GHIT 0074: Scott Barton and Sim Racing

On this week’s episode we have Scott Barton as our guest.  Scott is a very accomplished racing driver and very knowledgeable in the area of Sim Racing.  We thought we’d learn more about both on this episode, just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.  Sim racing can be great way to get cheap track time, especially in the off season or during the work week when you aren’t near a track.  As with most aspects of racing, you can go as deep as your interest and bank account will allow.  We hope you enjoy the episode. 

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Scott’s racing history and progression to where he is currently racing mostly in the AER series (American Endurance Racing) where he has recorded a very impressive series of results since originally learning at HPDE’s in 1999 and racing in 2009. 

2)  Scott’s latest goal is try to round out his collection of first overall wins in Lucky Dog and WRL to complete his already stellar collection of 24 Hours of Lemons, Champ Car, and AER wins and have recorded overall wins in every major street tire endurance racing series in the US.

3)  Scott is also a driving coach and is involved with many teams, students, and racing series and organizations.

4)  We then began to cover various software and hardware choices available, make some recommendations (links below) as well as describe some of the many systems and options that are available for a wide range of budgets. 

5)  The three basic systems we reviewed started with a single monitor, a three-monitor system and a VR based system with a good set of steering wheels and pedals.  A sim vibe/butt kicker would be a very nice addition is budget allows.

6)  More advanced options mentioned include motion/ full motions simulators, spring loaded harnesses,

7)  Computer requirements in general, such as a 4-core processor, i5 or newer, with a video card capable of running a VR headset at 1080p and 90 fps (or better) should be sufficient for your system.

8)  We also cover how to deal with motion sickness in VR if that happens to you in the beginning.

9)  Scott was even kind enough to entertain us with our traditional Good, Bad, and the Ugly series.

Also, Scott can assist you with defining your system if needed at his website below. 

Items and Links discussed within this episode include:

Steering wheel and Pedals: 

Logitech G29, G920:  https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/driving/driving-force-racing-wheel.html

AccuForce Steering wheels

Fanatec Wheel and Pedals:  https://fanatec.com/us-en  e.g. v3 inverted pedal set, Clubsport base/mount

Heusinkveld:  https://heusinkveld.com/products/sim-rigs/sim-rig-gt/?q=%2Fproducts%2Fsim-rigs%2Fsim-rig-gt%2F&v=7516fd43adaa

VR:

Samsung Odyssey Plus Headset:  https://heusinkveld.com

Oculus Rift:  https://www.oculus.com/rift-s/

Optional Accessories/Upgrades:

Butt Kickers:  https://thebuttkicker.com/

Full Motion simulators – Various sources

RaceDepartment.com  for cars and tracks

Realteus force feel seat pad:  www.Realteus.com

Chassis movers:  various sources

Sim Racing choices: 

iRacing:  https://www.iracing.com/

Assetto Corsa:  https://www.assettocorsa.net/home-ac/

R Factor:  https://store.steampowered.com/app/365960/rFactor_2/

Project Cars:  https://www.projectcarsgame.com/explore/?lang=en-us

Please feel free to contact Scott at:

Website: https://www.facebook.com/ProFormanceCoachingcom

Facebook Group:  Sim Racing Deals at:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/SimRacingDeals/

Thank you again. 

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT Immature Endurance Racing Team