Table of Contents
Introduction
This is going to be a short post where I will gather a list of some of the best content creators with Sim-Related YouTube Channels. This is all content for simulation software for the PC and covers, Flight Sims, Racing Sims, and Combat Flight Sims, at some time in the future Spaceflight Sims will be added too.
I don’t know how I’ll organize this once the list starts to get longer. For right now I’d just love to hear whom you’d recommend for inclusion in our little compendium? There are no real hard and fast rules on the type of simulation content a channel has to produce to be included. So long as it’s tangentially relevant (i.e., no “tycoon”, or “The Sims” type of channels.) Other than that, if it is educational, instructional, just a bit of fun, or something else entirely it’s fine.
The Meta
Each of the Sim-Related YouTube channels will be assigned a Genre, Topic, and (Sub-Topic). Along with the number of subscribers as of publication and of course a link to the channel.
Genre(s)
There are 5 genres they are as follows.
- Educational
- Informational
- Instructional
- Entertainment
- News/Reviews
Topic
Topic is akin to categories here. To begin with they will be.
- Sim Racing
- Flight Sim
- Motorsports
- Combat Flight Simulation
- Driving Instruction
- Racing School
(Sub-Topic)
The sub-topic in ( ) will be the specific version of the topic. Some examples are.
- Sim Racing
- (iRacing, RF2, AC, ACC, PC2, Dirt Rally 2.0)
- (Road Racing, Oval Racing, NASCAR, GT Car, Formula, Karting)
- Combat Flight Sim
- (DCS, IL2)
- (Dogfighting/ACM PvP or PvC, Ground Attack, Missions)
- Real World Driver Coaching
- (Road Racing, Rally, GT Cars, Open Wheel)
Obviously, the lists above are not all inclusive. If you can think of a better way to format this, please let me know in the comments below as well. If you have any good sim-related YouTube channels to recommend, please don’t hesitate to post them below as well. I am very aware that this post exposes my own biases by the fact that it is heavily slanted towards sim racing content. If there are some good sim-related YouTube channels that produce interesting content for just plain vanilla flight simulation enthusiasts, I’d love to hear about them too!
The Channels List
Here are the first 6 in the Sim-Related YouTube Channels list.
Growling Sidewinder
Entertainment 75%, Instructional 20%, Educational 5%
Combat Flight Sim
(Dogfights PvP & PvC, Ground Attack, Missions) (DCS, IL2)
A great channel owned by one of the very best fighter pilots to play DCS World! In addition to showing off his superhuman dogfighting skills he also walks you through what he is doing, at each stage, why he is doing it, and how it is supposed to work.
While not as in depth as a dedicated tutorial video, one could learn all the systems and tactics for about any jet on the sim simply by watching his videos where he fly’s the jet you want to master.
My only complaint is that he no longer does a “TacView DeBrief” at the end of his videos. So, you are aiming to learn how to improve your DCS skills your time is better spent watching his older content. At the very least watching his videos that are 1.5 years old or older you get a much better understanding of where everyone was, what they were doing, and why his tactics lead to his victory, at each stage of a battle with the older content.
DLBTV
Entertainment 100%
Sim Racing
(iRacing, NASCAR)
30.9K subscribers
DLBTV is a content creator in the iRacing NASCAR space. His videos are nearly always between 8 and 14 minutes long and cover the interesting points from his fixed setup official NASCAR iRacing races run over the preceding couple of weeks. Occasionally he runs other fixed setup paved oval series such as the Street Stocks, Modifieds, Super Late Models, etc.
Occasionally he may discuss what he is thinking or what he plans to do especially when coming from a yellow flag to retake the green. For the most part he’s just entertaining and there is nothing wrong with that. Those who understand a little race craft will also get a kick out of all the times he says “what I need to do is save tires” only to try and make a three wide pass on the outside 2 laps later.
Between that and hanging his pusher out to dry every single time at the plate tracks (then wondering why no one will go with him at the end) you may not “learn” a whole lot, but I’ll be darned if it isn’t an entertaining way to kill 10 minutes. So, strap the TV on we’re going cord deep!
Driver61
Instructional 85%, Educational 15%
Sim Racing
Motorsports Real World & Sim, (Driver Coaching, Road Racing) (iRacing & ACC)
1.04M subscribers
Driver61 is the YouTube channel of retired F1 driver Scott Mansell (no relation to Nigel Mansell). The channel began life as a project to support his real-world business coaching drivers. He describes it in his own words.
“I’ve coached in 22 countries around the world, helping hundreds of racing and track-day drivers become faster, safer and more consistent on the circuit.”
Clear back in December of 2021 the channel amassed over 15 million views with over 1.1 million hours of content watched! It’s probably needless to say but as happens in nature sometimes the baby appears to have eaten the parent.
At one point it appears that he had a second channel dedicated to sim racing content. It’s last upload was over a year ago and there is tons of sim content on the main channel so it is probably no longer active.
He also has a third currently active channel called “OVERDRIVE.” On this channel Scott and a couple buddies do what every automotive YouTuber has tried with varying levels of success. Rip-off Top Gear.
Team O’Neil
Instructional 60%, Educational 25%, Entertainment 15%
Rally Racing
Real World Driving School, (Tactical Driver Training, Point to Point Rally)
161K subscribers
The driving school this channel represents was founded in 1997 by semi-retired WRC Rally driver Tim O’Neil. Located in New Hampshire and located just outside Littleton. The private facility boasts 583 acres of alpine terrain.
Course offerings include rally driving, winter driving schools, off-road driving, and security courses for individuals, private companies, and government agencies. Courses offer educational and recreational experiences appropriate for all abilities. Team O’Neil also operates the New England Forest Rally an American Rally Association (ARA) officially sanctioned event.
The Team O’Neil channel in their own words.
“Official channel of the Team O’Neil Rally School. Located in New Hampshire, we are a car control and racing school with our own private 600-acre purpose-built mountain facility. We operate year-round, offering multi-day rally schools for those looking to master car control and racing techniques.“
iRacing
Instructional 60%, Educational 25%, Entertainment 15%
Racing Sim Publisher
Racing Sim Developer (Driving School, Rules and Regs, Highlights and Bloopers)
208K subscribers
iRacing is the premier automotive racing simulation software available to the public. There are other sims that are good, (AC, ACC, Dirt Rally 2.0) there are other simulations that people enjoy (anything based on the RFactor2 engine). None of them have made the investment necessary to come close to iRacing.
As just one example iRacing spent several hundred thousand dollars testing various racing tires to destruction to gather data that has been incorporated into their tire model. They understand how a racing tire interacts with a track better than everyone this side of an F1 team.
Regardless the iRacing YouTube channel has a set “how to” videos that walk you through all aspects of the sim, there are also broadcasts from some professional series that use the sim. Live and recorded races from the Coca Cola iRacing eNASCAR Series, ButtKicker World of Outlaws, Porsche Tag Heuer eSports Cup, Skip Barber Formula, along with all of their feeder series, plus more. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the iRacing Top 10 Highlights, and the iRacing Not Top Ten Highlights for each month.
Inside Sim Racing
Informational 100%
Sim Racing News
Latest Racing Simulation News, (Product Reviews, Interviews, and Investigative Reporting, Discussion.)
163K subscribers
Inside Sim Racing is pretty self-explanatory. Here is a copy and paste for the description on their YouTube channel.
Since 2007, Inside Sim Racing has been the number one show dedicated to the world of simulated motorsports. Every episode, we will bring you stories from a variety of genres in the world of Simulated Racing. We cover titles and hardware from the PC (Personal Computer), Playstation 3 & 4 as well as the XBox consoles. Formula One, Nascar / Stock Car , Sports Cars, Rally and any other form we find interesting and entertaining could make it on to an episode . Inside Sim Racing will bring you stories from around the globe about the people devoted to the hobby along with news and reviews from inside the industry about the gear needed and used to be competitive on the virtual track.
Tune in every Wednesday for our live show “This Week Inside Sim Racing” to go along with our pre-recorded content. You can also join us in our forums at isrtv.com/forum or social media facebook.com/insidesimracing and twitter.com/insidesimracing.
https://www.youtube.com/@simracingtonight/about
To be Continued
I’ve got a about another half dozen more of these I plan to add to this or another Sim-Related YouTube channels list. Right now, I’d really like to hear if there are any channels you enjoy that you think should be on this list? Maybe some good MSFS or XPlane channels I’m missing? There has got to be a few good F1, or Endurance racing channels I haven’t uncovered yet. Please leave your suggestions in the comments below.
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