Choosing a sim has never been harder. The field has shifted a lot in the past two years: some long-standing titles have stopped receiving updates, others have grown from rough early access into the reference in their category. This guide covers where each major sim stands right now, what it is best at, and who it suits.
iRacing
iRacing remains the reference for structured online racing. Its matchmaking, safety rating and licence progression still have no real equivalent, and races run to a fixed schedule with full grids at almost any hour.
The content is laser scanned throughout and the service runs on a season model, with a new build every quarter. Physics and tyre modelling have improved steadily, and VR support is mature.
The cost is the honest drawback. iRacing works on a subscription plus paid cars and tracks, so a full content library represents a significant investment over time. If ranked online racing is your main reason to sim race, that cost buys something nothing else offers.
Best for: competitive online racing, leagues, esports.
Le Mans Ultimate
Le Mans Ultimate has grown out of a rocky early access period into the definitive multi-class endurance sim. It carries the official FIA World Endurance Championship licence, so the Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 fields, teams and circuits are the real ones, updated each season.
It runs on the rFactor 2 engine, which means the force feedback detail and tyre behaviour that made rFactor 2 respected are still there, now in a modern package with proper multiplayer.
Traffic management and multi-class awareness are a genuinely different skill from single-class racing, and this is the sim that teaches it.
Best for: endurance racing, multi-class traffic, WEC fans.
Assetto Corsa Competizione
ACC is still one of the best GT3 experiences available, with excellent tyre physics, force feedback and a strong sense of weight transfer. The GT World Challenge content remains accurate and the online structure with safety rating works well.
The context has changed, though. Kunos has moved its development focus to Assetto Corsa EVO, so ACC no longer receives significant updates, and Le Mans Ultimate now covers a good share of the same GT3 ground with an active development cycle.
That does not make ACC a bad purchase. It is mature, stable, cheap compared to a subscription, and the driving model holds up. Just buy it knowing it is a finished product rather than a growing one.
Best for: GT3 and GT4 racing at a fixed one-time price.
Assetto Corsa EVO
EVO is the current focus at Kunos and the successor to the original Assetto Corsa. It is still building out its content and features, so judging it as a finished product would be premature, but the driving model and visual step forward are already clear.
Worth watching if you liked the openness of the original Assetto Corsa: road cars, track days, a broad car list rather than a single racing category.
Best for: road and track-day driving, early adopters.
Assetto Corsa (original)
The original is more than a decade old and still relevant for one reason: mods. No other sim has a comparable library of community cars and tracks, and the modern graphics and physics extensions keep it looking and driving far better than its age suggests.
It is also the cheapest way into serious sim racing. If you want to drive something specific, from a historic Group C car to your local circuit, it probably exists here.
Best for: modding, variety, a low-cost start.
Automobilista 2
Automobilista 2 covers ground the others do not: Brazilian categories, historic content, a wide spread of formula cars, and some of the best dynamic weather and track evolution in the genre. The force feedback rewards a well set-up wheelbase.
Online is quieter than iRacing, so treat it as a single-player and league sim rather than a matchmaking platform.
Best for: variety, historic racing, offline and league driving.
rFactor 2
rFactor 2 still feels excellent and holds a licensed content list including Formula E, BTCC and GT3. It is fair to say development has effectively ended, with Studio 397 concentrating on Le Mans Ultimate.
It remains a reasonable purchase if the specific content appeals to you, but for new drivers Le Mans Ultimate is the better entry into the same physics lineage.
Best for: its licensed content, league racing.
Rally
Rally is its own world. Assetto Corsa Rally has been adding laser-scanned stages and is the current growth area. Richard Burns Rally, with community mods, still has a devoted following and is regarded by many as the most demanding stage-rally driving model available. EA Sports WRC and DiRT Rally 2.0 remain accessible, well-presented options.
Note that rally rewards a different setup: a smaller wheel diameter, a handbrake and a sequential shifter matter more than in circuit racing.
BeamNG.drive
Not a racing sim in the usual sense, but worth knowing about. Its soft-body physics simulate deformation, suspension movement and vehicle damage in a way nothing else does, which makes it a favourite for anyone interested in how cars actually behave rather than in lap times.
Console and arcade-leaning titles
Gran Turismo 7 on PlayStation and Forza Motorsport on Xbox and PC both deliver strong presentation and accessible physics, with wheel support and structured online events. The annual F1 titles remain the only official Formula 1 option and are best treated as a licensed racing game rather than a simulator.
These are good entry points, and all of them work with a proper wheel. Check console compatibility before buying hardware, as direct drive wheelbase support differs between PlayStation and Xbox.
Which one should you start with?
If you want ranked online racing and are willing to pay for it, start with iRacing. If you want endurance and multi-class racing, start with Le Mans Ultimate. If you want GT3 at a fixed price, ACC still delivers. If you want to drive everything and spend little, the original Assetto Corsa with mods is unbeatable value.
Most sim racers end up owning several. The physics differ enough that time in one does not fully transfer to another, which is part of the appeal.
The hardware side
Every sim on this list gets noticeably better with a direct drive wheelbase and load cell pedals. The wheel lets you feel exactly what the car is doing, and load cell pedals make your braking far more consistent - which is where most lap time is won or lost.
And if you want to go all the way, active pedals like the Simucube ActivePedal add force feedback to the pedal itself, so you can feel ABS, traction control or a locking brake directly under your foot.
If you are planning an upgrade, our wheelbase and pedal categories cover the current range, and you are welcome to contact us if you want a recommendation for the sims you actually drive.
Simucube Direct Drive Wheelbases: Everything You Need to Know