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Vando
Oct 26, 2007

stoats about


Welcome to the SA iRacing thread! Where all your dreams of winning 24hr races for fun and profit can come true! :siren: 2021 Edition! :siren:

So the rest of this post is an amalgamation of the last bunch of iRacing threads (shout out to ManicJason for writing a bunch of it back in the day) and while I've meticulouslyhaphazardly gone back and updated the bits about the discount codes, what wheel to buy, recommended specs etc I got bored so a lot of the stuff about rookie series is out of date in terms of tracks, but never fear! I'll cover that in this first section which I'm calling:

Good + Cool Reasons to get into iRacing in 2021

As well as the list of new poo poo from 2019 (see old thread content below), iRacing has come a long way in 2020 due to its popularity as a venue for real life racers to get their racing done while the world is going to hell outside. Multiple series have created virtual events to mirror postponed or cancelled races, and the exposure has led to an explosion in the number of regular people using the service. This is particularly noticeable in our league races: gone are the days where we'd race once per week and struggle to top a half dozen people in the session, now we pull down 20+ car grids twice weekly and ran four squads in the Daytona 24h race this past weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnuYyvRt0mc

In addition to the increased population, there have been a number of small but impactful improvements to the service. If anyone remembers racing GT3 cars in the past and being frustrated by the repeated, slow speed looping unrecoverable spins: good news! Those are pretty much gone, you can control slides much more progressively on the latest tyre models. It's a similar story across other series as the physics model has improved, and while still not perfect (hi 'slam all pressures to min and let it rip' setups) it's actually fun to drive with unrealistic elements, rather than just incredibly annoying every time the flaws would show up.

Yes, it's still an expensive prospect, but then you're the type of nerd who is buying a wheel and pedals to race cars online, so you probably have the ability to afford it, right? It is what it is. It's not bad value if you only buy stuff you plan to use, and most of the popular series have a solid base of tracks that always get used in the rotation. If you're strapped for cash, the option remains to chain 3months-for-$5 intro offers until you're able to start expanding your paid content library, and the included free content is pretty sizeable at this point. It's always definitely worth spending that initial 5 bucks to see what's there.

:siren:Discord:siren:
https://discord.gg/g4PDRhM

Thread crew hangs out here pretty much exclusively, the old IRC channel is dead. I can't stress enough how much this is central to the community: we organise 100% of league races and team events here, and meanwhile I'll maybe remember to post in the thread at the start of a new league season. No guarantees. If you want to know what's going on, be in Discord. I try to keep it organised so it's not just another place with 8 million channels nobody gives a gently caress about that pings you every time someone starts streaming whatever garbage f2p game is flavor of the month.

So what's this "Gooncar" thing people keep talking about?

:siren: CLICK HERE to join the incredibly cool and good league :siren:

Welcome to the most fun part of iRacing, it's the Bearpope Racing League! On Sundays at around 4:30pm ET (AND NOW Fridays around 5:30pm ET) is where you'll find a band of merry idiots all racing together in what might charitably be called a "reasonably well-run and competent league of racers", which you can apply to join on the iRacing site here. We mostly race the Skip Barbercurrently race GT3s on Sundays like serious people practicing for endurance racing, but Friday features races using free/popular content so now is a good time to get started racing with goons without having to buy a bunch of shitfucker tracks you'll never use again anyway.

As always the participation requirements amount to 'can get into the server and onto the track, consciously or otherwise', but regular 'don't be a dick' rules apply. It also helps if you can run laps without wrecking on every corner, particularly if we wind up running any oval races as we run with cautions on and lots of caution laps and no racing makes OhsH flat out murder a guy. Don't be that guy. On road courses you can pretty much get away with diving off onto the green bits as much as you like without really impacting other people so go ahead and suck out loud, it's fine.

Current Saturday schedule:



Team Racing

For our sins, we race GT3s (and others) in the premiere goon simracing team, Team Bearpope. The team events in iRacing run between 3 and 24 hours with between 2 and usually 8 max drivers per team. Results vary between actually winning holy poo poo! And getting fired into space on lap 1. It's chill, it's fine. Hashtag iracing.

And not forgetting the most important part of team racing: baller as hell paints!





Notable Streamers

Sometimes you've got to just say gently caress Racing and watch someone else win/gently caress up instead. Here are some of the best/most entertaining/least likely to make you want to claw your eyes out while watching:

Jimmy Broadbent - Closest thing to a TV personality in simracing. Will he win or will he rage? Definitely faster than forums user OhsH.
Lando Norris - It's Nando Lorris!
Team Bearpope - Who the gently caress are these assholes?



==== OLD THREAD CONTENT, HERE BE DRAGONS ETC ====


What's new in 2019?

  • Day/night cycle + dynamic sky - this came out at the end of last year and is GOOD AS HECK. Finally we can run endurance races in something other than eternal daylight, plus there is a time acceleration option if you want to just run a 30 minute race at the Nordschleife and gently caress everyone up when it goes dark after 10 minutes.
  • Free content is building up - there are enough free road tracks to not get bored of the same old 3 track rotation, including the new Charlotte Roval which is, my god... actually good. There are also more than a dozen free cars available across the disciplines, with the classic MX-5 (extremely good and cool) being joined recently by the Radical SR8 and Dallara Indycar DW12.
  • Dirt racing - yes, actual dirt track racing. I'm told it's good and it was fun while I dicked around with it for a couple of days when it came out, but it's not my thing. If it is your thing: it's the best implementation of the sport in simracing, so go nuts.
  • You can race Porsches against Ferraris I guess? - I'm p sure this used to be a thing that never happened in simracing because of evil licensing issues. You can do it now. Come race GTEs with goons, we have teams and everything.
  • F1 drivers seem to want to race pretend internet cars here now - Yes, Max and Lando are leading the way this winter and appear to be Taking It Seriously to an extent. That means 10% of the 2019 F1 grid officially races against us! Is this a positive or a negative?

=============================

What is iRacing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKO5_hDc5JQ

iRacing is that game you heard about that costs a loving bomb with as much DLC as Train Simulator but with added rednecks running trucks with Trump stickers all over them who will absolutely blame you at the drop of a hat when they murder themselves into an insanely detailed laser-scanned wall at 200mph. The good news is their whining is impotent and you don't really need to race with them anyway.

Hyperbole aside, iRacing is hands-down the best place to race against actual humans online. At any given time of day you can most likely hop onto the website and fire up a race with at least a dozen other assholes to compete against, and on a good day you can even triple that number. If you're sure, that is.

There are a whole bunch of SA goons kicking around in the various official series, and just a few weeks of not being aggressively terrible will get you a slot in one of our teams for the 12 and 24 hour endurance events that run roughly every two months, where being a meatsack who can be awake at 5am Eastern without crashing is the minimum ability requirement.

Cost
The truth is that this is a subscription-based game with loads of DLC. The good news is that you can get started for $6 for a month or $15 for three months, and all of the rookie series run free cars and tracks. Extra tracks are usually $15 and cars $12 (with a couple of exceptions like the Nordschleife). Once you get out of rookies, you'll probably want to spend $12 on a car and $30 or $40 on tracks to run most of a full 12 week season. There are bulk purchase deals and occasional game credit deals to save 10-50%.

:siren: CURRENT OFFER CODES :siren:

3 month membership for $5: PR-HOTLAPS

Controls
You'll also need a steering wheel. No, it's not going to be cheap. Yes, this is a dumb expensive hobby for nerds. Best options in terms of bang-for-buck right now are probably the Logitech G920 or Thrustmaster T300RS for around $250 and $300 respectively. Alternatively you may be able to pick up an older Logitech G27 or similar used if you're looking for a bargain.

PC specs required
Any machine with 4+ gigs of RAM that can run a four year old game. There are lots of settings to make things as pretty as the above videos, but this game has been around for ten years and even with recent graphical improvements can be run on almost anything.

Rookie series
The basic rookie cars are the Mazda MX-5 on the road side and the Street Stock on ovals.



The MX-5 cycles through Lime Rock, Summit Point, Okayama, Laguna Seca, and occasionally Charlotte's road course each week. Street Stock bounces between USA International and Charlotte.

FAQ
What the hell is this Safety Rating poo poo anyway?
The license system and safety rating are what make iRacing work. Every time you are involved in an incident, you get incident points. One point for going off track, two points for spinning by yourself, and four points for crashing into another car. It is a no fault system. This means that, if you you get rear ended by someone whose cat pissed on his brake pedal, you get the same 4x that you'd get for wrecking the entire field on a race start. The system works well for a few reasons.
  • You have to drive clean to compete in higher-tier series
  • Good drivers will avoid more of the other-guy's-fault accidents than bad drivers.
  • Everyone has to deal with the same idiots at the lower levels. In fact, you'll be one of those idiots a few times. Thousands of people have gotten up to A license. It's frustrating when you have that one not-at-fault accident that kills your safety rating and ends your race on lap one, but I promise that every driver in A class has had a dozen of those moments, likely many more.
As you gain safety rating, you'll progress through the licenses from rookie, D, C, B, and A separately in oval and road racing. It's true that the most difficult cars are A class (F1 and NASCAR Sprint Cup cars,) but aiming to fly up through the licenses for the sake of progressing is a mistake. Most goons took their time progressing and settled in to one or several series along the way to A class in both road and oval. The most common series for thread posters are the Skip Barber D class road series and one of the two C class oval series (IndyCar and NASCAR trucks.) There's no real 'grind' as safety rating rises as a natural part of doing clean races so if you're racing well and getting results, your SR will rise along the way.

There are hundreds or words written about exactly how safety rating works, but the gist is that your SR will be a number from 1.0 to 4.99 with a letter. It is calculated based on your incident points per corner. D 4.0 = C 3.0 = B 2.0. Getting to 3.0 makes you eligible to promote to the next level at season's end. 4.0 will promote you immediately. 2.0 at season's end will drop you down. 1.0 will drop you immediately.

What cars/tracks are there?
There are currently 40+ cars and 70+ tracks.

Is it worth trying iRacing without a wheel?
Trying? Sure. It's a lot more difficult, I'm not going to lie to you, but Bentai often runs with us in the Gooncar oval races using a pad and isn't aggressively terrible. I'd still strongly endorse a wheel as the #1 way to make your experience with the game more fun though.

How do you see other people's paint schemes?
Install Trading Paints and run it whenever you race. That's it. Yes, everyone uses this same third party tool. It's effectively an official part of the game at this point.

How do I get out of rookies?
Drive clean until your safety rating gets to 3.0. You will instantly un-rookie-ify.

What are the most popular series?
On the road side, pretty much anything with a GT3 car in it will get solid races at most times of the day. The Skip Barber series is also a perennial favourite. On the oval side of things, any of the fixed setup NASCAR series are well attended. Pretty much every available series will have at least one race with good attendance per week, info on this timeslot can be found in the relevant series forum.

Do I need to use the clutch for X car?
Unless it's the Spec Racer Ford, you probably don't need to clutch on upshifts. Downshifts depend. Here's a list of all transmission types in iRacing

Why does it take so long to get my fast repair in the pits?
By default, the game gives you new tires and fuel every pit stop, even if it's a pit stop that gave you a brand new car. Put the following into your app.ini to make iRacing default to no pit service. You'll have to manually select tires/fuel on the rare times you actually want them:
code:
[Pit Service]
autoResetPitBox=0
2019 iRacing Thread
2017 iRacing Thread

Vando fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jan 27, 2021

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Zamujasa
Oct 27, 2010



Bread Liar
I didn't know threads had fast repairs. :haw:

Cojawfee
May 31, 2006
I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Zamujasa posted:

I didn't know threads had fast repairs. :haw:

You get 1 depending on which forum class you're in.

Bentai
Jul 8, 2004


NERF THIS!


Vando posted:

Is it worth trying iRacing without a wheel?
Trying? Sure. It's a lot more difficult, I'm not going to lie to you, but Bentai often runs with us in the Gooncar oval races using a pad and isn't aggressively terrible. I'd still strongly endorse a wheel as the #1 way to make your experience with the game more fun though.
Though I still use a controller when I’m lazy and just want to gently caress about, I have FINALLY bought and use a wheel/pedal setup.

Cojawfee
May 31, 2006
I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Bentai posted:

Though I still use a controller when I’m lazy and just want to gently caress about, I have FINALLY bought and use a wheel/pedal setup.

Doing oval races against you when you just had a controller was harrowing.

Bentai
Jul 8, 2004


NERF THIS!


You’ll be glad to know nothing has changed then. :v:

MrYenko
Jun 18, 2012

#2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

New thread title is tits.

Vando
Oct 26, 2007

stoats about

MrYenko posted:

New thread title is tits.

You best believe it:

https://clips.twitch.tv/CrazyPricklyJuiceTheTarFu

V for Vegans
Jan 30, 2009
What’s the low bar for skill in getting into iRacing? I’ve played a solid amount of GT Sport on PS4 but when I tried playing AC on my computer, I felt like I wasn’t as fast as in GT Sport. I’m not sure how similar the driving model is between AC and iRacing, and I’m sure GT sport is much closer to the arcade racer side of things where the skills transferred over wouldn’t really help except for knowing tracks that are in both games and knowing the rough concept of a racing line.

I also only have one monitor and while I’ve debated getting a track IR for this game and Flight Simulator, I’m not sure if I would still be at a disadvantage against people running ultra wide or triple monitors displays. I just want to make sure before I start dropping money on this game that I won’t just be floundering around in even the rookie class races.

njsykora
Jan 23, 2012

Robots confuse squirrels.


The low skill bar in iRacing is being able to complete clean laps without hitting anyone. If you can keep it on track, you’ll be better than a solid 20% of people, probably more.

Fellblade
Apr 28, 2009

V for Vegans posted:

What’s the low bar for skill in getting into iRacing? I’ve played a solid amount of GT Sport on PS4 but when I tried playing AC on my computer, I felt like I wasn’t as fast as in GT Sport. I’m not sure how similar the driving model is between AC and iRacing, and I’m sure GT sport is much closer to the arcade racer side of things where the skills transferred over wouldn’t really help except for knowing tracks that are in both games and knowing the rough concept of a racing line.

I also only have one monitor and while I’ve debated getting a track IR for this game and Flight Simulator, I’m not sure if I would still be at a disadvantage against people running ultra wide or triple monitors displays. I just want to make sure before I start dropping money on this game that I won’t just be floundering around in even the rookie class races.

The low bar of skill in iRating is reaaaaaaaaaaaaal low, if you can stay on the track you will be leagues ahead of most people in rookies.

On the subject of hardware, there's some top level racers who race and win with single monitors on the lowest entry FFB wheels.

Bentai
Jul 8, 2004


NERF THIS!


njsykora posted:

The low skill bar in iRacing is being able to complete clean laps without hitting anyone. If you can keep it on track, you’ll be better than a solid 20% of people, probably more.
Always relevant:

mfcrocker
Jan 31, 2004



Hot Rope Guy

njsykora posted:

The low skill bar in iRacing is being able to complete clean laps without hitting anyone. If you can keep it on track, you’ll be better than a solid 20% of people, probably more.

In some races, not dying is enough to get you the win

Cojawfee
May 31, 2006
I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius
iracing is full of terrible people who can't drive but still assume they will be the next Senna if they just dive bomb hard enough.

njsykora
Jan 23, 2012

Robots confuse squirrels.


Fellblade posted:

On the subject of hardware, there's some top level racers who race and win with single monitors on the lowest entry FFB wheels.

The first guy to go from iRacing to a real world driver job, Glenn McGee, used a G25 clamped to a tiny desk and a beaten to gently caress leopard print computer chair. A G29 clamped to a desk isn’t going to inherently lose to someone who spent $$$$ on their sick rig and direct drive wheel.

V for Vegans
Jan 30, 2009
So I have no convenient excuse for when I’m losing all my races then? That’s unfortunate. I also found in AC that the field of view was super small, like doing turn 1 at Laguna seca was just a blind turn for most of it, but I assume there’s some funky FOV adjustments you can make in this game to improve your FOV right?

Douchebag
Oct 21, 2005

Got my CSL Elite PS4 with the CS V3 pedals today. Used the recommended settings that are all over the net and holy poo poo is this a world ahead of a Thrustmaster (TMX Pro, not a higher end one). Steering is so much smoother and once I realized I had to turn down the Brakes settings from 2.0 (for POT and other wheels) to Zero for load cells because the drat brakes did NOT work worth a drat, I'm now officially loving this setup.

Probably purchasing a GT Omega Apex this week as it looks like it will slide mostly under my desk while I play and I can fold it up out of the way when I don't. The pedals on the floor feel too low considering I need to apply much more pressure that with the TMX pedals.

I will probably sell my Thrustmaster set so if there is a goon looking to get started, the TMX Pro with the T3PA pedal set I have used since last March are a fine entry path into iRacing (and other games most likely).

Bentai
Jul 8, 2004


NERF THIS!


V for Vegans posted:

So I have no convenient excuse for when I’m losing all my races then? That’s unfortunate. I also found in AC that the field of view was super small, like doing turn 1 at Laguna seca was just a blind turn for most of it, but I assume there’s some funky FOV adjustments you can make in this game to improve your FOV right?
The game has a built in calculator, feed in the diagonal size of your screen, the size of the side bezels, and how far from the screen to your head, and it will configure a proper FOV.

Fellblade
Apr 28, 2009
Be warned the FOV will feel tiny and horrible at first, but if you push through it's way better.

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.
Nice OP

Bentai posted:

Always relevant:


:vince:

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

V for Vegans posted:

So I have no convenient excuse for when I’m losing all my races then? That’s unfortunate. I also found in AC that the field of view was super small, like doing turn 1 at Laguna seca was just a blind turn for most of it, but I assume there’s some funky FOV adjustments you can make in this game to improve your FOV right?

There's lots of bad drivers on iRacing but there's also lots of good drivers in iRacing so generally the people winning the splits are pretty competent.

You can adjust your FOV as needed, but as others have mentioned there's a calculator and really you should use an FOV that matches both the size of your display and the distance you sit from it. This will create realistic perspective and make it easier to feel where objects are around you. Also the sense of speed will feel more accurate.

The problem may be that with your size of monitor and distance from screen, the ideal FOV may mean you can't see much around you and like you said, have blind corners.

Your solutions to this are:

Get a trackIR setup so you can smoothly turn your head and shift the fov around to look into corners
Get a triple screen monitor setup so you can have a much wider FOV by having a much larger screen space
Get a VR headset

Schorsch
Nov 23, 2010
Highly opinionated overview for GT3 cars in iRacing:
Audi R8 LMS
The car for the distinguished gentleman, who likes getting murdered with German precision
One of the oldest GT3 cars in iRacing, one of the hardest to drive fast but the most rewarding. Mid-engine.
Pros:
  • Very cornery, due to mid-engine layout
  • Kind to tires
  • Has most lap time potential
Cons:
  • Very(!!) cornery, due to mid-engine layout.
  • Not the greatest sounding engine
  • Has no 4-way dampers, so good look finding a good setup
  • Needs a skilled driver to extract the lap time potential

BMW M4 GT3 Prototype
So German, it hurts
The newest addition to the GT3 range, replacing the old Z4. Front-engine and it shows. Sometime a bit of a boat, but reliable during all corner stages. The better Merc than the Merc.
Pros:
  • Stable, takes curbs well
  • um...
  • oh yeah, sometimes is fastest in a straight due to weird gearing
Cons:
  • Hates its front tires (probably gets a discount at the local tire shop)
  • Boring sounding

Ferrari 488 GT3
The Margherita of the GT3 pizza range, a good entry and nobody hates it explicitly
Has a twin brother who inexplicably gets to drive the more prestigious/popular GTE races. The GT3 variant is your entry to mid-engine cars, better behaved than the R8/Lambo. Has it's own fixed series (currently, may be changed in future)
Pros:
  • Easy to drive
  • Sounds quite good
  • King on some tracks where top-speed is important
Cons:
  • Hates front tires even more than the M4
  • Not the best, but also not the worst at anything

Ford GT GT2/GT3
The car like that one guy at party (remember those?) that nobody knows or who he's with and why is he even here?
Also has a brother who gets to drive in the GTE races. The mid-engine GT3 feels like the participation trophy in school sports tournaments, but has grown from a meme car that can't do anything to a sometimes serious contender.
Pros:
  • Unmatched braking capabilities, if you like to divebomb people and keeping the car on track, this is your dream fulfilled.
  • Both sympathy and pity for you by the rest of the grid will be guaranteed
Cons:
  • Sometimes it drives really weird and unpredictable
  • Hates all of its four tires
  • not really used by anyone sane

Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
A reskinned Audi R8, taking a lot of the Audis qualities and some of the oddities
Pros:
  • Pointy, like the R8
  • Tire-friendly, like the R8
  • Sounds great, not like the R8
Cons:
  • Sometimes bouncy over curbs, like the R8 (no 4-way dampers)
  • Does not surpass the R8 in anything

McLaren MP4-12C GT3
Sometimes you need a fire-breathing car in your life
Often underappreciated, the mid-engined Macca has a unique handling style, where it's pointy during corner entry and as soon you get on the throttle it forgets the steering angle and just drives in straight line. Quite fun and doesn't try to kill you while idling in the pits, like it did in earlier times
Pros:
  • very unique handling characteristics, but fun if you can use it well
  • breathes fire out of its exhausts
Cons:
  • Most difficult to drive fast
  • very thirsty, so fuel strategy is often off by a few laps

Mercedes AMG GT3
The once popular kid who really just got left behind by circumstances
The former signature car for goon endurance events, winner of the 12h of Sebring once, but somehow can't find it's footing anymore. Engine in the front, but not much party at the back. Someone should donate the Evo spec to iRacing.
Pros:
  • bwoar.... maybe good acceleration out of slow corners
  • still the best sounding engine (think angry coffee machine with a sore throat)
Cons:
  • worse in every aspect than the M4, tires, handling, popularity

I only want to buy one car, what should I buy?
It basically comes down to: Can you handle a mid-engine car?
No -> Buy the M4 GT3 (NOT THE GT4!)
Yes -> Buy the Lambo for the most racing opportunities (Series: IMSA, VRS Sprint/Enduro, GT3 Special Events) OR buy the 488 GT3 if you want to drive an easy mid-engine car and have too much SR so you can race the fixed series

Vando
Oct 26, 2007

stoats about

Zaphod42 posted:

Your solutions to this are:

Get a trackIR setup so you can smoothly turn your head and shift the fov around to look into corners
Get a triple screen monitor setup so you can have a much wider FOV by having a much larger screen space
Get a VR headset

You can also just get a bigger single monitor, or learn to use look left/right (these work better bound to analog axes if you have them on your wheel but are otherwise ok for brief glances if you need more vision).

Theris
Oct 9, 2007

Schorsch posted:

Cons:

  • Does not surpass the R8 in anything

It surpasses it by a wide margin in the most important category: looking rad as hell.

Douchebag
Oct 21, 2005

I use a 24” monitor, and a FOV of 55. If I use the calculator it puts me at 45 which I don’t like. I prefer between 55 and 60.

Now, once you get your FOV setup, use the in game calculator for sure to start, you can adjust your settings so you can see more but retain the actual FOV you should be using based on screen size, distance from screen etc.

Do a test session, get in the car for a few seconds, get out. Replay should start for you, pause it and set the view to cockpit then hit Control-F12. This brings up a screen where you can adjust the offsets as you see fit. I adjust the first one on the top left, I think it’s X axis (I’m not home currently) and it moves me BACK in the car so I can see more, get a little view out the left window etc but it retains the actual calculated FOV.

If I use just the recommended I can’t see anything but maybe a small bit of dashboard. Moving back helps. I also tend to adjust the driver height for each car as in some I prefer to sit higher than default. Once you’re done adjusting the axis you can click the Save Car on the bottom and it will save those settings for that car until you adjust them again.

Banzai 3
May 8, 2007
I'm only here for the weekly 24 bitchfest.
Pillbug

Schorsch posted:

BMW M4 GT3 Prototype
So German, it hurts
The newest addition to the GT3 range, replacing the old Z4. Front-engine and it shows. Sometime a bit of a boat, but reliable during all corner stages. The better Merc than the Merc.
Pros:
  • Stable, takes curbs well
  • um...
  • oh yeah, sometimes is fastest in a straight due to weird gearing
Cons:
  • Hates its front tires (probably gets a discount at the local tire shop)
  • Boring sounding

You forgot to add that it is the Bearpope 24 hour winning car and is incredibly stable and it could be worse on tires!

Diplomat
Dec 14, 2009


Vando posted:

You best believe it:

Congrats ya'll, I managed 47th in my split :negative:

algebra testes
Mar 5, 2011


Lipstick Apathy
I think a goon summed it well by saying a fanatec wheel may not make me faster but makes me feel cool as hell so that's enough.

It may be the case that they don't make a good racer faster but as a crap one, I can guarantee that a better wheel makes you crash less and ergo, faster in the long run.

carticket
Jun 28, 2005

white and gold.

Join BearPope for enduros in 2021 and if current trends hold you are guaranteed to get a $5 credit for the servers taking a dump.

E: a crap wheel is good enough to become a real race car driver, but a good wheel makes a crap driver feel like a real racer. I found it way easier to catch slides with the CSL elite. If I were a better driver, I probably wouldn't need to catch slides.

carticket fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Jan 28, 2021

Vando
Oct 26, 2007

stoats about
I think it's important to stress that the $5 thing was for annoying pre-race setup problems, the race itself went off fine. You're not going to be dumped out of 24 hour events and thrown pennies for your trouble or anything (unlike rfactor :v:)

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

I moved from a G29 to a CSL Elite v1.1 with P1 wheel (and CSL load cell pedals) and there's no question that I can provide more precise input. I'm also very new though so I'm improving fast enough it can make it hard to tell.

The brake probably made the most difference but putting everything on the GT Omega wheelstand maybe made the biggest difference of all as I'm now able to apply inputs without having to subconsciously worry about how I'm pressing the pedals and whether they're going to shift etc.

Douchebag
Oct 21, 2005

VelociBacon posted:

I moved from a G29 to a CSL Elite v1.1 with P1 wheel (and CSL load cell pedals) and there's no question that I can provide more precise input. I'm also very new though so I'm improving fast enough it can make it hard to tell.

The brake probably made the most difference but putting everything on the GT Omega wheelstand maybe made the biggest difference of all as I'm now able to apply inputs without having to subconsciously worry about how I'm pressing the pedals and whether they're going to shift etc.

Yeah, I'm on a desk chair with non-locking casters on a rug with my CSV3 pedals on the floor against a 2x4 thats resting against the wall with the pedal base attached to a desk. The GT Omega Apex is probably getting ordered by tomorrow at the latest and maybe a new chair with locking casters.

I did some testing in the Mazda to see how having better pedals felt, using the Charlotte Roval and I felt much more confident going into the chicanes than I did before so that there is exactly what I was looking for. Also doing some fixed Trucks at Milwaukee I'm much much more confident using a lower brake bias and braking and turning at the same time than I was before, I'm getting less "stabby" on the brake pedal which is another good thing.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Fellblade posted:

On the subject of hardware, there's some top level racers who race and win with single monitors on the lowest entry FFB wheels.

Bourgeois frivolities!

Jimmy knows all you need is heart and £17.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFt9Fp_HJTY

V for Vegans
Jan 30, 2009
Booted up the game for the first time last night. Spent a good amount of time adjusting my visual settings and then did a bunch of laps around Oran park in the Mazda since that was the track I saw associated with the rookie race and I wanted to practice with the car/ track combo and oh my goodness. I kept doing laps until I’d crash, be like ok I’m done for the night, and then watch the replay of my last few laps and decide a few more laps wouldn’t hurt. This process repeated several times and now I’m worried about my free time and money. The Mazda was wicked fun to drive, and hopefully my first races aren’t full of too much carnage and angry drivers.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Your first races will probably end on the first corner when everyone immediately crashes. Just jump in - your rating doesn't matter yet.

njsykora
Jan 23, 2012

Robots confuse squirrels.


Welcome to iRacing, please deposit your wallet in the burning pile of other wallets by the door. Also yeah, Just Race is the advice, especially in the MX-5. You can't get demoted from rookies, if your race does end on the first corner you only need to wait another 15-20 minutes for the next race and the sooner you get comfortable being around other cars the better you'll be in the long run.

Panic! At The Tesco
Aug 19, 2005

FART


njsykora posted:

Welcome to iRacing, please deposit your wallet in the burning pile of other wallets by the door. Also yeah, Just Race is the advice, especially in the MX-5. You can't get demoted from rookies, if your race does end on the first corner you only need to wait another 15-20 minutes for the next race and the sooner you get comfortable being around other cars the better you'll be in the long run.

To add to this: Ignore anyone who tells you to start from the back of the grid or the pitlane to get out of rookies. Qualify your best and then race. You can still be sensible and keep your distance from erratic looking drivers or situations that look like they might turn into a big wreck. But if you do the often suggested "start from pits" strategy you won't learn what it's like to actually be racing against people and you'll just have an even harder time once you start in the D class races.

V for Vegans
Jan 30, 2009

Panic! At The Tesco posted:

To add to this: Ignore anyone who tells you to start from the back of the grid or the pitlane to get out of rookies. Qualify your best and then race. You can still be sensible and keep your distance from erratic looking drivers or situations that look like they might turn into a big wreck. But if you do the often suggested "start from pits" strategy you won't learn what it's like to actually be racing against people and you'll just have an even harder time once you start in the D class races.

Yeah, all those videos about “how to get out of rookies fast” seem like they miss the point of sim racing. You do it to get better, not to just have the highest number next to your name. I mostly just wanted to get a feel for the car and learn the track so that I wouldn’t be the one responsible for the lap one pile up so I don’t get yelled at online.

Panic! At The Tesco
Aug 19, 2005

FART


V for Vegans posted:

Yeah, all those videos about “how to get out of rookies fast” seem like they miss the point of sim racing. You do it to get better, not to just have the highest number next to your name. I mostly just wanted to get a feel for the car and learn the track so that I wouldn’t be the one responsible for the lap one pile up so I don’t get yelled at online.

Yeah you're doing it right. Practice solo or in open practice sessions until you can do a full race length without crashing and you'll do fine. Just wait for that nervous feeling when you're waiting on the grid though! No other game makes me feel like that and it's part of why iRacing is so great.

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Nybble
Jun 28, 2008

praise chuck, raise heck
And don't feel too bad the first time you're the one that causes the mega-crash. It happens.

Even if you take a few hits, getting repaired and finishing races can help smooth out your Safety Rating, especially if just racing alone. There's also AI races, if you want to get a feel for what it's like before getting into the fray with others.

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