SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Feature: Sim Racing Tips - Getting the Most Out of Your Virtual Racing Hobby

Quite often we'll see threads in the forums asking for suggestions on a racing controller. While some have had success with joysticks or even keyboard control, most modern racing sims are so demanding that there's no way to truly master them without the use of a quality racing wheel and pedal set. Luckily, unlike high-end HOTAS rigs for flight sims, racing wheels and pedals come as a complete set, requiring only one purchase to get the required gear for the task at hand.

Six years ago, former SimHQ editor "Clutch" DiCosola wrote a racing wheel comparison and offered the observation that force feedback wheels weren't really worth the trouble or expense in racing sims. At the time, the state of the art of Force Feedback code in racing titles, the quality and design of force feedback mechanics and the implementation of force feedback in DirecX were rather immature. With today's hardware and software, that's all a thing of the past. Unlike most flight sims and flight sim controllers, force feedback in today's racing sims is really a must-have for full exploitation of all the physics cues that developers are packing into their products.

As a result, I fully recommend a quality force feedback racing wheel for anyone interested in the sim racing hobby. Due to the small size of the simulation genre, there are a limited selection of racing wheels on the market. Logitech makes several, including the MOMO Racing and the Driving Force Pro. Thrustmaster offers a few, as does Saitek. Do some research, chat up our forums, and find the one that fits your budget and tastes. But do your racing hobby justice and buy yourself a force feedback racing wheel.

Before we leave the subject of controller selection, let me offer one final piece of advice. When in the throes of a hard-fought race, when immersion level is at its peak, always remember that the wheel in your hand, and the pedals at your feet, are made largely of plastic. They aren't attached to a real car, but rather your computer desk. Don't let the excitement of the moment cause you to snap off a shifter paddle, or crack a pedal against its base.

Conclusion

This was a quick and dirty rundown of how to set up your PC workstation, graphics and sound options in order to maximize gaming feedback and performance. We also took a quick look at a few of the wheel and pedal combinations available in the marketplace. As was discussed, setting up your PC for sim racing takes a balance of detail and speed in order to achieve fast, consistent laps.

In Part II we'll discuss in greater detail how to set up your racing wheel for sim driving, as well as how to configure the myriad of controller settings and driving aids available in today's racing simulations.

The GPL Watkins Glen Loop

Part II - Optimizing the Controls is here.
Part III - Optimizing the Driver is here.
Part IV - Learning to Race is here.

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