Virtual Reality (VR) can deliver an immersive and realistic experience from the driver’s seat in any racing simulator. This guide explains how to set up VR in Le Mans Ultimate to enjoy a smooth and immersive experience.
Why use VR?
Visual immersion is probably the second most important factor of performance in sim racing after the quality of force feedback. A good visual setup improves spatial awareness around other cars, allows you to spot the corner apex and exit easily and provides a more enjoyable sim racing experience.
There are three ways to upgrade visual immersion in sim racing: a triple screen, an ultrawide monitor and a virtual reality headset.
The crucial advantage of VR is that it gives an exceptional sense of presence in the car compared to other options. It feels like you’re genuinely driving a race car, with immediate feedback and no perceptible lag, even when rapidly moving your head.
VR also requires little physical space, and it is far more compact than a single ultrawide or triple-screen setup. A small monitor is all you need to boot up your PC and launch the simulator.
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Disadvantages of VR
A major disadvantage of VR is price. A good VR headset costs as much as a mid-range triple screen or ultrawide setup (500-1,000 USD) and has considerably worse utility beyond sim racing. Besides, you can live with a budget monitor, but not with a budget VR because poor resolution and mesh effects will likely make the simulator unplayable.
A good VR experience is not limited to just the headset price. The headset must be paired with a powerful graphics card capable of driving two high-resolution displays at 90 frames per second or more. VR headsets render graphics for both eyes simultaneously, putting a significant load on a graphics card.
VR in Le Mans Ultimate
VR support is fully integrated in LMU. In earlier versions of LMU, you had to use a launch option hack in Steam to get LMU running in a headset. That is no longer necessary. Now, you can just fire up LMU from within your headset. Connect it via USB-C, hit play, then select SteamVR in the launch options, and you are in.
The HUD in VR has also seen a significant improvement during early access. Previously, information like race alerts was crammed into awkward screen corners, and it was easy to miss them during the heat of battle. Now, messages like track limit warnings and potential drive-throughs are front and centre and hard to ignore.
You can scale the HUD if needed, but it looks superb out of the box. The radar is now genuinely useful, and the inclusion of real-time tyre temperatures and track maps gives LMU an edge over even iRacing in this department.
Settings for Optimal Performance
Graphics settings in VR are notoriously subjective, given the wide range of available hardware. In general, LMU can run at high or ultra settings with a good framerate in VR only with top-end hardware. Otherwise, you will need to temper your expectations.
There are two ways to control performance in VR: settings for your VR headset and settings in LMU.
VR settings depend on your VR headset and usually include the following:
- Refresh rate: Run the highest refresh rate possible, as this improves smoothness in the sim when you are driving.
- Framerate limit: Stops rendering frames above a limit. Match with the refresh rate of your headset.
- Eye resolution: Same concept as monitor resolution. Run the highest possible for a decent framerate on your hardware.
- VRSS (Variable Rate Super Sampling): Upscales the resolution and increases the detail in areas that matter, like your FOV. Enable if your hardware can handle it.
LMU settings should be used together with VR headset settings for optimal performance. Here are the recommended settings in LMU.
Display settings:
- Window mode: Fullscreen
- Resolution and refresh rate: Match settings in your VR headset
- V-Sync: Off
- Post Effects: As high as your system can handle
- Motion Blur: Off
- FSAA: Off. Doesn’t show much difference. You can leave it off
- FXAA: MSAA x2 (x4 for top-end hardware)
For graphics settings, the medium preset is a good starting point. Then, manually adjust:
- Player detail: Medium
- Special effects: Low
- Shadows: Low
- Raindrops: Low
- Road reflection: Low
- Environmental reflection: Medium
- Visible vehicles: 10. Frees up CPU and GPU resources, especially important if you’re recording or streaming
- Live trackside displays: Off
VR settings (lock horizon, head vibration and scales) have minimal effect on performance and depend entirely on your preferences.
These settings should provide 90 FPS in any conditions with a full field of cars on mid-range hardware.
Final Thoughts
Le Mans Ultimate is a serious contender in VR sim racing, with improved and more stable performance after recent patches. It is not perfect yet, but for VR users, the simulator is finally in a state that is both enjoyable and competitive. If you’ve been sitting on the fence, now is a great time to start.
- Fastest LMGT3, LMP2, Hypercar & GTE Setups
- AI Coaching for Sector by Sector Improvement
- Pro Reference Laps to Compare to Yours
- The Best Telemetry App to Get Faster Today
