Should I be wearing gloves?

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slthree
When I'm viewing videos I see the guys wearing racing gloves.

What is the purpose of the gloves and do I need them?
 
slthree
Should I be wearing gloves?
Of course you should. Along with a Helmet and flame retardant race suit. :P


Actually I think it's just to provide a better grip and perhaps prevent sweaty hands on the wheel.
Do you need them? Well it depends on how racy you want to feel. I'm not sure they'll knock seconds off your lap times.
Perhaps you could try some cycling gloves as a trial, they might be cheaper.
 
If your grip on whatever wheel you have is solid (allowing fast rotation of the wheel without any slippage)and doesn't slip when things get tense (sweaty palms during tight races!) then you don't need them. If they do get sweaty and slip cycling gloves as suggested by IfandOr are great (I have some for....cycling) as they keep your grip solid and also your hands cool. The more comfortable and relaxed the feel the better. This is presuming of course you are talking practical reasons and not:
1) streaming on Twitch and trying to look 'pro'
or
2) trying to impress a girlfriend.
in either of those cases the answer depends on the audience itself.

This is all presuming you are using a wheel in the first place. You didn't actually say you were. Because....I can't think of anything more pretentious than wearing gloves and using a controller! It would be great to see someone do that on Twitch though...I would applaud them for that!
 
Lol. Yes, I have a wheel. I use the Fanatec CSL elite.

I'm very fastidious about washing my hands with soap and water before I use it and my palms don't get sweaty, probably because I don't race as hard as some might.

I was just curious.

I'm not thinking about looking the part of a racer. Just having a wheel is as far as I'd go.

Thanks for the replies
 
Some wheels are covered with alcantara which wears off quite quickly if exposed to sweat. Wearing gloves protects the material.

I had a Fanatec GT2 Porsche rim with alcantara and never had a problem with the material wearing or it staining my hands. But my CSW V2 rim is covered in suede and just a few minutes with it with no gloves made me look I just came off of a shift in a coal mine so I have to wear gloves.

I like golf gloves for this purpose. A lot cheaper than racing gloves, though a bit more disposable.

I went and bought some of those Mechanix Wear gloves. Light weight and durable.
 
I used to wonder about those who wore gloves and if they had any use outside of immersion. I just went from a g27 to a Fanatech CSL Elite and I think I will either need to start wearing gloves or develop callouses on the base of my thumb. When I turn the wheel I find I am getting a bit of friction at the bases of my thumbs.

Dunno if I play enough to develop callouses as I did when I learned to play guitar, but who knows...
 
Is your sim rig likely to burst into flames when you wreck? Then probably not!

Is the room that you play in over 120 degrees and you are drenched in sweat? Then probably not.

Gloves are real racing drivers' response to an actual need. Gloves while playing a video game is just dress-up fantasy. Not that's there's anything wrong with taking it to another level... LOL
 
Is your sim rig likely to burst into flames when you wreck? Then probably not!

Is the room that you play in over 120 degrees and you are drenched in sweat? Then probably not.

Gloves are real racing drivers' response to an actual need. Gloves while playing a video game is just dress-up fantasy. Not that's there's anything wrong with taking it to another level... LOL
That's rich coming from the guy concerned with trying to avoid noticing "immersion breaking" pixels, and who believes VR is the future of racing games because GT Sport in PSVR "gives you a real sense of being in the car". And who also went off and ranted in the Assetto Corsa subforum about how a game cannot possibly be considered a simulator if its online multiplayer has vote-kicking instead of host-kicking, because real life motorsports disallow irresponsible drivers and a simulator must meet this need in a specific way to earn the label.

So your way is the only way. Your brand of "realistic" is the only standard. No less, but also no more?
 
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That's rich coming from the guy concerned with trying to avoid noticing "immersion breaking" pixels, and who believes VR is the future of racing games because GT Sport in PSVR "gives you a real sense of being in the car". And who also went off and ranted in the Assetto Corsa subforum about how a game cannot possibly be considered a simulator if its online multiplayer has vote-kicking instead of host-kicking, because real life motorsports disallow irresponsible drivers and a simulator must meet this need in a specific way to earn the label.

So your way is the only way. Your brand of "realistic" is the only standard. No less, but also no more?

Ouch burn. I guess simsimsheree will need some fire proof gloves after all. :lol:
 
Thank you, everyone, for weighing in. My wheel was expensive and I'm not quite sure what material covers it, but for longer sessions i believe I'll use protection.
Always use protection!

More seriously I never saw the need for gloves when I had a leather rim, all this talk of getting callouses, I mean really how soft are people’s hands. However for suede/alcantara unless you want it to soak up all your hand sweat/oils and getting wrecked or cleaning it after every session to stop that they are pretty much required.

I used to laugh at people who wore them but now I understand why some people do having needed to get some myself. That being said the full flame retardant ones are pointless, for one thing feeling wheel buttons is much harder or if you have anything with touchpad/touch screen it renders it unusable. Secondly they are super warm when you already get pretty warm sim racing, at least I do as I run my DD wheel with high forces.

I picked up some Mechanix 0.5mm gloves, they are lightweight don’t go high up your arm, breathable and work with touchscreens still, all for only £20. Don’t bother with those Sparco gaming gloves there a rip-off I almost got some for the touchpad capabilities but took a punt on the Mechanix which work perfectly.
 
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After many years not wearing gloves i started using them because of sweat in the palms.

Three things happened after I started wearing gloves:

1. No sweat palms
2. Felt more immersion
3. No more stinking wheel because of all that sweat (leather or rubber like the original T300 rim smells after a while)

I had the question as the OP as to why would one wear gloves. Looked like posers until i started wearing them myself and felt the benefits above.
 
What's the point of gloves helping immersion when so many things in the game utterly break it?

Slowdown penalties have no place in any motorsport. And gloves won't help in the slightest when some noob punts you off track and the host is powerless to do anything about it.

And, you may not have tried one, but VR, you see gloves on your hands. Don't have to wear them to see them, LOL Visual and auditory immersion is rather a different thing to clothing immersion. Want to avoid wearing your alcantara? Thin cotton gloves will work as well as leather racing gloves. OP didn't mention he had a wear problem...

But my main issue with gloves is that, unless you have a full pro rig, a lot of game wheels have much smaller rims than real wheels. It's hard enough getting your hands in these tiny wheels without adding a bulky glove. Not to mention getting to small buttons, and feeling where your hand is.

Hey, I've got no problem with anyone that wants to dress up in a full fire suit and helmet if they want to. You want immersion, go for it! Don't forget that full motion simulator rig while you are at it... But the OP asked a legitimate question. Maybe an honest answer is what he deserved. And thanks for singling out my post from others that pointed out the lack of a real need for them. Nice to know you are paying attention!
 
From a realism point or immersion point of view no they're probably not needed. But I along with others that use them have stated why we do use them. So yes we do have a real need for them. Like I stated earlier, I would rather not have my hands look like I've had charcoal briquettes in each of them when I get through. So I wear gloves and the Mechanix Wear gloves are just fine to feel little buttons with.
 
What's the point of gloves helping immersion when so many things in the game utterly break it?

Slowdown penalties have no place in any motorsport. And gloves won't help in the slightest when some noob punts you off track and the host is powerless to do anything about it.

And, you may not have tried one, but VR, you see gloves on your hands. Don't have to wear them to see them, LOL Visual and auditory immersion is rather a different thing to clothing immersion. Want to avoid wearing your alcantara? Thin cotton gloves will work as well as leather racing gloves. OP didn't mention he had a wear problem...

But my main issue with gloves is that, unless you have a full pro rig, a lot of game wheels have much smaller rims than real wheels. It's hard enough getting your hands in these tiny wheels without adding a bulky glove. Not to mention getting to small buttons, and feeling where your hand is.

Hey, I've got no problem with anyone that wants to dress up in a full fire suit and helmet if they want to. You want immersion, go for it! Don't forget that full motion simulator rig while you are at it... But the OP asked a legitimate question. Maybe an honest answer is what he deserved. And thanks for singling out my post from others that pointed out the lack of a real need for them. Nice to know you are paying attention!
I use these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B4395MX/?tag=gtplanetuk-20

Which as you can see are not some huge real glove, prior to that I used white cotton gloves which cane with my piano black speakers. They worked for the purpose of keeping the wheel clean but they were also warmer and twisted a little with movement. For the sake of £20 keeping a much more expensive wheel rim material clean is worth it.
 
When I'm viewing videos I see the guys wearing racing gloves.

What is the purpose of the gloves and do I need them?
For long races I usually chuck gloves on, mainly to avoid getting sweaty palms into the leather.

Recently I’ve been throwing them on every time I do get on the wheel because I received a new G29 under warranty, and seeing how dirty and worn my old one got I want to try avoid that for longer to keep it nice and fresh :).

No you don’t NEED them, but I certainly like to wear them most times at least now just to keep my wheel nice and to not have to wipe/blow my hands dry half way through a long stint. I also don’t have trouble pressing any buttons.

I just use some bmx Fox racing gloves, actually have some nice rubber bits on the first two fingers for the paddles (which would normally be for bmx brake levers), but they’re so old and worn themselves the suede is tearing apart. I’m going to be looking at some cheap karting gloves soon when I have spare cash as they are not fireproof so not has hot.

Or if I really wanna spend a bit more $ I might look at these because I think they’re cool and very similar to my current ones.
56384E52-5D48-494B-AF9D-3F40A907A355.jpeg

https://www.sparco-official.com/en/hypergrip.html
 
When I'm viewing videos I see the guys wearing racing gloves.

What is the purpose of the gloves and do I need them?

Folks, gloves are good, especially if you play more than 1 hour at a time. Really cheap and very effective gloves are from golf. Srixon Rain Gloves or Footjoy RainGrips are excellent for keeping your hands dry and avoiding sweat on the steering wheel. Typically US$20 to US$26 for a pair.

Much less expensive than actual nomex racing gloves and more breathable than leather.

And, oh, by the way, they are excellent for long distance driving in real cars!!
 
Proud of my thumb callouses! At least I've got something to show from a few good multi-hour sessions!

Wiped my old racing wheel down with a damp cloth with a tiny dab of detergent about once a month, washed my hands if they were dirty before I raced, wheel looked like new when I had to chuck it for a PS4 wheel.

Thing is, it seems that the life of the wheel is far longer than the life of the platform it works with!
 
No gloves here, socks on the pedals.
15 years racing like this very comfortable.
That will all change though as one day VR haptics will be implemented into sim racing allowing us all to wear fancy $500 gloves and throw our arms about in the cockpit.

I will wear gloves then for the sole purpose of giving the virtual middle finger to everyone I pass.
 
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