Best Driving Simulator?

There is no real equivalent to Gran Turismo or Forza on the PC. I guess these would be your best bet:

Toca Race Driver 3

GTR 2

In GTR2, are there actual cars you can pick? As in real cars. And upgrades such as body kits, turbos, pistons and stuff like that?Cannabiser

All cars are race cars. I don't think there are part upgrades either, but there are plenty of tuning options. You should try the demos for the games.

Keep in mind.... the G25 will work with GT5 when it comes out for PS3 (don't know if you have the system or not).

GTR2 is great! Check out Simbins other games too. They are all real cars in varying classes from boring BMW's to exotic Saleens. You do not upgrade parts with kits and stuff. What you do is upgrade the settings on your car and there are alot of settings and they really do make a big difference in your lap times.

Check out this website if your interested in competetive leagues. http://forum.rscnet.org/

I've got GTR2 and the Logitek G25 wheel and let me tell you, it is awsome! GTR2 fully supports the G25 wheel. The game is just amasing, very realistic feel and good championships. The only problem I have is there is no customisation, all you can do is change the livery on the car slightly. You can however tune the car quite extensively.

I've also found that Colin McRae DiRT is quite fun with the G25. Again, no customisation beyond livery but it's a lot of fun.

Have fun

From the Xbox 360 version the handling was not that good, it felt like it was fighting with itself between being a simulation or being an arcade and so it felt unbalanced and under stears often.

Have a try of Race:WTCC (world touring car championship) which is on steam and on disk as well (well it is in the UK so I assume its easily availble elsewhere for cheap). It follows real circuits and has all the car changing you may want (such as suspension set up, gear ratios etc etc) and it handles quite well (well hopefully, the keyboard set up I use is not ideal).

I hope this helps (also try Grand Prix 4, its oldish but is a very good game which you can change the whole set up of the F1 car).

Richard Burnst Rally dayaccus007

The best rally sim ever.

Ridge Racers

GTR

i think so.

There is no real equivalent to Gran Turismo or Forza on the PC. I guess these would be your best bet:

Toca Race Driver 3

GTR 2

BassMan

I second to that ! great driving!

CRC 2005 is really good. And while you don't really buy "parts", you earn upgrades to various locations on your vehicle.

Body

Engine

Tires

Suspension

I think those were the catagories...anyways...not only does the upgrades affect perfomance, but it upgrades it visually and by sound (engine upgrades make the car sound meaner).

The game is a mix between off road racing and some street events. It has a nice selection of vehicles including trucks, cars, dune buggies, and some in between models. It has a very nice driving model with good driving physics, and it's really great if you have a wheel/peddels.

I think the graphics are still very nice, and all the vehicles have full damage modeling. There is even a nice "behind the wheel" view where you see your arms controllinh the wheel and the right hand even lets go to shift.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/crossracingchampionship/

You can even buy it online for $20 now and just download it. I highly recommend this game, it's very fun.

Another racer that actually allows to win money and buy upgrade parts (brakes, engine parts, ect) is Xpand Rally. Although entirely a rally game, it's extremely fun.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/xpandrally/index.html?tag=result;title;0

Xpand Rally 2 (XTreme) is comming sometime in the future too, so if you want to wait for cutting edge graphics just get the 2nd.

Personally I enjoy CRC 2005 more, as it reminds me of the game Offroad (nes game) but in 3d with a good driving model. Though it sounds like Xpand might suit you better.

Anyways, just throwing those two out there. Like the others said, GTR2 is awesome and so is Toca.

GTR2 is GREAT! It doesn't allow you to tune up your car, but it really doesn't matter to me. Theres a nice training mode that makes you know lots of circuits turn by turn. If you have a hard time with your setup, you can take one of the rated online setups accessible in-game. Awesome game, awesome driving, huge online races with lots of clean racers.

My favourite cars are the F550 and the BWM M3 GTR, but I also like the Corvette and the Lamborghini.

I will never stop playing this game.

Get the f1 2007 mod here

Download all tracks, cars and mods here

NFS Pro Street is pretty wicked, I like it way more than GTR2 because you can actually customize. I hate preset cars. I have been looking for a PC equivalent of Gran Turismo as well but cant find one. However the G25 works with all games that support an analog wheel for PC, PS2 and PS3. No idea about GT5, but GT4 is pretty insane, just you cant use the H pattern. Test Drive unlimited is pretty good as well but again there's that lack of customization (you can upgrade performance but thats about it). Personalization is where it's at now, and for me if you cant personalize and THEN tune, then I dont really want to play it, ProStreet is pretty good in that regard but it lacks the personalization that you can get with Underground. No neon, no different headlights. You're limited to 4 body kits (some have 5, some have 2, some, like the veyron, dont have any), and Staged performance rather than brand-name parts. Juiced 2 WOULD be good if I could figure out how to get the wheel on it, but its very arcadey.

ProStreet, plug your wheel in, install your drivers (if you havent already), and everything is pre-set, though you can change it if you want. Set the assistance to King (no assistance) and all the transmission to 'manual clutch'.

Carbon, Plug your wheel in, configure, but your keyboard will be stuck at default controls and if you remove the wheel to play (even BEFORE running the game) it will block out any changes you want to make, leaving everything blank.

Most Wanted plug your wheel in, but set the shifter to sequential or use the paddles, it's not H-pattern capable

Underground 2: very... washed out force feedback. Not worth the money for the G25 honestly on this game.

GTR2: best to showcase the capabilities of the G25, but the graphics are outdated (lacks shadows inside the car), and theres virtually no FFB unless you're on the dirt. Last time I checked, on a gravel road it takes less time for a normal car to stop than it does in GTR2, and normal cars dont bounce everywhere on gravel. Plus I dont know about you, but I have driven my car at 190+kph, GTR2 feels nothing like it even when the car tops out. Honestly I'm sick of people saying GTR2 is the best sim, I understand downforce is crazy but come on, the amount of understeer the cars have is rediculous, racing tires should out-perform normal tires. Physics needs major improvement IMO. If you think otherwise, drive a real car down a track at top speed, even the veyron wont be as friendly as GTR2 is and I shut off all the assists.

R-factor: comes with the wheel, not worth installing... you get 2 cars, and its essentially a demo. Just... really... really... bad...

Test Drive Unlimited: Plug in and go, H-shifter capable, but cars without a stick shift (some ferrari's for example) wont use it, you have to use the paddle. Most realistic for driving if you unlock hardcore mode, incredibly fun! Good graphics, good physics, FFB works, I'd say at the moment, TDU is the BEST game for the G25. You can even stall the car, but lacks customization. Still fun though.

EDIT: forgot to mention, Gran Turismo 4 provides a very white knuckle experience with the G25, insane speeds with my 1200HP Cerebra Speed-12 you will find yourself holding the wheel with both hands to keep control, wickedly fun, cant wait to get a PS3 and GT5.