Ever wanted to drive an Aston Martin DB9 or a Koenigsegg or BMW M3 or an Audio R8 flatout? At well over 200kms, that is suspended licence territory, the sensations you get in a driving simulation are as near as most of us will ever get to TopGear driving. Simbin produces realistic driving simulators. Using the same physics model as race car developers, GT Legends, GTR2, Race 07 and GTR Evolution put serious simulator drivers in the driver's seat of some of the worlds top sports and formula cars.

I own Simbin products among others and can say without doubt that GTR Evolution is the most immersive simulation they have produced. This simulation is not a video game though it does provide an arcade mode for kids. That feature alone increases the value of GTR Evo over alternatives. Serious simulation drivers will already have a Logitech G25 driving wheel and good stereo headphones. Do check out the system requirements to ensure your machine is capable of providing the adequate performance. Additional international tracks provided extend the interest of the driving experience and include the full 20 some kms of German Nurburgring road/race track. Attempting that famous track was real enough to raise my heart rate and cause sweaty hands.

There is an active online group of international drivers at nogripracing.com who provide free expansion cars and tracks. Updated lap records are downloadable so you can learn the very best race lines and improve your lap times.

The sounds, sights and feedback provided by this software match that of high end commercial driving simulators.

Careful tuning of a car's tires, suspensions, and gearing pays dividends in faster lap times and less time in the kitty litter. Learn just how quickly things can go wrong at high speed, all you bend is pixels. If you are into cars or you have a relative with a computer interested in cars, GTR Evo is the best $60 you will ever spend in the current computer based driving simulation market.

Warning: this simulation is seriously addictive. It does take time to set up the controls and select fine tuning for top lap times. However, the simulation installs easily and will find wheels and other devices easily enough. Default mode works well for most people and the installation manual is an adequate introduction to the simulation. The full experience reported above is only really accessible with a force feedback steering wheel.

All GTR games are realistic. This one is no exception.

This is a very typical simulation game. Just drive. Nothing much more. However, it is very realistic. The tracks are great, the physics is ok, to the point when you start crashing. Damage isn't enough, and some of the settings are too detailed for the average player to understand.

Also, I think it will be much better if there is an option for us to customize our cars, rather than use other people's.

So overall, I think this game is not as good as I expected it to be.

SimBin's long running Race series has enjoyed many updates over the years, the last big update being GTR Evo. While one can find 4 DLC packs for Race '07 at Simbin's Race­room.net and via Steam, those looking for great value for money can look no further than GTR Evo.

GTR Evo boasts some great car classes, GT Pro being the FIA GT1 class of its day (2008), whilst the GT Sport is more akin to the FIA GT3 class of today. The WTCC 'classes of 2006 & '07 are available as are fictional 600 HP “WTCC Extreme” class vehicles plus favourites like Radicals and Caterhams and production sports cars and supercars.

Regarding tracks, all of the WTCC tracks used in 2006 & '07 are present, plus 3 variations of the Nürburgring and a tonne of alternate layouts.

Anyone familar with the flawed but excellent Race Pro (Xbox 360) or any of the previous SimBin games will be at home playing this add-on. Graphically, GTR Evo isn't as pretty as Unleashed or Dirt 3 (all gMotor based games can be made to look very nice with the Nvidia Inspector tool or equivalent ATI graphics tuner) but Evo eats them in regards to vehicle physics.

Further, there are some very active online communities for SimBin games, obtaining new car and tracks is as easy as looking at simulation websites such as RaceDepartment or NoGrip.

Overall, GTR Evo is a worthy additon to any racing simulation fans collection.