News & Opinions

Next Level Racing has released a new haptic pad for simulators and there’s been no way to get non-used haptic seat pad for the last 3-4 years. Haptic rumble pads can offer numerous benefits for sim racing enthusiasts. The force feedback provided by these devices can create a much more immersive racing experience by simulating the sensation of driving on different surfaces or feeling the rumble strips. The increased immersion can lead to a more enjoyable and realistic experience for the driver.

The new Active Reset function in iRacing is among the best new additions to the new release for Season 1 of 2023. Active Reset allows a driver to reset their car to a specific location on the track during a race session. This can be useful if the driver has gone off track or has suffered damage that makes it difficult to continue driving. For many years, returning to one’s pit stall was the only reset available to iRacers. Racing enthusiasts can now select specific locations on any circuit in the simulation to return to repeatedly, at least in single player test drive.

Create the pedal feel you’ve always wanted with the new set of sim-racing pedals from SimCube. With the SimCube Active Pedal you can customize brake pressure up to 150kg, pedal travel distance, brake air gap, ABS, traction control, and other effects. Since the SimCube Active Pedal lacks springs or elastomers, changes for travel, sensitivity, brake hardness, different points of clutch bite, and other factors will be made electronically.

Asetek SimSports, a leading manufacturer of high-end sim racing equipment, partnered with Pagani Automobili, known for building legendary super & hypercars, to create a brand-new set of sim racing pedals that are modeled after those used in the rare Huayra R. Asetek SimSports worked with Pagani to produce an almost exact reproduction of the Huayra R’s beautiful art-deco pedal box.

Racing requires commitment, and anything less than 100% commitment is the wrong approach. You need to push all outside distractions away because they are taking your energy and your mental stamina. An old coach of mine used to say “don’t be betwixed and between.” It was a way to say – If you are not sure, bad outcomes are more likely. A better approach is to “Play Fast” – to See and React. Easier said than done when you are entering a corner at triple digits.

Charles Leclerc was recently asked to give his opinion on the realism of racing simulators and said  “I believe it’s maybe even tougher than real life.” 

“Because we have the feelings of the car in real life,” he explained. “Here it’s a lot more mental. We are sitting on a chair so there is not even the G-force we have on a real car. But I’m sweating like crazy. The muscles are not hurting but the concentration and everything I’ve been sweating a lot and it’s very hard. Unbelievably hard.”

Sim Racer Academy member Steven Thomas, along with his Algarve Pro Racing co-drivers James Allen and Rene Binder, won the LMP2 Pro-Am class at this year’s Le Mans 24-Hour race. This is an especially remarkable achievement: Thomas hadn’t driven any kind of car on any type of track 3.5 years ago! He credits the use of a simulator a key to his success.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, the 1996 world champion said: “I wonder whether there’s something about that nature of Formula 1 these days which is helping a younger generation of drivers, because I think they’ve been used to playing computer games. And I think there’s something about the way the cars can be driven. Using different parts of the brain. It’s more to do with the signals they’re getting are more eye to hand, rather than through the seat of their pants, they’re able to respond to what they’re seeing.”

Codemasters has added VR compatibility to the PC version of F1 22. “No VR, No Buy” has been the rallying cry of many sim racing fans when it comes to any racing title. This is the first F1 game to support VR but Codemasters has a history of VR-compatible titles, including Project Cars, the Dirt Rally series, and Toybox Turbos. F1 2020 and F1 2021 were also produced by the Codemasters team based in the United Kingdom.

“We’ve seen some sim racers transfer into real race cars, and actually show promise and talent and skill. I don’t disregard them like they are just kind of couch potatoes playing at home. I think there’s definitely some real skill and effort put into it. So I certainly respect it and I’ll be honest, it has surprised me how good they can be. But the big question is the fear. Can they put the fear aside and know that, OK will that wall hurt or whatever? But from a skill point of view, it’s pretty impressive.”

In sim racing, the word “retirement” has a different meaning than it has in real life. Because so many of sim racings top drivers are still in high school or college, their retirement from the competition is usually simply a step towards adulthood. Another competitor Nathan Lyon, a former Roush Fenway Racing eNASCAR driver, retired at the end of last season to pursue further schooling and prepare for a more traditional career.

Every decade, Porsche drivers make history. Now Porsche welcomes the new Porsche Works Drivers as they write the next chapter of our motorsport legacy. The team itself has been given a new name – the Porsche Coanda eSports Racing Team. The lineup has collected wins and championships at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, VRS GT iRacing World Championship, Porsche eSports Supercup, and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.

Sim Racing is about constantly improving. It’s about controlling your car and taking into account a lot of parameters that you are not thinking about in an arcade racing game, like how much heat/wear you are putting into your tires, racing clean, and not taking dumb risks that will cost you the race.

“To finish first, first you must finish” – Michael Schumacher

In both SimRacing and real-world motorsports, unpredictable weather is a huge factor to wheel to wheel fun! There is no set date for the introduction of wet weather racing but based on development cycle estimates, the update could be ready to launch this summer in 2022. The anticipation of rain in iRacing spurred a bunch of adjustments to the track model all the way back in 2019. This means that wet weather racing development could actually have been started all the way back in 2018.