What system/games for driving are best?
What set up / seat / shifter / monitor/s?
I'm a noob at this but can't get the car in the road enough!!!

 

System, the sky is the limit, really.. The most powerful, the better it will run any game.

Games:
rFactor is the one with the biggest community, the most community tournaments, mods, cars, tracks, and all that. It's one of the common choices. You can play offline, if you want, with AI, but the good thing is, almost anytime, you can just search a server and join in. Almost all contents are free, but there's a few HQ which are paid.

NetkarPro it's the most realistic simulator, with super-developed tyre physics, no AI (which means if you decide to play offline, you're alone), and an unbelievable attention to detail. If you want to face the geeky part of simracing, this is the way to go. Cars and tracks are restricted to what the producers put in the market, and there's around 10 cars and 20 tracks, in comparison with the tens of thousands avaliable for rFactor, for example.

iRacing is also a very realistic game, built with the mindset of not only being a game, but also a training software for drivers and teams, and, in fact, there are a couple of drivers that play iRacing. The servers are all ran by the company responsible for iRacing (you can set up a private server, but it's hosted on their services) , and it's also really realistic with physics, behaviour of the car, etc. Inside the game, you have a given license, and you can upgrade your license through competing in online championships and getting a minimum safety record. It has lots of protocols with real life competitions, and organizes tournaments featuring their real-life counterparts, like Nascar, Skip Barber Challenge, Grand-Am, Daytona 500. There's around 40 tracks avaliable, and maybe the same number of cars. After the initial package, you have to purchase the cars if you want to race them, and the same with the tracks. This means it easily becomes the most expensive of the three simulators we talked about.

Conclusion: It all depends on what you want, but I'd go to either iRacing or rFactor. iRacing if you can pay for it, and value a real-life-like experience, in tested and well built cars and tracks, and a fair competition. rFactor if you like to be able to drive a lot of different cars in almost all the tracks in the world, and play with other people in a more relaxed environment. The physics in rFactor aren't as good as the other two, generally, though, there's a few mods (Australia V8 and HistoriX) that are amazing in this camp. Since all the mods are community-made, you can't expect that much. I'm an active player of rFactor, and I love it. But then, I didn't think that I could keep up with playing iRacing competitively, because I'm not that good, and also, I don't want to spend that much money in a Sim, at least by now.

 

Set up, the basic would be something like:
Racing Seat
Wheel + Shifter + Pedals
Monitors.

Here, I can only talk about the experience of the many others I've met on simracing, and the lots of reviews I read, since I don't have that kind of setup (I have a Logitech Formula Force EX, without clutch or shifter, and play in my laptop, but then, I'm not an example

Racing Seat:
For what I've heard, Obutto's aren't only the best value for money, they're also the all-around best. For what I see, they also sell structures for the racing station, with a place to mount the steering wheel, 3 monitors (option), pedals, keyboard, mouse, besides the racing seat.

Wheel, Shifter and Pedals:
For a beginner, I'd advise you to the Logitech G27. It's a good product, sturdy, reliable, and offers a nice performance. Fanatec's are also good, but apparently, break down quite a lot more than the Logitech, and are also more expensive.
Thrustmaster T500RS is an outstanding wheel, and I think, more reliable than the Fanatec (a bit less than the Logitech), but it's a lot better, for what I've seen. More detailed force feedback, and all. Those are the two I think are more worth the look. The G27 comes with the shifter besides the paddles, and the Thrustmaster doesn't.

In the pedals, Fanatec Clubsport seem to be reliable, and with a lot better feel than the ones that come with the G27, so, if you can, they seem to be worth it.

Monitors, I think the most important thing is the smallest response time possible. If you can, 3 screens is the best option, because it gives a sense of immersion a single screen can't give. It may also require some thinking when building your gaming PC, so that they don't affect the game's performance.

 

So, if you're not yet tired of reading, let's see the conclusions:

The minimum I advise you is:
A Decent PC
rFactor/iRacing
Logitech G27

A good system would be:
Obutto R3volution cockpit
Logitech G27/Thrustmaster T500RS

An Excellent system would be:
Obutto R3volution 3-screens cockpit
Thrustmaster T500RS + Fanatec Clubsport Pedals

I hope I've helped you a bit on getting started, and if you need anything, just PM me, I'll be more than happy on guiding you in what I know!

 

Full Motion DIY Rig Step I to xx - Getting as real as possible...

 

Thank you very much for responding. I will check all of that out!