The Best Racing Sims With the Most Realistic Controls

The racing game genre is one of the most expansive and varied in all of gaming, with amazing racing titles of all racing styles, vehicles and levels of realism. For gamers looking for a serious, true-to-life experience finding a game with a believable physics engine that makes controlling your car seem realistic is a priority. Whether you’re a seasoned virtual racer playing on a fully kitted out driving rig or a casual gamer simply looking for something that feels right as you race around the track, here are the top racing sims you should consider.

The Best Racing Sims With the Most Realistic Controls

EA F1

The sport of F1 is on an upswing in popularity in recent years, brought on by the popularity of the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive, and that can make the EA-published annual series an appealing point of entry for racing gamers. On the simulation front, it can be a bit of a mixed bag, with annual changes sometimes making the game feel more realistic, while fans have found others to be a step back. With the release of EA F1 24, there was contention among the fanbase that the latest edition was the latter, with grip being a notable sticking point (get it?).

Even in its best years, EA F1 is not a game that’s likely to stand toe-to-toe with many releases of the series that follow. While elements like vehicle tuning and upgrades over the course of a campaign are present, their implementation takes on the more approachable tone you’d expect of an EA title. While an F1 fan can have a lot of fun and take on a new appreciation of the sport — and sim beginners can enjoy a step away from arcade racers toward more grounded games — serious sim seekers will likely want to look elsewhere.

iRacing

If you’re looking for a more-serious racing sim that lets you take on a career-style approach akin to F1, then the subscription service-based iRacing may be the right choice for you. While the subscription model and DLC-based track and car add-ons can make this an expensive option, the game is a popular choice among racing fans. This is because it not only has an outstanding physics engine that creates a fun and realistic racing feel, but also a realistic approach to the rules of competitive racing.

While many racing games offer the opportunity to play a bit fast and loose with your vehicle to gain an advantage, clean racing is the name of the game in iRacing. The reason for this? The safety-based license system it uses. If you want to remain eligible for more advanced competition, you not only need to earn your spot with your finishing placement, but you have to do so while avoiding costly accidents and track exits which can lower your safety rating. This makes for a racing style that feels as realistic tactically as it does technically.

Assetto Corso

For sim racers looking for a game with an active player base and the option to experience on a variety of courses and cars, Assetto Corso is an excellent option. The game engine has responsive and engaging controls, allowing for gamers with simulation goals in mind to get that realistic feel behind the wheel. While it lacks some of the race-safety protection of a game like iRacing — meaning you can be more exposed to risky driving from other competitors in online races — it can hold its own with the best the genre has to offer in terms of pure driving experience.

Where Assetto Corso really sets itself apart from some of its peers is in the extensive modding community. Not only does this extend to the cars and tracks you race on, but also to mods that improve the overall gaming experience such as more realistic graphics, light cycles, and changing weather to give you the real experience of racing day at the highest level.

Assetto Corso Competizione

While Assetto Corso shines in its variability, Assetto Corso Competizione is a shining example of what a developer can create with a focus and dedication toward one type of racing. Designed to accurately recreate the feel of GT racing, Assetto Corso Competizione is a tailored experience built with the explicit goal of creating as realistic a simulation of GT cars and tracks as possible for the ultimate simulation experience.

A notable distinction between the two games is the engine used to simulate the racing, with Competizione moving off the studio-built engine used in Assetto Corso. Instead, Competizione harnesses the power of the Unreal Engine to allow for a simulation that is fine-tuned to the last detail to make your time behind the wheel feel as real as possible. Throw in the stunning graphics the engine supports, and Assetto Corso Competizione provides a GT racing experience that feels as close to the real thing as you could hope for in the comfort of your own home.

Automobilista 2

If endurance racing is your thing, the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans was brought to Automobilista 2 to add another string to this racing sim’s bow. Already a game where you can try your hand at a variety of racing styles from speedy Formula and GT cars to a throwback to pro racers’ early days with karting, there’s a little bit of everything on offer with this sim.

For dedicated sim racers, of course, a bunch of options isn’t worth much if it doesn’t come with a real world simulation engine backing it up, and Automobilista 2 has succeeded with gamers on that front, accurately bringing in elements like weather and tire wear to make you feel like you’re really behind the wheel. This is particularly true for VR gamers, where Automobilista 2 has carved out a place of honor among the headset-wearing community as one, if not the, most immersive racing sims on the market.

rFactor 2

For many in the sim racing community, rFactor 2 remains a shining example of what a sim racing game could and should be. Designed with the intent of being a valuable tool for real world racing teams, allowing for high tech simulations during car and driver development, the game takes a “no detail too small” approach to replicating wear, handling and feel. With such lofty goals as a frame it’s no surprise that the resulting racing is among the most realistic available. What’s more, the ongoing development of the game has only gotten better looking and better feeling in the years since its release.

The flipside for rFactor 2 comes primarily in the form of its approachability. Unsurprisingly, a system designed for use at the highest levels is not always the easiest to get a hold of with home gaming rigs, and some racing fans find themselves put off by the famously challenging user interface. Still, if your computer can handle it and you can tame the UI difficulties, rFactor 2 is a brilliant option for sim racers.

Project Cars 2

With racing games, it’s often the case that the latest edition is the best edition. But that doesn’t always hold true, especially for fans of the Project Cars sim series. When developers Slightly Mad made the decision to move Project Cars 3 from a sim-focused series to a more traditional racing game, it arrived to a mixed reception to say the least. Fans who had grown to love the series’ commitment to realistic handling and racing were disappointed to discover that Project Cars 3 had taken a more arcade-like approach to its racing rather than the sim-style the sim series had become synonymous with.

That said, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the series’ prior entry, Project Cars 2, remains a tremendously well-liked sim for its realism and fantastic driving simulation. The bad news is that in the modern video game landscape, a game being popular and well-crafted is no reason it can’t be blinked out of existence. And with Project Cars 2 now delisted across digital videogame marketplaces, finding a way to play it (assuming you don’t already own it) will require you to find a secondhand physical copy.

BeamNG

Whether you’ve played BeamNG or not, if you’ve spent any time on any social media platform in the last few years, you’ve likely come across some short form videos from it because BeamNG is the engine behind so many viral video game car destruction videos. With an attention to detail that translates down into breaking vehicles into their many individual parts, BeamNG is the perfect playground for video creators looking to test how vehicles respond in a variety of situations, often one with a great deal of danger and damage.

It’s not just a fun place for playing crash test dummy, however, there’s a satisfying physics engine underneath all those highly faithful recreations of vehicles and their components. For sim gamers looking for a game that handles wonderfully and recreates the feeling of getting behind the wheel and going for a cruise, BeamNG is a great choice. With a thriving modding community to back it up, the roster of vehicles and places to explore only grows, too.

Gran Turismo 7

No discussion of racing sims is complete without considering the series that put the idea of realistic racing simulation on the map, Gran Turismo. In Gran Turismo 7, Sony dropped another racing gem, with the latest game in the series finding a balance between simulation and accessibility.

While Gran Turismo 7 may come with all the flash and style you’d expect from a console racing game, that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a tremendous engine operating under the hood that gives it the realistic feeling fans are looking for. While some in the sim racing community carry reservations about games that put too much focus on making the game handle well for gamepad racers, having a go at GT 7 with a wheel and pedals is still near the top of the pile when it comes to console-ready sim racing experiences.

The sim racing market is more loaded with options than it’s ever been so that racing gamers of all stripes can find the sim that best matches what they’re looking for. What’s your favorite sim and what makes it so great? Let us know!