iRacing revisited

I have been skeptical and had been using rFactor of late, and GTR2 before that... A lot of people gushed about iRacing on here - and some of my e-racing friends switched, leaving me in a smaller field at nasa. With the new pricing model I figured $36 for 90 days was low enough to try it.

My initial observations:

• The track mapping is indeed excellent
• It has a good physics model
• The rookie Solstice sucks
• It is lacking in head physics, or 'look-to-apex' emulation and so it has a bit of an "unlearning" curve if you are used to other racing sims. It does not support TrackIR either so you basically have to adapt to driving like you have no neck. Its odd but I've got used to it.
• It inexplicably has no cockpit telemetry or split time/segment display. This one is inexcusable.
• The online code is pretty good - my ping times were rock solid with no stuttering and I've only had one error related to driving by a crash and getting a collision detected even though I didn't hit them.
• The other racers are friendly and helpful. Since I am just getting up to speed its nice not to have everyone bitching for noob manuvers in practice.

So, basically... its a little bit behind the curve in features and "drivability" compared to other sims I've used but it makes up for it in quality of what is there, providing good solid tracks that are pretty damn close to the real thing and enough people that I can always (so far) find a field.

I don't have enough seat time to praise/complain about scoring or promotion yet but so far, so good. Anyone else out there actively racing as a rookie in a Solstice?

It's a cool concept but it's still a pricey game to play with the lack of things you get in the game for the initial price as compared to a Forza or Gran Turismo type game even GTR2 or GT Legends.

And it still isn't yours and you can't play by yourself to learn. You have to connect to iRacing to play. So when the internet is down you're stuck. That's my biggest gripe.

it does have relative timing, and I believe it's got split times, you just have to locate the right key. I think the various black boxes are F1-F3 on the keyboard, F3 being the relative times (how far behind you are from the next person on the road, and how far ahead of the guy behind you are). very useful in practice so you can see how much you're gaining or loosing to the fast guys if you happen to come out of the pits behind or ahead of them. I don't get what you mean about cockpit telemetry, though, as some cars (GT1 Corvette and the Dallara Indy car so far) have some form of onboard telemetry like oil pressure/temp, engine temps, I think tire pressure, etc. none of the entry-level stuff has onboard telemetry, but then again a Spec Racer Ford wouldn't have telemetry in real life either, nor would a Legends or a Solstice Cup car or a Formula Skip Barber

Slyp_Dawg wrote: I don't get what you mean about cockpit telemetry

In GTR2 and rFactor I can use data acquisition to record everything from speed, yaw, 3 axis Gs, damper speeds... brake pressure, anything - you name it. I can play it back in MoTec i2 Pro to see when/where I am leaving something on the table.

Slyp_Dawg wrote: but then again a Spec Racer Ford wouldn't have telemetry in real life either, nor would a Legends or a Solstice Cup car or a Formula Skip Barber

Any car you put a traqmate in has what I'm looking for.

f3 does split times. I pretty much leave that as my default. Be sure to read the forums as I've found a lot of good tips there for both driving and using the game. While the road racers are helpful, you'll find the oval trackers are an intolerant bunch. Just ignore their whining. I hate the Solstice but I do very well in the SRF. I've since obtained the Skippy and Jetta TDI as well as 4 additional tracks and haven't paid for any of them thanks to promotions and credits earned. I find I have plenty of content to keep me busy. Until you are worried about winning championships having all the tracks for any given series means little. You can still run on whatever tracks you do have.

Advice given, and that I pass along as most important, is get as many laps as possible. Use those practice sessions frequently (left of the session screen) as crashing or going off doesn't hurt your safety rating. Practice your standing starts also as I gain several positions in most races simply because many drivers don't know how to launch properly. If I recall with the Solstice you just hold it around 5500(?) and drop the clutch. Bouncing it off the rev limiter doesn't work the best. The SRF is flat against the limiter but when you drop the hammer it takes some finesse and a quick gear change for an optimum launch.

I grumbled quite a bit about iRacing during my first 3 months with it, but a year later I can't imagine playing anything else.

Cool! I was able to map the Fx keys to up/down arrows on my wheel so I can scroll thru them as I drive. I also found that while there is no DAQ or real telemetry there is some software that a lunatic with a lot of spare time created to get some data - TiRES, iSpeed and iDashboard... I'll play with those tonight.

I'm not grumbling... I am actually enjoying it quite a bit. For all that it lacks in sophistication it does the basics really well. Technology-wise they are full of E36 M3 when they say its the best sim but the physics are good and network play is pretty great anyway. Who needs rain and a head that turns? ;)

iRacing is constantly adding improvements, so you may see differing weather conditions in the future among other things. I like the new dust clouds and the residue from other's skid marks we got with the last upgrade.

I just signed up for a 3 month trial. They're doing a 3-for-1 promotion so you get 90 days for $14 right now.

http://www.iracing.com/promotions/buy-one-get-two-free/

If you find this useful, please put my email in the "referred by" box when signing up! matt shift-2 demicco.net

It took a good hour of practicing till I was able to make a clean lap at speed on my home course (Summit). After 4 or 5 hours I was able to make constant laps without crashing most of the time. I'm still 4-5 seconds a lap off the pace of the fastest cars I've practiced with though. There is a bit of a learning curve - getting used to the car, the physics, the view. I find myself constantly trying to look ahead further and deeper into the monitor and maybe that's causing my eyes to focus wrong but I find after a couple hours I'm not seeing clearly anymore.

I have participated in just 1 race so far. On the first lap, another car turned into me (I was on the inside) and damaged my suspension. After a few more laps of not being able to control my car and racking up penalties for 2 wheels off, I retired.

Armitage: couple of things...

You know you can reset your car during a race, right? It puts you way down in the field (sometimes a lap), but I've found that if you stick with it, you may actually finish decently. Especially in rookie races, where there is a lot of attrition. Another point about that is it will help salvage your SR. If you drop out after a wreck the SR takes a bigger hit.

Somewhere under the graphics settings you can alter the depth of view from the cockpit, this may help with looking down the track. Try a couple of different settings and see what you think. I've also changed the distance of the monitor from where I sit and that also has helped.

Are you running the no-stick Solstice or the witchy twitchy SRF? Two very different driving styles between them. I think the Solstice, as much as I loathed it, teaches smooth driving which is valuable as you get faster. Aside from staying off the glass...err, grass, the other tidbit I'll toss out there is don't treat the throttle as an on/off switch. Holding just a little throttle in the turns, particularly in the SRF, makes for more control.

I'm no genius but if I can provide any online help let me know. D wi ght V ar n es is my iRacing name.

I joined this Christmas eve. I have not run any races yet just testing and practice. So far it has been fun but difficult. I am still about a half second off the pace on the ovals and I can just keep the Solstice on the track without geting black flagged but I am determined to keep at it.

Keith_Goodrich wrote: I joined this Christmas eve. I have not run any races yet just testing and practice. So far it has been fun but difficult. I am still about a half second off the pace on the ovals and I can just keep the Solstice on the track without geting black flagged but I am determined to keep at it.

Keep at it! I signed up over Thanksgiving and had a few top 5 finishes in a Solstice but I really, really hated driving it. I got my SR over 3.0 and started practicing in an SRF (great car for all of you who are used to a racecar in real life).

Tonight I got my first win, in an SRF at Summit Point. It took me a lot of practice and 26 starts. I think the new bottle of Scotch was the tipping point... but practice helps.

Can you modify the cars or anything like that? the suspension and such? I used to play a game called motorcity online, that was made by EA, that is now defunct. In it I could change the engine computer, the suspension and other aspects of the car.

Andrew

I ran my first race tonight. Legend cars at South Boston Speedway. Finished second to last six laps down but I only had one incedent so my safety rating went up. Now I need to practice with the solstice and get on the road course.

digdug18 wrote: Can you modify the cars or anything like that? the suspension and such? I used to play a game called motorcity online, that was made by EA, that is now defunct. In it I could change the engine computer, the suspension and other aspects of the car. Andrew

Yes but not as a rookie. The 1st car you get is a spec pontiac Solstice that you cannot touch. Once you get past your 1st license bump you can drive a Spec Racer Ford that has tunable suspension. After that, depending on the car they all require some setup but, I haven't got my license high enough to drive anything but the crappy Solstice or the SRF (which rocks).

Here's a question...in my 'series' list there used to be Rookie Solstice and a plain old Solstice. I own both, but I no longer see a place to run the advanced Solstice. Was it replaced by the SRF? Not that I really care, just wondering why I have a car that has no series.

ddavidv wrote: Here's a question...in my 'series' list there used to be Rookie Solstice and a plain old Solstice. I own both, but I no longer see a place to run the advanced Solstice. Was it replaced by the SRF? Not that I really care, just wondering why I have a car that has no series.

I noticed that as well - It appears as if that is the case according to the forum

I joined after the SRF was introduced, but it's my understanding that it replaced the Advanced Solstice as the Advanced Rookie car.

ddavidv wrote: Armitage: couple of things... You know you can reset your car during a race, right? It puts you way down in the field (sometimes a lap), but I've found that if you stick with it, you may actually finish decently. Especially in rookie races, where there is a lot of attrition. Another point about that is it will help salvage your SR. If you drop out after a wreck the SR takes a bigger hit.

If your car is damaged, even after towing back around track, you won't be able to make any good laps at speed without causing more incidents and becoming a moving roadblock as was the case in my first race so I had to retire. I've since run a bunch more races and I've found if I bother to qualify, running at the front of the pack with other cars that have a clue makes for much better racing than starting at the back and fighting through all the riff-raff that spin out in turn 1 and might take you with them. Using that strategy I've got my SR up to 3.69 in the couple days I've been practicing and had a few good close races too so I'm enjoying it a lot more now. Am coming to grips with the braking at last. Throttle I didn't have so much trouble with, they seem to pretty accurate and coming from a FR car anyway, throttle modulation and steering seems pretty accurate. I've been using the "Rookie Solstice" and racing with manual 5 speed without clutch assist.

My username is Matthew Demicco -- we should start a GRM league ;)

any good wheel recomendations, or still the Driving Force GT?

skrzastek wrote: any good wheel recomendations, or still the Driving Force GT?

I went with the G27. Not happy with the brake pedal, but everything else is quite good.

Interesting note for anyone following along - The MX5 Cup car (or whatever they're calling it these days) is now available for free to all. It's far, far more fun than the Slowstice, and in my limited experience, very much like the real thing. (Skippy MX5s at LRP vs. iRacing MX5 at LRP).