There I was, sitting in a rented place during the long winter in the pandemic, feeling quite house-bound. I dreamed of getting another van since mine was consumed in the fire that destroyed our house and nearly all of our possessions. I hadn’t driven anything for months and feared that my muscles were getting weak from no activity.

When I told my friend Landon as much while chatting online, he made a suggestion that changed everything: “You need to race online. It’s fun and great exercise!”

Landon became a quadriplegic from a crash while racing motocross and is a racer extraordinaire. Since his injury, he has adapted many vehicles and sold me my adapted ATV buggy. Much of his driving ability and strength comes from a hand control driving simulator he built. It affords a realistic way to get used to hand controls, builds reaction times — which I need! — and is great exercise.

I texted him to send a picture of his setup, and he responded with a photo showing a racing steering wheel mounted on a desk with three big-screen TVs in front of it. The steering wheel had a tri-pin and hand controls, just like in an actual vehicle.

“The steering wheel is force-feedback, and you can turn the feedback up as you get stronger. I literally could only drive it for 10 minutes when I started and now can race for hours with the feedback turned up quite a bit,” he said.

He told me the wheel was worth around $300 but quickly found a spare — a Logitech G25 (newer models now available) — and offered it to me. It didn’t have foot pedals, but that wasn’t a problem for me. I suggested using my Thrustmaster T Flight HOTAS joystick for the throttle and brake, and he recommended using a simulator called Project Cars 2.

“You can configure input devices since there are lots of different tracks and cars, and a joystick should work fine,” he said. “The game costs about $60 on Steam, but there are sales often.”

On Black Monday, I arranged to pick up the wheel from Landon and ordered three 42-inch 4k TVs and HDMI cables. Landon texted that the software was on sale for $20, so I downloaded it. Finally, I hit up Amazon for some headphones so Landon and I could chat while racing.

“Your wife’s going to hate me because every time we chat, I give you more stuff to buy,” he teased.

“This’ll get me out of her hair,” I replied. “All’s well!”

Need for Speed

Since then, we’ve been hooking up and racing in the evening. The simulator is very realistic and so much fun. Some of Landon’s friends join sometimes. We can see all the cars. They’re labeled, so you know who they are. When you tap another car, the steering wheel gives a satisfying shake. The force-feedback on the wheel is very realistic — you can feel the road, and if you start to slide, that road-feel allows you to drift and get it back under control, although you’ll still crash if you push it too hard or over-correct.

The setup allows me to practice driving inexpensively with hand controls anytime I want. My joystick is configured so that pulling back operates the throttle, and pushing forward applies the brakes, just like in an actual vehicle. The simulator helps me get used to how the road feels and recover from a loss of traction. Braking quickly and steering around sudden obstacles become automatic. It also helps with driving in traffic.

I recall driving my real-life van one night, and two large round bales appeared in the headlights. Without a thought, I dodged left and avoided the first one, then right to avoid the second one. It was all automatic, and I’m confident that was because I’d encountered similar situations on the computer. That was many moons ago, and the new simulators are light-years ahead of what I had in those days.

Since setting up the simulator, my morning “exercise” involves at least half an hour of intense racing, usually in an old muscle car like a 1966 Mustang (I love the engine sound). Often my arms are sore after this, and they’re the right muscles to exercise for driving. Evenings bring another opportunity to race with Landon online.

After a few months of sim-time, we purchased an adapted van, and I got behind the wheel. My friend David and I putzed all around town with no trouble at all. Of course, there will be tinkering and tweaking to make driving more comfortable and reduce fatigue, but that is always the case for me when I drive anything new. David noticed right away that my steering was much better and stronger after a few months of racing.

And Landon?

“I want to drive everything!” he says. He drives an adapted van from his wheelchair, a sporty “Hot Wheels” Mustang, a pickup truck, a Rhino ATV, lawnmowers and who knows what else.

Using my adaptive setup with the simulator has been an excellent, fun and exciting way to relearn to drive with hand controls. It hones my skill, drastically reduces reaction times and builds strength. It’s a great addition to anybody’s exercise program and would be a fantastic tool for rehab facilities to help teach driving skills.

When I was first released from the hospital, I was told that I wouldn’t be able to drive, as I was too weak. Our family purchased a van with zero-effort steering, and I proceeded to try anyhow. At first, I could drive for about five minutes, but day after day, my brother and I practiced, and soon I was up to a half-hour. A year later, I could drive for hours. With a jump-start from a simulator, I’m sure it would have gone much faster.