>>309877760
As far as racing sims go: the faster you go, the worse it gets. On low speeds, gamepad is all fine, on high speeds you really, really miss the precision of a wheel. It's not impossible to enjoy game on gamepad, so feel free to try, but it's much, much better on a wheel. So, if you're interested enough and you have this $50 to spare, you can get a logitech DFGT and enjoy the cheapest "real wheel" experience (or aim higher and get better results!). If you feel like it's too much commitment for now, then yes, racing sims can be done on gamepad, worth a shot. 

Also, one racing game i can definitely recommend for gamepad is Dirt Rally. It plays extremely well on gamepad, to the point where you wonder if it's even worth it to play it on a wheel when you can be comfy with a pad instead. It's also sim-ish enough to feel like a proper racing vidya, and has a surprisingly fun career mode despite being as basic as it gets.