Seat Time had its Inaugural Sim-Driving: Seat Time Media Challenge this August. They are Southern California's premier simulator center and offer both driving and flying simulator experiences.

I went in and had training by a professional Seat Time instructor who guided me through the course a couple of times before leaving me to try for the best time I could get on the simulated track. Being in a Mazda Miata was a lot of fun because it allowed me to go fast through curves and pull out of them quickly and swiftly.

I was worried about my time, thinking that it was awful! But, after I had finished my seat time (30 minutes) I spoke with the professional instructor and he was impressed with my fastest time around the track, in fact, I was in first place (because no one else had made it yet to their seat time.) My fastest time around the track was 2 minutes 27 seconds.

The atmosphere there is specifically geared toward the serious gamer or the serious trainer. The seats move, there are three screens built into each chair so that it seems like you are really on the track, and there are even five point seatbelts integrated into the seats. The steering wheel responds stiffly, similar to really driving a car (as opposed to playing a racing video game.)

I got to Sim-drive a 2012 race spec Mazda Miata on the world renowned Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. I went over 100MPH to get my quick time and stayed safe doing it!

Sherice Bellefueille AskPatty.com