What a sim racing setup costs in India, step by step

India's first official F1 esports event, the F1 Sim Racing India Open, wrapped up its Cup of Nations finals at Mumbai's NSCI Dome this week. Team Spain White won the title, India fielded Karl Verghese and Siddharth Sathgare in their first international outing, and the whole thing was run by Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited in partnership with Formula 1. Watching it raises a practical question for anyone who owns a PlayStation or a gaming PC. What does a setup good enough to actually race on cost.

The honest answer is that a wheel and pedal set alone starts under ₹30,000, a proper cockpit frame to bolt it to adds ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 more, and the software on top is either a one-time game purchase of a few thousand rupees or a running subscription billed in dollars. Here is each layer, with real listed prices.

The wheel and pedals

This is the part worth buying first, since it is what actually talks to the car. The Thrustmaster T248R wheel and pedal set, which works on PC, PS5 and PS4, is listed at ₹27,499 on theitgear.com, down from its regular ₹43,310. A step up, the Logitech G923 with dual-motor force feedback and a matching pedal set sells for ₹35,991 on Flipkart, cut from ₹53,995. Both are common entry hardware and most Indian cockpit makers list them as compatible out of the box.

The rig: clamp first, cockpit later

A wheel can simply be clamped to a sturdy table to start. Once the habit sticks, Indian manufacturers sell purpose-built frames. INRacing's Esport Sim Racing cockpit, a steel frame with a seat and mounting hardware, wheel and pedals sold separately, is priced on the company's own site at ₹39,999 on sale, down from ₹50,999. Simforge's Apex cockpit, also made in India on a steel and aluminium frame, starts at ₹49,999.

Either frame takes the Thrustmaster or Logitech sets above, so the rig and the wheel can be bought on different budgets and at different times.

GT7, F1 25 or an iRacing subscription

The software choice splits by platform. On a PS5, Gran Turismo 7's Standard Edition costs ₹4,999 and its Digital Deluxe Edition, with extra in-game credit and a Toyota GR Yaris thrown in, costs ₹6,899 on the PlayStation Store's India listing.

That is a one-time cost, useful if a PS5 is already at home, though Sony's own India retail price for a new PS5 Standard Edition rose to ₹69,990 this year, up from ₹54,990, after a global memory shortage pushed console prices up worldwide.

F1 25, the actual game the F1 Sim Racing India Open runs on across PC, PS5 and Xbox, costs ₹4,999 for the Standard Edition and ₹3,999 for the 2026 Season Edition on the PlayStation Store, so a reader chasing a seat at next year's Open does not need to spend separately on Gran Turismo.

On a PC, the serious alternative is iRacing, which charges a subscription rather than a single purchase. IRacing's own site lists regular prices of $14.75 a month, $37.50 for three months, $124.50 for a year and $222.50 for two years. A Black Friday sale running until 2 December 2026 cuts all four by 40 per cent, to $8.85, $22.50, $74.70 and $133.50.

Indian cardholders pay these in rupees at their card network's conversion rate, plus any foreign transaction fee their bank charges, and buying extra cars and tracks beyond a basic membership adds to the bill over a season.

Add it up and a reader who already owns a gaming PC or a PS5 can start racing for the price of a wheel and pedal set and a game, somewhere under ₹35,000 all in. A cockpit frame on top pushes the number past ₹75,000. An iRacing year, converted at the card rate, adds a further sum that most Indian racers budget for separately from the rig itself.

Sources

• F1 Sim Racing India Open 2026: Spain White win Cup of Nations, India finish international debut
• India gets F1 Sim Racing championship launched by Mumbai Falcons
• Thrustmaster T248R Racing Wheel and Pedal, price
• Logitech G923 Gaming Steering Wheel, price
• INRacing Esport Sim Racing Cockpit
• Simforge Apex Sim Racing Cockpit / F1 simulator setup
• Gran Turismo 7 on PlayStation Store India
• F1 25 on PlayStation Store India
• iRacing membership pricing
• Sony increases PS5 price in India, Standard Edition now costs Rs 69,990