driving route

[Andrew Ford]

hi, just recently started iracing on 3 month free offer.
have to say, feels great. not had much time on it as been busy at work but up to rating 3.52 rookie (awaiting promotion) and on 2nd race track in mazda cup - okayama.

ultimately i would like to work towards the open wheelers. think the first opportunity is "the skip barber trainer"?
how do i get to the trainers? should i keep going in the mazda cup until i get promoted and it unlocks or am i going down the wrong route? i'm confused as ...there are also 2 mazda compeitions!

 

[Jamie R]

I'm not sure what you mean by trainer, but the skip barber is definitely the best car to start with for open wheelers. It is a car you have to purchase though and it runs on a lot of tracks you will also need to purchase, but it is a very rewarding car to drive on the edge and has a good amount of people racing in it.

As far as being able to drive it goes, as long as you have over 3.0 SR as rookie and own the car and track for that week, you should be able to race.

 

[Andrew Ford]

I'm not sure what you mean by trainer, but the skip barber is definitely the best car to start with for open wheelers. It is a car you have to purchase though and it runs on a lot of tracks you will also need to purchase, but it is a very rewarding car to drive on the edge and has a good amount of people racing in it.

As far as being able to drive it goes, as long as you have over 3.0 SR as rookie and own the car and track for that week, you should be able to race.

really? i thought the whole point was unlocking cars and tracks if you did well? an incentive? I think the subscription covers the cost of doing this ...and for those who want to get tracks quicker (or because they're not good enough) they can buy tracks/cars?

 

[Jamie R]

really? i thought the whole point was unlocking cars and tracks if you did well? an incentive? I think the subscription covers the cost of doing this ...and for those who want to get tracks quicker (or because they're not good enough) they can buy tracks/cars?

Unfortunately not. It really is an expensive sim to get into but nothing really compares to it for me so I have to just limit how much I spend on it per month. I do really wish they'd make it cheaper, even if just for there to be more people using it.

 

[Andrew Ford]

Unfortunately not. It really is an expensive sim to get into but nothing really compares to it for me so I have to just limit how much I spend on it per month. I do really wish they'd make it cheaper, even if just for there to be more people using it.

i have to say, it is the best sim i've played which surprises me after stuff i'v read. i've got rfactor 2. some cars are still flawed but the megane at sebring (for an example) feels great. the graphics are quite good. however, play that and then jump on iracing in the mazda and there really is no comparison. iracing is graphically better and the physics are more complete - maybe not the feel for the surface. however, if i have to pay for subscription and tracks, i won't be doing that. i was tempted to pay subscription in 3 months but i'll probs leave it and hopefully assetto corsa will be out. i have a decent job but to pay £14 per track...that's a joke..btw, what is the incentive for improving ur rating if you have to buy stuff anyway?

 

[Dazmaniac]

Remember its not £14... its $14, which is about £8.86.

Still not cheap, but like Jamie said, if you plan your racing route, you can work out what cars and tracks you will need. No point buying ovals if you ain't gonna race 'em.

Skip Barber is worth the investment though. If you buy things in bulk you also get percentage discounts.

Once you get to D license (if you stick it out beyond the trial 3 month) you can race in official seasons and get iRacing credits based on participation, which you can then ultimately use towards purchasing content.

Be interesting to hear your thoughts once AC is released, especially if they end up having DLC which they charge for, lol.

 

[Andrew Ford]

Remember its not £14... its $14, which is about £8.86.

Still not cheap, but like Jamie said, if you plan your racing route, you can work out what cars and tracks you will need. No point buying ovals if you ain't gonna race 'em.

Skip Barber is worth the investment though. If you buy things in bulk you also get percentage discounts.

Once you get to D license (if you stick it out beyond the trial 3 month) you can race in official seasons and get iRacing credits based on participation, which you can then ultimately use towards purchasing content.

Be interesting to hear your thoughts once AC is released, especially if they end up having DLC which they charge for, lol.

thanks for the reply! sounds a little more promising. so i could actually "earn" content if i race well? e.g. i get some wins and then i can buy tracks? ur right about the dollar thing. keep forgetting it's american. doh!

my view at the minute is to enjoy the 3 months free and hope AC comes out, blows me away and makes me want to stop iracing.

i hear what ur saying about DLC. however, think this will become the norm in games and it depends how they work it. for example, race 07 seems to have provided dlc quite nicely - you get lots for your money. obviously moreso recently due to its age. i prefer buying a "package" of cars or tracks for a fee rather than 1 at a time.
i think with AC, people will gravitate towards certain cars and form communities/leagues on Racedepartment. that would allow me to focus on 1 or 2 series which is manageable. with iracing, the only one i'm interested in fully is the williams f1...and i don't think i would be elligable for some time? maybe because i'm only 3.52 rookie at minute but i haven't experienced the "community" part of iracing yet through a league...so i'm cautious to invest.


than

 

[Hampus Andersson]

e.g. i get some wins and then i can buy tracks?

No participation is enough to get back some cash.

You can earn $40 per year, $10 per season, so a free car or track almost every season.
Not much but it´s something at least.

Participate in 8 of the 12 weeks and you get 10 bucks.

-
Just looked it up and they have lowered the prices quite a lot in 2009, hopefully there´s another price drop soon.

read more here,
http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/iracing-news/iracing-announces-added-features-lower-prices

 

[Andrew Ford]

No participation is enough to get back some cash.

You can earn $40 per year, $10 per season, so a free car or track almost every season.
Not much but it´s something at least.

Participate in 8 of the 12 weeks and you get 10 bucks.

-
Just looked it up and they have lowered the prices quite a lot in 2009, hopefully there´s another price drop soon.

read more here,
http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/iracing-news/iracing-announces-added-features-lower-prices

really helpful
thanks!

what class and series do you race in hampus?

 

[Hampus Andersson]

None, can´t stand official racing because people can´t drive even if their life depended on it and i don´t like the idea of sharing the penalty for sh*t i did not cause.

So i run strictly leagues.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

one or two more points.
you never actually own the content, you just lease it
in order to get your free credits you have to finish 25% of the race in eight of the series' 12 events
lower classes get you $4 credit for each season, higher classes $7, but the max per season is $10 anyway
the bulk credit really helps bringing prices down but in order to not pay for stuff one regrets later one should really do it bit by bit, maybe six items the first two seasons and then three items each new season
often there is a special offer for yearly membership at half price around April / May, watch out for that one
a season lasts 12+1 week, we are currently in season01 2013, week2, week3 starting on Tuesday
promotion to new driver class (Rookie, D, C, B, A) is strictly via Security Rating, as Hampus observed, this can be quite annoying. most players do some weeks of just hanging around in mid-field or further back far from where trouble lurks to make the jump to next level
If you exceed 4.0 SR you are automatically advanced to next grade, even mid-season, if you exceed 3.0 you have to wait till the end of season
when buying content be sure to max out possibilities, e.g. the McLaren GT3 car is used in many series, the Dallara Indycar runs in ovals and on road tracks, rovals (road+oval tracks) like Indianapolis are used in series of both type etc.
actually figuring the system out is part of the fun, lol

 

[Muhammed Patel]

If you're aiming to get into the F1 at the end of it all, Star Mazda can be a real help for you too..I didn't use it personally, but I guess it helps you understand the fundamentals of the car.

One thing to remember is the the yearly cost for iRacing gets halved around Black Friday? to $49, correct me if I'm wrong..

To get into the A license isn't really that difficult tbh, if you don't have bad luck along the way it shouldn't take you more than a few weeks, some can do it in a week or two..

 

[Steve O'Malley]

When I started I was fixated on getting the next license and the next license etc etc. Money wasnt an issue so I just bought the next car when I was eligible to race it.
However, if i started again I would view it differently. If like me you view this hobby as something to do for fun, although I could race the Williams, I have never bothered purely because the time you need to invest in practising and setup to be competitive is massive.

Instead, I have found some of the most enjoyable cars and series are the lower ones – particularly the Skip Barber and the Spec Racer Ford which seems to be easily the friendliest environment.

I tend to concentrate on the SRF as a main series and mess with a few others if I like the track on any particular week. I planned to give the Lotus 49 a real good go but that have obviously been shelved until it is released. Since the latest build the MX5 is a good car to drive so I’ve been messing with the mixed class Grand Touring series which also seems well supported and looks enjoyable.

My personal views in case you are interested:
Star Mazda – handles like a boat.
Radical: Good fun but fairly sparsely attended races
Lotus 79 – needs a lot of practising
Skip Barber – plenty of first lap heroes and seems to becoming quite an aggressive series.
McLaren – as with the 79, needs quite a lot of practise and is quite difficult to handle.
Solstice – Good fun
Mustang – Didn’t like it.

 

[Andrew Ford]

i quickly got up to rating 3.52 but in last 2 races, i've been smashed off the track by reckless racers - and I get punished! for damage, off track and then finishing low down. unbelievable. at least with assetto corsa (hopefully) i won't get punished THAT MUCH for the mistakes of others.

 

[Steve O'Malley]

i quickly got up to rating 3.52 but in last 2 races, i've been smashed off the track by reckless racers - and I get punished! for damage, off track and then finishing low down. unbelievable. at least with assetto corsa (hopefully) i won't get punished THAT MUCH for the mistakes of others.

The accident thing tends to go in cycles but you are racing in the rookie series. GET OUT OF ROOKIE!
You did ok in week 13 with the SRF. my advice, get out of rookie, race the SRF for a few rounds and see how it goes.
As you say, you wont get penalised for other peoples damage in Assetto Corsa but will you suffer from corners cutters and people barging you out the way without getting penalised for it? Those two things wont happen in IRacing.
Once out of rookie you will find the stanard improves massively.

 

[Andrew Ford]

The accident thing tends to go in cycles but you are racing in the rookie series. GET OUT OF ROOKIE!
You did ok in week 13 with the SRF. my advice, get out of rookie, race the SRF for a few rounds and see how it goes.
As you say, you wont get penalised for other peoples damage in Assetto Corsa but will you suffer from corners cutters and people barging you out the way without getting penalised for it? Those two things wont happen in IRacing.
Once out of rookie you will find the stanard improves massively.

thanks. it's easier said than done . p.s. how did you know i did well?

 

[Steve O'Malley]

thanks. it's easier said than done . p.s. how did you know i did well?

I looked you up. Do a driver search on iracing (top right of website). The SRF race i saw you only had 4 incidents at LRP which isnt bad for a rookie.
I found the easiest way to improve your license it to forget about winning until you are out of rookie. Just concentrate on SR so if a guy wants to come barrelling past, just move over. Chances are you will pass him again when he spins off down the road.

 

[Steve O'Malley]

I looked you up gain - your last race 12 incidents. Click on laps. Off track 5 times. Without those off's you would have had an increase in SR and been on your eay to leaving the Rookie series. Maybe time to slow down a bit till you get out.

 

[Andrew Ford]

think ur right mate. its more about being safe. i'm t rying to learn to go faster. i guess for now, i better take more care

 

[Andrew Ford]

I looked you up gain - your last race 12 incidents. Click on laps. Off track 5 times. Without those off's you would have had an increase in SR and been on your eay to leaving the Rookie series. Maybe time to slow down a bit till you get out.

i think ur right - it's about being safe but i live to improve my speed and have competitive races. sadly, some of the guys up front are win at all costs and i've been wiped out or knocked off. the guys at the back are always more fair!