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Home » Guides » The Benefits of Using Sim Racing Shoes
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In this blog post, you’ll be presented with the benefits of sim racing shoes. It’s about more than just comfort and immersion – it’s about performance as well.
Sim racing has become more authentic. This goes for both the hardware and the software. Now sim rigs at home can provide a level of immersion that the average sim racers could only dream of 10 years ago. So much effort goes into choosing and calibrating the hardware that it’s easy to miss the immersion that comes with the right accessories.
Sim racing shoes – a highly underrated piece of your sim racing setup – play an important role in enhancing control, precision, and endurance during competitive racing. A dedicated pair of sim racing shoes can without a doubt improve your performance, and that’s something you’ll learn more about in this blog post.
It’s not enough to be a good racer to perform in a sim racing setup. To achieve the best performance and fastest lap times, you also need the right equipment. Many races are determined within a fraction of a second, and sim racing shoes can you give a better grip on the pedal plates, which ultimately can help you perform better and achieve new PBs in the rig.
In simple terms: Dedicated sim racing shoes offer a superior grip on the pedal plates compared to racing without specialized racing shoes, and therefore providing an advantage to you when you drive.
If you haven’t raced with racing shoes before, it’s normal to feel you lack a sense of nuance in your input in the beginning. The transition to using dedicated sim racing footwear may initially seem unfamiliar. However, with time and practice, as you adapt to the nuances of the sim racing shoes, you’ll gradually experience an improved connection with the pedals.
The learning curve involved in using sim racing shoes is normal, and as you become used to the enhanced grip and stability, you’ll notice a significant positive difference in your racing performance with more refined and consistent pedal inputs.
We work closely with several sim and professional racers in our product development, and this has been a shared observation when making the transition from sim racing without dedicated footwear to proper sim racing shoes.
But when you get used to the harder sole (compared to sim racing in socks), your pedal inputs will be more consistent, and your muscle memory will also drastically improve.
Dedicated sim racing boots should be designed in breathable materials to keep your feet comfortable when racing – especially when endurance racing. When you’re sitting in your rig for hours at a time, you need to ensure you don’t unnecessarily strain your feet.
The ventilation in these racing boots ensures that your feet stay cool and dry, reducing discomfort and fatigue during those long racing sessions. This comfort factor allows you to maintain peak performance and concentration all the way through.
When your wear sim racing shoes, you minimize your feet and ankles getting sore because the shoes give you that extra support. And to gain maximum support, the right fit is essential, so you don’t have to refit them during a race – that could be catastrophic for your lap time!
And because of that, you can perform better for a longer time because you limit potential foot cramps and grip loss on the pedal plates.
When racing with heavy-duty pedals like the hydraulic Invicta Sim Racing Pedals, you’ll undoubtedly benefit from racing shoes because they give you the right amount of support and grip.
It’s not a requirement to wear sim racing shoes by any means. However, they can give a more authentic experience and potentially improve your PBs. The additional authenticity you get from using specialized sim racing footwear contributes to the overall immersion which makes the experience more engaging and authentic.
When looking for your future sim racing shoes, you naturally want the racing shoes that suit your needs the best.
But what are the best sim racing shoes for you? It depends on your pedals and their settings.
If you have a set of pedals where the pedal plates are textured, it’s an advantage to have suitable sim racing boots, so you don’t hurt your feet during races because you push with a certain amount of bar on a hard brake pedal without proper protection on your feet.
If, on the other hand, your pedal plates are smooth, your sim racing shoes must give you the necessary grip so that you don’t suddenly make an unprovoked mistake that could cost you important seconds.
When you are looking for the best sim racing shoes, it’s all about finding the right balance between the feeling you have of the pedals without straining your feet during the race.
If you can find that balance – you have the best sim racing shoes for your needs in the rig.
