which racing sim to get

rick fowler

rick fowler

rick fowler

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ok im going back into driving sims again,getting my g25 on tuesday so want to find a decent sim to play,seen a few but bit confused to which one is more better/popular.i have seen rfactor, live for speed.not really want to pay a subscription so iracing is out,so what the better one of the two,i was sliding towards rfactor could i get this second hand in member market? would like your opinions on this game or any other ones that are realistic ect.

i already have dirt2 and nfs-shift on ps3.:D
 
If iRacing is out of the equation I would highly recommend rfactor (can be picked up pretty cheap on aution sites) and sign up at SimRaceway, there are hundreds of cars and tracks to download all with a new one click install, and they have a nice little community with easy to join modded servers (rfactor doesn't make it easy to join modded servers by default, and there are no stock servers).

It's free, but if you go pro for about £3 a month you can grab a free copy of GTR 2, entry into cash prize races, unlimited downloads etc. That's GTR 2 for £3! Can't complain.
 
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Firstly, I know you've discounted it but I urge you to give iRacing a try, there's a promo code on the inracingnews.com website for a 1 month sub for $5, thats like £3, worth a try surely? :p

http://www.inracingnews.com/

3rd banner down on the left hand side.

Anyway, ignoring the obligatory iRacing plug, what about the rest of the sims, basically there are 4 options imo:

Live For Speed,
rFactor,
GTR-Evo (or whatever the latest GTR* is)
netkar Pro

Live For Speed is ok, bit lacking in content, but S3 is coming soon afaik which should be a nice update,

rFactor, the base game is poor imo, there are however a million and one mods/cars/tracks to download (of varying quality), definately needs the 'realfeel' plugin as the first bit though, the stock FF is abysmal,

GTR, never really got on with these, they seem popular though,

netKar Pro, heard very good things about the physics in this, however also heard very bad thinks about the length of time between updates and general development progress...

Personally I'd probably choose rFactor if I didn't want to pay for iRacing, but iRacing is worth every penny (imo :p)
 
thanks for the heads up on the iracing hmm stuck now lol,between rfactor and iracing,basically is rfactor harder to use online then,from above post regarding mods ect,i would just like to turn on and play real sims without to much hassle and setup,apart from tuning the car of course!!

iracing does this include all cars and tracks no extra fees for tracks or owt,from looking at the cars there's not many cars i know of.

so im a bit confused over rfactor online as above post mentioned so there no dedi servers or owt then?

so i would be beter joining the simraceway site will this give me severs for rfactor?

sorry for the questions i just like to make sure i get the right package/deal for my money and not end up wasting on something i could get better.
 
track races mainly,as long as its realstic and fun.car wise touring cars,f1,f2 ect,rally cars.would like to be able to use my clutch pedal as well.
 
iRacing basic subscription comes with just 3 cars (Oval Legends with 2 'levels' of setup adjustment, rookie and advanced. And on the Road side there is the Solstice and Spec Racer Ford which take place of the rookie and advanced cars respectively),

However extra cars and tracks do cost extra, cars are $11.95 and tracks are either $11.95 or $14.95.

Put it this way, if money is a concern to you then iRacing probably isn't for you (although I'd still reccoment doing the $5 trial and giving it a go, the 'free' cars will last you a month easily).

Not played rFactor online, I'm not a fan of the 'public' racing where there are no consequences as you always seem to get arses that just barge you out the way rather than demonstrate some racecraft. Saying that, I don't think rFactor is too much trouble to get playing online, but someone else will know far more on that subject :p
 
I only played one sim I liked: LFS. The handling in FWD cars in it reminds me of my own car too, very similar.

My money would go there... It has a track& car limited demo so try that first.
 
rick fowler said:
thanks for the heads up on the iracing hmm stuck now lol,between rfactor and iracing,basically is rfactor harder to use online then,from above post regarding mods ect,i would just like to turn on and play real sims without to much hassle and setup,apart from tuning the car of course!!

iracing does this include all cars and tracks no extra fees for tracks or owt,from looking at the cars there's not many cars i know of.

so im a bit confused over rfactor online as above post mentioned so there no dedi servers or owt then?

so i would be beter joining the simraceway site will this give me severs for rfactor?

sorry for the questions i just like to make sure i get the right package/deal for my money and not end up wasting on something i could get better.
Click to expand...

Sorry, didn't make it very clear. There are loads of servers out there, but very few of them are running stock content (stock rfactor content is mostly terrible). It's just a bit of a ball ache to get the right cars and tracks. I suggested simraceway because you operate through the hub on the site, when you click join race on one of the servers the SRW client will automatically download the appropriate content, launch the game and throws you into the server. It's just an easy way to get racing online, with marshals, live feeds of the races, prizes and a friendly community.

iRacing is brilliant, but I'm skint atm and it really is quite pricey, I'm finding simraceway the best substitute. There is no need to sub either, it just makes it a bit sweeter.
 
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Nascar 2003.

All the cars/tracks/mods, user made updates.

Small but dedicated multiplayer base, basicaly everything iracing is withought the bells and whistles and ofcourse the cost... being built on the same tech pulling iracing around, made by the same folks n'all.

A ton of touring car, transam mods if thats you're thing.
 
We have a GTR2 league we race every wednesday if you are interested, highly compeditive aswell.
We have our own dedicated server
 
YES,the game does support the use of the clutch.

Regarding which pack to get, it all depends on the type of racing you prefer.

Personally, to start off, I would suggest the GTR evolution complete pack which includes the Nurburgring which is great fun.

If you can afford it, I would suggest the STCC expansion as well just for the tracks and compulsory pit option in races.
 
As a side note, all the expansions merge into the 1 game so you have access to all the content from whatever expansions within the one game so you don't have to launch different games to play different games on different tracks etc if that makes sense.
 
looks like GTR evolution and the stcc pack it is then will get it tuesday and i am glad i can use the clutch pedal as well,as thats what i wanted as well i have orded my g25 wheel and should be with me on tuesday if all is well.
looking forward to getting all this tuesday, if there's anyone out there who could show me the ropes and getting setup with my wheel it be great leave your steam account name ect as i be getting it from there if anyone has it from steam.cheers for all the help its been one hell of a choice to make.
 
Just an heads up..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GTR-Evolution...eo_Games_JS?hash=item3ef6a6212c#ht_2153wt_939

The GTR Evolution pack for £12.99

All you need is the code and then you can activate the product on Steam.

You can then buy the Race On Expansion for £18 from Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/8780/

You have all 4 games for £31.

Race 07
GTR Evolution
STCC
Race On

A great introduction to Sim racing though in my opinion.

Also, checkout http://www.racedepartment.com/

A great community with mature racers and some great races/leagues and the forums are SUPERB for advice.

My Steam nick is Gimpymoo, add me up if you need any help.
 
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I really enjoy playing live for speed, plenty to play about with, decent range of servers. You can play the demo for free. Theres cruise servers too for when you just fancy casually driving around. (Play on these a lot (: )
 
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