10 Sim Racing Products You Should Check Out from the 2026 SimRacing Expo

Over Memorial Day Weekend, I was invited to attend the 2026 SimRacing Expo in Charlotte on behalf of DualShockers. Not only was this event simply a blast in general to attend thanks to all the insane sim racing rigs I could hop on and test out, but I also got to go hands-on with many exciting pieces of tech entering the sim racing fray.

The following selection of ten products I'd like to highlight are definitely not exhaustive of all the cool things I was able to see over the weekend from dozens of amazing and passionate teams. They are, however, ten things that I was particularly excited about, and that I think deserve some extra attention.

Whether these are potentially life-changing sim racing rigs, great entry points, or simply something tangentially related to the world of sim racing I think you should know about, we'll cover everything below from the 2026 SimRacing Expo.

10 GameSir and Trak Racer's TR640 Force Feedback Controller

Sim Racing in the Palm of Your Hand

Something I spoke a lot with between dev teams and peers at the show alike was accessibility in sim racing. Let's be honest; not all of us can afford an incredible four, five, or even six-figure sim racing rig, as much as we'd love to have one. With this in mind, one product I really enjoyed taking a closer look at was the TR640 Force Feedback Controller, which is the result of a partnership between Trak Racer and GameSir.

With a price point just under $200, it's one of your most cost-effective ways to get into the sim world without going all-out on a full rig. Here, a dial in the center of the controller acts as your direct drive steering wheel, complete with accurate force feedback that genuinely is a marvel to behold as you use the controller.

In form factor, it feels closest to a PS5's DualSense, with the obvious caveat that it now has a steering wheel module right in the center. Lights at the top of the controller also work as your gear shift indicator in real-time. This is a controller that you have to feel to believe, and I walked away incredibly impressed with its potential as it rolls closer to a 2026 Q4 launch.

9 CSRS' Kart Line

The Coolest Kid on the Block

Speaking of accessibility, CSRS is a local Charlotte start-up that's all-in on being the perfect, affordable entry point for kids and families in the sim racing space. To be honest, I'm not sure that I saw another company on the expo show floor that was this dialed in to what a typical family can practically afford when wanting to get a child into sim racing.

The CSRS-Kart line of sim rigs range from sizes tailored to grade schoolers, all the way up to teens and eventually to adults as your driver continues to grow. What's best is that the entry-level rig from CSRS will only set you back about $100, and their most expensive, larger units top out at about $250.

This was a team I absolutely loved speaking with on the show floor, and one that I knew it would be easy to get behind in their mission to bring sim racing to more children and families. Imagine if your kid was the one with four sim rigs in the living room and had Mario Kart parties on the regular. You'd be the coolest house on the block.

8 Thrustmaster's GT Wheel Add-On

Having a Gran Ol' Time

A lot of our readers are console-focused players, which is why I was particularly keen to check out Thrustmaster's GT Wheel Add-On. Personally, Gran Turismo 7 (via the PSVR2) is the racing game I currently spend the most time with myself, so checking out a wheel designed for GT itself in mind was a no-brainer.

And... Yeah, this thing is really good. I used it at the show as a desk-mount unit attached to a Thrustmaster wheelbase, and it's absolutely one of my favorite options for those of you that want to race with a wheel setup but don't have the space or budget for a full rig. Paired with a wheelbase, the force feedback and experience in general with the GT Wheel is very, very nice.

There's also something to be said for a wheel being made specifically for Gran Turismo, with button icons that correlate directly with the PlayStation prompts you know and love. I like this wheel more than some of Thrustmaster's more expensive but similarly-tiered wheels to be honest, so if you love Gran Turismo anyway, this is a winner.

7 Trak Racer's Aston Martin Aramco AMR26 Racing Simulator

Getting on the Grid

I love Formula 1, and while Aston Martin isn't my personal favorite team of choice as a fan, there's no denying that the officially branded Aston Martin Aramco AMR26 cockpit from Trak Racer is ridiculously cool. If you're looking for a rig setup with plenty of extra style and flair, this is one of the coolest ones out there.

For those most tuned-in to Formula 1 sim racing, it's also one of the best cockpits I tested out to make you feel like you're in an actual F1 car, thanks to the positioning of the seat and pedals. This isn't a setup that comes with any electronics, so you are just buying the cockpit itself. Still, if you're into the Aston Martin theming, it's rad.

Trak Racer also makes a point to mention the strengthened pedal plate, which should not flex under the weight of your late breaking into the hairpin at Monaco.

6 Sensit's Haptic Feedback Sim Racing Seats

Feel It

If you've never tried one, a sim racing rig with full motion built into the setup is an insanely immersive experience. It's also, of course, expensive to build out a rig like that, and to be honest, they can legitimately tire you out after a while. That's why I think Sensit's haptic feedback sim racing seats are a wonderful alternative for anyone looking for some more immersion, but in an easier form factor.

You can grab a Sensit chair with the haptics built in, or, if your pre-existing seat is compatible with the Sensit haptic insert, you can save some money this way. Sensit is nice enough to even provide information on whether or not the insert will fit with your seat, even if it's from a completely different brand.

In practice, the Sensit chair and its haptic feedback are amazing. You'll feel every bump in the road, every curb, and especially every time you go off track. To me, the coolest thing here was shifting gears, as you really feel the weight of the car jostling with each shift up/down. It's genuinely awesome immersion, but in a much simpler (and likely cheaper) form factor compared to full motion.

5 Pimax's Dream Air VR Headset

VR Comfort Meets High Performance

I've been a VR believer for a long time at this point, and I've owned both the PSVR and PSVR2, as well as a Meta Quest. I've loved all three of those headsets for various reasons and have used them all a lot, but I still was thoroughly impressed by the Pimax Dream Air VR headset. Pimax hadn't been on my radar before this expo, but they've definitely made their presence known now.

At a price point above other competitors (about $2K), the Pimax Dream Air is a very impressive unit if you're looking for something premium. For sim racing specifically, I tried it out with three or four different titles/rigs, and it's quite easily the best VR headset I've ever used for racing.

It's incredibly comfortable, lightweight, has no noticeable light leak (even on a bright expo show floor), and holy cow, does it look good. It's got 8K resolution, and looked markedly better than any headset I'd used prior. If you want the best VR for sim racing (or anything else in VR), the Pimax Dream Air is insanely good.

4 Trak Racer's TRZ Motorbike Racing Simulator

MotoGP at Home

Shown off for the very first time at the 2026 SimRacing Expo, Trak Racer's TRZ Motorbike Racing Simulator is a blast. It's the first ever motorcycle sim in the world that's made for home use in mind, and as such, it's really impressive what Trak Racer has already crafted here with their maiden (and anyone's maiden) foray into this type of experience.

The bike has full, operational handlebars, but also leans side to side as you speed around MotoGP tracks. And sure, most of us have used one of the motorcycle racing arcade machines of the past with leaning capabilities, but Trak Racer has taken things to another level here, and impressively, at a $1,999 price point that doesn't seem too bad at all when you consider what's all at play.

As the first sim in the world of this type and one that's capable of being used in arcade-style, as a full sim experience, or somewhere in between, the TRZ Motorbike Sim is one of the coolest things you can have at home for MotoGP fans.

3 iRacing's Titles in General

Doing Racing Games Right

Of course, iRacing was also at the expo, which should be no surprise since their titles have become the high standard for sim racing experiences these days. For anyone at the show that hadn't yet played all of their current titles, the expo was a great opportunity to go hands-on with iRacing, iRacing Arcade, NASCAR 25, and World of Outlaws.

For me, I had yet to check out NASCAR 25, and quickly found myself easily spending an hour with the game on the show floor. If you haven't played it either and have love for NASCAR, racing in general, or are also someone that spent hundreds of hours with the great NASCAR titles of old, you owe it to yourself to check out 25.

iRacing Arcade also showed off its (much needed) multiplayer splitscreen functionality, we got confirmation that NASCAR 26 was coming along nicely, and also heard about how seriously the team is taking the development of the forthcoming Indycar game, which I now couldn't be more excited for after checking out everything else iRacing had to offer.

2 Asetek's Initium Line

Pro Level Sim at a Great Entry Point

Up next is Asetek, who have multiple product lines ranging from the cheaper entry points, to the most high-end sim rig setups you could ever need. Here, I'd like to focus on the Initium line of products, which serve as Asetek's lowest entry point into the world of sim racing. It's a little absurd just how good Asetek has made the Initium line for anyone that desperately wants to get into sim racing, but can't spend many thousands of dollars on a setup.

A full Initium sim rig setup, complete with wheel, wheelbase, pedals, seat, and cockpit frame comes out to around $1,000 in total. When you start to look around at the investment for other full setups from competing brands, this is a downright steal, in my opinion. What's best is that Asetek has also been working directly with XBOX, because they understand that a sim rig compatible with consoles is even more accessible to players than the PC-only setups.

Really, Asetek seems like they're making a lot of consumer-first, smart moves with their products, which is something I'll always get behind. The high-end stuff is there, and it's great. But if you just want to get in on the ground floor, the Initium line is genuinely excellent. I tried out a full Initium setup at the show, and it more than held its own at the price point compared to any others.

1 Simcraft's Apex GT

Pushing Boundaries

Last, but absolutely not least, is Simcraft's incredible Apex GT rig. No, this isn't going to be the sim rig for most of us (it costs about $150,000). Despite this, it serves as a testament to just how far sim racing has come. This machine is the closest you can feel to actually getting into a real race car, as even seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson has attested to.

Everyone I spoke to that got off the Apex GT said things that sounded life-changing: "It's spoiled everything else for me." "I'm going to be chasing that feeling." "I feel like I'm still coming down for that." Clearly, even if you personally might not ever be able to have one for yourself, the Apex GT is something to experience.

To me though, the actual coolest thing about it is that, almost as a side effect of the realism and design of the Apex GT, Simcraft has learned that it has genuine health benefits, both mentally and physically, for those that get in the machine, and it's now being used in consideration for various types of rehabilitation in healthcare settings. Sim racing is good for you? As if I wasn't sold already!