There’s an $80 million driving simulator in Iowa, and we tried it out
To most people, the words "driving simulator" probably conjure up thoughts of video games. That's understandable: franchises like Gran Turismo and Forza have sold in the tens of millions. While the fidelity of even those games is little short of amazing, at the end of the day, they're games first and foremost. But there are other good reasons to simulate driving, whether that's to study distracted or impaired driving or to better engineer a race car. As you might imagine, these simulators are a little bit more specialized than a games console and a steering wheel—and a good deal more expensive, too. What you may not imagine is that one of the most advanced driving simulators in the world, not to mention one of the largest and most expensive, can be found in Coralville, Iowa.