[1997TA]

I am fairly new to the road racing arena. Would practicing road-racing via realistic video gaming at home help my driving skills? Or, would it be a waste of time?

[JKnight]

I haven't actually raced (yet), but I have maybe 30 track days under my belt. I have spent countless hours playing Gran Turismo 2 and Gran Turismo 3 on the Playstation, and Forza 2 on the Xbox 360. The Xbox has some US tracks that are portrayed very realistically. Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta come to mind. GT3 has Sears Point (Infineon) fairly realistically. Playing the game will give you a sense of the track layout if you're playing the game with a track that you'll actually be driving. Otherwise, the games are a ton of fun and you'll really enjoy playing the game to advance in level within the game, and of course playing head to head with your buddies (whether live or via the 'net on xbox 360) after a few cocktails is tons of fun.

You'll have fun, but the G forces and real life car control aren't there and you'll never get an actual sense of when to brake, turn in, etc... in your car playing these games. At this point in time, these games are no substitute for on track experience. I don't believe they will ever help a driver achieve any appreciable difference in lap times.

Jason