By Last year, I decided to get into racing sims.
I made a starter build a Logitech G29 wheel, a custom Aliexpress H shifter, and made myself a cheap wooden sim rig by myself.
Since then, I’ve been trying to find the right PC racing simulator game for me. I tried many different sim racing games before finally settling down with a couple of games that I enjoy playing daily.
In this list, I’m going to give you a brief summary of my experience with these racing sim games as well as the pros and cons of playing them.
TIP: For serious players, I recommend joining Low Fuel Motorsport (LFM). It’s a platform that allows you to join racing leagues in the racing sim of your choice to compete with other players. It’s the best way to experience online racing.
1. Automobilista 2
Automobilista 2 is the racing sim that I’ve finally settle down with.
This game features the perfect balance of car physics, great graphics, audio, and a wide selection of tracks and cars to choose from.
What made the game most attractive for me is its AI in single player modes. It’s the best AI I’ve experienced in a racing game that works perfectly for offering a good balance of competitiveness and difficulty.
Another plus side of playing AMS2 is that it offers a variety of vehicles for you to race, including GT cars, F1 machines, Carting, and even truck racing.
Right now, Automobilista 2 has a low player count, so finding online races is a bit difficult. But you can use LFM to join a league and find races more easily.
If you’re looking for a racing rim to jump in after a long day for a quick offline race, this is the best option for you.
2. Assetto Corsa Competizione
Before settling down for AMS2, Assetto Corsa Competizione was the game of my choice for online racing.
ACC only features GT racing and it does its job really well by offering very realistic and immersive experience across all types of GT groups.
Joining an online race in ACC is much easier, thanks to its active player base. However, in-game multiplayer is often gets chaotic thanks to hackers and amateur riders. So it’s best to stick to LFM for online racing.
Offline racing with AI is not bad, but not as great as AMS2. Otherwise, the car physics, sounds, and graphics all offer a decent experience in ACC.
3. Le Mans Ultimate
Le Mans Ultimate is the best competitor to ACC and AMS2 right now.
Le Mans Ultimate has a decent player base, great graphics, and impressive physics that makes it one of the best racing sims on Steam.
Unlike the other two competitors, Le Mans Ultimate gets updated often with improvements and content drops. It offers a good selection of cars and tracks, as well as often crowded multiplayer mode.
Similar to ACC, Le Mans Ultimate also uses a drive rating system to rank and match players in multiplayer racing.
Right now, Le Mans Ultimate has more daily active players than both ACC and AMS2.
4. iRacing
iRacing is the go-to choice among professional sim racers as it’s known to have the best physics in the racing sim genre.
iRacing also has an active player base with regular league races and big championships. Even some of the pro real-life racers, like Max Verstappen, often play iRacing as well.
iRacing has outdated graphics, and it’s a heavily monetized game. You have to purchase a subscription just to play the game. And on top of that, you need to buy car expansions to play in different groups.
For those reasons, I don’t play it, and I don’t recommend iRacing to casual players. There are far better racing sims out there at far cheaper one-time price points.
5. Dirt Rally 2.0
When it comes to rally racing sims, you won’t find a better game than Dirt Rally 2.
Dirt Rally 2 is a slightly old game, but it’s not outdated. This game features one of the best physics systems with great graphics and audio.
The tracks, the cars, the weather effects, and the overall immersive experience this game offers are still unmatched.
Dirt Rally 2 doesn’t have a very active player base, but you can still play online to set new records against other players.
6. Assetto Corsa Evo
Assetto Corsa Evo is the first true next-generation racing sim we’ve experienced recently. Even though the game is still in early access, it already shows how it’s ahead of many other titles available today.
Assetto Corsa Evo regularly received updates and features highly realistic graphics, physics, and life-like tracks.
The developers have been releasing massive updates to the game making it even bigger and better with a wide range of cars and more tracks.
Assetto Corsa Evo is still in early access so there’s room to improve. It could get better or worse, depending on the player feedback.
7. Assetto Corsa Rally
Assetto Corsa Rally was a delightful surprise for everyone. Coming from the legendary developers behind the Assetto Corsa franchise, this rally racing game delivers an incredibly realistic experience.
Assetto Corsa Rally is also still in early access and continues to improve with every patch and update. Right now, the game only has a few tracks, cars, and limited race modes available.
However, in terms of graphics and immersiveness, AC Rally delivers beyond expectations.
8. Forza Motorsport
Forza Motorsport is the first sim racing game I’ve played after buying my racing wheel. I thought it would be the perfect racing rim for me. Boy was I wrong!
Of all the sim racing games, Forza Motorsport offers the best single-player career mode with great progression that takes you from the lowest level car classes to the top.
Apart from that, Forza Motorsport falls behind in almost every other aspect.
The car physics in Forza Motorsport is terrible. It feels very rigid and artificial. And the AI is the worst I’ve seen in any racing game. The AI cars just ram into you while sticking to only the racing line.
Online races, however, are often populated with other players, thanks to cross-play between PC and Xbox. But those are sweaty controller players who would do anything to win races, anything!
9. RaceRoom
RaceRoom Racing Experience is a new racing sim launched on Steam as a free-to-play game. At launch, it was riddled with issues, but after a few updates, it’s now in a decent state.
RaceRoom is free-to-play, but with car packs and expansions that you need to buy in order to experience the full game.
The game features ranked multiplayer modes as well as offline racing modes.
Many players have shared their frustrations with this game on Steam reviews, especially with empty race lobbies due to low player counts and constant server issues.
10. Forza Horizon
Forza Horizon 5, or Forza Horizon 6, is another great game you can try out. Even though it’s not exactly a racing sim, Forza Horizon games offer a casual and fun approach to sim racing.
With Forza Horizon, you can jump in for a quick session to roam around the stunning and massive map while driving your favorite cars. With hundreds of cars to choose from, you will always have something new to try out.
Forza Horizon also features competitive online races, and finding active lobbies is not as difficult as in most other racing games.
11. JDM: Japanese Drift Master
This one is for the drift racing fans. I personally haven’t tried this game but it’s one of the highest-rated drift racing games on Steam.
Inspired by the Japanese JDM car culture, this game delivers a very Tokyo Drift-esque experience where you get to buy, build, and customize your own drift cars to race against other players.
The game has its issues but at its affordable price point, you can give it a try without breaking the bank.
12. F1 25
If you’re a fan of F1 games, you should go for any title between F1 21 and F1 23. Those offer the best AI and overall experience.
Unfortunately, those titles are no longer available to purchase. So you’ll have to settle for F1 25, if you don’t want to sail the high seas.
Personally, I play F1 21 because F1 24 and 25 did not work for me. It has issues with the G29 wheel, and there’s no fix for it. Many other players have also reported this issue. If you also have a G29, don’t get this game.
