CHAMPAIGN — It may have been sunny and 86 degrees outside but inside a recreational vehicle on the parking lot at the Champaign police department, officers were enduring rain, snow, ice, blown tires and all other kinds of nasty conditions Thursday.

All this week, officers have been using a mobile driver training simulator designed to sharpen their driving and decision-making skills under stressful circumstances.

"It's a video game on steroids," said Sgt. Jim Clark, training coordinator for the department.

The simulator is housed in a 36-foot travel trailer and features a console set up like a Crown Victoria squad car. The driver is surrounded by three large screens that depict the area in which he or she is cruising.

"You start the car, put it in gear, the headlights work. It's very realistic," said Clark.

The trailer also has a separate station with a computer for an operator to choose a scenario for the officer.

On Thursday afternoon, Detective Mark Huckstep was running his colleague Mary Bunyard through her paces.

In one scenario, Huckstep made the brakes "fail" almost as soon as Bunyard took off. She then had to coast through intersections with oncoming vehicles and dodge unsuspecting pedestrians. In another situation, she was in pursuit of a van involved in a robbery.

Bunyard held the microphone in one hand, calling out unfamiliar street names to a dispatcher while driving. Fortunately for Bunyard, she was able to repeat the exercises that ended badly, a chance officers don't get on the street.

"Oh yeah, it's very realistic," said Bunyard, who added that a real squad car is actually easier to control than the simulator.

Bunyard said she was still surprised by obstacles thrown at her in exercises she was allowed to repeat.

"You think because you did it once, you won't hit something but that's not true," she said.

Clark said the East Central Illinois Police Training Project is paying for area departments to take turns with the simulator.

Clark said he hoped to have the majority of the department's officers — about 100 — complete at least one hour of training by Saturday evening.

The simulator moves on next week for the Champaign County sheriff's office and Urbana and University of Illinois police to use.

Clark said officers sometimes have to take breaks because the movement on the screens can cause motion sickness. A container filled with ginger-flavored candies was nearby.

"They say ginger has proven to be more successful than dramamine," said Huckstep as he savored one.