Sim racing is meant to be a humble way to get some wheel-to-wheel action. Most folks start with $300 desk-mounted force feedback setups, maybe work their way up into a nice chassis for a couple thousand bucks more. Hell, there’s even $50,000-plus motion simulators from companies like CXC Simulations. But there’s a new level: The Pagani Huayra R Driving Simulator, straight from Pagani and Racing Unleashed.
It’s an unbelievable take on what a sim rig could be. What is normally some square metal extrusions and tubing is a gorgeously crafted sculpture of green-tinted carbon fiber, shaped to match the seating position of the real Huayra R. It’s made by high-end simulator specialist Racing Unleashed using Pagani’s actual facilities—any carbon on the rig is actually made in the same autoclaves as actual Pagani supercars. Meanwhile, metal parts like the monitor and speaker stands are milled from single pieces of aluminum.
Unfortunately, Pagani declined to release a price at the time of publication, but rest assured it will be preposterous. Because beyond the craftsmanship it took to build the externals, Racing Unleashed didn’t hold back on the mechanicals.
Hidden beneath the flashy chassis, there’s a motion platform with three degrees of freedom, Racing Unleashed’s proprietary wheelbase technology, hydraulic pedals that exactly match the Huayra R (not the Asetek replica, strangely), a dynamic seatbelt system, and a gaming PC. It can be run in virtual reality or on the single curved ultra-wide Samsung G9 monitor. Even crazier is that it comes with a 10-foot-by-4-inch flight case so you can transport it to your various homes across the planet.
It also includes a simulation of the real car built in Assetto Corsa Pro, the custom, physics-focused version of Assetto Corsa. With it, Pagani’s vehicle dynamics team recreated the physics of the real car so owners could practice it in the simulator ahead of their ultra-exclusive track sessions.
Pagani even went as far as doing “numerous” trackside and in-car recording sessions to recreate the naturally aspirated V-12 faithfully. Engineers and professional drivers went back-to-back with the simulator to the real car to ensure ultimate accuracy. One day, that’ll make a hell of a mod for normal Assetto Corsa.
Even if the rig weren’t a carbon-fiber mini-me of the Huayra R, it would still be well on its way to $100,000. For now, only Huayra R customers get access to the rig to practice driving the real thing. But soon, some mid-tier millionaires will be able to get their hands on one.
