I Love Racing Games: Can a Controller Hold Its Own Against a Real Car on a Real Racetrack?

The thrill of racing games has always captivated me, but I've often wondered how close they truly are to the real thing when it comes to using a controller. To find out, we set up an incredible racing simulator at Micro Center's Tustin location and put it to the test against an actual car on a real racetrack.

As we began our journey, we were greeted by the fine folks at Micro Center, who have massively improved their selection of sim racing gear. We started with a very basic setup, which was surprisingly impressive, and then worked our way up to something that looked remarkably similar to what you'd find in a high-end racing simulator. The premium bundle on offer was too good a deal to pass up, especially since we're the ones creating the video to review its performance.

With our sim racing gear now set up, I couldn't wait to get started and experience the thrill of driving an actual race car from the comfort of my own home. Ken had been pitching me on this idea for years, and I was excited to see if it could truly replicate the experience of track days - those expensive, time-consuming events that often ended with me breaking something.

As I jumped into the simulator, I felt a sense of realism wash over me. The steering wheel, though not as precise as what you'd find in an actual car, still provided enough feedback to make me feel like I was behind the wheel. The amount of force required to apply the brakes was spot on, and I could almost feel the car getting loose in my hands. Okay, it wasn't perfect, but I was sold.

After spending days building, testing, and fine-tuning our simulator setup, it was time to put it to the ultimate test: a head-to-head race against an actual car on a real racetrack at Big Willow at Willow Springs International Raceway. Ken and I had been here many times before, but this time we were taking our simulator out for a spin on the big track itself.

We chose our trusty Audi RS 3 to represent us in both the simulator and on the actual track. It was going to be an interesting comparison - would our simulator setup hold its own against the real thing? The only way to find out was to take it to the limit.

Now, we're standing here at the starting line, ready to take our Audi RS 3 head-to-head with itself in a battle of sim versus reality. Let's see how this plays out on camera!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- I love racing games,but how close is a controllercompared to this or that?(car engine revs)(catchy music)Today, we are testing to seeif a racing sim can hold its ownagainst an actual car on a real racetrack.So to kick things off, weare here at our fine sponsor,Micro Center Tustin location,to actually acquire our sim racing gear.So Micro Center, they havemassively improved the amountof stuff that they have here.I mean they have aisles of gearthat you can go everythingfrom a very basic firsttime simulator setupto something which is honestly like this.It's $7,000, but it's gonna give youa fairly close representationof what it's liketo drive an actual racecar on a real track.For years now, Ken has been pitching meon why we should build ahigh-end racing simulator setup.Now I'm a huge fan of track days,where they're expensive,they're time-consuming,I always break something.So if you could build somethingwhich could largely emulatethat experience except fromthe comfort of your own homeand with zero of the dangerof (throat clears)wrecking your wheels again,well boy, oh boy, wouldthat be a great idea?Micro Center does have apremium sim racing bundle.I mean this is too good ofa deal not to get, right?I mean we're doing the video.We gotta see how realistica multiple thousand-dollarsimulator setup is comparedto the real thing.I kind of gotta go all out, right?Wow, what an experience just jumpinginto something like this.Now mind you, I'm goingon a fairly slow race car,and what I'm feeling throughthe actual steering wheel,the amount of like force Ihave to put on the brake pedalas I hop on the brakes,it's like I can actually feellike the car getting loose in my hands.Okay, I got some practice todo, but I'm totally sold, man.This is absolutely it.(Ken laughs)After spending days to build,test, and tune our setup,it's time to take thisentire rig to the racetrackto see how well that performsagainst the real thing.Welcome to Big Willowat Willow Springs International Raceway.So Ken and I have beenhere many, many times,but across that side to Streets of Willowand up the hill with Big Willow,which we shot a video last year.This is our first time everon the big track itself.It's all ours for the day.So today, we're going to betaking my Audi RS 3 head-to-headwith the RS 3 in "iRacing".Now it's not exactly the same thing.The car in "iRacing" isa legitimate race car,which is going to be lighter,it's gonna be faster in the corners,but importantly, I havesignificantly more power.We're talking like 350 in the game.I'm pushing about 500 to the wheels.I still think the race car will be faster,but we might get kind of close.- Core takeaway is Austin has done a lotof practicing regardless toget the layout of the track.So now let's actually seewhat the differences are.- And not wreck my car'cause I don't have areset button in real life.(car engine revs)- Oh geez,your launch control is, oh Jesus.- This part, I love this part.It's so like wonderful sweeping.- The road car is definitely notas grippy and you definitely- No.- feel the weight, but itis holding its own though.I think your power advantagemight actually helpeven things out a bit.- Here's the thing though,I don't have the bravery.I'm going so much slower rightnow than I am in the sim.I can already tell.- Ooh.(car tires screech)Yeah, those Cup 2s aredefinitely complaining- Yeah, yeah, yeah.- versus the racing slickson the "iRacing" car.- Now that I'vedone my first practice laps,it is time to jump on the simulatorand see how well it compares.- Funny enough, the setup(laughs) is right here.- All right, my friends,welcome to our racing simulator setupat the actual racetrack.So let me walk you through it real quickbefore we actually jump on.Because we're using "iRacing",you actually don't need anenormous amount of horsepower,but this is a very high-specpc, so it's all-AMD.So we're using a Ryzen 9 7950Xas well as our Radeon 7900 XTX.We're also using an LG UltraGear 45",which is a terrific curved OLED displaythat runs at 240 Hertz.Something we can easily hit in "iRacing".As far as the Micro Centerpremium sim bundle itself,it includes a lot, includingthe Simucube 2 Pro Base pairedwith the GSI Formula Pro Elite Wheel,which these two together are a tonof the actual functionalityand specifically the feel of the car.And on top of that is pairedwith the Heusinkveld Sprint 3Pedals, which are phenomenal,the TK Racing P1 Pro chassis.And we've opted to add aPista Gaming Racing Seat,specifically the Tony Kanaan Edition.So I know that there's like ahuge amount of customizationthat we can do on the sim.Like what do you think we should be doingto try to get more out of the simso that we can actually do the one-to-onewith the actual car?- I mean a lot of it islike actually now thatyou have your car hereand are driving it backto back with the sim,little things like seat positionor like pedal placement,and then obviously thereare settings in the gameand the individual softwarefor our wheel, our base,and also our pedals to kindof fine-tune all that as well.- I actually have a couple of ideason how I can tweak the simto be just a little bit more realistic.Let's start off by putting afew laps in with the simulator.I'm also going to try withan Xbox One controllersince it's just simply thething I'm most comfortable with.And then we're gonna goout on the actual track.I'm gonna put a reallap time down in my carto see how realistic this entire setup is.So you know what, back to back,first impressions are isthat it actually is relatively close.Now the race car has alot more grip than my car.Like not even close at howmuch more speed I can taketo a lot of these corners,but I will say that the feedback and gamefrom the wheel is surprisingly betterthan in my actual real car,which is not something I expected.I will say "iRacing" does a terrific jobof modeling this track.Like it really feels exactlylike the actual real track.One of the things I have aproblem with is I have a tendencyto push really hard in thesim because I know I can,but in the real world, obviously,I don't want to wreck my caror break anything, right?So it's actually a reallyinteresting balanceof how both of these combinedactually kind of make me,I think a better driver realistically.Like I'm glad that I'veactually had both of these.Three, two, one!We're ahead by 1/100thof a second. Let's go!Wait, that was a 1:26. That was a 1:26.1.That's my fastest lap I'veever done in "iRacing".With my lap time set inthe simulator, I'm curious.How fast am I with the controller?Now I will say the Xbox controllermight have an actual decent shot here,mostly because I spend alot of time playing "Forza"and "Gran Turismo", and the vast majorityof my racing games havebeen using the controller.Dude, it's really hard to beas precise with the controller.Like I feel like I'm sawing back and forthon the wheel so much.What's going on is basicallywhen I overcook it,then I'm having to likeget way off the throttleand the brake to kind of compensate,which is losing me so much time.No, no, no, no, no! (laughs)I'm like two secondsslower with the controller.For me personally, Ithink the wheel is faster,which it shouldn't be a surprise.Obviously, this is an expensive setup,but it's not just this sort of the detailthat you get with it.It's also just the factthat I've got that feedback,and that it sort ofreally engages my brainin a different way when I'm havingto physically fight the wheeland really stomp on the pedal.Like it's sort of, it'shard to describe it.It really sort ofengages my brain in a waythat the controller is almosta little bit like autopilot.But in a more realisticsimulator like "iRacing",you do need that levelof fidelity and detail'cause it's not doing anyof the assists for you.Like you've gotta drive the car yourself,which is a great segueto me driving my own carand trying to beat a1:26 or a 1:28 or a 1:35.(upbeat music)All right, my friends, it istime to hit the track for real.- Five, four, three, two, One.(car engine revs)- That was good, that was good.I like that, I like that.The tail does not wannastay tight, that's fine.Hard break, now shift tofourth. Oh God, I'm so slow!Oh my God, I'm so slow. That was a 1:40.8.I'm over 10 seconds slower!Ugh.I know I can get closer than that.Let the tail come out.Power, power, power,baby. Swing wide again.More power through here,way more aggressive line.Brake, get down.Where's the apex? Where's the apex?I probably missed it back there somewhere.All right, I'm gonnaslow down a little bit.I'm gonna just be ballsy.I'm gonna be ballsy.(car engine revs)There's more time.(tense music)And where's my apex?Where's my apex? There's the apex!Woo! All right, that was a lot faster.Ah, I could shave more time. I know that.- How'd it go?- 1:38.- (laughs) 1:38.I'm 12 seconds slower than the simand 10 seconds slower than the controller.I will say driver error is part of that,but the bigger thing ishow much more speed the race car can take.I guess I went into this thinkingthat the car was gonna bea way better experience.I knew that the racecar was gonna be faster.I thought it was gonnabe maybe a little bitmore competitive with the car.But in reality, while I still,if everything else was equaland I had a track andeverything all day long,I would still wanna do the track.But this is expensive not onlyfor track time, also for tires.Like this is a very, very expensive hobby.And when you look at a sim setup,it actually kind ofjustifies itself a little bitif it means that youcould be better preparedfor your actual track daysor maybe prepared for your first one.I'm gonna do a couple more laps,see if I can get any closer'cause I did only two hot laps.I did 1:40 and then I did 1:38.- Well, there he goes. The boyracer himself, Austin Evans.- One more time. One more shot at this.I can do this. I'm not gonnaend up in the dirt either.(steady music)(car engine revs)Oh, come on.Grip up, grip up, grip up,grip up, grip up, grip up.Woo! (laughs)I'm cooking it. I'm cooking it, man.No, no, no. Abort, abort.Okay, that's fine, that's fine.Too fast, too aggressive,not smooth enough.I've cooked it too hard. Iwas just overdriving the car.I need to be a little bitcalmer, but I have one lap.This is it.All right, let's go.Let's smooth it throughhere. Get down a little bit.No, that wasn't great.Whoa!That's not it, that's not it.(car engine revs)I did another 1:38! (laughs)I did another one.Oh my God, dude!I've done four fast laps, twoof which are the exact same.No! No!Ah, that's it, it's a wrap.That's the end of the day.I noticed that the tires were warm, right?Like definitely thetires have not been ableto properly cool off, butthat that's not an excuse.Like I was overdriving the car.I mean look, this is incredibly cool.Like it is incredibly coolto be able to have this opportunity,and it really gives me themotivation to be better.Like I'm not trash, but I'mjust not where I should be.Look, I did not do aswell as I had hoped today,but on the bright side,I was able to go onto a trackfor the very first time.And with the learnings Ihad from the simulator,I actually give myself a prettygood sort of basis to start.I am really impressed withhow far sim racing has comein the last few years sinceI built my last setup.I mean this stuff is soincredibly high-end and detailed.But the great thing is MicroCenter is your number one shopfor everything racing sim-related.Whether you wanna go withthe premium bundle like thisor you wanna get somethingthat's a little bit more entry level,Micro Center is absolutelyyour one-stop shop.And speaking of being a one-stop shop,they're also opening a brand new storein Charlotte, North Carolina, early 2024.So definitely be sure tokeep an eye out for that.They also have some otherdeals you'll have linkedin the description,including the Ender 3 3DPrinter for $100 or $99if you wanna be specific,available only if you're a new customer.But thank you very much for watching.Thank you very much to Micro Centerfor sponsoring this video.And if you'll excuse me,I'm gonna get some seattime in the simulator at homeso next time I come to the track,I'll be better 'cause I need to be faster.- I am speed.(car engine revs)