At the very kind invitation of Patrick Kubieniec from ProSimu in France, we pointed our car in the direction of Lille and set off on the two hour and forty minute drive to try out ProSimu’s T1000 motion simulator for home use.
ProSimu
ProSimu is a relatively new company on the sim racing scene. Patrick explains that his main aim is to provide his customers with the best possible motion for an affordable price. He has conceptualised, designed and constructed several motion rigs from 2DOF to 6DOF as well as six full-sized F1 simulators for the company, URACE.
When it comes to his dedication to sim racing, Patrick is a very capable and amicable bloke, the type of bloke you can like straight away. He is very passionate about both his commitment to his customers and the sim racing scene in general, not to mention ferociously proud of the fact that he is offering French-built products for sale to the global sim racing community.
The T1000 2DOF Motion Rig
I will be receiving a T1000 motion rig to test and review shortly, so I will stick to first impressions for now and not go into the specifics of how it is constructed. With that said, the basic premise of the T1000 2DOF motion rig is that it sits on two “Dionetic’’ 400n actuators mounted just rearwards of the driver’s feet. Located at the rear of the rig under the seat, is a curved or rocker tube, which rests on the floor. This tube allows the rig to move on its axis and work in conjunction with the front mounted actuators whilst in motion.
First Impressions
On first seeing the T1000 in real life, the initial thing that struck me was the compactness of the design. Although the T1000 is 2DOF, Patrick has managed to create a motion rig which gives you a good range of motion and transmits the suspension, gear shift and braking forces quite well. The sim motion software Patrick employs also allows for the adjustment of the axes as well as the intensity of movement. After playing around with the settings for a while, I arrived at a level of motion that I felt was a good representation of the selected in-game car.
Driving The T1000 Motion Rig
My first experience with the T1000 was a positive one, the initial impression of driving with this motion rig is good, considering the limited DOF, it was definitely fun to drive.
When using Assetto Corsa, which Patrick believes to possess one of the best telemetry models for motion, each car I tried had its own characteristics and felt different whilst driving with the T1000. The Nissan GTR felt like a heavy sedan with the engine over the front axle and the Lotus F1 felt much stiffer with more pronounced gear shifts, a bumpier overall ride and less pronounced body roll. I also tried the Corvette C7 race car with that massive V8 up front, this felt totally different to the other two cars with an even more pronounced gear shift than the GTR.
There is always room for small improvements in the design and Patrick is very open to any constructive criticism or suggestions and views all feedback as being of a positive nature. As I stated earlier, I will be receiving a T1000 from Patrick shortly and pairing this rig with my Oculus Rift DK2, so please keep an eye out for my test and review of this motion rig, which will be coming soon.
We would like to extend our thanks to Patrick for his hospitality and looking after us so well during our visit to France.
