Starting a SIM business-advice?

So what is the Newton meters of force of the base units?  

It looks like this (ish)

https://simucube.com/en-us/simucube-2-pro/

25Nm

loosecannon said:

dean1484 said:

Newton meters of force. Aka  nm.
 

Although yes I was also wondering what the cost was. I assume the 45k for all four setups?  I can see how that will make you money. What is the going rate to use a simulator?  
 

A friend and I were batting around the idea of putting together something that would both complement his driving school and could also be used for entertainment. 

LOL-no, that is per unit.  The place we are getting them from supply Formula 1 teams and Formula 1 drivers. Sebring race track just ordered 6 sims from this place and only 1 of the 6 is like the ones we're getting. The pedals alone are $1500 each then there's 2 steering wheels for each unit (one F1 style and one GT style) and those are $900 each, it all adds up fast.

Whoa.   That is a ton of $$$$.  Did you look at what it took to put one together from the best of the off the shelf suppliers?  Does the 45k cover licensing fees for the software?    What was the selling point to justify the 45k?   That is a lot of scratch. At 50/ hour that is 900 hours of seat time to brake even.  That is 37.5 weeks six days a week at 4 hours a day.  To brake even. I guess that is not that bad. It will pay for its self in less than a year if the $50/hour is what you get (I am guessing at that).  What do you charge an hour to use a simulator like that?  
 

like I said a friend of mine and I were looking at this and I am curious about the numbers because at the end of the day it is about making $$$. It is the business model that I am looking to get a peak behind the curtain at. 

In reply to dean1484 :

I've seen full motion consumer grade SIM units for well under 5 figures, but I can understand a commercial-grade unit would need to be substantially built to withstand hours-on-end use, day after day with minimal downtime for maintenance or repairs and thus cost a lot more. 

In reply to dean1484 :

Those prices are retail and in Canadian dollars. We are getting them significantly cheaper because we bought 4 of them and their crew is flying out here to set them up so that's included in the cost as well. We have been price shopping and when everything is factored in, this was the best deal for us in Canada. You may find lower prices but the stuff we ordered is top shelf and bulletproof, with after sale support that we know is going to be important.

loosecannon said:

In reply to dean1484 :

Those prices are retail and in Canadian dollars. We are getting them significantly cheaper because we bought 4 of them and their crew is flying out here to set them up so that's included in the cost as well. We have been price shopping and when everything is factored in, this was the best deal for us in Canada. You may find lower prices but the stuff we ordered is top shelf and bulletproof, with after sale support that we know is going to be important.

What do you charge per hour to use it and how long is the payback period?

Will it simulate a 1967 Camaro?

In reply to DrMikeCSI :

the 427 Cobra does a pretty accurate simulation but I'm hoping to add a 67 Camaro mod to the sim

I work for Real Street Performance which is a worldwide performance parts supplier. We just recently partnered with Podium 1 to sale and distribute their high-end turnkey simulators which I am overseeing. This is a growing industry with sim arcades opening everywhere. And sims are now the gateway to professional racing with a much lower end cost. The pricing of the turnkey's includes weeks of build time, wiring all done(think chassis harness) with labels and wrapped. All peripherals are dialed in and all software loaded and configured. All of it is tested and not to mention actual customer support. You really are getting what you paid for. We now have our showroom setup with 4 units for customers to test before buying. We currently have 9 units on the shelf in 60x60x60 crates.