Im Primarily a flight sim guy I like PC as Im a tweeker of late,I have been looking into racing Sims.
Seems to me iracing is on the right track you don't have all the ramming that you see in online silly kiddy console Sims and the physics seem world class.

Four questions

1. For those that have joined up... IS IT GOOD?

2. Is there a large enough community to find to race against?

3. Are the graphics very good like in grand torismo 5 prolouge
(thats all I have as a comparison for racers)

4. What is the best race wheel at this time for PC?

Thanks
RaVe

1. For those that have joined up... IS IT GOOD?
Yes very.

2. Is there a large enough community to find to race against?
Yes and its growing every day.

3. Are the graphics very good like in grand torismo 5 prolouge
(thats all I have as a comparison for racers) No, no game/sim is better looking than gt5 to be honest.

4. What is the best race wheel at this time for PC?
On a realistic budget the logitech G25. If you have $2000 frex have a new wheel out, then you could spend another $900 on some CST pedals.

Thank you Andrew1988.
Just to be clear whith the NO part your saying Iracing gfx are better that GT5Prol.

Does anyone have any input on this post from an iracing user from anouther forum.
Check below.

Con's:
---------------

Lack of a proper options menu

No volume sliders (everyone know's iRacing volume level is far lower than any other app/game and is not adjustable)

No driving views to choose from.. No I don't want to start the "racing from the roof is unfare or lame" debate.. I don't want to race from the roof or in some "chase" view... Right now I have this:


and I don't think this is too much to as for, I don't see what kind of "advantage" it will give me other than being more accurate and life like, it's 2008 and a lot of us crazy mo fo's have cockpits with real gauges and dashs... we're PC racing sim fans and we don't play with joysticks while sitting on the couch.. I'm sorry but a "level playing field" is not a valid excuse, here's what (almost) everyone with a simpit wants to see... there's 13+ pages of us in the iracing forums.

No split times

No private rooms or private races.

No offline or local LAN play

Proper multi screen support.. Forza 2 can do it better than _ANY_ sim out there, is it really that hard to add?

LINK TO THE THREAD BELOW.
http://forum.racesimcentral.com/showthread.php?t=324170
Thanks

Sorry i meant, the GFX arent as good.
Still really nice though.

That's a fabulous looking cockpit! Wonder if the air-conditioner works.

1. For those that have joined up... IS IT GOOD?

Yes. I was a fellow flight simmer wanting to get into racing sims and this is it right here. Super fun.

2. Is there a large enough community to find to race against?
Yes. I typically race every weekend night and almost always the races are full at the lower level cars which I am driving right now.

3. Are the graphics very good like in grand torismo 5 prolouge
Nope, GT5 is amazing. But iRacings physics and track detail more than makes up for it. Plus it runs super smooth all the time on my pc. I am still amazed at the track detail they are flawless.

4. What is the best race wheel at this time for PC?

I have a Logitech Driving Force GT. Works with GT5 AND iRacing. Force feedback is great, larger size. Blows my momo out of the water. But if you really want the H shifter then the g25 is your wheel. I just don't have that kinda cash.

Wow, Mr. Raven, that is an awesome setup!!

Shame about the locked incockpit view. I don't like bumperviews or roofviews, but would at least be nice to have the option for a "windshield view."

Thanks guys



I have a Driving force GT for GT5 I thought it was only for PS3. Is the some special softwear I need to run it on a PC?




Patrocles I wish That were my set up thats some guys from a post I read... someday

Most (all?) Logitech wheel work on PC with the standard Logitech Gaming Software. Just plug the wheel in and it will be detected and programmable.

I didnt get any softwear with the wheel.
any recomendation what to instal?

Get the Logitech Gaming Software - version 5.02. Works for all Logitech wheels

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/441/131&cl=us,en

Once you install the software, you can plugin the wheel and use the Logitech Profiler to set your options. Alternatively, you can just plug the wheel in and it'll be automatically detected by Windows and a generic wheel driver should be installed. Some guys prefer to do this rather than install the Logitech software.

Thanks Allot
will do

Make sure to uncheck the "used combined pedals" box. Contrary to Logitech's statement, a combined pedal axis is not used for most games.

Just go to logitech.com and download the newest software for controllers http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/441/320&cl=us,en?softwareid=3916&osid=1 . One program is for all logitech hardware. Just plug your wheel in and it will be ready to go. It is actually a GREAT pc wheel!

sorry late post!

yes the DFGT will work on a pc. The only thing that won't work are a few of the buttons. The brake bias dial, the horn button, and the ps3 buttons won't work, but all the other ones do and the wheel works just great. Good Force Feedback. Have fun!

First of Thanks for all the help guys!

I joined iracing last night,set up my wheel(works great thanks to all your tips)

I think it is a very good concept one has to work there way up like in RW racing.

That said I have zero racing experiance other than a bit of Ps3 gt5p time and not much of it.

In short I am the ultimate rookie. I hear all about the "line" ect but have zero skills.

Is there some kind of guide with tips so i can maximize my practice time.
IE. how to know when to enter/exit turns the very basic stuff.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks In advance
RaVe

Well, first I recommend this link Chunx´s tips
Then there are the more indepth links. Choose as you wish, they all have something to offer
drivers ed, physics of racingcars, GPL foolishness
They should keep you occupied for a while
Once you´re done with those come back and ask for car setup advice. Though in Iracing that´ll be a while before you need to

I can do a practice session with you if you fancy at some point?

Welcome to iRacing.

You're embarking on something that closely resembles a real racing career by participating in the iRacing community.

Although it might not the first thing you wish to do, take the time to read through the sporting code which will give you an idea about what to expect in terms of how to be a competetive and clean driver, as well as containing crucial information about what it takes to earn higher licenses.

You'll be starting out in the rookie Solstice on tracks such as Lime Rock Park, Summit Point, Laguna Seca etc. and I'd advice you to learn the car and the tracks as well as you possibly can, where your braking zones are, what gears to use, how to make sure your entry speed into corners will assure that you will be able to make the corners and not go wide, what works and what doesn't.

I've got a feature article coming up some time "soon" I hope about driving the Solstice around LRP. From that article you will see that the subject matter is so comprehensive that it is impossible to give general guidelines and you will probably have to spend some time honing your driving skills before being able to actually feel what the car is telling you on track, and before you'll get down to really fast lap times.

Look through the Fast lap series that Chunx and I did for SimHQ. Although the sims used in those articles are rFactor, GTR2 etc. you'll be able to learn about lines, traction circles and other fascinating stuff!

http://www.simhq.com/_motorsports/motorsports.html#features

Look for videos and track guides on forums and study the drivers that are quicker than you and try to understand where and why they are quicker. Try to learn which lines work best and be ready to experiment in a practice session where you can try out your ideas when you are alone on the track, not endangering your progression by picking up incident points. Also find out how you can drive off the line in case you have to pass someone or be passed.

Read some books about how to drive fast, e.g. Ross Bentley's excellent "Speed Secrets".

Drive within you current skill levels in races and if someone is clearly faster than you, let them by. Do not block, don't weave around but hold your line. If you are found blocking or weaving, this might lead to someone rightfully filing a protest against your driving.

Be prepared for the unexpected. Behind a blind curve there may well be a rookie racer who's spun out and is now located right in the middle of where you planned to be going. On ovals the curves might not be blind, but things can go pear-shaped very fast indeed and taking a quick and hopefully correct decision regarding avoiding action may well be the difference between cooming through unscathed or taking a hit.

"If in doubt, stay out", so only intiate passing attempts that you are absolutely confindent about being able to pull off. Give the other guys and gals room to race you as well. If you put yourself and the other racer in a situation where the other driver is forced off line in order to avoid hitting you, it is a bad situation.

Don't copy real world driver tactics as some of them do have attitude problems, and after all this is not racing for the world championship but intended to provide a good and enjoyable experience for all participants.

Enjoy the racing, be a clean racer, finishing races is far more important than crashing out while trying to make up for lost time by going like a rocket-ship.

Great community so far Thanks All for the help this is what I was looking for

Lazy Thanks for the links

Andrew thanks for the offer I will take you up on it, but first I want some solo time under my belt for a few days

McGonigle Thanks for the detailed ifno that brings me up to speed on many levels.. no pun intended
RaVe

Just remembered this bit of important information: Use the F3 key to give you information about cars in front and behind you. It will also tell you if you are around lapped cars. You will then know if you are in a fight for position, or if the other car is a lapped car. Very useful information and it helps build situational awareness.

Ok its been 5 days since I have joined up with Iracing.

As you know I have zero race experience.
I have thanks to your posts picked up a few tips to help keep me on the right track, but have a long way to go in keeping the car on the track, Literally

some questions....

I'm I missing something... I rarely see more than 1-3 people on at any given time in practice, qualify, time trial, or race??
Is there enough interest in this sim??

I think the sim is really great and would think there would be morethan 3 folks online at any given time .
Perhaps im not doing things correctly or in the right area.

I join practice sessions the most, well almost always.
I need to learn how to drive the car around a track.

Sadly im ashamed to say the best time I can muster in rookie sol is a lowly 1.08 on lime rock full


from what I see that's really SLLLOWWW... I need practice so that's were I go most of the time...

That said seems that would be a place were I can at least run with traffic.... if there was some, and get to know folks.
is that how I should be using iracing at this stage??

Also do I have to run the rookie sol or can I drive the other one.

I'm not sure how to progress.
were do I read about that?
I cant seem to find that info.
Thank in advance
RaVe

1.08 is not so bad for someone coming in with no previous racing experience at all. With more experience of the track and the car you should be able to make a steady progression, and bear in mind that some of the guys and gals are insanely fast so don't get discouraged if you see drivers that are 10 seconds faster than you. A consistent 1.03 is pretty competetive if you just stay on the track.

iRacing rewards clean driving by adding points to your Safety Rating (SR), so take your time getting the feel for the car and what you can do with it. When you reach an SR of 3.0 or more, you'll also be able to drive the Advanced Solstice which is basically the same car with a better set up, and once you reach 4.0 you get to try the Formula RT2000 Skip Barber car.

For the ovals the same principle applies. SR = or > 3.0 and you can drive the Advanced Legends car, SR = or > 4.0 and the Late model becomes available.

To earn SR you have to join Qualifying, Time Trial or Race sessions, but you don't necessarily have to do them all, or do them in any particular order. If you want to go straight into a race you can do that, you don't have to qualify or do a time trial. From what you write it sounds like you are doing the right thing regarding looking for and joining sessions.

The number of racers seem to vary depending on day of the week and the time of the day. The day of the week with the least number of drivers seem to be Wednesdays, with the week-ends attracting more drivers. From my experience it seems like most drivers are online in what in Central Europe is the evenings, and I suspect that the US racers are starting to come online as we Europeans have to go to bed!

At the moment I think the membership base is relatively small, accounting for some races not being full. At the same time there are really too many races and too many series for the amount of current members but that is to make sure that members won't have to wait hours for the next race to start. We must also consider that iRacing is very new and was only launched about a couple of months ago.

It might be an idea to look in the iRacing forums, or post there for someone who would like to run practice sessions at the times you are online. I've had a few practice sessions with some of my good iRacing friends and it is generally very good fun and can also be a great learning tool when you start talking about how to shave those seconds off your laptimes. We've run in the practice sessions and if someone from outside our group joined the session we'd generally tell them what we're doing and that they are more than welcome to join in the fun.

Which Club and time zone are you in? we might meet up on a practice server and I could give you a tip or two if the personal schedules and time-zones permit.

On the iRacing.com web-site main page there is a menu bar called "Reference" and under that menu you will find user guide, which is, well, a user guide. You will also find the sporting code there, and that one explains a bit more in detail about how to progress. For example it mentions that there is a minimum participartion criteria of two races or 4 time trials in any given season to advance to higher licenses.

I hope this helps somewhat and if you got more questions, never be afraid to ask!

Thats great info, concise ... spot on for what I was looking for. Thank you!
Ill go take a peek at the sporting coad now that I have some free time.

Rave

Practice sessions rarely have a full grid worth of drivers, but i've only had one race in which it was made unofficial because of only 5 entrants. And the only reason for that was because it was 10am UK time!
I probably do 1 or 2 races per week and it can be at a random time when i feel like it, and i've never had a problem finding a full race. Get used to what times the races are aswell, so you can then hop straight from quali to the race if you wish.

VIR full in the skippy has shaved quite a bit off my SR in the 2 races i've entered this week! Lol.

Off- and on-topic, iRacing just received cover treatment in the November issue of Grassroots Motorsports magazine. There were a few "techie wannabe" goofs in the computer buildup sidebar, but an overall decent look at the sim.

Still not enough to pull me away from RFactor...

For my month I was with iRacing, I hardley ever saw anyone on practice, and just a few cars in quals. The races I entered though were always full. Heck, sometimes I even just waited for race time to join up to allow my SR to grid me rather than starting way up front if I got a lucky lap...lol. I wouldn't worry about not many drivers in an actual race very often. Most join up at the last minute and usually fill the grid.

The key is to drive your own race at first and keep it clean. Staying on track and off of other cars will boost your SR every race you do and in no time you can get the better cars and licenses.

BTW Striker, on one of the SCCA forums I visit there are some real drivers who are using iRacing to keep them occupied now that the real racing season is over (up north). They're quite impressed with the courses that they drive in real life that are included in iRacing. Maybe if they'd mod Mid Ohio, Road America, Nelson Ledges I might go back to it...lol.

well I'm on the start of my 3rd week. I have a SR of 4.88 rd and have a 2.80 for oval, only did 1 oval race so far I must have received points out of thin air .

Over all This sim is great I really like it allot.
I race 3-4 times per night there is always action.

For now I am just trying to learn how to drive and stay on the rd.
Thanks to some great advice from you all here I get out of the way of the fast guys.My lap times are well less than fast but that's not what its all about for me at this point it says as a rookie I should learn how to controll the car first so that's what I'm doing and my SR shows that.
seems like a good system I can tell they thought it out.
I would highly recommend this simulation it is worth every cent.
Thanks to all of you for your help and support


Some screen shots I made wiel licking my wounds.
http://picasaweb.google.com/8RaVe8/IracingFun#slideshow


iracing rookie Driver
Chris Taloomis

Those are very lovely screenshots.
Btw; I trust you noticed that the article on driving the Solstice at Lime Rock Park is now up on the main page?

Thanks Good artical

Could you please advise me as how to or rather were to put a set up file that I down load. Also how to access it so I can change to setups for each track. I did not see any tech info on that in the set up guide.
I put a set up in each ford34c folder and still didnt see it..
Thanks Chris

Here you go, atleast on my machine
C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Documents\iRacing\Setups

Is anyone here still iracing??!!?

Yup. Don't get on as often as I'd like, but I'm still a member.

Yes, I still run iRacing. The pot for my DFP's accelerator pedal started acting up a couple of weeks ago and I'm having to use my CH pedals instead which means left-foot braking and no heel-toe anymore. It's going to take a while to get used to and in the meantime I'm not competitive at all. Have been looking at replacing the DFP with a G25 but I'm still on the fence.

go with a DFGT.

Better wheel than G25, same average pedals as DFP. 1 FF motor no deadzone like in the g25. The only thing the DFGt doesn't have is the shifter box, only a two speed sequental.

Im having a good run at the mo, 3 wins in the last 2 days. I just entered my second truck race at Phoenix and actually won it, i couldnt believe it!

Ack, after readjusting to not having a clutch pedal, I finally dropped into competitive 1:23s in practice with the Skip Barber F2000 at Summit Point Raceway and was hoping to put in some races this afternoon but the track changed over to VIR Grand East. The elevation changes and off-camber, blind corners make VIR a very challenging track.

Looks like I will need to find at least 10 seconds to be competitive at VIR Grand East in the Skip Barber. A competitive time in my division looks to be around 3 minutes flat and I'm currently turning 3'10". 10 seconds is a lot of time to make up but there are 29 corners to learn and I know I can make up a ton of time in some of them. It's going to take a few sessions to learn the track with that many corners though.

Grand East is a killer!

Keep practicin, I went from a 3:10 down to a 3:03 in a day. After a few laps with no crashes the tires warm up and you can get the car around there pretty good.

Yeah, VIR Grand East is a bit of a bear. I finally managed to get down to mid 3'01"s fairly regularly which is still over a second off my target. Had a lot of fun learning the track though; drifting the car just so through some of the corners, balancing it with the throttle and finding the right line through some of the complexes was a rewarding challenge. The problem is that it's taken me so long to get to this point that it doesn't look like I'll be able to fit in any actual races between now and the track changeover at midday on Saturday. Ack.

Next week is the last in the current season and the track will be the Infineon Raceway, which I don't currently own and which I have never turned any laps on. Looks like next week will be another learning week.

Oh well, here's looking forward to the start of the next season!

Ooo i'll defo be dusting off my Skippy then if its at IR! I love the elevation and camber changes.

Woohoo, Week 13 fun - Targa Transamerica featuring the Radical SR8 at Sebring! No impact on safety rating or iRating, just show up and race.

Oh man, the force feedback through the wheel with the Radical at Sebring is killing my forearms. After a couple of 1/2 hour sessions you can feel the burn! Love it.

Its absolute crazy at Sebring this week! :-D.

I started 27th yesterday and by the end of the first lap i was 7th Lol!

How exactly does iRacing work? I understand that it is all online, but how big is the install to your HD? Does all the track information get installed locally? What about the cars? How much offline content is there?

I'm interested in getting started, but I'd like some information.

My iRacing folder is 2.3 Gig and the only content I haven't got is the Las Vegas and Watkins Glen tracks.

It works in the way that you sign up on their home page www.iracing.com, select if you want to try it out for a month which costs $20 - or three months or longer.

The initial install is smaller than my 2.3 Gigs and will contain:

Cars
Pontiac Solstice
Legends


Tracks
Lanier National Speedway
Lime Rock Park
Oxford Plains Speedway
Summit Point Raceway
South Boston Speedway
Lowe's Motor Speedway
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

The content is then transferred to your pc via very fast and reliable servers, my downloads from iRacing are the fastest I've seen on my DSL.

So the cars and tracks and all the software resides on your pc but car selection and track selection only works when you're connected to the membership website, which you will be directed to when you buy a subscription.

There is no off-line content, no AI, no off-line "campaign" but you can connect the the membersite anytime you want and run time-trials, testing and practice by yourself.

Extra tracks and extra cars cost from $20 - $25 per item but remember that each track typically has 3 or 4 lay-outs and that once you pay for an item, it gets updated for free, as does the simulation itself for as long as you subscribe.

The amounts and speed of updates are fantastic. So far we've seen major updates at least every three months.

What sort of time's do you race Jens?

Recently I've had difficulties finding much time to race I'm afraid, I think I've had three races in one month or so

Good stuff though that I won two of them

I'm very irregular at the moment, sometimes I sneak in in the afternoon, sometimes a friday or saturday night, sometimes a sunday.

Boy have they improved the Truck. Drafting around Daytona is awesome, as is the COT. Martin Truex Jr was in a practice yesterday and he said its very close to the real thing. :-D