In my job as an automotive journalist, I get the opportunity to race everything from supercars to rally cars to racers. I get to take them for laps around some of the great tracks of the world. I get to do all of that because I kick ass — or because I’m very fortunate and trick the world into thinking I deserve that.
Now, you can now race in a myriad of world famous cars and countless tracks — or against NASCAR or Formula 1 drivers with your hands wrapped around a proper steering wheel and not some plastic game controller. The Motion Pro II from CXC Simulations is a professional quality racing simulator that easily fits into any home rec room.
With it, you can have your own visual track days or take that wheel on the very same day as the Daytona 500 or the British Grand Prix at the very same moment the green flag flies. Your car will swap paint with the world’s most elite four-wheeled speed machines — if you wish.
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The Motion Pro II is an amalgamation of metal, plastic and cherried-out electronics that simulates the driving experience of various super cars and professional racing machines. I got into the driver’s seat for about an hour to compare it to actual track driving.
The Motion Pro II recreates pitch, roll, vibrations and impacts in sync with the on-screen racing recreation. Technology wraps three HD monitors and multi-speaker surround audio around the driver as professional grade racing sim software reproduces the tracks.
The resulting set-up is a convincing, enveloping driving environment. From the moment I pressed down on the throttle and my head jerked back, I realized the Motion Pro II isn’t a video game where you never bother to tap the brakes. I needed to treat it with all the respect and dexterity of an elite vehicle if I was going to get the most out of the experience.
I used a few parade laps to get a feel for the sim’s physics engine, its “quick as stink” BHP and raw braking power. Once I accelerated into a proper racing lap at speed, fighting the wheel at north of 160 mph forced me to clamp a white knuckle grip on the wheel. (I’d leave an hour later with aching forearms and a respect for the physical strength needed to drive at extremely high speeds.)
When virtual AI opponents joined this driver on the oval, the finer points of the simulation banged home with each frequent collision. A scrape against the wall vibrated more than the sharp, jarring bump from behind as a frustrated competitor tried to scrape me out of the way. I could feel my nose get a little looser when drafting cost my car downforce. And there was no denying the adrenaline rush — even while sitting on the floor of a convention hall — of opening the throttle on the straightaway and hearing the angry whine of virtual turbochargers.
Is the Motion Pro II as much as a real track drive? Not quite. You do miss out on some of the sensations of weather, track grime, the smell of hot clutch plates, etc. But the simulator is way beyond any game’s ability re-create a race.
The tricky bit is buying a Motion Pro II can cost as much as some track cars — with prices running between $49,000 and $81,000. So, maybe the “proper for an rec room” remark was a little premature.
