Thinking about giving it a go...

[Alex Townsend]

Been sim racing for years but have never tried iracing and I'm itching to try it.
Watched a DaveCam video on YT yesterday and it did look like good fun.
At the moment, on Steam, i can get iRacing for RM23 about €5 or £4
They are also offering a year of membership for RM16 a month, which is €3.40 or £3
Very, very tempted...

But, and there always is one in these sorts of fact finding question threads...
Where do I buy the content from?
If it's from iRacing directly I have a nasty feeling it will be in US$ only and will cost a fortune.

Does anyone know if they have a global business model and that content will be scaled down in cost for the country currency that you are purchasing from?
Or will I be able to purchase content from Steam at the correct currency?

 

[mozzie]

I would suggest you to find a coupon code where you get 3 months or a month for a discounted price. Try it out with the free content and see if it is something for you. If not, no biggy it would have cost you a fiver, or less.

 

[BrunoBæ]

for RM23 about €5 or £4

This is a reasonable way of trying it out - or use mozzies advice and try to get some further discount.
But conserning if there is different price for different countries then NO.
Its the same calculated based on US$

 

[Kurupt CDN]

@The GT Formula

To clarify and add a little bit of confusion....your steam prices reminded me of what I came across back in the day that's kicking me in the ass ever since.

First, as mozzie mentioned find a discount or join for a month, all new comers get a 50% off all subscriptions for New comers.
Test the system to see if you like it, there is a ton of base content you can use during that time.
Just suggesting change your first or last name, use a second email account when signing up to test.
DONT BUY ANY CONTENT YET!
You don't like it...it was the cost of a coffee.

If you decide you want to continue you have to look at a few options. Regarding cost.

1. Check steam and look at the cost. In some regions it's cheaper for subscriptions on steam. In Canada it is alot cheaper than buying from iracing site.

2. You create a new account and buy say a yr. Subscription at 50% off....that's why I said don't buy anything while testing.
Iracing will hopefully continue offering a black Friday sale, take advantage of it as it will most likely be the only subscription sale of the yr. It use to be 50% but the past few it's only been 25% off.

It's important you run the numbers between steam and iRacing site as once you start a subscription you can't buy a future subscription on the other.

All content is purchased on the iracing site.

I started on the site back in 2011, bought some stuff. Iracing launched on steam and I realized it was nearly $50 a yr cheaper, but because I started on the site to take advantage of the steam price I would have to start a new account and couldn't transfer my content.

Hope that made sense?
Refer a friend..any friend that enters your email address and buys a 1 yr. Subscription gets you $10
Buy content in groups of 3 and you will receive a 10% discount.
Once you've bought 40 pieces you will always receive a 20% discount on content.

Another tip to ease the cost.
Get out of rookie class asap.
Run 1 race a week in a season even if you start in the pits or whatever. Complete 8 out 12 race weeks and iRacing will give you up to $10 a season $40 a yr in credits to put towards your subscription or content.

 

[Alex Townsend]

That's cool, so yes, if I were to try iRacing from their own site, a month would cost me RM28 converted from US$

Question I guess is, does that include the base game software or do I still need to purchase that from Steam?

 

[Kurupt CDN]

That's cool, so yes, if I were to try iRacing from their own site, a month would cost me RM28 converted from US$

Question I guess is, does that include the base game software or do I still need to purchase that from Steam?

Every subscription comes with the base game and software.
20 cars and 21 tracks and every needed to get out of rookie class.

What Comes With An iRacing Membership?

All subscriptions include 21 cars and 25 tracks, our full premium service and all the online racing you can handle, 24/7. Easily sign up to become a member!

www.iracing.com

 

[BrunoBæ]

1. Check steam and look at the cost. In some regions it's cheaper for subscriptions on steam. In Canada it is alot cheaper than buying from iracing site.

Sorry I didnt know that
And it looks like there is some advances joining iRacing via Steam.
I allways thought it was the other way around

 

[grirvan]

I recommend it. I signed up 3 weeks ago on the site, not on Steam and got a cheap 3 month deal. It takes a while to set up and understand, but after that there is plenty to do without spending any money. AI racing is great. Online practice and racing is great. Graphics if you have a good GPU are really good. I still love Assetto Corsa, ACC, Automobilista 2, RFactor 2 (I have them all)…..but I am really enjoying this.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

check the forum here, there's many threads under iRacing where folks give you advice about the safety rating and iRating and how to figure out the other players in the races etc. etc. Also, there used to be a couple of iRacing "How to …" films which one accessed through their site, don't know if those are still up, they were really helpful for a beginner, explained all the rules and everything. One last bit: iRacing comes in seasons of 12 weeks, where (after Rookie class), if you run eight of these twelve weeks, you will get the credits Kurupt talks about. HOWEVER: we are now in week 6, tomorrow week 7 will start, so there is no way you can start collecting that before the new season starts in 8 weeks. Joining now is about the worst time in the internal iRacing calendar to join, the best time is to join two or three weeks before the end of season, use those weeks to get out of rookies, check the new season calendar for tracks and cars needed, buy the stuff (discount on 3 items, slightly larger discount on 6 items) and start the new season fully equipped. You actually have three to four weeks to weigh the pros and cons. Just a hint. I spent about 700 Euros in my first year (four seasons), others spent even more … Been with them for eight years now, no sign of quitting just yet.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Yah it's not cheap for a game, Eckhart von glan's post got me curious as to how much I've spent

8 yrs, with the first half of that an on/off member simple due to the fact alot of the content didn't interest me and I wasn't a huge fan of how it felt or the cost for the amount I was using it.
How ever the last few yrs they have done alot of improvents and where a good chunk of my cost is.
On days off I know spend a good few hrs a night playing after the kids go to bed.
8 yrs on the service, subscriptions included I've spent $1145 which seems like alot at first...and is.
In that number there is x5 1 yr subscriptions cost.
I own roughly 80% road content
100% dirt road content
75% oval content
Which is quite alot, but also over 8yrs...$143 a yr...$12 a month
Which now really doesn't look that bad when I compare it to my other hobbies.

My monthly internet/cell bill cost x2 more than my annual iracing expenses
Last yr I spent nearly $800 for indoor karting.
A budget mountain bike $500
Gym membership $800 a yr.
Modifying my Jeep Wrangler Jk over the past 4 yrs $6k
Camping/hiking gear last yr $1000.
Baseball league $200 for 3 month season
PC upgrade budget build $1000
I don't even want to know how much I've spent on alcohol/food and gas to enjoy my hobbies over those yrs lol

Basically what I am rambling about is......it's been cheaper than any of my other hobbies.
As long as you use it and enjoy it, I find its worth every penny.
If you dont, than it's a waste.

For a min of $10 you can test it for month to see if it works for ya.
Do your homework, and don't be affraid to ask questions before committing long term.

 

[BrunoBæ]

Last yr I spent nearly $800 for indoor karting.

Wouldnt it be cheaper to buy a 2nd hand indoor kart?

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

but he needs a place to keep it and a trailer to get it to the track and if it sits there all alone it's crying out for new wheels and that old gearbox needs to be sorted and ...

 

[BrunoBæ]

Yeah I understand. But some years back I thought of buying a 2nd hand "outdoor" kart and then pay for having it parked in an outdor kart track where you normally pay for running a Kart ½-1H.
I aborted the project but if I could have got a fair deal with the owners of the track then they could maintain my kart and I could as example every sunday use some hours on the track.
Hehe pure pleasure and (hopefully) only few grand money spended