The funny thing here is that I actually had a set of pedals and a wheel from Fanatec. That was years ago though. The set is gone and tech has improved since then anyway. Why do I care now though, you ask? Because the global pandemic has inspired more people to try out sim racing and I’m on that list. I’ve got the iRacing subscription now, I’ve ordered a wheel and pedal setup, and I’ve borrowed a proper PC from a friend (since I’m mostly on the Apple train).

So I’m going to document what it’s like diving into the iRacing world. Yes, we have a virtual hot shoe on the team in News Editor Greg Kachadurian. I’m the talentless rookie of the group. Just one monitor to work with and a virtual bundle of hopes and dreams.

The setup

The computer I’m borrowing has plenty good specs to run this game. But from what I’ve read and been told, it actually doesn’t take much power to handle iRacing since it’s a well-built simulation. Still, the PC I’ve hulked up to my loft space is spec’d as follows:

Ryzen 7 2700x 3.7 GHz 8 Core
32gb of ram
256gb m.2 storage
1TB SSD
2TB HDD
RTX 2070 8GB GPU

To mount the wheel and pedals, I’m going to use the Next Level steering wheel stand. As for the wheel and pedal set, I’ve gone back and forth about what to run here. Many already immersed in this space swear you need the Fanatec setup. But others say it’s better to dip a toe by starting with something from Logitech. Somewhere in the middle lives Thrustmaster. Since I’m coming in fresh, I’m going to use the Logitech G920 wheel and pedal setup. I’ve added the appropriate shifter as well.

How much does this all cost?

Price varies depending on what you already have at home. But if you’re thrifty, you can get started for a few hundred bucks. If you’re fancy, you can spend… a lot. Our friend Tim Stevens at CNET has a great breakdown of the basics. Once my own rig is here and set up, I’ll have another post with pictures, pricing, and impressions. And if you’re already running the sim or eager to get started as well, we want to hear from you.