Do Car Racing Games Really Work as a Training Aid?

For several years now there has been a debate taking place within the car racing community: do car driving games make you a better race car driver?

According to Dale Earnhardt, Jr, sim racing games are a very useful training aid.

During a recent interview, Dale was quoted as saying that when going to a new racing track, its takes him about an hour to get up to speed, and its not until that hour has passed that his suggestions actually becomes usable to the team’s engineers. Now, instead of wasting that hour, Dale is able to practice on the track via his computer, long before he ever gets to the facility.

Being the curious type, I investigated how a video game compares to the real thing and this is what I learned.

Today, the tracks in PC racing games are exact replicas of the actual thing. Advanced technology, including precise GPS data is used by developers when creating a modern track. This translates into a very realistic virtual racing experience for the driver and proves instrumental in helping them to learn their braking and turn in points for each corner.

For instance, each time you enter a corner, you will notice that trackside objects in the car racing game, are identical to the trackside objects at the real track. Moreover, their location along side of the track, relative to the apex, is precisely the same as their location on the real world track.

Obviously, this degree of precision and detail goes a long way to assisting drivers like Dale, Jr, to get comfortable with a new racing track – well before they ever get into the car.

So, from what I can tell, it would appear that car driving games are indeed a helpful training aid.

Learn more about car driving games and also street racing games, then you should be sure to visit the car-driving games website.. Free reprint available from: Do Car Racing Games Really Work as a Training Aid?.