If anyone can point me in the direction of a champ/cart/IndyCar one that would be great, the one I found they wanted money for.
I’ve recently gotten back into road racing, in particular GT cars. I really like GTE class, which are the most powerful engines in GT, but don’t allow ABS! This makes for incredibly fun racing IMO. GT3 is great too, but given the choice, I’d rather drive GTE or GT2.
I’ve been jumping around between the popular racing sims during the pandemic and this are my ratings, with the physics modeling and FFB response being the most important consideration.
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rFactor 2. Still the best driving experience. I feel like all the the rally driving that we do in the Mudspike league actually helps me control road cars at the limit, because you’ve still got control of the car. Physics and FFB wise, AMS2 and ACC are close seconds, but rF2 is still king. The GUI is archaic but gets the job done once you learn how to navigate it. With improved car and track 3D models and updated environmentals, it can look as good or depending on the track, better than the others IMO. Higher entry cost than the others if you buy all of the DLC. Must have are the Endurance Pack, Le Mans 24, Nurburgring, and Sebring.
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Assetto Corsa Competizione. The most polished GUI and best coverage of the 2018 and 2019 GT3 World Challenge series. GT4 DLC is being added July 2020. Honestly, I go back and forth between rF2 and ACC as to which one I enjoy driving most. rF2 has slightly better physics modeling and FFB, but ACC has drawn pretty close lately. Closed ecosystem, so if GT is not your thing, then move on. Fantastic tracks and car modeling.
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Automobilista 2. Fantastic FFB and car physics, but limited content prevents it from moving higher in my ranking. Very easy to dial in your FFB. Driving the V8 Supercars at Bathurst is completely awesome. Also closed ecosystem, but publisher has a long and deeply planned release of DLC.
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Assetto Corsa. Very close quality to ACC in terms of 3D car and track modeling. Open ecosystem with some amazing 3rd party content available, like the Singer Porsche, most of it free. Good to excellent car physics and FFB. The GUI replacement/mod manager called Content Manager is a must have.
That’s it. I didn’t include PC2, because after driving rF2 and ACC, frankly the cars feel pretty dead and I’ve uninstalled it. You can have some fun and close racing with AI or online, but there is no contest compared to the sims above. For the casual simmer and someone wanting to have fun in a driving sim, without taking a deeper dive, it is undoubtedly the best choice. Lots of content, including the excellent Le Mans DLC available at a easy entry price. Closed ecosystem.
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Ha!
For rFactor 2
For Assetto Corsa
Payware but very cheap.
Donationware
appreciated, seems all my old stuff on rFactor 2 is mostly still subbed, except the dallara wasn’t, might as well look for tracks. Like the slightly older stuff a little better, no push to pass.
The AC one I saw was VRC Formula NA 1999, seemed pretty cool, but payware and there isn’t the same number of tracks to use it on there. I guess I can be done being mad at rFactor 2 for buying the silly mp thing and not long after changing all that.
In reality, 99% of the content I’d want is in iRacing, but I have no interest in the rest that goes along with it, or the absurd bill I would accrue getting it.
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My main source of AC mods is just Googling “Assetto Corsa ____”, which typically leads to Race Department. Second major source is happening to see them in Youtube videos, then either following their link or Googling from there.
I’m probably not going to bother any longer, video in a few on the other thread 
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Fair enough Mudcat. 
Yeah, I got the sim a little while ago and the physics are fantastic, but the quite expensive extra content and lack of baseline content has kind of put me off a little. They’re relatively expensive compared to DLC for other racing sims. I’m sure I’ll pick up quite a few of them in due time, but will probably wait a while first.
Might be helpful to anyone using VR…
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I’m an awful racer and find my speed is more inline with American Truck Simulator than anything.
Having said that I do love to race! I’m just not any good at it 
I prefer to drive Project Cars 2, the career mode is user friendly and you can tweak the AI way down. I have this on xbox one and pc and I’ve chosen different career paths and find it interesting. I can set this sim up so I can win, and even with the AI skills settings way down, in a three lap race, when I cross the finish line in first place, it’s a rush
I’d really like to enjoy Codemasters’ Formula One but find this difficult to navigate. As well the AI does not have the ‘drive like a drunken fool’ option, which I find I can sometimes win.
I’d like to see more user friendly race sims, racing sims I can sink my teeth into, rather than best road feell
With that said my limiting factor on all this is time. Just never enough, I have not thoroughly explored any of these racing sims
Meanwhile I have a bit of comparison, since I now have installed Assetto Corsa + Content Manager + Shader Mod + SOL + a mod track + molded cars (the list goes on and on, I now totally see how people tell me that AC is a rabbit hole).
I have to say that AC really feels like the better sim concerning realism, and especially the fact that I can get a whole lot of cars and tracks for it makes up for its weaknesses in graphics, car variety, and ease of use.
However I do see why people describe it as a bit less immersive. In the PC2 demo I hopped in and there was radio connection to a guy who talked to me when I had a good lap or something, that felt immersive for example.
And even with the graphics mods, AC shows its age. The trees and spectators and weather effects are a shock when you come from Dirt Rally 2.0. 
I definitely have to get more into the game before I feel the urge to drive a career.
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Get CrewChief, an absolutely brilliant add-on that works with most racing sims. Problem solved.
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Thanks, downloaded and installed. Will test it shortly.
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Tried it.
This changes everything. Holy carp. OMGWTF.
I’ve not even interacted with it properly yet. Just installed it, checked whether it worked properly with AC, picked my first name, activated the profanity setting, and picked a spotter voice (Clara) so it isn’t the same person.
I then drove a few quick races and meanwhile started a career.
An absolute game changer.
Immersion in AC just increased by an order of magnitude or two.
It might seem silly because on a rational level I know it is just a computer program reacting to some data points with a pre-recorded voice file, but hearing stuff like
“OK Aginor. Please stay on the road now. You got this!”
and
“Five laps to go. Don’t f*** this up!”
using my real first name makes a ton of difference.
The spotter as well. The red triangles just don’t cut it for me. I need my eyes on the road. The spotter doesn’t only tell me where the cars are, but also when to hold my line and when they are gone. And it makes me feel as part of a team.
…even though I am painfully/comically bad at racing. The 90% AI kicks my ass most of the time unless I drive a car AND track that I am familiar with. Which isn’t a lot of them.
@chipwich I owe you one for recommending that program. I am normally not a fan of 3rd party programs that interact with my games so I might not have tried it without your recommendation. Thanks a lot!
@Mudcat sorry I probably won’t play rally for a while, this is taking up my racing time right now.
And this from a man with a gazzilion KSP mods
I use Heliocorsa for situational awareness in AC. It’s mandatory for sim racing through a mailslot (aka a monitor).
Yeah I make Exceptions.
Ha, I thought that you’d like that Aginor. I use my sir name, Blake, instead given, Dan, because in my racing fantasy, I’m a new driver and the team isn’t that familiar with me. “Who is this old bugger that we hired? Must be desperate for drivers these days. He’s most likely paying us to drive.”
It’s an extremely well developed program. There are a few settings under Properties, that shape your experience. One is if you are driving mixed classes, like would be in WEC, then you can select the team Chief to give you place in class, or overall, something that confused me. I would be driving say, 12 overall, but hearing, “Nice move Blake. P2 now. Keep pushing.” This was confusing. The setting to change to overall:
My favorite team comms from the Styrian GP Sunday, was when Horner told Verstappen that Mercedes had told both drivers to push.
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