From the outside, sim racing can look a little daunting, with long-established communities that have their own jargon. Plus some titles that support home-made content such as cars, tracks and mods can become seriously bloated and confusing if you didn't get in on the ground floor.

In this round-up we'll talk about the best five hardcore PC sim racing games on the market. We're not going to talk about arcade racing games or 'simcade' titles: we're just looking at physics-focused games that are best played with a racing wheel. We're also limiting our coverage to games we consider to be currently in active development. Ladies and gentlemen: start your engines. IRacing Subscription .

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There's no main menu to speak of in iRacing: instead, every session begins on the iRacing membersite. Even if you want to conduct an offline practice session, you'll need access to the internet in order to begin. It's a locked down title: there's no third-party content, with all the tracks and cars in-game fully licenced and meticulously detailed.

And you'd expect nothing less when each track costs you $15 (£10) and each car will set you back $12 (£8). You can get discounts by buying in bulk, which you'll be doing quite a lot when you first start out.

The bulk of the races you'll take part in on iRacing are ranked, meaning every official qualifying and race session is tracked and your actions rated. If you make a lot of mistakes such as driving off track or crashing into your opponents, your 'Safety Rating' will decrease. This rating isn't just for show; it directly impacts how you're able to play the game, and you can only rank up at the end of each three-month 'season' if your safety rating is high enough. Races in most series are only held once every one or two hours, so waiting around can be frustrating, and getting taken out at the first corner induces fury no matter how patient you are. But it makes every race feel serious and every overtaking move a careful consideration. IRacing's physics are very good indeed.

They're perhaps not as fun as some of the other sims, but that's partly down to the fact that you can't really ever drive at 100% because spinning and crashing has such long-term and frustrating results. Easy Recovery Essentials For Windows 7. There are plenty of cars to choose from once you've passed the rookie phase of the game, with road cars, single seaters, GT cars, prototypes and officially licensed NASCAR and IndyCar models, too. IRacing isn't for everybody, it's simply not suitable for sim racers who may only have two or three hours a week to play. For more hardcore players with lots of time to practice, it's a great investment. Assetto Corsa £35 .

Made by Italian developers Kunos Simulazioni, who previously developed the fun but ultimately troubled NetKar Pro, Assetto Corsa has proven to be one of the most popular sim racing titles of the last few years. It has an interesting selection of cars and tracks, although some racing fans may be slightly disappointed by the dominance of road cars over race thoroughbreds, but who can complain when you've got fantastically modelled vehicles from the likes of BMW, Lotus, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes and McLaren? All the cars are fun and challenging to drive and there's lots of adjustable driver aids to make the experience a little less challenging. There's a decent, if not extensive, selection of tracks available. Famous circuits including Monza, Imola, the Nurburgring, Silverstone and Spa Francorchamps are all present, as are lesser-known but equally fun circuits including Mugello, Vallelunga. There's now DLC that adds the Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit, too.