Hands-On Review: CXC Simulations Motion Pro II Racing Simulator!

On September 21, I had to be in the LA area on business and Chris Considine
of CXC Simulations (www.cxcsimulations.com - an F-Chat sponsor) was kind enough to
allow myself and a business associate about 2 hours on their Motion Pro II racing
simulator. I was SO impressed with his machine that I decided to write a full review,
unsolicited and unbiased in any way by anyone at CXC Simulations. The only input
from Chris was tech specs and other details.

Since I know everyone wants the video, I'll post the link right here to start off
Be sure to select the higher resolution button, go full-screen, and TURN IT UP LOUD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNDqHR4zkI8

My Review

1. Background: MOST of us have driven a so-called racing simulator at one
time or another. I have a wheel and pedals and play GTR2, etc. I've played on an
HRS brand "arcade style" sim in a cruise ship arcade; at CES-2009 I drove the
Motorsports brand "toss your lunch pulling G's" simulator. However, in my opinion,
ALL of the above are just video games. They do NOT "simulate" how a given car
behaves on a track - they just FEEL like it. They are built to toss you about and
have fun - NOT to learn a car and its setup on a real track!

2. What CXC is about: Chris is a trained race car driver - and has been
doing simulators for a long time as a player. He and his team have attempted to
design a TRUE race simulator - a "low mass" frame that allows you to perceive
and react to G-forces, but NOT to mask the SUBTLE STUFF. With CXC, the idea
is that EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH gives you feedback about your situation. There
are no massive hydraulics damping the subtleties - without those subtleties, you'll
never really FEEL the changes in wings, tires, suspension, etc. This can ONLY
be done with a lower mass mechanism. After the low-mass design, the next huge
innovation is in the SOFTWARE. More on that later.

3. My initial impressions: Walking into the tidy nondescript factory of CXC
in Marina del Rey, the first thing I noticed was the Motion Pro II system in the corner,
booting up all 3 screens for my visit. Wow! It looks great in pictures, but in
person it's amazing. It's even a bit intimidating. It doesn't LOOK like a typical
arcade-grade sim - it's technical, solid, real. And not tacky like the "vomit car"
sims I've tried - no fake fenders, no fiberglass panels, no AGIP stickers. My first
impression is this machine MEANS BUSINESS

4. Build Quality: As a technical guy and a geek, my first curiosity after
the initial "OMG" reaction was to peer at the build and assembly. And it's SOLID.
It looks "aircraft quality" - no-nonsense in every aspect, clearly built for function.
Diamond plate flooring, aircraft-aluminum assemblies for the steering linkage to
the encoder, the 3 floor pedals - the motion feedback elements on the rear. It really
seems to me to be built to the same standards you'd expect an airplane to be
built. No more, no less. And nothing out of place - the computer isn't visible
(not even sure where it is!), zero USB cables to be seen, nothing sloppy or
home-made appearing. I will grant the console face is carbon fiber - that's
perhaps the only concession to "pop race culture". But I can forgive that quite
easily in light of the rest of this machine. And just for the record, a label on
the rear of the seat states a maximum of 250 pounds - however, this just
means that's where performance might begin to degrade. Chris tells me they've
had people that weight and more many times to no ill effect other than degradation
in the subtleties of performance.

5. Setup and Optioning: I was quite impressed with the speed at which
Chris was able to boot us up, jump to my favorite track (Monza ca. 2007),
select a car and leave the pits to race. All system control is via a compact
Blue Tooth remote control (see attached photo). This single interface is all that's
needed to set every possible option - car, track, vehicle setup, customization of
the 18 user-defined buttons on the wheel and console. While Chris did all the
action with the remote during setup, I followed along very well - the learning
curve is there but not steep.

6. Get in the car and launch: When you get in the seat, you'll find it's
fairly snug but not tight. My butt's about average and I'm a pretty big guy (215 pounds),
but I had zero difficulty. Next came the 4-point seat belts. Yes - seat belts! They
form an integral part of the very advanced feedback system to better "connect" you
to the road surface and the car. They need to be snug, just like in a real car. This is
how CXC accomplishes the sensation of acceleration and deceleration. along with all
the other feedback your body receives We had
but one small glitch - right before I was to drive, I realized the steering was out of
whack. Chris apologized quickly - he had forgotten to calibrate the wheel at startup.
No big deal - did a quick restart and calibration - and it was off to the races.

7. Car 1 - Ferrari 288 GTO: (This car is NOT in the video). I chose this car
in hopes of being somewhere in the range of the Ferrari 360 I'm most familiar with
on the Monza track (in GTR2). I THOUGHT I knew Monza and an older Ferrari V8.
Well, the Motion Pro II proved me wrong in a quarter mile! You feel EVERYTHING. It's
almost surreal - you feel the dated suspension force under and over steer in the
steering wheel, you feel the brakes grab too hard, you feel the lag in the accelerator
on bad shifts, and something I didn't know - the 288 tries to redline if you don't lift
during a shift. That took some getting used to!. As the laps wore on I did start to
get better - higher speeds, fewer missed shifts. But all along the way, it was a VERY
small leap of imagination to be in a real car on a real track. As Chris likes to say,
"everything you touch or feel needs to SPEAK to you about the car and track".... and
they've done such a thorough job that I have to fully agree - the steering, seatbelts,
gas, brake, and clutch SPOKE to me - just like any real car does.

My next car was the 2007 Ferrari 658 F1 - I've never experienced anything even close
to this in a sim - ever. The rig I drove at CES in 2009 had the F1 car loaded, but all
it really did was toss me about a lot. THIS car, however, is entirely different. Every
nuance of the road can be felt, and I can honestly say I know what "too much wing"
FEELS like on the grandstand straight at Monza! Yes, you can feel this stuff. You
don't have to be a "real race driver" - it's simply physical feedback that your brain
will register as if it were real. And again, the feedback in the wheel, gas and brakes
was unlike I've ever felt - things like grip and brake fade had meaning to me when
driving. As I was screaming around the track after the First Chicane into Lesmo 1,
I remember yelling (this machine is LOUD!) "Oh my God - the grip is AMAZING" - I
really wish there were words to describe it better. To actually perceive grip PHYSICALLY,
in your body, not just intellectually in a game... CXC has managed it.

8. Anders in the 914 While I don't want to say anything that's outside my
own personal experience in this review, I just wanted to comment that my friend
Anders owns a 914 so naturally wanted to try one here. He chose the original
1922 Monza Autodrome high-bank oval. As a long-time 914 guy, he kept gushing
about how the performance and physical feedback were IDENTICAL to his car. Especially
the steering and suspension feel. Again, just 3rd party commentary but that's what he
said - now back to my own impressions.

9. Back to the company: Support? I wanted to know exactly how CXC reacts
AFTER the sale and what, if any, failure issues are there. Well, to date - after 3 years
of shipping simulators, they haven't had any! But if they did, there is a 1-year limited
warranty (see attached documents), parts and labor. Software updates are free also
for 1 year (the system comes with several race packages - GTR2, iRacing, etc. - see
their web site for details). As far as the computer, they upgrade as the market upgrades.
Right now they are shipping FAST Intel i7 computers with SSD so no moving parts in
the hard drive; all running Windows 7-32. Setup is not considered DIY - but is included
with every sale (less air fare). Operation is pretty hands off - any software tweaking
is done remotely over the internet. They can also arrange just about any sort of
custom software & hardware change - for example, running MS Flight Simulator X with
the "car cockpit" for control input, later to be upgradeable for aircraft specific controls.

10. What truly sets CXC apart: In my personal opinion, the single thing that
sets CXC Simulations apart is FEEDBACK. This is accomplished by tons of custom
code that has been written by CXC that intercepts the virtual telemetry coming from
the racing software to then drive the myriad tactile feedback devices. NONE of the
other guys do this - they use the standard stock USB code to drive "lose your lunch" hydraulics
and such. Not CXC - this data is used to alter the feel of the steering (not just the
"rumble" effect of Logitech, etc. consumer wheels) - adding resistance to the steering
and the brakes and the gas and the clutch and the seat belts and the thrusters on
the rear and the.... you get the idea. Again, EVERYTHING you touch in a CXC Motion
Pro II SPEAKS to you - I can personally attest to this in every way.

11. Any negatives? I've actually been giving that question a lot of thought
since last week - I don't think ANY review can seem believable without SOMETHING
negative. Nothing is perfect, right? Well, I hate to disappoint - but as far as the
machine itself, at least in my 2 hour time - nothing appeared to me as a negative.
I do think that CXC should offer a DIY installation option - perhaps with a disclaimer
for damage and such - there are LOTS of technical folks out there whom I feel could set the
system up themselves, resulting in a price reduction. But outside of this one issue,
which could be argued is quite minor, that's all I could come up with in a week!

12. In conclusion... is it worth the price?: Unequivocally YES. The model I
tested was fully optioned at $51,250 (pricing document attached). Yep. That's a LOT
of money. But the clinically accurate feedback systems CXC has developed make it
so you can have virtually ANY car you ever wanted to drive on a track. If I were
in the market for a simulator at this level, and having driven a few of them out there,
I wouldn't hesitate to order up a CXC Simulations Motion Pro II.

So there you have it folks. The first Ferrari Chat "hands on test drive" of the
CXC Simulations Motion Pro II race simulator.

All of the above are 100% my honest impressions - I VOLUNTEERED to write this
review - wasn't asked or compensated. PM me if you have any questions at all.

Attached: MP II Brochure, pricing, warranty and photo of the remote control

Video: See link at the top – I didn’t want any of me in it – I didn’t drive the way I
wanted to show in the video. So Chris is mostly at the wheel with my friend Anders
in his 914


Jedi

 

Good question... Chris? Could that be arranged? Along with the "ordinary car"?


Jedi

 

No ****? Do you have the car they use too? I'll be in LA again in December...
Would LOVE to see my Top Gear time....

Jedi

 

Gotcha... same track though...

Jedi

 

I LIKE it!!! That will give me ideas for my December visit



Jedi

 

That would be funny!!