Community Question | Your Best Sim Racing Purchase

[MarkR]

Oculus Rift for me too, for all cockpit based games including racing. VTOL VR is my favourite VR innovation where the Oculus controllers allow the player to flip switches, toggle levers and operate touchscreens with realistic hand movements. I look forward to the day when the 'hand controller' element of VR is a simple set of gloves I can use to drive with and operate cockpit switches, that will really add another layer of immersion.

 

[Prutscher]

For sim life

For real life

 

[BorisK]

I changed chair's wheels to this great IKEA's chair's stands. Now I can brake without the risk of crashing into the refrigerator behind my back )

 

[Nick Hill]

I am happy to see many others with the same answer because, for whatever reason, it seems to be a controversial topic and I didn't one to be the first one to (unintentionally) stir the pot...but, for me: VR.

Now, I'll confess, if your wheel and VR broke on the same day and you only had budget for one, you'd replace the wheel first (duh). The VR experience is the icing on top of a large (and expensive!) cake: a gaming PC, a sim you like, decent wheel and pedals, comfortable seating arrangement, etc. But VR has just taken the sim racing experience into a different stratosphere for me. If I was on a fixed budget and choosing between passable gear + VR or nice gear and no VR...give me passable gear + VR 10 times out of 10, please.

Things that I have observed VR to do significantly better than a screen:

1) Ability to sense both relative and absolute speed
2) Ability to perceive both relative and absolute depth and distance
3) Ability to perceive shape and camber of corners
4) Ability to gauge car's position relative to the track
5) Simulating the sensation of the car "following your eyes"
6) Ability to track "situational awareness" when on track with other cars
7) Ability to practice good real-life mirror habits (quick look left/look right on any straight)

What did I have to give up for this? Slightly better resolution. After a few laps in VR for me, that became more like "it will be cool when VR has better resolution". VR makes the driving experience so much more engaging from an overall sensory perspective, I don't have the time (or desire) to nit-pick that I can't quite read that billboard or those trees look grainy or what have you. I have no evidence to back this up, this could just be my brain filling in the gaps for me, but the crispness seems to have improved since I first got VR in Oct 2017. Better drivers/software and graphics cards perhaps? I certainly haven't switched headsets or (knowingly) cranked up any settings. It might be a combination of the two - handling of VR improving plus my brain doing some compensation.

Screen door effect is very real but, honestly, I don't notice it anymore. I'm being serious, I have to work really hard to see that it's there, my brain filters it out as noise.

Motion sickness has never occurred for me. I think that may just be lucky biology/physiology, but my understanding is that very few VR users actually report motion sickness.

Bottom line, VR is a revolutionary step in the sim racing experience. I suspect if you did a well controlled study, you would find the leap in satisfaction from no VR to VR would, for most people, outpace every other enhancement (from upgraded wheel, to triples, to load cells) except for no wheel to wheel. No motion to motion might also give VR a run for it's money, but motion is also several times more expensive than VR (last I checked, at least) so you have that to factor in. And I would personally have to budget for GOOD motion simulation. I tried one out last year that was so crude and clumsy that I found it to be distracting. A simple Buttkicker would have blown that particular "motion rig" out of the water for my tastes.

In conclusion, I like VR and encourage anyone who can to try it for themselves.

 

[cr4wl3r0]

From an enjoyment/price ratio point of view, my best purchase was Simhub. With this wonderful piece of software I discovered that ffb is not only the one provided by the steering wheel, and now I simply can' t imagine playing without my tactile equipment, thas is the second best purchase I made

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Replacing RSeat RS-1 with Sim-lab P1-X. Only regret is waiting for so long.

 

[Johnny Ackerman]

In 2020, the list of accessories one can purchase to enhance the sim racing experience is near endless - but which item has been your absolute best sim racing purchase during your virtual career?

It could be a PC component (or a console ofc!), a bit of hardware, an app, a game or even some content - the scope of the question is as wide as you wish to make it.

We are lucky to live in a day and age where many things are possible, and immersion of our hobby has really moved to a level we thought practically impossible just a short decade ago.

With such a massive list of variables within our chosen (e)sport, which piece of hardware/software has proven the test of time to be your ultimate best sim racing purchase?

View attachment 364243

My biggest purchase was in 2006, the logitech g25. It took my gplrank down 11 full seconds, and I started winning league championships.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

SimVibe + tactile maybe. Huge improvement to immersion. Or VR. Or the wheel, hard to race without a wheel. Depends

 

[Ruttman98]

Hmmm................. a fewView attachment 368632View attachment 368633View attachment 368634View attachment 368638

We just bought a Secret Labs Omega for our slightly built gaming son for his birthday on May 6. I ordered it back in March with delivery on the "Cookies & Cream" cloth variant initially slated for May 22.

At the time I was also buying a nice AK Racing seat for another of our sons with an early April birthday, and I got some input on quality seats from our gamer. I suggested to both of them that cloth is preferrable to PLA leather and they agreed. When I tried to ask clandestinely about color on the Omega, our gamer son caught on to what I was really asking and has been geeked about getting the Secret Labs chair albeit a bit disappointed with the late May projected arrival.

For my part, I was a bit irked when I saw Secret Labs had charged my credit card long in advance of the seat shipping . . .

I didn't notice a shipping notice in my email from Secret Labs, and the seat arrived earlier this week. I didn't hear the doorbell and it spent some time on our porch in it's black and tan "Cookies & Cream"-themed box clearly branded Secret Labs Omega. I am so happy our son did not see it (and no thieves either!) His throne is here in time for his birthday in four days! A physically big surprise to hide, but it's stashed out of view.

Bottom (no pun intended) line: Shipping times are all over the place from all kinds of vendors given the Covid-19 situation. Some items arriving earlier than expected, while others are taking a little longer. Good on Secret Labs!

 

[Ruttman98]

I want to build my own sim rig with pipes does anyone have some tips

There were plans for making a sim rig from PVC pipe if you search on ISRTV.

 

[Deleted member 6919]

Recently probably my DimSim rim..

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

My old Logitech G25. Insanely cheap for the amount of hours used.

 

[Ensi Ferrum]

DD

 

[Rivvern]

Agree with Live for speed. Was playing all night long.

Other than that i must say my 49inch ultrawide screen. I just race more with a screen than my vr goggles.

 

[Michel Forest]

The first rFactor, a long time ago. It was the game that got me back into simracing after some years away from it.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Replacing RSeat RS-1 with Sim-lab P1-X. Only regret is waiting for so long.

I have to agree that if I had to pick on thing it would by my Sim-Lab P1. Without a solid chassis and LOTS of flexibility my rig would have been stunted.

 

[prepa]

Oculus Rift definitely

 

[Ryno917]

My Rift. Game-changer. Had a bigger positive impact on my experience than the transition from a joystick to a wheel. Seriously.

 

[bpeigne35]

In 2013, I bought a second hand G25 and I felt in love with it for the first time when I got Assetto Corsa.
So rich and relevant driving information aggregated by the software and so good vibration coming through the wheel directly to my hands and head.
Since then, I am sim racing addicted.

 

[Cote Dazur]

oculus rift cv1