Ranking Sim Racing Upgrades Based On Performance Boost

Hey everyone! I am LOVING the variety of opinions in the comments - it's exactly what I wanted, to be able to have an open discussion about this which may help inform others! Everyone's going to have different experiences when it comes to this topic...SHARE!

Thank you all!!

I have a
thrustmaster t248
Dof reality h2
2 bass shakers
Vr hp reverb g2

Each one of the above list added to my racing experience and real feel

My next add on is going to be exciters mounted to my thrustmaster pedals to use for wheel lock up and wheel spin

Triples A-S tier. It's not making you faster but it makes you more aware what is going on around you. Especially if you battling someone. So it contribute to better race results :)

I recomend you VR instead of tripple screen , the immersion its second to known . You have also perception of depth which make driving much more natural. I will put VR in to a S tier. But you have to try it . I run Reverb G2 on RTX 4090

Loadcell brakes didn’t make me faster, it made me more consistent. The switch from no forcefeedback to a forcefeedback wheel should have been S, it’s a bigger difference than loadcell brakes. No forcefeedback is no information

Don't be a sheep.. Your upgrade path is yours.. Do want you want and makes you happy... And pay no attention to the haters..

i think this is a really difficult since every time someone upgrades 1 thing on their setup they will want to play more and thus get more practice. so even if you put a nice decal over your steering wheel you might improve laptimes because you simply practice more. for me, my journey started in 2014 with a cheap logitech wheel i bought to play eurotruck sim. i tried a bit of racing but i couldn't get the feeling i wanted. fast forward to 2016 when i really wanted to start racing and my logitech got fried by faulty a electric socket in my old house, i decided to buy a T500RS with a th8a shifter, that felt a whole lot better and i even got a 70mm adapter to put a cheap aftermarket drift steering wheel on. i made a DIY cockpit rig and that was plenty stable for the T500RS and i spent over 300 hours in AC racing and drifting and loved it. then i kinda got out of simracing, had different interests for a while until 2022 when i bought ACC, and i've been upgrading a lot since then. firstly pedals, fanatec clubsport v3i's but it noticed once i put that on my rig i noticed that when i was braking hard, my wheel moved upwards about an inch because my frame was flexing. so next upgrade i got was a simlab P1-x with sparco seat and i have to say, that improved my consistency a lot, i was able to feel more ffb, and my braking got more stable as well, note that i now have about 240hrs into ACC, i also made my own button box with a cheap alibaba usb arcade input circuit board. next upgrade is a wheelrim, i've ordered a cube controls F-pro, this is more a quality of life upgrade since it will allow me to adjust things like tcs, abs and brake bias while in the car. i race in vr so it's really hard to find and use the buttonbox correct and fast while wearing the vr headset so having everything on the wheel should make it a lot easier. the final upgrade would be the wheelbase, and i'm waiting and saving up for an Asetek Forte wheelbase, i'll just need to wait until they make an adapter for 3rd party wheels since that is currently not available on their site. i honestly dont think the DD wheelbase is gonna make me 2s faster right away but like you said i hope it gives me more confidence and consistency when it comes to the limit of grip.

i also saw your video on the bass shakers and i'm very keen on trying that as well, fairly cheap in comparison to some other upgrades and i can see why you rank it so high. also very simple setup it seems

imho a good rig brings more....had a GT Omega Wheel stand with seat extension...and it was too flimsy to hold the forces when i brake on my loadcell pedals...same for the seat...the playset was just crap as soon i had the LC pedals..

I used a thrustmaster t150 for 2 years and now I have upgraded to a fanatec csl Dd with csl load cell pedal. Am slower right now but hoping it will get easier as I get used to it and then get faster 🥹

Dude, awesome video. I’ve been sim racing for over a year at this point and follow the household names of you tubers. But never seen any videos with this sort of ranking. Awesome job!!! By the way, VR for me is an S, I am so aware of my surroundings that the confidence level is indescribable.

I've gone from gamepad to a rig with the entry level CSL DD bundle. The number one upgrade is pedals. It's S+ tier. Speed/Money it's the best value. VR is cool and how I'm playing currently. I'd say it's B tier. It's very intuitive for newer racers but you can easily become just as fast on any other display technology.

I can't agree at all. FFB is the single most important. Also a stable rig is S tier. These things will make you consistent and overtime it is the best way to get faster. Pedals are overrated: there is not much differance between a loadcell/hall effect or even a potmeter brake pedal. You get used to them in hours. Maybe you get the feeling of a loadcell earlier but it will not make you faster. In the other hand the steering wheels are underrated: to get a good hold of your wheel is very important, you will never get used to a 250mm round slippery wheel. The seats are personal preferance. If you are prone to back pain then its defenetely an S++ tier😁

There is no order to put them in except maybe the brake.
Boosted media did a test with all Feed back information turned completely off, so no FF in the wheel at all not even a simple resistance, and no feed back via motion frame.
His times were so close with Zero feedback information to what they were with everything on it shows they do nothing other than emersion.

All bollocks, complete bollocks all of it, until the day comes when guys on a G27 clamped to their desk using their office chairs stop beating my ass.

Inb4 SKILL ISSUE 😂😂😂

I've been on VR for 3 years and personally run a 34" , 34400x14400 100hz monitor . I've guide 2 friends to a VR headset and a 27" 1080P monitor . The difference our group personally feel , is the two ( Monitors vs VR ) can give you a great Field of view but VR has Depth of view also . This combo becomes cost effective compared Ultra Wides or triple screens . With a rig as you suggest , a visual category would be hard to pick .

I'd put them in quite a different order.
The most important is a wheel with proper FFB. G29 or T300 is enough, but you need FFB to drive.
Second is a solid rig. Having the same seating position every time you drive and building muscle memory without your gear flexing around is massive for your driving and will do more for your braking and consistency than loadcells will.
Speaking of which, the loadcells come in third. Without a good rig they are almost useless, but with one, building consistency and controlling your pedal inputs becomes a lot easier.

After those 3, honestly I don't think anything makes a big difference.
Wheel/gloves... just preference.
DD wheelbases are "overrated", people think they will perform miracles and allow the driver to do things that were previously impossible.
In reality a DD does practically nothing that a T300 doesn't. The DD makes the driving more fun and engaging, but it gives no pace at all. I don't even think it helps much with consistency.
Maybe you can react faster or more accurately to some slide, but your actual driving doesn't change. The greatest pace benefit a DD brings is probably that you want to drive more if it's more fun, which means more practice.

Great video! Would you buy paddles before buying a playseat rig?

VR - is the very first place (information giving is....) - I use quest pro - I won't go back to triple - beginning of new era

VR Is amazing
Atleast on my opinion and I only use old HTC VIVE that I got cheap

Other thing I would like to get but not enough money is something like YAW2 VR motion simulation system

Im a 6.5k driver started with a t300 as well and now use a alpha mini. Difference is huge. The amount of control i have with the alpha mini compared to t300 is really big. T300 has 4nm and the alpha mini has been measured by iracing with 13nm. If you consider the weight of the steering wheel, the force you feel is about 5 times as high. I think the alpha mini had a tremendous effect of my performance and so i disagree with you here, that you think its a minor upgrade. Sure people can get to pro level with a t300 but honestly with a direct drive wheelbase and a proper rim, you will achieve that much faster and more easily.

get a load cell if you can't put a small ball behind the brake

I'd put triples in B I think. Really helped my racecraft! But head tracking belongs there too. Honestly, if you can't get triples, head tracking from Delanclip is almost as good! And cheap!