"mcseanerson" (mcseanerson)
12/24/2013 at 07:30 • Filed to: Gran Turismo, Autocross, Games
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"mcseanerson" (mcseanerson)
12/24/2013 at 07:30 • Filed to: Gran Turismo, Autocross, Games | 6
| 10 |
You should go out and buy Gran Turismo 6. Even if you already own a 360 and Forza games. Even if you don't own a PS3. Why?
Because this Driving wheel is $150 and will work on both your PC and PS3. Heck you could even end up as lucky as me and bought it new on Amazon via Circuit City for roughly $100 after shipping. There are more realistic race sims out there and are better wheels out there. If you spend more than $300 on your total setup you come back to one of my automotive rules.
You could've been !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
I have this friend of a friend who has this rule when it comes to going out to eat. He thinks about what he's getting and the price and he compares it to how many 12 inch subs he can get from subway for the same price. Well now we can do the same with cars and any money you would spend on having fun with them.
Spent $600 on a Thrustmaster T600 wheel because it feels better? That could be two helmets and two SCCA memberships for you and your buddy to race against each other.
Spent another $600 on a rig with a seat and a spot to mount the wheel and tv? That's a set of tires.
Why not Forza 5? That requires a new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ($500), new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ($50), and new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ($400). That's $950! You know what I'm gonna say next. You could've bought a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ! Well almost anyways.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Don't get me wrong I love the whole sim racing movement going on but at some point you're never going to get the full experience of being there and for my money I'd rather spend $60 on Gran Turismo 6 and $100 on a wheel and call it a day. Without the sense of inertia, speed, and momentum if a racing game gets more realistic than Gran Turismo 6 my driving turns to crap. So while I've been pondering what seems like a scheme the MMO guys would call a ripoff at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (I get to pay you every month as well as buy the cars and the tracks?) and contemplating !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I've decided I'd rather buy an old Miata and dump money into that.
Because Miata is always the answer.
Eazy-O
> mcseanerson
12/24/2013 at 07:52 |
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That is a badass fucking Yugo. :D Any more info on it?
Also, good points. :) And the GT wheel is just fine for most people.
Reigntastic
> mcseanerson
12/24/2013 at 08:02 |
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Or, I can spend all my money on my car, and get neither.
:(
With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username
> mcseanerson
12/24/2013 at 09:26 |
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Front license plate on that miata has it all out of balance.
ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
> mcseanerson
12/24/2013 at 09:34 |
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Im an accountant, and I approve this message.
Forgetful
> mcseanerson
12/24/2013 at 11:38 |
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Good post, but as an invested sim racer I feel I should point out the 10s of thousands of maintenance free laps that can be run once you own everything. I've been sim racing for several years now and my actual cash outlay is pennies/hour of racing.
I've lost track of how many championship series' I've raced in, how many tracks I've learned or how many big wrecks I've had, consequence free. The exciting finishes and intense pressure filled laps are too numerous to consider counting.
All of that is at my command, day and night (thanks to the iRacing and its wonderful online racing structure... you get what you pay for and it's worth it if you like to race).
Sure, you could spend a few hundred bucks to go run your car a few times around a parking lot, burning up your tires (which weren't good enough to begin with), your brakes (which weren't good enough to begin with) and your gas (which wasn't high octane enough to begin with), spending most of your day traveling, standing around and waiting in line.
Or you could tackle the world's greatest race track in an effort to set the Production 'Ring record, run a Prototype down the Muslanne in the dark, in the rain or rock a multi-million dollar classic up the Goodwood hill climb... as many times as you like until you pass out from exhaustion. And when you do pass out you won't die.
RMudkips
> mcseanerson
12/24/2013 at 12:36 |
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So, you're saying I get the wheel instead of the game.
Or a beater RWD car...
Good advice.
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mcseanerson
> Forgetful
12/24/2013 at 12:36 |
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I'm not saying that people shouldn't do sim racing at all. I'm just saying that before anyone invests in an expensive rig or gaming subscription + content you should consider you could go out and actually drive a real car.
I would rather get the full "HD" experience and drive an actual car and get all the sensations. One thing no game will ever get as good as real life is the sounds. Another thing that they will never have at all is the smells. The most important to me is the sense of motion, the g forces and such that you get from actually driving. I struggle with the sims because these things are missing. I'll never know in a game near as good as I would in real life how much grip I have or how the weight is transferring in the car. As far as autocross goes I don't think I could ever do a digital one as fast as one in real life. On an actual track you do have that fear to overcome that could make you faster in a game. In autocross the maintenance expense is actually quite low unless you are trying to compete at a national level.
Just to compete with the guys who show up at your local event you can bring a $1000 Miata, $600 for some Koni Yellows, $100 for some quality brake pads, $600 for some good rubber, $200 for a helmet, and $100 for an scca membership. Than your out $20 - $40 an event. All that should easily get you through a season if not two. That is pretty much every mod you're even allowed to do in the stock classes and you don't have to do any of those to have fun, you could just show up with said used car plus oil changes and used tires as needed. That's $2600 to have a pretty aggressive car compared to $950 to play on an xbox, not including a seat/rig or a tv dedicated to it. Throw on even more for a computer for the real sims.
Another great element about autocross is getting to do corner work. Some people complain about it but I love it. I get to watch a ton of cool cars drive pretty aggressively.
All this being said is not to necessarily think of this as a this or that article. Consider it a both and article. Go autocrossing and play your sims, just consider what your priorities are. I started thinking about building a full on rig and honestly I'd rather dump money into a dedicated autocross car first. Once I have a miata all set up I might start pouring money into the sims.
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mcseanerson
> RMudkips
12/24/2013 at 12:40 |
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I'm saying if you get really into the sim racing stuff it can get expensive. The best bang for your buck is GT6 + cheap good wheel + and a ps3 if you don't already have one. That's $410 at the most which is cheaper than a Thrustmaster T500 alone and that doesn't even include a shifter which is an extra $150.
I'm getting tons of enjoyment from this setup and it's as good as I will probably ever be without actually being in a car. In the real sims you have to be especially good with your controls which I struggle to do if I'm not actually driving.
Burrito de EJ25
> mcseanerson
12/24/2013 at 12:44 |
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Quality over quantity.
If you never buy a great meal because you can buy x amount of foul Subway sandwiches, well, enjoy your bland, adventure-less, short, existence.
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mcseanerson
> Burrito de EJ25
12/24/2013 at 13:19 |
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It's not one or the other. It's make.sure the extra cost is worth it.