06-02-2025
Sim Center Superlap Makes You Feel Like a Real Racer
Superlap is a Berkley, Michigan-based Simulation Center that's home to eight high-end racing sims.
Superlap is part of a seemingly growing trend of racing sim centers.
Superlap offers a variety of packages, and memberships and is available for event competition.
If you were alive during the Covid-19 Pandemic and followed motorsport, it might not be a surprise to know that racing simulators are only getting more and more popular. With in-person events on pause, racers flocked to duke it out on digital racetracks.
Of course, sim racing has been helping drivers memorize tracks—and embarrass friends—for decades. That said, with the continued advancement in computers and more attention than ever, sim racing platforms like Gran Turismo, Assetto Corsa, and iRacing are only getting more accurate, enjoyable, and popular.
But there is one minor problem. While you can buy a steering wheel and a set of pedals, or control your car from the comfort of a traditional video game controller, you're not going to get the full experience of being in a simulator, and you'll be missing out on some of the important physics that come with motorsport. Of course, there are multi-axis simulators, but they range in price from a used Mazda Miata to, well, a top-flight race car. Enter Superlap.
Superlap is among a growing movement of what the company calls 'sim centers.' As that would suggest, it's a place where you can use a racing sim. Superlap, and the small number of simulation centers like it, has a relatively small fleet of high-end racing simulators that help give enthusiasts a more accurate and engaging experience on a digital track for a nominal fee.
'I was selling sims like five years ago,' says Dan Cycholl in the center of his Berkley, Michigan, sim center. 'I met some people through that, did a launch party, and helped put a sim together—that's where I met Jim [Hayosh].'
Unlike Dan's background in the sim world, fellow founder Jim Hayosh's path to racing sims wasn't forged from computing or tech but came to the sim world like most car enthusiasts – through driving. 'When I met Dan, I had just, during Covid, put together a sim and had a lot of fun learning about them. But I had a friend who really was pushing me to check it out because he knew I liked racing, because I had done a few racing schools, and loved cars. Once I built and got it rolling, that's when Dan and I met'
The two worked to fine-tune Hayosh's racing sim and leaned into Cycholl's expertise. Hayosh says, 'Dan's very savvy with that side of it—specifically the PC component—and all of the things I wanted to do that were over my head. It's hard to figure out on these simulators where you should put your money. You don't know until you experience it.'
From that one home-brewed Simulator spun a fleet of eight high-end racing sims. These sims, according to Cycholl, are roughly $25,000 a piece and offer four-axis motion. 'We definitely homed in on the specifics as Jim was saying before. What exactly do what we need to give the best experience, but also have it robust enough to have people come in and use it over and over again.'
The two focused on the wheel's base, to give feedback through the steering wheel, the pedal feel, and the motion. Motion was a back-and-forth discussion, with a lot of competitive sim racers eschewing motion, but the two decided it was worth the added cost. 'It's so much sensory feedback,' says Hayosh.
And he's right. Climbing into this Honda Civic-priced simulator, I was greeted with the company's training-wheel approach. First-timers are persuaded to throw down $50 for 50 minutes worth of drive time in iRacing behind the wheel of a Mazda MX-5 Cup, like the one parked in front of the building, or a Porsche 911 GT3R. Sensibly, we hopped behind the wheel of the GT3R and had the full first-time experience from Superlap at the Donington Park Racing Circuit.
Unsurprisingly, it took a few minutes to become accustomed to the environment. Adjusting the seat and getting in position was easy, but acclimating to the inputs of this pricy sim wasn't as easy as you'd expect. Like any direct-drive wheel, Cycholl suggested that if you find yourself off-roading, it's probably best to just let go of the wheel to avoid any uncertain damage from the powerful electric motor. We did, and we did.
After a few questionable laps, we found ourselves pushing the digital Porsche harder and becoming more familiar with how to better manage the inputs of the sim. The brakes are race-car hard and demand decisive inputs to wrangle your speeding pixels and get you around the corner. After learning the track, and the controls, lap times started to shrink. We'd eventually get underneath the one minute and 10-second threshold that the team at Superlap uses to judge your skills on track,
Now, it's worth noting that this is a tool, and it's used by race-car drivers and competitive eSport racers—this is serious business. That said, it's also way too much fun. Had we had friends, the folks at Superlap offer a way to chat among yourselves while racing, which can only further push the competition. That intercom system, run through a Discord server, can also be a way to receive some coaching if you're not familiar with racing, sim or otherwise.
Repeat customers, or savvy talkers with an iRacing account, can opt for a different array of packages to suit their digital driving needs. As you'd expect with anything this competitive, you can also log in with your own account, but Cycholl notes that they have a commercial iRacing account that unlocks basically everything. That means iRacing devotees could try a smattering of machines at various tracks before buying them on their own account.
Of course, this isn't just for hardened sim racers. In fact, it seems that hard-nosed sim racers like Max Verstappen, who races for the Red Bull Formula 1 team as a day job, prefer sims without motion. However, the motion does make the experience more novel, engaging, and, most of all, fun.
Superlap also hosts events that line up with major iRacing races or local celebrations like the Woodward Dream Cruise. There's also league play and subscriptions if you think you'll be spending a surplus of time in a sim seat outside of your home. If you're around the greater metropolitan Detroit area, you can check out more about Superlap's offerings here.
The real question has to be if these sim centers will take off and start filling spaces throughout the United States with sim racing rigs. While these sim centers are popular overseas, Superlap might be on the leading edge of a new trend Stateside.
Do you think you'd pay for time at a sim center? Do you think it's a sensible business? Tell us your thoughts below.
