Driving Realism of AC vs iRacing:

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?
 
lots of people do both. if you get a membership at iracing youll see assetto corsa is extremely popular w/ its members.

ive taken a break from iracing for this quarter & havent yet gone back (planning to) but id score it something like this

graphics: AC, easily
physics/tire model:not touching this one
FFB: both are fine; this is one that i think is subjective...iracings ffb is def different. its what id consider more traditional, you feel info thru the wheel. if you have rf2, its like that, but not as good, is kinda how id describe it. AC is less informative but more immersive. thats my take w/ my wheel & my settings, anyway.
car handling/models: draw. both do about as good a job as you can find here.
car list:
track models: iracing. AC offers very high quality laser scanned tracks; theyve gotten a lot better looking too. but iracing, despite the outdated graphics engine, really just nails every track. these are all laserscanned as well but apparently to a much more thorough degree & its clear a ton of effort is put into each parks characteristics & details. lighting is not yet dynamic with iracing so this may actually be a re ason their tracks tend to feel more immersive to me than ACs -- they can use really grass textures, etc.
track list: iRacing, easily. AC has a ton of catching up to do. i think possibly bc of AC, iR is really pressing europe for road tracks. just got donington, & monza, imola, & the nordschliefe are on the way.
multiplayer: well, duh.
 
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Well, I think AC is better, but I'm biased.
But as yusupov has said above, it's good to look at different aspects to compare the two. Obviously iRacing's multiplayer aspect is far better than AC's, but it's way better than any other sim's MP. Credit to them, they've done a fantastic job. However, I disagree with the notion that iRacing has better track models and more immersive environments. For me, AC's tracks are more vibrant and the track surface is just as good.

Personally, I don't think Project CARS is all that it's cracked up to be, so now that you've got AC and iRacing, you're set. They're both light years better than Project CARS. Yes it looks very pretty, but beneath the beautiful skin, the driving model and physics looks pretty horrendous. NFS Shift is it's core, and it's obvious.
 
well that is hard to say .. both are worth trying
Physics:
when it comes to physics itselft it is hard to beat AC .. but at least for me it is as much or even more important how does it feel .. iRacing I`ve tried, forced myslelf to like it but i couldn`t .. AC was fine for me before 1.0RC, after update I can`t find setting that works for me (FFB) .. too much spring and no detail (some says that it is on purpose, no "fake" forces in FFB other than what you`ve got through steering, but spring kills it (long discussion about it with no solution of AC forums) and since lot of us only have FFB in wheel to feel the car, I`m not sure if that is the best approach .. so feeling wise none of those two works for me (for now I`m stucking with GSCE, GTR or R3E) ..

AC is probably easiest one to drive from all sims (not necesarry bad thing), iRacing has its own way - different from all others I`ve tried ..

Graphics:
both are looking good enough to be enjoyable experience

Biggest thing that speaks for iRacing is MP and comunity .. if you don`t mind their business model and like to race online give it at least a try for sale price (you`ll get enough "free" cars and tracks for a start)
AC is far from being finished racing game .. right know it is more like sophisticated driving simulator .. but one day I`m gonna love it again ;)

both are way better that pC (to be fair I haven`t tried newest build)
 
As an owner if both i feel that iracings learning curve in terms of physics is alot harder than ac. I'm not sure if they are more realistic or not but If you don't have alot of free time ac is the way to go. Iracing will give you an awesome multiplayer experience but your going to need alot of time to practice to a point where you'll enjoy quality racing.
 
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I never liked iRacing for the same reason I hated rF2 initially - the FFB lacks actual feedback. ;)

Like rF2, they are simulating the steering rack which means you get no extra FFB about tyre grip, wheels locking up, etc., like you do in AC, R3E, etc. It doesn't suit me at all.

I 'fixed' rF2 by changing the configs to get the rF1 FFB re-instated (it's still there, you just have to do it in notepad).:p
 
I want to bring up this hidden point that you can only find within details. The way drivers move their wheel within iRacing and AC is slightly different.

Let's examine. Within iRacing you will see rather everybody being silky smooth. I'm not saying this is bad, but even rather new drivers are forced to accept this driving style. Personally, I strive to being as smooth as possible, but let's look at it further. In iRacing drivers turn in to certain degree, then hold the wheel steady there for determined amount of time before they start unwinding the wheel. Nothing wrong with holding a wheel a little bit you would think. But there is.

For most part if you are spectating real life footage, you will see drivers make small corrections all the time. I mean, if you are using real life rotation wheel circle, this is just inside 1cm wheel movement correction while they are still cornering towards the entry, around apex or within corner exit. That is how you will drive a car in real life without powersteering too and in AC, all the while you strive for smoother ride.

However, even though you can see and perhaps do certain small number of corrections inside operating an iR car, this is significantly lower then with AC. There can be two reasons for this. Either the tire model is not flexible enough, or simply put FFB is lacking this vital info via tension to immerse the driver to the latest details of its model.

I've tested iRacing for couple of months and those are my conclusions. I stand by those. Because the evidence shows from anyones video in any car that car behavior is exactly like that, which I experienced with those free cars. Therefor it has nothing to do with certain car, rather with the system it has been molded in. So, this being the core of any simulation it is preventing you from being totally immersed. And you end up feeling as if you are floating or howering over the track in iR. This means that you need to rather use tricks and learned behavior then your talent to race. Knowing all that and having had experienced it, no matter how good the iR MP is, this is always in ones way and as long as there is events and competition AC will woop it's ass on daily where almost anyone I have talked to had said, you feel as if you are on the track.

Edit : Sunce the 1.4 update for AC I font feel so strongly about its physics anymore. Somehow they made a step back and you can be too rough, totally unsmooth, saving too crazy slides too easily now. While iRacing is on the other end of the spectrum, so its hard to tell, but for physics I wouldnt pick AC anymore.
 
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For me both games are at the extreme ends of the spectrum, IR getting loose where i'd expect it to stick, AC sticking where i'd expect it to get loose.
I only tested IR with that 3 months free promotion and the only IR car that i drove extensively irl is the Miata, owned an NA & NB, no NC though.
Miatas are the perfect drivers cars for learning, balanced, forgiving but not too grippy, displaying all handling characteristics that a true sportscar can display in a controllable way.
The iRacing Miata is nothing like the real thing in my opinion. Now, i've read that one of Mazdas goals when planning the new car was to not make it grippier than the precedessor but i seriously doubt they made the NC any less grippy and ridiculously twitchy along the way.
Which is what the IR car felt like for me.

Edit: I tested IRacing about two years ago, no idea if the Miata had the new or the old tire model back then.
 
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Well, I think AC is better, but I'm biased.
But as yusupov has said above, it's good to look at different aspects to compare the two. Obviously iRacing's multiplayer aspect is far better than AC's, but it's way better than any other sim's MP. Credit to them, they've done a fantastic job. However, I disagree with the notion that iRacing has better track models and more immersive environments. For me, AC's tracks are more vibrant and the track surface is just as good.

Personally, I don't think Project CARS is all that it's cracked up to be, so now that you've got AC and iRacing, you're set. They're both light years better than Project CARS. Yes it looks very pretty, but beneath the beautiful skin, the driving model and physics looks pretty horrendous. NFS Shift is it's core, and it's obvious.

Hi Chris, regarding Pcars - as you may know I do a lot of play-testing with it regularly and make comparisons to AC by running some sessions in various cars that both titles share in common. Don't write Pcars off just yet, it might surprise you and many others when it's done. Don't get me wrong, I love AC and it's still my #1 favorite racing title.

Pcars is progressing nicely and now that Doug Arnao is tweaking things even further, it just keeps getting better and better. I don't know if it can surpass AC in pure driving dynamics (certainly not for everyone) but, I do think it will bring more race-environment dynamics that are lacking in other titles. It's something that we don't miss because we haven't had it before. I have to disagree to references to it handling like NFS Shift1/Shift2. I hated the driving feel of those titles - even with the handling mods. I would put Pcars driving dynamics somewhere between RRRE and AC right now. When things are setup right (a challenge with daily builds), the FFB can even surpass both of those.

As I have said before, time will tell how Pcars stacks up but, the handling and FFB continue to progress in a good direction. I think Pcars gets more than it's share of negative reviews due to the large number of people who have access but, don't follow proper testing protocol. That means reading build notes, physics and FFB threads daily - at a minmum. The same can be said for many of the videos released by users. Those are just some of the negative aspects of a community-assisted development path that wouldn't normally happen with an all-professional development team.

At any rate, the proof is in the pudding. Served at the proper temperature, it tastes good to me so far for whatever that's worth.

Hope to see you on track soon - I'll try to wave as you go by me Chris! :)
 
somehow after playing AC, the iRacing FF is like muddy, not feeling much information

I just hate the FF on stering rack it does not say much what is the car doing. But the things with iRacing is it has all the ovals stuff, and the realism is pretty good, but in iRacing everythings is loose out of control. when it break loose it's almost impossible to save the car while in AC it's possible to save the car. that why the big talk is a DD (Direct Wheel) and it's supposely able to save the car before it step sideway.

The smoothness of iRacing that was mentioned by members is inherent from Papyrus days, I believe they purchase the code a while ago, and use it as a starting point. If you jerk the wheel, it can cost bunch of times. I lean the hard way, the faster way is being the smoothest, but when I watch on car video, none of the real life race drivers is that smooth. I would classified that part of iRacing not realism.

I'm not really a big fan of iRacing, but it fill a need for now until somethings better come along, like AC for ovals.
 
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While I definitely don't think iRacing is perfect, I'm actually able to hold slides in lots of cars now after the major updates during 2014 to the tyre physics.

Try something simple like the Spec Racer Ford: take it for a spin and let the tail hang out. It's pretty easy to understand what's happening and correct. At least with my T300.....
 
AC is better when it comes to physics and graphics. I don't know how to touch the tire model. In iR I can feel that tires are wearing and in AC I can't. But the grip is more realistic in AC. I just wish AC had a multiplayer system of iR, cause right now it sucks. Only club races are good but they are rare. And public races are nightmare with trolls and people who simply can't drive. And AC has shitty damage model. You hit a wall at 100kph and you can drive like nothing happened. iR is far better at this as well.
 
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Over the Christmas holiday I purchased a 12 month subscription to IR (iRacing). IR is currently running a 1/2 price sale on all of its subscriptions. I ran lots of laps in the Rookie Mazda MX5 Cup car. By the end of the holiday weekend, I entered my first race. I qualified 3rd. I got clipped in a 1st lap turn 3 crash. Ended up finishing 7th out of 12. For my first time out, I will accept that finish. Boy-o-boy, it was lots of fun!

I would agree that AC (Assetto Corsa) has better graphics by far. From my short perspective with IR, I can clearly see that AC has better FFB, in that you can feel more of what the car is doing. However, I like the level of wheel feedback resistant with IR. Also, IR's damage model is very impressive, in that suspension damage and bodywork damage is very well modeled both visually and in how the car responds to damage.

IR gets top marks for the way it rewards and penalizes drivers for contact with other drivers and off course events. I feel this model prevents drivers from using their cars like pumper cars. This makes for more realistic experience in that drivers in real races do not run into other drivers with reckless with abandon (well, they usually don’t).

I tried a few of the high performance cars in IR and found them to be very twitchy and very easy to get sideways. With IR snap over steer felt very realistic as well as the effect of getting a wheel on the dirt and the resulting effect on the car. I don’t feel that AC does as good a job with these physics.

Is one better than the other? I think they balance, depending on what you are looking for. I love how IR’s rewards and penalties and how it keeps drivers acting like kids during Xbox and Playstation races. If you have raced on these platforms, then you know what I am talking about.

Anyway, these are my observations and opinions after a holiday weekend of racing on IR. So, my opinions have no real weight.
 
I think when it comes to physics iracing is all over the place. Some cars are fine, some cars are kinda crazy. Most are more difficult and harder than real life which leads to some weird technques being favoured instead of using real life proven techniques. Like the iracing savespin where you press both brake and throttle to make the car understeer out of oversteer situation. The first thing they teach you in real life racing school is how to countersteer. If countersteering was so difficult everybody would be told to jump both feet in everytime the rear steps out.

In ac you can still spin but you can use real driving technique (countersteering) instead of having to invent new ways of correcting slides that only work in your sim. It is not complete fantasy technique as there are technical reasons why it works. Locking the fronts while keeping the rears rotating does create moment into the car which will try to rotate and straighten the car but the actual grip difference that creates that moment is so small that it happens really slowly. If at all. Not snap back instantly like in racing.

The part which iracing gets so wrong is drifting. You can drift every kind of car imaginable. It will do a slow lap time. You can drive sideways and kill the tires. And be faster by not sliding the car so much. The choise should not be drive under the limit or spin. It is drive at the limit or be slower. But some people just have some huge issues with this. For some people it is difficult or arcade. But more realism doesn't mean more difficult. I think ac gets that. It goes with realism.

Iracing wants to appease the difficulty fanatics and keeps making cars which are always much more towards the difficult end of the spectrum just because they don't want to be labelled as easy. Because in that world easy means wrong. Easy means arcade. It means not realistic. So is real driving easy? No. Is it hard? Is walking hard? If you are a human with two healthy legs then no. If you are making a robot with 2 feet then it is insanely difficult. To me iracing has always felt more like programming a robot to walk instead of just walking. If I'm not careful I can trip over but I don't need to worry about it every doorstep or stair and learn special ways how to fall because I can't use my leg to take another step to different direction to get my balance back.
 
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

EDIT: maybe it's related to my skill, but in AC I can wheel the car like in a incar you tube video, where in iRacing I have to cradle it like eggs or a baby, that take out off the fun factor even I have been a member of iRacing since the beginning with all contents and A license. if AC wind pickup and there is oval stuff, I don't think I will renew the iRacing subscription even though I have paid upfront till 2017.
 
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