Are you thinking about getting into sim racing? Here’s the platform you’ll need, according to the experts.
We are all here in Drive. We know all too well the adrenaline rush of pushing an exotic sports car to its (or more accurately, our) limits on a race track, but it comes with huge risks that could cost you tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars.
But what if there was a way to replicate the feeling of flying over the Conrod Straight in Bathurst in a Porsche 911 or learning where all the apexes are in Winton in a Mazda MX-5 without having to leave the comfort of your home?
That’s what a racing simulator does, and it’ll keep you from shipping that race car project you’ve spent countless hours on and don’t want to count dollars on right up against a barrier.
Sim racing has exploded since 2020 with that little thing called COVID keeping us locked inside our homes for what seemed like decades.
With travel limited to only essential trips to the supermarket and visiting loved ones, the idea of hopping on a plane and heading to the Nurburgring in Germany, the Suzuka circuit in Japan or the Laguna Seca circuit in the United States would still be just that: an idea.
A racing simulation setup was a way to bring that driving experience into the living room or den.
There’s no need to worry about accident repair bills, gas, licenses or speeding tickets – it’s as easy as turning on a PC, jumping into your favorite game and driving off into the distance.
And if you can see the appeal, you’re not the only one.
At the beginning of 2019, iRacing, one of the leading racing simulation video games, had around 5,000 members, but it grew to almost 40,000 in April 2020, an increase of 800 percent.
While those numbers began to fade as the world opened up again, even at the end of last year, there were still about 17,000 healthy players still jumping in line for a quick ‘blat’ on a track.
Similarly, Assetto Corsa, another popular racing video game, reached a peak player count of just 20,000 just three months ago.
Even forgetting these stylish games that fit into expensive and demanding racing simulator setups, Sony’s PlayStation Gran Turismo 7 was released in 2022 and has since sold around six million copies worldwide.
Likewise, Microsoft Forza Motorsports The series is available on Xbox and PC to cater to racing fans and just released a new title late last year.
It is clear that there is a very large market for racing video games and racing simulators to enhance the experience.
In fact, the racing simulator market was valued at around $480 million last year and is expected to grow to more than $500 million by the end of 2024.
But what exactly is driving this growth? The answer is electronic sports.
Some might balk at the idea of calling video games a sport, and one of my college professors definitely did, but the esports market is expected to reach a revenue figure of $4.3 billion this year with a combination of sponsorships, advertising, betting, streaming, merchandising and more.
Dota 2, Counter-Strike, and Fortnite may grab all the headlines in the esports space, but the audience and appetite for sim racing is growing and can teach you legitimately transferable skills that you can take to the track.
Just last year, the Grand Tourism The film told the real-life story of Jann Mardenborough, who won an online racing video game competition, turned professional with Nissan and then raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and competed in Super GT, Super Formula and the Championship. FIA World Cup. Endurance championship.
So do you still think video games are for kids?
What do I need to enter sim racing?
So what exactly do you need to prepare for sim racing? Obviously there are the wheels, the pedals and the seat, but arguably the most important piece of hardware is the PC, to which everything connects and must be robust enough to run the video games.
It is the driving force of all this if you take the metaphor.
And just like an engine that requires pistons, cylinders, a block, cooling, exhaust control, wiring and more to make sure it literally runs like a well-oiled machine, a PC also needs a CPU, a graphics card, memory, a SSD, cooling and more.
We’re not expert PC builders, so rather than try to build this from scratch, we turned to Aftershock PC Australia, a custom PC builder, to pick out the components we need to get our sim rig up and running.
Speaking to Drive Aftershock PC Australia founder Richard Noble explained the most crucial parts to consider when building a simulation rig: a graphics card that’s robust enough to run the gaming software you want, as well as having enough inputs for controls like a steering wheel and pedal.
“The heart of that simulation platform is the PC that powers it and some of the games, some of the monitors, require a lot of power to get that full experience from all of that,” he said.
“Some of the key things you need, besides PC power, are to make sure your graphics card has enough ports for monitors if you have multiple monitors in your setup.
“The motherboard needs to have enough USB ports to allow for the pedals and the steering wheel, the keyboard, the mouse, the seat and everything else.
“These are the three most important things you’d need if you’re getting a PC to use with a simulation rig.”
Noble also said that running a setup with an ultra-wide screen that wraps around the driver is also a useful feature to aid immersion and enhance the simulation experience.
“The monitor is undoubtedly something that greatly improves the experience,” he said.
“If you try to race on a single 27-inch flat-screen monitor and have a full racing simulation rig, then you’re really going to miss out on the experience.
“If I had to choose one thing, don’t skimp on a decent monitor and a PC that can run that monitor and the game.”
For reference, we end up with these components.
CPUAMD Ryzen 7 5700X
MotherboardGigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2
RAM32GB DDR4
GPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16GB graphics card
SSDLexar NM710 2TB SSD
Show3x Dell 27-inch 1440p
Frame/seatTrak Racer Alpine Racing TRX
Steering wheelSimucube Valo GT-23 wheelbase
PedalsSimucube ActivePedal, accelerator, and motherboard
In addition to the PC, there is also a steering wheel and pedals from Simucube, as well as a seat and frame from Trak Racer, which is also the same brand that professional racing drivers use in their home setups.
In total, we estimate our office setup will cost between $10,000 and $12,000, but of course, the sky is the limit when it comes to components.
It’s a pretty serious setup because here in Drive we take racing very seriously.
And you might be thinking that, as automotive journalists, we’re pretty handy behind the wheel of a race car… but the reality may surprise you.
We’ll be setting up accounts for iRacing, Asetto Corsa, Forza Motorsport, and Gran Turismo 7 in the coming days and setting the pace with lap times on some of the best circuits in the world.
Add our account and send us videos if you can beat our times, get in touch, tell us what kind of setup you use at home and let’s start a friendly rivalry.
Do you think you can beat a motor journalist in a race? Well, now is your chance to prove it. The charge What do you need for a sim racing setup? appeared first on Drive.
