Have Your Say: Why Do You Enjoy Sim Racing?

[Paul Jeffrey]

I assume by the fact you are here at RaceDepartment and reading this article that you enjoy sim racing in your spare time? If so, what is it that attracts you to our virtual sport?

It's getting late here on a Friday night as I write this piece and I've decided to throw this one out to you after having an enjoyable chat with a couple of our RD members over on another thread (taking it off topic while we did it... Ooops sorry!).

It's a pretty simple question, but one anyone rarely asks of late. Why do you enjoy sim racing? What brings you to spend time in our virtual pastime?

Is it the spirit of competition in online races? Do you do it to share a team experience in organised league events? Do you like the thrill of wheeling a selection of virtual cars across loads of different tracks? Do you enjoy just looking at the pretty visuals? Or is it something totally different?

We all do what we do for different reasons, and get different things back from it in return. I'd be more than a little interested to know why you, dear reader, get involved in this wonderful little thing we call sim racing.

Lets have a discussion in the comments below!

 

[kamackeris]

I love the banter on ts we have on AMS.... Really great set of guys on there. Also love being able to do something I can never do in real life. I love the thrill of the race even though I'm normally at the back.

 

[quicksilver384]

great fun, great banter on ts have a great laugh and clean racing. cant beat it.

 

[Filip Carlén]

I can live out my multi-million dollar dreams for less than that. Driving basically any car, on any track around the world, at almost any time, in any weather, alone, or with fake people or with real people. I will never ever drive a F1/WRC/WEC/WRX/etc. car, but with sim racing I can. Simple as that

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

For me it's quite simple but at the same time very hard to explain

I love motorsport, always have and always will. Soon as I was old enough I've been in karts and raced loads of times in many different places against many different drivers, with the odd trophy or two to show for my troubles. Sadly as one does it more and more, the cost just becomes unbelievable and prohibitive to further progression. Then time catches up with you and I found myself with other responsibilities, a family, a home and a difficult job. Matched up with being stupidly tall (6ft 6) and actually having more confidence in my ability behind the wheel than actual ability behind the wheel, Sim Racing was the natural step as the next best thing, from the comfort of my own home.

I love sim racing, really seriously just damn well love it. For me sim racing heaven is to go out in any given sim and have a close to real life experience as his humanly possible given the limitations of the hardware and software available.

I love everything about it, from the feeling of the car, the close racing online against real people, to pounding round the track in search of that elusive final tenth or two. It's awesome.

I'm old enough to remember the days before the internet, or even before decent games (by today's standards) ever existed. I clearly remember playing on our bikes with my mates and pretending to be Nigel Mansell as we raced around a chalk drawn track on the local cul de sac down the road from our house. I remember saying back then how cool would it be if we can race against real people in game that so closely matches its real life equivalent. Well thankfully we live it that day and age now, and it's awesome!

I mean come on, we have a load of seriously good sims to pick from, quality gear to use whilst doing it, organised events where you can even have your own paint scheme and team, racing with your fellow team mates who might even live literally thousands of miles away from where you are - and you share the same car in a 24 hour event!! How massively impressive is that!

No matter how many faults people can find in different games, we truly live in epic times and each and every sim has something, somewhere, for everyone.

I really do feel blessed, and love every minute of it.

Sim racing really is awesome, and I love it !

 

[John Addison]

Miss the competition I used have when I was younger. Love racing and if you have a good grid of smart racers the excitement and adrenalin are great and yes even from the back......lol

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

and yes even from the back......lol

It's even better at the back, that's where all the good racing usually is

I much prefer having a hard battle for a nothing position than planting it on pole and walking away from the rest of the field (well I assume I do, I've never actually put it on pole and walked away from the field to be fair )

 

[Wesley Soares]

What hobby is this that makes us vain with the results? What makes us anxious to get home after a stressful day of work and being able to sit alone in front of a monitor and fidget our imagination and adrenaline? That provides emotions in the tightest disputes and almost brings us to tears in a win, or even in a frustrating defeat. It unites people from all over the world who, even without knowing each other, are respected as professionals within a virtual track, which arouses interest in being kind to those we do not always know, that enables us to know cars, engine sounds and tracks around the world without even leaving our homes. Join an ordinary person and a professional racing star on the same track, in the same championship. Unite people in virtual teams, move websites and blogs, bring many people to the front of the monitor to watch a live broadcast and create small idols, create fans from every corner ... Nothing I've ever known can bring me everything This, except virtual motor racing. So everything and much more I love this e-Sport and every day I'm in love with everything it promotes, from the sound of the engines to the sensation of speed even without moving anything in my room.
It is a passion, every detail, to see the car swaying in front of you and to think that there is someone somewhere in the world behind that virtual car, struggling to keep the car on the track, defending myself from my attack or even attacking me to take my Position, it is emotion, it is dedication ... It is to be able to dream with everything that maybe we can never really feel, but that somehow becomes real when we are running. Racing simulators are not just games, they are simulated realities that move our feelings ... If you still have not convinced yourself with what I have said so far, maybe you have not yet experienced virtual motoring. Join this wonderful community! See you on the tracks all over the world.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

It is to be able to dream with everything that maybe we can never really feel, but that somehow becomes real when we are running. Racing simulators are not just games, they are simulated realities that move our feelings

Exactly this. Beautifully put and totally true Couldn't say it better myself

 

[Wesley Soares]

Exactly this. Beautifully put and totally true Couldn't say it better myself

Thanks man!

 

[tlsmikey]

Two reasons:

1) I love motorsports, engines...anything that makes cool sounds and I'm way too damn poor to be able to afford anything that I really want to hoon around a a track.
2) I apparently enjoy torturing myself by trying to beat others in these meaningless races that I enjoy so much.

 

[Christian Moreau]

I started playing sims in the summer of 2015 when I bought a G27. It was such a rewarding feeling to see myself improve and become more and more consistent. Before 2015, I had only ever played with a controller and boy was I ever missing out. I practiced and practiced and practiced and finally, I was able to put in consistent laps, jump to other cars and have success with them as well. I had a ton of fun teaching myself how to drive.

It didn't take long but things absolutely took off and I don't regret one second of it. I started investing in a bunch of gear, like I said, no regrets. I've met some awesome people along the way, learned quite a bit and just overall having a blast playing all these different games. I love this community and I hope we can continue to grow and have fun together in the future!

Participating in my first big league this year! RDLMS is going to be a blast!

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

I just love how it can bring people together from totally different cultures, who would never meet or engage with each other under normal conditions.

I used to race in a pretty serious endurance league a little while ago with a group of guys from all around the world, and the bond you develop with these people is something totally unique and a thrilling experience. I can honestly say I've made proper friends with those guys, especially my good mate @Matej Lakota who lives in Slovenia and I'm in the UK, yet going sim racing brings you together! It's really quite an exceptional experience to be a part of and something that I feel is really quite underestimated by those who sit on the fringes of the sim racing scene.

Actually a great way to highlight the exact thing I'm trying to convey (and I promise this has just come to me now and wasn't a pre planned plug) is a film one of my former team mates is making about our team from last season. It's an rFactor 2 film following the journey of how a group of totally random, totally different people can get together and go sim racing and form lasting friendships from the simple act of sharing a passion for the sport. The trailer article I wrote a while back can be watched here if you are interested (I'm the bloke with the gloves ).

 

[Peter Stokman]

For me it's quite simple but at the same time very hard to explain

I love motorsport, always have and always will. Soon as I was old enough I've been in karts and raced loads of times in many different places against many different drivers, with the odd trophy or two to show for my troubles. Sadly as one does it more and more, the cost just becomes unbelievable and prohibitive to further progression. Then time catches up with you and I found myself with other responsibilities, a family, a home and a difficult job. Matched up with being stupidly tall (6ft 6) and actually having more confidence in my ability behind the wheel than actual ability behind the wheel, Sim Racing was the natural step as the next best thing, from the comfort of my own home.

I love sim racing, really seriously just damn well love it. For me sim racing heaven is to go out in any given sim and have a close to real life experience as his humanly possible given the limitations of the hardware and software available.

I love everything about it, from the feeling of the car, the close racing online against real people, to pounding round the track in search of that elusive final tenth or two. It's awesome.

I'm old enough to remember the days before the internet, or even before decent games (by today's standards) ever existed. I clearly remember playing on our bikes with my mates and pretending to be Nigel Mansell as we raced around a chalk drawn track on the local cul de sac down the road from our house. I remember saying back then how cool would it be if we can race against real people in game that so closely matches its real life equivalent. Well thankfully we live it that day and age now, and it's awesome!

I mean come on, we have a load of seriously good sims to pick from, quality gear to use whilst doing it, organised events where you can even have your own paint scheme and team, racing with your fellow team mates who might even live literally thousands of miles away from where you are - and you share the same car in a 24 hour event!! How massively impressive is that!

No matter how many faults people can find in different games, we truly live in epic times and each and every sim has something, somewhere, for everyone.

I really do feel blessed, and love every minute of it.

Sim racing really is awesome, and I love it !

you exactly described what i think feel about this but couldnt express

 

[Hygge]

Actually I was never a racing guy. I was more into football and ice hockey. There were some moments when I loved playing a racing game like the first time I tried Colin McRae and the first time I was at a friends house testing it with a force feedback wheel. But what really got me hooked into racing was when a guy at work made me interesed in F1. It was back in 2000 and soon I watched every race, qualifying and practice sessions. Then he introduced me to F1 Challenge and a league with players from all around Sweden and Norway. Soon I spent every single hour practicing and fiddling with setups. Before every real F1 race I spent hours racing the track that was being the event on that actual race weekend. After that I got into GTR2 which made me fall in love with all those great Ferraris, Porsches etc and those games were the ones I enjoyed up until I discovered Assetto Corsa. I remember the first time I drove the Ferrari 458 GT2 and it was the most immersive sensation ever in a racing game. And it still is (even though - as I said in a recent post - I don't like the latest physics update).

I will probably never drive an actual Ferrari or Porsche or less likely an F1 car, but those games have made me understand (in a way at least) what it's like driving an actual super car around the classic circuits like Monza, Imola, Suzuka etc. And every time I watch an episode of Top Gear and they drive a special car I have to make a pause and test that very car in Assetto Corsa just to try to get a little bit of the feeling they experiencing.

And with all the great racing games like AC2, GTR3, Reiza 2017 etc on the horizon I feel there is so much enjoyment still to come.
For a while it felt like GTR2 (and GT Legends) was the last racing games I could fully enjoy but now the future looks brighter than ever.

 

[Youssef Karam]

I'm a third year mechanical engineer student that picked this major just because of one reason, my passion to cars. I'm a person that admires an engineering masterpiece like the F1 car that performs in such a way that you can't not be amazed and in love. So, in order to get the closest experience I can yet afford, I have built a PC that would run any recent racing game on full graphics, got a steering wheel and a VR headset and have the hope that maybe someday I'll get to experience a drive in an F1 car.

 

[Stereo]

It's purposeful machines but still with a healthy scoop of visual design... I just like cars. Sims represent cars better than arcade games cause the devs care more.

 

[james]

I can live out my multi-million dollar dreams for less than that. Driving basically any car, on any track around the world, at almost any time, in any weather, alone, or with fake people or with real people. I will never ever drive a F1/WRC/WEC/WRX/etc. car, but with sim racing I can. Simple as that

Don't forget a beer or two!

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

And every time I watch an episode of Top Gear and they drive a special car I have to make a pause and test that very car in Assetto Corsa just to try to get a little bit of the feeling they experiencing.

And you can do it on the Top Gear Test Track too (and the Grand Tour one) How cool it that

 

[RC45]

Been playing PC based racing and driving games since before Papyrus published Indianapolis 500 in the early 1990's.

They are a cheap way to go racing and track day driving. As compute power increased the realism did as well which has ironically also made the game playing more expensive.

But running 1000 laps in a game like AC is still cheaper than taking my real car to the track - I am not sure buy into the comradieri nonsense people are touting. At a real life race or track day event you don't get to 'team speak' to everyone on the track once you get in your car and leave the pits and I honestly find the social factor distracting and over rated

If I really wanted to interact with real people I would be at the real track LOL - some days you just want to enjoy your lapping and racing in private.