Sim Racing for Beginners: Everything You Need to Get Started

If you already own a PC, PlayStation, or Xbox, you can start sim racing with a controller today. Pick one car and one track, and learn to put clean laps together.

Once you start shopping for a wheel, terms like force feedback, direct drive, and load cell show up everywhere. Knowing what they mean makes it much easier to buy gear that fits your platform, space, and budget.

The key is to aim for clean, repeatable laps first. Once you can do that, hardware choices become much easier to judge.

What Is Sim Racing?

Sim racing games try to reproduce how a car behaves on track. Brake hard, and the weight moves forward. Ask too much of the tyres and the car starts sliding.

Games such as Forza Horizon use more forgiving handling. A sim asks for more precise braking and steering, so late braking and abrupt inputs cost you more.

While a controller works fine, a wheel and pedals make the car’s reactions easier to feel, which is why most people move to one once they know they enjoy the racing.

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PC or Console?

Use the platform you already own. If you’re buying from scratch, a console is usually the cheaper and quicker route.

PC has a wider choice of sims and hardware. You can run Assetto Corsa mods, mix hardware brands more freely, use triple monitors, and play PC-only sims such as iRacing.

Console hardware needs checking before you buy. The exact wheel, wheelbase, and pedal combination has to support your console. MOZA’s support page, for example, lists no PS4 or PS5 support, while its Xbox support depends on licensed hardware such as the ESX steering wheel.

Game libraries differ, too. Gran Turismo 7 is exclusive to PlayStation. iRacing is PC only, while Le Mans Ultimate’s console release is currently targeted for early to mid 2027.

Wheels, Wheelbases, and Force Feedback

A wheel setup has two main parts: the steering wheel you hold and the wheelbase it attaches to. Entry-level bundles usually sell them together.

The wheelbase contains the motor that creates force feedback, usually shortened to FFB. Force feedback pushes and pulls against your hands as the car moves. You can feel the steering load up through a corner, the front tyres start to slide, or the wheel kicks when you hit a kerb.

Older and cheaper bases use gears or belts to transfer the motor’s force to the steering shaft. They’re perfectly usable for learning, especially if you find a good used setup.

Direct drive removes that gear or belt stage, with the motor driving the steering shaft directly. The response is quicker and more detailed, and direct-drive bases can produce much higher torque.

Wheelbase torque is measured in Nm, or newton metres. Common starter direct-drive bases are around 4 – 8 Nm. Check what your desk, stand, or rig can handle before chasing a stronger base.

Our guide to wheelbase torque goes deeper into what those numbers feel like when you’re driving.

For your first steering wheel, buy a rim your wheelbase officially supports. Lighter rims also tend to suit lower-torque bases better.

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Pedals and Load Cells

Basic pedal sets measure how far you push the brake. Consistent braking means learning roughly the same pedal position each lap.

A load cell measures pressure instead. Most drivers find that easier to repeat, because your legs remember pressure better than they remember distance.

The pedals that came with your wheel are enough to learn on. Load cells earn their money once inconsistent braking starts costing you lap time.

Many load-cell brakes are much stiffer than entry-level pedals. If your chair rolls backwards or the pedal set lifts under braking, secure them before you upgrade.

If you’re deciding where to spend next, our pedals or wheel upgrade guide compares the two.

Cockpits and Rigs

A cockpit, or rig, holds your wheel, pedals, and seat in the same place each time you race.

A desk works with lighter wheelbases. A wheel stand keeps the wheel and pedals fixed and can be moved afterwards. Foldable cockpits add a seat, while steel tube and aluminium profile rigs give stronger wheelbases and stiffer pedals a rigid mount to work with.

Watch what’s shaky while you drive. If the desk flexes, the pedals creep forward, or your chair rolls away under braking, fix that movement before buying more hardware.

Buy for your space too. An aluminium rig is brilliant if you’ve got somewhere to leave it set up but will be a pain if you’re dragging it across the living room every night.

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Monitors, TVs, Ultrawides, Triples, and VR

Whatever screen you already own will do to start. If your TV has game mode, switching it on cuts the delay between your input and what you see on screen.

An ultrawide gives you more view to the left and right than a standard screen. Triples go wider again and make cars alongside you easier to see, but they need more space and more graphics power. Our triples vs ultrawide guide covers the trade-offs.

VR tracks your head movement, so you can look into corners and towards cars beside you. Motion sickness varies a lot between people, so borrow a headset first if you can.

Triple-screen support is mainly a PC feature. PS5 owners can race Gran Turismo 7 in PS VR2, including online multiplayer.

For a first setup, get the screen close enough to fill a useful part of your view and place it at a height that doesn’t leave you craning your neck.

Three Levels of Sim Racing Setup

Use these as rough reference points for what belongs in your setup now and what can wait.

Move up when you can point to something your current setup is stopping you from doing.

Which Sim Should You Start With?

Choose from what your platform supports, then pick the type of racing you fancy.

On PlayStation, Gran Turismo 7 is an easy place to begin. Its licence tests and Circuit Experiences teach tracks and basic techniques a few corners at a time.

Xbox has fewer dedicated sims. Forza Motorsport still runs, and its servers remain active, though Turn 10 stopped adding new cars, tracks, and features after 2025. Assetto Corsa Competizione is another option if GT3 racing appeals to you.

PC has the widest choice. RaceRoom is free to download with a small selection of cars and tracks included. iRacing builds its multiplayer around licence classes, scheduled races, and organised competition.

Assetto Corsa, Automobilista 2, Assetto Corsa EVO, and Le Mans Ultimate are also worth a look once you know what you enjoy driving.

Choosing Your First Car and Track

Pick a car slow enough to show you your mistakes. Mazda MX-5s, Toyota GR86s, and other lower-powered cars are good first choices because you get more time to notice late braking, rushed steering, and poor exits.

Fast single-seaters and prototypes give you much less time to catch a mistake. Save them until you can string clean laps together.

Do the same with the circuit. Pick one short track with clear braking references and stay there for a few sessions. Tsukuba in Gran Turismo 7 and Brands Hatch in ACC are both manageable choices. On iRacing, Lime Rock Park pairs well with the Mazda MX-5 and is short enough to learn quickly.

Stick with the same car and track until you know where you brake, turn in, and get back on the throttle.

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Racing Lines and Braking Points

The basic racing line starts wide, moves towards the inside at the apex, then opens back out towards the edge of the track on exit. The apex is the point where you’re closest to the inside of the corner.

Use the available track width. If you’re leaving half a car width unused on entry or exit, you’re making the corner tighter for yourself.

Your braking point is a fixed reference that tells you when to brake. Distance boards, the start of a kerb, and changes in the barrier all work. Avoid shadows or anything that moves.

Use the same braking reference for a few laps. If you’re still braking when you reach your turn-in point, move it earlier. If the car is settled long before you need to turn, move it later.

Change it by 5 or 10 metres at a time so you can tell what worked.

On corners leading onto a long straight, leave enough margin on entry to get back on the throttle cleanly. Driver61’s racing line tutorial covers the corner in more detail.

Starting Online Racing

Get comfortable running clean laps around other cars before you worry about finishing on the podium.

When you’re following another car into a braking zone, leave more room than you would on an empty track. You have less time to react, and the car ahead may hide the braking marker you normally use.

Give yourself extra space on the first lap. The field is bunched up, so the braking point you used alone in practice may be too late in traffic.

Practise starts and close racing against AI if your sim supports it. On iRacing, Ghost Racing lets you drive in a live session where the other racers can’t see or hit you. Ghost laps don’t affect Safety Rating or iRating.

When you enter a race, finish it. A clean 12th place teaches you more than three frantic corners followed by a tow back to the pits.

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What Should You Upgrade Later?

Upgrade when you can name the problem your current setup is causing.

Braking that still varies after plenty of practice can justify better pedals. For visibility problems, check your field of view first; a wider display comes next if you still can’t see enough around the car.

A stronger wheelbase is easier to justify once your force-feedback settings are right and you still want more force or detail. Movement under steering or braking points back to the rig.

Where to Go From Here

The type of racing you stick with will change what you care about in your setup. Endurance racing makes seat comfort hard to ignore. Close online racing makes side visibility more useful. Rally may send you looking for a shifter or handbrake.

If you want to try a rig before choosing one, SimStaff rents and sells full simulators and runs free consultations to help match the setup to your space, platform, and budget.