What I’ve learned in 15 years of simracing

I’ve been simracing for 15 years, and here’s what I’ve learned. Ive started simracing around 2009 and it has been quite an experience. And oh man we haven't reached 100K yet. Over the years Ive bought and reviewed a lot of stuff, but even so as you see, my rig is quite simplified at least when compared to some out there. There are reasons. But first a word from our sponsor, Coach Dave

Let’s talk about something that needs to be said: Realism is bullshit. Not in simracing as a concept, but in how people obsess over it — especially when it comes to building rigs.”

A lot of simracers — especially newer ones — think that throwing money at high-end gear will somehow make them better or bring them closer to ‘real racing’. But the truth is, no matter how many Newton-meters your direct drive wheel has or how expensive your load cell pedals are, you’re still sitting in your office or garage, racing pixels.

You see people on forums and YouTube building these $10,000 setups with motion rigs, triple 49-inch monitors, wind simulators... and yeah, it looks cool, the’re awesome rigs, dont get me wrong, but is it making them faster? More consistent? Not really. More complications more tweaks.

The best simracers I’ve met have simple rigs — a solid wheelbase, decent pedals, and a good monitor or VR. But more importantly, they race. They learn. They practice. That’s where the improvement comes from, not from trying to simulate the exact feel of a GT3 clutch pedal when it goes over a rock at 25Celsius.

Heck, The Real World Isn’t Even Consistent. No sim setup is ever gonna recreate life perfectly with its randomness and chaos. Not even close. Chasing that kind of realism in your rig is like chasing a mirage.

I’ve built my setups to be functional, clean, and comfortable — not overly complex. I try to know where the gear matters, and where it’s just marketing hype. My goal has always been to race, have as little frustration as possible with my gear. Because even when the setups are simple, theres always frustration. Every so often I go through my setup to delete cables and what I dont need.

That leads me to my second point “build for use, not for ego”.

When you’re building a rig, the question you should always be asking is: how am I actually going to use this? Not: how’s it going to look on Instagram? Your rig should work for you — your space, your body, your style of racing. It doesn’t need to be a carbon fiber monument to excess. It needs to be stable, comfortable, and easy to hop into after a long day. If it looks good after that, all the best.

I’ve built a few setups over the last 15 years, and one thing I’ve learned is that focus and utility makes you faster. That means having a rigid frame, a  pedal set that stays consistent during a two-hour stint. A wheelbase that doesn’t overheat after 20 laps because its set to 100% all the time — that stuff makes a difference. No one’s ever crossed the finish line first because of a custom powder-coated monitor mount.

And here’s the other part no one talks about: the more complicated your rig is, the more stuff there is to break, adjust, or get in the way of your racing. Personal,  I don’t want this hobby to become a maintenance job. I want to sit down, power up, and race — not troubleshoot.

A good rig disappears when you’re racing. You’re not thinking about it, you’re not distracted by it, it just works. That’s what you should be building toward. Something that makes it easier for you to focus, practice, and enjoy the experience.

That brings me to something we don’t talk about enough: make yourself comfortable. Seriously. I think a good chunk of my viewers are getting older — so let’s be honest for a second, come closer to the screen. How’s your sciatica doing? Knees holding up? Wrists, shoulders… all good? Let me know in the comments, I genuinely wanna hear it.

A while back, I made a video with some professional drivers talking about brake pedals — it’s still a solid watch if you haven’t seen it. In that video, we kind of busted the myth that a super stiff, zero-travel brake pedal is “more realistic.” There’s way more nuance in a real car than most people realize — and that nuance just doesn’t make it through in a sim. It can’t. Each driver set their brake pedals in different ways, but the consensus was that they did not set the sim brake that stiff and the race brake wasnt really that hard and even so G-Forces helped a lot. So don’t stress about being ultra-precise or obsessive with that stuff. It’s not worth it.

But here’s the important part, if you take anything from this video it should be this — in the race for “more”: more kilos, more Nm, more stiffness, more realism, we forget that all that “realness” comes at a cost. Not just financial, but physical. Just because something is used in a real race car doesn’t mean it belongs in your sim rig. Especially if your knees or back already don’t love you. 

Got knee problems? Ask yourself if that rock-hard brake pedal is helping. Shoulders sore? Maybe that 25Nm wheelbase cranked to 100% isn’t doing you any favors. This stuff has an effect. Comfort isn’t weakness — it’s how you stay in the game longer. Nobody wants to get to their 50s saying “well, my knees are gone, but at least that brake pedal was super rigid”

Use a padded seat and ditch the bucket seat if its too hard on your back. Lower the force feedback. Ditch the ego around “maximum realism” and build something that feels good for you. Think about this: If a keyboard can cause carpal tunnel, imagine what an overpowered wheelbase can do after a couple hours. You’re not in a real race car — and that’s okay. You’re here to enjoy the hobby. So look after yourself.

At the end of the day, the most important thing — the only thing that really matters in simracing — is that you’re having fun. That’s the whole point. Not to impress anyone, not to chase perfection, not to follow whatever the latest trend on YouTube is. (thats my job that I fail constantly at). Just to enjoy the drive.

Drive what you like. Seriously. If you love GT3s, cool — race them. If you’re into old-school touring cars, rally stages, open-wheel, or even some niche mod someone made in 2014 — go for it. There’s no “right” car, no “correct” sim. There’s just what feels good to you. Don’t let the community or the meta or some eSport standard push you into something that doesn’t click for you. The beauty of simracing is that you can do whatever you want. Explore it.

And if you’re not enjoying something? Move around. Try something else. New sim, new car class, different setup, different league, whatever. Don’t get stuck grinding something that feels like a chore just because everyone else is doing it. If you’re not smiling at some point during a session, what’s the point?

I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and the times I remember most clearly — the ones that stuck with me — weren’t about lap times or gear. They were the races that made me laugh, the cars that felt weird and fun, the nights I lost track of time because I was completely in the zone. That’s the good stuff.

So yeah — have fun. Drive what makes you happy. Don’t be afraid to switch things up. This isn’t a job for most, it’s not a competition (unless you want it to be), it’s your time. Make it worth it.

Thanks for watching my Ted Talk.