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?

 

[Spinelli]

I tend to be quite critical of things but I must say, I find Sim Racing Garage videos pretty good. The guy (Barry?), seems like just a genuine, honest guy.

I would have liked Barry to dedicate quite a bit more time to actually using the unit and discussing and testing different settings, different cars within the same game (eg. 60s touring car to a 2000s open wheeler), similar cars but in different games, going into the post-process settings, and so on. Just basically going into more detail about the actual driving experience the unit provides.

I would have also liked him to test out how much movement, if any, his seat would have when braking hard. Not movement from the unit's intended motion but unwanted motion from pressing back into the seat hard due to hard braking. Also, does this hurt /wear out the unit?

I'm just nitpicking though and any of us could analyse almost anyone's review of anything and probably find areas for improvement so I'd say Barry did a good job reviewing the NLM v3.

 

[HoiHman]

@Mascot No offence taken.

Again the NLMv3 is a great motion system and Barry is still a great reviewer.

From the guy that almost bend the AccuForce wheel claiming it flexes, who runs a D-box, with a Bodnar wheel and high end pedals, i just expected him to pick up on this and at least mention it.

With gear like that, he surely must have reasonable high braking forces. All his reviews are so detailed, but it's also possible he got a prepared unit.

I had contact with one of the technician of Next Level Motion and he stated that the slack in the gearboxes is there by design. I had 2 units and they both had the slack back/forwards, not noticed in motion, but way too much for racing without motion using high pedals ( HE-pros )

I have to admit that i did turn my brake force down, when i raced on the NLMv3. Being a technical guy, i just know that the leverage high braking forces can be too much for the system to handle.
If i have noticed and experienced this, so must have others. It's probably the only negative aspect of the NLMv3.

Overall it's a very good turn key solution and looking back, no regrets on buying and racing with the NLMv3.

 

[sjb266]

@Mascot No offence taken.

Again the NLMv3 is a great motion system and Barry is still a great reviewer.

From the guy that almost bend the AccuForce wheel claiming it flexes, who runs a D-box, with a Bodnar wheel and high end pedals, i just expected him to pick up on this and at least mention it.

With gear like that, he surely must have reasonable high braking forces. All his reviews are so detailed, but it's also possible he got a prepared unit.

I had contact with one of the technician of Next Level Motion and he stated that the slack in the gearboxes is there by design. I had 2 units and they both had the slack back/forwards, not noticed in motion, but way too much for racing without motion using high pedals ( HE-pros )

I have to admit that i did turn my brake force down, when i raced on the NLMv3. Being a technical guy, i just know that the leverage high braking forces can be too much for the system to handle.
If i have noticed and experienced this, so must have others. It's probably the only negative aspect of the NLMv3.

Overall it's a very good turn key solution and looking back, no regrets on buying and racing with the NLMv3.

I agree 100% Henk.. I've had two units too and the wobble was/is present on both. You can see when Barry sits down the movement in the seat - that all too familiar movement! There is actually flex in the seat mounting platform as well so I even framed that up with extrusion and eliminated it.. but the movement in the mechanics of the V3 is permanent.

I love Barry's reviews and always look forward to seeing what's next... but I must say I felt he kind of skimmed over this review as far as pros / cons and was surprised he didn't mention the wobble. I feel like there must be something he doesn't like about it... I'm sure we could all make a list!

 

[anton_Chez]

I guess it comes down to the people who do feel the wobble, or movement, and those that it doesn't really bother. I can feel slight slack in it so I understand what others are referring to however it's never been an issue with me sitting in it doing things other than racing or even racing but with no motion.

 

[Kranky Pantz]

Folks, don't forget that Barry stated himself that he weighs a mere 150lbs.

He may not even notice the seat shifting back & forth as much a heavier user would.

Just food for thought.


Provided it's not done too often, would there be any harm in just powering the unit for extra braking when playing non-motion gaming sessions?

I do this on my DIY rig for the odd game, then again I rarely sit in the rig unless I'm playing something with motion. A game like GT Sport on the PS4 is really the only one i can think of, but I can still use actual motion telemetry via UDP when playing pCARS, pCARS 2 or Assetto Corsa on the PS4, which is an added bonus.

Some games can also work very well with the DirectInput/Xinput feature, so you can still get a bit of motion if the game feels suitable. Gunjack and several other VR games feel really good, even if just using an XBox gamepad, wheel setup, HOTAS or joystick controlling the motion while you play.

 

[Neil Farren]

Bit of advice guys. I ran my V3 for the first time in quite a few months last night with PCars 2 and I noticed that Surge seems to be the wrong way round. When I accelerate my seat moves forward and when I brake it moves backwards. I don't remember this happening in the past and don't think I've changed any settings. How do I swap them around?

 

[anton_Chez]

Go into the post processing tab. They have added the ability to use a negative value. Perhaps yours is set to -100% instead of 100%? I think the value might be in 0.0 form but you get the idea. It sounds like it's in negative. I have not encountered this myself with it changing to negative values on its own, however. Seems strange.

 

[Neil Farren]

Go into the post processing tab. They have added the ability to use a negative value. Perhaps yours is set to -100% instead of 100%? I think the value might be in 0.0 form but you get the idea. It sounds like it's in negative. I have not encountered this myself with it changing to negative values on its own, however. Seems strange.

Thanks for that Anton. I didn't have a negative value in there but at the centre the pitch graph showed some weird N shape!

 

[anton_Chez]

Welcome brother

 

[David Martinez]

I agree 100% Henk.. I've had two units too and the wobble was/is present on both. You can see when Barry sits down the movement in the seat - that all too familiar movement! There is actually flex in the seat mounting platform as well so I even framed that up with extrusion and eliminated it.. but the movement in the mechanics of the V3 is permanent.

I love Barry's reviews and always look forward to seeing what's next... but I must say I felt he kind of skimmed over this review as far as pros / cons and was surprised he didn't mention the wobble. I feel like there must be something he doesn't like about it... I'm sure we could all make a list!

In a few previous posts I mentioned this, but it's not a problem for me

 

[BrainsBush]

In a few previous posts I mentioned this, but it's not a problem for me

My NLR v3 has the same -both left and right- about 1 cm movement. You can move the seat also when powered off. Is that within tolerance?
Not a real problem for me but just curiousity if this is normal?

 

[anton_Chez]

Mine has slight movement but you need to push on it to make it happen. It's within spec and hasn't proved a problem for me at all when driving with motion powered off. Others feel it's too much but the units all seem to share the same characteristics.

 

[TPS]

Quick question - if any of you were to buy the second hand NLR v3, what would be your first concern as far as durability / condition?

 

[anton_Chez]

If nothing has happened to one someone already owns, probably nothing. They feel very robustly built and during proper usage and operation you never get the feeling it's going to give out on you.

 

[BrainsBush]

Is it possible to see it operational?
Still warranty?
Invoice as a copy?

And on top of that: ENJOY!!

 

[TPS]

Is it possible to see it operational?
Still warranty?
Invoice as a copy?

And on top of that: ENJOY!!

I am not able to see it operational. Only got 14 days to check it and have possible return. The guy, who is selling this is a repo man. The unit is 18 months old. That is all I know.

I just wonder what may be broken if someone did not know how to operate it

 

[BrainsBush]

I am not able to see it operational. Only got 14 days to check it and have possible return. The guy, who is selling this is a repo man. The unit is 18 months old. That is all I know.

I just wonder what may be broken if someone did not know how to operate it

Maybe he can make a YT video for you to see the NLRv3 running or at least the power on and the quick self calibration cycle. 18 months seems ok.

As written by Anton this is a very sturdy durable piece of hardware. Sure it has mechanical parts but if used properly and no outside severe damage* it should all be fine.

*damage: If I remember correct we saw a damaged unit about 3-4months ago with heavy dented metal around a corner. That looked like it fell on the ground. Then I would be cautious. Therefore pics or video of the complete unit.

 

[aliolemon]

In a few previous posts I mentioned this, but it's not a problem for me

I got the same movement after 5 month of Operation.I contacted the support with, a Video and the reply was
"The backlash of the unit looks to be within spec. The backlash changes over time which is normal for this. We do not believe the backlash will get any bigger either. You won't have felt it before as the backlash was at the minimum Level."

 

[TPS]

I decided to buy it and let you know how it compares to regular 2DOF with two rear actuators 100mm. Just to stir the thread a bit I paid 1000 EURO for it

Now I am working on a rig - probably from JCL, they have the shortest lead time.

http://www.jcl-simracing.com/en/jcl...l#/colors_slots_caches-red/brackets_color-red

 

[Kranky Pantz]

I decided to buy it and let you know how it compares to regular 2DOF with two rear actuators 100mm. Just to stir the thread a bit I paid 1000 EURO for it

Now I am working on a rig - probably from JCL, they have the shortest lead time.

http://www.jcl-simracing.com/en/jcl...l#/colors_slots_caches-red/brackets_color-red

That is an incredible deal for the NLRv3!
Even though mine died on me after a month of use and I returned it, I wouldn't hesitate again at that price, and just deal with any possible future issues.
In fact, I did the opposite of you, and went from a NLRv3 to a 2dof DIY build myself, and aside from the software side of things (SimTools) I really don't notice much difference between the two.
Great find, and I hope it all works out well for you.
Cheers!