Race simulator for club racers

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As the season grows ever closer I thought I'd share with you something we did last year to push my skills and car development further.

I've always used driver coaches, in particular the great Rob Wilson - but last year I started using a professional race simulator ( Pro Sim in Crawley ). It's used by a lot of pro and amateur drivers and teams, GP2, World Renault, POrsche, radicals etc.

I was sceptical if a "club racer" could get much from it and initially used it to get some track experience for a round at Zandvoort and it was invaluable for that alone. But what it is also brilliant that you can analyse every element of your driving. From there you can start making setup changes and understand how that affects the car and of course lap times.

Want to try a new part, different gear ratios, suspension setups - we do it all in the Sim now - it saves us a lot of time and of course money.

We took it a stage further as Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, who runs the sim, also gives instruction. Taking what we learnt on the sim and having Adrian instruct and analyse data with us at the circuit gave another element to my driving and car development.

It cannot replace physically testing and driving a car but it's very close to it and let's face it unless you can afford to be on track every week (4 x 30mins in the sim is cheaper than a test fee at Brands) makes a great alternative and something to run alongside your usual season testing.


http://www.pro-sim.co.uk/

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I know Adrian tried to post something up but it was deemed a commercial post but to let my fellow PHer's know they're offering 50% discount for Feb bookings.

I was there on Saturday and ran the new parts on the car and ran with slicks for the first time. Invaluable experience and loved the car on slicks !! Looking very good our 2014 season.

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chrisb0 said:

We booked a day in the one at Silverstone (the name escapes me) there where 3 of us the other 2 found it very useful, but it gave me massive motion sickness after around 30seconds.....apparently this makes me part of a select group that includes Michel Schumacher and Allan Prost who also can’t use simulators.

Yep - some of them can make you feel like that. I went on the LetsRace ones (which really is just a playstation game) and felt a little queasy! The Pro-Sim won't do that as it's static base

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Jerry Can said:

I am interested in this

1) how much does it cost?
2) do they do FWD?

They can do any car at all. Costs - Adrian's running a 50% offer at the moment so best to give them a call or email 01293 771822 sim @ properformance.co.uk

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Nope - Lets Race is in the same building but it's a totally different offering - that's a big playstation game.
Pro-Sim is in the part that's has Pro Performance, which is the fitness company for racing drivers.

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triplets3racing said:

Hi there, I was wondering if you have a Radical Prosport or PR6 in the model?

I'll answer for ProSim
Hi - i know Adrian's has a Radical driver but not sure what Radical model it is. Best to drop him a message
http://www.pro-sim.co.uk/contact/

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I think it depends on the type of driver you are. If you are someone that drives from the seat of their pants then the sim isn't going to be as good for you. A driver that is calculated, understands the physics and wants to improve and try new set ups etc, then a Sim is worth every penny. And it's that driver that will always be faster.

It cannot replace actually being in the car on a track but I would say it gives you at least 75% of the reality and experience. And for learning a new track its a 100% invaluable.

Just my thoughts

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willthisnamework said:

The problem with simulators is any billy can do a very quick lap time. I have heard drivers say "Well I'm the quickest in the simulator." as they qualify in P19.

Maybe it's just chat from them
But to be serious for a moment - this isn't a playstation game. It's helped me become a better driver, dare I say a race winning driver and it's worked for me.

Edited by woof on Monday 10th February 09:57

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BertBert said:

Off for a go on the Sim this evening. Looking forward to it, should be fun.
Full report later.
Bert

Cool
My only tip is treat it like a real test - it's a real car, a real track.

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I had the same issue when I got into the sim for the first time. I'm back in again in 10 days pre testing for real

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BertBert said:

How do you structure your testing in the sim? And how do you transfer that back to the car in the real world?

What I try to do is understand the physics of driving better - at the end of the day it's all to do with physics and how you control those forces. It's also been very useful in understanding how I need to change my driving style with some of the new mods on the car and also how switching to slicks changes everything.

Adrian's great - I'm sure he sees everything in binary code like Neo ( Matrix )

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ShakeyJake188 said:

How does this compare to home simulators like rFactor, iRacing and Assetto Corsa?

Those are still games. The race sim is a professional tool. ( Maybe i'm being a little unfair ) but it's a totally different ballgame. Although I know quite a few racers play iRacing.

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I should have added that I can only compare it to iRacing.

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Here's a few laps of Brands & Snetterton from my sim session

Snetterton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyseSXdqo0U

Brands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox8P1799qCw

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BertBert said:

woof said:

Here's a few laps of Brands & Snetterton from my sim session
Brands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox8P1799qCw

One of the things I found was that Clearways felt a little odd, certainly felt a little different to get to grips with than in real life. How did you find it?
Bert

grip is one thing that can change - clearways in real life can be very slippy.
You mentioned it took a while to get to grips with the Sim and I have the same problem. It takes me a while to get used to it. I think you need to be more predictive than reactive on it. Which will make you a better in real life. I still drive reacting to the car - whereas someone as good as adrian knows when something is going to happen.