My Next Level v3 Motion with VR Review

Fauves · Jun 22, 2018

I also posted my review on Iracing forums and thought you guys might like this as I have been a lurker on these forums for a while.

So I just received my new Next Level Motion V3, 4 mini lfe buttkickers and a GT Ultimate seat courtesy of Brendan at Pagnian Imports in Brisbane. I ordered the system at 1 pm on Wednesday afternoon and it was delivered on my doorstep at 10am the next day via a roughly 700km road trip via courier. That is bloody fast delivery for Australia for such a great distance.
Let me start of by saying that the motion platform is one solid beast.
I connected it all up and mated it to my Next Level Racing Wheelstand that all bolted together perfectly. I connected the 4 buttkickers in chassis mode to my platform and have a gamer 2 at the rear of the platform in extensions mode using simvibe.

After installing all the required software (which was a breeze and took less than 3 minutes to set and configure) I was ready to give it a whirl in Iracing. I currently use an Oculus with a 1080ti and 8600k for reference. I removed the lock driver head to horizon in the app ini and set VR motion compensation in the motion platform manager software.

Now out to the track for some IMSA practice laps around SPA. All I can say is WOW. It adds a whole new dimension with VR. Using some kind of trickery the motion software simulates traction loss quite well despite being a 2DOF platform. I actually had to dull the default motion settings down approx 30% as they felt a little too harsh right out of the box. After dialling in to my liking I had a real chance to put in some good laps which after a while the motion just feels so natural and almost like you are in a real race car.

The motion platform itself is really quiet. It actually makes less noise then my old rattle box platform with Dayton Puck Trandsucers fitted.
Even with the new buttkiker Mini LFEs fitted it passed the wife test and is not noisy enough to bother anybody in other parts of our house.

Additionally I have been experimenting with Simvibe to get the right mix of tactile feedback and motion without one being more pronounced than the other.

I will post some pics n the coming days when I get a chance if anyone is actually interested.

BrainsBush · Jun 23, 2018

nice review and welcome to the NLRv3&VR club. So addictive!

Mascot · Jun 24, 2018

Yep, the phantom traction loss with the NLV3 is witchcraft. I guess your brain just fills in the gaps. I love mine, can't race without it.

Fauves · Jun 26, 2018

Updated with Rig Pics

BrainsBush · Jun 26, 2018

Now that we've spent some reasonable time to get used to our new toy(s) and tested several racegames which support NLR v3 this is my question --> What racesim seems to be the best connection with this motion platform? Do we feel differences (Besides personal slider changes).

I often race AC,R3E, Pcars and RF2 also because of VR. From these four titles I think R3E for some reason has the best integration. It just feels the best and also with the most motion details.
I also try to race without motion and VR but that has become a challenge. Only Wreckfest is ok and fun.

Curious about your opinions.

Mascot · Jun 26, 2018

BrainsBush said:
Now that we've spent some reasonable time to get used to our new toy(s) and tested several racegames which support NLR v3 this is my question --> What racesim seems to be the best connection with this motion platform? Do we feel differences (Besides personal slider changes).

I often race AC,R3E, Pcars and RF2 also because of VR. From these four titles I think R3E for some reason has the best integration. It just feels the best and also with the most motion details.
I also try to race without motion and VR but that has become a challenge. Only Wreckfest is ok and fun.

Curious about your opinions.

I really only play Assetto Corsa, and have done for some time. I've played pCARS (1 & 2) and RaceRoom in the past, and have dipped into rF2, but I'm not keen to flip-flop between several different sims as I get frustrated relearning their individual idiosyncrasies, quirks, UIs, button mappings, FFB settings etc.
I like AC and am intimately familiar with it. It performs well on my rig, has good VR implementation, and I've got a ridiculous number of mods for it. Apart from missing night and weather in pCARS it gives me everything I'm looking for in a sim. The NLV3 feels great with it too. If another sim (eg R3E) performed significantly better with it then I'd possibly be inclined to jump ship, but at the moment I'm trying to keep things as simple as I can to maximise driving time and minimise faffing about..!

BrainsBush · Jun 26, 2018

If you already have R3E I would defenitely give it a try. AC via CM is also my favorite because of all the extra content and the great community

Mascot · Jun 26, 2018

BrainsBush said:
If you already have R3E I would defenitely give it a try. AC via CM is also my favorite because of all the extra content and the great community

I've got a boat-load of content for R3E too, but the last time I booted it up the VR menu felt like I was looking at a neighbour's TV through a window while standing in their garden, and I couldn't find how the hell to quickly and easily zoom and centre it. Stuff like that makes me give up pretty quickly when there's another sim to play that just 'works'.

Steve D · Jun 26, 2018

R3E was my 'go to' sim bar none and I got that working really well in VR with the NLRv3. It just just never got old driving DTM Mercs around Spa. Whatever was my weapon of choice though, the detail of the motion just felt spot on, (using a slight variation of the settings originally posted by @AntoN_CheZ), especially the traction loss 'fakery,' which felt bloody great on the limit.

But then I recently discovered CM for AC, after a seriously frustrating time with a very temperamental main launcher. And after spending some time getting VR performance and fidelity just right and basing my motion profile on a set up @Mascot posted, which really improved things for me in a subtle but noticeable way, I have to say it's now 'front and centre' in my playlist and I can't get enough of it.

And having discovered all the wonderful content that some seriously talented peeps have created for free, (thanks again to @Mascot for showing me the light), I'm like 'a kid in a sweet shop' at the moment. I know I'm a bit late to the party but 'better late than never.'

Finally there's PC2. Not really been a fan generally but did recently pick up the excellent Spirit of Le Mans dlc and have certainly been greatly impressed racing the old Ferrari 512s around the Vintage Le Mans circuit. VR is very nicely done and the motion in those cars feels so damn good.

What I would say though is that a good FFB set up compliments the immersion factor of VR and v3 motion to an even greater extent as you can feel through the wheel what the motion is also communicating to you, such is the speed of response from the platform.

I'm having a lot of fun!

Mascot · Jun 26, 2018

Steve D said:
R3E was my 'go to' sim bar none and I got that working really well in VR with the NLRv3. It just just never got old driving DTM Mercs around Spa. Whatever was my weapon of choice though, the detail of the motion just felt spot on, (using a slight variation of the settings originally posted by @AntoN_CheZ), especially the traction loss 'fakery,' which felt bloody great on the limit.

But then I recently discovered CM for AC, after a seriously frustrating time with a very temperamental main launcher. And after spending some time getting VR performance and fidelity just right and basing my motion profile on a set up @Mascot posted, which really improved things for me in a subtle but noticeable way, I have to say it's now 'front and centre' in my playlist and I can't get enough of it. And having discovered all the wonderful content that some seriously talented peeps have created for free, (thanks again to @Mascot for showing me the light), I'm like 'a kid in a sweet shop' at the moment. I know I'm a bit late to the party but 'better late than never.'

Finally there's PC2. Not really been a fan generally but did recently pick up the excellent Spirit of Le Mans dlc and have certainly been greatly impressed racing the old Ferrari 512s around the Vintage Le Mans circuit. VR is very nicely done and the motion in those cars feels so damn good.

What I would say though is that a good FFB set up compliments the immersion factor of VR and v3 motion to an even greater extent as you can feel through the wheel what the motion is also communicating to you, such is the speed of response from the platform.

I'm having a lot of fun!

The sheer quantity of mods for AC is staggering, and seems to have ramped up exponentially ever since Kunos announced that they were ceasing official support. Modders probably take comfort that there will be no future game updates to bork their mods.

I really need to be brutal and thin my car folder down a LOT. The choice on offer is too daunting sometimes.