iRacing provides several alternative solutions for users with physical challenges and other disabilities. Further information can be found in the iRacers with Physical Challenges and other Disabilities forum. Members, vendors, or anyone who can offer solutions, advice or support to help an iRacer improve their race experience are welcome to participate in this forum.


Hardware


There are several hardware options out there that provide alternatives to a standard wheel and pedal set for users who need additional assistance. 


Mouse/Touchscreen

This is the lowest cost solution. When calibrating the steering there is a dropdown that lets you choose between calibrating to detect steering and using touch/mouse for steering. There is an additional dropdown when calibrating the pedals that lets you choose to use touch/mouse for the throttle and brake. You could choose to use one or both depending on your needs. This takes practice to get use to but it is basically free. 


Joystick or Game Pad

Controllers like the XBox game pad can be a cheap alternative to a wheel. They don't provide as much precision but they are functional. When calibrating them in sim be sure to check the box that says 'Device is a joystick/gamepad' when asked to turn the wheel 90 degrees to the left and we will calibrate them optimally for you. Also you can stabilize your thumb by pushing the stick you steer with all the way forward when driving to help you be less twitchy.


Commercial Wheels with Built-in Hand Controls

  • Fanatec has a low cost CSL Elite McLaren GT3 V2 rim is a good starter option with hand controls built in. This provides two analog paddles and two digital paddles that can be operated single handed in a push/pull fashion. The shifter is a bit stiff, but the hand controls work well.
  • Fanatec has a higher cost Podium advanced paddle module as an addon to there podium hub base or to a select number of rims such as the Clubsport steering wheel Formula V2. Together this adds two analog paddles and four switches to the back of the wheel rim. 
  • Thrustmaster SF1000 rim - Thrustmasters Formula Wheel Add-On Ferrari SF1000 Edition rim has two analog paddles and two digital paddles that can be operated single handed in a push/pull fashion. This should be paired with a Thrustmaster wheel base.
  • Logitech Pro wheel - The new Pro wheel comes with built in analog paddles on a round (D) rim.
  • Moza's GS V2, RS V2, and FSR rims all come with dual clutch paddles built into them.
  • Simagic offers an optional cluch paddle add-on for several of there rims.
  • Simucube has at least one add-on rim that has analog paddles.
  • This market is growing all the time, by now there are probably several other makers with analog paddles as an option.

Other Hardware Options

  • Hand brake - Thrustmaster offers a TSS analog hand brake that can be used as a substitute for a brake pedal. Fanatec also has a ClubSport Handbremse v1.5 analog hand brake. And there are several smaller hardware manufacturers that also offer analog hand brakes.
  • 3DRAP hand control (https://www.3drap.it/simracing-mods-devices/hand-controller-simracing-disability/) - This is a small gamepad that straps onto the back of your hand, giving you throttle and brake access with your thumb while still being able to steer.
  • QuadStick (https://www.quadstick.com/) - This is a mouth operated joystick with what looks like up to three sip/puff button interfaces that some of our members have used to good effect in the sim. It looks like a quality setup.
  • SimAbility - SimAbility offers several custom made hand control options for various wheels. Since they make there hardware by hand they have some flexibility to work with you individually to give you the best solution.
  • Car controls - You can adapt real world car controls and mobility aids to your sim wheel and pedal sets. The 'ski pole' style hand controls are particularly well suited to use on a desk mounted wheel and pedal set.
  • Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller - This is a low cost gamepad like device that supports a staggering array of optional inputs. It is designed to be highly adapted to the physical needs of the player.
  • Bass Shakers - We have a bass shaker effect called LFE (low frequency effect) that can be used to add some tactile sensations into the sim. This may help if you have difficulty hearing our sounds. This translates wheel slip, gear changes, engine rpm's and other events into a sensation you can feel with your skin.
  • Legacy hardware - Thrustmaster, Fanatec, Logitech, Microsoft, and Steelseries all previously offered devices with some form of analog input on the wheel base. These are all quite old at this time but you may be able to find one used. More information on adding inputs to the wheel base can be found here.


Software

Driving Aids

There are several driving aids available in the Options->Drive menu:


More information on these aids can be found in Driving Aids. Many of these aids, such as Auto Shift, Brake and Throttle assistance, as well as the Driving Line are not normally allowed in official series requiring a C license level or higher. If needed, users can contact support and request that they add the 'Driving aid override' flag to their account. This will allow you to use all driving aids in all series.


We ask that you not abuse this request just to use driving aids if you don't have a physical impairment, but this is based on the honor system; you don't need to prove you have a condition to enable the flag. 


Secondary Inputs

iRacing supports two separate throttle, brake, and clutch inputs. The first set of inputs are set by the calibration wizard, while the second set are found in the control tab of the options screen. This allows you to map a handbrake to complement an analog paddle or pedal to provide some relief if operating your primary input is overly taxing. You can also use it to make a dual clutch launch control if you are so inclined. The way it works is whatever input is pressed down the farthest is reported to the sim. Note that we have both a Handbrake and Second Brake input, the handbrake input is only active on cars that physically have a hand brake and it actuates only the rear brakes. You should use the Second Brake input if you intend to use a hand brake as a primary brake input so that it actuates all four brakes as if it was a regular brake pedal.


Vision Aids

Driving Line

There is a 'Driving Line' aid that will guide you around the track and mark the braking zones. This can be handy if you have trouble seeing the road since the line has a strong contrast with the racing surface. As with all other driving aids, this is limited to lower levels of racing but can be enabled at higher levels with the Driving aid override flag.


Relaxed Driving View

Users with difficulty seeing while driving can contact support and request that they add the 'Relaxed driving view' flag to your account. This will let you use the page up/down buttons to cycle between the driving camera and chase cameras for a better view. As with the Driving aid flag, please don't request this flag if you just don't like driving from the cockpit, it is for individuals who really need it. 


Once enabled you can use page up/down on the keypad to switch between driving cameras, these include the two chase cameras and the roll bar camera that you can move wherever you want using the iRacing Camera Tool.


Adaptive Adjustments

There is now an [Adaptive] section in the app.ini file for us to use as a way to experiment with iRacing to hopefully make it better for everyone here.


There are several settings that allow you to change the color and size of the Driving Line aid.

Go into the app.ini file and add the following entries into the [Adaptive] section in the file.


[Adaptive]
pitlineColor=#99FF00
racelineFastColor=#0070FF
racelineSameColor=#AAFFFF
racelineSlowColor=#0000FF

Those are HTML style hex colors and you can use googles color picker to generate new colors

Google color picker

  • Pitline color is the color of the pit exit line
  • Raceline Fast Color is the color where we ask you to go faster (defaults to green)
  • Raceline Same Color is the color where we ask you to coast with your foot off the inputs (defaults to grey)
  • Raceline Slow Color is the color where we ask you to slow down (defaults to red)

Using the above app.ini entry the line should look like this image with shades of blue rather than red and green.


There is also an additional setting to adjust the width of the racing line between 0.1 and 2 meters wide:

[Adaptive]
raceLineWidth=1.8


There is also an entry to force the pit line to always show up, not just when there is a pit exit rule in place. This also makes the pit entry line show up so you can more easily find pit road. Set it to 1 to force the pit line on. You still need the pit line enabled in the options menu as well:

[Adaptive]
pitLineAlwaysVisible=1



The default settings for the driving line are as follows:

[Adaptive]
pitlineColor=#308CFF
racelineFastColor=#63E84F
racelineSameColor=#E8E8E8
racelineSlowColor=#F90825
raceLineWidth=0.6

Users that find it difficult to find the cursor can select a higher contrast cursor. For now this is place holder art.

[Adaptive]
highContrastCursor=1


high contrast.png


Spotter

The time that the spotter messages stay on screen can be adjusted using the following entry in the app.ini file:

[SPCC]
textDurationFactor=1

This is a multiplier, set it to 2 to double the time the text is shown, and to 0.5 to cut the time in half. If you struggle to read the text this may help you by giving you more time to view it.


Other Visual Aids

The UI can be zoomed in up to 200%, this is set in the graphic options tab. The amount of zoom you see is limited by the monitors resolution. Once the UI fills the display we can't zoom it in any more.

Users can use software such as ReShade or Nvidia GeForce Experience to apply custom filters to the sim. This can be used to increase contrast or even change the color pallete we use.