---
title: "Seat Time In This Racing Simulator Costs $12,000 Per Day"
description: "Go inside Dallara's exclusive, multimillion-dollar IndyCar racing simulator."
date: "2017-03-16"
modified: "2017-03-16"
authors:
  - name: "The Drive Staff"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/the-drive-staff"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/video/8374/seat-time-in-this-racing-simulator-costs-12000-per-day"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
  - "Video Games"
tags:
  - "Dallara"
  - "indycar"
  - "racing sims"
  - "Tech"
---

# Seat Time In This Racing Simulator Costs $12,000 Per Day

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/03/td_racing_1201_el-00_02_36_35-still004.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

In 2012, Dallara set up an engineering and manufacturing hub in Speedway, Indiana, steps from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Inside the 100,000-square-foot facility, Dallara conducts research and development for its monocoque IndyCar chassis, manufacturers all the components, and tests its designs.

While the bulk of the space is dedicated to IndyCar, a small portion is reserved for government work, demarcated by a "top secret"-esque sign affixed to a massive steel door. (A tour guide wouldn't reveal what was behind it, though it has to do with Dallara’s budding aerospace contracts, in particular [its work with Raytheon to build a better decoy missile body for the U.S. Air Force](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADM-160_MALD>).)

But that’s not the only secret hidden within the facility. Behind a door marked “Restricted Area” lies a multi-million driving simulator, one of the best in the world. Seat time costs a whopping $12,000 per day, and it’s only available to professional race teams and their drivers. Tracks from all over the world are can be replicated on it; you can drive Silverstone, Spa, Monaco, Barcelona, Suzuka, even the Nurburgring. American teams can summon Mid-Ohio, the Indy Oval, Sebring, Sonoma, or Long Beach circuits with a few keystrokes in the control booth. And those tracks are beyond precise: The actual circuits are laser-scanned, meaning every crack, bump, and undulation on the real surface can be replicated in Indianapolis.

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