Driving sims for PC - Recommendations

[OllieWinchester]

Just got a new PC, wondering what the best driving sims are? Haven't played on a pc for years, I've got a logitech momo wheel (if I can work out how to attach it to something, it wont bolt on to my desk) and my only experience is with LFS years ago. My preference is for road cars really rather than single seaters, just wondering how things have moved on in my absence and what everyone is playing?

[LukeBird]

One of the GTR series, I've played them all and they're all superb.
rFactor is probably the 'best' one.
I quite like Test Drive Unlimited for a bit of fun even if it isn't a sim.
GT Legends is superb as well. 60s and 70s GT cars make awesome noise!

[Jinx]

Should get you started (it's free) http://www.trackmania.com/index.php?rub=nations

[OllieWinchester]

Jinx said:

Should get you started (it's free) http://www.trackmania.com/index.php?rub=nations

Just watched the trailer, lots of cars flying and doing loop the loops. Looking for something a bit more realistic TBH...

[TonyHetherington]

rfactor's the game to get into (or F12010 for single seaters)

[Sajax]

How far towards realism are you looking to go?

The most realistic at the moment will be iRacing.com, however it operates a subscription system with one off purchases for additional cars & tracks.

Otherwise, LFS & Netkar pro are very good and have their plus points, downsides are nKP is dead in terms of online players, LFS is better but is far from its heyday now. Other wise it's Race 07 + expansions which have a lot of tin top racers in there or as suggested rFactor, which is great as long as you get a good mod which can be few and far between.

F1 2010 is not a sim, looks pretty but when I see an F1 driver slam on the brakes to correct a 60 degree slide I'll be more inclined to call it a sim.

note: older sims are still played too, GTR2 & GTL can be brought for a couple of pounds by now.

Edited by Sajax on Wednesday 3rd November 13:51

[james_gt3rs]

GTR 2 and GT Legends are my favourites, GTR Evo just isn't as good.

rFactor is brilliant if you get the right mods (Caterham being my favourite).

[SlipStream77]

+1 for rFactor.

ISI, the developer, provides several F1 teams with their simulator software, rFactor Pro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFi5sQZP4UY

Most rFactor mods can be found here...

http://www.rfactorcentral.com/

A couple of examples of really good mods would be the Supra MKIV...

http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Toyota...

And Mid Ohio race track...

http://www.virtualr.net/mid-ohio-sports-car-course...

Have fun.

ETA. Don't forget that there is a PH rFactor Championship, we can always use more drivers.

Edited by SlipStream77 on Wednesday 3rd November 18:43

[OllieWinchester]

I dont know how competitive I'd be with my steering wheel perched on my lap.

[alexpez]

another +1 for iracing here. Its a sim that you can log into at pretty much anytime of day and get a league quality race without having to join a league. And the detail on the cars is immense (dont think theres another sim that models the brake bias ramping that occurs in f1 depending on brake pressure, let alone the other dials and switches on those wheels).

Depends on what you're looking for, but imo, there is no more complete overall package than iracing.

[Mister V]

alexpez said:

another +1 for iracing here. Its a sim that you can log into at pretty much anytime of day and get a league quality race without having to join a league. And the detail on the cars is immense (dont think theres another sim that models the brake bias ramping that occurs in f1 depending on brake pressure, let alone the other dials and switches on those wheels).

Depends on what you're looking for, but imo, there is no more complete overall package than iracing.

And it now comes with added MX5. what else could you ask for!

[Pete Franklin]

ooh just noticed that iracing is 3 months for the price of 1 so that works out to be £7.40 for 3 months- actually seems pretty reasonable. might finally give this a try.

does anyone know if the online racing is active world over- eg am i likely to get a decent pick up road race at somewhere like laguna seca in the mx5 at 8pm any evening?

cheers

Pete

[declasm]

Ruud van gaal's 'Racer' is excellent

http://www.racer.nl/

loads of cars and tracks out in the community

[Mister V]

Pete Franklin said:

ooh just noticed that iracing is 3 months for the price of 1 so that works out to be £7.40 for 3 months- actually seems pretty reasonable. might finally give this a try.

does anyone know if the online racing is active world over- eg am i likely to get a decent pick up road race at somewhere like laguna seca in the mx5 at 8pm any evening?

cheers

Pete

Yes it's very active. The road racing side more so in Europe than most places. For the rookie series (the MX5) your looking at 40-50 people signing up for each race that time of day. At 12 people per race (I think) so you wont have any problem finding a race. Even now 1PM GMT I can see 50 people racing it!

[Pete Franklin]

so do you have to sign up for the races in advance or can you just arrive and drive? if the former- how far in advance do you need to sign up?

[Mister V]

You can sign up from 30 mins before the race starts until it goes live

[Thorburn]

declasm said:

Ruud van gaal's 'Racer' is excellent

http://www.racer.nl/

loads of cars and tracks out in the community

Used to do a lot with Racer, including helping some of the guys developing cars with testing them.

The community was a blessing and a curse, you had a few really talented guys making great cars and tracks, and a huge stack of idiots putting utter crap together that they'd ported (stolen) from Need For Speed modifications and set up to handle like something out of Ridge Racer, complete with negative handbrake torque to 'give it NOS!!!!!!1112'.

Invariably the car developers would get annoyed at the idiots complaining their latest masterpiece was hard to drive and give up, meaning all the great cars would get stuck with old data files whenever the physics engine was updated.

Shame as at its heart it is a good simulator, just always seemed to need some direction or approval process in terms of the content creation for it.

Edited by Thorburn on Thursday 4th November 14:56

[Big Rod]

Forgive my ignorance, but do you need a wheel for these or can they be played on a keyboard?

[Thorburn]

Big Rod said:

Forgive my ignorance, but do you need a wheel for these or can they be played on a keyboard?

Typically they CAN be played with a keyboard, but for the best experience you'll want a wheel.

[J-Tuner]

Am i the only one who think simbin missed a trick keeping GT Legends fresh with new content and patches... i loved the old school handling of the 911 and escorts!