Garage Simulator (But Still Want to Use the Garage)

[Sp913]

I wanted to see if anyone had built a garage simulator in a garage bay that still needed to be used for a car. I have the room in my garage for a simulator, but I still want to use the garage bay for my cars. The impact screen can be permanently attached to a wall (although I'd love to have one that I can retract), and I think I can add side nets on rails that I can open and shut as needed to protect the other bay and the house.

The big issue for me frankly are the golf mats. I'd like to have mats that extend to the screen itself so that I can putt. But I would like to keep the mats there permanently vs. have to keep moving the mats in and out. But I'm not quite sure what to do with my car which will otherwise roll over the mats. I'm not really worried about damage to the sides of the mats, although maybe i can get mats that are just narrow enough so my car goes around the edges? or do i just get a large mat where the car just goes over the sides where I don't hit.

My car is an EV, so no need to worry about oil leaking. But I live in New England, so snow and dirt will definitely track over the mats. One option is to have a tarp I can place over the mats that I can take off when needed. that seems to be a pretty good idea. But any other thoughts from people who have done this? Thanks!

[Mrtheplague]

SP913,

I have attached a few pics from my set up.

I am east coast canada so a lot of new england weather is similar.

Essentially, I have a two car garage. The sim screen is mounted on EMT tubing frame about 12 inches deep off the side wall. The side netting is attached to curtain rods from IKEA on the ceiling.

The hitting matt is tucked in the corner and it is the only thing I have to move. The matt from the screen is on a roller that I built from things found at a local hardware store (kind of like a pool tarp crank); i simply pull it out and when I am done, i step behind the sim screen and crank it back.

The whole thing takes about 4 mins to set up and 4 mins to take down and I still have full use of the garage in the winter.

Message me if you have questions

[Ronsc1985]

I wanted to see if anyone had built a garage simulator in a garage bay that still needed to be used for a car. I have the room in my garage for a simulator, but I still want to use the garage bay for my cars. The impact screen can be permanently attached to a wall (although I'd love to have one that I can retract), and I think I can add side nets on rails that I can open and shut as needed to protect the other bay and the house.

The big issue for me frankly are the golf mats. I'd like to have mats that extend to the screen itself so that I can putt. But I would like to keep the mats there permanently vs. have to keep moving the mats in and out. But I'm not quite sure what to do with my car which will otherwise roll over the mats. I'm not really worried about damage to the sides of the mats, although maybe i can get mats that are just narrow enough so my car goes around the edges? or do i just get a large mat where the car just goes over the sides where I don't hit.

My car is an EV, so no need to worry about oil leaking. But I live in New England, so snow and dirt will definitely track over the mats. One option is to have a tarp I can place over the mats that I can take off when needed. that seems to be a pretty good idea. But any other thoughts from people who have done this? Thanks!

Probably depends on what mat you use. In my case I have a CCE elite stance mat and a Fiberbuilt hitting strip on the side. I have used a tarp for about 5 years with no problems. The main thing with a tarp is to get a heavy duty model. The thin plastic ones tend to roll up when you drive the car over them. I think rolling up the mat is not optimal since the mat will slide around unless bolted or otherwise attached to the floor. If you use a tarp be sure to attach the mat to the floor or when you drive onto and off it will shift around making its relationship to your launch monitor variable unless the LM is hard mounted in relation to the mat.. This can be a problem since all LM's measure things relative to themselves and if you change the LM orientation to your hitting area you will get different ball launch parameters. In particular if using a camera type LM the pictures taken will different since the lens orientation to the initial ball flight will change. If using a screen and a projector changing the mat orientation tends to screw your aim point kind of like IRL golf when the tee box is not pointing straight down your intended start line.

[Bbarfoot14]

I live in mass and need the ability to park cars in the garage for storms. I just pick up the 5x5 mat and drive over the carpeting.