There is a big sale on steam that ends on the 5th. Lots of good deals on games. If you want to get your feet wet in the driving sim world on a pc Assetto Corsa is 90 percent off for the Premium addition. Less than $10 for everything!!!
This is a great deal and yes it is also a shameless plug as the Assetto Corsa group here on GRM. We are always looking for people to join us. And we keep a server up and running 24/7 for general practice and having fun. We have lots of fun with the key being we don't take it to serious. Case in point currently we are testing souped up golf carts on a version of Spa that looks like it came from Shrek's candy land. Silly? Yes!!! Fun? Absolutely!!!
link to AC thread here on GRM
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/simulation-central/assetto-corsa-on-pc/174453/page1/
Thanks for this! I'll join y'all soon.
I'll add this. Another cheap way to get Iracing every year is to make an email and sign up for the $50 a year membership. When that expires, do it again. Just don't buy any addition cars.
I got it, but my satellite Internet is so laggy and slow, that I doubt I can do much online. Any recommendations for a very basic, very cheap steering wheel thingie that is good enough to be fun?
We are VERY serious about our racing ;-) What we have up on the server at the moment.
Photos from Prodarwin
I'm not sure how you end up facing backward before the start, but it happened to me:
That's not a carousel, this is a carousel
Dean shoots for the stars:
Ok So we do actually do some "real" racing. We have been running short sprint races usually 3-5 laps two races in a car with the 2nd race being a reverse grid and then we move to another car. We usually have 3-5 different but similar cars set up in the server so things move along at a nice pace with no server resets between races.
The sprint race format is so that if you have an off or there is contact you don't end up driving around for 20 min by yourself. The point is to have fun and race each other not just do laps for a finishing position.
Here are some photos (posted by Aircooled) from our racing back on May 26th. The fiat 500's were great fun that promoted very close racing.
Evidence of grass contact:
Close racing. This is the second lap:
Also there is no experience needed. Beginners are not only welcome but encouraged to join in. People are more than willing to help beginners just getting started in sim racing. We have all levels of skill at the moment from those that have competed in the Logitec PC2 series finals to people just getting started in sim racing and this is their first time ever online racing. The point is to have fun.
We do have one "rule" There are some that have younger children around and although I think most wear headsets we try and keep the language family-friendly.
I'm in. I'll join you blokes soon :)
In reply to AAZCD (Forum Supporter) :
I have a Logitech Momo wheel that is 15? Years older that is ok. The peddles are the week point but mods to these things are very common.
I am currently using a G27. This is a good mid rang wheel that should be getting cheeper as we get further away from the PS3.
My g29 pretty decent in AC and Iracing. Although in Iracing you can tell the game is geared toward the big money "Fanatics" (Fanatec)
I just wanted to throw in the point that we do not only do newer cars, there are HUGE amount of older / classic cars available, and we have played with some of those. There are also some goofy cars. The track selection is insane, and we have been recently trying to concentrate on local US tracks that people might have driven (e.g. Mid Ohio, Lime Rock, VIR, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Bridgehampton etc). Here are some shots of those, and a video of some recent highlights to show some racing (track shown in video is Autumn Ring, which is an old GranTourismo track)
If anyone has any race ideas / concepts they would like us to try, let us know. (We have already done 454 vs Jag V12... poorly.... 
)
The Mini's vs Fairlanes where pretty consistently entertaining:
And yes, sometimes, just goofy:
Some highlights (and low lights, some of use are still learning), full race starts at 1:15
And the Tangerine Torpedo is in the house!!!!
Vajingo said:
My g29 pretty decent in AC and Iracing. Although in Iracing you can tell the game is geared toward the big money "Fanatics" (Fanatec)
I have a G29 as well but it is mounted up on the play seat that I was using for the PS4 and I have been to lazy to unmount it and move it over to my PC. What I really should do is move the server upstairs to where I have the Playseat and use that setup for PC gaming. I like the G29 better as it has more options for preset buttons on the wheel for things like bias adjustment, Traction control, and all the other things you can set up. With the current Assetto Corsa racing the races are short enough so that stuff really does not matter.
In reply to dean1484 :
And this is just AC right? Not the newest AC competizionionionione?
Yes, this is the original AC.
Competizionoroni currently only has GT3 and GT4 cars. I have not heard if it is or will every be "modable", but the first one certainly is.
I'm going to have to start hunting for a decent beginner wheel for fun.
In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
There should be plenty now that the contagion is winding down and the "sheeple" have found out that Iracing is "hard".
That reminds that I need to start playing it
AAZCD (Forum Supporter) said:
I got it, but my satellite Internet is so laggy and slow, that I doubt I can do much online. Any recommendations for a very basic, very cheap steering wheel thingie that is good enough to be fun?
Most of the ones I see on Amazon cost more than the leather covered Momo wheel I have on my real car. I still don't get that.
dean1484 said:
And the Tangerine Torpedo is in the house!!!!
Yes, there is a story behind this. Yes, I was driving a Tangerine-colored, Lambo. No I did not hit anyone. Yes, the whole field wrecked except me. I wear the badge with pride! 
@ Aircooled
I never realized that the other busses had "special" liverys as well. That is great!!! Oh and I dare you to make an Amy livery. 
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
AAZCD (Forum Supporter) said:
I got it, but my satellite Internet is so laggy and slow, that I doubt I can do much online. Any recommendations for a very basic, very cheap steering wheel thingie that is good enough to be fun?
Most of the ones I see on Amazon cost more than the leather covered Momo wheel I have on my real car. I still don't get that.
I just bought a sub-$100 one. I was hoping to find a good used Logitech, but prices were mostly over $200. Here's what I got for $70: Trustmaster Red Legend Edition.
I have no expectation of realism or a car-like feel, but it should be good enough to get a car around the track for some fun. It's a toy. If I have fun with it and the grandkids like it, I'll give it to them and upgrade to a better set-up in a few months.
Oh good that sale is on again! What was the trick if you already have AC installed but want to pick up the sale package? You have to uninstall the version you have but move all the downloaded content somewhere else, then move the cars, tracks, and apps back after the sale version is downloaded?
Now that summer has come to the Midwest I am spending much less time inside on a computer, but would be nice to have this package all set up. At that price it is a no brainer.
kingbeann said:
Oh good that sale is on again! What was the trick if you already have AC installed but want to pick up the sale package? You have to uninstall the version you have but move all the downloaded content somewhere else, then move the cars, tracks, and apps back after the sale version is downloaded?
A few in our group are in the same situation. It won't let you buy the full version if you already bought the basic version. You apparently need(?) to delete the basic from your account first ( https://www.pcworld.com/article/3012199/steam-makes-it-easier-to-permanently-remove-games-from-your-account-heres-how.html ). I am not sure if this has anything to to with having a physical install, or just in your account.
This worked for one, and did not for another. Regarding content, yes, you can just copy your car and track folders, then copy them back once you have the new installation (AC is very flexible that way). BTW we have a lot of info on setup in the first few posts in the AC thread in the Sim Central section. There are also links to the cars / tracks we have used.
I just got the game but will have to work on the other gear.
aircooled said:
kingbeann said:
Oh good that sale is on again! What was the trick if you already have AC installed but want to pick up the sale package? You have to uninstall the version you have but move all the downloaded content somewhere else, then move the cars, tracks, and apps back after the sale version is downloaded?
A few in our group are in the same situation. It won't let you buy the full version if you already bought the basic version. You apparently need(?) to delete the basic from your account first ( https://www.pcworld.com/article/3012199/steam-makes-it-easier-to-permanently-remove-games-from-your-account-heres-how.html ). I am not sure if this has anything to to with having a physical install, or just in your account.
This worked for one, and did not for another. Regarding content, yes, you can just copy your car and track folders, then copy them back once you have the new installation (AC is very flexible that way). BTW we have a lot of info on setup in the first few posts in the AC thread in the Sim Central section. There are also links to the cars / tracks we have used.
I tried to gift it to Sauce and its being very problematic.
Right now all the DLC is $12, so the max you will save is $4 for what that's worth. If you already have any of the DLC packs I'd probably just upgrade to avoid the potential headaches.
Aw, I just paid "full price" ($20) last week, if only I had waited until this week. Of course, I only got it so I could get some laps in at NCM before SCCA TT nats, and if I waited until now to buy it I'd have known that I would end up bailing on TT nats and not need it at all. It is nice to have access to some tracks and cars I might actually drive in real life though. So I don't regret it even if it won't be overly useful in the immediate future.
