iRacing DSP Poker Night League

[TCrouch]

I'm open to pretty much whatever. I just got one of these:



With one of these:



So I've been running everything under the sun lately. I don't care what we drive, I'll be there

[pk500]

Nice unit. What caused you to stray from Logitech?

[TCrouch]

Shifter quit registering in H-pattern. It would randomly jump out of gear and wouldn't go to 3rd, etc. So I had to leave it in sequential mode. Then I read reviews of the force effects of the T500RS, and it is head and shoulders better than my G25 was. Much, much smoother, no jumpety-jump type FF.

[pk500]

Cool.

[TCrouch]

Not that anybody asked, but I would also give a HUGE recommendation to the T500RS. I was a bit skeptical at first because the pedals were spring-loaded and not a load-cell brake pedal, but having them reversible where you could have them floor-based (F1 style) or firewall-based (GT Style) was a selling point for me. Turns out they have this "realistic brake" mod built in, and it's basically a metal bracket with a couple of foam plates and a fat spring in it. You lock it in on one of 3 or 4 positions, and if you choose the last one, I swear it feels like a real master cylinder.

You can press the pedal for about half its range before it starts having more force as the secondary spring engages. Then it starts compressing the foam a bit, and you have a full range of progressively tougher braking. I was able to slide the iRacing brake force curve modifier all the way down to 0, which is what they recommend for load-cell brake pedals, and I instantly set my fast lap on damn near every track I hit in the sim. I could brake faster than I could before, because I could get it right to the edge of a lockup and then ease off a hair.

The FF in the wheel absolutely kills the Logitech model, but it should since the tech is so much newer. There's no notchiness or grindy feel to it. Just smooth.

Anyway, if anybody is looking at a mid-range wheel (not a low end $150, and not a high end $1000 plus...it's right in the middle at around $550 most places), you can't go wrong with the T500RS.

[DChaps]

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post here. It was not my intent to let this die. A combination of work issues, family prioritizations, home office re-arrangement, PC crash, etc. have kept me from racing over the last several weeks. Sorry that I did not at least post to let you know what was going on.

I would like to get this going again, but I currently cannot get my Logitech G27 to work for s*** with iRacing since I re-installed everything. It technically "works" but there is a HUGE deadzone, inconsistent and confusing force feedback, and when the FF does kick in, it is very notchy. I can also never get it to actually be more than 180 turning radius either. Weird thing is it wasnt always like this. I have tried many settings from the iRacing forums and re-installed the game completely after a new hard drive and OS install. With FF turned off, it is like I am driving a boat. I am already a bad enough driver as it is. At some point I am hoping to get a completely new PC and wheel, but it could be a long time before that happens. I am hoping to have some time this weekend to try again to get the wheel working better.

What really sucks about the timing of this is that the Lotus 49, Oran Park, and Rockingham are about to be released for iRacing, so I am not ready to give up completely.

Anyway, again I apologize for the lack of response and hope to get this going again. Of course, feel free to keep it going without me. I can make anyone of you an ADMIN for the already existing DSP League if you are so inlcined.

PS - Terry I am jealous of that T500RS.

[TCrouch]

If anybody is feeling the itch for some circle trackin', I've been running with a league called "Aero Loose Racing" on iRacing. They run Trucks on Tuesdays (server opens at 7:30 ET, qual is at 9:30 with race shortly thereafter) and the B class Nationwide cars on Thursdays at the same time.

Ran Rockingham last week, 110 laps I think, with like 2 cautions. Atlanta in Trucks on Tuesday with 1 or 2 cautions, and then 130 laps last night in Nationwide cars at Atlanta with zero cautions. Good group of middle-aged redneck guys that are hilarious to run against, and clean as can be. Not alien-fast, either, so it makes for a fun time. Fields are pretty small (usually 10 or so), and they're always looking for new blood to run with.

So I don't know if Don, Paul, Grant, or any of you guys have time or the desire to run in a bit of a structured environment, but it's a hell of a good time with these guys.

http://members.iracing.com/membersite/m ... league=391

Their simple home site with common-sense rules:

http://www.aeroloose.com

[TCrouch]

I know some of you are at least looking at it, because some hits came from this site!

But check out last night's Pocono race--the Video is like an hour and a half long, but skip to the 1 hour and 20 minute mark for a restart with 5 to go. Some of the cleanest, most fun races I've had on iRacing with a hell of a fun group of guys to run with. The last 2 laps in particular were white-knuckle fun. Some of you guys who still have accounts should make time on Tuesday and Thursday nights to run these. It's an amazing time.

[Gurantsu]

That was awesome. I must say, I do like the trucks quite a bit, even after my initial reservations. I may jump in with you guys at some point.

[TCrouch]

Gotta put out another plug for these guys. Absolutely love running with them. Had a 110-lapper at Talladega in the B cars with 1 caution and that was pretty much it. Kentucky tomorrow night in the B's, and then Talladega again in the C's on Friday. Always looking for more people, but they might ignore join requests from rookie license holders unless somebody knows them, so let me know if anybody tries to join.

I can't recommend them highly enough after over a month of racing with them two times a week.

http://www.aeroloose.com

http://members.iracing.com/membersite/m ... league=391

Also thinking about hosting a practice session for my brother and I at Kentucky in the B's tonight. If I do, I'll post the session and PW here for anybody who wants to come in with a shared setup and try to turn some laps.

[Jimmydeicide]

So you have a t500 and a csr elite? which one do you use for the pc?

[TCrouch]

I got the CSR Elite about a month after the T500. I liked the T500, but I started having weird Explorer crashes after installing the Thrustmaster drivers. Plus, I liked the T500 pedal so much, I wanted to try a Load Cell brake pedal, so I went ahead and plunged for the full CSR Elite setup.

I gave the T500RS to my brother yesterday, because I had no idea how much better the Fanatec wheel would be. It's by far the best wheel I've ever used, and the fact that it works with PC, 360, and PS3 was just a bonus.

[TCrouch]

Come on, you candy asses!

The Aero Loose league is in its final week of the current season tonight and Thursday. Trucks at Chicago tonight for 100 laps, and Nationwides at Milwaukee for 65 on Thursday. Open sets, server opens at 7:30 ET, qual at around 9:30ET. It's the perfect week to try it out if you're just thinking about it.

http://www.aeroloose.com

http://members.iracing.com/membersite/m ... league=391

[DChaps]

The new iRacing build for Season 1 2013 has just been released. The release notes show some nice updates, including the Brazilian F1 Track Autódromo José Carlos Pace (Interlagos). Unfortunately, the long anticipated Lotus 49 was still not ready, even though the schedule shows that it's season starts next week. I neglected to post back in December that the McLaren MP4-12C had been released as well. Here are a couple videos below of Interlagos. I think the best thing about this new Season 1 2013 for iRacing is that all series from rookie license to A license race every day,every week, 7 days a week. There were many series I have been interested in the past (for example the fixed oval Indycar series), but they were only on Tues., Thurs, Sun., or they only ran every other week. That is no longer the case with the new schedule. Should be a day and time that should fit everyones schedule. Links to very nice one page pdf's for the entire oval and road racing schedules for Season 1 2013 are below courtesy of iracerstuff.com

2013 Season 1 OVAL Schedule - http://iracerstuff.com/wp-content/uploa ... 1-OVAL.pdf
2013 Season 1 ROAD Schedule - http://iracerstuff.com/wp-content/uploa ... 1-ROAD.pdf
2013 Season 1 Build Notes - http://iracerstuff.com/?p=2756

[TCrouch]

Aero Loose is going to be hosting a 75 lap open-set Class B Nationwide Daytona race tonight for anybody who wants a quick racing fix. $10 iRacing credit to winner, $5 to second place with no entry fee. So if any of you have an itch to do some plate racing, the server will open at 8:30ET with qual at 9:30. It's going to be an open server, so it should be a big field and a fun race.

[TCrouch]

Well...was a good race. Almost 40 cars showed up.

Just sucks nobody from here runs anymore. I'll quit beating this dead horse of a thread

[DChaps]

A pretty cool iRacing forum post and blog from the main iRacing man himself, Dave Kaemmer, about the pending release of the Lotus 49 in the next iRacing build due out next week. Also due out next week is the Long Beach Tech Track and Montreal (Circuit Gilles Villenveuve). Sweet.

The Lotus 49 has been just about as hard to develop and release as it is to drive. Just as it is a great tool (albeit a sharp one) for teaching good smooth driving habits, it has been a good tool for teaching us about flaws in our simulation. Because it is lightweight, with no downforce, and lots of power, it has tested the tires more than almost any car we’ve developed. Its development has led to a lot of improvements over the past eight months in the tire model, some of which you have already experienced. There are more improvements on the way. For now, even though the newer tire code isn’t quite finished yet, we have decided it’s far enough along to let you try couple of cars with it: the Lotus 49, and the Skip Barber Formula Car. These will both be available in the new build which should be out next week.

There are some known issues—the tires don’t get warm enough, and the skidding and smoke are unfinished, among other things—but we have been enjoying driving these tires, and we hope you will too. They are a work in progress, though, and should improve even more as we finish them up.

One last note: the Lotus 49 is a beast. You will have to relearn the meaning of smooth control inputs, but if you take the time to do that, it is also a blast.

Check out the following article for more Lotus 49 info:

http://www.iracing.com/1967-the-summer-of-lo-tus-49/

.....Pressing on the accelerator pedal was also a very exciting event. An equation illustrates: very light car + very little grip + rear wheel drive + 400 horsepower = instant spin. A couple of thoughts on spinning from legendary Skip Barber Racing School senior instructor Bruce MacInnes pretty much sum up the excitement involved: “a spin is a crash with no noise at the end,” and its corollary, “if you spin, you deserve to die.” So you can see why a 1967 F1 driver would need to apply throttle as carefully as one might defuse a bomb. And the Lotus 49, powered by the groundbreaking Ford-Cosworth DFV, was the pinnacle of F1 design at the time, the most powerful bomb on the grid.

It therefore comes as no surprise that drivers of the time, while perhaps not complaining per se, were, shall we say, eagerly looking for some way to improve their lot. It is not a coincidence that 1967 was the year F1 designers were starting to consider four-wheel drive systems, and that two great innovations were just around the corner: wide slick tires, and wings. But in the summer of 1967, those ideas were of no help, if you were in the cockpit. Your survival would depend on your doing three things: (1) braking early, (2) turning slowly, and (3) applying the gas gently.

Fast forward to 2013, and you can now drive the Lotus 49 yourself using the iRacing simulator! Why on earth would we even try to make this possible? Frankly, we don’t know.* Some of you will (justifiably?) see this simply as 46 years of engineering progress thrown out the window, nothing more than thinly veiled insanity. Others will see it as a chance to travel back in time, step into the shoes of legendary drivers from a dangerous past, and take on a monumental challenge. It may not be for everyone, but it can be extremely fun, instructive, and very rewarding—IF you always, always: (1) brake early, (2) turn slowly, and (3) apply the gas gently. Let’s talk a bit more about these techniques......

[GB_Simo]

Assuming you knew someone who didn't currently own a PC but kind of missed his iRacing, hadn't specced a PC for years and was seeking some advice, where would you send him?

I only need a base unit - I'd be running it through a TV, ideally, so I'm not concerned about monitors and speaker setups - and I don't need to run Battlefield 3 at 120 FPS on Ultra settings or anything like that, though I guess Assetto Corsa, RF2, pCars and the like hold some appeal. Oh, and I hate spending money. What do I need?

[DChaps]

Happy Lotus Day! - The new iRacing Season 3 2013 Build has been released!

Includes the Lotus 49, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and Long Beach Tech Track are now available. The version 5 tire model also debuts on the Skip Barber, Street Stock, and Lotus 49.

iRacing’s latest build includes:

-The highly anticipated Lotus 49 is now available for purchase.
-Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is now available for purchase! This historic Formula 1 and NASCAR track is the second Canadian track to join iRacing.
-Long Beach is now available for purchase as a Tech Track – tech tracks are works in progress that are 100% drivable but do not have complete artwork.
-Reference car – a visual representation of your best lap for you to race against while practicing or running Time Trials. (also known as a "Ghost")
-Changeable Weather – you can select temperature, humidity, fog level and wind speed/direction in hosted sessions.
-Night Racing is now available at South Boston Speedway and Lanier National Speedway
-A Figure 8 configuration has been added to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale
And so much more. Check out the full release notes on the member site for more details

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts ... 03196.page

Some videos to show off the new features:

iRacing Lotus 49 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Montreal


iRacing Figure 8 100% FOG

[DChaps]

iRacing - Buy One Year, Get One Year Free Deal!

Just in time as my subscription was about to auto-renew on 8/1/2013.

Members can get two years of iRacing for the price of one, thanks to a limited time offer celebrating the Season 3 Build. Just sign up for another year of iRacing using the promotional code below and you’ll get two a two year membership for just $99.

Take advantage of this limited time offer by July 31, 2013. Along with the great sim-racing you already enjoy on iRacing, you’ll be able to take advantage of the cool features in the new build like changeable weather and Figure 8 racing at Irwindale, along with the Lotus 49, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Long Beach.

This promotion is only available to current and former iRacers.

To take advantage of the special offer, click the following link:

https://members.iracing.com/membersite/ ... =PR2FOR99E

[GB_Simo]

Don, I haven't raced for a year now but I have this offer in my inbox and a new rig on order. Are the new builds since last August changes for the better, in your view?

[DChaps]

Don, I haven't raced for a year now but I have this offer in my inbox and a new rig on order. Are the new builds since last August changes for the better, in your view?

Sorry Adam for the slow response (more on that later).... Yes, absolutely it is still improving, particularly this last build. I am not always the best authority on tire models and physics realism, but the Skip Barber with this new build is actually fun to drive, although still a challenge. I also love the Indycar now and it is not even updated to the newest tire model yet. If it is not too late for you, definitely do the 2 for 1 deal. I just did as well. I will try to respond in more detail to your other post about hardware specs, etc., but suffice to say you can still run iRacing pretty well on a low spec machine (mine is almost 3 years old).

[GB_Simo]

Don, I'm not sure why but the promo code worked for me today, even though the offer is officially over. Rig-wise, I got it so my good lady can use various photo editing tools but she's suggested I race every so often and it'd be rude of me to argue, I feel...I ended up with this, despite Rod's best efforts to dissuade me:

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 311 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-6350 Six Core CPU (4.2/3.9GHZ - 8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7870 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

That was about as far as my budget would take me - don't know how it'll stack up for things like pCars but it should do for GSC 2012, nK Pro and stuff like that, at least. It's still being built but I'm committed to the spec now so if it's no good, I shall have to fix it as best I can later.

[mixdj1]

In a moment of weakness I took advantage of this two years for the price of one offer even though the only iRacing I've ever done was the handful of races with you guys in the DSP league. Hopefully I'll be able to get my $99 worth out of it. If a league starts up again the only night I can't do is Tuesday as I have an Xbox racing league commitment that night.

[Nozzleman_216]

Hey everyone! I haven't been on here in a few years at least as I have not played many games at all for awhile. As a matter of fact, my Xbox is now in my son's room as I have had no interest in it. It's weird, but I quit playing games when I began studying for a promotion at work. I logged on to play CoD after I found I was only one to pass and was getting promoted...got piss drunk and had a blast but just couldn't get into it after that. The last year or so, my son and I have been racing r/c. I am thinking about getting out of it as we have to travel too much to race. It's just not as fun any more.

Long story short now, I think I want to get back into Sim racing. I know so much has changed since I was last into it (when rFactor and GTR2 released). I know I won't have too much trouble finding other's to race with but I always enjoyed the company of guys from DSP. Terry and I used to log on to rF when we was in an open wheel league to practice etc.....As a matter of fact he helped me on my first gpu upgrade and wheel.

I am starting fresh, haven't had a desktop pc for several years, don't even have a desk for one LOL. So I am thinking of a workstation/sim rig (Obutto R3volution) for my "desk" needs I plan to build a mid-range PC. I have always been partial to AMD but I keep hearing Intel is the way to go from processor. The AMD I am looking at (8320), benches between an i5 and i7.

As for a wheel/pedals/shifter.....I am reading and watching reviews over and over. I thought I had my mind made up on Thrustmaster T500, but the Fanatec keeps pulling me in. The Thrustmaster Pedals need a load cell mod and that adds to their cost. So who knows..

Anyhow, I am not sure how soon this will take place, but I just wanted to see what the scene was like around here. It may be a little bit if I can holdout for Black Friday. Since I am buying so much I am thinking I might save a ton shopping this day or cyber Monday. So I wouldn't say I'm back, but I have one foot in the door and am getting sucked in fast