iRacing Updated, Ford GT and Ferrari 488 and Myrtle Beach Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

iRacing have released the new 2017 Ford GT and Ferrari 488 GTE to the online racing service, plus the Myrtle Beach short oval and a major new season build update too!


CHANGE LOG:
Dynamic Track

• Fixed a bug that allowed an exploit of joining an event during a lone qualifying session and not inheriting the track state from a prior session. This was especially noticeable in a dirt hosted session with a long practice session before qualifying.
• The rate of conduction and convection of heat from the track has been decreased, which will result in higher track temperatures and quicker buildup of heat due to the running of cars on track.

Tires

• The temperature effects from locking up a wheel have been improved. Now the temperature is kept separately for the contact patch and the entire tire surface, so lockup heats up the contact area much faster which reduces grip. Also, the temperature drops rapidly upon releasing the brake and allowing wheel rotation. This keeps the tire from becoming too “greasy” after a lockup. Both effects deal much more realistically with tire hot spots on the surface of the tire.

Rendering

• The Simulation can now render out cubemaps dynamically to improve reflections on cars. There is a new UI element in the Graphics and Replay sections of the Options menu labeled “Dynamic Cubemaps”. This controls how many cubemaps will be rendered per frame. By default this option is set to 0 since it can have a large impact on performance.

Shadows

• Support for shadow volumes has been removed from all 3D objects and the rendering engine in favor of shadow maps. This reduces the in-memory and on-disk size of 3D objects, especially cars.
• Portions of very large trackside objects near the racing line, such as portions of the terrain, can now receive static shadow maps as they did previously in the DX9 version of the Simulator.
• Night shadows have been adjusted.
• Three new night shadow map filters have been added (pcf4p, pcf8p, pcf16p in order of increasing performance cost/visuals). Enabled the filter through the dropdown for the UI.

Dirt

• The mean starting track state (default usage percentage) for dirt race sessions has been increased.

Replay Render Modes

• A new system for viewing Replays has been added!

– – You can enable Replay Render Modes from the Replay Options tab.
– – When enabled, a list of Replay Render Modes is visible above the replay controls when you bring up the timeline (click the wrench and hammer button).
– – – These Replay Render Modes are for Replays only and change the way the Sim is being rendered.
– – Use these to create cool videos to share with the iRacing.com community!

Weather

• Fixed a bug that could cause the weather as displayed in a replay loaded from disk to be different than the weather as it appeared while in the session.

Virtual Reality

• The “UIScreenDistance” and “UIScreenSize” settings have been removed from the “Rift” and “OpenVR” sections of the RendererDX11.ini file. These settings are now controlled by the screens themselves to support curved UI surfaces in browser mode and other future enhancements.

CARS:
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

• Season setups have been updated.

Dallara DW12

• Season setups have been updated.

Dirt Late Model

• (ALL) – Additional rear gear ratio options have been added.
• (ALL) – Improved front suspension kinematic model.
• (ALL) – Shock curves have been updated.
• (ALL) – Clutch definition updated.
• (ALL) – Adjusted aero balance.
• (ALL) – Adjusted torque curves.
• (ALL) – Additional limitations placed on garage setup ranges.
• (ALL) – Updated opponent car definitions.
• (ALL) – Season setups have been updated.

Dirt Sprint Car

• (ALL) – Opponent cars have been updated to get the right-front tire in contact with the track surface and reduce occurrence of corner entry glitching.
• (305) – Top wing fore/aft control is now adjustable for fixed setup series.

Dirt Street Stock

• Season setups have been updated.

Ferrari 488 GTE

• NEW CAR!

– – The Ferrari 488 GTE joins the iRacing.com roster of vehicles!
– – With more than 100 wins – including victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans – to its credit, the Ferrari 458 GTE was the proverbial tough act to follow. But the Ferrari 488 GTE was more than equal to the task, securing the 2016 World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers in its debut season with victories at Silverstone, Spa and the Nürburgring, as well as the 19th running of Petit Le Mans.

Ford GT – 2017

• NEW CAR!

– – The Ford GT 2017 joins the iRacing.com roster of vehicles!
– – Although it was always intended to take its place among the world’s most desirable ultra-high performance sports cars, make no mistake that the third generation Ford GT was conceived, designed and built with one priority in mind: win the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the 50th anniversary of Ford’s fabled victory at le Sarthe in 1966. The result is a masterpiece in design, echoing the iconic shape of the Ford GT that Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon piloted to victory in the “ronde infernal” while taking every possible advantage of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile’s regulations to create another Le Mans winner.

HPD ARX-01c

• At Le Mans track configs, selection of the low Down Force aero package is now mandated and additional reductions in Down Force and drag are applied. A note to this effect has also been included in the Garage. As a result, the unmodified Low Downforce package is available again for suitable tracks outside of LeMans.

Indycar Dallara circa 2011

• Season setups have been updated.

Kia Optima

• This car may now change tires and add fuel during fixed setup races.

Legends Ford ’34 Coupe

• Season setups have been updated.

Mazda MX-5 Cup circa 2015

• Season setups have been updated.

McLaren MP4-30

• Season setups have been updated.

Modified – SK

• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Camping World Chevrolet Silverado

• External body damage should now be displayed properly.
• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Ride height limit has been increased by 0.5″.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Camping World Toyota Tundra

• External body damage should now be displayed properly.
• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Ride height limit has been increased by 0.5″.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR K&N Pro Chevrolet Impala

• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Tire and wheel convection coefficients increased.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Chevrolet SS

• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Ford Fusion

• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Toyota Camry

• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Nationwide Chevrolet Impala circa 2011

• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Tire and wheel convection coefficients increased.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevrolet Impala COT circa 2013

• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Tire and wheel convection coefficients increased.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado circa 2013

• Tuned tire compound for increased tire wear.
• Tire and wheel convection coefficients increased.
• Ride height limit has been increased by 0.5″.
• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Whelen Tour Modified

• Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR XFINITY Chevrolet Camaro

• This vehicle has been brought up to 2017 specs including:

– – Suspension pivots have been adjusted.
– – Engine power has have been updated.
– – Aerodynamics have been updated.
– – Tire compound has been tuned for increased wear.
– – Various garage ranges have been adjusted.
– Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR XFINITY Ford Mustang

• This vehicle has been brought up to 2017 specs including:

– – Suspension pivots have been adjusted.
– – Engine power has have been updated.
– – Aerodynamics have been updated.
– – Tire compound has been tuned for increased wear.
– – Various garage ranges have been adjusted.
– Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR XFINITY Toyota Camry

• This vehicle has been brought up to 2017 specs including:

– – Suspension pivots have been adjusted.
– – Engine power has have been updated.
– – Aerodynamics have been updated.
– – Tire compound has been tuned for increased wear.
– – Various garage ranges have been adjusted.
– Season setups have been updated.

Sprint Car

• Season setups have been updated.

Street Stock

• Season setups have been updated.

Super Late Model

• Season setups have been updated.

VW Jetta TDI Cup

• This car may now change tires and add fuel during fixed setup races.

TRACKS:
Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans

• Fixed an issue where the digital time display numbers were backwards.

Circuit of the Americas

• Some 1x zones have been slightly relaxed, especially the red paint areas entering and exiting a curb.

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

• Some 1x zones have been slightly relaxed, especially in areas entering and exiting curbing.

Myrtle Beach Speedway

• NEW TRACK!

– – The Myrtle Beach Speedway has been added to the digital landscape of iRacing.com!
– – Since opening in 1958 as the Rambi Raceway dirt track through its transition to pavement in 1974 to today, Myrtle Beach Speedway has not only been the scene of great weekly action but a springboard for stock car racing royalty. Four generations of Pettys (Lee, Richard, Kyle and Adam), three generations of Earnhardts (Ralph, Dale, and Dale Jr. and Kelly) cut their teeth at the South Carolina track where the list of winners includes the likes of Buck Baker, Dick Hutcherson, David Pearson and Ned Jarrett who earned his first victory in what is now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup here in 1959.

Volusia Speedway Park

• Billboards have been updated.
• Fixed some ambient occlusion texture maps.

iRacing.com is a PC racing simulation that hosts large scale online multiplayer racing events.

Check out the iRacing.com sub forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussions regarding the simulation.


Do you like the new build update? What do you think of the deal to bring the Ford and Ferrari to the sim? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[burrito]

The launch control is pretty cool. It probably isn't as fast as just flooring it but still feels very smooth for an assist.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

just done one of the week13 thingys at lemans: 59 on grid, 47 ferrari, a dozen ford.

 

[Christian Moreau]

just done one of the week13 thingys at lemans: 59 on grid, 47 ferrari, a dozen ford.

Lol, the Ford hate is on. Oh well, my team is going to be part of the minority on Saturday.

 

[leseb64]

The Ford is better!! poor Ferrari lol serious sound of moped...It is glued to the road like a train...
Ferrari is nice for noob drivers

 

[Dave_6]

Absolutely loving both cars! They nailed the sounds too.

Edit: Now they need to bring in the C7R, a modern P2 and the RSR with it's new exhaust:

 

[Daniel Monteiro]

Thanks @Timmy UK ! However, I got a bag of mixed feelings suddenly...

After driving some races, I came to realize that no matter what speed you're carrying, if you slam the brakes and keep them on so that you'd lock the wheels, it is - somehow - possible to still turn in quite significantly!

I hopped in AC just to confirm that the Mazda there plows forward when the front tires lock up, and what I remembered was confirmed as they did so indeed.

Hopeing it was just some Mazda issue I went to test it with other cars, similar to AC and AMS; the same happens with the SuperV8. In AMS it will just plow straight on for ages with the front tires locked up, but in iRacing you can get the car to yaw almost to 90 degrees to the direction of travel, even when the brakes are fully on...

I have never driven a racecar in real life, but with no assists of any kind (and having seen lock-ups in real life races many a time), how could this iRacing behaviour be possible?

I know these are all just games, I didn't think my expectations are too high, I was at least hoping it'd feel as sharp as AC and AMS but it doesn't.

Does anyone else also notice this or am I going paranoid here?

Not bad for a rookie eh?

I've mostly just been going about my business trying to get my safety rating up to 4.0 since I'm competing in the 24 Hours of the Le Mans this weekend. Unfortunately, some of the drivers in the rookie and D class have very suspect driving standards and unfortunately I've been a little hampered in my efforts. Oh well, only 0.5 SR to go before I qualify.

I was loving Lime Rock and Charlotte, but really no the biggest fan of Okayama and it shows in my results on that track. Regardless, I'm having lots of fun getting to grips with things and I'm already starting to feel right at home.

In related news, I had a test drive with the Ford GT at Le Mans yesterday, and oh boy is it ever fun to drive. Tons of grip, and handles the Porsche Curves like a dream. Braking is a little tricky, especially if you want to use the maximum of the braking performance, lots of modulation required to stop lock-ups. Should be good to go for Saturday!

Did you manage to get yourself to C license? Or did you participate in the "French Connection" Le Mans?

 

[Timmy UK]

Your welcome Daniel.

Mmm, this braking thing sounds fun..
Let's just check; is the 'braking assist' checked in the options thing?
Uncheck it.
Sure you have looked at that, still best to ask you.
The 'braking assist' is a really heavy duty ABS, really heavy...
Have you had a play with the 'brake slider', also in the options thing?
Around 1.00 is where I have it.
And the other thing, brake bias in car settings.
Down to your driving style, me, around 58. Many others low 50s..
What you are describing does not happen to me, so the above is all I can think of.
The V8's are considered by many as the hardest cars to drive well, maybe your just rather good in them.
Most people cannot drive the in a straight line...
Maybe you are just braking well, and on the mark.
Oh, what brand of brake pedals and wheel do you use?
Steering, braking, and car setup really has to be right to get the best from iracing.
And that can take time.
More so than other games, sadly.
However, have a play and let me know.
And we can try something else if you find no improvement.

Tim

 

[Daniel Monteiro]

No brake assist on. I haven't had a play with the slider. I haven't touched any settings like brake bias, either.

Maybe I didn't explain myself well enough: I also never drive the SuperV8s, I just took it for a comparison as both iR and AMS have cars of this category, which would make them comparable (just as I compared the MX-5 between iR and AC). I wanted to make sure the comparison would be as valid as possible, with no factors to make it invalid.

I am not talking about small differences when making a corner slightly better or worse. I am talking about full 100% pressing the brake pedal and keep the brake pedal to the floor until the car comes to a stop. If you do this in AC or AMS, no matter how much you turn your wheel in the process, the car will just plough straight on (since the wheels are locked). However, in iR, if you do the exact same, the car will still turn, which just shouldn't happen.

The grip circle tells you that you can brake almost to the limit of the tires' grip, or you can turn almost to the limit of the tire's grip. But you definitely cannot do both really close to 100% at the same time. If it still isn't clear then I'll try to make a video to explain it.

 

[Timmy UK]

Daniel I will go have a play, and see if I can replicate what you have stated.
I have the same games as you, so I can do it.
Let you know in a bit.

 

[Timmy UK]

Hello Daniel.
Tested, and yes you are correct.
Never noticed before, so it has never bothered me.
So, which game is correct?
I suppose that is up to the player.
Maybe it would be better not to lock the wheels in any game..
Still, it is rather interesting.
Ask on the IR forum, sure someone there will give you a very long physics lesson...
Anyway, have fun with the game, yes it is a game, and let us know how you get on.

Tim

 

[Timmy UK]

Lol, the Ford hate is on.

I like the Ford.
Harder to setup, maybe.
I think it could turn out to be the better race car.
In the right hands.
Maybe not mine...

 

[Daniel Monteiro]

From my own experience (albeit with a road car), AC and AMS are "more correct" than iR - ye, they are games, which cannot take all eventualities this world has to offer. I guess I just have to take them as they are and enjoy them.

I definitely get more feedback through the wheel to my hands in AMS, hard to explain but I sense more information when playing AMS. But again I have played a good deal of F3 which is light and nimble, and only used road/racing cars in AMS and iR, so cannot do a direct comparison there

 

[Christian Moreau]

I like the Ford.
Harder to setup, maybe.
I think it could turn out to be the better race car.
In the right hands.
Maybe not mine...

I have some things to say about the Ford after competing with a team for the 24 hours of Le Mans. First off, after running in the top 8 for most of the race, and having battled back up to 4th, and gotten our lap back on 3rd place, we had to retire after 16 hours when our car went into the right hand side wall at Indianapolis. After reviewing what happened, I think the driver locked the rear tires as the car was settling itself after the small drop, which caused the car to rotate towards the wall and cause severe suspension damage. That resulted in 20 minutes of repairs, putting us back to 15th place, however, we had lost nearly 30km/h of top speed rendering us useless on the track. It was a great experience nonetheless, we showed great pace capable of competing with the top 3.

Now, regarding the car, I really love the GT. It's not secret that it is essentially a Prototype in disguise. You sit really low in the car, it has an incredible low profile which results in low drag, has fantastic balance, and handles like a dream through corners, especially through the Porsche curves where we were the fastest car in our split by a mile. The car is extremely planted, even with reduced traction control settings, making it very easy to control your corner entries and exits. The braking does take some getting used to, but once you see where the threshold is, and how late you can get away with your braking, you can get into a great rhythm.

There were a few "issues" or "imbalances" that my teammates and I noticed. First off, the GT is at a serious disadvantage to the Ferrari when it comes to sustaining damage, whether it be minor or major. We had tons of Ferraris running in our split that didn't even look like cars anymore and they were easily matching us in straight line speed. Meanwhile, during a large portion of our 16 hours of running, we were doing almost 5km/h less due to the extremely minor front damage which did not even come close to what we were seeing on some Ferraris. It was incredibly frustrating as we knew that we had more pace to give, but the cars extra drag due to this hindered us. I believe this should be investigated as it really isn't fair that Ferraris with as much damage as they had were essentially on par with our barely damaged car.

The other issue came at the Dunlop Chicane where taking a tight line resulted in a crash sound being heard and during a few times, one of our wheel wells was damaged during this. A strange thing that only happens in the Ford, not in the Ferrari.

Overall though, I really like the car. The Ferrari is nice as well, but I'm not a Ferrari fan so I lean heavily towards the Ford. The car is extremely fun to drive, while still being challenging to master, especially on the brakes, a very rewarding feeling when you get it right. I want to compete at the 6 hours of the Glen with it but will most likely have to skip that as we have the RDLMS 24 Hours of Le Mans on the same day. The 24 Hours of Spa are coming up though, and I intend to drive the AMG for that one. Thoroughly enjoying my time in iRacing so far and I look forward to continuing my progression through the classes.

 

[Timmy UK]

Thanks for that Christian, interesting and informative.
I have heard about the issues with the Ford, bodywork etc.
Maybe the car was a bit rushed, should think that it will be rectified, soon...
Issues with people racing as well, being cut off.
Looks like you and your team were ok.
Still, you keep going with the Ford, I still think when it is fixed, it will be the better race car at most of the tracks.
I must look you up, see how you are getting on.

 

[snyperal]

I've only driven the ford a bit and found it harder than the Ferrari, but in my experience once that car has been tweaked it'll definitely be the quicker car.

 

[Troy Eddy]

There were a few "issues" or "imbalances" that my teammates and I noticed. First off, the GT is at a serious disadvantage to the Ferrari when it comes to sustaining damage, whether it be minor or major. We had tons of Ferraris running in our split that didn't even look like cars anymore and they were easily matching us in straight line speed. Meanwhile, during a large portion of our 16 hours of running, we were doing almost 5km/h less due to the extremely minor front damage which did not even come close to what we were seeing on some Ferraris. It was incredibly frustrating as we knew that we had more pace to give, but the cars extra drag due to this hindered us. I believe this should be investigated as it really isn't fair that Ferraris with as much damage as they had were essentially on par with our barely damaged car.

The other issue came at the Dunlop Chicane where taking a tight line resulted in a crash sound being heard and during a few times, one of our wheel wells was damaged during this. A strange thing that only happens in the Ford, not in the Ferrari.

I believe the damage which was causing you all the trouble was on the bottom of the car. They addressed it in the latest patch today:

Ford GT - 2017

- This update addresses curb strikes with the Ford GT - 2017, which isn't currently able to use curbing as aggressively as the Ferrari 488 GTE without doing floor damage that significantly increases aero drag. The Ford and Ferrari should now be equivalent at curb strikes. Existing setups will need to be updated, as they will fail tech.

- Adjusted the collision mesh for this vehicle to give it slightly more clearance, and better match the model.

- Metric display of torsion bar diameters is now set to tenths of a mm, which is the minimum precision required to distinguish between the available bars in the garage.

- Shift lamp module has been repaired on this vehicle.

- Fixed a z-fighting issue with the mirrors of this vehicle.

 

[mozzie]

Thanks @Timmy UK ! However, I got a bag of mixed feelings suddenly...

After driving some races, I came to realize that no matter what speed you're carrying, if you slam the brakes and keep them on so that you'd lock the wheels, it is - somehow - possible to still turn in quite significantly!

I hopped in AC just to confirm that the Mazda there plows forward when the front tires lock up, and what I remembered was confirmed as they did so indeed.

Hopeing it was just some Mazda issue I went to test it with other cars, similar to AC and AMS; the same happens with the SuperV8. In AMS it will just plow straight on for ages with the front tires locked up, but in iRacing you can get the car to yaw almost to 90 degrees to the direction of travel, even when the brakes are fully on...

I have never driven a racecar in real life, but with no assists of any kind (and having seen lock-ups in real life races many a time), how could this iRacing behaviour be possible?

I know these are all just games, I didn't think my expectations are too high, I was at least hoping it'd feel as sharp as AC and AMS but it doesn't.

Does anyone else also notice this or am I going paranoid here?



Did you manage to get yourself to C license? Or did you participate in the "French Connection" Le Mans?

This is interesting.

I had to try it for myself. I have just taken the Ferrari out at Sonoma and slammed on the brakes going into multiple corners and in every single case when the wheels locked I plowed straight into the gravel traps without being able to turn at all.

Are you running an extreme case of rear brake bias? Maybe you have come to adjust the brake bias rearwards by accident?

I simply cannot recreate what you are experiencing.

On a side note, I have now tried the irFFB app that was created by an iRacer and I would highly recommend it to anyone that feels that iRacing's FFB is lacking.

https://github.com/nlp80/irFFB/wiki

 

[James Nance]

I had to try it for myself. I have just taken the Ferrari out at Sonoma and slammed on the brakes going into multiple corners and in every single case when the wheels locked I plowed straight into the gravel traps without being able to turn at all.

I felt if you adjust the "Brake force factor" in the options, it helps greatly with the locking up problem. In the 488 and newer cars, I raised it to 1.00 and now I can pretty much step on it, even with with a Fanatec load cell pedals. Then yes, a rear ward brake bias, but not too much, rears are still prone to locking up. If its not enough for you, just raise the brake force factor higher, 1.10 or 1.15. IF you haven't tried that solution yet.

 

[mozzie]

I felt if you adjust the "Brake force factor" in the options, it helps greatly with the locking up problem. In the 488 and newer cars, I raised it to 1.00 and now I can pretty much step on it, even with with a Fanatec load cell pedals. Then yes, a rear ward brake bias, but not too much, rears are still prone to locking up. If its not enough for you, just raise the brake force factor higher, 1.10 or 1.15. IF you haven't tried that solution yet.

Hey James,
Thanks for the reply but I was replying to a comment above by Daniel Monteiro, where he was experiencing strange behavior in iRacing in regards to locking his wheels and still being able to rotate the car where in AC and AMS the car would plow straight, (as it should do), I was merely testing to see if I could reproduce his issue within iRacing- I couldn't. I was deliberately trying to lock the wheels.

 

[James Nance]

Hey James,
Thanks for the reply but I was replying to a comment above by Daniel Monteiro, where he was experiencing strange behavior in iRacing in regards to locking his wheels and still being able to rotate the car where in AC and AMS the car would plow straight, (as it should do), I was merely testing to see if I could reproduce his issue within iRacing- I couldn't. I was deliberately trying to lock the wheels.

Oh gotcha, I read it wrong then. Ive had issues with braking in the newer cars, wanted to share my find. Thanks for the reply.