The Forgotten Sim Used by an F1 Winner

Live for Speed is a racing sim most of us will have heard of, played and likely cherished. It was created by just three people yet contains advanced features like VR, tyre deformation and mechanical failures.

The sim is lauded for its accurate physics, finding favour with many professional racing drivers – including a certain Valtteri Bottas. The game also has a passionate community and covers a breadth of diverse motorsport disciplines, including autocross, drifting and rallycross.

The sim was designed to be online racing-friendly from the outset, with popular ‘cruise’ servers still attracting many players to this day. Lately, mods have added a whole new element of choice and variety to the game, with other features such as day/night transitions and weather still in the works. (Let’s not mention the Volkswagen Scirocco though, eh?)

Entering its third decade of development, we try to answer the question: is Live for Speed still as relevant now as it was 20 years ago?

Well, you can always try the free demo to find out... I suspect you won’t be disappointed.

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#Traxion #LFS #LiveForSpeed #OriginalSim #LFSBirthday

[Sinrne]

I saw the "The forgotten Sim...." and immediately thought that it has to be LFS. Its surely unique sim and honestly it has amazing feel into the cars. I always played the free version, so basically 1 map 1 Formula BMW and even in that, the community was fabulous.

I remember when I tried to improve, one random guy started spectating me and suddenly said " Im spectating you, I will watch and teach you how to get better." Every corner I needed to improve in, he explained what to do. Also gave me his setup which he thought was stable enough for beginner.

Good stuff, had no idea Valtteri played it.

[shiftinlife]

LFS is such a unique and convincingly realistic driving experience. It's always great fun when you jump in and the AI is pretty good as well. Another great aspect (that wasn't mentioned in the video) is licences, basically driving training which is kind of a sim take on gran turismo. I personally like the damage model which is lacking many other sims and also the way LFS recognises your inputs and automatically sets up your gear depending on the type of car you're driving (need to use the clutch, sequential, paddles...). It's also a great first step into modding and creating your own cars through the detailed car modding tool. To finish off, you can drive dirt or asphalt, which again, not many sims offer. The only lacking feature IMO is a track editor/creating tool - the next best thing?

[Dygear]

I started playing LFS in 2005, 2006. (I'm the developer of the PRISM add-on software) and I still love LFS. It will always have a special place in my heart. I agree that the tire physics model is some of the best out there, still today. So much so that I would still use this as a way to teach new drivers how to handle a car.

[nhp]

I raced with Bottas in team spdo, he wasn't very active, lots of other less known people raced it too, Kevin Magnussens relative Dennis Lind, Rudy van Buren, lots of people.

[jonathan]

Honestly LFS is still one of the best driving feeling in any sims. It is so progressively predictable right up and over the limit, you can really push the car. My biggest gripe with most sims these days is all the cars handles fine right up to the limit, and the once you are over the limit the grip just feels off a cliff. This makes it very difficult to push and even learn the limits of the cars. You are actively discouraged to push because it is just so frustratingly unpredictable once you are close/over the limit.

[EZCCW]

As someone who learned to drift in LFS, and struggled to drift nearly as well in other sims for quite a while, I can attest to the very intuitive feel that LFS has. I went from drifting in the sim to sliding my very first car (that was FWD) on ice completely naturally, so there's something to be said about how the tire model translates well into the real world, even if it isn't completely realistic. It's a sim that I definitely still go back to on occasion, I still love it despite how dated it is now.

[LaggerSVK]

Even when I am not active anymore, LFS has special place in my heart. It basically hooked me into motor racing as teenager in times when people thought car simulations were unrealstic and online racing was just starting. While maybe not the best it still has this special place for me and I am looking for news.

[medln]

another mention to lfs: if you have a correct setup for the bikes, lfs may just be the most realistic bike simulator in the genre, it's really amazing how modders can make a bike feel so realistic

[AvertedVision]

Ah Live For Speed! What a blast it was to be part of the Masters Of Endurance (MoE) series with its 6h, 12h and 24 hour races. Unforgettable. Mercury Racing Team that i was a part of was around until 2008 i believe and had some of the best drivers around at the time. Bawbag aka Raymond Mooney anyone? Miss those days not only for the team i was in, but a whole bunch of other teams and people. Core Racing, F1RST racing, #low racing, Triple seven, Ocrana (former Afri-Cola) to name but a few. The appreciation and understanding of racing, came through LFS and im so glad i came across LFS and decided to install it back in the day. 🥰

[ChAzR]

I used to play LFS religiously in the past, it's nice to see that some teams/servers from back then are still online/active.

[captainzeppos]

Live for Speed was and still is the most immersive racing sim ever. I haven't raced in a while and at some point I moved over to Assetto Corsa and iRacing, but the LFS races with FOX is something that will always give me the goosebumps. It's an indescribable feeling. Once you had brought the tyres to their proper operating temperatures a couple of laps into the race, you really felt that you could keep pushing for every millimeter on the tarmac and could predict the car's behaviour. And that on a cheap Thrustmaster Ferrari wheel. I'd never had that feeling with any other racing sim even if I later upgraded to much more expensive equipment. I distinctly remember being confident when I was pushing the FOX to my limits. Whereas in AC or iRacing, I was just holding back hoping I won't end up on the barrier.

LFS, race on.

[compactrhone-]

A streamer friend (joevalla) taught me how to drift on LFS to the point that the first time it snowed after I got my truck I was able to link turns in drift because I knew what to expect and how to control it thanks to LFS

[yokoyama]

Another great thing about LFS is its jumping mechanics, when I try to jump in assetto corsa, I'm almost 100% sure I'll clip off the track, the same thing happens when it comes to crashing. The suspension in LFS works incredibly well and can break with you are rough enough

[RypienGT]

I still remember racing a full grid with my dial up internet connection. No issues and fantastic racing. Good times.

[Pantheo-rgdq]

Still racing. They have so many community organized races happening every week. I race Formula XR series every friday for 15 years now. Still going strong with 25-50 people on the server every Friday.

[wenisinvietnam]

It needs support for VRS DDs! The wheel has negative values turning left and positive values turning right. The force feedback is reversed only when turning left. I miss this game so much having raced on it a ton in 2014 with a G27, but I can't with my VRS.

Edit: OH MY GOSH IT WAS FIXED IN THE APRIL UPDATE!!!

Playing 2008-2009 this was a pinnacle of LFS. I remember those old good days. And those CTRA servers... So addicting, full of people, great racing... Haven't experienced anything like that ever since in other sims.

[stefo]

LFS still holds up and can compete with the best in the sim racing world. If the devs had fully allowed mods from the beginning, LFS would have been today's Assetto Corsa.

[ArosaMike]

Was a huge part of my life in the early 2000s and, like Will, spent a lot of time learning how to race on it. For sure it helped with my real life racing career and I still keep in touch with Will after we met through the game all those years ago!

[sheep]

One thing I absolutely love about LFS is how much nicer it feels to drift than in AC. That might be because I've only got a very low horsepower car that I can drift with, but it's just so nice