[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp-JKjDYnzA[/youtube]
Back in June, we did a first look at this motion platform. Since then, we have put it through it’s paces and are ready for our Pagnian Next Level Motion platform review.
The pricing of the platform is :
$2800 in North America
£1,695.00 British Lbs
$3000 Australian Dollars
If you’re interested in potentially adding one to your sim racing chassis, head on over to pagnian.com and choosing the distributor that’s closest to your location. All three locations are currently out of stock and the platform is only available for pre-order
One of the questions we get is if it can be mounted to other chassis besides the GT Ultimate. It can be done but something to consider is that it needs to be slightly elevated so the cam mechanism that’s connected to the actuators can clear the ground. If your chassis has uprights like Next Level GT Ultimate, it should fit without a problem. The main connection from the motion platform to the seat is through the adjustment rails that are found on most seats.
Since June, we’ve tested it with Assetto Corsa, Dirt Rally, F1 2014 and 15, GP Bikes, iRacing, Live For Speed and Project Cars. In just about every title, it works great and adds another level of immersion. Some titles even more than others.
Besides the slider adjustments in the Motion Systems software, you can fine tune scripts to really dial things on the way you want. I found that with most titles, you can just adjust the sliders.
Now on to the Pros and Cons:
Cons:
Expensive – @ $2800, our first choice for that money would probably be an AccuForce wheel and a set of Heusinkveld pedals. As cool as it is, those two items would be more important to add to our sim racing setups and enhance immersion
Compatible mainly with the GT Ultimate but can be adapted to other rigs. They are supposedly coming out with a new version that can be fitted to most rigs on the market.
On back order – currently not in stock at any of the distributors
Makes a little noise and if you live upstairs in an apartment environment, you may disturb your neighbors.
This one is nit picky.. The software scroll bar is backwards..
Oval racing the lean is backwards. Would be good to have a banking setting to compensate for that lean.
Pros:
Plug and play
Enhances your sim racing experience
Compatible with just about every title on the market both old and new as well as flight sim titles
Compact design
Not as noisy as some other motion systems on the market
Relatively affordable compared to the competition
Regular updates to software to add support and enhance titles
Ability to clone and create profiles for different car and track combos
Software automatically adds plug ins to work with the variety of titles.
Motion seems to have virtually no lag. Matches up to what you are seeing
Final thoughts:
This platform is better than we were expecting. It seems the company that developed it, Motion System EU does some pretty major projects and knows what they’re doing on the software and hardware side of things.
If you have the disposable income and are happy with your current wheel and pedal setup, this can definitely enhance your experience.
Brass tacks:
I’ve heard you guys recommend simvibe for rear traction loss before. I would have thought that the lack of latency on the motion platform would make it ideal to communicate that, and a few other effects (weightlessness over crests, weight distribution, and potholes/suspension settling without influencing steering input would have been 3 big ones, I would have assumed.)
Is the reason you’d recommend a steering wheel upgrade (which probably won’t improve lap times) and a pedal upgrade, just the price and bulk, or is it your opinion that the motion platform is functionally equivalent to a simvibe from the perspective of what it communicates and therefore difficult to justify the price point?