Driving Realism of AC vs iRacing:

[Gpruitt54]

I’ve been spending more time with AC as I wait for Project Cars to release. The other reason is because I bought myself a Fanatec Clubsport pedal set. I am really digging AC for a host of reasons, including the driving models and the feel of the cars on the road. (AkA, Realism).

Currently iRacing has discounted deals of 50% on all its membership packages. I started filling out the online form for membership when it hit me… Assoetta is pretty freaking good; and hummm… is AC as good as iRacing.

So, this is my question. Is AC as realistic as iRacing says it is? Are any of you using both and can you comment on the driving realism with both?

 

[Gpruitt54]

Some time ago I saw a video on the process that IR uses to capture the information on the tracks they provide on the service. The video was shown on Inside Sim Racing. IR laser scans tracks. The result is a virtual track that captures all the perfection and imperfections of the actual track surface in addition to the trackside details.

I agree that AC is addicting. In AC, I can drive a crazy powerful 800 HP GT3 car and keep it on the track. Can I set inside a real 800 HP GT3 car and keep it on the track? Without training, Hell NO!

In IR, I cannot keep a GT3 car on the road for long. I don’t know, but in that regard, the ability for an untrained person to drive a high performance race car seems true to life. I plan to buy one of the other GT level cars and see if I can drive it. But I cannot drive the free ones that come with IR. BTY, I am a Mazda MX5 Rookie level IR driver, and I only just getting fast with that car.

mod-edit: consolidated for you, please keep the forum tidy

 

[Colin Paxton]

Did a Truck race this morning in iRacing at Michigan fixed set up. 30 laps 2 yellows late on, very good close racing (sometimes VERY close) but safe. My Silverado starting a few slides off turn 4 but I feel the the FF is fine as I managed to hold and correct the slide each time.

 

[Galin Dimov]

yes AC track object is not the best one, on that part iRacing win

on the smoothness, just find out you need to be really smooth with the unwinding along with a smooth throttle increase, don't know if it's realistic enough. somethings lithe that

on the 3 min mark

That being said, AC is more addictive, I can turn laps after laps, while iRacing I get frusrated pretty fast. I guess the best is iRacing + AC physics, AC FF, AC Addons. Simply I just like iRacing laser scan car/track and race organization

Pretty much nailed it! Having the MP and the track surface technology of iRacing + the sounds and AI of R3E + physics and FFB of AC is the ultimate sim (in ideal world)
As things stand now, I enjoy all of them...good times to be a sim racer

 

[Georg Siebert]

Assetto tracks arent the best one.
Just look outside of the track.
There is no life there. The track itself is nearly perfect, but outside is the worst i have ever seen.
iR wins clearly on this point.

Honestly, I don't really care about the tecture quality of an ambulance parked 50m away from the racing line. I'm much more interested in layout, corner types, corner succession, overtaking opportunities.
I really don't have time or spare cognitive capacity to look at pretty outside track features.

 

[Andy_J]

Iceracing has the best MP bar none. But it is unforgiving and unrealistic because of that. We sim race for fun. Its a hobby, no one ever gets killed. We should only race for fun.

 

[Ghoults]

I think it is fair to say iracing does a lot better job with the details outside the track. Buildings, trees and other landscape (parking lots etc.) are all done in much greater detail in iracing. In ac most of the focus goes into the track surface and the stuff of the track we use for racing. I can't really tell which is better from 3d modelling or texturing perspective but as a whole representation of the track I think iracing is more accurate. You can for example use obscure stuff for braking points because no matter if it is 50 metres or 500metres away from the track it is there and it is in correct position. In ac it is probably not there.

As far as the track surface goes it is hard to tell. I'd imagine both can produce similarly accurate representations of the racing surface. Iracing may have a more accurate laserscan model of the track but in practise I doubt if even the game engines get to see the difference. The more accurate laserscan the more space and processing time it takes to use in sim. And can the tire physics even handle millimetre accurate differences? In sims most tires in reality only take one small dot of the tcontact patch area which is used for the physics calculations. This is why in some sims your tire can get stuck into really narrow rails or edges (and which is probably why in ac the kerbs can sometimes launch your car sideways). So if you have 300mm wide tire probably only the road surface just in the middle of that tire's path matters. Basically you could park your car on top of four sharp knives in both sims and as long as you don't move the game thinks you are on level surface.

In larger scale iracing track quality obviously trumps ac. Both in quantity and quality. Price is totally another matter but both games are designed for totally different business models so comparing track price for track price is kinda fruitless proposition. Iracing is without a doubt more expensive one of the two.

 

[Marian Zelenka]

Graphics-wise, I really don't care.

I think the reality lies somewhere between AC and iRacing. Some cars in AC are still not very throttle responsive even with TC off. And sometimes I feel like the throttle works only between 80-100% region or there is some lag. It's like AC is more forgiving with throttle application. Off course, this is not always the case.

I like what they did with the tyre model, but there is still some work to be done. AC is the only sim I drive these days, but I'm still not happy with some things.

 

[Stereo]

The more accurate laserscan the more space and processing time it takes to use in sim. And can the tire physics even handle millimetre accurate differences? In sims most tires in reality only take one small dot of the tcontact patch area which is used for the physics calculations.

That and time domain, a simulator is at best going to be calculating physics 1000 times per second (most are more like 250-500), if you're going 50m/s (180km/h) then that's no more than every 5cm, and probably 10-20, and just gets longer with speed.

 

[Patrick Moore]

I’ve been spending more time with AC as I wait for Project Cars to release. The other reason is because I bought myself a Fanatec Clubsport pedal set. I am really digging AC for a host of reasons, including the driving models and the feel of the cars on the road. (AkA, Realism).

Currently iRacing has discounted deals of 50% on all its membership packages. I started filling out the online form for membership when it hit me… Assoetta is pretty freaking good; and hummm… is AC as good as iRacing.

So, this is my question. Is AC as realistic as iRacing says it is? Are any of you using both and can you comment on the driving realism with both?

I am not a simracing expert or RL car expert by any stretch but I do enjoy AC and iRacing for different reasons. At the moment I split my time about 60/40 (iracing/AC). If AC ever gets their act together and improves the AI I can easily see myself spending even more time with AC.


imho and ymmv to everything below!!
FFB:
I find AC has a better FFB and that makes the cars easier to control because you can feel what the car is doing. The FFB in iracing is improving, but it is still not as informative as the code for AC. As far as driving realism I cannot tell you which game is more realistic, but the AC FFB makes the cars feel much more alive and a joy to drive.

Physics:
iRacing looks and feels more natural to me (imho,ymmv). I can do some crazy s**t in AC and still keep moving. Perhaps AC is not coded as well to represent a car getting unbalanced in crazy situations?

Graphics:
iRacing has older graphics and graphic detail, but the lighting in daytime events is superior to AC. AC always looks washed out and hazy and not to my liking.

 

[Luke Russell]

Assetto tracks arent the best one.
Just look outside of the track.
There is no life there. The track itself is nearly perfect, but outside is the worst i have ever seen.
iR wins clearly on this point.

This.

Assetto Corsa's graphics engine could make the tracks look so much better if it wasn't for such lazy 2D artistry. The low res photo textures, google map images, low res painted textures really break the immersion factor, for me.

Long story short:

I feel like iRacing and A.C are sort of merging closer in terms of physics. They're both at least chasing the same goals.

iRacing's tyre model still has a massive issue with low speed grip. If the setup isn't perfect you're constantly petrified that the rear of the car will step out and force you into an uncontrollable spin. At medium and high speeds, the car can slip and slide around like the track is made of Ice. The cars which I've driven in iRacing, their contact patch feels extremely narrow, sort of like your wheels have been stolen from a Tour de France bike and bolted on your race car. This was even after using McLaren's Atlas software to configure the optimum contact patch.

iRacing's FFB feels sharp and solid, but for some reason your wheel becomes a bump detector and the FFB reacts like it's hitting landmines every time you pass over the smallest imperfections in the tracks' surface.

iRacing's cars are also hit and miss. Some feel enjoyable, others not so much.

mod-edit: consolidated for you, please keep the forum tidy

 

[Rui Santos]

This.

Assetto Corsa's graphics engine could make the tracks look so much better if it wasn't for such lazy 2D artistry. The low res photo textures, google map images, low res painted textures really break the immersion factor, for me.

All we need in a simulator is fluidity while driving, if iRacing had the AC graphics it will be heavier than rFactor2...

 

[Andy_J]

Lets face it, if Iracing did not have the fantastic MP setup, it would be old hat now with out hardly any users. If it had a single player element, it might have a bigger following. But the pricing structure also means a lot of people don't like it.
Many IR fanboys will disagree, but its true in my opinion, that without it's MP, IR would not be in the same class.

 

[Tim Meuris]

I heared on forums that AC feels a bit closer to IRacing due to less grip since 1.0
is that correct?

 

[Pedro Cunha]

I just joined Iracing, so here are the main differences to Assetto:

Iracing pros:

- The most recent iracing tracks look and feel way better than any assetto corsa track. (take Spa for example).
- Cars feel and behave much more real (although there is a issue with some cars loosing rear very easily).
- Best online racing out there.
- Amasing replay cameras ( realistic tv cameras).


Iracing cons:

- Poor variety of cars.
- Basic FFB.
- Paying for content.
- No offline racing.

Conclusion:
I was very pleased with Assetto Corsa but after trying Iracing... I got to say Assetto looks very arcady! Still the driving feels very realistic

Iracing is the real deal for me now!

 

[Naliport Halulam]

I just joined Iracing, so here are the main differences to Assetto:

Iracing pros:

- The most recent iracing tracks look and feel way better than any assetto corsa track. (take Spa for example).
- Cars feel and behave much more real (although there is a issue with some cars loosing rear very easily).
- Best online racing out there.
- Amasing replay cameras ( realistic tv cameras).


Iracing cons:

- Poor variety of cars.
- Basic FFB.
- Paying for content.
- No offline racing.

Conclusion:
I was very pleased with Assetto Corsa but after trying Iracing... I got to say Assetto looks very arcady! Still the driving feels very realistic

Iracing is the real deal for me now!

funny how every time i see your posting here it's always negative about AC.

man why so much hate ? did they killed someone or something like this ?

 

[André Azevedo]

I play both games. In terms of feel, driving realism and FFB, comparing assetto with iRacing is like comparing a 4K with a 720p video. And i really like iRacing because of the online structure.

 

[Stereo]

I don't know what to think about "ffb is good, physics are bad"... both games as far as I know use 100% physics-driven ffb, if the car feels wrong it's cause the physics is wrong?

 

[Pedro Cunha]

funny how every time i see your posting here it's always negative about AC.

man why so much hate ? did they killed someone or something like this ?

There is no hate here! I like Assetto but Iracing opens the door to realism anyone searchs for.

I play both games. In terms of feel, driving realism and FFB, comparing assetto with iRacing is like comparing a 4K with a 720p video. And i really like iRacing because of the online structure.

Iracing is the closest thing to real out there.

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[Jyri Kettunen]

Iracing is the closest thing to real out there.

Bollocks.

 

[Michael Dao]

The real things is hard to define because unless someone have the real experience with car/track then try in a sim it's all guess work.

I don't know, to me unless it has the real things to compare, no one have the real answers