Track Impulse puts iRacing overlays inside your VR headset through SteamVR. The dash, radar spotter, fuel calculator, relative and battle bar float in the cockpit where you already look. Nothing is installed into iRacing. It is experimental, off by default, and part of Pro at $3 a month, free during the public beta.
One rule decides everything. The panels show whenever SteamVR is the program putting your sim's picture into the headset. Track Impulse draws each panel in its own window and hands it to SteamVR, which places it in the cockpit. So the question is never which headset you own. It is which program is feeding it.
In practice that means two setups: a sim started in SteamVR (OpenVR) mode, or a sim started in OpenXR mode with SteamVR set as the OpenXR runtime on your PC. Both routes go through SteamVR, so both show the panels.
iRacing's Oculus mode does not. Neither do the OpenXR runtimes that bypass SteamVR: Meta's own runtime for Quest Link and Air Link, Virtual Desktop's VDXR, Pimax OpenXR and Varjo. In those setups SteamVR never sees the picture, and the only way to add panels to it would be code loaded inside the sim. Track Impulse does not put anything inside your sim.
No file goes into iRacing and nothing runs inside it. Track Impulse draws the panels and hands them to SteamVR, the same way any SteamVR overlay reaches your view.
Every overlay has its own Show in VR switch, plus distance, left and right, up and down, turn, tilt, size and opacity, all separate from where it sits on your monitor.
Anchor a panel in the cockpit so it stays put as you look around, or have it follow your head. Panels work out their own turn angle and face you.
Arrange VR panels shows the view from the driver's seat on your monitor. Drag, resize and push panels nearer or further with no headset plugged in.
Alt+F11 brings every cockpit-anchored panel back in front of wherever you are sitting, after you re-seat yourself or SteamVR recentres your view.
The VR page of App Settings reports whether SteamVR is connected, how many panels are in the headset, and which VR mode your sim is running in.
One headset has been tested in the flesh: PlayStation VR2 on Sony's PC adapter, on 14 September 2026, in SteamVR Home and in iRacing's OpenXR mode with SteamVR as the runtime. Everything else below follows the same SteamVR rule but has not been confirmed yet, so it is marked untested rather than working. Nothing is called verified unless it has been seen in a headset.
| Headset | Runs through | Status |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation VR2 | SteamVR, with Sony's PC adapter | Verified by us |
| Valve Index | SteamVR | Should work, untested |
| HTC Vive, Vive Pro, Vive Pro 2 | SteamVR | Should work, untested |
| Bigscreen Beyond | SteamVR | Should work, untested |
| Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S, Pro | Steam Link, or Virtual Desktop set to SteamVR, or Quest Link and Air Link with SteamVR as the OpenXR runtime | Should work, untested |
| Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S, Pro | Quest Link or Air Link on Meta's own runtime, or Virtual Desktop set to VDXR | Does not work |
| Pimax | SteamVR as the OpenXR runtime | Should work, untested |
| Pimax | Pimax OpenXR | Does not work |
| Varjo | Varjo's own OpenXR runtime | Does not work |
| Any other headset | SteamVR | Should work, untested |
The full list lives on the VR headset compatibility page, which also covers sim VR modes, how to switch a sim to SteamVR, and results sent in by drivers. It changes as reports arrive, so treat it as the living version of the table above. For PSVR2 settings that suit iRacing, see the PSVR2 iRacing VR settings guide.
From a working monitor setup to panels in the headset is five settings, two of them outside Track Impulse. A five-page setup guide opens in the app the first time you switch VR on, and a button on the same page reopens it whenever you want it.
Open SteamVR from Tools in your Steam library. Go to Settings, click OpenXR in the left column, then Set SteamVR as OpenXR Runtime. The page confirms the current runtime at the top.
Not Oculus mode. The choice lives in the sim's own VR settings or its launcher. Both OpenXR with SteamVR as the runtime and SteamVR (OpenVR) mode put the picture through SteamVR, which is what the panels need.
The switch is on the VR page of App Settings in Track Impulse. It is off by default and marked experimental. The same page reports whether SteamVR is connected, how many panels are in the headset, and the sim's VR mode.
Every overlay has a VR HEADSET section on its own settings page. Dashboard, radar spotter, fuel, relative and battle bar start ticked. Everything else starts off, so the headset view builds up one panel at a time.
Arrange VR panels opens the driver's seat view on your monitor. Drag to move, drag a corner to resize, scroll to push a panel nearer or further, double-click to snap it to face you. Press Alt+F11 to recenter once you are seated. Every setting is covered in the VR section of the overlays manual.
Four other overlay apps come up when sim racers ask about VR: RaceLab, SimHub, iOverlay and Edge Overlays. Two of them have no VR support of their own, and the community answer there is a separate SteamVR tool. The table below is what each vendor documents, checked in September 2026.
| App | Overlays in VR | How it gets into the headset | Runtimes | Price for VR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track Impulse | Yes, experimental | Built in, one app, no second component | SteamVR only | Pro $3/mo, free during beta |
| RaceLab | Yes | Separate RaceLab VR component, installed alongside | SteamVR and OpenXR, runtime depends on the sim | RaceLab Pro subscription |
| SimHub | No native support | Community workaround: OVRdrop, a SteamVR desktop-overlay tool | SteamVR, through OVRdrop | Not documented |
| iOverlay | No native support | Community workaround: OpenKneeboard | Not documented | Not documented |
| Edge Overlays | Claims VR support, iRacing only | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
The honest read: RaceLab reaches OpenXR runtimes that Track Impulse does not, so a Quest running on Meta's own runtime can show RaceLab panels and cannot show ours. What Track Impulse gives you instead is one install with no second component, since the same app that draws your monitor overlays draws the ones in the headset. Cells marked Not documented could not be confirmed from the vendor's own site or repository in September 2026. Plans and features change, so check at the source before you buy.
Five panels start ticked for VR, chosen because they are the ones you read mid-corner. Everything else starts off, so your headset view builds up one panel at a time rather than arriving full.
| Panel | What it is for in the cockpit |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | The full instrument cluster: tacho, gear, speed, rpm, steering, input trace, pedals, G-force and telemetry cells. The readout a VR cockpit often hides or renders too small to trust. |
| Radar spotter | Cars around you by bearing and distance, coloured by how close they are and red when someone is door to door. The iRacing radar earns its place in VR, where checking a mirror costs you the corner. |
| Fuel | Litres in tank, per-lap burn, pit window countdown and how much to add at the stop. The fuel calculator saves lifting the headset to do arithmetic. |
| Relative | Cars ahead and behind by interval, with number, name, iRating, licence, pace delta and last lap. Who is coming, and how fast. |
| Battle bar | The gap to the car immediately ahead and the one immediately behind, with each rival's name, position and licence. The two numbers that decide your race. |
Every other overlay in the suite has its own Show in VR switch, off by default. Tick standings, the live track map, the delta trace, the session strip or the haptics HUD and it joins the others in the cockpit, with its own distance, position, turn, tilt, size and opacity. A panel hidden on your monitor is hidden in the headset too, so the show rules you already set still apply.
14 overlays are free permanently, with no account, no quotas and no trial clock, including the radar spotter, relative, standings, fuel calculator, inputs dash, shift light, battle bar and live track map. That free tier is monitor only. Putting panels inside a headset is the part that sits in Pro.
Pro is $3 a month, subscription only, and it adds VR headset overlays alongside Performance Review, the live Coach, pit strategy, the delta trace and the streaming suite. Every Pro feature is free during the public beta, so VR works today whichever plan you are on. See the full overlay suite or the pricing page.
Track Impulse is also low-latency bass shaker software: telemetry to shaker in as low as 2ms end to end via ASIO, and a measured 8ms against SimHub's 137ms in iRacing. The haptics are a separate product with their own price, and the overlays do not need them. One install covers both, which no rival overlay app offers.
Install Track Impulse, tick the overlays during setup, and your dash, radar, fuel, relative and battle bar can sit in the cockpit for your next session. Free during the public beta, Pro included. No credit card, no account.