iRacing's Upcoming Releases

[Yoeri Gijsen]

Let's keep a little thread going about what iRacing has in store for us in the (near) future. Some things have been announced, some targets have been rumoured and who knows what you have picked up in the darkest recesses of the net...

Below I will put up some things I find or found. Please post any news, rumours or hints below so one of the moderators can update this thread.

Cars

• McLaren MP4-12C GT3 - Next up, but time unspecified
• Lotus 49 - Next up, but time unspecified
• RUF Rt12R - October 2012
• Honda Civic BTCC - May/July 2013
• Honda HSV-010 - May/July 2013
• NASCAR Sprint Cup 2013 models - TBA

Tracks

• Auto Club Speedway - To be scanned (confirmed!)
• Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve - To be scanned (confirmed!)
• Hongaroring - Plans
• Kansas Speedway - To be scanned (confirmed!)
• Lukas Oil Raceway - In production
• Rockingham Speedway - October 2012
• Interlagos - To be scanned (confirmed!)
• Miller Motorsports Park - To be scanned
• New Jersey Motorsports Park - To be scanned
• Long Beach - 2013
• Oran Park Raceway - October 2012
• Tsukuba Circuit - In production
• Willow Springs - Scanned but on hold

Features

• Crew chief & spotter functionality - February 2013 at the earliest, but probably later
• Driver swaps - February 2013 at the earliest, but probably later
• DirectX 11 and x64 support - Long term project
• Dirt and oil build up on windscreen - Side project
• Enhanced sounds (DirectSound > XAudio2) - Groundwork in next build; the rest later
• Exhaust fire - Side project
• Teams - February 2013 at the earliest, but probably later
• Time transition - Long term and after DirectX 11

Your turn!

 

[Bakkster]

Release notes for all of you while the site goes down.

Website:


Leagues

- Enhanced League and Tournament Gridding Options:

· There is now a new grid algorithm called "Top N Inverted". If you select this and click the "Apply Grid Now" button you will be prompted to enter the number of drivers to invert. Previously you were limited to inverting the top 8 or top 10 drivers.

· There is now an option to change a driver's grid position by N positions in either direction. This is intended to make it easier to apply grid penalties. From the "Race Grid Setup" area of the grid builder you can right-click on any driver to access a new popup menu that includes an option to "change grid position". This opens a dialog box where you can enter a number of positions to move the driver. Positive numbers will move the driver towards the pole and negative numbers will move the driver towards the back of the grid.

- Added a new interface for editing league member nicknames.


Race Panel

- Sorting of series has been fixed in the Race Panel pick list where they may have been out of order or miscounted.

- The Select list now lists series based on MPR.


Other

- Updated MPR Images and added tooltips.

- MPR images are now hidden for Class A License and above.

- Spectator pages now have smarter sorting of what's available.

- Layering of elements in the main site has been adjusted to fix some display issues.



Simulation:


Tires

- There are no cars left using the version 4 NTM (New Tire Model). All the cars are on version 5 except the Silver Crown and Sprint Car which are both still using the old tire model.

- The tire model has an improved solver to find the amount of tread yaw under dynamic conditions (i.e. non-equilibrium). This has significantly improved transient behavior and tire response to changing loads.

- The modeling of tread wear depth and its effects has been improved. There is now more tread wear on the softer road compounds.

- There is a preliminary model for advancing the tread rubber cure as the rubber gets hot; this gives very reasonable lap time fall off for cars over the course of a race. This model is not enabled on all the cars yet, as there hasn't been time for testing all the cars, but it is on all the high level oval cars and most of the faster road course cars.


User Interface

- Right clicking on any visible driver name or driver helmet will bring up a context menu of actions that can be applied to that driver.


Sound

- Disable using the recently added limiter layer sounds during ignition cut up shifts.


iRacing Telemetry API

- Output RadioTransmitRadioIdx and RadioTransmitFrequencyIdx in addition to RadioTransmitCarIdx.

- Output ClassPosition in QualifyResultsInfo section to match ResultsPositions.

- Output CarClassColor.

- Output car, suit, helmet paint info.

- Properly escape more strings in the YAML session string.

- Properly show pressure in telemetry when pressure based brake bias is used.

- Fix telemetry for steering angle on remote cars.


Cameras

- The driving camera can now be moved down 4" instead of just 2".


Backfires

- Many cars will now spit out backfire flames when appropriate. Some cars backfire when off throttle, depending on their engine tuning. Others will backfire if you hit the rev limiter or upshift if their engine tuning implements these features via an ignition cut (which passes unburned fuel through to the exhaust). And some of our cars don't make flames at all, typically the lower level cars. The visual effect and the sound effect of backfires are not synchronized at this time. Also, opponent cars do not make backfires during upshifts at this time, only off throttle backfires.


Wind

- Reduce the strength of the wind applying to cars to 1/3, so even if the wind says 30mph, it will only affect the car at 10mph. This is to account for ground turbulence and non-wind transparency of solid objects reducing the effective wind strength at ground level.


Grime

- Cars will now accumulate grime as a race progresses. The amount is based upon both time and circumstances of the race. This new grime effect causes a dulling of the car, which combines with the dirt accumulation effect which was added previously.


Paint kit

- L.A. Racing, SimCraft, and diysim.com logos added.

- Wheel color support added to the Mazda MX5, Skip Barber Formula 2000, Legends Ford '34 Coupe, and Street Stock.


Scenic Cameras

- Half of the tracks had their scenic cameras improved (or added if missing) in the previous season's update. This update completes that work, with all tracks addressed.



Cars:


Chevrolet Camaro Class B

- Now available! The physics are identical to the other two Class B cars, and all 3 cars can load each others setups.


BMW GT3 Z4

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Performance has been balanced against the other GT3 class cars.


Cadillac CTS-V Racecar

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Chevrolet Corvette C6R

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Chevrolet Impala Class B

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Chevrolet Impala-COT

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- More front spring range.


Chevrolet National Impala

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Chevrolet Silverado

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Chevrolet SS-Gen6

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Cockpit updated to match new Camaro dash.


Dallara IndyCar

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Dallara DW12 IndyCar

- Full version of the car is now here, supporting all different track types.

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Ford Falcon V8 Supercar

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Ford Fusion-Gen6

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Ford GT

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Fixed a traction control bug. The setting range was from 0 to 5, but should have been (and is now) from 0 to 2.


Ford Mustang Class B

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Two new patterns added.


Ford Mustang FR500S

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


HPD ARX-01c

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Now has 4-way adjustable shocks; low and high speed bump and rebound.


Kia Optima

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Legends Ford '34 Coupe

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Updated engine sounds to sound better when listening from a distance.

- Wheels can now be painted.


Lotus 49

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Mass and inertia have been completely recalculated. Car has gained approximately 20 kg, and all inertias increased significantly.


Lotus 79

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Mazda MX-5 Cup

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Updated engine sounds to sound better when listening from a distance.

- Wheels can now be painted.


Mazda MX-5 Roadster

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Add distant external sound layer.

- Wheels can now be painted.


McLaren MP4-12C GT3

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Performance has been balanced against the other GT3 class cars.


Modified - SK

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Modified - Tour

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Pontiac Solstice

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Updated engine sounds to sound better when listening from a distance.


Radical SR8

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Riley Daytona Prototype

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- New engine torque map directly from an engine dyno.

- Reduce minimum front ride height to 1.5"

- Lower the minimum splitter height.


Ruf RT 12R AWD

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Ruf RT 12R C-Spec

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Now has 4-way adjustable shocks; low and high speed bump and rebound.


Ruf RT 12R RWD

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Ruf RT 12R Track

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Now has 4-way adjustable shocks; low and high speed bump and rebound.

- Performance has been balanced against the other GT3 class cars.


Skip Barber Formula 2000

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Wheels can now be painted.


Spec Racer Ford

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Star Mazda

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Street Stock

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Wheels can now be painted.


Super Late Model

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Toyota Camry-Gen6

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


VW Jetta TDI Cup

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.


Williams-Toyota FW31

- Updated to the latest tire physics.

- Now has lap time fall off from additional tire curing when the tires are hot.

- Adjustments and improvements to the whole car's physics to match the new tire model.

- Reduce fuel fill time deviation.



Tracks:


Donington Park Racing Circuit

- Donington Park Racing Circuit is now available.

- Includes two configurations: GP and National.

- This new track includes 3D crowd characters and 3D animated camera operators. These models will appear in race sessions if Object and Crowd are set to high in options.


Phoenix International Raceway

- This is an all new version of Phoenix based on changes which were made to the track in 2012. The new oval is very different from the previous, including changes which widened the front straight to 62 feet (19 meters), repaved the pit stalls with concrete and moved the dogleg outward by 95 ft (29 m) while increasing its radius to 500 ft (150 m) and changing its banking to 10-11 degrees. In addition, the track changed to progressive banking in Turns 1 and 2 while Turns 3 and 4 were changed to 8-9 degrees in banking and an infield road course was removed, making PIR an oval-only facility.

- Includes two configurations: one that does not allow cutting of the dogleg apron area, and one that does allow full use of the dogleg apron.

- This new track includes 3D crowd characters and 3D animated camera operators. These models will appear in race sessions if Object and Crowd are set to high in options.


Auto Club Speedway

- Fixed a bug where terrain was poking through wall.

- A bumpy area in the infield road course is fixed.


Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace

- Adjusted some 1x areas for consistency (such as the blue painted area to the right of the final turn).


Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

- Remove pit crew objects from pit road as the road is too narrow to fit them.


Circuit of the Americas

- Fixed draw-through signs on the garage.

- Added pit boxes.

- Moved the sign guy out of wall.


Circuit Zolder

- Fixed several track geometry bugs.


Homestead Miami Speedway

- Moved pit crew out of wall.


Iowa Speedway

- Fixed a wall collision issue.


Michigan International Raceway

- Fixed a non-collidable wall in Turn 1.


Phoenix International Raceway circa 2008

- The old version of Phoenix has been re-named to differentiate between it and the new version.


Road America

- The outside of Turn 5 now gives a 1x.


Silverstone Circuit

- Fixed a badly defined segment of track that could crash the sim for everyone connected if someone drove over that one exact spot.

- Fixed pot holes that where between turns 2 and 3.


Sonoma Raceway

- Fixed a light so its shadow starts at the ground.

- Fixed a sunken jersey barrier.


Suzuka International Racing Course

- Fixed issues that caused weird camera and F3 black box behavior near the crossover.


Thompson International Speedway

- Updated for night racing.

- Track updated with new logo.

Backfire flames, NTM improvements, and tire falloff

Also "3D animated camera operators"

 

[Blkout]

@Bakkster

I want the wheels to actually fall off the car occasionally. It would add a surprise element to driving.

I also want some jumps.

 

[Bakkster]

I want the wheels to actually fall off the car occasionally. It would add a surprise element to driving.

I also want some jumps.

Word is they're working on parts wobbling and falling off when damaged. I don't expect much 'soon' though, big update.

And I'm totally up for some rallycross and jumps, we have the tracks for it

 

[Blkout]

This update is F'ing awesome! Updating the tire model on all cars is long overdue and now they actually have very realistic grip. The Dallara DW12 is outstanding to drive now, even on a road course, and the typically undriveable scary Lotus 49 is actually driveable now and quite fun. I'm quite shocked honestly at how much this sim has transformed from this update. I thought the last update was great, this one is even better. Seriously, my jaw is on the floor.

 

[yusupov]

dayum i joined at a good time

 

[Bakkster]

Yes, the tires are simply fantastic. Easier to get them over the limit, but more than made up for with being easier to handle over the limit. Laps that used to be done sideways now have rear grip to spare, and throttle applications that used to invoke a lazy spin now just require a quick correction on the wheel.

For just a few lines in the release notes, the NTM has improved significantly.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

This update is F'ing awesome! Updating the tire model on all cars is long overdue and now they actually have very realistic grip. The Dallara DW12 is outstanding to drive now, even on a road course, and the typically undriveable scary Lotus 49 is actually driveable now and quite fun. I'm quite shocked honestly at how much this sim has transformed from this update. I thought the last update was great, this one is even better. Seriously, my jaw is on the floor.

Totally agree!

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

I can't wait till I get home from vacation now!

 

[zenek]

can someone write if sometimes still have unexpected spins?

 

[yusupov]

can someone write if sometimes still have unexpected spins?

ive tried a few cars, for a few minutes, & it could just be placebo, but even compared to last build (first i tried of iR), so far i havent had one. if you havent tried it in a few months/year or whatever, just from what ive read of veteran users, id say its worth giving it another shot.

 

[Bakkster]

can someone write if sometimes still have unexpected spins?

The only spins I had were in the SRF when entering corners too fast and either trying to turn the wheel or get off the brakes too sharply. I increased rear rebound and it was nothing but going too fast.

More specifically, I was having issues last season with the Mustang at Bathurst. The car was sliding all over, I'd spin a lot in the first and last corners because I'd get on the power too early and there was nothing I could do to catch it. Heading up the mountain I was lifting all over from the Cutting to Frog Hollow to keep the back end from stepping out. On the new tires, I had none of that. Feeding the power on was very predictable, oversteer was smaller, and catching those small moments required a quick countersteer and the car snapped back in line. I'm now flat from the Cutting through Sulman Park, again very predictable with just tiny wheel movements.

The cars are lively, but you really have to be pushing too fast for them to spin. I only drove a few hours on three cars (Kia being the third) but didn't have any spins that were unexpected. Had a few upon first loading up the cars, but all of them because I was relearning the track/car and entered a corner way too fast. Had I think one tank slapper, helped by tires in the grass. Had a few other that I felt would have been tank slappers last build but the car let me catch it the way I expected.

So I'm not sure if it's the same across the board, but for those cars I'd pretty unequivocally say that no, there are no more unexpected spins (or at least they're much more uncommon).

 

[Blkout]

I don't think there were ever any unexpected spins anyway. I can certainly understand why someone might think that though but that simply comes down to a lack of skill in driving the car. I would agree that it was much easier to spin before and even harder to correct the spin than it is now since the latest update, but there's always a reason for the spin. It was just easier to spin before due to the older tire model and physics. I really like the new update, and I can't stress that enough. It might be because I'm not an alien but the cars feels much more predictable to me. Call them easier to drive if you will, but I feel like iRacing has been dealing with negative opinions for years about their physics and/or tire models and now it feels much more consistent with other PC sims which I applaud.

 

[Bakkster]

When I think 'unexpected' in this case, I think of 'not a corner or circumstance that would be reasonably expected to cause an unrecoverable spin in a real car'. Yeah, there was always a bump or wheel spin to start it, and you could learn to drive around the issue, but the cars still felt like they were spinning when they shouldn't.

As always, it has depended on the car. I agree, too much time spent saying 'the NTM does X', when what they mean is 'Car Y on the NTM does X'. There have always been cars that have been very good on each NTM, and others that have been peculiar.

 

[Blkout]

Yea, I read on the iRacing forum that a lot of oval guys are furious about the NTM update. I haven't really tried oval yet since the update but there will always be a group of people that hate any new change when they were comfortable with the old way.

 

[yusupov]

hmm...trying so badly to resist the urge to stereotype, fortuantely my complete lack of exp with ovals in iracing helps there.

w/e the case, for the road cars its a very nice update, again too early for me but maybe the best among the big three's recent ones. shedding tears over GSCE's still not being out yet though.

 

[Blkout]

Just read this on Reddit about yesterday's update. Nice to see a positive review from someone that actually races MX-5's professionally.

Elliot Skeer was highly critical of the NTMv5 on the MX5.
Apparently he has reapproved it as of yesterday's build.

This was Skeer's previous comments about the MX-5.

Yeah you pretty much nailed it! The first edition of the MX5 came out while I was at Mazda's Shootout (my first time in a real MX5), so I had experienced them both for the first time, within 24 hours. I was pretty amazed at how close it was on the NTMv1...then NTMv2 came out.
NTMv2 was stupid good, the car was as close as I would ever want it to the real car, much more lateral grip and I could feel the sidewalls flexing from the top tread all the way to the wheel... then NTMv3 was announced.
v3 and v4 were the peak of this car. They did not change much on it between the two so I'll lump them together for this. v4 was the best sim car I have ever driven, blew away anything made for rFactor Pro even. Everything from my throttle input patterns to my initial steering inputs to purposefully kicking out the rear was exact. The car could be setup to be twitchy or tight, exactly like the real one.
Once I noticed that, I would build setups on iRacing the week before the real event, then run them on the real car. First 3 weekends, 6 races, 5 podiums, 3 wins, 2 setup changes from my iR sets. It was EXACT.
V5 has been the biggest letdown for me in gaming. I took about 3 months off from the car after the end of the 13' season to just relax. When my friend told me that it was updated, I decided to try it at my best/favorite track, Rd. Atl. Looped it into T1 on my first lap...my best corner in racing. I thought it was my setup, so I ran the baseline...even worse.
I have never been able to make the NTMv5 have any sort of lateral flex, the tire skates across the surface of the track hanging on by the friction of the solid tire to the ground. The best way I can put it is they took off the rubber sidewalls and put some plastic in there, a little bit of flex, but nowhere near the real tires (which dont have much to begin with).
I'm afraid we have seen the best of this car, unless they go back a few builds, which I never see happening.

 

[Bakkster]

Hmm, I've seen mostly positive comments from the oval guys as well. Some are looking for even more falloff, but even the critical comments amount to "it's better, but still needs more".

 

[Blkout]

Well that's good then. I read some of a thread last night where some oval racers were begging to bring back NTM v4 because v5 felt too tight and too grippy. I've never once complained iRacing had too much grip in any car. LOL.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

From both what I've gathered from forum posts and peronal experience, these "unexpected spins" have mostly been in very slow speed corners, speeds so slow with so little throttle application, in a car with so little power, that a spin should basically be virtually impossible, but in iRacing it would feel like you hit a spot of oil or ice even, the car just started spinning uncontrollably and there was no saving it no matter what you did. Have had that happen a few times earlier, can't recall in what car atm though.

 

[Chronus]

From both what I've gathered from forum posts and peronal experience, these "unexpected spins" have mostly been in very slow speed corners, speeds so slow with so little throttle application, in a car with so little power, that a spin should basically be virtually impossible, but in iRacing it would feel like you hit a spot of oil or ice even, the car just started spinning uncontrollably and there was no saving it no matter what you did. Have had that happen a few times earlier, can't recall in what car atm though.

"unexpected spins" have been with iRacing as far as I remember - with or without the NTM. There were quite a lot of threads on the official forums about "sudden departure" or "uncontrollable spins" - read them in 2009, read them in 2010 and still read them as late as mid-2013.

It's more "inexplicable" spins rather than "unexpected". They used to happen (according to friends who have tried the latest series of updates, it's still there) when:
- braking, even at ridiculously low speeds
- accelerating out of most corners if the car was slightly unsettled
- accelerating (not hard) from a stand still - it was particularly obvious with the Mustang and the V8 SC
- with fast steering input (eliciting either severe understeer or more frequently severe oversteer)

With or without the NTM, reason why a lot of people still call it "ice-Racing".

But the improvements are clearer now. Too bad handling fluctuates all too often with new updates (regardless of car).