TL/DR

Over 80 different race series to choose from with online championship seasons lasting 12 weeks, divisions and splits based on ratings, thousands of other drivers online 24 hours a day. All this ensures you get great, competitive racing at all times. Good selection of free stuff included with your subscription to get you started, but adding cars/tracks is expensive, so you will need to build up your collection slowly and carefully as you progress. Simply the best online racing sim available. Highly recommended.

Details

iRacing, is a pure online racing simulator, a sort of racing MMO, a virtual version of real life racing if you like. This game is for people who take their online sim-racing seriously. AI racing was added recently for some series (constantly being added to) and you can now create custom championship seasons using just AI. But, it's main function, and what makes it worth the money, is still the online racing vs other real drivers. As well as actual racing there are permanent online practice sessions for each series or you can test drive with any vehicle/track you own. There are also Time Trial and Time Attack options.

Firstly, you need to have at least a basic wheel and pedal setup (I wouldn't recommend playing this with a gamepad, you will really struggle to be competitive), and secondly, be prepared to invest later on in some cars and tracks depending on your racing interest. Sim-racing requires an investment of time and money so you need to be sure it's something you want to do. This is not a game for car and track collectors, it requires more focus.

You can pay for your subscription here or on the iRacing website (I would recommend going to iRacing direct), if you do subscribe via iRacing you will still get a Steam Key to link it to your Steam profile which will show you online and record your hours on track.

All Rookie cars and required tracks to run a full season are included in your subscription, for example, in the Rookie Road series you can drive the Mazda MX-5 or Formula Vee. You can continue racing these and the other Rookie seasons for as long as you continue pay your subscription without buying anything else.

A race season runs for 12 weeks with a different track each week. You can race as often as you want during the race week (though points averaging kicks in if you enter the same race more than 3 times in a week). Your best 8 weeks of the season will count towards your total points and your standing in your division championship. The division you are put in depends on your iRating (see later) though everyone starts in the Rookie division.

Only once you establish that you enjoy the sim and you have at least achieved a D-Class licence (more on licences later) should you start buying more cars and tracks. Try to focus on what you enjoy and just buy the cars and tracks needed to progress in your chosen series. This is the cheapest and most sensible way to enjoy iRacing.

Everyone in iRacing gets a rating called iRating. This is used to determine the 'splits' in any particular race and what division your are competing in. All racers with a similar iRating are grouped into the same split. This means you are almost always racing against drivers with a similar skill level to your own. You improve your iRating by performing well in races, usually this means a top 10 finish. You get a separate iRating for each type of racing: Road, Oval, Dirt Road and Dirt Oval.

The other important aspects of iRacing are safety rating and the licencing system. These are completely unrelated to your iRating. Your licence class is based on your safety rating (SR). You lose SR for hitting other cars, losing control or going off-track. Licence classes are Rookie, D, C, B, A, Pro. You will only be able to race in certain series if you have the correct level of licence class. Note, that if you lose a lot of SR in a season you will drop back to a lower level licence class. You can earn all but the Pro licence just by improving your SR. To get a Pro licence you have to qualify for a Pro series. This is not easy and very few manage it. But if you do, you can race for real money prize funds (currently around $300,000) and the races are broadcast live with commentary on the iRacing eSports Network.

To sum up, iRacing requires an initial investment of time and money. It will probably cost $200 - $300 to get a good selection of cars and tracks, but you can build your collection slowly over months or even years, just try to buy cars you will be sure to race with. However, once you have built up a collection of cars and tracks that you're interested in, all that's left is the annual subscription cost and you can enjoy the best online sim-racing for years to come (it has been running for 12 years so far).

Oh, and if you have a VR headset, this will become your life...

TL/DR Over 80 different race series to choose from with online championship seasons lasting 12 weeks, divisions and splits based on ratings, thousands of other drivers online 24 hours a day. All this ensures you get great, competitive racing at all times. Good selection of free stuff included with your subscription to get you started, but adding cars/tracks is expensive, so you will need to build up your collection slowly and carefully as you progress. Simply the best online racing sim available. Highly recommended. Details iRacing, is a pure online racing simulator, a sort of racing MMO, a virtual version of real life racing if you like. This game is for people who take their online sim-racing seriously. AI racing was added recently for some series (constantly being added to) and you can now create custom championship seasons using just AI. But, it's main function, and what makes it worth the money, is still the online racing vs other real drivers. As well as actual racing there are permanent online practice sessions for each series or you can test drive with any vehicle/track you own. There are also Time Trial and Time Attack options. Firstly, you need to have at least a basic wheel and pedal setup (I wouldn't recommend playing this with a gamepad, you will really struggle to be competitive), and secondly, be prepared to invest later on in some cars and tracks depending on your racing interest. Sim-racing requires an investment of time and money so you need to be sure it's something you want to do. This is not a game for car and track collectors, it requires more focus. You can pay for your subscription here or on the iRacing website (I would recommend going to iRacing direct), if you do subscribe via iRacing you will still get a Steam Key to link it to your Steam profile which will show you online and record your hours on track. All Rookie cars and required tracks to run a full season are included in your subscription, for example, in the Rookie Road series you can drive the Mazda MX-5 or Formula Vee. You can continue racing these and the other Rookie seasons for as long as you continue pay your subscription without buying anything else. A race season runs for 12 weeks with a different track each week. You can race as often as you want during the race week (though points averaging kicks in if you enter the same race more than 3 times in a week). Your best 8 weeks of the season will count towards your total points and your standing in your division championship. The division you are put in depends on your iRating (see later) though everyone starts in the Rookie division. Only once you establish that you enjoy the sim and you have at least achieved a D-Class licence (more on licences later) should you start buying more cars and tracks. Try to focus on what you enjoy and just buy the cars and tracks needed to progress in your chosen series. This is the cheapest and most sensible way to enjoy iRacing. Everyone in iRacing gets a rating called iRating. This is used to determine the 'splits' in any particular race and what division your are competing in. All racers with a similar iRating are grouped into the same split. This means you are almost always racing against drivers with a similar skill level to your own. You improve your iRating by performing well in races, usually this means a top 10 finish. You get a separate iRating for each type of racing: Road, Oval, Dirt Road and Dirt Oval. The other important aspects of iRacing are safety rating and the licencing system. These are completely unrelated to your iRating. Your licence class is based on your safety rating (SR). You lose SR for hitting other cars, losing control or going off-track. Licence classes are Rookie, D, C, B, A, Pro. You will only be able to race in certain series if you have the correct level of licence class. Note, that if you lose a lot of SR in a season you will drop back to a lower level licence class. You can earn all but the Pro licence just by improving your SR. To get a Pro licence you have to qualify for a Pro series. This is not easy and very few manage it. But if you do, you can race for real money prize funds (currently around $300,000) and the races are broadcast live with commentary on the iRacing eSports Network. To sum up, iRacing requires an initial investment of time and money. It will probably cost $200 - $300 to get a good selection of cars and tracks, but you can build your collection slowly over months or even years, just try to buy cars you will be sure to race with. However, once you have built up a collection of cars and tracks that you're interested in, all that's left is the annual subscription cost and you can enjoy the best online sim-racing for years to come (it has been running for 12 years so far). Oh, and if you have a VR headset, this will become your life...