Opinion | Racing In The Rain

[Ben Lee]

I’ve always loved racing in the rain, I think because it makes whatever car you are in come alive and slips and slides much more which I love. I think one thing it does do is extend the skill ceiling higher so the people who can wrestle a car rise to the top. I did loads of wet races in GTR2 and the number of people I passed on lap 1 of a wet race, well it’s in double figures in all probability.

 

[Deleted member 205301]

Interesting poll (hopes that guys answer honestly)
Wont comment a lot : I hate rain IRL (go-kart or production'class car), and i dislike it on sim (cause it's too demanding for my pc^^, even if i'm way faster than majority)
I never saw a title abble to simulate "perfectly" wet conditions, some are great, some others are ridiculous...I won't say wich, that's not the point..
the fact is majority of people prefears racing on dry conditions, i understand why, and that's why AC or iracing don't have rain, and it's really not a problem ...The best argument for having rain in a sim is : it makes the thing realistic, ok, but what if the title doesn't simulate it on a "realistic way" ? so i prefears great dry physics than bad wet physics^^
@++

 

[M D Gourley]

50/50 here....and this is ONLY based on driving solely in ACC, as I feel the other Sims are not as good so I do not use the Rain setting and although for me personally it would be closer to 75% driving in the rain in ACC, absolutely love it ...Visually stunning at Ultra settings on my PC, Audio very immersive with my Audio set up, FFB and Physics fantastic on my TS XW ...and really looking forward to Bathurst in the rain...why, because it's a simulation, and I want to be able to simulate driving in the rain on Bathurst when ever I want

 

[PervRacer 6969]

If in real life it is dangerous, in video games it is a roulette.

 

[Celestiale]

I love racing in the wet but unfortunately i am not able to really do it currently..only racing in VR and ACC and Pcars2 are both a no go for me.
- ACCs performance is so bad in VR that it doesn't make sense for me now
- Pcars 2 flickering trees drive me mad.

Only sim i am able to race in the wet is rFactor2 but i am yet to start a championship or something, that would give me the opportunity.

 

[MarcG]

Less than 10% currently, but now I have a PC powerful enough (with decent VR) I'm gradually racing more in the Wet when I can, mainly in ACC & RF2. I find it a nice fresh challenge from the same old grippy dry tracks, much more invigorating to have a good race in the wet than dry!

 

[Will Mazeo]

IMO if you havent had a race where a rain (either real time or script based on forecast) coming out of nowhere changed everything and you had to bet on wet or dry tire and in the end you feel so excited for whatever happened (good or bad result) you didnt fully enjoy simracing yet.

 

[BrettSinclair1]

I never understood why simracers would go nuts about the lack of the most minute detail of driving physics yet were perfectly happy with the omission of what can influence any single real race: weather and rain.
After all, sim racing is about simulating racing, isn't it?

 

[Nick Hill]

The vast majority of my laps come in R3E and AC so...no, not many rain laps.

 

[David Wright]

I have enjoyed racing in the rain going all the way back to the days of TOCA 2, with changeable conditions the most fun. Racing in the rain is part of most racing series and should be part of simulated racing. It is frustrating that we have had wet racing since the days of Crammond's Grand Prix but developers have a long history of following up games which did have wet weather with games that drop the feature. However it does seem like we might finally be reaching the point where it is a universal feature with AMS2 having rain and iRacing at least talking about rain. Presumably the issues with GTR3 will delay RR getting rain but hopefully they will get there eventually.

 

[Will Mazeo]

I never understood why simracers would go nuts about the lack of the most minute detail of driving physics yet were perfectly happy with the omission of what can influence any single real race: weather and rain.
After all, sim racing is about simulating racing, isn't it?

Funny enough the sims these ppl drive more dont have rain, I think the fanboyism talks louder than anything else in these moments. Watch and see the reactions when iR adds rain for example, will be prised by the same guys that are now saying they think this is something unecessary.
Similar thing happened with ACC and chassis flex

 

[Metla]

I prefer to simulate a clear sunny day. I like the idea of rain and believe a sim (or non-sim orientated game for that matter) is a better package for having it as a feature.

I will freely admit that my skill level doesn't make for an enjoyable wet weather event and I don't have the motivation or time to dedicate to getting to that level.Especially when I can just select a sunny day and have a great race event in the time I have available.

 

[Dobermann92]

There is a big difference between racing in light rain and in heavy rain. Racing in light rain can be amazing, racing in heavy rain is tedious and I try to avoid it.

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

One thing to have what looks like rain - completely another to have the rain actually affect the physics in a realistic way. No sim on the market today does this in any meaningful way

 

[mantasisg]

Just for sake of emotions I would love to be caught in absolutely insane rain fall at least just for couple of minutes from time to time. It is simracing, nothing is so serious to cancel the racing, all you have to do is to slow down.... slow down a looooot.

But as much as I know there really doesn't have to be a lot of rain for big changes, if conditions are "right" and there wouldn't be a lot of evaporation, in case there are some smooth surface, viscous hydroplanning can become big issue very quickly with little dampness.

@Wayne Hutchison I think ACC approached rather closely, but IMO passed the ball at some moment and actually made it way easier than it should be. But theyhave everything to make it right in terms of realism, if they would try it. But I guess it is more important to be liked...

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Funny enough the sims these ppl drive more dont have rain, I think the fanboyism talks louder than anything else in these moments. Watch and see the reactions when iR adds rain for example, will be prised by the same guys that are now saying they think this is something unecessary.
Similar thing happened with ACC and chassis flex

It'll get added when they can do it right and have it accurately impact the physics. And then, after about 2 weeks, no one will use it. Just like in all other sims that have something they call "rain"

 

[BP]

I would like to race in the rain more often, but 90% of the online sim community are chickens who only drive in perfect conditions. ;(

Another point would be (in ACC) that it needs to be improved visually, you still don't see any puddles.

I do agree that most sim racers avoid stuff like that online (another seems to be high powered open wheelers), but then based on the way the typical online driver reacts when they are crashed into (or even just a slight bump)...I don’t blame them for driving in situations they can control more. An F1 machine is not something everyone can handle without a bit of practice.

As for ACC, I thought it was only me that could barely see the puddles, it always seems more of a “drop in puddle, try not to crash, remember where that puddle was” kind of deal. Then again, maybe that’s the typical experience of a driver IRL?

Having said that, ACC is my sim of choice when I desire some rain racing (I voted 10% or less)...tried Zandvoort recently and it was quite the fun rollercoaster!

 

[AlexHeuskat]

No rain, No buy

 

[Terje Helle]

In my perfect sim, we can have real weather. SimRacing is so much more fun, when it’s almost impossible to have a “guitar hero” race. If the race is dynamic, with weather, surface and so on, you have to do the constant over/under limit. That’s what’s racing is all about. In my humble opinion...

 

[LDO_ONE]

I love having to bet on strategies. Dynamic conditions lead to make choices between tyres and pit stop strategies. But Most people don't care as they play only 20 min races. I don't see enough races with various strategies used, even on dry tracks with hard/medium/soft tyres.
That's what is exciting to me, having to make difficult choices :

Your driving since 30 min and your medium tyres start to be used but ther's rain coming and you don't know if its in 2 mins or in 15-20 mins. Do you change them now ? or wait 2-3 laps to try to wait for rain ?
will you choose soft/medium tyres thinking rain don't last, or intermediate ? Or wet tyres ?

Every choice is risky and this decision making can make you win or lose, that's exciting.