Is iRacing dangerous?

[Gav Elias]

I have recently got into iRacing and sim racing in general, also playing Assetto Corsa. My question applies to all sims I guess.

Do you think they are potentially dangerous in relation to real life driving?

Now, most people will think of the speed element here, but that is not my issue. I have only been sim driving/racing for a couple of weeks now. However, a couple of days back I did a 4 hour journey back to my hometown in my BMW 1 series. The speed element was not an issue. My concern was one I hadn't anticipated affecting me. That is, most, if not all, sim cars are left hand drive. I live in the UK and drive right hand drive cars. On my journey, I found myself drifting more and more over until my left/passenger side of the car were nearly touching the kerb/hitting drain ditches quite often. I only twigged this was sim driving related when I thought of iRacing randomly when I saw a Mazda MX5 convertible ahead of me. I think, as in sim cars i sit in the left side of the car, that is therefore the side nearest the kerb. When in a real car, sitting on the right of the car, it was like I was subconsciously trying to move myself/my seating position over to be closer to the kerb. It was odd. And clearly dangerous as well as would result in wrecking the side of my car if I drifted over too much!

I was just wondering if anybody else has any similar side effects/stories from sim racing and got any 'cures'? Any iRacing/Assetto Corsa cars that are right hand drive to feel more natural for some parts of the World?

 

[William Levesque]

I don't even

 

[InsaneOzzie]

Ive been driving for 30+ years and simracing for 15, I live in Australia so right hand drive here too, and as you say most sims have predominantly left hand drive vehicles. By memory I have never suffered any issues related to Simracing creeping into my real driving, this may be due to the fact I had my license for 15yrs before getting into simracing.

I will admit one thing though, I firmly believe that sim racing has improved my awareness and car handling abilities not to mention keeping my reflexes sharp. I think there are many benefits that can be taken from SimRacing and applied to normal road driving.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Yeah I have the same thing just with Battlefield 4, after playing it for so long now I find myself jumping behind cover and spotting enemies when out walking in town.

On a more serious note, if gaming is affecting your real life, stop doing it asap!

 

[xRacF1x]

we often press the pedal as hard and fast as we can, here in the netherlands speed limit is 100 kph, because of simracing i found myself overspeeding to up to 200 kph and more many times. yes it has an influence i think.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

For me it's quite opposite, I used to drive a bit over the limit earlier, nowadays I find myself following the trafficrules to the point. But then I've both grown older (34 atm) and become a father (matters a lot in terms of thinking safety first!), so I guess those have helped too.
But simracing has at least not impacted my IRL driving negatively so far, if anything I would think that I get my kicks from the virtual track and keep IRL driving as a matter of transportation.

 

[Frank]

we often press the pedal as hard and fast as we can, here in the netherlands speed limit is 100 kph, because of simracing i found myself overspeeding to up to 200 kph and more many times. yes it has an influence i think.

I don't think you can blame that on sim racing, it is something you simply do yourself, you have as much control (if not more) as before you started sim racing. It is your choice to press the paddle harder, usually the real races are the more relaxed and aware drivers (also this fact is based on a non excisting theory I just made up, like other things in this thread).

 

[RaceNut]

I think sim-racing has actually helped me to avoid panicking or freezing up in some very scary driving situations. It helped me keep my head in cases where it appeared that crashing was a certainty and somehow, I managed to avoid catastrophe. Of course, I can't proof that - it's just my theory.

Personal computers and software are merely tools. How you choose to use such tools is a personal decision. Blaming the tools makes no sense. It's like blaming traffic for making you angry. It's important to recognize that the traffic doesn't care and the issue is yours to own.

 

[RakeWorm]

I'm brand new to simracing, but I did notice this morning (the day after buying AC) that I started trying to time my acceleration out of a turn in real life, trying to keep the car smooth. Didn't go any faster, though.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

@GlitterBomb thats just the start of it, I reckon you'll be looking for the apex on every corner within 2wks, .

I do

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

mind you don't take the apex with traffic coming your way and realizing too late it is their lane, not yours ...
i would side with kjell, i guess playing a sim makes you rather lose your edge in real life than obtaining one. the little boy in you going "vroom vroom" has already been satisfied, it's the family guy who can now sit behind the real wheel.

 

[Ho3n3r]

Luckily I only drive open wheelers most of the time.

 

[RakeWorm]

Luckily I only drive open wheelers most of the time.

Then you naturally should remove the fenders on your family car and put 12.4's on.

 

[Kevin Ascher]

The only effect sim racing has on my real driving is that I tend to heel and toe every car I get my hands on. Additionally, I probably find exceeding the speed limits (when there is one ) less appealing as I might without sim racing.
To get back to your original question I do not believe that sim racing will mess up your feeling where your car is. It's not as if you always fear you're gonna crash if you sit in the passenger seat, is it?

 

[Gav Elias]

Some flippant answers, predictably, but some interesting observations too. My original question stemmed from having played iRacing and Assetto Corsa a lot over a week or so, including a couple of hours the morning before I made a 4 hour drive along a narrow windy road from South Wales to North Wales (the A470).

I stayed in North Wales for about 4/5 days and had no issues on my journey back, so any effect was obviously short term or didn't appear due to not having played any sims for a few days.

My question came from the curiousity that racing drivers, racing teams and car developers are all moving towards using sims to test their cars and tracks. I assumed, due to them having way more intel and info than me in that area, it was because any skills/lessons learned are transferable and affect real life driving. Granted this is usually for a specific reason, such as an F1 driver using a sim to learn the racing line on a track etc. However, I was just curious whether anybody else has noticed any "side effects" of sim racing. Like some previous posters, I too can definitely say that my awareness and reactions are definitely sharpening in my real life driving.

 

[Blkout]

iRacing is dangerous to your wallet.

 

[Stereo]

iRacing got me checking my mirrors much more frequently, at least partly because it really hammers home that you cannot trust the other drivers around you, if it's possible for them to crash into you then they're not gonna avoid it themselves.


I'm skeptical of it but some people say that focusing farther up the road can help you stay 'in lane'. For me I just need to be aware of how wide my car is at the moment.