I moved my sim rig to my office at the University. This is so that the students in my High Performance Driving class can get some simulator time.
The main frame was something Tiernan and I built for his sim rig. It’s mostly a bunch of 2x4s and plywood I had hanging around fastened together with hardware sourced from the ground at various trips to Pick-n-Pull. Here’s a rundown of the various components.
- Wheel – Thrustmaster TS PC Racer base with a Thrustmaster Ferrari 458 wheel.
- Pedals – Thrustmaster T-LCM pedals.
- Hand brake – From some supplier on eBay (not visible).
- Seat – Mitsubishi Eclipse (Pick-n-Pull).
- Computer – Various repurposed parts driving an nVidia GeForce GTX 1650 video card into a 2560×1080 LG curved monitor.
It looks pretty rough, but it’s sturdy and works well. The seat has the factory slider, so it accomodates drivers of all sizes. I also made the pedal position adjustable with some slotted angle iron and a couple bolts. Although the computer isn’t as powerful as the one I was using at home, the overall feel is actually a little better.
Student Drivers
So what am I having the students do? Despite the rFactor 2 download in view, I have them doing “the usual”.
- Assetto Corsa
- Brands Hatch Indy
- NA Miata default everything
Some of the students have their own sim rigs and others have never used one before. It will be interesting to see how they change over time. I’m saving their telemetry.dump files in Race Studio Analysis. That should make for some fun analysis and discussion.
In addition to just driving around the track trying to set a decent time, I introduce them to a couple of my favorite drills.
- Hand positions
- 3rd gear no brakes
In the future I may add more drills like unbalanced setup, driving on dirt, etc.
you suck at racing 
I think that recovery skills should be learnt at an early stage and ofcourse trained through all learning process. When I started sim my favourite drill was driving snow oval track, doing some power slides, fish tailing, trying to drift 8’s.
After few months of training sim I must write that No brakes drill is the most crucial one in race driving, it’s like learning to walk for a newborn. Fairy easy to master and giving good picture what driving, racing is all about.
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Agreed, in my mind, the essential drills are figure-8 and no brakes. The figure-8 is also a place to work on various hand positions and trail-braking.
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Yes, I lately “discovered” that I can practice trail-braking on skid pad.
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So now you’ll update with new rig in your house? Or you’ll be living and sleeping in the office?;))
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Actually I’m going to set up a flight sim at home. But yes, I sleep in my office all the time. Mostly during Zoom meetings.
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