Technologies

The Best Racing Games and the Wheels and Pedals to Play Them With

Add a wheel and pedals to these PS5, Xbox and PC racing games to have an amazing gaming experience.

Whether you’re into real-life motorsports or not, racing video games offer the exhilarating experience of sending fancy cars hurtling around tight asphalt bends or down dirt tracks in ways you’d never dream of doing out there in the real world. Add a racing wheel and pedals to the mix, and things get even more immersive as you suddenly have to drive your vehicle almost exactly like you would a real car.

And with so many great wheel-compatible racing games on the PS5, Xbox Series S or X and the PC, there’s no shortage of excitement, whether you want true-to-life sim racing or more of a frantic joyride across open worlds. It’s a sizable investment to get a good setup, but it’s worth it if you’re a fan of this type of game.

Read more: Best Gaming Laptop 2023

My current favorite racing wheel is the Thrustmaster T-GT II wheel, which includes a separate three-pedal footboard. It’ll set you back a sizable $800, but its high torque and real-time force feedback means it offers an extremely lifelike racing experience, letting you feel everything from differences in ground textures to tires slipping as you take a corner too quickly. It’s sturdy, comfortable to hold and works on both PS5 and PC.

Thrustmaster T-GT II

$800 at Thrustmaster

Though you can get various racing frames and stands to play in front of your living room telly, I simply clamped mine to my desk, putting the pedals on the floor and playing via my existing monitor.

Once you’re set up, you’re ready to race. These are some of the best racing games I’ve found that benefit most from the added realism of using a wheel-and-pedals set.

Gran Turismo/Sony

Gran Turismo 7

Available on: PS5, PS4

A PlayStation icon, Gran Turismo’s latest outing brings exactly what you’d expect from the series; photo-realistic graphics, a fleet of cars to choose from and rigorously modeled real-world racing tracks from all over the world. The game is stunning and lets you dive deep into the world of car modifications and tuning setups, if that’s your thing.

It’s best played with a wheel and pedals set, letting you feel exactly like you’re behind the wheel of cars from the likes of McLaren, Aston Martin, Dodge or a wealth of others. Sure, it’s not perfect; earning money is slow going and, yes, you can controversially just buy more with in-game microtransactions, as if paying the whopping $70 (£70) price for the game wasn’t already enough.

But if you want to experience tracks like Silverstone or the iconic Nurburgring in pristine detail behind the wheel of some of your favorite cars, GT7 is a no-brainer for PlayStation owners.

$70 at Target

$70 at Best Buy

$70 at Amazon

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Codemasters

F1 22

Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox, PC (via Steam)

If you’ve been hooked on Netflix’s Drive To Survive series, then maybe it’s time you took your own step into the F1 racing world. F1 22 maintains its formula of putting you behind the wheels of the biggest, most powerful, most expensive racing cars on the planet, sending you hurtling around real-world racing tracks and daring you not to take the best racing lines.

You can start your own racing team and battle names like Verstappen, Hamilton, LeClerc and Norris as you progress through the game. The physics feel excellent with a racing wheel (although how they actually compare to real life F1 racing I’ve no idea) and despite an often relentless focus on «proper» driving, it remains fun and enjoyably challenging to play.

$57 at Walmart

$70 at Best Buy

$50 at GameStop

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Microsoft

Forza Horizon 5

Available on: Xbox, PC

The Forza Horizon series has been my favorite racing franchise since its launch, and the fifth generation is no exception. Set in Mexico, Horizon 5 maintains the glorious open-world scenery, letting you send a huge variety of real-life cars hurtling down volcanoes, over sand dunes or around sweeping coastal roads at tire-squealing speeds.

I fully completed the game on the Xbox Series X using a standard controller, but trying it out with a wheel and pedals was a huge revelation for me. It was harder at first, but I quickly fell in love with how much fun it was to actually steer my Bugatti Chiron at top speed around the map or to practice my drift skills in one of the Hoonigan vehicles.

It’s an exceptionally fun game and well worth playing with a racing wheel and pedals.

$39 at Amazon

iRacing

Available on: PC

If Forza Horizon’s attitude is «drive it like you stole it,» then iRacing’s is most definitely «drive it like you borrowed it off your boss and your career is over if you get so much as a scratch on it.» You’ll find no driver assistance, auto braking or steering guides here, nor any kind of rewind mechanic or even a mini map of the track you’re on.

Instead, iRacing is about pure realism, with tracks and physics modeled with brutal accuracy and a focus on genuine skill and knowledge of the tracks and cars in order to do well. Unlike others on this list, iRacing is an online subscription game, where progression takes place via competing in races against real players at set times of the day. Furthering your journey doesn’t just involve winning; you earn your next license instead by driving safely, avoiding colliding with other cars or coming off the track.

As a result, it’s arguably the least «fun» game on this list, but its laser focus on realism means it’s the nearest you’ll get to actually feeling like you’re behind the wheel of a race car on a track and it’s why real-life pro racers reportedly use iRacing as a training ground.

See at Steam

Codemasters

Dirt 5

Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox, PC

When you want to ditch the smooth, asphalt tracks in favor of some rain and mud, Dirt 5 is the game to look toward. This rally racer leans less into the hardcore simulation elements of others in the series, instead offering a more accessible arcade-style gameplay that I really enjoyed.

The variety of tracks is good, the graphics are stunning, and power-sliding the numerous vehicle types around rough corners felt great with my wheel and pedals. There are driver assistance options (which I used, because I’m here for fun, not for a lesson in car physics) but you can adjust these to suit.

The career mode itself is pretty forgettable, but you’ll keep coming back for fun races and the gorgeous settings.

$35 at Amazon

Codemasters

Dirt Rally 2.0

Available on: PS4, PS5 (backward compatible), Xbox, PC

I loved that Dirt Rally 2.0 took me back to playing the original Colin McRae Rally on the PS One back in 1998. It’s a similar game to be fair, with full-length rally courses set across beautiful locations in rally countries like Wales, Greece and New Zealand. Thankfully, the graphics and physics have somewhat moved on in the last 25 years, with gorgeous visuals and car handling that reacts to the environment, weather and car damage.

Tracks are well-modeled, and putting in good times means focusing on your driving, making full use of your brake pedal, and paying close attention to what corners or jumps are coming up. It’s much more of a rally sim than Dirt 5, but it’s still accessible enough for racing tourists like me to fire up and have a ton of fun sending my car around tight bends.

$29 at Walmart

$18 at GameStop

$30 at Amazon

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Game console reviews

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Dec. 26, #929

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Dec. 26 #929

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is full of fun pop-culture references. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Golden state cliches.

Green group hint: Funny films.

Blue group hint: Rock on.

Purple group hint: Not white.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: California-based character tropes.

Green group: Comedy subgenres.

Blue group: ’70s rock bands.

Purple group: Black ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is California-based character tropes. The four answers are movie exec, surfer, tech bro and Valley Girl.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is comedy subgenres. The four answers are buddy, cringe, screwball and stoner.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ’70s rock bands. The four answers are America, Chicago, Foreigner and Journey.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is black ____. The four answers are Forest, Friday, Panther and Widow.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Dec. 26 #663

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Dec. 26, No. 663.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one, but you might struggle at first to see a connection between the words. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please hold.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Cats love these more than they love expensive toys.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BOXING, CHEAT, HEAT, SMOCK, MOCK, LATE, TEAM, MEAT, TEAMS, LOOT, TOLE, BALL, BALE, KALE, TALL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

GIFT, SHOE, TOOL, LUNCH, MATCH, PIZZA, BALLOT, TACKLE (All are words that can be placed in front of «box.»)

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BOXINGDAY. To find it, start with the B that’s four letters down on the far-left row, and wind across and then down.

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Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Dec. 25, #1650

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Dec. 25, No. 1,650.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle has some tough-to-guess letters. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with P.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with M.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a geometric figure.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is PRISM.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Dec. 24, No. 1649, was SPOOL.

Recent Wordle answers

Dec. 20, No. 1645: WHITE

Dec. 21, No. 1646: QUILT

Dec. 22, No. 1647: CONCH

Dec. 23, No. 1648: GLINT

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What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE