Can I just ask before dropping almost £3k in the near future, do motion rigs not really scratch that itch then? I thought that would be the final piece of the puzzle with VR.
Granted I've only ever competed across country in Rotax Max 125 (so no actual car competition racing like the OP has), but sim racing has always felt a little dead to me. A motion rig I figured would solve that all for me...
The seat mover (NLMv3, bought) and the chassis mover (SFX-100, self-built)
did scratch the itch, but I always felt something was missing. Both add immersion, no doubt about that, with the SFX-100 obviously doing a lot more than the seat mover. But force simulation in both of them is
momentary, not sustained. OK, the chassis mover can maintain
tilt, but once the initial movement of the chassis/seat is over (which is quickly due to piston length limitations and the compression speed needed to provide a convincing force) then the effect quickly disappears. That's fine for bumps etc which are over quickly in real life, but no good for cornering, acceleration and braking, all of which are sustained forces. The G-Seat/G-Belt combo does all of that supremely well, plus adds in all the momentary rumbles, bumps, knocks etc that the chassis mover did. Tilt is absent of course, but I really don't miss it because I don't
realise I'm missing it, because I'm feeling everything else plus fake sustained g-forces that simulate the tilt anyway.
Ideally I suppose I'd have a G-Seat/G-Belt bolted onto a chassis mover, but that would be doubling the price for maybe a 10% improvement to the experience.
I was skeptical about just how believable the G-Seat/G-Belt could be until I tried it, but instantly felt I was getting all the momentary sensations I had from the chassis mover
plus the missing pieces of the puzzle, the sustained g-forces.
I'd never recommend an expensive purchase like this to anyone because YMMV and everyone goes in with different expectations and preconceptions, but I'm 100% happy with my current setup and don't miss the chassis mover one bit.
The only negative about the g-seat is that the actuators are fairly noisy, but so is any chassis mover or seat mover unless you go d-box. Having said that, the g-seat noise is not dissimilar to mechanical audio you get in stripped-out race cars, so in a weird way you can tell yourself that it's actually complementing the experience, which I could never say about the seat mover or SFX-100. If you wear headphones (or crank up the surround amp like I do) then you won't really hear it anyway.
Another plus is the self-contained static nature of the g-seat. My games room is on an upper floor and I was always a little bit scared that the chassis mover was going to end up killing someone in the living room below with me riding it down through the ceiling.
Oh, and no VR compensation software is necessary either as you're not physically moving as much. In fact, the old 'less is more' principle firmly applies with the g-seat/g-belt. After initially having everything dialed up to eleven I now have very subtle cues by comparison, and they're still incredibly convincing in VR.
TL: DR - test them all before you buy. And for anyone with a seat mover or chassis mover I'd definitely suggest trying an active harness with it. Even a passive harness adds a lot to the experience.