Spring is here, which means the trees are regaining their leaves, the evenings are getting lighter and we’re all about to spend our March salaries on obscenely cheap games in the Steam Spring Sale.
Deals are now running until 20 March, and as with any Steam sale, there’s *a lot* of discounts to be had. So many that it can be a little overwhelming to work out how to spend your hard-earned cash.
Well, we’re here to help if you’re looking for some driving games to bolster your collection. If calling ourselves Car Throttle didn’t give that bit away. Check out our favourite picks below.
Rather spend absolutely nothing on a game? Check out our list of the best free driving games.
Need For Speed Unbound – £4.19 (93 per cent off)
BMW M2 in NFS Unbound
It seems like Need For Speed Unbound will be the last NFS title for the foreseeable future, so for that reason alone we’d recommend giving it a go. It helps that it’s a pretty fun title in its own right, too – offering some pretty cool car customisation and a pretty interesting open world.
We think it’s a steal at £4.19, the lowest price it’s ever been available on Steam for. Absolutely grab it while you can.
rFactor 2 – £3.99 (84 per cent off)
rFactor 2 in-game screenshot
rFactor 2 may be over a decade old now and has effectively been superseded by the brilliant Le Mans Ultimate, but it’s still an engaging racing sim in its own right.
If you’re looking to dip your toes into serious sim racing for the first time, or just want to expand your collection, you can’t go wrong for £3.99.
Dirt Rally 2.0 – £3.59 (80 per cent off)
Dirt Rally 2.0 in-game screenshot
Dirt Rally 2.0 remains one of the best rally games available, offering the right balance between a semi-realistic driving model and being just about forgiving enough to make you feel like a hero when you get things right. Or deflated when you really should’ve listened to that ‘don’t cut’.
This is another case of a cheap game you should absolutely put your toes into the world of racing with, if you haven’t already. Its successor, EA Sports WRC, is also on sale but for a slightly punchier £11.99.
Burnout Paradise Remastered – £3.59 (80 per cent off)
Burnout Paradise Remastered in-game screenshot
We’ve sung our praises for Burnout Paradise more times than we can remember across this website. So much so, there was zero doubt of it coming top when we ranked every Burnout game.
Its 2018 remaster still holds up well today, and you can pick it up now for £3.59.
Get Burnout Paradise Remastered here
Assetto Corsa – £3.87 (75 per cent off)
Assetto Corsa in-game screenshot
Assetto Corsa is a game that, at its core, has been outclassed and become outdated. However, a passionate community has kept it alive through mods over the years and it’s absolutely worth adding to the collection for that reason alone.
We’d suggest checking out Content Manager first and expanding your collection of mods from there.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 – £4.22 (75 per cent off)
Euro Truck Simulator 2 in-game screenshot
We said driving, not racing. Although if you take to TruckersMP, the carnage of Calais to Duisburg is more intense than any form of virtual motorsport could offer.
Seriously though, ETS2 is one of the best cosy games on the market and a must-try for anyone with any slight interest in driving. As is usually the case in a Steam sale, it’s at an unmissable price.
Get Euro Truck Simulator 2 here
Assetto Corsa Competizione – £10.49 (70 per cent off)
Assetto Corsa Competizione in-game screenshot
Although ACC doesn’t have the modability of the original Assetto Corsa, it’s a different breed of game altogether. As the official game of the GT World Challenge, it’s widely regarded as one of the best and most realistic titles for competitive GT racing.
It’s best enjoyed with a wheel and pedals, so if you’ve got those already, we’d recommend picking ACC up. Or use a £10.49 game purchase to justify a £300 entry-level sim setup…
Get Assetto Corsa Competizione here
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 – £6.71 (68 per cent off)
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 in-game screenshot
Ah, so you’re done with driving cars and instead want to work away on them. You could go outside and start pulling bits off some of the street, but we’re not sure the neighbours would appreciate it. Or the police.
Instead, we’d recommend picking up Car Mechanic Simulator which, despite the outdated title, is the most recent entry in the series. This will let you start as a self-employed mechanic fixing cars for customers and eventually buying your own to fix up and sell. Enjoy the “How many???” when you see your played hours count in a few weeks time.
Get Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 here
Forza Horizon 5 – £24.99 (50 per cent off)
Forza Horizon 5 artwork
We don’t really need to sing the praises of Forza Horizon 5 any further. It’s frankly a brilliant game and, in the absence of Horizon 6 news, is still a game everyone should absolutely pick up.
If you haven’t already done so, £24.99 feels like a bit of a bargain.
Absolute Drift – £4.99 (50 per cent off)
Absolute Drift in-game screenshot
The Oxford Dictionary defines the verb zen as ‘to enter a state of meditative calmness or serenity of mind’. We’d like to define it as ‘playing Absolute Drift’.
This minimalist title is super simple. You’re given the keys to a car that looks an awful lot like a certain Toyota AE86, which you’ll drift from a top-down view across levels of increasing difficulty. It can be challenging and rewarding, but it’s never frustrating.
