When you can't hit the road ... take the virtual highway

Our man in Bahrain set out to build a budget driving sim. Here’s his video series showing you how you can as well.

GAVIN Halls’ involvement with MotoringNZ goes way back – he used his skills as a high-speed driving instructor and car racer to good effect with some superb videos, set at his then work place, Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon.

You might remember one tyre-immolating effort in which a Mustang GT went up against a Holden Commodore SS V Redline in a drift competition (yeah, he does that stuff, too).

Anyway, these days he’s using that skill base to good effect - and with some very top-drawer product - working at Bahrain International Circuit, best known as being home of a Formula One round. Well, this year obviously excepted.

With Covid-19 lock down not allowing any opportunity to do his job for real, he’s decided to keep his skills sharp by driving in the virtual world.

To do that properly, meant he had to sort out a driving rig. What to do when the restrictions - and a tight budget - rule out buying one?

No worries. He already had a spare race chair, a monitor and a games console. So, out in the workshop. With his video camera to show us how this budget project came into play. Here’s the full series. Was it a truly cost effective exercise? We have our doubts - there’s a fair bit of fudging about some spending (presumably to keep Mrs H in the dark) - but it’s certainly more expedient than buying a ready-made set-up.

And don’t forget to follow Gavin’s new Smoking Steel Garage channel. He’s been making, and sharing, some awesome content.