The American motion gurus at Force Dynamics have just announced the new 202 simulator rig, a so-called 6DOF (Degrees or Freedom) system that simulates all the motions that a GT/Formula/rally race car is subjected to, or generates.
The rig comes complete with computer, screens, steering wheel base and pedals and costs approximately $42,000 excluding shipping. In other words, expect to pay a lot when adding shipping and customs duty. Personally, I think it looks more like a carousel, once it’s moving, than how a real car behaves under heavy race load.
“It’s the only true motion simulator in its price and size class, the only one capable of moving displays with the platform, the only one providing true g-force loads, and the only two-actuator system with effective surge and sway axes that outperform pro-level 6DOF systems. The 202 is in a class of its own – at any price. The 202 not only offers roll range double that of most competitors, but moves through that roll range seven times as fast as similarly priced competitors, and it’s twice as fast as systems that cost twice as much. D-Box platforms give you 1.5 inches of actuator range, Qubic systems 1.9 inches, and the 202 a whopping 15 inches. There’s no comparison.
Conventional platforms stack the motion system on top of the actuators, swinging your head around like a bucket on the end of a rope. The conventional wisdom says that too much motion is bad, but that’s because conventional platforms do motion badly. The 202’s roll center is at near-head-level, yielding clean, precise lateral g force cues with no unintended forces. What’s more, the 202’s layout means it drives like a multi-axis platform. The ultra-high roll center means you actually move left and right – an induced sway axis – when cornering left and right, and the strut geometry also drives an induced surge axis. You get more side-to-side and fore-aft motion in the “2DOF” 202 than in six-axis systems costing five times as much.”