Simulator racing or simulation racing is a great way to get some experience with eye-to-hand coordination and when you crash, you’re not getting hurt or losing money. Currently, my son and I are racing on Gran Turismo Sport. There are several racing simulator games out there for gaming consoles or for PC. Sim racing allows you to experience how cars react and how a setup of a car can be adjusted to your driving style. The important thing to remember is to pay attention to the racing line, the braking points and when to lift off the throttle. In many cases, this can be true to real life. This is also a time to experiment on different driving techniques and seeing what works and what doesn’t. You can do these things without the risk of damaging tires or your real-life car.
We have a sim setup that is composed of a rig that has a seat, steering wheel, and pedals that connect directly to the game. When you start researching online, you can quickly find yourself in the hundreds or thousands of dollars to get the setup of your dreams. You can also find “do it yourself” or DIY projects to keep the costs down to focus on the more important components of the simulator setup, the steering wheel, and pedals. However, having a racing rig setup is not necessary to begin the learning stages of racing. Eventually, it will help out with the overall experience but it’s not necessary when starting out. The old fashioned controller and game will be just fine.
Be careful about the driving games that you pick. Many games have an “arcade” feel to them and the physics engine in them are not real. So when doing your research on the games, make sure that it is a driving simulator game. An example of the types of games I’m talking about for simulation driving would be Grand Turismo, iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Project CARS, DiRT and so many more. Find what type of motorsport interests you and get the game that matches the type of racing you want.
There are some downfalls to sim racing. To name a few, is that you can’t “feel” what the car is doing so much. You can’t feel the g-forces on your body or what the tires are doing under you. A lot of drivers will tell you that they can feel what the car is doing through their butt and it’s true. That’s why true seat time in a car or kart is the most important thing so you can understand those feelings.
Simulators nowadays are more than just games, they really bring you various tracks around the world and professionals use them to help them prepare for upcoming races. This allows them to use their skills and test out various braking points. Racing against other racers around the world, who share the same passion for racing is a great feeling and what makes the sport fun.