Thinking of returning to iRacing

[Philip Antonia]

Hi to all the iRacers here at RD:smile:.

I was one of the lucky buggers to get to drive iRacing b4 the Full public release and it got me into online racing. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to continue after my first month and I've not used it since. I had the original 2 cars plus I'd bought the Skippy to practice in if I'd got my rating high enough at the end of my first month. I think I bought V.I.R raceway and another Oval I think. I know I'll still have these if I rejoin, but I'm wondeing if any of you guys here have any suggestions as to which cars/tracks I may benifit from most early on. I'm not entirely sure how iRacing runs week by week. When I did the first month it was a roadcourse one hour then an oval the next. It would be the same two tracks for a week and then different ones the following week. How has this changed now and how many circuits etc will I need to take part without missing out?

Basically they have sent me an offer to rejoin which runs out on the 20th of March. As it's my Birthday on the 23rd I was thinking of taking it up and asking for iRacing gift vouchers from my family to get me started.

Any thoughts/suggestions or advice will be of great help in my decision process. It's not a case of wether I'll like iRacing as I know I did. I'm just weighing up the value for money/time available to play etc so that I can feel happy with my decision.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

[James Yates]

Phillip, take a look at this

 

[Gary Lennon]

I actually took them up on that same offer last week Phil and like you the only car i bought my first time round was a Skippy,i still havent purchased a track yet but soon will be,iRacing spec Brands was one of the main reasons i returned along with the knowledge Oulton Park is on the way as well,i currently have the Jetta TDi/Brands/VIR in my shopping basket giving me 10% off those 3 items,but something im noticing now in a lot of the series is the ammount of non standard tracks you have to buy for a whole series,its quite a large list really which would make quite a hefty price tag.....

 

[Kevin Watts]

I don't play use iRacing as often as I should or indeed like to do so but I keep a subscription open. I rationalize my purchase as I view iRacing to be the best racing simulation on the PC to date and the cost over the course of the year could be spent buying other racing games that would not give me quite the enjoyment iRacing does and each one would have its own learning curve with cars handling slightly different depending on the developers view. I'd have to find servers running each game I want to play so with iRacing I get what I feel are the best cars and tracks tied in with an online service that is also well run and caters for what I want. James guide will put you on the right track (pardon the pun) buy in three's and make savings, race often and you'll get credits back.

 

[Philip Antonia]

Phillip, take a look at this

Thank you James, that looks like it will be useful if I choose to go ahead. I'll have a proper read through later:thumbup:.

I actually took them up on that same offer last week Phil and like you the only car i bought my first time round was a Skippy,i still havent purchased a track yet but soon will be,iRacing spec Brands was one of the main reasons i returned along with the knowledge Oulton Park is on the way as well,i currently have the Jetta TDi/Brands/VIR in my shopping basket giving me 10% off those 3 items,but something im noticing now in a lot of the series is the ammount of non standard tracks you have to buy for a whole series,its quite a large list really which would make quite a hefty price tag.....

Thank you Gary. You've have pretty much summed up one of my main concerns about going back now that there is a lot of content. The tracks needed to compete in series is a concern as I don't want to have to shell out too much just to be able to take part. I have a little over a week to investigate further and decide.

Any more opinions are welcome.

Thanks for answering chaps :smile:.

 

[James Yates]

The main reason for the increasing number of addon tracks in series is due to requests in the forum. Seen as iRacing has been going for a while now more and more people have more content so it only seems logical to add a few more tracks in. Also new tracks tend to get added if they are extremely popular - Brands Hatch being added everywhere was a good example of that.

 

[Philip Antonia]

That makes perfect sense and from a business point of view is understandable.

It's just a bit daunting if your coming in late to try and catch up.

 

[Simon Trendell]

It's bad for the first series but gets better afterwards

Skippy Purchases - 9

Infineon Raceway
Virginia International Raceway
Brands Hatch Circuit
Sebring International Raceway
Road Atlanta
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Road America
Watkins Glen International
Mosport International Raceway

Move to the Star Mazda - 3 (or 2 if you hate ovals so much you skip Milwaukee)

The Milwaukee Mile
Silverstone Circuit
Barber Motorsports Park

Move to Corvette - 1

Daytona International Speedway

Move to DP - 2

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Homestead Miami Speedway

Or IndyCar - 4 (or 1 again if you hate ovals)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway
Homestead Miami Speedway

Should add: Next build we are due to get the V8 Supercar & Phillip Island, which will have an interesting schedule. Zandvoort will probably be added to some of the existing series, most likely the Skippy, Jetta, Mazda & Lotus 79.

 

[Kevin Watts]

Philip, don't fall into the trap of thinking you have to buy everything. For instance maybe you buy the Skippy and a few tracks for that series and find like many of us the Skip Barber is a hell of a lot of fun to drive (reminiscent of the old Grand Prix Legends sim in handling) whats to stop you racing that another season or another season after that or any of the series that support the cars you had with the base package? In comparison I don't buy ever add-on pack for every boxed game I own as soon as they come out but I might pick them up later. Buying bits and pieces as you need them in iRacing soon adds up and you'll have plenty of content. I could do with buying a few tracks for the truck series but instead I took a week out and prepared for the next race by getting my lap times down so I could be competitive.

 

[Marc Good]

Hey Philip
Just sent you a PM with the current Season 1 schedule linked. It might help with your decision.

Remember:
- You get 4 drop weeks each season, so only 8 tracks are required to run a full season.
- The Spec Racer Ford is now included in the base package as well.
- Every season the schedule gets some changes.. but usually it's only little changes.

 

[Philip Antonia]

Thank you Marc:smile:.

Will the Spec Racer automatically get added to my content?

 

[Gareth Hickling]

It replaces the advanced Solstace.

 

[Steve Emmons]

I also got one of the account renewal coupons good until March 20, though I haven't decided what to do yet. It's $18 for 3 months so I might give it go since they've probably improved things since I last tried it 1.5 years ago. Their base package still seems kind of skimpy... Is the Spec Racer any good?

 

[Bruce Saltzman]

Also keep in mind the tremendous reduction in cost for cars and tracks from when you first joined. Most tracks are now 14.95 or less. Cars are now 11.95. Couple this with volume discounts and your money goes much further now. Great reductions in subscriptions as well once your promo runs out.

 

[Steve Emmons]

Would you happen to know if the base package has enough cars & tracks to run a series?

 

[Bruce Saltzman]

For the rookie season, yes.

 

[Philip Antonia]

I may do the 3months on the offer and see how it goes. I'm not sure I can afford to stay with it or not. The subscription I can manage, but I'm not sure I can afford to buy additional content to continue with it afterwards.

I know it sounds silly to some, but I don't have a console and the only game I bought for myself last year was Race On. The kids have a Wii and if I have money to spare on a game it always goes to them.

 

[Philip Antonia]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I'll be making my return to iRacing 2nite. :thumbup:

 

[James Yates]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I'll be making my return to iRacing 2nite. :thumbup:

Good to hear

 

[Mark A Warmington]

Maybe I'll see you on track then . I made my return a couple of months ago and am now on a mission to get my B license and race that C6R in the GT Championship :biggrin: