Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Olejniczak
The majority of people that try a Rift/VR on iRacing don't share your opinion. Most people that try it say they can never go back to monitors. The resolution is definitely less than some really nice monitors, but you can still see everything clearly. It takes a bit to optimize the settings to get it just right, and you need a powerful PC to get the most clarity. Biggest difference in VR is that you feel like you are actually in the car, not looking at a 2d image. The depth perception in VR is a huge advantage for VR over screens too.
I primarily race in the Kamel GT series and about 75% of the drivers are using VR. Everyone I know in that series that makes the switch says the wish they converted sooner.
One of the big drawbacks with VR can be VR sickness. It hits some people pretty hard, and others not at all. I get normal motion sickness and got sick the 1st time I used iRacing in VR. It took me about a week of working through it and haven't had an issue since.
Another thing that is interesting about racing sims in VR is that people that have no experience with racing sims, but have real track time experience are almost always faster in VR than using screens. The experience is much more like real life then screens are. The sense of speed is there with VR instantly, on screens you need to adapt to figure that out. The track and cars are a 1 to 1 scale. Braking and turn in references are the same you would use in real life braking. With screens people tend to do things like brake when the pit wall touches the side of the screen. You can't do that in real life.
There are some people that can't get over the resolution differences though. That's just eye candy though and doesn't effect the racing experience. They are also missing out on a much more immersive experience.
I never heard of iRacing until a track day instructor told me about it. He recommended it as a tool to get a lot of track time and practice in for cheap. He said the skills you learn in iRacing will translate to the track. He was so right. After a winter of using iRacing my real life lap times improved a bunch. I went from mid-pack in the intermediate group to one of the fastest guys in the advanced group. I'm not a gamer and hadn't played video games since I was a kid, but I'm having a blast on iRacing. I doubt my experience would be the same if I was using screens. I've never used iRacing with screens though.
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VR is great with sims. It makes the gameplay feel immersive and adds to the whole experience. I felt I was actually inside the R8 lms. But I don't take iRacing seriously enough to participate in a series so I'm fine with sacrificing lap times and experience for a better video quality. Also I haven't begun timing my lap times irl so doesn't matter for me.