Yes, this new iRacing build is awesome. Lot's of new features in the web interface that I am enjoying so far, as well as the Lotus! I went ahead and renewed for an annual subscription to get the $85 credit before July 31, 2009.
Also, for anyone interested in trying out iRacing, they are running another promotional deal for the Pocono 500:
Check out the iRacing.com #47 car driven by Australia’s own Marcos Ambrose in this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway and experience the thrill of racing the Car of Tomorrow online for yourself.
This weekend only, iRacing is offering the COT racecar for FREE when you sign up for a three-month membership to the iRacing simulation service. Sign up now and start your online racing career today – you won’t find a more authentic NASCAR driving game out there.
Your membership registration includes the following promotion:
3 Month Membership w/COT Impala SS - $25
A three month basic membership including COT Impala SS for new members.
This would normally cost $65 total, so it's a good deal. However, I will note that as a new member you will not be able to race the COT Impala SS as it is a class B car. You will be able to test drive it though, just not race online, unless I am mistaken. It's a little misleading saying "experience the thrill of racing the Car of Tomorrow online for yourself."
Jay-zus, the grip of the Lotus at high speed looks immense. Check out the speed this car carries into the long corner at the end of the backstraight at the Glen:
I'm hoping to God he's been tuning, because I've just ran 15 laps of the same track in the same car and not once did I even threaten to make it do that through the Loop. My lap times are only two or three seconds off that video, and a big chunk of it must be going in that one corner.
The 79, then. I had a preconceived idea of it being somehow on rails, all grip. It's not that. The grip available is astonishing, yes, but once you start to hammer along at a decent rate, the back will not be at all shy about stepping out. What's remarkable, something I've never felt in a sim before, is that even as it's breaking away the car still somehow feels secure. It's as if it's speaking to you - "Mate, about this accident we're about to have...I'm not sure I fancy it. Here's a bit of grip, see if you can get us out of it, there's a good lad."
What that means is that you'll find yourself navigating circuits at all kinds of improbable angles and getting away with it. It's not black ice like so many rFactor single-seater mods; slides are progressive, controllable and a ridiculous amount of fun. There'll come a point - mine was exiting the last corner at Watkins Glen - when you sit and watch a replay of one of your laps, spot a Lotus 79 held in a glorious four-wheel drift, realise that it was you making it do that and spend the next 5 minutes flashing the kind of grin that makes people ask if you're feeling alright.
There'll also come a point when you clout a kerb and lose the car through the Esses or somewhere terrifyingly quick like that, and when you do that you start playing merry hell with the ground effect principles that made it so quick in the first place. You can try to catch it, and Lord knows I tried, but successes are hard to come by. I've been going through the Esses for 10 years in sims now - NASCAR, rFactor, GPL - and until tonight, hadn't rolled there once. I've done it twice now...
Speaking of GPL, watching some replays just now I was struck by something. I'd moved to the Chase camera, listening to the DFV singing away down the back straight and noting how the 79 can be at 40 degrees to its direction of travel through the Loop and still not really care, and it reminded me so much of doing the same thing with the Lotus 49. If there were only more cars it'd be Grand Prix Legends 2. It's exactly how I'd imagined GPL would be with some more downforce and fat slicks, and I couldn't give any car in any sim higher praise than that.
www.virtualr.net is reporting that CART Factor 1.0 has been released for rFactor. Just looking at the Readme (see links below), this appears to be the most thought out and professionally done mod since the Historic GT. I may have to check this out tonight.
CART Factor 1.0 - Released
Posted 1 hour, 24 minutes ago in rFactor - 4 Comments
Racing Line Developments has released their CART Factor mod for rFactor, bringing the 1998 CART Championship season to the simulation.
The mod includes 29 cars from the 1998 CART season, all in four different configurations suited to road and oval racing complete with realistic Real-Feel compatible physics, an advanced tire model and much more.
Features:
29 cars from the 18 teams of the 1998 CART season
Four distinct engine brands
Two tyre brands with unique characteristics
Reynard 98I, Swift 009c, Penske PC27 and Lola T98/00 chassis
Full road course, short oval, speedway and super-speedway (Handford) aero packages
Accurate aero distribution, downforce and drag values, utilising CFD and wind tunnel verified data
True-to-life suspension models
Advanced tyre model
Real setup ranges
Full, optimised DX7, DX8 and DX9 support
Full RealFeel support
To make most of this extensive mod, make sure to read the readme file to find info on car physics, FFB setup and much more.
Important: If you have the Prologue version of this mod installed, make sure to delete the Prologue folder located in “GameData\Vehicles\CARTFactor”
Yep, that CART Factor mod looks really nice. CART Factor Prologue was excellent.
But I had to return my laptop to Indy this week for inspection of a possible virus, so I removed rFactor and a lot of other stuff from my hard drive before shipping the lappy to the home office.
I've played iRacing almost exclusively since late May and enjoyed it more than any other racing game I've played, so it's very unlikely I'll reinstall rFactor now that my lappy is back. It was a waste of 6 GB on my hard drive.
Still interested to read feedback on CART Factor, though.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Finally shook the flu enough to try the Lotus 79 at Silverstone Historical GP tonight in iRacing. WOO-WEE, that baby is fast. The grip at high speed is incredible, especially going through Bridge.
My skill isn't anywhere near sufficient enough to extract performance from this car, but it is sublime to drive. Absolutely better than the GP 79 mod in rFactor, hands down.
I also pulled out my trusty, beloved Rookie Solstice to see how the addition of ABS affected that car. iRacing has corrected my habit of late braking, so the ABS isn't extinguishing huge clouds of tire smoke. But it does help trail braking considerably because you know the car isn't going to lock up under braking, and you can apply dribs and drabs of throttle mid-corner while still on the brakes and rotate the car easier toward a straight exit at the apex. I was running low- to mid-1:05's with regularity at Lime Rock, feeling quite comfortable.
VERY nice.
P.S.: Get a flu shot this winter, boys. I never thought I needed one. I'm getting one this winter. I haven't been this sick in nearly two decades. Was it the swine flu? Don't know -- didn't go to the doctor since my wife had the same thing a week earlier and predicted the path of my virus almost to the hour once I contracted it from her. But it is nasty, NASTY sh*t.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
I'm FINALLY starting to get a good feel for the Spec Racer Ford. It's a lot of fun to drive, especially at the fast, flowing Summit Point.
The Spec Racer is the proper next step after the Solstice. Much of the technique I learned in the Solstice applies in the Spec Racer, except the Spec Racer requires more trail braking to be stable in the corners.
Take what I've learned, top it with a new skill to master. iRacing is sheer f*cking brilliance.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Pk my times are still horrible in the spec racer, but after reading on the forums to keep at least some throttle applied while turning my control is getting better. It's just difficult for me to learn to apply brake and throttle at the same time while turning.
pk500 wrote:Jay-zus, the grip of the Lotus at high speed looks immense. Check out the speed this car carries into the long corner at the end of the backstraight at the Glen:
I've been driving the Spec Racer Ford at Summit Point -- what a cool track -- until my eyes are bleeding. Down to 1:05.3. Must break into the 1:04's and then start working on consistency.
Steady as she goes.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Cool video from new Jetta. Looks like a wild ride, very stiff chassis. Although the creator of this mod said he didn't mess with the setup one bit before making this video:
pk500 wrote:VW Jetta TDi is available now for iRacing for $15.
I'm all over this car tonight. Can't wait!
Take care,
PK
Awesome, just got it and will try it out shortly. Looks like they will have open racing at Road America with the VW Jetta TDi on Saturday Aug 15 in the 24 Heures du Fun Series. Then the VW Jetta TDI Cup Series will launch August 17th as a class D series running 4 days a week.
DChaps wrote:Awesome, just got it and will try it out shortly. Looks like they will have open racing at Road America with the VW Jetta TDi on Saturday Aug 15 in the 24 Heures du Fun Series. Then the VW Jetta TDI Cup Series will launch August 17th as a class D series running 4 days a week.
They've started the 24 Heures du Fun early, for anyone fancying a race in the Jetta. I'm off to do some testing in the car now, though having not raced for 5 or 6 weeks I might want to give the competitive stuff a miss for a day or two.
Anyone interested in giving a go in a race at 10:15pm EDT or 11:15pm EDT? We could also just try to meet up for some practice sessions at 10:30pmEDT and see how it goes.
I'm possible for 11:15 p.m. Working late into the night tonight on MotoGP stuff, but I could take a break.
I never drove the Jetta last night as I went to a buddy's house for beers and bullsh*tting with about eight or 10 friends. I didn't get home until 12:30 a.m. and was bushed.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Don, I'm not going to be around that late tonight but wouldn't mind a run at some point.
PK, beer and bullsh*tting? Definitely back to full fitness, I see. You're going to like the Jetta. It is as stiff as it looked in the videos, but the handling is safe and predictable with a fair amount of push when you're trying hard. If you're a hooligan on corner entry the back will come around a bit, but it looks after itself without needing any driver input to correct it. It's more driveable than the Solstice, encouraging you to press on in the knowledge that if you make a mistake you'll get predictable understeer and no wild, fishtailing oversteery dramatics. An enjoyable little runner, all in all.
Yeah, I'm back to health, thanks. About as sick as I've been in two decades, and a sinus infection hung around after the flu abated. But amoxicillin has knocked down the sinus infection, and the alcohol last night hopefully squeezed away any lingering remnants of the flu virus.
Alcohol is a wonderful tonic, you know.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Just tried the Jetta for the first time, at Lime Rock. Wow, what a difference to drive an FWD car. Feels totally different than the Solstice.
Adam, how are you getting this thing to turn in without scrubbing a lot of speed? I'm really having trouble coming to grips with that -- no pun intended -- after a steady diet of the RWD Solstice and Spec Racer Ford. I really like "pointy" front ends, so this thing is a fun shock to my system!
The ride in the Jetta is much smoother than I anticipated. If it's bouncing as much as in those YouTube videos, this car must have really good dampers.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
pk500 wrote:Adam, how are you getting this thing to turn in without scrubbing a lot of speed?
Not doing anything special, and not absolutely sure how well I'm doing - been testing at Lime Rock full course and my best is 1:01 flat, though that'll improve once I hook a full lap up. The only thing I can think of is that my style is to turn in early, and that the Jetta seems to like an early, relatively gentle turn in using a little bit of brake to guide the front end. I haven't made any changes to what I normally do - in fact my turn-in points are similar to those I have for the Solstice, which might explain why I suck in the Solstice...
I don't know the Jetta that well yet, though - I only just found out that it's got a no-lift gearshift.
Our boy Mr Momentum is going to love these Jettas. Got them yet, Terry?
Ooh i've been waiting for that one thanks D !
