Struggling with iRacing

[Terry James]

Hi all, Just started my first ever iRacing subscription and I must say......How frustrating it is, I have all the simbin games and r-factor and all though I am not the quickest online, I can still race within 0.5secs of the guys I have run with...That was until I tried iRacing, What a difference it is!

I had my 1st race last night in a legends race and all though I finished 6th, I found it really hard to keep the thing pointed in the right direction, I couldn't apply throttle like some of the faster guys out of the corner, Too much and I would spin, Too little and I suffered major understeer and found myself way out wide on corner exit, The other thing that I couldnt get to grips with was heavy braking, These things are undrivable under braking and found myself coasting into corners to avoid excess brake pressure otherwise the thing would just throw me off the track!!

I thought it was just the legends, But I cant seem to get any consistent laps in without spinning in any car! I must admit that I have just upgraded to the g27 after I decided to sell on my dfgt and maybe I need more time with the wheel, Though after doing some offline practise in gtr2 and r-factor, I felt pretty good with the wheel...Are the physics in iRacing that much more realistic than the other sims I play?

What newbie advice can anyone give to me for iRacing, I don't want to remain a rookie, Though right now I cant see what I can do to improve, I have been on it all day, trying to find a consistent style of driving and yet I cant seem to find a good balance....HELP!!

 

[William Levesque]

It's not because it's tough that it's necessarily realistic.

From what I've heard, setups in iRacing are VERY important, so try to find a good ones for your favorite series

Also, practice is very important, don't expect good results right away. no matter your previous experience as the game is different...

Another thing, if you are not an oval racer you'll surely find it tougher since it's completely different than road racing...

 

[Eric Estes]

The legends are a particularly difficult car - coasting into the corners on an oval isn't bad idea necessarily until you can get the brake stabs (short-sharp till the car 'sets' - turn) down pat. I would start with the MX-5 cup and the classic slow in, fast out - brake straight, get it turned, throttle on gently (with a late apex in general). You are probably used to trail braking and throwing around the car, and that won't work on the tire model on these cars. Start with slow laps and build up - just as if you had never raced before. If you were .5s off the really fast guys in GTR/RACE/rFactor, there is no reason you won't be up w/in a second on iR withing a week or two (certainly not in a day). It's well worth the time invested - in the end you will feel very much as if you are driving the car.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Are the physics in iRacing that much more realistic than the other sims I play?

For the games you mentioned, yes it is.

I have tried to go back to other sims but i can´t, it´s a totally different feeling. the only other game i could jump right into and feel at home was NKPro, a game many consider to be just as, if not better then iRacing in terms of physics.

You need to get setups, it´s extremely important to feel confidence in pushing the car to the limit.
I usually search the forums, download 4-5 sets and try them out, hopefully one of them fits my driving style pretty good.

You basically have to re-learn how to drive a car when jumping from Simbin to iRacing/NKPro.
It takes a bit of time but just keep practicing and it will come, you will also then appreciate the fine physics.

Also, the most important thing. Search for iRacing recommended settings for G27, that way you get the correct settings for the wheel.

Bottom line is as Eric says, if you can hang with guys in other titles you can also hang with them in iRacing.
Maybe not the top as iRacing arguably has the absolute fastest simracers on the planet.
You just need to get yourself into the zone with the things mentioned above (setups, wheel settings, practice) and you will be flying after that

You can´t get away with stuff in iRacing that you normally do in other games.

 

[Terry James]

Thanks for the replies Guy`s, And Eric, I must admit that I did get used to trail braking a lot in the other games, It just seemed more natural for me, Now though I need to concentrate on using my brakes with a bit more consideration in iRacing. The one sim I have not tried is NKpro, mainly because there is not a great community for it.

The one thing that got me on the other sims that I play, was that they just did`nt Feel that authentic, Compare those to iRacing and they feel very GT5 ish, I have been racing sims for years, Going back as far as the 1st geoff crammond games, and I got to say that iRacing is by far the most demanding, In terms of physics, As for set-ups, That has always been my Achilles heel, I just dont have the time req to maul over various set-ups and tweaks, It always seems to take an age to develop!

I will probably extend my subscription for iRacing, As I am determined to get it nailed, I think it makes you rise to the challenge more, I think I will ghost race for now and check out how other racers deal with the issues I have and then work from there...

As for my G27, I am not too sure how accurate my settings are, Below is how they are set in Logitech profiler.

• unchecked combined axis box
• degrees of rotation 900
• enable FF box checked
• overall effects strength = 106%
• spring effect = 0%
• damper effect = 100%
• centering spring effect unchecked & set at 0%
• Allow game to adjust

In iRacing my settings are

• Steering set lock to lock at 844 degrees
• Limit cars lock to lock range at speed at 844 degrees
• Brakes force curve factor at 1.80 (not sure on this one tbh)
• Enable FF box checked and set at 12.0
• Damping set at 0
• H-pattern and seq box all set as per wizard

I think the settings are ok but not 100% sure, any suggestions welcome.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I just gave you a suggestion in the post above Search for the recommended settings so you can compare them your own.

 

[Terry James]

Yep cheers for that Hampus, I think I have it set-up right now, Seems to be some conflicting opinions on the correct settings though, I will stick to what I have for now