10 things I wish I knew when I first started Sim Racing

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From the very start of this Sim Racing journey, I've been very careful to not make out that I'm an expert, but rather just share my experience as I try things, make mistakes and learn.

So in today's video, I'm going to take you through my list of 10 things I wish I'd known before I spent a cent of my rig.

The list is split into two main sections, with the first 5 things relating more to hardware, and the last 5 relating to the overall experience of racing.

I hope this helps those who are new to Sim Racing get a better idea of what you should be prioritizing in terms of equipment, as well as how to get the most out of the equipment you already have.

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#SimRacing

[woohoo]

was looking for sum but there wasn't one.


no1. adjust fov
no2. three small screens are better than a big one
no3. buy screen with low input lag
no4. mind button layout
no5. buy a solid cockpit
no6. fine tune your fbb settings
no7. don't mind other people, enjoy what you enjoy
no8. join a quality racing league
no9. turn off driving assist
no10. push yourself hard and challenge faster people

[tensevo]

Agreed, ...when you first start driving without assists, it is a satisfying achievement just to get a clean lap in, let alone, a quick one.

[TestOfInsanity]

As a musician, really appreciate the comparison to learning an instrument - and encouraging people to get lessons!
I was thinking to myself the other day that practicing driving isn't too far from practicing an instrument, and there you go saying the same thing!

[musicmate]

i love the fact that you stressed how important it was to enjoy what your playing rather than listening to what people say i love the f1 games as well

[samdaurua]

TIMESTAMPS

1:50 #1 FOV
3:55 #2 Single vs Triple Screens
7:46 #3 Refresh Rate and Input lag
12:10 #4 Button Layout
15:00 #5 Sim Rig
18:10 #6 Force Feedback
21:30 #7 Have Fun
23:20 #8 Race Leagues
25:25 #9 Driver Assists
28:05 #10 Challenge yourself

[billsfan]

From a “noob”, I really appreciate this video. Been playing F1 with a controller for about a year. Take Monaco. I roll off a 1:09-1:10, but I know a 1:07-1:08 is needed, so I’m in that spot where I know I need to get a rig. Your video has been extremely helpful! Thanks!

[chrisd]

This is one of the best "top ten" videos i've seen. All good points. A lot of other videos have 5 good points and 5 points of fluff. So many trolls out in the internet with a voice, or maybe just immature kids.

[hMint]

Another note: expensive gear does not mean you’ll be faster. Drivers around the world have budget setups that have great skill and would beat someone with $5000 worth of gear.

[ronsc]

Love this video and watched it multiple times. I finally took your advice and turned off the racing assist line. It’s much harder, naturally, but after four hours, i can already tell that I’m paying more attention to my speed and to entering and exiting corners correctly instead of the “training wheels” telling me where to drive and how fast. Thanks!!!

Just ordered T300 RS GT as my first wheel. Can't wait to get into this :D Thanks for all the tips!

[Xavez]

Very good tips that I agree with. :)
iRacing was one of the things that made me improve the most during my simracing years, because it forced me through its online racing, irating and progression system to not be reckless, to be mindful and improve.

[ComandanteJ]

3 first things get solved by buying a VR headset, with the advantage of being cheaper than triples and not needing any extra space.

[radicalracinghd]

1st one FOV is something I realised on my own a few months ago and everything you said about it just sounded so familiar, I wish i’d corrected it way sooner than I did

[stevenfinken]

Number 9. Turn Off Assists. I was much like you and did not want to turn off some of the more general assists. I got the to the point where I had all off except for braking line, and ABS. ABS was the last to go for me...but... In Forza Motorsports 6, there was a challenge card that reduced my brake efficiency by 25% for a generous reward. I loaded it up and ran with reduced brakes. WOW what a Forcing myself to manage my brakes by feel (instead of guesses and prayer) increased my lap times by more than 2% within 3 or 4 races. Because I could not rely on the option of jamming the brakes on a bad line, I was forced to anticipate a smarter line through the turns. HUGE tip here that should not be ignored or feared!!!

[pinga]

I rock a g29 and my motto is take that time and effort to understand the settings, when I started it would often be very confusing until I really dove into what each setting was and how it affected other settings. Other than that, it's all up to what makes you feel better. Like he said, detail is more important than pure force. I usually go with whatever let's me feel the edge of grip personally

[catherineschroeter]

Super glad you spoke about assists!!! I was having issues correcting a slide that was ending in a complete spin out or crash because my natural read to control or correct wasn’t working for some reason. Then I realised I had assists on. These assists actually make you a worse driver because it feels like the computer assists are conflicting or combating your natural read and response of the car’s movements. Lol literally feels like the assists are fighting against you instead of assisting.

[christoforospaphitis]

Very good pointers, and about the last one i can attest to it, I am in iRacing and found myself battling it out against faster guys (i managed to make a blistering qualifying lap due to some outlap trickery shaving half a second off my fastest lap) and qualified in p5. Now my goal was to follow those faster guys and boy they were faster than my normal race pace by 1 second, but I managed to keep up (barely and due to their battles between them) but I had to push myself to the limits and when I checked my race pace after the end of the race (got 3rd place) I found out that my race pace was significantly faster than all the other races on that track and car before. That translated to better race pace for the next races (not as fast as that one where i had to push right to my limit) but say half a second + faster, which is huge by the end of a race. Now what you would like to do is to battle it out with faster guys but not so much faster they will leave you so far back, because when this happens you will go to default mode and just try to finish the race in your position, no point in pushing to catch the uncatchable which is a wise tactic especially in iRacing as you need to think about your SR and iRating and one mistake may destroy both. BTW my gear is as crap as it can get office chair, pedals held in place by a slipper before the wall and using the Logitech DFGT setup and sometimes the wheel comes off the office while i am driving and have to put it back and tighten it, and my chair swivels when i turn and moves back when i am in a heated battle :P but im doing ok-ish

[apexvisiontv]

Great information. After I switched from standard Thrustmaster 2 pedals to T3PA Pro I started picking myself up off the ground. Can’t wait to upgrade my chair

[schmickos]

Such good advice! I’m just starting out so I found this really informative. I love that you remind us that it’s about having fun and learning and stretching yourself. Cheers mate!

[tractorboy]

Very useful intro to things I've never heard of in relation to SIM racing. Many thanks!