I use to be a big fan of Grand Turismo III and Forza Motorsport when they came out. I like the Simulator Racing type games but I have given up on consoles a great time ago and I would much rather play these games on the PC.

Anyone can recommend good racing titles similar to GT3 or Forza but for the PC?

P.S.: I own Dirt and I can't wait for "GRID" to come out!

Regards,

Alex

Your going to love Project Torque then... just google it for the website.

It's basically GT III but you have to & can only play it online against other players. MMO style.

Best part, 100% free or you have the option to buy AP points which in turn you can buy cars, upgrades etc..

no need to spend a dollar though to get hours and hours of fun out of it!

check it out

http://project-torque.aeriagames.com/

Sadly the two titles I had the most fun with are no longer avaiable (I assume).

Arcadey fun - Need for Speed:High Stakes. I played that game to death for a few months.

Sim type - Rally Trophy. A little known European game that I played consistently for at least a year. Took a long time to get good at it but it was really rewarding.

I dowloaded and tryed Project Torque. It's a lot better than it seemed. Maybe the graphics aren't top notch but gameplay is pretty good. Thanks for the suggestion. Anyone else know good racing games?

Flat out 1 or 2. You wont find better for arcadey gameplay. I have had endless hours of fun playing against the kids with this one.

If you want a sim there's only GTR2 to go for.

Ya that's also one that I looked into...but I really like to take out a street car on the track like an RX-7 or a skyline out on the tracks. Good one thou...I might consider it if I get bored with the others.

*It's too bad the NFS series have became what they are today, I really liked the porsche edition and high stakes*

I actually enjoy Test Drive Unlimited a lot. Well, I am not really a hard core racer and what I like about TDU is that it uses an actual Hawaii (?!) map. So I can just drive aimlessly from one end of the island to another. And it is like a multi-player game so from time to time I get to see "real player" behind their cars.

Though I must say, I usually get bullied by them. I guess road bullies exist everywhere - online and offline.

I just bought TDU and it's quite fun. As imnotageek says, it gives you the option of just going for a leisurely cruise if you want. Sadly, there aren't that many people online and the servers can be a bit flaky. I also bought Race:The WTCC game, but I haven't had a chance to try that out properly yet.

Why didn't I think of that, Test Drive Unlimited!!! haha thanks for reminding me this game exists lol.

ph33rgear: Dude, Project Torque is freggin addictive! It's free, based on a point system, and it's online exclusif. Thanks again for that recommendation. They have one of the best in-car views as well. Well done.

I really wanted to know about these titles because I've been debating weither it was worth it to get a steering wheel for the PC.

You're in the position I was - I tried out the demo of Race and although fun, I found the gamepad annoying.

So I bought a £40 force feedback wheel (Logitech - I'm pleased with it) and the two games at £15 each. Have played TDU quite a bit (have explored all the map and reached "Champion" level" ) but have yet to go back to Race.

Oooih, which Logitech wheel did you get, any problems so far? I am about to buy the Momo.

Force Feedback EX. Seems to be OK. I didn't want to spend the £150 for the G25, since I'm unlikely to play driving games enough to justify that kind of money!

yeah it sure is! I've done about 100 races in it so far

I'm at level C-IV which feels like it took forever to get too... your right the graphics aren't the best but the physics and gameplay well make up for it... some of the best in a racing game I have found. very realistic...

glad your enjoying it...everyone should try it out, I mean it is 100% free so you got nothing to loose.

Project Torque = Awesome Online Racing game. They really pulled it off although I kind'of disagree with the whole simluator thing...it's not that good. But they have lots of racing games such as regular VS racing, Capture the Flag, Thunderd race type, explore, etc. I just dropped 30$ to get an RX-7 but I'm a little disappointed so far as everyone kicks me out because I have a better car than they have

Anyways, its worth a try for sure...quite addictive actually.

TDU is the SHIZZNIT!!!

Dont get me wront i love F1, GT2 and all those games, but circut racing can get a little boring and too clinical.

You spend most ur time setting up your car for qualifying and racing.

TDU has such an awesome map too. Ohau Hawaii... the ENTIRE island.
The races are fkn GREAT too, the longest one is 200Km with traffic!

I only hope TDU2 is just as good.

A good few years ago now there was a driving game released which really stood out from the crowd.

It was based upon the British Rally Championship with photorealistic actual stages (photorealistic for the day couldnt swear to how they hold up now) it had a good range or actual rally cars built in all to a similiar standard as the courses. Im not sure which version of the game it was I played there was one in 1997 and one in 2001 and I really couldnt narrow it down as to which I played, I would guess the 2001 version from my memory of which office I was in when I played it I think the 2001 version was called mobil 1 rally championship.

Now the graphics were all superb for their day, but what really really stood out for me about this game was the driving experience, it was the most stunningly realistic driving experience Ive ever had in a game! I say this as a former championship leading rally driver myself!

Ive always enjoyed the car collecting side of gran turismo, and knowing how to effect the car with the suspension tuning etc to get what I want, but gran turismo has never given me the feeling of "reality" especially their off road stuff, which whilst very good fun never catches the real feel of being on a loose stage (despite the fact that I have a 120" screen, wheels pedals and a bucket seat and harness out of one of my old rally cars).

This game from a good few years ago really caught it perfectly! it was as harsh and unforgiving as the real thing it was as easy to put the car on its roof with overly heavy throttle use as the real thing it was as easy to get a corner wrong as the real thing. Beautiful. As an actual rally driver I appreciated a game that really caught just how flighty actual rallying is and just how easy it is to get so very wrong!

It was a game where the run of the mill full throttle and late breaking for corners just wasnt going to get you anywhere! Slight course adjustments precise throttle control and actual driving techniques were required to get anywhere fast! Even along the straight you could come to greif very easily, just like the real thing in real rallying about 33% of starters dont finish the rally!

OF course this is all based on old memories but I know at the time I was ever so impressed with the reality of the driving experience, far more so than I have ever been by any other driving game Ive ever tried.

Oh man i downloaded Project Tourque and im really enjoying it. If only i had tha G25 steering wheel. £150 but it looks sosososososososo good. I know that i cant justify spending money on it either, as there arent enough racing games for PC. I would love to use this on GT5 or forza2 but i dont have a ps3/360.

Are there any games which can fully use this wheel? I havnt seen many that allow clutch cotrol, asnd i really want a realistic racing game to play. Just the thought of racing with real clutch control - Also would it be useable on consoles with the use of adapters?? (I also have an old Ps1 wheel i could find an adapter for xD, may keep me happy for a little while)

Project Torque certainly allow it...but on the PC, I don't think there are any other.

I love both sim and arcade racing and really can't pick a favorite. An old favorite was Sports Car GT. For years it was my favorite racing game, a blast on the LAN. It doesn't seem to work right with Win XP SP2.

Others I have greatly enjoyed are Nascar 2003, F12002/GTR2002, GTR2, TDU, NFS (played all but the original but most liked Hot Pursuit 2, Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon) Flatout 1 & 2, and Insane. I bought Race07 and NFS pro street but have not really played them enough yet to comment. Currently most of my racing time would go toward TDU, Flatout 2, and NFS series, but I hope to get back into sims now that I bought a Playseats Evolution. (excellent chair IMO) See pic - http://img169.imageshack.us/img169 [...] mbovf6.jpg