Last weekend I was able to once again throw my little Boxster S around a race track here in Germany as part of a precision training course. Absolutely loved it and remembered I had a good wheel and Paddels at home.
I haven’t sim raced in VR since 2016 and was hence wondering what you guys consider to be the best current racing sim for track racing that’s doable without too much fiddling on the 5K+.
My PC is quite capable, what would you guys recommend I should get? PC2 is quite a bit of fiddling from what I gather, what about Assetto Corsa, iRacing and others?
Ideally I’d be getting a track with the ability to project ideal racing lines and break points and then the ability to race my ghost car from previous runs. Really I‘m after the serenity of perfect driving much more than actual multiplayer racing at this point.
Assetto Corsa run better smooth in VR with the 5K+, has the best looking car cockpit, plenty of mods etc. If it’s just for the pleasure of driving cars around some great track it’s the best. Iracing run well, but if you don’t plan on racing online seriously just forget it.
I 2nd Assetto Corsa. Some great modded track and cars. I ran Iracing for the Williams F31 which Williams worked with IRacing to develop, but got tired of the subscription costs. I found the VRC mod F31s1 to be a real close approximation in AC.
I can also highly recommend Dirt Rally. The physics are about as close to real as you can get and the sense of speed is awesome. If interested in DR you will want to run this setup to remove the need for parallel projection. https://community.openmr.ai/t/how-to-play-dirt-rally-vr-on-pimax-8k-5k-without-revive-and-steamvr/18578
That is certainly subjective, I have read real world racers who like IR. Others who prefer AC and still others who like neither beyond learning traks and driving lines.
Since drivers have different driving styles there is no wrong answer. Only personal preferences.
From the standpoint of an F1 enthusiast who has never driven a real F1 car, all I can say is both AC and IR have there likes and dislikes but are close enough to enjoy either in my limited talents.
I can say as one who drove rally non professionally in the 70’s 80’s that Dirt Rally is a pretty good representation. There too, though, the limitations are in what is missing in terms of what the computer can translate into the cars feedback accurately.
Long as were having fun.
I do and have recommended to anyone with kids coming of driving age that they get them in to racing sims (supervised of course), regardless of which one. If they can handle a car running at 200- 300 kph without crashing, they will be better off on the road in RL. I dare say it could save their lives.
I have been driving for 50 years and I know I’m the better for having raced sims and games for much of it. I am approaching 69 and can still put up RL qualifying times on tracks like Spa in IR and AC. At my age, I am better off and so are those I share the road with.
There are a couple of E-Racers who have beaten RL pros on RL tracks, Enzo Benito who won championships in IR and AC is one that comes to mind. So despite the shortcoming of sims, they are skill building for sure.
I think iracing is the easiest to get to look good. Iracing can look a bit barebones on a screen, but in vr I feel it’s the sim that I can get the sharpest and cleanest image quality. AC is a good second.
Just wanted to add that Raceroom does not require parallel projection workaround, and if autosport experience is your goal, and you’re into European series this is the best offering on the market imho. It is not as deep and powerful/flexible as rF2, but because of that it does not require “fiddling” which sounds like something OP wants to avoid.
I would have to say go with AC for casual driving and iRacing for competitive racing against people.
I would love nothing more than to recommend rFactor2, but to get acceptable framerates on even normal fov, the whole game needs to be turned down to n64 level graphics(on my 1080ti/7770k). quite a bummer
I‘m a big fan of Raceroom. I really like the complete package. You‘ve got complete series like DTM, TCR, Group 5, DTM92, BMW 235i or Audi TT Cup and Open Wheelers. There are a lot of tracks too (around 30 I guess). I like the physics and the FFB too and the AI (that a lot of people don’t like). Sounds are the best in simracing. Just buy the sim and you‘re ready to go. No modding!
I like AC too… but thats a different story regarding Raceroom. In my opinion it only gets great with modding. Must have is the Content Manager and the SOL mod. You also have to download quiet some car (and car livery) and track mods… and you have to keep it all up to date. Regarding that it’s only great with mod content, I would say it makes it a sim for the more advanced user.
PCars is not my kind of sim, but as a lot of people like it, it’s probably good too…
IRacing is a a really good sim. Great (some people say ‚the best‘) physics. But it’s really expensive… monthly fee and tracks/cars about 16-20 Euro each! To be fair, it offers the best online racing support with matchmaking and scheduled races. For me, it has not much interesting content… just a few GT3s and the Porsche 911 Cup… but thats my taste.
Regarding VR, the best sim is AC. Looks crisp and is not so hardware demanding. I would recommend to have a look, as it is quiet cheap on Steam and the mods are free.
ACC I can‘t recommend at the moment. A great sim for sure, but the VR implementation is very poor, regarding hardware demands…
iRacing Just Works™ with VR. No config required. As long as your headset is plugged in and switched on, iRacing will find it. Use the ; button to recenter it if necessary, then drive.
I’m so spoiled by iRacings arrive-and-drive VR support that I don’t give other titles a fair go because I can’t be arsed fiddling with them.
which sounds like something OP wants to avoid.