Project Cars is a very, very in-depth racing sim and it's beautiful, but I have to ask: is it as good as iRacing or a trademark like Grand Turismo? So far I have to say no. It doesn't compare to iRacing's simulation in many different ways. iRacing, for those who aren't informed, is the de facto 1:1 simulator that racing sim fans flock to in order to get their simulation on. The problem is that iRacing is rather expensive, because it's a small time operation with big time simulation - meaning that it needs a lot to keep development going, whereas Project Cars is a buy it and forget it ordeal.
That's where we'll start, simply put, the price: Project CARS, especially when it's on sale, is much cheaper with many of the same features and it's going to directly appeal to anyone who doesn't need to have a perfect simulation of racing. The problem here though is that PCARS tries its hardest to appeal to the demographic that wants 1:1 racing simulation but here's the biggest kick-off:
If you go on the grass in iRacing you're done, in PCARS you're just going to get a flag and the simulation doesn't, appropriately, throw you off into the wilderness.
PCARS doesn't have a lot of Nascar tracks, or any at all, I don't think PCARS comes with an oval track, whereas iRacing has Daytona to Atlanta to Texas motor speedways for your oval car keeps turning left fun. In a very good apt comparison, PCARs focuses a lot more on road racing while iRacing focuses more on professional racing, including oval and road.
When it comes to physics, I can only go off of what I've asked some players, as I do not know enough to even start talking about aprons and braking and cornering. I just drive it for fun, but from my understanding iRacing is more realistic to the real life tracks while PCARS has a better sense of speed. There is countless, countless, countless comparison YouTube videos of people trying their hardest to compare the minutia of each and every facet of each and every track.
As mentioned before, iRacing can get pricey. You first need a subscription, which averages $5 a month based on how long of a subscription you purchase. Then you need cars, which are around $11.95 each while tracks are $11.95 to $14.95. This can add up rather fast. PCARs retails currently at around $49.99 ~ $59.99 but will go on sale frequently.
iRacing has the benefit of regularly ran leagues and a lot of foundation for realistic races and curbs out a lot of bad behavior. Project CARS is easily much more accessible.
I'd say this comparison is very apt: iRacing is and will remain the go-to for players who want the most realistic racing challenge from their office or living room, with their leagues, tracks, and racing setups. Project CARS is one of the first racing games to bring accessibility to the mix, so if you don't care too much about the car handling perfectly in a curb and want something that doesn't require a subscription, it'll keep you very much entertained, especially as more content is added down the line.
