Start here

The Best VR Racing Games for PlayStation, Oculus Rift & HTC Vive

By JohnResearch & sources

We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. How this works

Where should a new VR racing setup start?

For a new setup, start with Gran Turismo 7 on PS5 with PS VR2, or the PC VR alternatives below. Our 24 September 2026 check found several original picks delisted or tied to discontinued platforms. iRacing, Assetto Corsa and Race the Sun remained listed. Check the VR platform before buying: a console version does not necessarily include VR support.

Building your first VR racing setup means matching the game to your headset, computer or console. A console release may have no VR mode, and several games in this older list have been delisted. Check compatibility before buying a game or steering wheel.

For a new setup, start with the current racing alternatives and equipment requirements. The eight original reviews explain John's earlier recommendations, with platform and service changes noted alongside them.

Concept illustration of an empty VR racing cockpit with a steering wheel, pedals and headset beside a curved virtual racetrack.
AI-generated editorial illustration; device shapes and interfaces are conceptual.
Platform status and source notes
Which of these VR racing games can you still play?

This list dates from the first PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive era, and a lot has changed. Of the eight games, only three are still sold with VR support: iRacing and Assetto Corsa on Steam (PC VR), and Race the Sun on Steam (PC VR) and the PlayStation Store (PS4 with the original PS VR). Project CARS 2 was delisted in September 2022, DiRT Rally is no longer on Steam, Driveclub VR and Gran Turismo Sport were removed from the PlayStation Store and their online services ended, and Need for Speed No Limits VR went with Google's discontinued Daydream platform. The headsets have moved on too: the Oculus Rift line ended in 2021 and the original PS VR is no longer made. If you are buying today, see the current alternatives below, such as Gran Turismo 7 on PS VR2, or Automobilista 2 and Le Mans Ultimate on PC VR. Checked 24 September 2026.

The reviews below preserve John’s original coverage. As he wrote then: “I remember the first time I played Gran Turismo with a PlayStation steering wheel.” Use the dated status notes and current alternatives when choosing a new setup.

The Games

Project Cars 2

  • Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
  • Release Date: September 21, 2017
  • Platforms: PS4, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PC, Xbox One (VR on PC only; it is not in the list of PlayStation VR games)
  • Status: Delisted from digital stores on 21 September 2022 because car and track licences expired; Steam no longer sells it, but existing owners can still play
  • Price: Check on Amazon

This sequel to Project Cars makes a huge leap forward. It was made from the ground up with VR in mind and you can tell. The handling of the cars, which was a major complaint in the first project cars, is phenomenal in Project Cars 2, allowing for much greater control of your vehicle whether using a steering wheel or control pad. The cars grip the road in a much more realistic way and also lose that grip in a realistic way when you overdo it.

Project Cars 2 also comes with an impressive array of cars, motorsport series, tracks, and venues right out of the box. You won’t need to spend your next paycheck on upgrades and custom cars and tracks to enjoy this game.

Visually, Project Cars 2, doesn’t disappoint, either. The graphics are beautiful and hold up pretty well while you’re driving. It isn’t perfect, though. Occasionally, you’ll get hiccups in the video, more on consoles than on a high-end pc.  Overall, though, it’s very good. The audio is also excellent, from the squeal of the tires to small details like the sound of kicking up gravel. This attention to detail does wonders for immersing you in the experience.

Pros

  • Excellent handling
  • Large selection of cars and tracks included
  • Great audio

Cons

  • Occasional video hiccups

View the listing on AmazonPaid link · Historical or unverified listing

iRacing

  • Publisher: iRacing.com Motorsport Simulation
  • Developer: iRacing.com Motorsport Simulation
  • Release Date: August 26, 2008 (with multiple updates since)
  • Platforms: PC, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive
  • Price: Subscription; check at Steam.
  • Status: Still sold and updated

Don’t let the 2008 release date fool you. iRacing is possibly the most realistic racing simulator out there. The developers have deals with NASCAR, INDYCAR, IMSA, and others and use both laser scanning and AutoCAD for track and car development.

iRacing.com continually develops and improves iRacing. So, while iRacing was technically released in 2008, what you are playing was likely developed much more recently. In fact, its realism has drawn praise from the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other professional race car drivers.

iRacing is visually stunning and the handling of vehicles is incredible. When this review was written it had over 80 race cars and over 80 tracks; its Steam listing now mentions more than 150 cars and tracks, and new content is still added regularly. You can race NASCAR, INDYCAR, Rallycross, and more. Simply put, iRacing is the next best thing to getting in a real race car and a lot less expensive…though a lot more expensive than other racing games.

Cost is the one weakness of iRacing. Rather than a one-time purchase, iRacing is a subscription service, and cars and tracks beyond the base set are bought separately. When we checked on 24 September 2026, Steam listed an annual subscription at €134.54 (€95.44 introductory for new members), with monthly and six-month plans too; prices vary by region. So, it tops our list in terms of cost, but with the continual updating and real-world car and track simulations, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Pros

  • Incredibly realistic
  • A huge assortment of cars and tracks
  • Continually updated

Cons

  • The subscription and extra content can get expensive

Read more

Dirt Rally VR

  • Publisher: Codemasters, Feral Interactive
  • Developer: Codemasters, Codemasters Racing Studio, Feral Interactive
  • Release Date: December 7, 2015
  • Platforms: PC (Oculus Rift), PS4 with PlayStation VR (VR added in February 2017), Xbox One (no VR)
  • Status: No longer sold on Steam; EA shut down the online servers on 8 November 2025. DiRT Rally 2.0 is still sold on Steam with PC VR support
  • Price: Check on Amazon.

Dirt Rally VR has a lot of good qualities.  It has great racing, it’s challenging, and the controls are good, but what I love best about Dirt Rally VR is that it’s a ton of fun.  Other racing games are realistic and enjoyable, but Dirt Rally amps up the fun.

Another amazing aspect of this game is its design for VR.  This game doesn’t feel like a game that was adapted to VR.  It feels like a game that was built from the ground up for VR.  In fact, if you’ve played the non-VR version of Dirt Rally, the VR version will make more sense and play better.

If there is a downside to Dirt Rally VR it’s the graphics.  Honestly, they aren’t great.  However, if you’re like me, once you’ve played it, you won’t care.

Pros

  • Phenomenal VR experience
  • Fun
  • Good controls

Cons

  • Graphics are not great

View the listing on AmazonPaid link · Historical or unverified listing

Race the Sun (RTS)

  • Publisher: Flippfly LLC
  • Developer: Flippfly LLC
  • Release Date: Aug 19, 2013
  • Platforms: PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PC, OS X, Wii U; VR on PC (Windows only) and on PS4 with PlayStation VR (from April 2017)
  • Status: Still sold on Steam and the PlayStation Store
  • Price: Check on Amazon, Microsoft, and the PlayStation Store.

Race the Sun (RTS) is a different kind of entry onto this list. RTS is an endless runner type game where you are racing to see how far you can get and how high a score you get rather than trying to get to the finish line of a track. The concept of the game is that you are in a solar powered glider and the sun is setting. You race towards the horizon to keep up with the descent of the sun and keep the glider in the sunlight or you run out of power and crash.

In addition to the sun setting, there are plenty of obstacles that threaten to end your game either by crashing into them or by staying in their shadow too long and losing power. There are boosts you can collect along the way, such as a magnet or speed up, and challenges to complete to make things more interesting.

With 25 levels, different stages, and 5 different regions per stage, there’s plenty to keep you entertained, but it gets even better. Many games like this can start to feel old after a while because you learn the game/world and know exactly what to expect, but Race the Sun keeps things fresh by redesigning the world every single day. So, each day you play, the layout is different and it’s a fresh experience. The visuals are intentionally minimalistic and it works very well.

Race the Sun is an addictive game that has the capacity to have you saying, “Just one more time,” over and over. It can serve as a quick break in your day or more likely a quick break that turned into 3 hours.

Pros

  • Daily changing layout keeps the experience fresh
  • Great visuals with a minimalist style
  • Addictively fun

Cons

  • The craft occasionally feels a little sluggish

View the listing on AmazonPaid link · Historical or unverified listing

Gran Turismo Sport (GT Sport)

Gran Turismo Sport has a lot going for it. The visuals are excellent and the handling of the cars feels pretty real. The grip and weight transfer of the vehicles are nuanced and changes depending on the type of car and its upgrades.  The audio of Gran Turismo Sport has taken a good step up from previous Gran Turismo games, though it still isn’t the best out there.

Unfortunately, the number of unique tracks and cars is lacking when compared to other racing games. Also, the weather effects are weak. However, the controls for Gran Turismo Sport are excellent whether on a controller or a wheel.

One of the interesting aspects of Gran Turismo Sport is Sony’s dedication to an online experience. Sport mode, as it’s known, is an online racing venue. Polyphony Digital has done an excellent job of creating a stable and engaging online experience.

Regularly scheduled races against real human opponents are fun and kept relatively fair by Gran Turismo Sport’s Sportsmanship Rating. If people are running other cars off the road and playing too aggressively, their sportsmanship rating will show it and eventually they will be racing other “bad sports” and kept out of the races of those who play fair.

As good as the online experience is, it’s where most of the gameplay happens. If you aren’t online, you are limited to Arcade Mode. Arcade Mode is still good, but it’s limited.

Gran Turismo Sport is an excellent racing game with great graphics, solid audio, and a good online experience. As long as you have a good internet connection, this is an excellent choice for a racing game.

Note: Sport mode and the other online features described above no longer exist, because Sony shut down Gran Turismo Sport's online services on 31 January 2024. A disc copy is now limited to the offline modes, and VR was always limited to the VR Tour mode and time trials. The current PlayStation option is Gran Turismo 7, which supports PS VR2 on PS5 (though not in two-player split screen).

Pros

  • Great visuals
  • Good audio
  • Realistic handling
  • Good online environment

Cons

  • Not as robust options for cars and tracks
  • Offline play is limited
  • Weather effects are lacking

View the listing on AmazonPaid link · Historical or unverified listing

Need for Speed – No Limits VR

  • Publisher: Electronic Arts (EA)
  • Developer: Electronic Arts (EA), Firemonkeys studio
  • Release Date: December 15, 2016
  • Platforms: Google Daydream
  • Status: No longer available. Google stopped selling the Daydream View in October 2019 and ended support for Daydream in October 2020; the game’s old Google Play page now returns an error

Need for Speed – No Limits VR is another great entry in the Need for Speed franchise. The VR experience is visually and audibly very good. You can adjust things like the distance to the steering wheel and how high up you are sitting, which surprisingly makes a big difference in your sense of immersion.

The spatial audio is also very good for immersing you in the game. Unfortunately, you are using a controller, not a wheel, which immediately removes some of that realism.

The game is a little different than other racing games. If you are familiar with the Need for Speed franchise, you know that you aren’t just racing on a track with racecars, you are racing on the road where the police will come after you.

In addition to simply racing, there are missions you can complete to earn cash with which you can modify your vehicle or buy a new vehicle.

With up to 60 events, 12 tracks and lots of cars to drive, Need for Speed gives plenty to keep you entertained for hours on end.

Pros

  • Immersive audio
  • Plenty of events and tracks to keep things interesting

Cons

  • Played with a controller, not wheel

Assetto Corsa

  • Publisher: KUNOS-Simulazioni Srl, 505 Games
  • Developer: KUNOS-Simulazioni Srl
  • Release Date: December 19, 2014
  • Platforms: PC, Oculus Rift, Xbox One, PS4 (VR on PC only, via SteamVR or Oculus PC)
  • Status: Still sold on Steam
  • Price: Check on Amazon.

Assetto Corsa has done an amazing job researching and recreating the physics behind racing. As a racecar simulator, it doesn’t get much better. In fact, it may be the best out there other than iRacing. The game also has a decent selection of cars and tracks, though not as robust as other VR racing games.

The audio is good and the visuals are spot on. The car interiors, in particular, are highly detailed and look great. There are occasional stutters in the video, but it’s better than most games. The menu, on the other hand, is frustrating and unintuitive.

The racing aspects, however, leave something to be desired. The opponent AI is a little too good and their cars seem oddly less affected by physics than your car. Where a bump from the AI may send your car into the grass, a similar bump from you won’t have much effect on their car. In addition, you have to finish in the top 3 to get any benefit from the race when playing in career mode, where other games account for lower finishes that still affect your career.

Assetto Corsa did a phenomenal job with the driving simulation. If they would have done as good a job with the racing simulation, they would be higher up in this list.

Pros

  • Excellent driving simulation
  • Good visuals and audio

Cons

  • AI sometimes seems unrealistic
  • Career mode doesn’t account for lower finishes
  • The menu interface is unintuitive

View the listing on AmazonPaid link · Historical or unverified listing

DriveClub VR

  • Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Developer: Evolution Studios
  • Release Date: October 13, 2016 (the original Driveclub came out on October 7, 2014)
  • Platforms: PS4 with PlayStation VR
  • Status: Sony removed Driveclub, its DLC and standalone expansions from the PlayStation Store on 29 August 2019 and ended online services on 31 March 2020
  • Price: Check on Amazon.

DriveClub VR has good handling and audio. Where it truly excels, though is the sheer amount of game time built into it. You can easily play for over 100 hours and still have more to do. There are plenty of cars and tracks to keep you entertained.

The graphics on the internals of the cars are very good and the game even has some impressive lighting effects. That said, graphics are this game’s great weakness. When you look much beyond the car, itself, the resolution drops off significantly. Unfortunately, that’s where you want to spend most of your time looking when you are driving.

The graphics issue causes two issues. First, it makes it more difficult to play as it’s hard to make out what’s coming on the road more than a few feet in front of you. Second, it can strain your eyes after a while.

Overall, DriveClub VR won’t blow you away, but it is a good VR driving game. With a low price point, it makes for a great entry point into VR racing.

Pros

  • Plenty of game-time
  • Good internal graphics

Cons

  • The graphics down the road are weak and even eye-straining

View the listing on AmazonPaid link · Historical or unverified listing

Chances are, you don’t have every virtual reality platform.  So, what are the best VR racing games for your specific platform?

Top 3 VR Racing Games for PlayStation 4:

PlayStation has been making racing games for over 20 years. Virtual Reality was the obvious next step for realism and excitement.  

Here are the top 3 VR racing games for PS4.

Correction: Project CARS 2 has no PlayStation VR mode, so on PS4 the VR picks are DiRT Rally, Race the Sun, Driveclub VR and Gran Turismo Sport. Race the Sun is still on the PlayStation Store, while Driveclub VR and Gran Turismo Sport have been delisted. PS VR2 can’t play PS4 VR games, and the adapter needed to use the original PS VR on a PS5 is no longer offered by Sony; on PS5 with PS VR2, Gran Turismo 7 is the obvious choice.

Top 3 Oculus Rift Racing Games:

Oculus Rift was the first platform to make VR available to the common consumer and they have been at the top of VR development ever since.

The top 3 Oculus Rift racing games demonstrate that.

Top 3 Driving Games for HTC Vive:

HTC has followed right behind the Oculus Rift and done a fantastic job of producing great VR games.  

If you’ve got the HTC Vive, I’m sure you haven’t been disappointed and you won’t be disappointed with these top 3 driving games for the HTC Vive.

These PC games aren’t tied to the Rift or the Vive: they run through SteamVR or the Oculus PC software, so they also work with current PC VR headsets. The Rift line was discontinued in 2021, and the original Vive has been replaced by newer models as HTC shifted towards business customers.

What do you need to play the best VR racing games?

First, you need nerves of steel. Then you need control. So many people fly into turns recklessly or slow down too much, but if you learn to handle turns at high speed while maintaining control of your vehicle, you’ll win most races.

You’ll also need the following gear:

  • PlayStation VR (discontinued; see our PlayStation VR review) - find at Amazon.
  • Oculus Rift (discontinued; see our Oculus Rift review).
  • HTC Vive (replaced by newer Vive models; see our HTC Vive review) - find at Amazon.
  • Google Daydream View (discontinued in 2019; the platform is no longer supported).
  • Logitech G29 Steering Wheel with pedals for PS4 - find at Amazon.
  • Logitech G29 Steering Wheel with pedals for PC and Xbox One - find at Amazon.
  • Openwheeler GEN 2 Racing Wheel Stand Cockpit (seat) - find at Amazon.

Note: we haven’t rechecked current stock or pricing for the wheels and cockpit above. For a new setup, the headset choice today is mainly a PS VR2 for PS5 or a current headset that works with SteamVR on a Windows PC.

Current VR racing games to consider

These games were on sale with VR support when we checked. We haven’t played them for this article; the notes come from the official store pages and Wikipedia.

Game Platform with VR Status
Gran Turismo 7 PS5 with PS VR2 On sale; PS VR2 support added in February 2023
iRacing PC VR Subscription, still updated
Automobilista 2 PC VR (SteamVR or Oculus PC) On sale
Le Mans Ultimate PC VR Left early access on 22 July 2025
DiRT Rally 2.0 PC VR (SteamVR or Oculus PC) On sale; its Clubs feature ended on 8 July 2026
Assetto Corsa PC VR (SteamVR or Oculus PC) On sale

Conclusion

Racing games can be fun and get your heart racing. With VR entering the picture, there’s never been a better time for racing games. One of the things I love best about racing games is that they can be played over and over. With other games, you finish the story or the bad guys become predictable.  With racing games, it just takes having a different opponent to make the game fresh and exciting again.

If you haven’t tried racing games in VR, you’re missing out. Maybe it’s time to get back into the virtual driver’s seat.

What Do You Think?

So, what do you think of my list?

Which VR racing game is your favorite?

Are there any VR driving games you would include in your best VR racing games list that I left out? 

Post your comment below and let me know.

Research behind this guide

Check the linked specifications and support documents, or read how we research. Original review experience stays attributed to its author.

View 21 sources

Explore the related guides in VR games.

On this page
Your next step
Explore VR games

HTC Vive vs Oculus Rift Comparison

The original HTC Vive and Oculus Rift compared on visuals, tracking, controllers and comfort, plus their discontinued status and current PC VR alternatives.

Updated 14 October 2026