Racing Sim Thread, Part II

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 5:38 pm

I'm obsessed with breaking one minute at Lime Rock in the Spec Racer Ford. Got to 1:00.795 last night, my first full night with that car at LRP.

I'll get it. I'll make my eyeballs bleed and wrists pop until I do.

Take care,
PK

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:06 pm

Inspired by your post, I've joined you in the quest to go sub-60 at Lime Rock, and made a discovery. The reason I hated the Spec Racer so much is that I hadn't bothered to check for track specific setups and had ran only the baseline settings, which are those of an oversteery God-forsaken sh*tbox. Having realised this 15 fruitless laps into a session at Lime Rock, I've swapped to the track-specific settings and find the car is at least now manageable.

Concentrating so hard that my forehead now glistens in recognition of my efforts, I couldn't go under a minute either. 1:00.494, and it took me a little while to do that, finding ways to compensate for not left-foot braking. The first left hander on the circuit is a complete pig to get right.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:15 pm

Adam:

I'll send to your Hotmail account a couple of Lime Rock setups I found last night, including the only one I've found that lets you pretty much keep the throttle pinned over the hill after the backstretch.

Every other set I've tried is so tail-happy that you need to lift when cresting that hill if you want to avoid eating Armco.

Enjoy! I know you'll break one minute with these.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:21 pm

GB_Simo wrote:The first left hander on the circuit is a complete pig to get right.

Yep, it's very tough. And you must get it right for a quick lap because it lets you floor it through the next right which leads to the backstretch, which lets you carry more momentum up the hill after the backstretch, and so on ...

The technique that works with the Solstice in that turn also is effective with the SRF. Turn in a bit late, with some trail braking to help the car rotate, and aim for the curb on the inside at the apex. If you're straight there, you should be able to plant the throttle all the way through to the next right and keep it pretty much pinned if you follow the concrete patch through that right.

I feel sheepish giving advice to a much better driver, but good luck!

Take care,
PK

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:22 pm

pk500 wrote:I'll send to your Hotmail account a couple of Lime Rock setups I found last night, including the only one I've found that lets you pretty much keep the throttle pinned over the hill after the backstretch.

I would enjoy that setup as well. Maybe I can break 1:05. Geesh I need some help.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:30 pm

DChaps wrote:
pk500 wrote:I'll send to your Hotmail account a couple of Lime Rock setups I found last night, including the only one I've found that lets you pretty much keep the throttle pinned over the hill after the backstretch.
I would enjoy that setup as well. Maybe I can break 1:05. Geesh I need some help.

Sent to your Mindspring address, The Donald. Is that address still valid?

EDIT: Nope. Received a bounce-back. Can you PM me your e-mail address?

Take care,
PK

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:50 pm

pk500 wrote:The technique that works with the Solstice in that turn also is effective with the SRF. Turn in a bit late, with some trail braking to help the car rotate, and aim for the curb on the inside at the apex. If you're straight there, you should be able to plant the throttle all the way through to the next right and keep it pretty much pinned if you follow the concrete patch through that right.

The problem I'm having is that if I aim to turn in late, I have a massive amount of trouble keeping the back in line, so I tend to start my turn in from just left of centre and come in early. I end up on exactly the line you describe on the exit, and indeed keeping it pinned through the following right is never an issue, but I give up time on the entry no matter what I do. I noticed that in the few Solstice races I did there too.

Unless I've got the car absolutely settled a few yards before the corner, I'm not braking at all, just trailing the throttle off, which gives you some idea of how early I'm shutting off just to get into the corner. I don't think I've ever played a sim that's given me more issues as a right-foot braker than this one.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:01 pm

pk500 wrote:Adam:

I'll send to your Hotmail account a couple of Lime Rock setups I found last night, including the only one I've found that lets you pretty much keep the throttle pinned over the hill after the backstretch.

Every other set I've tried is so tail-happy that you need to lift when cresting that hill if you want to avoid eating Armco.

I'm always pinned over the hill regardless of setup, but that's a matter of pride rather than common sense - the stock setups and the understeering one you sent me have a tendency to jump around over there that I can normally hang on to but which does occasionally lead to a bloody huge wreck. I am lifting a little bit on the way into the preceding right, though, which doubtless helps to manage the exit.

Thanks for those setups, much appreciated. The understeering one was safe and stable, and I could run under 1:01 all day with it, but I felt the brake bias was wound too far forward and it was too stiff at the front end, so I made a couple of changes to try and fix that. The setup you prefer is easier to throw around but I wanted to kill some of the sliding, so I made a couple of tweaks to it to try to dial out a little bit of the oversteer.

I'm only talking about detail changes, so the basic characteristics remain. The understeery one is brilliant for the first half of the lap (I'm much, much more comfortable on corner entry in that one) but custard through the final couple of turns, unwilling to turn in as I want or carry quite enough speed without running out of track. The oversteery one is harder work for me through the first part of the lap but fantastic towards the end. I'm running the same lap times in both of them, and those lap times are 1:00.2, which suggests the limiting factor at Lime Rock is me rather than the setup...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:23 pm

iRacing owner John Henry, who also owns the Boston Red Sox and a share in Roush Fenway Racing, dropped this bombshell Monday in the iRacing forum:

>>>>>

I had some give and take with iRacing today to find out what they're working on with what has been called "Private Leagues" and most recently "Hosted Racing."

Here's the scoop. And we're interested in what you think knowing that people disagree all over the place when it comes to most subjects - especially this one. Building consensus is more difficult in sim racing than in American politics.

Caveat: this is just a discussion and what the current thinking is. Development issues will dictate a number of the final features of Organized iRacing and the first season will be different than following seasons. Nothing set in stone here presently.

As we've repeated repeatedly, we are not going to do anything to harm the existing service. We have a couple of things in mind to protect the Official Races of iRacing. However, we want people to be able to do what they want to do here. Therefore it is imperative to try to give the people who want Organized iRacing a strong, broad menu of options.

The plan currently is to implement a service called Organized iRacing. These are unofficial races that do not count in iRacing outside of the Organization you choose to race in.

First, we are considering charging each member who wants to organize races & leagues $9 per season. This will ensure that iRacing is not overrun by organizers who aren't serious about what they are doing.

A member can become an Organizer by purchasing an iRacing Organization ("Org" for short) prior to a season for $9 (an annual iRacing Organizer can purchase an annual iRacing Org for $25). Organizers can purchase as many Orgs as they want.

An iRacing Org is essentially a "league" that can be passworded or not. It is a "hosting" service run by an iRacing Organizer. The Organizer sets his schedule, track, car(s), race length, yellows or no yellows, SR min/max, iRating min/max, set ups (fixed or not). The Organizer can make his races Open (no password) or Closed (password only).

There is no cost for any member who wants to join an Org. The only charge is the $9 per season to become an iRacing Organizer and the Organizer also pays $1 for every race he schedules. This should serve to limit Orgs to Organizers - members who are serious about their Organization(s).

[Note: an Organizer is going to be free to charge anyone anything they want outside of iRacing. So if an Organizer who is popular and good at running an Org puts together an Org and finds 30 people who will pay or contribute $1 per month or whatever he wants to charge them to be a participant in his Org -- that is not our business. We can't be responsible for transactions members may make between themselves.]

An Organizer can create a website for their Org, but iRacing - as part of the Org service - will provide a dedicated Org page including all results and stats for that Org. The dedicated page service will probably not be available until season after next.

The second thing we are going to do to ensure continued participation in our official series is the iRacing Participation Plan. The Participation Plan should increase participation in official races of iRacing because we intend to offer iRacing Credits to members who participate in at least 8 Race Weeks in a particular official iRacing series.

A member who participates in at least 8 Race Weeks in a particular official series (ORGS ARE UNOFFICIAL) next season receives a $7.50 iRacing Credit after the season ends. If a member accomplishes this in two separate series during a season, such member will receive a $15 iRacing Credit after the season ends. $15 is the maximum Credit a member may obtain through this Participation Plan in any season.

If a member takes full advantage of the Participation Plan, he will save an additional $60 per year. Right now an annual subscription is $156. Therefore, the annual cost could become as low as $96. That essentially reduces the cost from $13 per month to $8 per month! But you have to participate in official iRacing series as explained above. The Participation Plan will be evaluated each season.

I doubt the official series will die off with these significant two plans in place to both protect the official series and to increase everyone's ability to get what they want out of iRacing.

So, once again, none of this has been announced by iRacing. But this is what is being discussed currently. You're all so passionate about what is happening here at iRacing - about what you like and don't like - about what you want to see and don't want to see -- well, you should be part of the discussion process.

<<<<<

This sounds VERY interesting and would let existing DSP iRacers form their own league with their choice of car(s) and tracks for a very minimal cost. I need to read more about this -- the thread originating with this post already is 42 pages!

-- but this idea sounds promising and probably would open iRacing to a much larger audience. My only concern is what it would do to the current iRacing event system, which some find annoying but I find one of the major attractions of the service.

What do fellow DSP iRacers think?

P.S.: The thread in the iRacing forum is here: http://members.iracing.com/iforum/threa ... 9&tstart=0

I'm very impressed with how many follow-up questions from the original post Henry has answered in this thread. The guy is way more than just the bank for iRacing: He is a sim racing junkie. That's very reassuring!

Take care,
PK

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:07 pm

I'm in. The price is right and gives me basically the only thing that is really missing. I like the idea of the additional credits for racing in official series. They really do think things through and listen to what customers say, but not to the detriment of the original vision. From the first time I logged into a practice and saw the name John Henry in the room, I was impressed by the fact that he is doing far more than just bankrolling this thing. I know I sound like I drank the kool-aid, but I guess I have. There would be nothing better than a DSP iRacing League taking advantage of all the built in stats, rock solid servers, built in chat, no issues of mod/track mismatches, etc. If they roll this thing out, I will pay for the org fees just to get everyone going. Thanks for the links.

PS - On a side note, I am on a quest to break 1:10 at Road Atlanta Short in Time Trial for the VW. I think I am currently about next to last. I know I'm not good, but damn there are a lot of fast people in iRacing.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:26 am

VERY good video tutorial for driving the Jetta at Road Atlanta short:

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vETQVfB1D74&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed>

Take care,
PK

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:37 pm

The Organized iRacing does sound interesting, I'd like to see what happens with it. It'd be nice to have a DSP season set up.

I'm still on the fence about keeping the sub going, but I just haven't been on it much lately (I usually end up practicing my songs at night).

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:13 am

The secret I've held in my back pocket for about two months is now official: IndyCars, Firestone Indy Lights and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval and MotoGP road) are coming to iRacing this fall!

http://iracing.com/indy_promotion.html

Take care,
PK

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:38 am

pk500 wrote:The secret I've held in my back pocket for about two months is now official: IndyCars, Firestone Indy Lights and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval and MotoGP road) are coming to iRacing this fall!

And visions of the Papyrus IndyCar games start dancing in my head...can they get Paul Page to record an intro?

Should be a great time for you guys, it certainly puts iRacing even further up my "I really wish I was playing this" list.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:24 am

Dave:

We need the "Delta Force" theme!

Take care,
PK

WPatrick · Post by **WPatrick** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:45 pm

My subscription ends on 8/24 and if I could get another 3 months at 25 bucks I would stay. I just don't use it enough to justify the cost. The short track Legends racing is awesome, and I will miss it.

WPatrick · Post by **WPatrick** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:19 pm

WPatrick wrote:My subscription ends on 8/24 and if I could get another 3 months at 25 bucks I would stay. I just don't use it enough to justify the cost. The short track Legends racing is awesome, and I will miss it.

I am hopeless, my subscription was inactive for less than 24 hours before I re-subscribed. iRacing is like a nicotine addiction for me.

darrenalex · Post by **darrenalex** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:45 am

Hi Jared,
I am a new guy for this forum and I read some topic of this forum and i want to know this topic deeply can u give me the main question of this forum.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:15 am

^^^^^^^
Ban this puking spammer, please.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:35 pm

Abso-freaking-lutely free one-month iRacing trial for either late model stock car or Skip Barber open-wheel car. Get details and promo code in this blog:

http://timwheatley.org/www/2009/09/03/i ... hat-rhymes

Take care,
PK

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 2:42 pm

Just to reiterate what Paul posted above - this is a FREE MONTH TRIAL of iRacing with additional FREE content above the stock month subscription. It gives someone who has not yet tried out iRacing, the ability to see what it's all about and try out one of the higher class cars for a month. Previous free trials gave access to cars that you could test with, but they were in classes that could take a few months of iRacing just to attain the license. This offer is clearly different and shows that the folks at iRacing continue to listen to feedback. Anyway, I am posting the details here for anyone who just doesn't have time to click another link

So what have I setup? Two new-member trials.

The first, aimed primarily at Papyrus simulation users who are still running Grand Prix Legends, includes a free first month, the Skip Barber Formula 2000, Virginia International Raceway and of course, the basic content normally included with a 1-month subscription (Pontiac Solstice, Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe, SCCA Spec Racer Ford, Lanier National Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Oxford Plains Speedway, Summit Point Raceway, South Boston Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca).

So, why did I choose the Skip Barber Formula 2000? Because it’s a lot of fun and out of all the iRacing cars it drives the most like a car from Grand Prix Legends. You can also reach a Rookie 4.0 license within a few hours of membership and this will allow you to drive this car in official races.

Why did I choose Virginia International Raceway? This track is like a cross between Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring in Grand Prix Legends. This track needs to be tamed and it can give you that sense of exhilaration and achievement which you until now believed could only be gotten after lapping the ‘ring. It’s also a very important track for your career within iRacing (it is used all the way up the ladder) and comes with seven (yes, seven) track configurations.

Any Tips? Yes. The SB2000 is a school car, it is supposed to be driven in a technically correct manner. You need to either be on the throttle or brake at all times to keep it stable; If you lift off the throttle completely in the middle of a turn, it will likely spin out on you for example. Think about where the weight of the car is moving to, be smooth and try to keep even a little bit of throttle down in each turn to keep weight in the rear.

To claim your free first month new account ‘SB2000+VIR’ version, go here, use promo code: PR-GPL

https://members.iracing.com/membersite/ ... Choices.do

The second promo code allows Papyrus simulation users who are still running any of the NASCAR Racing simulations a free first month, the Chevy Monte-Carlo SS late model, Martinsville Speedway and of course, the basic content normally included with a 1-month subscription (Pontiac Solstice, Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe, SCCA Spec Racer Ford, Lanier National Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Oxford Plains Speedway, Summit Point Raceway, South Boston Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca).

So, why did I choose the Chevy Monte-Carlo SS? Because it’s a lot of fun. Secondly, because it’s a lot of fun (and I do know I said it twice). This is my favorite stock car. It doesn’t require you to be so precise and you can drive this car the way you want to drive it - and it rewards you every way. I drive this car with what I call ‘happy hands’, as I am constantly working the wheel and the feel the car gives is just superb. This car will show you just how far things have come since NASCAR Racing 2003 Season. You can also reach a Rookie 4.0 license within a few hours of membership and this will allow you to drive this car in official races.

Why did I choose Martinsville Speedway? because who could say no to this paperclip-shaped beauty? It produces close side-by-side and bumper to nose racing every time. This track is one of the few tracks on the late model schedule in iRacing that isn’t already given to you with the basic subscription, and although my favorite track on the schedule is Concord (a three-turn oval) I thought it better to give you Martinsville Speedway, which is used later in your iRacing career all the way up the ladder.

Any Tips? The late model, as I said before, is very driveable. The best way to drive it technically will be as smooth as possible, but the car easily accepts being sideways and has enough feeling to allow you time to recover it. Many say the late model series in iRacing provides the best quality racing available…

To claim your free first month new account ‘LM+Marty’ version, go here, use promo code: PR-NR2003
https://members.iracing.com/membersite/ ... Choices.do

How the subscription works/things you need to know:

The promotion code creates a new account. Therefore, this cannot be used to add content to an existing account in any way.

A credit/debit card or Paypal account is required and will be needed to access the trial.

This is a free first month. You can cancel payment for the second (and onwards) months at any time. When logged into the members Web site, go to the My Account link, click cancel and cancel again. Regular monthly billing is $19 per month.

Some credit/debit cards (especially European banks) will not accept a $0 transaction. To get around this, we sometimes request $1 - which will show as pending, but this $1 will drop back into your account and will not be taken.

You can switch your trial to a 3-month, 6-month or 1-year subscription at any time. Go to the My Account link on the members Web site and renew the account. Any amount of time you purchase will be added to the time remaining on your trial.

If you buy any additional content on the trial account, but do not wish to continue the trial after the first month, the additional content will be waiting for you to re-subscribe at a later date along with all your racing stats and license.

At the moment there is no end-date for this promotion. But one is set in the system for 31st December, 2009.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:26 am

The free iRacing trials have been discontinued due to abuse:

>>>

* Offer has been deactivated due to abuse. *

We currently have a 50% off 3-month IndyCar promo on http://iRacing.com
or the $5 promo on http://inRacingNews.com for 1-month.

Tim.

<<<

Apparently, many Burnout-style Harvey Wallbanger idiots joined on the free trial and were causing mayhem in Legends oval races, damaging the Safety Rating of paying members.

Sad, but true. But paying members will benefit from the cancellation of this trial.

Take care,
PK

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:56 pm

pk500 wrote:The free iRacing trials have been discontinued due to abuse:

>>>

* Offer has been deactivated due to abuse. *

We currently have a 50% off 3-month IndyCar promo on http://iRacing.com
or the $5 promo on http://inRacingNews.com for 1-month.

Tim.

<<<

Apparently, many Burnout-style Harvey Wallbanger idiots joined on the free trial and were causing mayhem in Legends oval races, damaging the Safety Rating of paying members.

Sad, but true. But paying members will benefit from the cancellation of this trial.

Take care,
PK

I'm going to sound terribly snobbish here, I'm sure, but sod it. You couldn't ask for a better illustration of how the "why should I pay for iRacing when rFactor lets me race without a subscription?" brigade have missed the point. The reason I was so hesitant about getting into iRacing is that I previously wouldn't race online unless it was a Poker Night, because the driving standards in general were terrible. We all know, and doubtless have seen, what I mean by that - accidents caused by lack of practice or talent are one thing, accidents caused by wanton disregard of track rules and basic etiquette are another, and far more commonplace.

The reason I love iRacing so much is because it doesn't have that. Mistakes are honest, not born out of ignorance, and the racing is clean (alright...clean-ish) and great fun. If a few bones a month is the price we have to pay for wanting to race and not have a destruction derby, I will pay it forever more.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:18 pm

GB_Simo wrote:The reason I love iRacing so much is because it doesn't have that. Mistakes are honest, not born out of ignorance, and the racing is clean (alright...clean-ish) and great fun. If a few bones a month is the price we have to pay for wanting to race and not have a destruction derby, I will pay it forever more.

Amen to that. If I was to buy Need for Speed Shift, Dirt 2, Forza 3, and GT5 in the next few months, that would cost me over $240 US. For $156 I get a year of iRacing and an additional $60 credit for more tracks and cars. For me personally its a no brainer.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:51 pm

Bingo, Don and Adam. Here's what I posted on the issue today at RSC:

>>>>>
It does prove that clean, ethical racing is one of the worthwhile privileges for which you pay in iRacing.

iRacing had very few wreckers before this trial because people didn't want to damage their Safety Ratings in a game for which they're paying a subscription. Open iRacing to everyone, and the idiots run through the door.

If this experiment proves iRacing is elitist, so be it. I'd rather be an elitist prick enjoying clean, ethical public racing than a proletarian who must dodge idiots every other lap.
<<<<<

Take care,
PK