For The Extravagant Only: The Formula 1 Simulator Chair

What’s the most immersive racing experience one can possibly have? Probably actually getting into a Formula 1 car and blasting down a track, but in the absence of that option, what’s the next closest thing?

For most of us, it’s video games. But a company in England is attempting to blur the line as closely as they can. Cranfield Simulation, a company that has built professional racing simulator cockpits for F1 and NASCAR, have announced their first product for the home market. It’s built to nearly the same specifications as the machines actual professionals train on. It bumps and vibrates just like an F1 car would, and it has all the controls. It’s about as fake-real as it gets.

“Most simulators used in motorsport are little more than fairground rides,” said Ian Poll, Emeritus Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Cranfield University. “This system, however, uses a variety of carefully tailored inputs to the body’s sensory system and the driver’s brain interprets these to be the result of real accelerations being applied to the body. If the brain believes it, simulation becomes reality and the training value is considerably enhanced.”

What Cranfield doesn’t mention in their press release is how much this behemoth costs, but we figure it’s the kind of product where if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. The picture above is the closest 99.9% of us will ever get to the Cranfield Formula Simulator. Though maybe, if we pool all our cash together…