rent a truck with a rail lift when we do events. Each 301 always stays fully assembled and weighs about 800lbs. We have a special palette jack to move them around. It still is a bit scary getting it on the lift, since it just fits.
here's a quickie for a poll:
what would you spend $35k+ on just happen to lay around:
- Force Dynamics 301
- an amateur racing season (car + 1 year maintenance cost)?
Too bad we can't get those videos in better quality, and on our hard drives. I have been collecting them for a while. One of these days I am going to go to Ithaca and test one out... if the offer is still open..
hey
With a great coincidence I'm gonna be there on these dates (NECC at San Diego), would it be possible for me to get there and give it a go? Is it open for non BMW drivers? any admission? would you be able to give instructions how to get there from NECC or address?
What's it like to drive this thing over a full race distance? Say... 30+ laps in the Sauber @ Westhill? Is it physically tiring? Much moreso than non-motion sim driving? Do you often race online with it?
It's definitely more tiring than doing it on the PC. The pedals are stiffer, everything moves, so you have to maintain a good grip on the wheel lest you let the g-forces affect your steering and it does rattle you around a good bit. But it's also so much more satisfying. I did 20 laps in the FZR on Kyoto National the other day to test out some new parts of our management systems and it was great.
I've been online once or twice, but mostly we do internal testing, so we're using our two machines and the AI. Since I only have two buttons, no keyboard, mouse, etc, within reach, it's hard to properly participate in an online race. If i want to vote 'start race' and I don't have someone at the office do it, chances are, my car will be dead on the grid with me voting, then trying to get back in and set up.