Do you mean for combat flight simulation? Because flight simulation for commercial flight can pretty accurately replicate the whole experience, not just the mechanical skills, when you include people playing the role of ATC etc.
that feeling of the center of rotation shifting is extremely helpful when loading the car, and sure you can just go by track memory on sims, but it's not the same thing.
But when I'm driving in VR in iRacing or Assetto Corsa I can tell when the rear is about to step out. It can't be track-based memory because I can tell on tracks I've never driven on before. I don't think it's through the wheel, but rather some sort of visual cue about how the car is moving.
I would assume that visual cue is there in a real car as well, but isn't needed because you have the physical feeling.
ah well that's something I never tried; do you have the same sensation of control while driving on a standard monitor?
This actually had a fair effect on my race performance, too. I was typically around the middle of ACRL's second split in performance for GT3. You can see the effect VR had on my results (split 2 unless noted otherwise):
* Imola: 18th
* Red Bull Ring: 19th
* Monza: 6th (split 3)
* Spa: 16th
* Paul Ricard: 10th
* Bathurst: 4th (got VR the week of this race)
* Silverstone: 2nd (my first podium)
And then from the season 3 months later:
* Mugello: 8th
* Donington: 3rd
* Zandvoort: 8th
* Nurburgring GP: 5th
* Interlagos: 21st (got into split 1 for the first time)
Other drivers which mostly take their information visually, they tend to do much better and have less issue adapting.
Obviously the feel is not the same, but many drivers use it for training and find it quite enjoyable and useful. To dismiss it because you don't smell fuel and tyres or get g-loads in the corners is too simplistic.
A flight simulator without a good instructor is a great way to learn dangerous fundamental habits you'll spend many dollars in an airplane to correct. (Ask me how I know.) Some people can never fully correct those habits.
The reason why the question is interesting is because I love the notion that you can train in a less expensive context and then perform in a higher stakes one. I'm interested why some domains allow that and others do not. Flight simulators are another interesting case where mechanical skills transfer, but that's only a small part of what real world flying really is. On the other hand, by all accounts, drone racing sims are quite good for learning how to fly the real thing, since it's almost all mechanics.