Are sims and rigs getting close to real? (1 Viewer)

[Born2BSlow]

Hi guys, as I get older and have more disposal income but less time, I've done more and track experience type stuff. Open wheelers at Silverstone, a bit of drifting, Palmersports (because someone else paid twice lol), did a Ginetta taster on the full Silverstone GP circuit and had a blast in a Radical while I was at it, sadly defunct VXR experience at Thruxton and Oulton. I even went halves on an mx-5 track toy with a mate but only used it once at Silverstone before finding out the rust wouldn't hold it together any longer. Granted none of this is serious track time investment, and I do love track driving so much more than fast road driving (I've gotten sensible and recognise that this is far too dangerous nowadays). I don't have the spare time or the money to do this seriously or regularly, even though I'd love to.

Although I enjoy real track time, I find I get so much more enjoyment from ny rig at home for less outlay. I have my PC with either triple monitor (rarely used now) or VR, my T500rs and gt omega rig, bass shakers, I'm only lacking motion to be honest (I have a cunning plan).

So my question for discussion is, are we reaching a point where modern sims and hardware are good enough that we're not missing all that much? Can you put a figure on it say 75% of the experience?

I honestly feel Sim racing has made me a better track driver bar the common sim racer aflliction of not braking hard enough and coasting....

Opinions?

 

[Cluck]

The things that a sim-rig at home will never replicated (at least, I don't believe they will in my lifetime) are the forces your body experiences, the physical exertion and the noise. In terms of visuals and steering feel, those are only a matter of time. Audio fidelity will get us close but we won't have, in the home, the sheer ferocity of noise that you get at a racetrack.

Then there's the fear aspect. Unless a game dares to make us pay (not in actual money, but in some game form) for our accidents, we will still attack tracks in-game in a wholly unrealistic manner. It would be a brave developer to make that move though, as one careless slip could wreck a car that you've spent weeks playing to build up.

How close are we to the real experience? I would venture a guess at 25% at most. I hate to keep banging on about it but, if you've experienced the Paddock Hill "whoooompf" compression, you'll know what I'm on about.

The negatives aside, we live in a quite marvellous time for sim-racing. There is equipment out there that can get closer than ever before. From wheels that generate incredible forces, pedals that use real hydraulic fluid, to full-motion rigs, the hardware is definitely a big step-up from 10 years ago. VR puts us "in the seat" like nothing else. The graphics and audio are also getting very close, with all the various conditions you could possibly experience on a race track.

Given the choice, though, between sitting at home or taking a car to a track, I'd pick real track-time every day of the week. Part of me still wishes I had held on to my 200SX, for trackdays alone, but the cost was just silly. £1000 a year just to have it sat on my drive. Factor in tyres, brake pads, oil, fuel (dear god, the fuel cost these days ), the trackday cost itself, and it's a very expensive hobby. For that, I'm fairly grateful that I can recreate a small part of that experience, from the comfort of my own home, for very little cost .