Is iRacing worth it?

[William Moody]

I have rfactor 2 and AC i am thinking of getting iracing just for the open wheelers is it worth it just for that?
If so how much would it be for 1 year membership and the open wheelers?

 

[Blkout]

You're welcome Marius.

 

[Seanspeed]

Just picked up iRacing yesterday, 3 months, figured I'd test it out.

Got to general grips with the 4 road tracks available, cool, I think I'm ready to race.

Start warmups, going fine. Looks like I'll probably be competitive.

Grid up. Yay, excited! First iRace.

10 seconds til race start....................wheel decides to recalibrate itself and mess up everything. Cant get away from the line, get hit from behind and yelled at, get contact penalty and then my steering is all whack.

Fantastic.

 

[Steve O'Malley]

Sean, tip from me. Worry about your Safety rating. Avoid incidents at all costs even if it means people passing you. You will catch them up down the road when they spin out.
If you can rack up plenty of SR quickly you can get out of Rookie and get some decent racing. Make your target finishing races with zero incidents and your results will be fine.

 

[Blkout]

Just picked up iRacing yesterday, 3 months, figured I'd test it out.

Got to general grips with the 4 road tracks available, cool, I think I'm ready to race.

Start warmups, going fine. Looks like I'll probably be competitive.

Grid up. Yay, excited! First iRace.

10 seconds til race start....................wheel decides to recalibrate itself and mess up everything. Cant get away from the line, get hit from behind and yelled at, get contact penalty and then my steering is all whack.

Fantastic.

Which wheel are you using? Does this happen often? Try changing to a different USB port. Some USB ports are just finicky and lose connection with the wheel causing it to recalibrate again.

 

[Kristóf Kerekes]

Sean, tip from me. Worry about your Safety rating. Avoid incidents at all costs even if it means people passing you. You will catch them up down the road when they spin out.
If you can rack up plenty of SR quickly you can get out of Rookie and get some decent racing. Make your target finishing races with zero incidents and your results will be fine.

I'm not sure if he is new to racing in simulators or not, but that is a common missugestion I meet when browsing topics related to iRacing, along with the start from pits nonsense. You guys have to learn consistency without cruising through the track and you already should do at Rookie. I think I never lifted off in a situation that I would've regretted and still, magically I'm in Class A 4.00, even though I don't really need that high SR. If you can't get out of Rookie while driving on your limit (not letting others pass just to avoid a possible Offtrack), that means you don't have a ticket for Class D. The learning curve is pretty nice in iRacing, including iRating, SR and the choice of cars you get in those classes. Exploiting it by driving like a grandma is like eating a pizza without toppings. Just drive your best and fight for positions. The SR system is tolerant enough to let you advance from Rookie even after having 10+ incidents. The worrying starts at end of Class B, where you are rarely allowed to do Off-tracks. Also, it doesn't do any good for your iRating which means if you advance Safety Ratings up and THEN start racing, it will make a whole lot boring proccess of just iRating climbing, racing with people seconds behind you. That is totally killing the experience and well-thought system of this simulator. Let those two numbers raise simulatenously by giving your best in every race and not the "middle track racing" that most people suggest here.

 

[Bakkster]

You guys have to learn consistency without cruising through the track and you already should do at Rookie. I think I never lifted off in a situation that I would've regretted and still, magically I'm in Class A 4.00, even though I don't really need that high SR.

I think that might be a misconception of the suggestion. The idea is not to drop to the back of the pack and cruise around. It is to drive within your limits, and do not battle with drivers you can't trust (which in Rookie is everyone until you reach higher splits).

If you do it right (and are average speed or faster) your SR and iRating should go up simultaneously. The idea is to strategically yield a single position sometimes to other rookie drivers. First because it's better to lose that one position and finish mid pack than to get crashed into and finish in the back. Second because if a driver is really unpredictable, they'll probably crash later anyway and you'll get the spot back.

You say your strategy was to never lift in sketchy situations, and after 5 oval races you're only Rookie 2.4. Learning to lift when needed, I had a 2.88 and a win after 5 races, and was just one clean event from what would be a fast track promotion now. Learning when to check up to preserve a decent run is well worth learning, and neither learned by keeping the throttle pegged or wimping around in back. Just drive smart, most positions aren't worth defending if you can't trust the other driver to keep from hitting you.

Don't forget, the rookie series are a lot different from when you and I were in them. They take a bit more care due to who is racing in them, and the cars are a bit more on edge.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

The cars are more on edge than the Legends car and the Solstice, both on the old tire model...that is hard to believe.

 

[Kristóf Kerekes]

Well, mixing the Oval part of iRacing here sounds like a point you just gabbed out of nowhere. Oval never really interested me and it was just a slight try to see what it looks like. I'm here for the Road racing and that clearly shows off my stats and as you see my technique definiately worked hence I'm not really in the lowest of ranks.

 

[Blkout]

The cars are more on edge than the Legends car and the Solstice, both on the old tire model...that is hard to believe.

Which cars are you referring to Michael?

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Those were the rookie cars when I first signed up....and believe me, nothing in iracing now is anywhere near as 'on edge' as those two were on the old tire model.

 

[Bakkster]

Oops, forgot the Street Stock is the first rookie car now. For a bit it was the Advanced Legend (bad idea). The SS is definitely more stable, though it runs Charlotte (pack racing) and USA instead of Lanier and SoBo which weren't too bad.

The Miata keeps going back and forth between comfy and twitchy. Seems more to do with bad fixed setup than anything else. I still have a lot more trouble driving it than the Solstice, YMMV.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

The Miata keeps going back and forth between comfy and twitchy. Seems more to do with bad fixed setup than anything else.

That, in a nutshell is my biggest problem with iracing...If the physics were close to right the Miata is a car that anybody with a license in real life should be able to jump in and make dozens, if not hundreds, of laps in without spinning; no matter how bad the setup.

It's a shame, I love almost everything about iracing other than the actual driving...unfortunately for me, that is the most important part of all and if it isn't right (and to me it still isn't) it's a complete showstopping dealbreaker.

I do suggest for anybody with a wheel to find a free promo and at least give it a try and make up their own mind though...if nothing else, the honeymoon period generally lasts for the better part of a year.

 

[muscimol]

It is nowhere near as hard as you imply it to be.
I bet you haven't set up iRacing correctly and most problems comes from that.

It's not perfect, it's harder than real life but it's not as deadly as you say.

 

[Bakkster]

It depends who you ask, but don't take my word for it because I never really liked the car even when it was stable.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

It is nowhere near as hard as you imply it to be.
I bet you haven't set up iRacing correctly and most problems comes from that.
It's not perfect, it's harder than real life but it's not as deadly as you say.

Why is it that within a few minutes I can have rfactor2, Assetto Corsa, Race07, Netkar Pro, Formula Truck, GT Legends, and GTR2 up and running and feeling pretty good yet after 4 years of iracing I am still being told I probably don't have it set up right?

 

[Aaron Markham]

That, in a nutshell is my biggest problem with iracing...If the physics were close to right the Miata is a car that anybody with a license in real life should be able to jump in and make dozens, if not hundreds, of laps in without spinning; no matter how bad the setup.

Elliott Skeer (who sat on pole for the Continental Tire Sports Car race at Laguna Seca the other week in an MX-5) posted this on iRacing the other week about the physics & tire model on the Miata in this seasons build.

"After spending 2 years pounding laps prepping for the real MX5 Cup events, I've taken a break from the Miata and decided to try it tonight. Safe to say I was in shock and awe...its ruined.

It was NAILED mid 2013, my real setups were my iRacing setups and they were quick in and out of the game. But trying them tonight turned out to be rubbish and going to the baseline and working from square 1 didn't get me anywhere close.

Please iRacing, bring back the car I love. I know you guys don't usually go back to old software, but 2 builds ago was brilliant and since then it has gone further and further away from the real thing. "

 

[Blkout]

Elliott Skeer (who sat on pole for the Continental Tire Sports Car race at Laguna Seca the other week in an MX-5) posted this on iRacing the other week about the physics & tire model on the Miata in this seasons build.

"After spending 2 years pounding laps prepping for the real MX5 Cup events, I've taken a break from the Miata and decided to try it tonight. Safe to say I was in shock and awe...its ruined.

It was NAILED mid 2013, my real setups were my iRacing setups and they were quick in and out of the game. But trying them tonight turned out to be rubbish and going to the baseline and working from square 1 didn't get me anywhere close.

Please iRacing, bring back the car I love. I know you guys don't usually go back to old software, but 2 builds ago was brilliant and since then it has gone further and further away from the real thing. "

Any chance not playing iRacing for the last two years might have affected his sim racing skills?

 

[Aaron Markham]

Any chance not playing iRacing for the last two years might have affected his sim racing skills?

Elliott didn't take two years off from iRacing but from that particular car. Here is another quote from Elliott.

"Here's my issue. I have driven the exact chassis that iRacing scanned, I raced it for 2 years and won over half the races last year. I pay the team to prep the cars to the best of their abilities (which is top notch). I was 100% comfortable and confident in the car and I built the setups that I raced on. They were quick and had the ability to win as long as I did my job right.
I am not comparing the iRacing car to a Star Mazda or a Spec Miata, but to the exact chassis that was scanned and the exact data that was used for the physics. The car was closer to the real thing with the NTMv3 and v4 than it is to the current model.
I could run within tenths of a second of my real times on my real setups (that took HOURS to build) and it was like I was driving the real thing. The same shitty abs as the real one, float the entry speed and rely on the fronts to stick, roll some maintenance throttle and roll back to full throttle. The same thing worked here as in real life.
You want some useful information on how the MX5 should handle...I'm right here.
/rant"

 

[Blkout]

Interesting. Will iRacing ever make everyone happy though? I would hope they at least value the opinion of real racers but I'm sure not always so easy just to re-code the game whenever someone says, its not right.

 

[Aaron Markham]

Interesting. Will iRacing ever make everyone happy though? I would hope they at least value the opinion of real racers but I'm sure not always so easy just to re-code the game whenever someone says, its not right.

No racing sim will ever please anybody. No matter how accurate it might be. Everybody has their own opinion of how a car should drive. I personally think iRacing's tire model needs a little more grip but that's just my opinion. I've been sim-racing since 1992 and I've been on iRacing almost 6 years now and still enjoy it. Even with the tire model gripes it's still the best around IMO because of it's online structure. I can't league race with other sims because my work schedule changes every week so iRacing works great for me. I do enjoy DTM Experience and Race07. Looking forward to WTCC14 & ADAC Masters from Simbin!