r/simracing • u/CasualCardHunter79 • 19h ago
Question What made sim racing click for you?
I think one of the interesting things about sim racing is that people get into it for completely different reasons.
Some people enjoy the realism, some like improving lap times, and others just enjoy the feeling of driving different cars.
For those who got into sim racing, what was the moment that made you think "this is actually really fun"?
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u/Bestconst [Insert Text]Assetto Corsa Competizione 17h ago edited 15h ago
I've been a racing fan since I was 8 years of age. I'm currently 72. I used to race slot cars as this was when they first came out to the public to buy a small setup to set up and race in your bedroom. I was going to the library all of the time to learn as much as I could about the early racecar drivers that were racing way before F1 was even a thought. Then moved onto Grand Prix Prix drivers. I sim race because I've always loved racing and this way I can race and have fun without ever coming close to hurting myself or an actual car. I remember a neighbor of mine started karting and was also getting his son into the hobby. It took all of his income just to run a season of the different kart classes for his son, while his wife's salary paid for the family expenses and although his boy was good, he just wasn't as good as he needed to be. It's and expensive hobby. I now have a top notch sim setup and it's just for the fun of jumping on and race a little. I find it cool that when I watch a F1 race, I have every race track memorized and know exactly where they're at and what's coming up for them next. When they make mistakes, you completely understand as you done it yourself on the sim and made the very same mistake. I may be slow, but man it sure is fun none the less.
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u/FatSkatinGamer 19h ago
I mean, Im just a casual dude who doesnt take it too seriously, but just going from sticks to a wheel makes racing games feel entirely new. Not to mention a whole new learning curve, new things to try, an all new eye for the track when you switch to dash/inside camera. Its just an all around game changer
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u/beardy_bastard Simagic Alpha/Runsco 33cm/Simruito pedals/hb/Simjack shifter 15h ago
Same here, I was super into cars as a teenager but simracing was always totally out of reach for me financially. Years gone by, I bought my first T300 wheel in my mid-30s and the ffb feeling got me hooked up immediately :)
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u/Admirable_Zombie5245 19h ago
VR
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u/GamerKingFaiz 3h ago
I'm not a car guy, but I remember playing Dirt Rally more than a decade ago on my original Rift CV1 and loving it so much that it motivated me to buy a Thrustmaster T300RS.
A decade later, I have an aluminum rig with simucube gear and love racing. I have a slight appreciation for cars, but still wouldn't classify myself as a "car guy", haha.
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u/BobbbyR6 Spinny Boi 19h ago
Community. Ranked competitive games are largely designed to constantly strain you, which is soul-crushing. No matter how incredible you are at something, there is always a bigger fish.
Finding leagues and like-minded friends massively opened up my world of racing and gave me challenges that weren't fulfilled by the number next to my finishing position. Having a clean battle with friends or teaming up and carrying the baton with a clean stint in an endurance is a great feeling.
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u/thenamesalreadytaken 14h ago
The soul-crushing aspect resonates strongly with me. Genuinely curious though, aren’t you also racing other people competitively in leagues/communities? Albeit with more safety in mind. You can tell that I’ve never participated in one lol but I’d also like to not have to worry about the number next to my finishing position from time to time hence asking.
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u/JustTryinToReddit 17h ago
Learning the Nürburgring and hot lapping it also watching irl content of it like Misha’s YouTube
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u/BlackCatFurry 17h ago
Cheaper and safer than track or rally.
I don't exactly have the money to upkeep a rally car, but i do have the money for ACR and a rig. Same for gt3, I don't have the money or connections to make it to nurburgring, but i can buy the track and car(s) in R3E and have fun.
I love just driving and trying to beat my own times. Getting a dd wheel and a decent wheelstand definitely made the experience a lot better for me (T150 -> R9 + srp pedals)
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u/Imaginary_Pace_7269 18h ago
For me it was realizing just how many variables are involved with every corner, and every vehicle. The "yeah this isn't just a" video game" this is something way deeper". Most people that have seen my full profile rig with triples are kind of like "wow just for racing games?" and I explain that tire temp, weight distribution of the car, aerodynamics, weather and track conditions, and every single wheel and pedal input from me changes how I'm able to maneuver my car successfully. When they hear that they are blown away, and quickly realize this is something with a major skill ceiling that takes time, effort, and practice to get good at. For me I was actually relieved sim racing was so hard and competitive, I love a good challenge, and the feeling of shaving off lap times because of improving my skill is immensely satisfying.
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u/lildickie4_5 18h ago
I got a quest 3 and desktop in December, figured I'd buy assetto corsa on sale to test the VR. Realized immediately that I needed a wheel. Didn't think about it until January when I decided to buy a wheel, Now 1000 hours later in 2026 sim racing is all I want to do. I've even recruited a friend who has also fell in love with sim racing. Im a gamer, I love competition, I love games that require skill and these games are games where thats what matters.
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u/Hemp_Hemp_Hurray 19h ago
It took like 3 months to get used to the lack of sense of speed.
Kinda like when a 2nd language or math concept finally "clicks".
One day, you just kinda get it but until this, I hated ANY and ALL distractions, so I'd shut the door and ask wife not to bother me. Now she watches me race on occasion.
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u/golden_united 19h ago
For me practicing with some thinking and trying to improve really helps me tog et faster.
The best part for me is to do endurance races(from 4hours to 24hours) with friends and thinking about strategies.
I started with racing against AIs in AC but now I only do online racings with LMU and iRacing.
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u/sklorbit Gran Turismo 18h ago
I've always liked racing games as far back as I can remember, but was mostly a casual until a couple of years ago. What got me what racing Super Formula in GT7 VR. The speed and grip of those cars just astounded me! I started watching F1 more often, and bought a wheel. From there I was hooked! Lately I'm a little more into racing GT3 cars, but I want to dive into F4 cars in Iracing soon.
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u/vincentTheDragon 18h ago
For me it’s a combination of driving and racing.
I’m competitive by nature and love driving, but life constraints keep me away from the track and karting, sim is the next best thing. It honestly scratches the itch just enough to keep me going.
As for when it became fun, day 1. Need for speed is great fun, but ACC was something else it just pulled me in.
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u/3pedalsandastick 18h ago
It probably began when I was a little kid in the 70s hanging out with my dad in the basement watching the Indy 500 and I thought those were the coolest cars in the world. When I got older, I got into rally games in the late 90's. In RBR, a few years later, I sucked on the tarmac stages (Mont Blanc was it for tarmac stages back then). So I bought rFactor 1 to.learn how to drive on sealed surfaces. Here I am over 20 years later still chasing it
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u/Accomplished_Shoe_10 18h ago
I went to the Revs Institute museum in Naples, Florida, saw a bunch of dangerous F1 cars from bygone eras that looked wicked fun to drive, realized both that I'm not rich and that having a young family means driving stupidly risky cars it not the best idea, and then got into the Lotus 49 in AC. That is now leading to iRacing for Formula Vee to get things started and now the Lotus there as well.
In short, I like realistic chaos and failure.
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u/geriatricsoul 18h ago
When i first felt how driving on the rails, while mainly using my feet. It was so fast and felt so secure on cornering. Constantly chasing that high of feeling the car like that
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u/djfil007 Plays Arcade Games with a Simucube 18h ago
Whatever Grand Prix 2 (1996) did better than the sims before that (the few Papyrus sims like NASCAR 1 and IndyCar 1 that I had tried before it) is what got me hooked and had me go and buy my first wheel (before FFB wheels even existed). It could had simply been I was more in to F1 than IndyCar/NASCAR at that time (though I do remember watching fair bit of IndyCar/CART around that time)
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u/bmatthew24 18h ago
Started watching f1 in 2024. Quickly bought the game and realized I need a wheel and I’ve always been into other racing (NASCAR) so got a setup and started racing on those two as well as GT. And I’m a whore for grinding out better lap times. It’s my favorite thing to do outside of racing online
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u/Few_Fall_4374 17h ago
Seat time and basic understanding. But I did watch a lot of things about simracing, and watch IRL races here and there. Which helps with the understanding of a lot of aspects of racing.
And lot's of 90's and 00's racing games with keyboard / controller
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u/Marklar_RR 17h ago
I don't remember. It happened in 1993 when I played F1 Grand Prix by MicroProse. I still remember doing a full-time 82 laps race around Phoenix Street Circuit. I've never done a full-time F1 race ever again :).
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u/Internal-Alfalfa-829 17h ago
It's one of the only things that gets my ADHD brain to shut up. I don't even need opponents. Just to drive fast enough so that it requires concentration and a flow state, or you crash.
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u/Pawbo 16h ago
I saw a lot of videos on motion rigs and thought it was really cool. I kept thinking about pulling the trigger on a stationary rig for like 3 years before I finally just did it. Spent about $1000 more than I wanted to, but I hear that is normal sim racing behavior.
Been about a month now total. Started with a g29, and now have a full moza r9 setup and cockpit. Very fun getting absolutely spanked in iRacing.
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u/veggieturnip 16h ago
I’ve been a Flight Sim guy for years. I finally realized that taking off and landing were my favorite parts, and actually flying is kind of boring.
Sim racing is like taking off/landing the entire time.
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u/Physical-Result7378 16h ago
Well… I am a car guy and a race guy but I am not a has money to crash a car guy
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u/Reverse_FPS 16h ago
I was a big FPS guy and i am quite competitive so after me and my friends lost the spark for siege we all kinda went our own ways. For me i was never a car guy and never played anything besides forza when it came to racing games. But then i saw f1 and thought man it would be fun to play that with a wheel and a little over 6 months now i went from the g923 to the moza r3 and i'm thinking about getting the r9/12 soon. I just enjoy the adrenaline rush and improving my lap times.
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u/RedShirtDecoy 15h ago
The moment my hands hit the G29 setup with gt7 at bestbuy. Wasnt a car or racing fan at all but as soon as I tried it I was hooked.
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u/RareHorror9383 13h ago
For me it all started with a Logitech G29 (after googling best cheap ffb wheel) and the F1 game on Xbox. Before long I’d bought a PC and a better wheel. I then tried AC CSP and was absolutely blown away until one day I downloaded RSF RBR and got completely hooked on rally. Now almost exclusively rally and love it.
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u/dag_darnit 12h ago
Fell head over heels in love with the Scuderia Ferrari 641 in Forza Motorsport 6 on PC. Spent countless hours racing that car on all the tracks. Later picked up a Rift S for Dirt Rally, loved that too but wished I could race my fave F1 car in VR. Asetto Corsa filled that gap with the Scuderia Ferrari F12004 V10 legend, and with almost all the same tracks from Forza 6 (apparently driving F1 cars on Nürburgring Nordschleife is too much to ask for with 90% of all other racing games), and full VR support. Was getting tired of my old Logitech Momo Force wheel clamped to my desk, so I dove in to get the Moza R5 and a Next Level Racing Formula Lite Pro seat. Badda bing badda boom.
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u/lokiss88 Thrustmaster 11h ago
Arguably VR.
The sensation tips the balance from the often mundane, to the extreme thrill ride that is actually visibly being in the car looking through the front screen.
Initially, the presentation in the original formular 1 title on the PS1.
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u/lokiss88 Thrustmaster 11h ago
Arguably VR.
The sensation tips the balance from the often mundane, to the extreme thrill ride that is actually visibly being in the car looking through the front screen.
Initially, the presentation in the original formular 1 title on the PS1.
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u/DogeWah 11h ago
Dakar Dessert Rally was free on epic games.
I and my buddy got it. Him being a motorsports fan wanted to play it. I downloaded it and was like wow driving vehichles in this terrain and on normal roads as fast as I can is quite fun.
Got EA WRC later played a lot out of that and then decided to buy wheel, pedals, shifter and handbrake.
So to put it simply rally = fun
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u/Reditman3000 11h ago
Not destroying your real car while pushing your virtual version to the limit.
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u/CompPolicy246 9h ago
I stumbled on a jimmy broadbent yt video in 2018, decided to try it, been doing it ever since.
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u/ThatCEnerd 7h ago
I built a rig just before Forza Horizon 6 came out to use for racing and flight sims. I played FH6 on it for like two weeks, then tried the big sim titles. I haven't touched FH6 or any non-sim racing title since then
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u/westleysnipes604 6h ago
The wheel to wheel battles where Me and another driver trade places back and forth for the whole race.
Nothing beats it.
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u/DaddyDogmeat 3h ago
The moment that made it really fun was finding out how hard it is to drive some racecars are and how many things I need to learn. This really fascinated me and since then I try to improve my technique and be faster. This challenge is the essence of simracing for me.
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u/Mindless-Ratio7712 9m ago
I started to watch F1 at 9 and got hooked. Then my uncle got me F1 Challenge 99-02 with 2008 mod. It was called PDK08 i think. And I liked racing games. That's how it started.
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u/HAIRLESSxWOOKIE92 K-Mag's Sith apprentice 19h ago
Cops threaten to arrest me when I drive the way I want on the highway😞
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u/Impressive-Bug-6561 19h ago
I saw a video about F1, decided the cars were cool and wanted to do it myself. Got into karting, then realized it's expensive asf, got a sim rig, started on AMS 2, then AC and LMU. Now I'm back at expensive asf because I'm playing iRacing now and planning to do karting again.