Why virtual Motorsport or Simracing is so awesome these days

Over the past few years, the community of simracers has grown bigger and bigger. You can race a countless amount of cars on even more availabe tracks in dozens of great games.

Over the past few years, the community of simracers has grown bigger and bigger. You can race a countless amount of cars on even more availabe tracks in dozens of great games. After more or less boring years, in terms of new “good” games between the arrival of rFactor in 2005 and the public releases of games like rFactor 2 in 2013, Assetto Corsa at the end of 2014, Dirt Rally and Project Cars (just to name a few of them…), the options have been getting better and better.

Simracing is becoming a more and more serious thing these days, as you can see by Nissans GT Academy and the iRacing World Cup. It can be considered as the motorsport for everyone. Even if you’re running on a tight budget. It is affordable for almost every car guy.

But why is it such a good time to be or become a simracer right now?

1. It’s cheap(er than real motorsport)

If you want to go to a trackday with your car, you have to spend vast amounts of money, just for buying and preparing a good car. Even if you choose an old 3-series Beemer, you have to pay for tires, suspension upgrades and if the inevitable happens: crash repairs.
Simracing just needs a more or less powerful computer and a steering wheel. For about 1.000 Euros you can get some serious kit. Of course, you could build or buy a nice gaming rig instead. But even with very cool tech in it (exluding some sort of hydraulic moving system), the cost for all this would stay in the four-digit range.

Why virtual Motorsport or Simracing is so awesome these days

2. The amount of content

You want to drive Pike’s Peak in an Audi S1 Sport Quattro? Go for it.
You want to feel like Ayrton Senna in Monaco 1988? No problem.
You want to drive LeMans in an LMP1? Feel free to do so.

Besides the number of cars and tracks, which are already included in today’s games, there are thousands of them, made by independet modding teams. Since the days of Grand Prix Legends modding has become more and more important. Games like rFactor and Assetto Corsa are purpose built for being as developerfriendly as possible. You can design your own cars, tracks, liveries, sounds, HUDs and implement almost every feature via plugins.

You can choose between high quality games like Dirt Rally, RaceRoom Racing Experience, rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa, Automobilista, iRacing, Game Stock Car Extreme and more. Everything is possible, from driving a Citroen 2CV to sports- and hypercars of all big manufacturers and ultimately WRC, F1 and LeMans Prototypes.

Why virtual Motorsport or Simracing is so awesome these days

3. The level of immersion

Technically, games are evolving at mesmerizing speeds. Nowadays, tracks are laserscanned, rather than designed by hand. The attention to detail and the quality of textures and models has come to a level, which is nothing but astonishing. Racing teams use the gMotor engines from ISI for their simulators. That’s the same engine, rFactor 1/2, GSCE and Automobilista are powered by, so real F1 drivers are using the same basic game, as all of us are. The virtual experience is so real, that working in the simulator replaces a lot of testing in the real world. Games of today are so realistic, that, if you’ve got yourself a proper wheel, like the ones of Fanatec, Logitech or Thrustmaster, it isn’t a big deal to adapt your driving technique from the computer to a real car. You can learn how to drift, without any risk of crashing. So simracing is huge fun and will make you a better driver. How cool is that, then?

Why virtual Motorsport or Simracing is so awesome these days

4. The community

Last but not least, the community. With a little bit of research you could find yourself a seat in almost every racing series you like. There are big leagues out there, which became big organisations with hundreds of members. Most of them are very respectful and really do help you getting a better racer and it doesn’t matter if you’re at the age of 10 or 100. There are no limits. The only thing you need to have is passion. Passion for racing, driving and the one thing we all love most in our lifes:

Cars.

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Comments

Dave 12

I have to say I have played a few sims in the past and they were OK but you’re right it has really kicked up a gear recently. I was playing Project cars on Cadwell recently and as someone who knows that track very well I was seriously impressed. I’d been at the historic racing day and my friend introduced me on his PC. Very good indeed! Obviously it will never even be close to the real thing. No actual movement or adrenaline. The smell and sound as well is something you’ll never get from a game but for a few hundred quid you can get set up and really start learning local tracks. That’s something i think is missing from the classic console sims like Forza and GT and I hope they start adding them from now on. I do think you;re overestimating how much it costs to track a car though! I’ll pitch in around £600 and expect to get a couple of days at least out of an MR2 or something. Considering you’re out there for 8 hours it;s decent value. You don’t need to go crazy to drive on a track.

04/05/2016 - 14:40 |
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I once panicked in the middle of a race in iRacing, because I couldn’t feel that I was wearing my seatbelt.

Motion sims are a thing, and if you race competitive, the adrenalin is definitely there from the starting grid, to the finish line. Sound is getting there, the smell however, I can’t argue with that.

You need to sort of re program your mind for simracing, compared to normal driving, you get basically all the inputs from the cars through the wheel, it’s going to take some getting used to, but after a while, it tricks you mind into thinking that you’re feeling it in your entire body. With VR just around the corner, immersion is going to step up a big notch!

04/06/2016 - 09:58 |
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Anonymous

You have to consider, that it’s not done with 600 bucks for buying the car and then do a trackday. You need to pay for going on track, which is easily around 100 bucks or more per day. You have to get to the track first, then after 2 to 3 complete track days, your tires will be gone. You have to maintain your car as well. It’s not, that it’s not affordable at all to drive a car around a track and have some fun in it. But to do it on a regular basis, you need to invest a lot more. So putting all this running costs into perspective, simracing is very cheap.

04/05/2016 - 14:47 |
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Anonymous

as an simracer, i do agree!

04/06/2016 - 13:10 |
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datdriftdoh

Sim racing is fun, but some racing “sims” such as forza and project cars are a dumbed down racing sim, if you want to get into close to best and closest to real racing physics play Live for speed or assetto corsa. But racing sims have come quite a ways in the past few years. Also dirt rally is actually incredibly well made too if you feel like practicing how to properly handle a out of control vehicle at speed. What racing sims do teach you is driving control if your taking it seriously. Ive improved lap times at my local track just by practicing on my racing simulator at home instead of paying the fees to go to the actual track and when I do have the money all the practice pays off.

04/06/2016 - 19:30 |
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That’s exactly, what I wanted to make clear. You won’t be the best racing driver in the world, without practicing in the real world, but you can improve your real world talent by practicing on the virtual track.

04/06/2016 - 20:48 |
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Anonymous

I’m new in Assetto Corsa, and I would like to know good websites to find mods. Can you guys recommend me some, please?

04/08/2016 - 16:33 |
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Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Racedepartment.com is the best source.

04/08/2016 - 17:50 |
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