Sim Racing on a Budget!

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Sim Racing can be a pretty expensive hobby, basically as expensive as you want it to be. But it really doesn't have to be and for the right price you can get a good experience!

So in this new video for RaceDepartment I decided to talk about my experience with a budget setup and of course some tips to follow that allows you to be fast and consistent.

For instance I would never advice using a normal office chair, simply because you will keep moving around, if you have a pedal set that requires some more force you will be pushed back and it can put you in a position where you need to re-adjust, so I would advice a normal chair that allows you to stay put.

When it comes to the wheel, for myself I use a Thrustmaster T300, with the addition of the Thrustmaster T-LCM pedals. These pedals have the benefit of being spring loaded. The benefit in this is that the brake itself just is much heavier then the standard one you get from Thrustmaster and you can even control it by adding heavier springs with more tension, or make it lighter doing the opposite.

Let us know in the comments below or on Youtube what your budget simulator solution looks like.
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Jermaine Smit
I am a 3D artist and reviewer, this is for my own YouTube channel called Tech by Jermaine but also of course for RaceDepartment as of recently!

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THK84
@Alfred Wayne I just bought a 2nd hand stream deck for a 3rd the new price.
Though at some point I had a cheap car rear view dash cam monitor or whatever it was (in combination with simhub). But yeah, who doesn't have an old phone laying around :)

@Slapped Yeah, the single pole wheelstand was good for a 1st experience, but I have to agree. Still better than a desk though :)
 
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EIF
I used a trusty G27, clamped to my desk for 9 years. Rolling back away from the wheel under braking in my office chair was a real pain.

In 2020 I upgraded to a second hand TS-PC I bought here but still use my original G27 shifter and pedals. Fed up with the desk setup I did splurge on a aluminium rig, opting for the Sim-Lab GT-1 Evo over the much more expensive and overkill P1-X and I'm glad I did. Bolted to that is a car seat from an old Citroen :)

I'm currently researching parts to give my rig a major upgrade with Direct Drive wheelbase and Load cell brakes the priority but I have already had a blast with the modest equipment I've already had.
 
A
Coming from normal gaming, i fell in love with Simracing on PC. I did have some racing "mind" from F1 on PS.
Anyways went from PS controller to:
+ G923
+ Headtracking with Smoothtrack
+ Mods from MVH F1 + Telemetry Display
+ 10€ Slippers from Zara to keep my Chair comfy Chair steady
 
T
Slapped said:
Second hand G29/27 (but check that the pedals aren't spiking) with a second hand Playseat Challenge in front of the TV.

30 seconds to set up and 30 seconds to store.

Around €200 or less and you're sorted.
Click to expand...

And kids, that's how you close a thread in the opening answer. Flawless.
Tough I would cheapen it even more by just mounting a G25 on the desk of your PC, and I would increase the functionality for free by using the smartphone as a simhub racing display.
 
BrunoDSL
It would be interesting to see the same idea but on a sub 100 budget instead. While the whole idea of maybe getting a used Logitech, Thrustmaster wheel or a G29 is interesting, some people don't have access to these or even these are still expensive. Not everyone works on dollars or euros.
 
D
BrunoDSL said:
It would be interesting to see the same idea but on a sub 100 budget instead. While the whole idea of maybe getting a used Logitech, Thrustmaster wheel or a G29 is interesting, some people don't have access to these or even these are still expensive. Not everyone works on dollars or euros.
Click to expand...
As much as I would like to see that happen, it sounds like an impossible task.
 
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O
My budget setup involves compromises in every tier I think. With the dirth of GPUs, I went with an Alienware laptop for the computer, For FF I got that Logitech setup. - the brake is meh but I like it overall so far. I use a Quest 2 instead of 3 monitors for immersion. For the rig I don’t have dedicated spaces so the Playseat Challenge fits the bill very nicely. For future upgrades I may look into a shifter or handbrake - that is, if I find any time outside of tweaking VR for performance.
 
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THK84
Whilst I had the T300RS, a friend of mine had the G29. I don't know if it was confirmation bias or just me being used to my wheelbase. I didn't really like the G29 much.

Just personal opinion, which seems not to be always shared, and is of course perfectly fine.
I would like to see some poles for price ranges on what everybody thinks. Might not be accurate, might not be useful, but I'd find it interesting.
 
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Slapped
THK84 said:
Whilst I had the T300RS, a friend of mine had the G29. I don't know if it was confirmation bias or just me being used to my wheelbase. I didn't really like the G29 much.

Just personal opinion, which seems not to be always shared, and is of course perfectly fine.
I would like to see some poles for price ranges on what everybody thinks. Might not be accurate, might not be useful, but I'd find it interesting.
Click to expand...
I've had both and while I absolutely enjoyed the G29 - it was my first wheel, the T300 was a definite step up in terms of detail, and the extra power didn't go amiss either.

If somebody has the option of getting a T300 in place of a G series wheel for a reasonable price then I would say go for it.

The only caveat with the T300 is that it needs the firmware (V25) that allows for the forced cooling setting - this setting absolutely needs to be activated. It will prevent the motor from losing torque if too hot, or even burning itself out - https://ts.thrustmaster.com/faqs/eng/thr_eng_00156.pdf, You will need a PC to update the firmware however.
 
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THK84
Slapped said:
The only caveat with the T300 is that it needs the firmware (V25) that allows for the forced cooling setting - this setting absolutely needs to be activated. It will prevent the motor from losing torque if too hot, or even burning itself out - https://ts.thrustmaster.com/faqs/eng/thr_eng_00156.pdf, You will need a PC to update the firmware however.
Click to expand...

That's good info, I'll take that into consideration if ever making any recommendations. I can't recall having the issue myself. Though longer sessions rarely happened in warm weather.

I didn't like it, but it wasn't terrible or anything, just I liked the T300. I guess being used to something else + a little difference in detail + limited exposure equals meh :)

A T150 though I would only acquire and get rid of for free xD

Logitech and mostly ThrustMaster seem to be upping their game bit in response to Fanatec, but they're still lacking imo. At least TM has load cell option, curious how the TM DD will turn out.

Meanwhile, at least for entry level DD wheels, we're getting more options fortunately.
 
Peter Kerényi
Slapped said:
I've had both and while I absolutely enjoyed the G29 - it was my first wheel, the T300 was a definite step up in terms of detail, and the extra power didn't go amiss either.

If somebody has the option of getting a T300 in place of a G series wheel for a reasonable price then I would say go for it.

The only caveat with the T300 is that it needs the firmware (V25) that allows for the forced cooling setting - this setting absolutely needs to be activated. It will prevent the motor from losing torque if too hot, or even burning itself out - https://ts.thrustmaster.com/faqs/eng/thr_eng_00156.pdf, You will need a PC to update the firmware however.
Click to expand...
I have been using my T300 since 2015, never overheated, never enabled forced cooling (only tried when swapping fans, it's loud). If one doesn't push the motor too much it absolutely doesn't need to be activated.
 
Slapped
THK84 said:
That's good info, I'll take that into consideration if ever making any recommendations. I can't recall having the issue myself. Though longer sessions rarely happened in warm weather.

I didn't like it, but it wasn't terrible or anything, just I liked the T300. I guess being used to something else + a little difference in detail + limited exposure equals meh :)

A T150 though I would only acquire and get rid of for free xD

Logitech and mostly ThrustMaster seem to be upping their game bit in response to Fanatec, but they're still lacking imo. At least TM has load cell option, curious how the TM DD will turn out.

Meanwhile, at least for entry level DD wheels, we're getting more options fortunately.
Click to expand...
As am I. I just went DD with another ecosystem, but I have a number of Thrustmaster rims that I'd hate to consign to pure decoration, including the unobtainium SF1000 Formula rim.
 
Slapped
Peter Kerényi said:
I have been using my T300 since 2015, never overheated, never enabled forced cooling (only tried when swapping fans, it's loud). If one doesn't push the motor too much it absolutely doesn't need to be activated.
Click to expand...
True, but you know how it goes. People will inevitably set the TM control panel FFB to 100%, and ramp the FFB up in game. This is where the forced cooling mode saves the wheelbase.
 
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THK84
Slapped said:
As am I. I just went DD with another ecosystem, but I have a number of Thrustmaster rims that I'd hate to consign to pure decoration, including the unobtainium SF1000 Formula rim.
Click to expand...

For ThrustMaster I personally found the options lacking compared to Fanatec. I did lightly mod the original rim and bought a 2nd that I converted to a GT3 style rim. Too be fair, I was on a lower budget and found only the F1 rims as a nice extra rim, but too expensive at that time.

But yeah, I'm invested in the Fanatec ecosystem atm. With three rims (+ 1 extra if I count a 2nd rim for the UH). The quick release is nice (though outcompeted by other DD offerings), the other mounting solutions are a bit meh like the TM (at least pre TM DD) ones.
But if in a few years I'd like to up my DD game, I wouldn't mind switching it all out if for instance Moza (or else) has it's offering a bit more fleshed out (with enough affordable options).

Also the fact one of my (1st real defect) Formula V2 rotary dials broke and I was quoted €15.82 + €12.08 shipping for a manufacturing defect was not very confidence inspiring. For that money I might as well just spent a bit more and get three 3rd party aluminum replacement knobs. (for now the glue is holding up fine though)

Anyway, enough rambling. Thanks for your comments in this thread. I feel more informed now.
 
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Dzul
Premium
My first sim-wheel was a Logitech Formula GP (no FFB and toyish pedals) which I used for TOCA2 mostly. Then I got into LFS and I upgraded to a Logitech MOMO Racing (proper FFB for the time but still toyish pedals). Then GTR2 came out and I decided to invest in “proper” gear: Logitech’s G25. What a world of difference it was back then. All those wheels were attached to my desk & chair ‘setup’ coz there were no “proper rigs” back then. I used the G25 until it gave up (encoder wheel issue). I then took leave from our hobby (due to parenthood) so it was not until the pandemic that I jumped back to Simracing and discovered that things had evolved and I decided to catch up.

After a week of ‘desk research' I settled for the T300 (with standard pedals) but I also ordered a connector that allowed me to plug my G25’s pedals to it. I got a discounted Playseat Challenge as well and mounted all the gear on it. That gave me a good year of fun before I started upgrading. But it's a setup that I can recommend for being solid value-for-money, the only drawback is that it's a bit of a mixed bag on hardware (I’ve upgraded all hardware so far but I still keep that setup for when my little one decides to join the grid as well ;)

Now, being this about Simracing on a budget... honestly, you can pretty much start with a Logitech G29/920/923 set (€250 / 2.2 Nm), on a solid desk and a stable (no wheels, no twists) comfy chair. That will give you a good idea if you want to stick to Simracing and upgrade eventually (believe me, that bug will get you :laugh: . If you have a bit more budget you can go for the Thrustmaster T300 RS-GT (€360 / 3.9 Nm) which includes the T3PA pedals. Either set will give you years of good fun which is a solid way to properly start simracing without breaking the bank.

My 2 cents.
 
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Badwheels
What has always cracked me up is the term "budget". No one wants to say "cheap" or "poor" so the term budget is used. If I decided I am not spending more than $7,000.00 on my sim setup, isn't that a " budget"?
But the representation of "budget" is something that costs 1 dollar. :D
 
D
As someone who is strictly in the "no VR, no play" camp (although I have never tried triples, so my opinion may change one day), what are your guys' thoughts on selecting a low-budget VR headset?
 

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