NEW MANOEUVRES

Building a dedicated sim racing space in an average family house

- Phil Iwaniuk

The problem with sim racing isn’t that it’s not fun enough. No PC gamer with even a fleeting regard for suspension stiffness has done a few laps in a sim with a good direct drive wheel and said to themselves,

“Well that was boring. On with my life”. If you don’t believe me, watch someone try a sim racing rig for the very first time – whether they ordinarily play games or not, the grin that takes over their face when they get up to speed is life-affirming.

No, the problem is that the hardware and space requirements are really high. Similar to VR, it’s a big financial investment that you need to find a dedicated space in your house for, and while VR at least offers a range of genres and experiences beyond gaming, the same can’t be said about that £1,000 Fanatec gearstick you just bought.

This has been an ongoing knot in my mind for years. I love sim racing, but I can never quite arrive on a setup that satisfies me. I’ve tried to make it work with just a gamepad and a clenched jaw, hoping I’d be able to render the whole wheel and pedals thing unnecessary with my sheer precision and record-setting pace with a pad. I was wrong about that.