essential software - beginsimracing.com

Essential Free Software for Sim Racing

You don't need to spend money to transform your sim racing from basic gaming into a professional-level racing simulation. These free tools can dramatically improve your experience—whether it's seeing real-time data like a professional race car driver, hearing a spotter call out your rivals, or getting better force feedback through your wheel.

🛠️SimHub - The Ultimate Sim Racing Swiss Army Knife

The #1 must-have tool for any sim racer

Download SimHub

SimHub is like having a personal pit crew engineer that takes all the hidden data from your racing game and puts it right in front of you. Your racing game knows your speed, RPM, tire temperatures, fuel level, and hundreds of other things - but normally you can't see most of this information. SimHub grabs all that data and displays it however you want.

What it can do:

Turn an old phone or tablet into a race car dashboard
Make LED strips flash red when you hit the rev limiter
Control bass shakers that rumble over curbs and shifts
Display tire temperatures and fuel levels
Create custom warning lights for nearby cars
Works with almost every sim racing game

Get SimHub Free

Force Feedback & Immersion

Marvin's Awesome iRacing Mod

Makes your steering wheel feel more realistic in iRacing by improving the "road feel" you get through the wheel. It's like upgrading from a basic TV to 4K - same content, but way more detail.

What you'll notice:

Feel exactly when your tires start to lose grip
Sense different road surfaces clearly
Better feedback when sliding or losing control
More realistic steering weight changes

Download Marvin's Mod

ReShade

Graphics enhancement tool that makes your racing games look more photorealistic without buying a better graphics card. Like applying an Instagram filter for your racing game.

What it improves:

More realistic lighting and shadows
Better color saturation and contrast
Sharper image quality
Enhanced visual details

Get ReShade

Audio & Communication

Crew Chief

Your personal race engineer that talks to you during races, calling out lap times, warning about other cars, and giving helpful tips. Like having a real person watching your race.

What it tells you:

"Car left, still there, hold your line" warnings
Exact lap times and improvements
Tire condition and fuel warnings
Weather updates and flag conditions
Motivational comments and personal bests

Download Crew Chief

OBS Studio

Records your screen while racing so you can save your best moments, review mistakes, or stream live to platforms like Twitch and YouTube.

Perfect for:

Recording amazing comeback drives
Reviewing mistakes in replays
Creating highlight reels
Streaming races live online
Saving evidence of incidents

Get OBS Studio

Hardware Setup

Manufacturer Software

Essential software from your wheel manufacturer that lets you customize force feedback, button assignments, and calibration settings for the most realistic experience.

Common manufacturer software:

JoyToKey

Lets you use your racing wheel buttons and pedals to control other things on your computer - perfect for adjusting settings without taking hands off the wheel.

Examples:

Change camera views with wheel buttons
Use clutch pedal for push-to-talk
Control brake balance with paddle shifters
Adjust Windows volume with unused buttons

Download JoyToKey

Learning & Improvement

VRS (Virtual Racing School)

Shows you exactly where you're losing time compared to professional sim racers. Like having a driving coach point to specific corners.

What it shows:

Exact braking points vs. fast drivers
Time gained/lost on each track section
Optimal racing lines through corners
Speed traces and acceleration efficiency

Try VRS Free

Coach Dave Academy

Free videos and tutorials teaching racing fundamentals - from basic driving techniques to advanced car setup concepts.

Topics covered:

Finding optimal racing lines
Braking techniques and trail braking
Understanding tire grip and balance
Basic car setup adjustments

Watch Free Tutorials

iSpeed

Free lap analysis tool specifically for iRacing that compares your performance to other drivers and provides improvement suggestions.

Get iSpeed

Customization & Content

Trading Paints

Makes your iRacing cars look unique with thousands of custom paint schemes. Like having an unlimited garage of custom race cars.

Features:

Auto-downloads other drivers' paint schemes
Browse thousands of designs by category
Upload your own designs to share
See custom paints instead of generic colors

Get Trading Paints

AC Content Manager

Essential tool for Assetto Corsa that replaces the basic launcher with a powerful interface for managing mods, cars, and tracks.

What it does:

One-click mod installation
Preview mods before installing
Manage setups and organize content
Enhanced graphics and weather settings

Download Content Manager

Race Department

Hub for downloading mods, car setups, and community-created content for various racing games.

Browse Race Department

Utility Tools

Fanaleds

Makes the LED lights on your Fanatec wheel actually useful by showing shift points, flag conditions, and race information.

Get Fanaleds

Pitskill

Free online calculators for race strategy, fuel management, and pit stop timing - especially useful for longer races.

Calculations include:

Fuel consumption and pit windows
Tire wear predictions
Optimal pit stop timing
Race position projections

Use Pitskill Free