I left GT5 off my list due to the consoleness, but I would definitely consider it a sim and on par with Race07 and above rFactor for me on realistic driving feel.

I agree with you, the GT5 physics and FFB are definitely good, and the SuperGT cars are some of the best balanced car class in the game, I hoped at one time that there would be enough SimHQ folks with GT5 with enough interest to race a SuperGT league, it would be close racing fun.

I love GT5, but all the racing I do in this game is to get me money to buy some faster cars. What I really enjoy is doing Time Trial around tracks, preferably the "crazy" ones like Nurburgring Nordscleife. The AI drivers are way too arcade-like.

Ditto. But then again, my favorite thing to do in any race sim is to just turn laps and try to master the track with different types of cars. In that respect GT5 can scratch that itch, although I wish I could alter things like the fuel load, and tire wear rates, so that I could compress a stint to something more time-managable for me. But again, that's not something that console racing titles do right now.

Yeah It sounds like we all use GT5 similarly, for me it is mostly for hot lap enjoyment with all the various cars in my garage, mostly on Nordschleife and Suzuka, though I also enjoy some of the seasonal events and the AMG Academy events.

I also occasionally take part in some of the online track day sessions people host where you don't actually race but work on lap times on a track with other racers, it is similar to the iRacing practice sessions, but with many more car options.

I'm looking forward to the FM4 trackday feature for that too.

Man does this statement bring back a lot of memories!

Just to have some arts 'n crafts fun, I've posted some GT5 screenshots in the Screenshot forum.

Check 'em out here: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3339199.html#Post3339199

Speak for yourself. I refuse to play that game. It's console.

Can you hit the spectators?

iRacing all the way if you've got a decent connection and enough money. The physics are superb (ISI sims like rFactor just don't convey the feeling of weight transfer you get from iRacing), it has wide variety of authentically modeled cars and tracks, and you can jump into a competitive race with real people at just about any time of day.

On the money front, I think it's helpful to keep in mind that a month's worth of an iRacing subscription costs the same as 16 minutes on my local karting track.

Ah ... PC Elitism ... just as fun a hobby as XBOX360 or PS3 fanboysm, or soccer hooliganism, the apparent joy in mooning the other team's fans is not to be denied :-)


Seriously though GT5 may be console (and has it's gameplay design problems) but the driving physics, FFB and track modeling IMHO are better than many PC so-called "sims" that are highly regarded on this forum, and so I think it belongs in any discussion of "Best Racing Sim", don't let your biases blind you :-)