Buying advice please - Next Level v3 Motion Platform

[MarkR]

I'm looking for some advice and thoughts of other owners or people with good knowledge of the product, please.

I always said I'd buy myself a motion simulator if I could afford one and had the room available. Well, that day may have arrived. I'm impressed by what I've seen of the Next Level v3 Motion Platform

This seems to meet all my criteria:

+ Limited space requirements, I don't have room for a huge sim rig but this seems compact enough to work.
+ Works with Oculus Rift VR, that fixed head position setting solution is impressive
+ Great support and regular updates from the developers
+ Available in the UK
+ Works with my current Thrustmaster wheel and accessories.
+ Sub £3k for the full setup, I'm not a pro racer I'm not looking for a practice simulator this is just for fun so the cost/fun balance has to be right.

So help me do the man maths! Is it worth it?

Is there another similar product I should also look at? It would need to be reasonably compact, work with VR, available in the UK without too much hassle and in the same £3-5K price range.

Is there anywhere I can try one or even better several of the systems in the UK?

 

[Steve D]

Hi. I'm new to the sim game and doing my research. Is there a reason why many people are choosing the NLR V3 over something like the Prosimu? From my few weeks of intense research, it would seem that the Prosimu can be upgraded over time and the full rig movement would better simulate what I experience in cars when driving hard.

I'm going to do a baby build with Rift in the next few weeks, get my feet wet and make sure I'm enjoying the experience. Then I'll go "bigly" on a full on rig next year with direct drive wheel, HE pedals and motion rig with rear traction loss. I don't have time for trackdays and such with life responsibilities so looking to simulate as close as possible and keep the skills sharp for when I can track again down the road.

I've already learned a ton from this site and I hope my questions aren't too repetitive.

My 'two penneth.'

My path in to Sim Racing late last year was very much along the lines of what you are now considering.

I wanted to be serious in my investment and I definitely wanted motion to be a part of it. However whilst I was in the fortunate position of being able to afford it, I did not want to go 'all in,' i.e. OSW wheel, HE Pro pedals, D-box type solution etc, until I was absolutely sure that I was going to get the most out of my new-found hobby based on the time I have available outside of my business and with consideration of trying not to desert the wife at every spare moment. (I've already had a few cold dinners as a result of being completely immersed and with the audio drowning out the shouts from downstairs that "food is on the table")

So I ended up, if you can call it that, with a SimLabs P1, decent race seat, Fanatec Clubsport gear throughout, (incl. brake performance kit for V3 pedals, which improves 'the feel' considerably), NLRV3 motion, Oculus Rift and triple monitors, (for those sims that aren't VR compatible), all powered by a suitable CPU / GPU combination, which I built myself solely for sim racing and nothing else. That little lot still cost me a pretty penny but if ever I have zero regrets about blowing hard-earned cash on a hobby / 'boys toy,' then this is it. I absolutely bloody well love it.

As far as choosing V3 motion well I have @AntoN_CheZ to thank for that as he has a way with words and can "sell ice to the eskimos" and he basically sold the idea to me and told me how great the ongoing after-sales support was. And he wasn't wrong about that one iota. He also seemed to be RD's 'go to' guy at the time for understanding how best to set up the individual profiles. Based on the cost, the NLR also seemed to offer the 'best bang for my buck.'

And in a word, I've been blown away by it although I would say this. The 'out of the box' settings do not do the product any justice whatsoever and there is a 'sweet spot' in terms of set up for all supported sims. And what is clear is that we are all different in terms of what we prefer so you will have to tweak, (it's dead easy), until you are happy albeit there are plenty on here who can give you a good baseline. For example I primarily play RaceRoom followed by AC and whilst the former feels epic with the V3 I just couldn't get the latter to feel quite right. Then I saw a post from @Mascot the other day about his own recent set up experience with AC and I gave it a go as it was so different to my own approach. It was an immediate 'game changer,' to the point where my son and I spent an entire day enjoying the Nordschleife with a variety of fine automobiles because it just felt so damn right, especially in VR, which motion compliments perfectly. (To the point where it becomes a near essential ingredient) And despite being 2DOF, there is an effect which simulates rear traction loss in quite a subtle way but still rather well. Don't ask me how it does it, (although profile set up is again important) but it works and you can feel it in the seat of your pants. I'm sure others will be testament to that.

Also getting a good FFB set up adds to and compliments the whole motion experience. Again how this is achieved is very much down to individual taste and there is no right or wrong answer so you will need to invest the time to get to what feels right for you. But nail that and again, the immersion and experience is amplified.

So with all that in mind, am I happy with the kit and solutions I bought? Absolutely, 200% and at this time I feel absolutely no need to upgrade any part of my rig, despite all this sexy pillow talk of OSW wheels etc (Yep, that darn @AntoN_CheZ is to blame again!!).

And here's some 'food for thought' for you to consider. I also track a Caterham R500D and nicely-fettled Renault Clio Cup and have done so for many years. However since taking up my new hobby, joining RD's racing club and enjoying close, competitive racing online once or twice a week or challenging the AI or even just hot lapping, I've been far less inclined to scratch that track-day itch. I find that astonishing and that goes to show the level of immersion and realism that my set up provides me with. Of course it cannot replicate the real thing and the smell of hot engines and burning rubber but it gives me something close and in the comfort of my own home, without risk, major cost, the hassle of preparation and set up and the crazy world of the noise police, who can ruin a day depending on what the atmospherics are doing!

Whatever you decide, you'll still get good advice and encouragement from a great bunch of chaps on here and you will have a blast!!

Steve

PS. Where in the UK are you? I'd personally have no problem letting you have a go in my rig if you are local. (I'm right 'down sarf')

 

[Mascot]

My 'two penneth.'

My path in to Sim Racing late last year was very much along the lines of what you are now considering.

I wanted to be serious in my investment and I definitely wanted motion to be a part of it. However whilst I was in the fortunate position of being able to afford it, I did not want to go 'all in,' i.e. OSW wheel, HE Pro pedals, D-box type solution etc, until I was absolutely sure that I was going to get the most out of my new-found hobby based on the time I have available outside of my business and with consideration of trying not to desert the wife at every spare moment. (I've already had a few cold dinners as a result of being completely immersed and with the audio drowning out the shouts from downstairs that "food is on the table")

So I ended up, if you can call it that, with a SimLabs P1, decent race seat, Fanatec Clubsport gear throughout, NLRV3 motion, Oculus Rift and triple monitors, (for those sims that aren't VR compatible), all powered by a suitable CPU / GPU combination, which I built myself solely for sim racing and nothing else. That little lot still cost me a pretty penny but if ever I have zero regrets about blowing hard-earned cash on a hobby / 'boys toy,' then this is it. I absolutely bloody well love it.

As far as choosing V3 motion well I have @AntoN_CheZ to thank for that as he has a way with words and can "sell ice to the eskimos" and he basically sold the idea to me and told me how great the ongoing after-sales support was. And he wasn't wrong about that one iota He also seemed to be RD's 'go to' guy at the time for understanding how best to set up the individual profiles. Based on the cost, the NLR also seemed to offer the 'best bang for my buck.'

And in a word, I've been blown away by it although I would say this. The 'out of the box' settings do not do the product any justice whatsoever and there is a 'sweet spot' in terms of set up for all supported sims. And what is clear is that we are all different in terms of what we prefer so you will have to tweak, (it's dead easy), until you are happy albeit there are plenty on here who can give you a good baseline. For example I primarily play RaceRoom followed by AC and whilst the former feels epic with the V3 I just couldn't get the latter to feel quite right. Then I saw a post from @Mascot the other day about his own recent set up experience with AC and I gave it a go as it was so different to my own approach. It was an immediate 'game changer,' to the point where my son and I spent an entire day enjoying the Nordschleife with a variety of fine automobiles because it just felt so damn right, especially in VR, which motion compliments perfectly. (To the point where it becomes a near essential ingredient) And despite being 2DOF, there is an effect which simulates rear traction loss in quite a subtle way but still rather well. Don't ask me how it does it, (although profile set up is again important) but it works and you can feel it in the seat of your pants. I'm sure others will be testament to that.

Also getting a good FFB set up adds to and compliments the whole motion experience. Again how this is achieved is very much down to individual taste and there is no right or wrong answer so you will need to invest the time to get to what feels right for you. But nail that and again, the immersion and experience is amplified.

So with all that in mind, am I happy with the kit and solutions I bought. Absolutely, 200% and at this time I feel absolutely no need to upgrade any part of my rig, despite all this sexy talk of OSW wheels etc (Yep, that darn @AntoN_CheZ is to blame again!!).

And here's some 'food for thought' for you to consider. I also track a Caterham R500D and nicely-fettled Renault Clio Cup and have done so for many years. However since taking up my new hobby, joining RD's racing club and enjoying close, competitive racing online once or twice a week or challenging the AI or even just hot lapping, I've been far less inclined to scratch that track-day itch. I find that astonishing and that goes to show the level of immersion and realism that my set up provides me with. Of course it cannot replicate the real thing and the smell of hot engines and burning rubber but it gives me something close and in the comfort of my own home, without risk, major cost, the hassle of preparation and set up and the crazy world of the noise police, who can ruin a day depending on what the atmospherics are doing!

Whatever you decide, you'll still get good advice and encouragement from a great bunch of chaps on here and you will have a blast!!

Steve

PS. Where in the UK are you? I'd personally have no problem letting you have a go in my rig if you are local. (I'm right 'down sarf')

Bloody well said sir!

 

[RobertR1]

And here's some 'food for thought' for you to consider. I also track a Caterham R500D and nicely-fettled Renault Clio Cup and have done so for many years. However since taking up my new hobby, joining RD's racing club and enjoying close, competitive racing online once or twice a week or challenging the AI or even just hot lapping, I've been far less inclined to scratch that track-day itch. I find that astonishing and that goes to show the level of immersion and realism that my set up provides me with. Of course it cannot replicate the real thing and the smell of hot engines and burning rubber but it gives me something close and in the comfort of my own home, without risk, major cost, the hassle of preparation and set up and the crazy world of the noise police, who can ruin a day depending on what the atmospherics are doing!

Whatever you decide, you'll still get good advice and encouragement from a great bunch of chaps on here and you will have a blast!!

Steve

PS. Where in the UK are you? I'd personally have no problem letting you have a go in my rig if you are local. (I'm right 'down sarf')

wow! Firstly, thank you a ton for putting so much effort in the your post. I truncated it to save on quoting space but every bit was highly valuable. The same goes for all the other posters who have been invaluable in such a short span.

I'm in the same boat in terms of time limitation but still need the kick. When I moved here from the US, I brought a couple of Corvettes with a lot of track spares to carry on with the hobby. My time then got sucked up by the business and the having more kids so the cars sit there like caged animals now! One day, I randomly walked into the Oxford St. John Lewis and did a couple of laps of GTSport with a PSVR in a stationary rig. 2 laps and some mild nausea later, I knew I had to jump into this. Then the heavy research started. For anyone wondering, they have removed the demo rig from JL which is too bad.

I got a buddy here who's into Clio cup's also and gave me some laps around Silverstone. We don't have those in the US so surprising good car from what I experienced in the passenger seat. Caterham's are just cool. I imagine very analog and organic to drive compared to newer cars which are more electronics reliant than person.

I'm in greater London area so if the offer stands, I'd be ecstatic to take you up on it. It'd be fun to chat up cars as well. I'll bring one of the vettes by. I'll shoot you a PM.

 

[anton_Chez]

Awesome to see everyone getting involved. @Steve D you are a gentleman sir, thank you for the kind words. I only try to do what others have done for me, and that's just give good honest advice based on my own experiences when taking the plunge on not so accessible hardware. Being a lucky one that can afford to test these toys out is a luxury I am grateful for and it feels good to have helped someone else enjoy the hobby that I just fell into 2 years ago. Everyone here is a valuable resource and with enough heads banging together I think we can really get the most out of what the V3 (and sim racing in general) has to offer.

Sorry for making you spend so much money, though

 

[Steve D]

wow! Firstly, thank you a ton for putting so much effort in the your post. I truncated it to save on quoting space but every bit was highly valuable. The same goes for all the other posters who have been invaluable in such a short span.

I'm in the same boat in terms of time limitation but still need the kick. When I moved here from the US, I brought a couple of Corvettes with a lot of track spares to carry on with the hobby. My time then got sucked up by the business and the having more kids so the cars sit there like caged animals now! One day, I randomly walked into the Oxford St. John Lewis and did a couple of laps of GTSport with a PSVR in a stationary rig. 2 laps and some mild nausea later, I knew I had to jump into this. Then the heavy research started. For anyone wondering, they have removed the demo rig from JL which is too bad.

I got a buddy here who's into Clio cup's also and gave me some laps around Silverstone. We don't have those in the US so surprising good car from what I experienced in the passenger seat. Caterham's are just cool. I imagine very analog and organic to drive compared to newer cars which are more electronics reliant than person.

I'm in greater London area so if the offer stands, I'd be ecstatic to take you up on it. It'd be fun to chat up cars as well. I'll bring one of the vettes by. I'll shoot you a PM.

No worries Rob and you are more than welcome to come down to Southampton and drive some laps in Rift VR + Motion. If you like we can set you up in a 'Vette on the Nordschleife and Silverstone's GP circuit, crank up the external volume and have Crew chief banging on in your ear, which again adds to the immersion! Just hope I haven't oversold things and you go away disappointed or underwhelmed but at least you'll have a good idea.

I'll respond to your PM and we can sort something out soon because we are keen for you to start spending! @AntoN_CheZ will no doubt be along shortly!

One point to make, which again others I'm sure will agree with, is that motion can pretty much entirely remove, or at least drastically reduce, the effects of nausea in VR and 'from the off.' This is because, (or so I read on the back of a fag packet), your brain is registering the physical movement which it is expecting based on what your eyes are seeing in the VR space. (And even if that motion isn't grounded entirely in reality compared to motion in the real world) I've not once had a problem although I do notice it creeping up on me slightly if I forget to switch on the platform. Regardless, if you do suffer from a bit of nausea then you simply build up slowly until your noodle tunes in to it. I'll have a bucket close to hand though just in case!

 

[Steve D]

Awesome to see everyone getting involved. @Steve D you are a gentleman sir, thank you for the kind words. I only try to do what others have done for me, and that's just give good honest advice based on my own experiences when taking the plunge on not so accessible hardware. Being a lucky one that can afford to test these toys out is a luxury I am grateful for and it feels good to have helped someone else enjoy the hobby that I just fell into 2 years ago. Everyone here is a valuable resource and with enough heads banging together I think we can really get the most out of what the V3 (and sim racing in general) has to offer.

Sorry for making you spend so much money, though

Cheers buddy... I take my lead from you although I have to say that everyone on here is so helpful, enthusiastic and informative and we can all learn from each other's experiences and share info and ideas. It's been really brilliant reading about all the recent builds and viewing the various pics and I know that we are all pretty proud of our creations, which is probably hard for others to understand! My good lady for one hasn't got a 'scooby doo' what all the fuss is about and just sees a pile of metal with a wheel and some dust-attracting monitors attached whilst my son drools over what he considers to be a piece of photogenic, modern art and a job well done, although he might just be 'playing me' because he's also suggested that we need a second rig, plus all the goodies, for him, on the basis that it would be good for father / son bonding and sharing a VR space together. The cheeky fecker only comes home from Uni once in a blue moon as well!

And about making me splash the cash. Well sir, you may end up saving me money in the long-term as I'll be reducing my annual track day and associated travel costs etc, which is bloody expensive and that's assuming nothing goes bang or gets bent. At least that's my 'man maths' justification right there!

 

[Eigil]

Hello Gentlemen

This is my first post here. I have been simracing for many years. I have been running Fanatec gear and a NLR GT2 cockpit and Motion V3 for a year. The cockpit left something to be desired so I reasently swiched to a P1 and in the prosess upgraded to an OSW and Heusinkveld pedals as well. Simracing is addictive , and thank you all for the interesting posts here on racedepartment!. But enought of my background. I really like the immersion with the motion, but I tend to be slower when I use it instead of leaving it off. I see in the telemetry that my driving is more precise when I leave the V3 off. Are you guys just as quick or quicker when you use your seatmowers?

 

[anton_Chez]

Are you guys just as quick or quicker when you use your seatmowers?

Welcome! I definitely felt slower at the start, not that I am quick anyway. To be honest though I've never done a proper comparison to motion on vs off in terms of pure lap times. If anything, I think that with motion on you are probably closer to your real speed than with it off. After all, when you smash into a raised curb (sausage) flying through a chicane, you are not totally immune from the response of the car to that impact, at least not while driving a real car. The motion allows you to feel certain things in the road that you may otherwise not know are there, but it can also slow you down because your body is having forces thrown at it and that takes away from your concentration, not to mention your physical ability to keep the wheel straight, shift gears while being pushed through a corner, heel toe while being thrust forward under heavy braking. All of these things are a moot point when driving without motion because there is no feedback. It's like guys that are fast that don't even use FFB. Not completely realistic but their muscle memory and adaptation to that method allow them to post fast times.

It also depends how high you have the platform set in terms of intensity. That's why it's good to have a medium to low setting. You get cues that translate important details while at the same time remaining immersed. If you feel the platform is slowing you down, maybe revisit your settings and see how that affects your lap times.

 

[Jeremy Ford]

Hello Gentlemen

This is my first post here. I have been simracing for many years. I have been running Fanatec gear and a NLR GT2 cockpit and Motion V3 for a year. The cockpit left something to be desired so I reasently swiched to a P1 and in the prosess upgraded to an OSW and Heusinkveld pedals as well. Simracing is addictive , and thank you all for the interesting posts here on racedepartment!. But enought of my background. I really like the immersion with the motion, but I tend to be slower when I use it instead of leaving it off. I see in the telemetry that my driving is more precise when I leave the V3 off. Are you guys just as quick or quicker when you use your seatmowers?

I'd agree with that, the added motion can be marginal disadvantage. You can just cancel this penalty by dialling down the setting to still feel some motion without feeling like your riding a raging bull. It's possible you're just running your stock settings too aggressively all the time. Anton wrote a great post on the settings that helped me tremendously when he covered the linearity settings under the post processing settings.

 

[Jeremy Ford]

General motion settings rule: If it feels like your sim rig is raping you, the settings are too high. Except on Nordschleife, that's completely consensual!

 

[anton_Chez]

I will be reassessing those settings, too, once I get all my gear where I want it. So many things to fine tune now, in between work and just wanting to drive a little without the hassle of watching videos and reading post after post about how none of my sims pick up my gear any more out of the box! It's not THAT bad, but there are some growing pains even with awesome high end kit

The V3 will be my last port of call. Truth be told I haven't even ran it since I've completed the new build.

 

[Eigil]

Thanks for all your answers. I have been playing around with settings and also used Antons settings. (I have been reading this forum for a while, just never posted before) I will try to dial it down some more and see if I am able to get the same level of precision in my driving with it on. Not that I am quick in the first place, but I have a lot of fun .

 

[Mascot]

Hello Gentlemen

This is my first post here. I have been simracing for many years. I have been running Fanatec gear and a NLR GT2 cockpit and Motion V3 for a year. The cockpit left something to be desired so I reasently swiched to a P1 and in the prosess upgraded to an OSW and Heusinkveld pedals as well. Simracing is addictive , and thank you all for the interesting posts here on racedepartment!. But enought of my background. I really like the immersion with the motion, but I tend to be slower when I use it instead of leaving it off. I see in the telemetry that my driving is more precise when I leave the V3 off. Are you guys just as quick or quicker when you use your seatmowers?

Welcome, @Eigil ..!
Personally I'd take the time penalty for the added immersion, but I've never been too fussed about trying to be the fastest on the track, even in online races. I've won a few races in SRS but actually prefer fighting mid-pack and having a good battle than being out in front basically hot lapping against myself. Even against AI I'll always start at the back of the grid and try to cleanly make up as many places as possible.
Having said that, I've actually improved several of my times since getting the NLV3 so who knows, maybe it's actually helping my race craft?

 

[Mascot]

The V3 will be my last port of call.

Ha ha, you lying bastard! I've just ordered a £20k D-box system and you have seven days to follow suit or I'm taking you off my Christmas card list. That's the Sim Racer's Code that you signed up for all those years ago.

I haven't really... or have I..?

 

[anton_Chez]

Ha ha, you lying bastard!

Haha I meant for settings! I will NEVER limit myself to what I am currently happy with. There is ALWAYS something better

And more expensive

 

[Steve D]

Ha ha, you lying bastard! I've just ordered a £20k D-box system and you have seven days to follow suit or I'm taking you off my Christmas card list. That's the Sim Racer's Code that you signed up for all those years ago.

I haven't really... or have I..?

......otherwise now to be known as "doing an Anton"

 

[Steve D]

So today I adopted the 'Mascot method' of mounting my NLRV3 to my Sim-Labs P1.

Went from this, which had served me well.....

To this........

Decided to fit the angle flush to the motion platform, (placed a single M8 penny washer in between) and to give me a little extra flexibility when mounting the angle to the profile, (M8 fixings used), I over-sized the top holes to 10 mm. Also applied some silicon spray on top of the profile which made sliding everything in to the exact position really easy, despite the considerable weight, with almost no risk of scratching the surface of the rig.

I'm very happy with the results, which lowered my motion platform and seating position by around 100 mm compared to my previous solution and there's still about 35 mm clearance to the floor. Pedal deck adjusted accordingly and feels good. There's also plenty of room to accommodate the full range of movement of the platform and my seat, (which is on side mounts) and the whole thing is absolutely rock solid.

All credit goes to @Mascot though for being the first to implement the idea in the first place, sharing his solution with all of us in detail and answering a couple of questions I had, which resulted in my slightly modified version.

Think I'm now done with the tweaking!

 

[anton_Chez]

That looks awesome Steve. Did you source the brackets yourself or just get the same ones from the same place as Mascot? For mine I just ended up with a couple of brackets from the roofing section from the hardware store that looked similar and able to do the job. Not as clean as a single piece but I thought I'd give it a crack and it ended up OK so I just left it.

This has to be the preferred mount method for any V3 owners thinking of a P1 chassis (or vice versa). With the GT1 chassis the drop into the bottom frame is not as necessary as the difference in the rail height is 80mm, almost what you recovered in dropping the platform down. Had you had a GT1 ala Jeremy, your old method would have given you nearly the same height as what you have with your new mount.

GT1 owners will be able to achieve the same result as P1 owners, with a shortened vertical length in the bracket.

 

[RobertR1]

So today I adopted the 'Mascot method' of mounting my NLRV3 to my Sim-Labs P1.


Think I'm now done with the tweaking!

Lowered COG must be good for atleast 1 second a lap!

 

[Steve D]

That looks awesome Steve. Did you source the brackets yourself or just get the same ones from the same place as Mascot? For mine I just ended up with a couple of brackets from the roofing section from the hardware store that looked similar and able to do the job. Not as clean as a single piece but I thought I'd give it a crack and it ended up OK so I just left it.

This has to be the preferred mount method for any V3 owners thinking of a P1 chassis (or vice versa). With the GT1 chassis the drop into the bottom frame is not as necessary as the difference in the rail height is 80mm, almost what you recovered in dropping the platform down. Had you had a GT1 ala Jeremy, your old method would have given you nearly the same height as what you have with your new mount.

GT1 owners will be able to achieve the same result as P1 owners, with a shortened vertical length in the bracket.

Hello Anton,

Picked up the L-section from Ebay, (not sure if the same supplier as @Mascot sourced his from) and then cut down accordingly. Did a quick drawing and measured 'thrice' before marking up and setting to work with the drill. I did think about making up a load of single brackets, i.e. one for each mounting hole on the V3 but went with the single-piece approach, as Mascot did, for the sake of solidity.

With regards the GT1, I think the fact that you have such an adjustable pedal deck, (especially vertically) compared to the stock P1 set up, provides good options when fitting a V3 and seat and as you say the @Jeremy Ford method is ideal and works perfectly based on the lower height of the side rails. Saying that I was entirely happy with my Mk1 solution and had placed the pedal deck on to additional profile to raise it up a bit but I really liked the 'form factor' which @Mascot achieved with his build.

So that's me done now!

Talking of which, how's the OSW set up coming along?