Friday 28th July 2006

Virtual drag racing hits the street

Competition without weather worries

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If you've ever wondered whether your car is faster than your friend's, there's a new (kind-of) virtual reality drag racing system at work.

You use your own vehicle, but it never moves. Instead, it sits tied down to a dyno, and you 'drive' it using a virtual reality system that translates your inputs such as steering to the car via a computer, while the system projects a simulation of the race onto a screen.

The advantages? According to Drag Tag, which came up with the wheeze, you don't have to:

• Worry about weather conditions
• Wait for what seems like hours for the next drag race because a car lunched its engine and left a messy 200 metre oil slick
• Wait in long queues
• Wear a helmet or race suit
• Equip an 11-second or faster car with a roll cage

Trouble is, it's in Melbourne, Australia -- which is a bit of a trek for most people just for a drag race.

But if it works there, who knows? We might see it in the UK soon...

• Drag Tag

[mafioso]

Bit crappy if you ask me!

[bigjimmy]

mafioso said:

Bit crappy if you ask me!

[joe_90]

erm.. defeats the whole object?

[Uriel]

Drag racing without acceleration? Where's the fun in that?

[patently]

So basically it's a big dyno. Winner is the one with the best printout.

Yay. Can't wait...

[smele]

Must take a while to setup each car as well.

Can't see that weather would be such a problem in Australia.

[surfymark]

I like the idea but only if the computer is very clever. There are big screens and there seem to be three cars racing at the same time. Can the computer actually work out where the other cars are and show them on the screen? That would be very cool!

It would be just a huge arcade machine but actually driving your own car. I think it would be cool.

There are a lot of chavs around here who are dying to race and really nowhere to do it. They did have a car park to race round but that has been closed down by the council. I have been looking to purchase a piece of ground out of town to turn into a small track like a mini nurburgring but I can not afford to buy one big enough to be useful enough. I am sure doing something like this would be nearly as good for them (and me!!) and no (or lower) risks or crashing due to stupid driving etc.

cheers
Mark

[waynepixel]

Point less. I might as-well big my PC along. What the point in the car, it is not going anywhere?

[chrisbr68]

Do they serve food while you are racing?

[skinnyboy]

seen as its in my town, i may go and check it out with a few mates and let you all know how we went! Now, i just got to take a customers M5 home for the weekend.....

[Dr S]

what about using a playstation if real life is too much of a bother for you...

[r988]

Dr S said:

what about using a playstation if real life is too much of a bother for you...

dont need to worry about petrol then either

[bales]

Surely the whole point is the feel of the car as it accelerates, you may aswell just go off the power from a dyno run and then calculate the time from that, sounds about as exciting as that anyway

[surfymark]

These chavs I mention all have playstations and still prefer to be out in their cars. They would prefer to be driving except that you can't drive properly on public roads. No-one is brave enough to open up a track (near us anyway) so that people can take their own cars on it.

So what would you prefer that some Chav mows down your children while practicing his drag racing or that he is safely ensconced (did I just make that word up??) in a warehouse with his mates doing esentially the same thing?

[jmatras]

Well, I guess the effect is the same as watching porn. It's really rather juvenile, and it's certainly lacking in certain, um, tactile experiences. But one takes what one can get, I suppose.

Seriously, however, there are few places where one can safely, much less legally, race, and that's the real problem. Drag strips in the U.S. developed in response to illegal street racing. Naturally, the land became to valuable, and then people moved too close and then complained about noise, etc., so the strips were closed down. So what do we have now? Of course. Illegal street racing. Duh.

[potatoboy666]

Takes all the fun out of it, if you want facts and figures just take your car to the dynos.

[jaycee72]

Have a good look at the web site, they have a pretty slick opperation. Nothing like a good track day, but tell me you wouldn't be just a wee bit tempted to go and have a go for the crack?

[imperialism2024]

So, to heighten the realism, do they also have simulated speed cameras?

[franv8]

I thought half the fun of drag racing WAS waiting for hours as they clear up all the oil and gear fragments from someone in front of you?

[ultimasimon]

Shirley drag racing is a spectator sport. I can't see it attracting big crowds of girlies as the top guys battle it out comparing plotted graphs while the ladeez stand there and look cool - not