Kiwi Simulators is an Auckland-based race and rally simulator business that has designed and engineered interactive race car driving experiences since 2001. It operates a showroom in Manukau City where guests can drive its simulators, and it also takes its equipment to venues anywhere in New Zealand for larger groups — a distinction that matters for event planners, because the experience can be brought to a conference venue rather than requiring delegates to travel to it.
### The experience
The simulators are factory-built rigs with high-gloss painted chassis panels, F1-style steering wheels with programmable buttons, sequential shifters, drilled brake and accelerator pedal plates, and optional paddle shift. Rally configurations add a force-feedback steering wheel and a handbrake for hairpins. Multiple large screens surround the driver, and the rigs are adjustable to accommodate drivers up to around 6ft 6in. Both circuit racing and rally stages are available, with New Zealand and international tracks preloaded, and the software difficulty is adjustable from complete beginner through to experienced racer.
In-house sessions are structured rather than free-play. The standard formats are a one-hour session split into two 20–30 minute runs, a two-hour session split into four runs, and one-to-one coaching with experienced race drivers. Each session includes a race briefing and physical fitting, track and car familiarisation with a driver coach, a first run, a debrief, and a second run to improve on the earlier time. One simulator is assigned per person for the whole session.
### Groups and corporate use
Alongside the showroom experience, Kiwi Simulators hires simulators for events — the business names corporate events, trade shows, conferences, exhibitions, Christmas parties, stag dos and birthdays among its applications. Larger groups are handled on a custom quote basis rather than a fixed package. The company also sells simulator rigs and hardware outright, and offers race car driver training aimed at improving lap times and consistency, with its software used by drivers across racing categories.
The in-house experience is best suited to one or two drivers at a time; group and conference activations are handled through the mobile hire model.
It suits conference organisers wanting a competitive on-stand or in-venue activation, and smaller incentive or executive groups looking for a motorsport team activity in Auckland.
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