How good is Iracing ? from 0 to 10

[Onno Naber]

Hello guys
Iam reading a lot of good things on Iracing :tongue:,and iam thinking about having a go at it .Before I dive in I was wondering how mutch do you like this game / racesim (on handeling (car) and value for money ) how would you rate this game/racesim (from 0 :bad:to 10 :good.



Thanks

 

[Sander Hogendoorn]

A 9 for me, but after the V8 and Phillip Island combo was released I'd say a 9.5, what a blast

Btw a lot comes down to what you want to pay for it. To really get into it and work your way up the licenses and classes be ready to put a few hundred dollars in it. If you're not then all those 9 and 10 ratings are worth nothing

 

[Steve Emmons]

+1 to what Sander said. Just the best thing thing I've ever played.

 

[Kevin Ascher]

9.8 for me

 

[Jack B]

It's hard to give it a score, but since I've done 512 races, I suppose it's at least 9. It does the most important things for me better than any sim I've tried. Those things are mainly the connection I have from my steering wheel to the car. The FFB, the ability to correct and get punished for mistakes. Basically, how responsive and good the cars and tracks (laser scanned with so much character via bumps, etc) feel.

It's incredible from an organized website and stats standpoint as well. Including the 512 races, it has tracked in it's history probably over 2,000 total sessions with all kinds of cars at all kinds of tracks, so I can go back and look at previous perfomances in different situations.

It's missing a few things I like better in other sims, but not many of those left. I'd like to see a more sophisticated transmission, gearbox and clutch model, but it's almost here and from the sounds of it, will leapfrog the others. I'd like to see aero damage, that is more than cosmetic. I'd like to see a better damage model beyond suspension with detachable cart parts, but that's coming too. The current tire model seems the best, but a new one should be released shortly and I have very high hopes for that one. I'm already pretty happy in that area.

Some things it knocks out of the park. Like split times. On the surface it seems like all split times in sims are the same, but boy howdy they aren't. iRacing nailed it with their really cool implementation with about 7 different screens and keeping track of your splits with different cars and tracks against best lap for session, best alltime lap, best sector per sesson, optimal sectors per session, optimal sectors alltime etc. The entire website/application is pretty amazing too. There is so much information and things to check out many iRacers go months and are still discovering things.

The community collectively has so much knowledge as well and trades so much info when it comes to physics, real life cars, mechanical discussions etc. With so many members on the forums, it's a pretty impressive collection of brain power at the top (bottom not so much... ;-). Also, iRacing's marketing is 2nd to none at this point. Polyphony Digital and Turn 10 do a good job with Gran Turismo and Forza, but iRacing is showing up in a ton of places going after real world events, drivers etc. I'm getting more impressed each month at that aspect. The NASCAR Hall of Fame exhibit is a recent example. Their DWC broadcasts are another. Their Facebook page is gaining lots of momentum too.

Anyway, iRacing isn't for everyone, but for me it nails what I'm looking for better than the other choices at the moment.

 

[isamu]

Nice post Jack. I haven't jumped in yet but Im curious how's the popularity these days compared to say, the beginning of January? Has the growth been slow, moderate or rapid?

 

[Jack B]

Nice post Jack. I haven't jumped in yet but Im curious how's the popularity these days compared to say, the beginning of January? Has the growth been slow, moderate or rapid?

Isamu, the weekly new subscribers is up almost triple every week from the same week last year. In 2008 iRacing averaged 26 a day. In 2009 it was 37 and in 2010 so far it's 52 per day, so new subscriber growth is pretty significant. Many weeks this past couple months have been double or triple the same weeks from last year. And the NASCAR Hall of Fame opens this week I think, so that could cause a mild growth spurt. Or even a really big one. It's getting lots of press.

Hosted and leagues keep pulling people out of official races, so even though it's growing the official side isn't seeing it as much. Plus, the Pro and DWC leagues take some of the most frequent racers out of some of the official races. There are still 6 splits or Rookie races at peak times and some series are doing as well or better than ever, but iRacing still isn't at a point where every series is packed.

The tipping point hasn't been reached yet. Maybe with the new tire model, F1 Williams, transmission/gearbox/clutch and aero damage those will put it over the top. Hard to say, but it feels like it's close to the tipping point.

Here are the very popular series for this season in road (I don't race ovals).

Rookie Solstice
Spec Racer Ford
Skip Barber
Mazda
V8 Supercar
Daytona Prototype and Radical mixed class series.

Not sure about the Indycar or Jetta TDI Cup, but I did check the Vette and for some reason it's not heavily attended this season. I'm guessing everyone jumped to the V8 Supercar or the mixed DP/Radical series.

The Vette will probably make a comeback next season if they'll put it in a mixed series too.

Oval races seem very well attended, but I don't know the details.

 

[Jack B]

Nice post Jack. I haven't jumped in yet but Im curious how's the popularity these days compared to say, the beginning of January? Has the growth been slow, moderate or rapid?

Wolfgang keeps this updated everyday. It should give you a pretty good idea of the growth. It's actually pretty impressive growth if you look at the year over year comparisons week to week.

 

[isamu]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Very interesting.

A few people elsewhere have speculated that the delay of GT5 has sparked some of its fans to look elsewhere, and quite a few of them are said to be jumping in iracing. There's a even a big thread about iracing on NeoGaf, a forum specializing in mainstream videogames. Too bad Polyphony Digital could potentially lose tons of GT fans to iRacing but I guess that's the price they'll have to pay for delaying one of Sony's biggest franchises in Playstation history. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But if GT5 Prologue's online netcode is any indication, I'd say the GT fans are doing themselves a favor by looking elsewhere for good online netcode.

 

[Onno Naber]

Thanks for your replys,Iam hearing good things,and bad things,(mostly on the fact that not everybody likes to pay and play and you wil never own it, only the license but thats ok by me),I wil have a go at it as soon as my new pc arrives wich is thu this week(cant wait really )
So thanks again and hope to meet you out there


Onno

 

[David Wright]

Too bad Polyphony Digital could potentially lose tons of GT fans to iRacing ..

Lets get real. GT will sell - if earlier editions are anything to go by - around 10 million copies?

They won't lose any sleep over iRacing which has - what - 20,-25,000 members? most of whom are not GT fans.

 

[Mark A Warmington]

Hello guys
Iam reading a lot of good things on Iracing :tongue:,and iam thinking about having a go at it .Before I dive in I was wondering how mutch do you like this game / racesim (on handeling (car) and value for money ) how would you rate this game/racesim (from 0 :bad:to 10 :good.
Thanks

Personal opinion based on how the sim feels to me (compared to all others I own or have owned):
(Feel/Feeback) 9.5 (car seems to respond to inputs better than any other sim)
(Visuals) 9.5
(Value for money) 9.5 (you get what you pay for)
(Immersion) 9.5 (I feel more in touch with the car/track than any other sim)
(Racing) 10 (the action is intense and mostly iRacers treat their and your cars as though they cost money!).
(Fidelity of vehicles) 10 (cockpit details in iRacing look closest to in-car footage on TV I have ever seen).

Also - to add to everything Jack B has already stated (extremely well), something we haven't mentioned is that iRacing, more than any other 'sim' (not game) has focused on and delivered extremely well is that it puts wreckers in their place and punishes drivers who do not care about on track manners or accuracy over hotlaps:

You can only drive cars that your licence allows you to (in any official race). You can buy a C6R and run as many unofficial events as you like, but to race in the GT Championship you will need a B licence. To get a B licence you will need to improve your Safety Rating so you get your Rookie licence (starting point), increased to a D licence. You then need to repeat the process until you work through C to B. You can then continue through B to A right up to Pro.

However - if you cut you get an incident point that could reduce your SR. If you crash you will definitely get 4 incident points for contact. If you hit the wall (unless it is a glancing blow) you will get 1-2 incident points. Lose control of the car by spinning through 90+ degrees and you get lost control incident points. All of these stack up in the session (race, official qualifying, Time-Trial) and will come off your SR (more complex than this) at the end of the session.

Rack up too many deductions and you won't make it out of Rookie. If you already made it out of rookie into C or above, prepare for the possibility of being demoted as a SR that falls below 2.0 at the end of the 12 week season will result in demotion. All of a sudden you can no longer drive, in an official sesson, the car you bought with you hard-earned cash.

The only way to get your licence back? Rack up more SR to get your licence again.

This does a number of things. It makes you approach iRacing akin to a career for some drivers, but it definitely makes most approach it with respect. Respect for the sim and respect for the other dirvers on track. You will constantly hear at the begining of an iRacing race drivers say 'I am just here to get to my licence...' meaning, 'I will not push you, race you too hard, make any stupid moves, interfere with you if you are here for glory!'

If you do come across wreckers or inconsiderate drivers you have the ultimate incentive to get your D, C or above licence and let iRacing move you away from them - as you will be able to enter D, C races and they won't!

So all in all, for me, this is one of the best elements to iRacing - the fact introduces some sort of cause and effect consequence of your on track escapades: both positve, as things to aim for, and negative, as punitive measures for a lack of consideration for others or just lack of ability to control cars beyond your skill level.

 

[pingu666]

i just started playing iracing
on the plus side, cars and tracks are superb, great feel and look , its the best in that regard

downsides
I havent raced a great deal, but the SR thing means that most of my races wherent really racing, more cruising and letting anyone faster by. with SR my focus hadto change from racing as you would offline (ie going for it) to passive and abit fearful at times of triggering a SR hit.

i think the monthly useage/subscription cost is reasonable, but the cars and tracks are too expensive (cars, small tracks each $11.95, and large tracks $14.95). also your just licensing what you buy so you will need a active subscription to use them, so you if you decide to quit, and then start again, or just fancy a drive some months/years in the future then you gotta cough up money again. full content is upwards of £320 at the moment.

in direct comparison, i recently picked up race on for £9.98, including delivery. two dvd's and a paper manual. Race on does have alot of stuff thats been released before (race, race 07, STCC ) with a lil bit of new stuff, but its much better value, not as good ofcourse. im on a low income so value for money is pretty important for me. that price btw is within a few cents of the "larger" tracks

and sometimes i get lost in the webpage interface

its the most acurate sim around, i just dont like that it sim's racings high cost aswell :/

 

[Jack B]

i just started playing iracing
on the plus side, cars and tracks are superb, great feel and look , its the best in that regard

downsides
I havent raced a great deal, but the SR thing means that most of my races wherent really racing, more cruising and letting anyone faster by. with SR my focus hadto change from racing as you would offline (ie going for it) to passive and abit fearful at times of triggering a SR hit.

i think the monthly useage/subscription cost is reasonable, but the cars and tracks are too expensive (cars, small tracks each $11.95, and large tracks $14.95). also your just licensing what you buy so you will need a active subscription to use them, so you if you decide to quit, and then start again, or just fancy a drive some months/years in the future then you gotta cough up money again. full content is upwards of £320 at the moment.

in direct comparison, i recently picked up race on for £9.98, including delivery. two dvd's and a paper manual. Race on does have alot of stuff thats been released before (race, race 07, STCC ) with a lil bit of new stuff, but its much better value, not as good ofcourse. im on a low income so value for money is pretty important for me. that price btw is within a few cents of the "larger" tracks

and sometimes i get lost in the webpage interface

its the most acurate sim around, i just dont like that it sim's racings high cost aswell :/

Ping, not sure if you know this, but all your licensed content is waiting for you when you resubscribe, so you don't need to purchase again. I'd like to see a higher monthly cost, without car or track costs, but in the end if you race a lot you'll find you go months at a time without buying anything, because you're so busy with the cars and tracks you do own. In two years I own every oval and road car and all the road tracks and have spent less than $20 a month. It's just that at the beginning you spend more to get started. Over time you'll find you need less and less. I'm at less than $7 a month nowadays and I get $10 credit every 3 months for participation, so it's even less than $7 a month. It's just the initial getting started costs, when you think you need everything, but you really don't. I see your point though.

A good example is, that I've raced the Skip Barber series for 2 years... 7 seasons in a row. I just keep beating the hell out of that car! Glad I don't pay for repairs! LOL! If I'd only purchased that content I would have saved a bunch, but I'm glad I have all the other cars. I race them sometimes for a change of pace.

As for the website, it has so much content, data, reports, stats, documents, etc that it is overwhelming at first, but it's better than the alternative, which is a website that doesn't have much content. I can go back and look at a race, qualy or practice session I had from 2 years ago and look at every lap to see how I did.

Another cool thing about keeping all that data is the user created apps that come out. Someone just created a "Rivals" app. It will look at the most frequently raced rivals on iRacing and you can compare everything from who's beaten who, how many incidents they had compared to you. You can even look at old races.

I had 2 guys I've raced over 50 times. One of my friends I've raced about 30 times. I thought we were about even, but he's ahead 20 wins to about 10..... Hmmmm, going to have to fix that! LOL! Anyway, lot's of cool stuff, but yeah it's lot's of stuff. Really good looking website though. They do marketing really well.

 

[Mark A Warmington]

downsides
I havent raced a great deal, but the SR thing means that most of my races wherent really racing, more cruising and letting anyone faster by. with SR my focus hadto change from racing as you would offline (ie going for it) to passive and abit fearful at times of triggering a SR hit.

This 'downside' will turn into a huge sense of achievement once you move on from the dodgy Soltice (reasonably priced car ), get into something like the Skip Barber and have a 'real race' without picking up any incident points of damaging your SR in any way.

To finish a race, where you 'raced', without putting a wheel wrong, without compromising anyone elses race or SR brings a much greater sense of satisfaction than beating AI or a human driver where there were no real consequences for getting it wrong.

Watch this space.

 

[pingu666]

im on the spec for racer at the moment
i know you will get all your content if you resubscribe, my point is the average car/track is poor value, plus im a varitey guy which doesnt help, i guess

 

[Steve Emmons]

I think it's hard to get a feel for how good the iracing cars are from their base/intro package. It's one of my complaints and think it would be a good marketing tool for them to add 1 non-rookie car. The Skip Barber car is really quite good. As far as the tracks go, it wasn't what initially attracted me to iracing but after racing on them for a while I find them pretty darn amazing. To think that each bump and turn is exactly as the "real guys" see them I find pretty cool. Mosport - wow!

For the SR system, I actually sort of like it - sort of . I guess because I enjoy the precision... How many times to you see professional drivers drive off the track? It also cuts down on the amount of bump passing which is all too common in on-line racing. You have to learn to look for weaknesses, set someone up, and then make the pass. Safely...

As to the value equation I guess each person has to make their own judgment there, but cable tv, cell phone service, ipad, i phone can each be $50-$100/month easy...

Have fun!

 

[Jack B]

i just started playing iracing
on the plus side, cars and tracks are superb, great feel and look , its the best in that regard

downsides
I havent raced a great deal, but the SR thing means that most of my races wherent really racing, more cruising and letting anyone faster by. with SR my focus hadto change from racing as you would offline (ie going for it) to passive and abit fearful at times of triggering a SR hit.

/

Ping, respectful driving is the best part of iRacing, but having said that I've never had longer, closer lap after lap battles than I've had in iRacing.

I've seen guys pull over to let me by when I'm lapping them, but not very often when it was for position. If it was for position, how I got behind them would be an interesting question. Either they qualified faster than me or I spun, caught up and was passing them.

That catch up, crash, catch up, crash type of thing is often found when there are no consequences to crashing. I'm not saying your idea of real racing is catch up pass, crash, catch up crash, but I've seen plenty of that prior to iRacing. You see much less on iRacing as passing is more often something setup with a bit more caution.

I agree if someone likes the passing 15 cars in one lap dream we've all had, then AI racing is probably a better way to get that fix.

When I'm lapping a driver I see a ton of the "move to the side" passing, which is typically what the Blue Flag is recommending as they're being lapped.

I will say, I may be guilty of what you mentioned, but as an A driver with a 2,900 iRating I don't do it often.There are plenty of faster drivers than me on iRacing, but sometimes I will let someone by for a particular reason. I look at the driving ranks of those around me in a race and sometimes let the much faster guys by rather than risk a crash, which will take us both out of the race. Lot's of times I know those guys already, so I don't even have to look them up pre-race. I consider that smart racing, because I'll lose more time to the guys farther back if I block/race rather than let the faster driver through.

Many times I'll have a battle for a few laps and then one of us will make the decision than discretion is the better part of valor and one of us will let the other one go. On the other hand I've had the best race long battles with closely matched drivers I've ever had in any sim. The iRating gives me a better chance of being matched with guys closer in skill and I've had some incredible battles and given like real racing there is a consequence to reckless driving, it's close without dive bombing.

Dive bombing is rampant in many sim racing encounters, but you see significantly less in iRacing. It's one of the best parts of iRacing, but yeah iRacers (past Rookie level...) display a lot of patience and yeah they'll let you by at times depending on the situation.

 

[Dietmar]

Onno, if you ask, I would recommend to invest 5$ or 10$ for one of the promo actions and get your own impression. That's what I have done just recently.

I think it indeed rates pretty high, maybe an 8 (be aware in ratings you also can see cultural differences ).

I like the SR thing and th fact that you can race day and night, though I think that also more hype then truth (but the truth is not too bad). E.g. I am waiting now to participate in a race, I read before something about an race every hour. Might be true for the Solstice, which is an awful car, but good learning. Currently I am running the Spec Racer, which I think is actually a lot of fun after I got used to it.

It took me actually only two races in the Solstice to be able to race the Spec Racer. But these two races were exactly as above written, cuising to finish without incidents and aim to win.

But I think it is also not everything gold that shines (German saying). One thing that drives me nuts, if the car slips a centimeter to much on the gras you spin! So you spin a lot in the beginning.

Nevertheless, I think I will stick with it for a while. Am I going to buy more content? Dont know yet! But definitively worth trying building your own opinion!

 

[Mark A Warmington]

Earlier today I experienced something brilliant (for me) in iRacing. I recall running in a league (not important where) where I got somewhat obsessed with trying to improve my qualifying position. I would log back onto the server and turn lap after lap trying to find a 10th.

Well - today I ran a qualifying session for Watkins Glenn in the GT Championship. The time was about 4 tenths off my PB and 1.2 seconds off my optimum lap. I only picked up two incident points for the session. So - not being satisfied, I jumped into another session and failed to improve. I did however walk away with 9 more incident points and dropped my SR by 13 points.

At this point I had a decision to make: be satisfied with my time and knock it on the head, or run the risk of chasing those tenths and lose my licence in the quest.

NB - I took the wake up call.

As everyone has said, different strokes for different folks. I think iRacing is great if you think it is great and sucks if you think it sucks - only you can decide. For me, today just reminded me why I currently think it is great .