How Realistic is Sim Racing?

The quality of sim racing software and hardware is improving at a rapid rate, and aside from not being able to feel all of the motion of a real-life car, sim racing is one of the closest to real-life, of all the gaming options out there.

So, how close is sim racing to the real-world, what are the differences and if you’re fast in a sim, will you be fast in a real-world car?

Thanks very much to the following channels, go check them out!

➤ My Kit

I’m Scott Mansell from Driver61, and if you’re new to the channel I’m a real-world racer and coach. Over the last 3 or 4 years, I’ve been getting deeper into sim racing, which I absolutely love. I see it as a supplement to real-world driving, and I believe the cross-over between the two is going to get much deeper going forward.

#SimRacing #Driver61 #iRacing #ProjectCars #AssettoCorsa #RacingGames

[Driver]

What's your favourite sim and why?

[Altek]

All i know is countless hours playing Dirt Rally 1 and 2 prepared me for when an a-hole braked out of nowhere on the highway. I slammed the brakes, inadvertently locking up my wheels on my old beater, and at the perfect time, let go, cut the wheel and avoided hitting the person. It was instinctual almost, and i literally owe it all to sim racers.

[notthatfatboy]

A few years back, my brother learned how to drift from assetto so i gave him my old miata. He ran his first event in it and after 3 laps of getting the feel for real world stuff, he was driving like he had been doing it for years. So yeah its translates well.

[DeeTofa]

Me playing Forza Horizon on Keyboard: "OMG, this is so realistic!"

[OfentseMwaseFilms]

There’s a video of a Sim drifter drifting a real car, he killed it!

[lawsonfan]

I'm slow as shit on the sims, so the realistic aspect checks out.

[mitchswanson]

One thing missing from the video, fear factor. When a car starts spinning in front of you in real life, you pucker up way more than in a game. But I do agree, iracing is extremely similar with the new equipment available.

[smokyprogg]

From the perspective of someone with software engineering experience, it's absolutely amazing the level of conceptual detail that would have to go into accounting for all of the variables you mentioned in realistic course simulation.

Great vid!

[jaketran]

theses are incredibly insightful vids dude!

[ianbradley]

VR in sims is insanely good. One of my favourite real life, and sim cars is, well basically any Caterham. In sim, with VR, I can almost feel the wind. The brain does weird things to compensate and fill in the gaps.

[Tater]

I've got an idea Scott, why not host a race for subscribers on the sim of your choice, and if a subscriber beats you, you gotta grow the Mansell 'stache

[riskinhos]

actually when I was a kid I played a lot of sim races. when one time I tried karting (never drove before) against 50 people mostly adult, some with karting experience, I won the race. 1st place. everyone was staring at me. I gave some laps in advance to some.
never drove before. it was all thanks to the sims. I just did exactly the same. It was instinct. I knew when to brake when to turn when to speed up and overpass. everything. it was flawless. so yes. it does help. and a lot.

[watanukif]

I love to watch these videos while playing NFS on my PC using the keyboard

[whotesamurai]

Well here I am driving with a keyboard

Edit: got a controller

[ozihmemaa]

R factor2 physics+ hp Reverb VR + simxperience motion + Fanatec dd1 + Heusinkveld pedals = I never need to leave the house.
It is truly remarkable how far we have come since Pole Position for Commodore 64.

[GinoFoto]

On my first ever kart event, I just done the same what I learned during years on simulators, it just paid of greatly, as I was objectively quick, however I felt extremely sick after race, to the point I wasn't able to even stand for a while, that never happened to me while playing on simulator, there are just multiple strong forces against you in the real world racing, which simply doesn't exist in sims.

[SamuelCroin]

In sims you drive with your eyes. In cars you drive with your butt.
(March 2021) Not to say about the a $$$£££€€€ car or play a "ghost car".... hit a concrete wall or get a "game over" in a PC....go to the hospital or open some Pringles ?
One of my best friends can take Eau Rouge- Radillon flat out in a formula one car, it's amazing a PC...

[TedHough]

Thank you for putting this out Scott!

IMO All you need is a G25 and some good learning material - even if Simulations aren't 100% perfect, you can still practice your real life skills on them, build muscle memory, learn circuits and many other things without the "Pants" feeling provided by being in a real race car.

They're invaluable tools in many industries including aeronautics because they give Pilots the opportunity to "Learn the correct response" for any given situation without needing to be in danger in real life! :

They're also just fun! :D

[chicobicalho]

One of the aspects I find interesting in modern simulators is the ability to bring back defunct circuits, so people can experience (as realistically as possible) what it was like for drivers of the past to drive in circuits of the past, like racing the original 14 km Spa-Francorchamps circuit in a Lotus 25, or the original 8 km long Interlagos circuit in a Lotus 72. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to laser scan a now destroyed track like Interlagos.

[wrecklesSForce]

I’ll never forget the first time I finished setting up my rig, putting on asseto corsa, and driving on the nordschleife…it made me go from liking motorsports, to being absolutely obsessed with it.