I searched the forums but didn’t find a simulator thread. I’m looking for advice to meet my goal of learning Virginia International Raceway in a SR3 or SR10 (braking points, corner speeds, etc)
I don’t need the immersive experience of a wheel, pedals, racing seat but I’m not opposed to it either.
Is PC based IRacing hands down the choice or can Forza or Assetto Corsa on PS5/Xbox be viable options?
I use iRacing mostly, and Assetto Corsa for tracks that are not in iRacing. They are very helpful in learning the tracks and getting faster, but there will be small differences in actual braking points and speed through the corners. This is not a bad thing because you still need to learn how to drive a real car at the limit and the only way to do that is to actually exceed the limit in small increments in actual conditions.
There is no SR3 in iRacing (there is an SR8), but for nearly equivalent performance the F2000 matches an SR3 well. I have used F2000 sim top speed at various tracks to select the best gear ratio for my SR3 -- this has always worked well because there is a table in the SR3 owner's manual that suggests the gear ratio based on top speed.
@davidf David, have you posted about your Sim-racing equipment? I'm considering adding sim-racing to my ongoing and ever-increasing list of vices. Getting something that maps decently to my Radical seems the way to go.
It begins with a driving sim cockpit which holds the screen, pedal set, steering wheel, keyboard tray and mouse, and is your seat. There are many choices out there for these components; I feel a good steering wheel with strong and fast feedback force and good pedal set are must-have. I have a curved screen but now I only use a VR headset which feels much more realistic than a screen to me. A gaming box like Xbox or a gaming PC with graphics card completes the system. Some drivers go crazy and get a full motion chassis which I bet is cool but I think is unnecessary because there is sufficient feedback from the wheel, pedals, audio, and visual.
I recommend researching each of the main components of the system by reading reviews and watching reviews on youtube to gain an understanding of the features and prices. I have Next Level Racing F-GT cockpit, Fanatec wheel and pedal set, Valve Index VR headset, and a dedicated gaming PC with a moderately strong graphics card. I purchased the entire sim slightly used for $5000 in 2020; the retail price was $7k for the system, and I imagine one of similar features could be purchased today for about the same amount. It is a little pricey, but I feel it is very worth it for the driving experience that can be gained without leaving your home.
David, thank you for your reply and an even bigger thank you for the VR Headset recomendation. I spent about 6 hours designing my setup and have attached everything I purchased below from Amazon for others to use as a possible mock up. I basically selected the 2nd tier of every product as 90% effectiveness at 50% price is my kind of math.
What I have is a near top of the line computer build and an entry level cockpit designed to fold away. The real expensive builds I’m finding are all about adding realism to the cockpits but the hardware I show below will be one heck of a platform especially if using VR
I wanted a simple XBOX/PS5 couch solution but ultimately decided a full fledged simulator would yield the best results.
Simulation Hardware:$1,500
Collapsable Cockpit: Next Level Racing F-GT Lite Formula and GT Foldable Simulator Cockpit (NLR-S015)
Wheel: Thrustmaster Ferrari SF 1000 Edition Officially Licensed Formula One Wheel Add On (Compatible with XBOX Series X/S, One, PS5, PS4, PC)
Wheel Base: Thrustmaster TS XW Servo Base (XBOX Series X/S, XOne & Windows)
Pedals: Thrustmaster T-LCM Pedals (Compatible with PS5, PS4, XBOX Series X/S, One, PC)
Shifter: Thrustmaster TH8A Gear Shifter (Compatible with PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
Monitor / Headset: $575
I havent purchased this yet as im going to try my 75inch Samsung 4K TV in living room first.
VR Headset: Quest 3 128GB + Elite Strap
PC Gaming Build:$2,200
Building/assembling your PC is an easy way to save $1,000 but you can just buy a built setup aswell.
Click on the link to see all my PC components
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nYjrBL
Total Build: $4,275
This build exceeds the specification requirments of the highest setting for IRacing and the VR Headset. I could have built a setup for 1/2 the price that would probably be all I need but I future proofed if for awhile.
(I had posted Amazon links for everything but they didn't format correctly and I had to remove them)
For those craving an adrenaline rush in the virtual realm, radical racing simulators offer an unparalleled high speed internet packages experience. From high-speed thrills to precision handling, these options push the boundaries of realism, putting players in the driver's seat of their dreams. Get ready to feel the G-forces from the comfort of your own home!
Hey, I might be a bit late to the party on this but to add a couple of things to the good advice you've already received... I'm a little out of touch with the latest products over the last 12 months or so but I would suggest spending a little more on the wheel and pedals. I had the thrustmaster wheel you have noted, but I upgraded to a Simucube Pro direct drive wheel base with a separate wheel and button box. It's a lot more money but almost 100% of your feedback is through the wheel in a sim and a direct drive wheel base is night and day better than the thrustmaster or any other belt driven wheel. The VRS wheel base is supposed to be great, I would have got that but got a great deal on the Simucube second hand. For a car like the radical it makes a big difference as it has the power to replicate the real life forces (just let go of the wheel if you crash or it will hurt!) and it can recreate the level of detail you need to feel when you're driving on the limit. I bought my wheel and button box through Sim Racing Coach, I think that bang-for-buck they are great, and if you race in VR a fancy wheel with screen etc. is pointless. The carbon paddles with magnetic switches feel nicer than most high end real cars... I wish I went wireless though, last big crash I had the wheel ripped out of my hands and as it spun the paddle shifter severed the USB cable... easy repair though.
Pedals are the other one - I still have relatively cheap pedals (fanatec clubsport with the upgraded brake rubber kit) and they're good enough - you can set it up to be hard enough that you have to really stand on it, similar to driving the radical. There are a load of better options for reasonable prices out there now though I think.
I have that shifter you're looking at too... it's fun to use occasionally but more of a 'toy' feeling shifter... just work out if you'll actually use it or just end up using the paddles to shift. I also have a thrustmaster handbrake that can be setup as a sequential shifter which is fun to use.
I agree with David that VR is the best option for immersion and realism, but you do want a beefy GPU/CPU combination to run it with good res. I would get something beefier than a 4070 - perhaps a 3090 or 4080 Super if budget allows. The 4070 will run everything (I still have an old 2080 Super and run VR, just...) but you will be making sacrifices in either frame rate (which you don't want to do) or resolution. The other things that can really contribute to the experience is a good sound system or headphones, and bass shakers. You can get good bass shakers off amazon, these can be run off any cheap hifi amp you can find, and the simhub software is used to set them up. They give you feel for bumps, ripple strips, ABS, wheelspin and engine RPM/limiter. One beefy one mounted on your seat at a minimum, and you can get smaller ones to mount to your brake pedal for ABS if you like too. A motion platform won't make you any quicker but it sure is fun!
Assetto corsa has an official Radical SR3 car which I think is great, and you can download pretty much any track you like for it. I think Race Factor 2 also has a good SR3 model from memory.
Like others have said, it's no substitute for the experience of driving the real thing, but it is a brilliant way to learn the track and get an idea of the handling characteristics of the car.
Happy to answer any questions you might have - sorry if this is all too late!
I searched the forums but didn’t find a simulator thread. I’m looking for advice to meet my goal of learning Virginia International Raceway in a SR3 or SR10 (braking points, corner speeds, etc)
I don’t need the immersive experience of a wheel, pedals, racing seat but I’m not opposed to it either.
Is PC based IRacing hands down the choice or can Forza or Assetto Corsa on PS5/Xbox be viable options?
- if you just want something to simply learn tracks in for real-world practice, then there will be an element of immersion required to make it applicable.
If you just want to learn track layouts, brake points, and not much else, then sure - you can have a very simple setup - a Logitech G29, a PC with mid-range specs, anything from the past 5 years would be more than adequate coupled with an Nvidia 3070 or higher will do. All it will need to run is Assetto Corsa and the official radical SR3 mod, i think it's by URD - https://www.radicalmotorsport.com/news/assetto-corsa
Assetto corsa has a tyre model which actually allows you to drive the car on the limit of the tyre, which iracing doesn't. Rfactor 2 is also an option but also has very sloppy slidey physics which are a bit broken, but that at least also lets you drive the car on/over tyre grip limits.
- i would suggest its worth investing a little more to really make the practice worthwhile so when you get to VIR, the track layout, turn in points, brake points, are just second nature - and you don't have to waste any valuable track time learning these aspects. For this reason I recommend getting a VR setup, a decent PC, and a direct drive force feedback wheel, and pedals which has a load sensor in rather than potentiometer.
VR means you really do experience and see it as you would in reality. You'll then need something like a 12 or 13th gen intel, or AMD 5000 series or higher, and an nvidia 4060 or higher. A meta quest 3 headset will be more than sufficient. There are now plenty of direct drive options out there, you can get something like a Mozo series wheel with say 12nm output under £1k now. I've had my 20nm Simucube type wheel for 9 years now and it still works like new - these things don't break at all, although mine is some industrial servo motor.
You'll be amazed at how closely everything lines up between SIM and reality.
I was at VIR 3 weeks ago for Kaizen's racing school. There were several drivers there who had only seen VIR via simulator. I heard one of them say to the other: "it's freaky how closely the real track matches the sim!". 🙂
@parsonsj shoot me a text 757-773-4070 I’m at VIR every month and will be joining the VIR Club in October
@parsonsj @all if anyone wants to run some practice laps together on IRacing shoot me a text. It’s only $2 to host a 1 hour session together. 757-773-4070
