Hi Guys,

I have no experience with any form of racing, it’s been all flight sims for me so far, but I love sims and going fast (cars) so I always wanted to try sim racing. I looked past all the driving games and went straight for iRacing and glad that I did.

Just got myself a wheel and $12 iRacing, totally new but did some test runs in the Mazda and the Ford and a lot of fun!

I’d like to not begin with any bad habits, so I want to drive with the right control settings from the start if possible, some things I’m not sure about though - some very rookie questions I’d like to ask at the moment with regards to aids, and shifting etc I hope someone can help:

1. Does using aids really mean iRacing add a penalty to your time? I’m very confused because some things I googled said yes there is a penalty, and others said no there is no penalty. I’d rather there is penalties because I’d like to use a shifter… but I just want to know how it works.
2. Heel-Toe, left foot braking etc, Can I still be competitive if I want to use H pattern shifter and clutch, without heel-toe? Everyone I’ve talked to says 2 foot driving (left foot brake) will ALWAYS get the best times and wins  I’ve driven with a 5 speed and clutch in my real life car for so long, it’s just so natural. Everyone says paddles are faster! But they feel so unnatural tapping something to change gears and also ruins the immersion. Is there really disadvantage using 3 pedals and H-shifter? Can people still win like this?
3. Paddles on the Logitech G25 turn with the wheel, every review I’ve read says that the paddles attached to the base on the Thrustmaster T500RS is a “disadvantage”. I use the Logitech and found that I hate the paddles rotating with the wheel, I can’t find them easy if the wheel is turned tight… I’m starting to wish I saved more for the Thrustmaster. Maybe I will upgrade to that for Christmas. Does anyone else prefer fixed paddles? Are fixed paddles like on the TM really a disadvantage?
4. Blipping – never heard of it before trying iRacing. How important is it for me to learn? Can I still do good times without it?
5. Most important – which rookie car/track should I focus on testing/practicing to get out of rookie license?
My goal would be to move towards something like Phillip Island.
Would be good to understand which car goes with which track to train for the popular races. The site is information overload for me until I learn it all a bit more. But can anyone recommend the best rookie car/track combinations for me to focus on and learn?

Thanks all

1. Yes, using aids adds a little bit of time. Honestly I don't know how much. The aids are only available in rookie classes, except you can auto clutch and blip for those who don't have a clutch pedal.

2. No idea as I suck at any variation of heel-toe, I prefer right to gas and brake and left to clutch. I can't train my left foot to brake as I was broken of that habit when I went through drivers ed.
2a. I have to use paddles as I have no shifter, so I really can't say which is what.

3. I started with a Momo where the paddles turn with the wheel. I now have a Fanatec where the paddles turn with the wheel. I tested a T500RS and hated it. I was downshifting when I wanted to up shift and vice versa.

4. You want to match the revs before shifting. Especially on downshifts, I have found this to be very important in the road side cars. I'm mainly an oval driver and blipping isn't required.

5. The question to you is, what course of racing do you want to take?
Ovals or Road

If it's ovals load into the Legends at South Boston or Lanier and practice turning left without wrecking.
If it's road load into the MX-5 or MX-5 Cup at Okayama short or Lime Rock and practice.

Definitely look at the schedule, the rookie classes do not run on very many tracks and most run on a shorter version of the track. You want to practice driving the car on the track that iracing has the session hosted on.

Oh one other thing. Run TT to get your SR up if it starts to drop. One other IMPORTANT thing, start from the pits! You'll thank me later. It never fails, there is always one in every rookie race where they overdrive into T1 and take out a lot of drivers. By you starting in the pits, you're a little behind the action but now you have time to react to the carnage. While they're getting towed away, you can cruise into the top half of the field. So to start from the pits, don't click the green GRID button at the top of the screen before the race starts. Let the countdown reach zero and the button changes to Missed Start. At any time you can click this and it will place you on pit road. You can not move your car until after the green and all drivers have passed by the exit of pit road. Be mindful of the pit road speed, DO NOT speed exiting or you will be black flagged.

Don't focus on winning while in the Rookies, focus on driving the car cleanly and avoiding the wrecks. You goal in Rookies is to get out of Rookies alive.

Good luck and have fun.

Thanks Panther, that pits start is a very good tip! Yes my focus will be on finishing the race rather than winning.

Probably road racing for me, as that's where the server population is in my timezone as we don't do much oval in Australia.

How do I deal with black flag if it happens? In practice I tried stopping in the pits due to a flag and nothing happened.

Also how do I trigger pit stops in the race? Practice I just hold down the button to reset...

Stop in your box and the BF will clear after the penalty is assessed. I recommend going to your fuel and tire black box and un-checking the refuel and tire options. Otherwise you will need to wait on the crew while they fuel and change the tires on the car, before taking the penalty.

In a race just drive down pit road at or under the speed limit. Make sure your pitstop options are set on the blackbox.

1. Ok there is no physical penalty added to your time. You are slower though. This is just because the car is slowing based on a line and allowing to accelerate at a certain time. The line you drive may or may not be the line that works best for the aids. I hope that makes sense. If I were you I would just leave them off. That way you learn how you will race.

2. I still use my old MOMO wheel( should have a G27 next week) I dont have a clutch but I do use Right foot gas and Left foot Brake. I do oval mainly but when I race road its the same. I have heard people say the are faster using only their right foot and I have heard people are faster using both feet. If you like to be on the brake through the corner then Both feet would be best. If you are a all brake before the turn in then Right only would work best. Really comes down to personnel preference.

3. Im going to say the paddles have to turn with the wheel for me. I race with both hands at about 3 and 9 do if the paddles didnt move i would have to move my hand off the wheel. Not good if you ask me.

4. Blipping would be hitting the throttle while downshifting. As panther said keeps the RPMs up so your wheels dont spin. Not important unless you turn auto blip off.

5. Australia huh? So V8s then I m guessing? I would stick with the Mazda roadster right thru till you get your C license maybe try the mustang.

As for Black flags if its for cutting the course just slow down some and it will go away. If its another infraction go to the pits. Make sure you deselect your fuel(F4) and tires(F5) before pitting.

As for pitting just hit pit road whenever and stop in your pit stall, and the crew will do its thing!


Good luck and hope to see you on track sometime!

Here's an SR question...

if you are running a TT does it make a difference with SR if you are running below your license class, for instance if you are an A class oval driver and you run a TT in Lanier with street stock, do you get fewer SR points?

I do believe there is a different requirement for your CPI(Corners Per Incident). For example if at a D level you get +1.00 SR for every 100 clean corners, you would get a +1.00 SR for every 400 clean corners at A level. I believe this is how it works. I could be and probably am wrong, LOL. So to answer your question NO it doesnt matter what you run it just matter how clean you run it.

Thanks guys, so if your hands leaving the wheel is a problem I guess that means a H style shifter is no good online and only useful for single player games?

Can't you drive one hand while shifting or is it that intense?

But maybe H shifter has some advantage - being held in the gear by its nature should mean no missed shifts right?
Sometimes with paddles it doesn't shift if do it too quick..

I think you mis understood that. Paddles that remain stationary are confusing as I'm use to them being with the wheel. Now if I had an h pattern or sequential Shifter I would use it. I don't think paddles are better than the Shifter, but paddles that don't move with the wheel suck. I almost bought the TM wheel...almost. Thankfully I had the opportunity to test it first.

Regarding the H shifter I tried it and tbh i didn't like it for racing. I can't think of many race cars nowadays that use a H pattern shifter and i think this is what put me off.. that and the associated heel/toe requirement.

I use a sequential shifter.. it's a nice compromise for me as i like the action of moving my hand off wheel and as far as i am aware most modern tintops (my preferred type of car) use sequentials.

In terms of aids i use auto clutch as i left foot brake but i do manually blip. I have never managed to master left foot braking without the use of auto clutch as some of our better drivers on here do therefore auto clutch is vital for me.

The other advice offered bove, especially from Panther's first post rings true for me as well.

Just my two penneth worth.