Sim Racing Shifters: Must-Have Or Optional?

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The ever-present question in sim racing equipment is "Do I need it?", and sim racing shifters are often subject to it as well. Are they a must-have, or can you do without?

Sequential and H-pattern shifters are used in a wide variety of sim racing setups. The drivers that specialise in historic class racing use a shifter for enhanced accuracy and immersion, but do you need one for your setup?

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Why Have A Shifter At All?​

Having either a sequential or H-pattern shifter in your setup gives you a much broader range of potential within your chosen simulators. An example where a H-pattern shifter is really useful would be in a rally game. Whether it be in Richard Burns Rally or EA Sports WRC, shifting from fourth to second without having to cycle through third could save you a lot of time in the cars that had them.

Looking past their function, it is great fun to be able to shift as if you were in a real car. If you were to pair it with a VR headset, the immersion achieved would be something very special. But which shifter should you go for? And which style?

Sim Racing Shifters: Sequential Vs H-Pattern​

Sequential shifters work similarly to the paddle shifters found on the back of almost every racing wheel on the market, just in an upright position. Modern touring cars, the current Rally1 WRC cars and some lower-tiered open-wheel cars utilise a sequential shifter. This also allows a much quicker shift compared to the H-Pattern and eliminates the need for a clutch pedal.

H-Pattern shifters create the most immersive experience in sim racing. Whilst not as efficient as sequential, the usability in historic racing and road cars is second to none. The ability to simulate what a real gearbox in a car would feel like is some of the best, and cheapest, immersion addons for your setup money can buy.


Granted, most shifters do not quite feel like the real thing. There are models out there that simulate actual shifters, including blocking gear engagement if the clutch is not pressed. Usually, those are extremely expensive, though.

So which one should you consider? Well, if both of them fit your criteria, then some offerings can do both. The ability to switch from a H-pattern layout into a sequential one is surprisingly common in both the budget and the high-end markets. We will have a shifter overview available later this week to go into more detail!

If you are after some examples as well as a breakdown of other hardware you might need, check out our guide here.

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Is A Shifter Essential?​

The short answer is... no. In most circumstances, you can get away with using the paddle shifters on the back of the wheel rim for most modern cars. However, when you start to look into the more historical content available you begin to realise just how crucial a shifter, and a clutch pedal, really are. They are driveable without either, though an automatic clutch setting usually results in longer shift times.

If you prefer to race historic cars, however, the answer is yes. Whilst you can compete with paddle shifters and an automatic clutch, you might find yourself at a significant disadvantage. Not only that, but the realism aspect is a bit compromised when driving, for example, a 1966 Formula One car with modern GT3-style paddle shifters.

There is a bit of a learning curve attached to sim racing shifters, though. To properly simulate driving with one, mastering the heel-and-toe technique is essential. And that can take quite some time to get used to if you are entirely new to it.

Are you thinking about adding a shifter to your setup? Let us know which one you choose on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
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About author
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

Comments

Must have ! In games like AMS2 for example if you use paddles for shifting in h-pattern cars then you have a BIG delay in the gear change so you don't exploit it by just using paddles. Plus going from 4.th gear directly to 2.nd for example is a ton more satisfying.
 
Being an Argie who loves simracing, I'd love to get a Fanatec ClubSport and all its goodies, but having a Logitech G29 and its shifter along with a third-party Secuental Shifter is right what's needed for racing multiple disciplines (vintage H pattern cars, paddles one and so on).

So, yes, H Shifter is needed if racing several and multplie racing styles and eras.
 
H-pattern is great for immersion. Just like anything, the "cheap" ones are alright (TM T8HA, etc.), but I'd guess that investing more money would get you a better experience.

Similar to this would be a handbrake. I'm seriously considering adding one to my setup after getting back into rally with EA WRC. Beyond just the immersion factor, pushing a button on the wheel for the handbrake while rapidly turning the wheel for a turn is very clumsy for me.
 
Optional, it is up to the individual personal choice. My personal take is that nowadays I only use manual shifting for drifting because paddle shifters are turning with the wheel unnecessarily complicating gear changes, and also because I need to be able to kick the clutch.

I can understand people using it for immersion and role playing, I used to do that for many years. I respect their choice.

But let's acknowledge the elephant in the room, it is really not that realistic: the clutch pedal doesn't have the feedback of a real one, the shifter doesn't have synchronizers, you can't grind gears, you can select reverse gear at big speeds, there is no bad shifting damage simulated in a realistic way in a lot of games.

No simracing shifter simulates a dog box gearbox that is the gearbox that so many competition manual gearbox cars really had, in where the clutch was only used for launch and stop the car.

To me after many years manual shifting and doing all the ancillary techniques involved had became just a meaningless set of trained movements made by reflex within a correct timing.

It is a bit meta, but I ended up asking myself: why I do all this to no gain at all?, there isn't even a real gearbox simulated at all, it serves no purpose. It becomes just a useless chore to do heel and toe, rev match and the use of shifter and clutch and there is no performance gain against a much more efficient and effortless paddle shifter.

I started to care more about improving the car control and pure performance, optimizing unnecessary movements that are just a waste of mental and physical energy to no performance gain just mere vanity and role playing.

I started to perceive the manual shifter in simracing as just a role play minigame. All that mental and physical energy savings end up paying of in laptime consistency and reduction on driving mistakes, the more the more hours a race last.

With time I stopped being a try hard and became more practical and efficient, at the end of the day the real life motorsport engineers came to the same conclusion as me and they walked away from the manual gearbox towards the semi automatic transmissions.

There is no right or wrong answers to this topic, it is up to the individual, to me is just a niche simracing equipment.
 
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for me personally not necessary because i never drive manual shifter cars in sims anyways, its always paddle shifter cars...
 
H-pattern is of course essential. Too bad if sim fails to implement it realistically (rF2).
Sequential - not so much unless it's for rally. Then it becomes a must, because paddles are sometimes impossible to press when you counter steer.

I used SHH shifter, then upgraded to VNM shifter. Feels a lot better, but recently it started to "leak" signal between 3rd and 5th gear, or just go in and out of neutral very fast, resulting in tranny grind noise in AC. Re-calibration didn't help much.
 
Blocking gears is an abomination of term. Keep saying it if you want your mechanic laugh at your face.
 
Must have - but for how much they cost I might settle for paddles even for rallying or H Shifter cars to be fair.
 
If you have steering paddles shifting and you are happy with it, spend the money on buttkickers and amps instead... much more gratifying, immersive, and useful.
 
Premium
Yes, a must have … just like a handbreak So much more fun to drive the manual shift cars.
 
It's been 14 years since my 1st H-shifter and 11 years since my first sequential stick shifter. By the time I was amazed why I hesitated that long.
This as a primarily simmer of classic race cars, but also since I've enjoyed more decades of real life driving and spare time racing with only H-stick as an option. I still remember the first time, just turned 6 years old in the mid/late 1970s, when my grandfather lifted me onto his gray Massey Ferguson with hand throttle and gear stick, where I was almost hanging over the steering wheel, but he had confidence in me, while he and my little sister went and threw turnips on the barn up on the back of the truck. It was probably during these moments that I first felt the joy of having the control of a manual gear change, and strived for it ever since.

Hence, I feel far more at home with a stick compared to paddles. Since then I think I only did competitive online racing in the series requiring paddles, but in more open series I preferred stick mapping, reflecting the actual cars. To me it gives more control, since H-shifting is into my spine I believe.

But I think it might be the opposite POV for a new generation, buying new cars today H-stick is rarely an option in modern cars, and, hence, no clutch neither. To me heel&toe is just as natural when racing, but also just normal clutch use in driving. My primary car is still clutch and H-stick and i take myself going semi-race mode, when 'throwing the anchor' round tight 90° corner, shifting from 4th to 2nd, trail- and engine braking, or sorts like this.
Automatic gear cars I only do on rental basis during vacation trips, but if H-stick is a possibility I by far still prefer this, especially if vacation stay is in a region of hairy mountain roads.

I'm fully aware we are moving towards a new world.
So I remember every single day to enjoy driving my current car. And when it's all over, I'll probably buy a classic/vintage car. And then, besides, just be happy that clutch-brake-gas + h-stick/seq-stick cars are options through sim racing.

And I sincerely hope that there will also be a market for it in the future.
And that new generations who grow up without ever having been in an H-stick car can actually experience the pleasure through sim racing once they have just solved the puzzle.
Clutch and H-stick/seq. stick just delivers THAT extra immersion.

That said I acknowledge anyone just finding the fun in close paddlecar wars. Apart from ACC and iRacing participations during Cov19 depression this however is not my primary interest I must say.

My greatest wish is simply that the fantastic world of the past, which now only some of us may remember, will be thoroughly preserved through sim racing and the possibilities that sim soft- hardware provide here, and I hope that far into the future sim publishers can see the idea behind it and that will be a market for it.

Our motorsport history deserves it.
 
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In the words of Doug Neidermeyer, any sim racer without an H-pattern shifter is "worthless and weak!"
 

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Shifting method

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