Best Controllers For Racing Games & Sim Racing: 2024 Buyer’s Guide

Choosing whether to use a racing wheel or controller for a racing game or sim racing title is really down to personal preference. A racing wheel is a much larger investment and you also require a place to mount your wheel and pedals, making a controller a much more accessible option.

With a controller, you can play racing games in much more comfort from your couch or bed without the need to be seated in a driving position. However, choosing the best controller or gamepad for racing games isn’t the easy decision it may first appear.

In this buyer’s guide, I’ll recommend our top choices for the best controller for racing games. I’ll look at the best controllers across a range of budgets and controllers compatible with PS5, Xbox and PC.

Our top picks for the best controller for racing games

Below are our TL;DR recommendations for the best controllers for sim racing and racing games. These are our top five picks, with each controller offering something slightly different.

Category	Racing Wheel
Best budget controller	GameSir T7
Best premium controller	Xbox Elite Series 2
Most customisable	Thrustmaster Eswap X Pro
Best wired controller	SCUF Envision
Best haptic controller	PS5 DualSense

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Best budget controller

I will start by looking at the best budget controller for racing games. This is an ideal choice if you don’t fancy spending a lot on a new gamepad. Many elite and professional-level controllers cost over £/$100, which many might find too expensive.

The good news is that my recommended budget controller for racing costs under £/$30. My top pick for the best budget sim racing controller is the GameSir T7, a wired controller that comes in three different colours.

GameSir T7 controller

Controller – GameSir T7
Compatibility – PC, Xbox
Price – £27/$27
Where to buy – Buy from Amazon

GameSir is a peripheral company with a pretty wide range of different controllers. They offer predominantly Xbox-style controllers that follow the design cues of an official Xbox gamepad. Their lineup consists of budget controllers that cost less than an Xbox controller, through to more premium gamepads with additional functionality.

The T7 controller is GameSir’s cheapest, and despite its low price tag of under £/$30, it delivers excellent control over your car. Both the sticks and triggers use hall effect sensors that eliminate any stick drift and deliver precision up to 0.1mm.

You can also adjust the trigger modes from FPS-style hair triggers, through to analogue triggers that are ideal for racing games. The T7 delivers very good haptic feedback via a series of rumble motors that let you feel how your car is behaving on the track or road.

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Best premium controller

If you’d like to buy the most premium controller possible with all the bells and whistles, you do have a few options. There are plenty of excellent third-party controllers that can be used on PC and both Xbox and PlayStation, and both Microsoft and Sony have their own official “elite” controllers.

I recommend the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller as my top pick for the best premium controller for sim racing. I’ve been using this controller for a long time, and its high quality, adjustability, and extra functionality elevate it above many other options.

Xbox Elite Series 2

When you are holding a controller for hours at a time during a race, you want that controller to feel good in your hands, and that is the first thing you’ll notice when picking up an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller. This controller takes the incredible ergonomics of the Xbox gamepad and adds a lot of premium materials to make it feel even better.

The entire part of the controller that you hold has a rubberised textured grip, which allows the controller to not be affected by sweat and not feel slippery in your hands. You also get a lot of adjustability throughout the controller.

You can interchange various parts of the controller to fit your own preferences. You can change the thumbsticks to be different lengths, which can help a lot while racing. I used an elongated left thumbstick that gave much better precision over my steering in sim-focused racing games such as Assetto Corsa Competizione.

Around the back, you can also configure four additional paddles that work perfectly with racing games. These can be used to change gear and activate functions such as DRS and ERS for F1 games or adjust your wipers and headlights in Assetto Corsa and iRacing.

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Most customisable controller

Playing a racing game or simulator can present a lot of functionality that can sometimes overwhelm a normal controller. With a racing wheel, you have a lot more buttons and encoders that let you change anything from wiper speed, to traction control and abs levels and more.

It is important to have a controller that has the functionality and additional inputs or can be configured to work well with a racing sim. Customisable controllers come into play here as they often have hot-swappable parts and extra inputs that you won’t find on a regular gamepad.

Thrustmaster Eswap X Pro

The Thrustmaster Eswap X Pro may not feel as premium as the Xbox Elite Series 2. However, it does include a lot of customisation. Rather than disassembling the controller to switch new parts in and out, the Eswap X Pro features hot-swappable elements that let you quickly change out the sticks, d-pad or triggers in seconds.

Much like the more premium Xbox controller, the rear of the controller has additional inputs, perfect for mapping additional in-game functions.

The Eswap X Pro also allows a lot of customisation in terms of appearance with completely custom kits that even include LED backlit modules for that extra bit of bling while racing.

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Best wired controller

You will always notice that the participants use wired controllers when watching any esports competition. This can help eliminate cheating but is also due to the incredible response times and lack of latency that a wired controller offers.

A wired controllers will provide instant inputs, which can be important when racing at extremely high speeds. The fastest players can avoid disaster by reducing their input lag by using a wired controller. And one of the very best around is the SCUF Envision

SCUF Envision

Controller – SCUF Envision
Compatibility – PC, Xbox
Price – £129/$129
Where to buy – Buy from Amazon

SCUF is known to produce some of the best third-party controllers that you can buy. The Instinct has long been one of my favourite controllers, however, the Envision is a dedicated wired controller that delivers the same SCUF quality.

Much like other premium controllers, you get additional inputs throughout this controller including side-action buttons and rear paddles. These allow for a host of additional inputs to be configured, although the button design and style doesn’t quite feel as premium as the rear inputs on the Xbox Elite Series 2.

The Envision uses a design style more reminiscent of the PlayStation DualShock controller with both thumb sticks on the lower part of the controller. This provides a nice alternative for those who are less keen on the Xbox layout.

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Best haptic controller

Force feedback and haptics are incredibly important in racing. Being able to feel how your car is reacting to the track surface can help you make informed decisions about what inputs to apply. This is why premium direct-drive racing wheels are seen as the best option due to their incredible force feedback.

Sony has really nailed the controller game this generation with their proprietary haptic technology that cannot be found on any other controller.

PlayStation DualSense

Controller – PlayStation DualSense
Compatibility – PC, PS5
Price – £65/$65
Where to buy – Buy from Amazon

The haptic feedback available from the DualSense’s triggers works well with most games. However, they work incredibly well with racing games by allowing you to feel resistance as you pull each trigger harder.

The haptics can indicate when you are about to lock your brakes, and the triggers can be configured to get firmer as you press each trigger harder. This resistance is very similar to the force feedback that a racing wheel offers, and is about as close as you can get to using a wheel.

Even though this is a Sony controller through and through, the DualSense is compatible with PC, meaning you can connect wirelessly to race PC-only games such as Le Mans Ultimate or even iRacing.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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