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Building a Sim: I Just Want to Have Fun!

With the explosive growth of simulator driving for not just training but actual competition, big time dollars and rewards attached, we get more and more questions about how to get started building a simulator setup and specifically, what to get.

Still wondering if simulator driving is really that worth it?  Check out this podcast from Speed Secrets and this video about William Byron – now a driver for Hendricks Motorsports, who didn’t grow up driving karts or cars but rather, simulators.

This can be a complicated space because there are a lot of options.  In this first post, let’s go down one specific path base on what we think is the most important question.

Why do you want a simulator setup?  I just want to have fun!

I want to have fun: Many people simply want to drive some awesome cars and a variety of tracks, without taking things too seriously.  You don’t care or want to bother with dealing with things like tire pressures, spring rates, shock settings, etc.  You want to jump into a simulator, start driving, sliding and maybe even trade some paint with others or barriers, on your own.  Best of all, it’s the cheapest way to get into simulator driving.

My brother and I getting some laps in on Gran Turismo.

Pros:

  • Console-based simulators are generally of super high-quality graphics in the cars and the tracks.
  • The tracks are essentially what they are like in real-life, it’s a great way to learn a track.
  • Tons of cars. Everything from high-performance street cars to Formula 1 cars.
  • The force feedback capabilities of the Fanatec and Thurstmaster lines are great and good, respectively. You will have a generally authentic steering input and feedback experience.
  • A great tool to focus on your getting your eyes to look far ahead and get ahead of what the car is doing.
  • Getting a console is much less expensive than building a gaming PC and the there are some lower cost peripheral options from Fanatec.  See our shopping list below, where you can get started for under $1k USD!

Cons:

  • Relative to iRacing, the quality of online racing against other real people is not great. People complain about getting crashed into at the rookie and lower levels of iRacing but online racing, outside of some of the bigger tournaments on Forza and Gran Turismo can be downright horrible.
  • The physics and tire model are simply not as good as iRacing, RFactor and Assetto Corsa.
  • Limited triple screen options. It is doable to get a triple screen setup but it’s much more complicated and expensive.  A better option would be a large curved screen or virtual reality headset.
  • Aside from the Fanatec Clubsport V2 and newer pedals, the pedal options are not great. Specifically, is the feel from the brake pedal.  Braking is what separates the good from the great and having a realistic and consistent braking feel is critical.  Most of these console game quality pedals have limited resistance and you essentially train your braking based on the position of pedal, not the pressure and feedback from the pedal.
    • There are options to add a rubber bump stop to the brake pedal (of which I did to my Thrustmaster setup) which makes things better but still not as great as some of the high-end PC only brake kits.
  • Quality – this may have improved but just simply the quality of the components is not great. I was using the setup pictured below to really work on my driving, so I was put on hundreds of hours on the components per year.  If I recall correctly, the Thrustmaster steering wheel base lasted just over a year before it just stopped responding one day.  That was when I decided to upgrade to Fanatec and shift to a PC simulator and iRacing.

Example setups:

  • Thrustmaster, Forza and Xbox One: This was my first “simulator” setup going back to 2012 or so. I felt a little intimidated with getting into PC-based stuff, so between a Christmas present from my in-laws, my wife and my own purchases, I had a decent Forza based setup.  I spent hours working on fixed setup time attach competitions, primarily in a Mazda Miata and trying to build the cars I had in the real-world, in the game (Mitsubishi Lancer Evoluiont 9).  All in, this setup cost about $1,200.
    • Total Cost (assumes you already have a TV): $1,428.76 + S/H + Tax w/PlaySeat.  Under $1k w/out Playseat.
      • Xbox One S Forza Motorsport Bundle: $389.99
      • Thrustmaster  VG TMX PRO Wheel, Base and pedals: $321.81
      • Thrustmaster TH8 shifter: $217.96
      • Playseat sim rig: $499
Yes, that is the pedal set taped down to the floor base.
Memories of me working my tail off to move up in the leaderboards.
  • For about a 3-month period I had a Gran Turismo and PS3 setup with a Logitech setup but it wasn’t any better than what I had with Forza so I sold everything off. Total cost was right around the same as the Forza.

Do you have an awesome console based sim set up?  Post some pics in the comments!

Check out future posts on two other paths:

  • I want to get serious about simulator driving: This means you don’t care at all or much about driving in the real-world. You are all-in on simulator driving.
  • I want to use simulators to help me be a better driver in the real world: This means you currently or plan to be driving on track in the real-world and you want a simulator to help with driver and car development