Sim racing setups can range from a couple of hundred dollars all the way up into the tens of thousands of dollars range. There are a number of variables that are going to determine how much a sim racing setup will cost.
Whether you are looking for your first basic wheel and pedal set for a beginner setup or you are ready to dive headfirst into a full-blown professional setup, I’m going to show you sim racing setups for each level and go through roughly how much each sim racing setup will cost.
Sim Racing Setup Costs
| Level | Cost |
|---|---|
| Beginner | $150 – $400 |
| Intermediate | $800 – $1500 |
| Advanced | $2500 – $4500 |
| Professional | $20,000+ |
How Much Does A Beginner Sim Racing Setup Cost?
A beginner sim racing setup will cost around $150 – $400.
When you just start out sim racing you are only going to need two things, a wheel and a set of pedals.
Things like shifters, buttons boxes, handbrakes are all extras and aren’t required to get started in sim racing.
Example Beginner Sim Racing Setup
| Example # | Wheel | Pedals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logitech G29/G920 | Logitech G29/G920 Pedals |
| 2 | Thrustmaster TMX Pro | Thrustmaster TMX Pro Pedals |
For most people, this means buying an off-the-shelf combo from Walmart or Amazon that clamps to the desk. These aren’t fancy setups by any stretch of the imagination but they are a great place to start.
I still use my basic wheel that I got about 7 years ago to this day, a Logitech G27. At the time this was the equivalent of the Logitech G29/G920. I have since upgraded my pedals, rig, and displays, but the original wheel still remains and still works perfectly. You do not need to spend a fortune to be able to thoroughly enjoy sim racing.
If you can pick up a used Logitech G29/G920 for about $150 then you got yourself a pretty good deal. Similarly with any of the introductory Thrustmaster sets that are out there which are priced competitively to the Logitech ones.
For a beginner setup, this is all you need to get started. Just make sure that the specific wheel and pedal set that you get are compatible with the system that you’re running. The Logitech G920 is only compatible with the PC and XboxOne and the Logitech G29 is only compatible with the PC and PS4. You can see a similar pattern with the Thrustmaster wheels as well.
How Much Does An Intermediate Sim Racing Setup Cost?
An intermediate sim racing setup will cost around $800 – $1500.
An intermediate sim racing setup means that you are starting to look at getting a bit more quality than the typical store-bought wheel and pedal combo without completely burning a hole in your wallet.
Some common features of an intermediate sim racing setup are:
- Belt-Driven Wheel Base
- Load Cell Pedals
- Separate Wheel Base and Rim
Going from a beginner sim racing setup to an intermediate sim racing setup means that you will be looking at brands that are sim racing focused like Fanatec and Thrustmaster instead of the general gaming brands like Logitech.
Personally, I really like Fanatec, so I’m going to use their products in the following example builds.
Example Intermediate Sim Racing Setup
There will usually be bundles on the Fanatec website for these sorts of setups. You are able to chop and change them a bit as well so if you don’t like the particular wheel that I suggested then you may be able to swap it out for any of their other compatible wheels. The same goes with the pedals and the shifter.
How Much Does An Advanced Sim Racing Setup Cost?
An advanced sim racing setup will cost around $2500 – $4500.
The next logical step up in sim racing setups is an advanced sim racing setup. This is about the highest level of sim racing setups that you will see most hobbyist sim racers use, and whilst the brands of wheels, pedals, etc may be different, they will all share similar features.
Some common features of an advanced level sim racing setup are:
- Load Cell Pedals
- Direct Drive Wheel
- Dedicated Rig
- Ultrawide Monitor/Triple Monitors/VR
Example Advanced Sim Racing Setup
With a direct drive wheel and load cell pedals, it will be important to get a dedicated sim rig that can withstand the forces that these put out with as little flex as possible. Ideally, this is going to be an 8020 rig, but something like the Next Level Racing GTtrack (which is what I currently have) will do the job as well.
You can see that the cost of a sim racing set up at this level drastically increases from the previous ones. Even when you remove the rig and displays from the price, a sim racing setup of this caliber will still cost you upwards of $2500 at a minimum.
How Much Does A Professional Sim Racing Setup Cost?
A professional sim racing setup will cost over $20,000.
A professional sim racing setup is going to be out of reach for most of us, unfortunately.
These are the sort of simulators that Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz have in their homes. They are the very best consumer-grade sim racing setups available and I doubt you would be able to find better sim racing setups outside of a Formula 1(or other professional motorsports) headquarters.
Setups that professional drivers use are aimed to replicate the real-world feeling of their car when it comes to steering power and pedal pressure.
The gear that these setups use is not going to be your standard wheel and pedals that most of us have. They will usually be specific gear offered by companies that specialize in building and installing these high-end setups.
Cool Performance is one of the big players in this scene, they offer complete simulators that are targeted towards real-world professional drivers, or the most serious of sim racers, and they are the company of choice for many F1 drivers.
You would want to be pretty serious about sim racing if you are thinking about this setup as well, as you could probably buy a half-decent used sports car for the same price.
The base price for a professional sim setup is around $30,000 and about $19,000 for an e-sport setup.
As I mentioned earlier, unless you are in the very elite class of racers in the world, then you probably don’t need something like that.
Wrap Up
As you can see, there is are many different things that contribute to the cost of a sim racing setup.
Generally, though, the prices will be in the following ranges:
| Level | Cost |
|---|---|
| Beginner | $150 – $400 |
| Intermediate | $800 – $1500 |
| Advanced | $2500 – $4500 |
| Professional | $20,000+ |
The example setups that I based the prices on throughout this article were just suggestions and you may be able to build a similar setup for cheaper or more expensive depending on what you add to the setups or take away.
0 Comments