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Does any company market a racing simulator that is generally plug and play for possibly under $5-8,000?
A sim where one doesn’t have to have a PhD in PC software management.
Some companies will preconfigure a PC and sell you all the associated sim gear. You'd still need to maintain it for updates or hire someone. You can also get the assetto corsa titles on console. You could pick up an xbox series x and then a console compatible rig for under that easy. The downside is that you have limited 'real sim' titles. Also no iracing if you want to compete online. That's PC only. The big issues with console is no triple monitor support that I know of. Playstation has the PSVR2 VR system. Gran Turismo is on it, but I don't think there are a lot of pure sims. If you're looking at this as a learning tool PC is unfortunately the best place to be.
Your best bet honestly with that budget and a turnkey requirement is to find something on marketplace that someone is selling as a complete setup.
I just sold a triple 24" setup with fanatec csl elite wheel and pedals shifter, obutto chassis, GR86 seat and a 7 year old PC with a 1050ti card for $2k. It was a decent starter setup, and it all worked so well together that it didn't make sense to just upgrade stuff 1 at a time. I enjoyed that setup for 2 years, then I convinced myself I'd enjoy the upgrading everything enough to justify the added expense, I sold it all a more "end game" setup so I wouldn't really have to worry about upgrading most components for a long time.
New PC is self built with 7800x3d microcenter bundle with nvidia 3080 ftw.
Triple Samsung g5 32"
Rig is Advanced Sim Racing ASR-6 and I'm currently rocking both the integrated and stand alone triple monitor stand for a full on belt and suspenders approach.
Kirkey seat from a legends car, which I find way more comfy than it looks.
SIMTAG Tilton pedals.
Simucube sport wheelbase with simracebay Lambo GT3 wheel
Heusinkveld sequential and handbrake
HSR wind sim
Yamaha receiver with NHT 5.1 Surround speaker setup.
Buttkicker mini under seat.
Simdog robo lab2 (In charging mode)
I decided to go with a stand alone server rack to somewhat keep all the additional equipment organized
I have an Etsy Bezel free kit, but currently off as i am going to modify it a bit for a more secure fit.
Pretty happy with it overall, and huge upgrade from previous rig. I'm right at 170' fov with the monitor 24" from my eyes. Stays above 100fps with most high quality settings enabled.
Will probably add more bass shakers in the future, and I'd like to trade out the shifter for something like the simagic sequential. And of course need to get a round MPI wheel for oval tracks as a gt3 wheel ruins the vibe.
I won't add it all up, but this setup is over $10k retail, plus another $2k If I had someone build it all for me and offer it turnkey... just to give you an idea on equipment pricewise. Just like built cars, some people have more fun putting sim rigs together than driving them. I see similar systems to mine $6-8k used on marketplace, with claimed very little use. As an added note, you can easily spend $500 on extra accessories you don't think about like usb hubs, surge protectors, extra usb cables, cable management accessories, etc.
The reason I ask is I’ve flown sims for years in the USAF and General Aviation
Last track school I went to ( Miami) I had to spend so much time just learning “ what was next” , I.e. learning the track, it wasn’t until the afternoon that I really started to learn .
it seems to me , I may be totally wrong, that driving the track in a sim before hand , knowing which turns we’re next, staying ahead of the car , etc.would be a much better place to start .
Any thoughts?
The reason I ask is I’ve flown sims for years in the USAF and General Aviation
Last track school I went to ( Miami) I had to spend so much time just learning “ what was next” , I.e. learning the track, it wasn’t until the afternoon that I really started to learn .
it seems to me , I may be totally wrong, that driving the track in a sim before hand , knowing which turns we’re next, staying ahead of the car , etc.would be a much better place to start .
Any thoughts?
They are definitely useful for learning new tracks. I’m also a huge fan of sims as a way for people to learn car control and the best way to respond when you go over the limit.
For example, a lot of folks jump off the gas when you have oversteer and the end result is a spin and/or hitting something. Having it muscle memory to just gently breathe off the throttle and add a little counter steer is incredibly difficult to master in real life.
Even game type sims (e.g. Forza) have pretty good physics models at this point if you turn up the realism settings and have good equipment. The tough part is getting all the game and controller settings set to best mimic real life.
It might take a bit to get used to the lack of inner ear sensation, but the visual effects to trick your brain in to detecting yaw and long G are pretty good. I also really like the ButtKicker devices to simulate the feel of tires near the limit through vibration.
The biggest issue I have is not jumping in and over driving the car since there isn’t any real sense of danger. Need to go in calm and build speed like in real life.
VR is nice because it costs less than 3 big monitors, and takes a lot less space. The Pimax brand had the widest field of view when I bought my stuff a couple years ago - it's pretty comparable to wearing a helmet. The biggest drawback to VR is nausea. Initially I had to stop after 15 minutes, but after a few tries that became a half hour, and then an hour, and now I can wear it for an hour and a half without any issues. And after that long I'm ready to do something else anyhow.
The other drawback to VR is that it's awkward to switch between VR for driving and keyboard/mouse/screen to start the sim or change tracks/settings, centering the VR view, etc. Driving in VR is great, but doing anything else with the computer is a pain. It is great for driving though.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Simulator
Initially I had to stop after 15 minutes, but after a few tries that became a half hour, and then an hour, and now I can wear it for an hour and a half without any issues. And after that long I'm ready to do something else anyhow. 
