Building a 6DOF Sim Racing Cockpit

First, I would like to thank the guys and at Next Level Racing for loaning me their excellent Traction Plus platform. And letting me experiment with it. I also want to thank JCL Racing for
loaning me their awesome V4 chassis. And allowing me to cut it down to the proper dimensions to get this Sim Lab P1-X cockpit mounted. It’s a pleasure to work with manufacturers
focused on pushing the envelope in developing Sim Racing motion systems. To achieve the result you see in this video, I did have a lot of work to do. I had to fabricate a custom bracket system to get the JCL V4 chassis mounted to the Traction Plus platform. It was an involved process to end up with the brackets you see here. And I have included segments in the video for those interested on how I got it done. Then I needed to get the V4 chassis narrowed down from the OEM width of 780mm to the P1-X width of 580mm. Which required a complete disassembly and re-assembly of the V4 chassis. But once both of these challenges has been met, I think the resulting motion experience was well worth it. Now it was a matter of getting the
two different platforms to work together. And I have admit I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t. But as it turns out they work together quite well. And deliver a very believable 6DOF Sim Racing experience. I had a total of five different drivers over to test the system, some who had their own motion setups at home. Every one of them where very impressed with the driving experience. Now with an official weight limit of 518 pounds or 235 kilos I was concerned on how Next Level Racings Traction Plus platform would handle the heavier drivers. I weigh 150
pounds or 68 kilos. With me in the seat the total weight on the Traction Plus unit was around 500 pounds. I had drivers at 175 pounds and 185 pounds that tested the rig. And I saw no obvious degradation in the motion of the Traction Plus platform. Of course this does not speak to long term use at these levels of weights that exceeded the manufacturers stated weight limits. At the end of the day I would have to call this build a good result. Not perfect, but the small imperfections mentioned in this video did not seem to matter much when you are in this
cockpit and experiencing all 6 Degrees of freedom or DOF’s at racing speeds. For the first time I and the other drivers who were able to come by the SRG and test, were able to  navigate a racing circuit by feel instead of only muscle memory. It’s one of those things that I wish everyone who is a Sim Racing enthusiast could have a go at. And actually building this platform in the SRG has given me more hope that someday a true 6DOF driving experience will be more accessible to all of us.