The best racing games and the wheels and pedals to play them with

Gran Turismo/Sony

Available on: PS5, PS4

A PlayStation icon, the latest iteration of Gran Turismo delivers exactly what you’d expect from the series; photorealistic graphics, a fleet of cars to choose from and rigorously modeled real-world racetracks from around the world. The game is stunning and lets you dive deep into the world of car mods and tuning if that’s your thing.

It is best played with a set of wheels and pedals, allowing you to feel exactly like behind the wheel of cars such as McLaren, Aston Martin, Dodge or many others. Of course, it’s not perfect; earning money is slow and, yes, arguably, you can just buy more with in-game microtransactions, as if paying the hefty $70 (£70) price for the game wasn’t already enough.

But if you want to experience tracks like Silverstone or the iconic Nürburgring in pristine detail behind the wheel of some of your favorite cars, GT7 is a no-brainer for PlayStation owners.

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Codemasters

Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox, PC (via Steam)

If you’ve become addicted to Netflix’s Drive To Survive series, then it might be time to make your own foray into the world of F1 racing. F1 22 maintains its formula of putting you behind the wheels of the biggest, most powerful, most expensive race cars on the planet, sending you around real race tracks and challenging you to take the best racing lines.

You can create your own racing team and battle with names like Verstappen, Hamilton, LeClerc and Norris as you progress through the game. The physics feel great with a racing bike (although how they in fact compare to real-life F1 racing, no idea) and despite the often relentless focus on ‘proper’ driving, the game remains fun and pleasantly challenging.

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Microsoft

Available on: Xbox, PC

The Forza Horizon series has been my favorite racing franchise since its launch, and the fifth generation is no exception. Set in Mexico, Horizon 5 maintains the gorgeous open-world landscape, letting you send a huge variety of real-life cars flying down volcanoes, over sand dunes or around sweeping tire-squealing coastal roads.

I completely finished the game on the Xbox Series X using a standard controller, but trying it out with a wheel and pedals was a huge revelation for me. It was more difficult at first, but I quickly fell in love with how much fun it was to actually drive my Bugatti Chiron at top speed around the map or practice my drifting skills in one of the Hoonigan vehicles.

It’s an extremely fun game and worth playing with a racing bike and pedals.

iRacing

Available on: PC

If Forza Horizon’s attitude is “drive it like you stole it”, then iRacing’s is definitely “drive it like you borrowed it from your boss and your career is over if you get even one scratch on it”. You won’t find any driver assistance, auto-braking or steering guides here, nor any sort of rewind mechanic or even a mini-map of the track you’re on.

Instead, iRacing is all about pure realism, with tracks and physics modeled with brutal accuracy and a focus on real skill and knowledge of the tracks and cars to do well. Unlike the others on this list, iRacing is an online subscription game where progression is achieved by racing in races against real players at specific times of the day. Continuing your journey doesn’t just involve winning; instead, you earn your next license by driving safely, avoiding colliding with other cars or going off the track.

As a result, it’s probably the least “fun” game on this list, but its laser focus on realism means it’s the closest you’ll ever get to actually feeling like you’re behind the wheel of a race car on a track, and so Real-life pro racers are reportedly using iRacing as a training ground.

Codemasters

Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox, PC

When you want to ditch the smooth asphalt tracks in favor of some rain and mud, Dirt 5 is the game to look to. This rally racer leans less on the hardcore simulation elements of others in the series, instead offering more accessible arcade-style gameplay that I really enjoyed.

The variety of tracks is good, the graphics are stunning and power sliding the numerous vehicle types around rough turns felt great with my steering wheel and pedals. There are driver assist options (which I used because I’m here for fun, not a car physics lesson), but you can adjust them to your needs.

The career mode itself is pretty forgettable, but you’ll keep coming back for fun races and gorgeous settings.

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Codemasters

Available on: PS4, PS5 (backwards compatible), Xbox, PC

I loved that Dirt Rally 2.0 took me back to playing the original Colin McRae Rally on the PS One in 1998. It’s a similar game to be fair, with full length rally courses set in beautiful locations in rally countries like Wales, Greece and New Zealand. Thankfully, the graphics and physics have improved somewhat over the last 25 years, with wonderful visual effects and car controls that react to the environment, weather and vehicle damage.

The tracks are well modeled and making good time means focusing on your driving, making full use of the brake pedal and keeping a close eye on what turns or jumps are ahead. It’s much more of a rally simulation than Dirt 5, but it’s still accessible enough for racing tourists like me to fire up and have endless fun sending your car around tight corners.

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