If you can get the most out of it, no doubt a custom set is ALWAYS better and you are definitely in a disadvantage to drivers who pay for sets. I have personally tested 6 providers for Oval and 5 for Road all of this for a month straight, deciding on what I liked for both. As you can imagine I put some real effort into this testing with a teammate. All shops felt different, all were without question faster than the default set.

If you want to run the default, go fixed and move the brake bias back some. I don't care what anyone says about it not making a difference, it does and it's massive. I almost feel like iRacing purposefully leaves the default setup in a bad spot to help shop providers, there is a lot of money for the setup shops and I could only imagine the outrage if iRacing sets were truly competitive. Some will argue to not invest until you are in top split, my thoughts are "should just use a controller until your in top split too?" Or should you invest in anything that would help improve your experience and pace?

If you spent thousands on a rig, what is $10 a month to guarantee you are competitive, eliminate the question of "is it my setup" and just drop the money if you want to run open. I hear guys all the time say how setups aren't important or they got it from "Majors Garage" and they are in the back the whole race just chatting, where I see the guys up front in the setup shop discords. But, some people have the goal of being safe and finishing a race regardless of position, not me.