Best Racing Sim

[Speed]

In light of the current madness going on and kart racing probably put on hold for a bit I’ve been asked by a mate which would be the best sim for him to help keep him in the zone.
He neither has the time nor money to test all of them so I thought I would get you guys’ opinions.
iRacing is out of the question, so not included.

[w00dsy]

I'd probably still say Assetto Corsa. It's cheapish, has a tonne of free content available on Racedepartment, and the physics are still up there with the newer games.

[DarrenM]

Tell him to get this humble bundle

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/just-drive

$20 for Assetto Corsa with 3 car packs, PCars 1 and 2, Dirt 4, NASCAR Heat 4 and several others.

[GT VIRUS]

Specifically for keeping in the zone, iRacing is the best. All simulations for karting are off or incomplete, and are only good for specific training. The best thing to keep motivated is competition, and iRacing offers the best multiplayer. But as iRacing is out for whatever arbitrary reason, Assetto Corsa offers the best variety, is the most realistic of the current sims, and does have active multiplayer though SRS.

[StanDaam]

My 2 cents, I'd say rFactor 2 is the best sim at the moment. It's certainly not the prettiest, or the most user friendly sim out there, but if you manage to jump thru all the setup hoops for it, what you'll find after that is a loyal Australian user base out there that is really having a boom period right now. You can pick any night of the week and there are Australian clans out there that are racing, with at worst 10 peeps, but quite often over 20 other racers online. Depends if you want a strong community, or if you prefer to just race offline, or if you just want to do pickup online races.
ACC has a great feel and gfx but is pretty quiet online. AC and PC2 are good to get used to a sim, very user friendly, but have also become a little quiet online for Australian servers.

[Scottie]

if iRacing is out, I've gotta say rF2.
It's customisable, realistic and if you don't have all the time in the world, easy to have a quick race with decent AI.

iRacing is P1 though, if you talk them around

[Dr. Pain]

I'm going old school and saying Grand Prix Legends. Nothing was like it before hand and nothing has quite had that same magic since. Trying to improve the rank or some of the races we did as ARSE, it just had me hooked. I can remember the first time I revved the Ferrari and blew it up in pit lane and trying to improve that rank and thinking there was no way I could go faster but some how managed.

AC and RF2 are really good but they fail to have that sense of danger that GPL had. I just hope we get another GPL that gives that same feeling.

[Jiminee]

Automobilista for me.

[norbs]

I find it hard to argue with that. He makes some very good points.

Grab that humble bundle Darren mentioned if R3E isnt of interest.

[Bails MacKenzie]

If you're actually going to recommend a sim, Assetto Corsa or PCars 2, easy to get into, fun and each has their own unique quirks.

But, best sim is Rfactor 1, masses of DECENT historic car and track mods. a favourite combo is 1960's GT enduros at Sebring and Spa.

[Speed]

Thank you for your thoughts and opinions gents, some very useful info there.
Great bundle recommendation thanks Darren and informative video Norbs.
I've sent both links to my mate.

As he has just signed himself up for a substantial mortgage, has 2 very young kids and a pretty responsible job I think he's fairly time poor and would probably limit himself to offline racing only.

[w00dsy]

LFS, the Sciroco will be out soon.

[pixelboy]

I lol'd at that.

Announced in Dec 2008! > https://www.lfs.net/forum/thread/51274- ... lease-plan

Not long now!

[r8response]

Wonder if it will ever see the light of day. I've had two kids who are now in school since it was announced.

[GT VIRUS]

But, best sim is Rfactor 1, masses of DECENT historic car and track mods. a favourite combo is 1960's GT enduros at Sebring and Spa.

rF1 is STILL the sim of choice for most professional drivers/teams that I know of, with AMS a close 2nd. AC and Cruden have a few users (with AC getting more popular with the physics tweaks available now), and RF2 has no-one that I know of using it as a professional simulator.

[durbster]

LFS, the Sciroco will be out soon.

There's this one called Racing Legends being developed by the West brothers.
http://www.west-racing.com/racing.htm

And now, 20 years later, we finally have the hardware that could deliver what their supposed graphics would have required




(I am stunned that website still works)

[norbs]

Raceroom is free for all content for the net 5 days.

[DarrenM]

Raceroom is free for all content for the net 5 days.

Would be a good candidate for tonight, not having to worry about who has what content.

[norbs]

Raceroom is free for all content for the net 5 days.

Would be a good candidate for tonight, not having to worry about who has what content.

Fuck me, it is friday! Ok, thanks Darren .

[Diffboy]

Has to be Grand Prix Legends!!!!