Simulator

Getting into a sim racing is a commitment, one many people understandably have a hard time making because of the cost involved. Sure, you can play with a controller, but the full experience — and often the fastest times — belong to those who shell out big bucks for the best gear.

Italian outfit Sparco, already well known for its real-world racing kit, has released details on its soon-to-be released gaming product lines, after first announcing its decision to enter the market late December.

Italian automotive equipment and accessory manufacturer Sparco has announced it’s entering the simulation racing market for 2017. With three sophisticated gaming seats and a new gaming rig, Sparco is more than prepared to enter the highly-demanding world of sim racing.

Can home entertainment provide a decent groundwork for a professionally-oriented job of the same genre? As far as video games are concerned we suppose it could, given how modern driving simulators are nowadays being extensively used by racing drivers around the globe. How else can you conveniently polish your skills without having to carry out expensive tests in the actual car?

Highly sophisticated racing simulators are increasingly common these days. What racing drivers can’t learn prior the race itself can be experienced and absorbed on these high-tech platforms. This allows drivers to be highly competitive regardless of the track they are going to face next.

It’s an age-old argument that has been at the centre of attention for quite a while, but the usefulness and validation of professional racing simulators has been called into question yet again, this time by F1 World Champion Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Last weekend’s Grand Prix took place in Azerbaijan – a new race in the calendar – and in regards to steps taken to learn the Baku circuit, Hamilton was more critical than most about the simulation suites provided by F1 teams:

This is the result of putting together five Playstation 3s, five 80″ LED HDTVs, and five copies of GT5. The builders of this rig put it together as a “test” of a new line of screens for a University, combining students’ resources together for the temporary build. They noted playing GT5 with this rig was quite surreal, from the reddit post:

Though Gamescom 2011 wasn’t nearly as exciting for GT fans as it was last year, Sony and Audi did use the event to launch an impressive new GT5 simulator built around an R8 LMS race car, similar to the one found in the game.

In what appears to be the exceedingly awesome Studie store in Japan, you can get behind the “wheel” of a classic BMW E30 M3 and play Gran Turismo 4. The store, which looks to be a specialist in all things Bavarian, has fitted a Logitech Driving Force Pro (yes, it’s begging for a G25) in front of the drivers seat and mounted a Sony Bravia flat-screen right onto the hood. While I admit that it does feel a bit superfluous to see such a revered race car converted into a gaming rig, it’s bringing a lot more fun and enjoyment to people than if it was sitting there locked up – even if it doesn’t move like that Audi TT at GamesCom. Check out all the pictures of the store at Gawa, and thanks to “Enzo” for sending this in!