SimExperience G-Belt or PT Actuator Tension-R

[Deleted member 1066209]

Cannot argue with that...

Suppose a motion system with capability for +/-10 degrees of yaw AKA traction loss.
Should that system attempt to simulate more than 10 degrees of yaw?
I can claim with high confidence that attempting
to use it to simulate sustained lateral/rotational acceleration
resulting in more than that 10 degrees of yaw change will feel weird,
even ignoring differences among degrees of front vs rear traction loss,
when actuator limits are reached.
Motion simulation limited to transients within actuator limits,
perhaps even with some non-linear scaling, may not break immersion
for e.g. pavement seams and modest curbs and rumble strips.

Problem is, sim racing games are not designed to sort telemetry
for finite yaw, pitch and heave transients from those involving sustained accelerations.
They could in theory attempt doing so,
given predefined racing lines and predicted driver inputs, but they generally don't.
Beyond that, motion sim vendors seemingly cannot resist
attempting to e.g. simulate sustained accelerations by bogus yaw, pitch and heave cues.

If breaking immersion is not a concern, then totally random distractions may be fine.

I understand your point now. Yaw, surge, and sway are surely unable to be accurately simulated, but wouldn't it be possible to accurately replicate pitch and roll with one of those high-travel actuator setups (with 6-inch travel)? At the very least, it should work well for cars with limited suspension travel, as opposed to rally cars or monster trucks.

And if that were the case, would it even be worth the effort to only simulate pitch and roll, while neglecting the other motions? I suppose there would be a nagging feeling of something missing.

 

[RCHeliguy]

+/- 10 degrees is excellent for flight. I had that with my NLRv3 and for helicopters and planes it was very convincing in VR. You could even feel a convincing barrel roll in VR which surprised me. I've been in full 360 degree gimbaled flight simulators.

My D-Box is pretty unconvincing in flight.

However for cars, it simply is not necessary.

What surprised me was how much the G-Belt added in flight to help create a feeling of what was going on. I suspect the G-Seat along with the G-Belt in flight would be more convincing than extra actuator motion.

 

[NetLawMan]

I understand your point now. Yaw, surge, and sway are surely unable to be accurately simulated, but wouldn't it be possible to accurately replicate pitch and roll with one of those high-travel actuator setups (with 6-inch travel)? At the very least, it should work well for cars with limited suspension travel, as opposed to rally cars or monster trucks.

And if that were the case, would it even be worth the effort to only simulate pitch and roll, while neglecting the other motions? I suppose there would be a nagging feeling of something missing.

Something to consider is that you can’t think about it only in terms of pitch, roll, and heave for a single purpose. For example when moving left and right (roll), typically the motion system (or Gbelt/seat) is trying to replicate both g-forces and pitch of the vehicle based on the road/track. The motion system does the better job of relaying the angle of the road/track, and the Gbelt/seat do a better job at relaying g-forces while turning.

I think when a lot of people describe how they think motion (or gseat/belt) aren’t realistic, they are typically talking about them not being great at everything.

Whether it’s motion or gseat/belt, having one of them is better than none. They each do somethings amazingly, and other things good enough. Having both just lets each do what it is best at and nothing more.

Just finished a bunch of WRC generations with motion. Loved it! The only thing that would make it better is Gbelt/seat….but unfortunately this game is not supported by sim commander yet (which is no big deal since WRCG was just released on Friday)

 

[crooksy]

Where would you place the GS5 on the same scale? When compared against the GBelt, would you consider it equivalent, better, or worse with respect to it being a useful feedback tool?

That's a tough one to answer, I think they are both equally matched which was why I suggested the GS6 seat (if there ever is going to be one) has the belt tensioning integrated by default or a package where you can buy both G Seat and G Belt together at a discount.

For usable feedback alone probably the G Belt and also because it's cheaper, so bang per buck is good and also because you could enable the cornering effect in the G Belt which is less realistic but useful for those who haven't a GS5 seat.

I do love the traction loss effect in the GS5 seat when you set it up better than the defaults. I much prefer it to the same effect on the AF wheel.

If I was to buy over again, in order it would be G Belt first and then GS5 seat

 

[TheSymster]

It seems like there are many happy owners of the G-Belt in this thread. I'm also considering both of these products. I've heard the G-Belt is quite loud. Is that accurate? Does anyone know how the TensionR compares in the noise department?

 

[RCHeliguy]

At this point I know a number of very happy G-Belt owners, myself included. I know half a dozen of them got a G-Belt in the last 3 months alone. All are very happy with them.

The software for the G-Belt is much more advanced and has many more effects that actually work well than the SRS software has. The G-Belt also has cloud calibration by car and track to automatically range the limits of the tension it provides.

In addition the G-Belt has excellent support the hardware is well sorted and using the seatbelt of your choice is easy.

The Tension-R is recently released and based on the feedback I've seen is going through teething pains with the hardware. It also requires disassembly if you want to upgrade it's built in 2" x 5 point belt to a much better 3" x 6 point belt.

I use off ear VR headphones and don't consider the G-Belt noise an issue.

 

[anton_Chez]

Noise only an issue if you a) use speakers or really low volume headphones (closed-back/noise cancelling or earbuds would still be OK I would think) or if you have the unit in the vicinity of other people, especially if you're the only one that can hear the game audio with headphones. All they'll here is the squeaking of the motors.

 

[NetLawMan]

I have had both the gbelt and gseat for sometime now. The bottom line is that they are noisy. But the value (immersion experience) they bring overrides the noise. That said, I use closed back earphones to reduce the noise. I would buy them again, definitely over PT for reasons mentioned here and elsewhere. My only worry is that Simxperience stay in business. There is a lot of competition out there, and they need to get more product out the door to keep revenue flowing.

 

[Leynad777]

My only worry is that Simxperience stay in business. There is a lot of competition out there, and they need to get more product out the door to keep revenue flowing.

For me it looks like they create so much revenue without innovating their lineup, that they don't bother doing it yet. I thought Fanatec was in trouble because their essential products were almost always out of stock last year, but turned out it was their best year despite the supply problem.

 

[anton_Chez]

I'd love to try a Gseat. Being in Australia it's very financially inefficient to get one here for multiple reasons but I reckon one day, I'll end up with one. Especially if I find one being sold locally used, that would be a great chance. I just wonder how comfortable the seat is compared to my Sparco Rev, which I am very fond of.

 

[NetLawMan]

For me it looks like they create so much revenue without innovating their lineup, that they don't bother doing it yet. I thought Fanatec was in trouble because their essential products were almost always out of stock last year, but turned out it was their best year despite the supply problem.

I don’t think so. Seat has been out for years and my recent seat serial number is below 300.

 

[Clover11]

Just finished building a tower for my g-belt. I did not want to drill my seat and deal with the seat cover, so I built a simple tower out of 80/20 attached to the back of my Sim-Labs P1-X. I need to make sure it clears with my motion setup, however, I will share the plans if everything works. I'm super excited to try it out. Now I need to convince my wife to help me mount it. I had her help me with integrating my triple monitor stand the other night and it turned out to be a lot harder than I was expecting for her. So, I'm going to need to ask real nice this time... especially since I want her help fixing her work from the other night. My monitors are now integrated but are pointed down like Tesla's stock.

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

Just finished building a tower for my g-belt. I did not want to drill my seat and deal with the seat cover, so I built a simple tower out of 80/20 attached to the back of my Sim-Labs P1-X. I need to make sure it clears with my motion setup, however, I will share the plans if everything works. I'm super excited to try it out. Now I need to convince my wife to help me mount it. I had her help me with integrating my triple monitor stand the other night and it turned out to be a lot harder than I was expecting for her. So, I'm going to need to ask real nice this time... especially since I want her help fixing her work from the other night. My monitors are now integrated but are pointed down like Tesla's stock.

Can I attach the g-belt to the bottom of my 8020 rig instead of drilling it into my seat? I saw they have that strange seat mount adapter but I'd rather just mount to my rig directly.

 

[anton_Chez]

The seat mount is not an adapter, it just bolts through the seat, no bracket or anything like that needed. If you want to mount at the bottom, you'll need the universal mount they supply or be able to fabricate something yourself. Most people aspire to have it seat mounted due to the increase in feel and the simplicity it offers. The unit can be mounted to the chassis, though, if you choose to.

 

[Clover11]

Can I attach the g-belt to the bottom of my 8020 rig instead of drilling it into my seat? I saw they have that strange seat mount adapter but I'd rather just mount to my rig directly.

You will need some form of bracket. The threaded holes to mount it to are on the same side the belts come out of.