iRacing

SKILL · 24 Nov 2021 at 10:17

What he said basically

But just to add at D-Class you may want to try the Skip Barber, it's a great car with great/popular races, but it's nothing like a GT3 car so might not be your thing

But an option worth looking at imo...

MikeTheNative · 24 Nov 2021 at 11:18

GravyMonster said:
Practice until you can do a race distance without falling off the circuit and then dive straight in to a race. The beauty of iRacing is that the iRating system will match you with people of your ability (as best it can for who's online). Just bear in mind that when you start out you'll be matched with other newbies, so the quality of competition won't necessarily be great and you can still have issues with wreckers. Just keep as safe as you can and treat every other car like the back end of a horse and you should be out of rookies in 5-10 races.

@Steedie This is exactly what I would have posted. I've heard some people suggest for Rookies to not quali and just pootle about at the back to just get up their SR. IMO this is terrible advice as you end up with drivers who have never practiced racing against other drivers in higher class races, they end up just crashing of themselves and/or others as they aren't used to actually racing.
Any questions feel free to @me, iracing isn't exactly the most straight forward thing to navigate for new drivers

MikeTheNative · 24 Nov 2021 at 11:19

SKILL said:
What he said basically

But just to add at D-Class you may want to try the Skip Barber, it's a great car with great/popular races, but it's nothing like a GT3 car so might not be your thing But an option worth looking at imo...

I'd never recommend those the Fixed GT3 and F3 races to a newcomer, they are just carnage and it's more wreck avoidance than racing lol

TonyTurbo78 · 24 Nov 2021 at 11:45

Steedie said:
So I've finally taken the plunge and stepped in to the world of iRacing, took advantage of the Black Friday offer.

I've pretty much played F1 2020 and 2021 since sim racing, with the odd lap on Assetto Corsa.

Where should I start? I wanted to get in to iRacing, mainly because I could never enjoy F1 online as the lobbies are so damn toxic, and any good racing you might do is rewarded by a salty player shunting you off at any opportunity. So I figured iRacing would be a good way in to online racing.

At the moment, I'm basically just getting used to the physics and driving with the free MX-5 on Oulton Park, slowly getting to grips with it and putting in some solid times. But what would you guys recommend in terms of tracks and cars to buy? I'm a Mercedes fanboy so eyeing up the AMG GT3, as it's what I'd use on AC when doing the Nürburgring, but is that a case of running before I can walk?

And how soon should I leave it before actually doing a race online? Should I just stick with AI for a while until I'm decent? Or will it match me with newbies if I try and race online? I don't want to be that annoying guy who's all over the place and getting in peoples way so I want to be at a decent standard

Also, the force feedback on this game is nuts, so used to the fairly tame FF of F1, that when I went straight in to iRacing and had my crash, my DD1 damn near took my arms off have set that properly now based on recommended settings, but it's still dangerous if you hit a barrier

Amazing, pleased you've entered the amazing online racing world of iracing.

It's been covered very well already so I really echo what has been said above. Practice practice practice each track each week, start in the mazda rookies and race as soon as you're able to get around the circuit with ease for 10 or 20 laps. Rookies is some of the worst experiences you'll ever see, the idea is to get out of them ASAP. But if you know how to race and are quick you'll podium with ease and be out of it in no more than 10 races. Where you go from there is entirely up to you but racing the skippies is a fantastic learning experience to master car control which prepares you for bigger and better things later on.

I'd personally check out the sim labs challenge if you like mazda (the racing is fantastic, it's multi class series - mazda, mustang, jetta and pontiac soltuce. Don't move to GT3 or GTE to quick, learn your trade and master the iracing physics before jumping into the faster stuff. Learn how to pit, learn how to read relatives and and learn how to spot an avoidable accident before it happens. Race smart and you'll enjoy the experience.

If you need any help you can find me on YouTube and twitch (same name as here) loads of videos up mainly iracing but also lots of AC, RF2 too.

BTW.... The merc GT3, she's a big ol boat but a great sounding car to drive.

I can also help you with setups if need be, I know quite a few tuners and have about 4 years experience in iracing.

Steedie · 24 Nov 2021 at 13:42

SKILL said:
What he said basically

But just to add at D-Class you may want to try the Skip Barber, it's a great car with great/popular races, but it's nothing like a GT3 car so might not be your thing But an option worth looking at imo...

MikeTheNative said:
@Steedie This is exactly what I would have posted. I've heard some people suggest for Rookies to not quali and just pootle about at the back to just get up their SR. IMO this is terrible advice as you end up with drivers who have never practiced racing against other drivers in higher class races, they end up just crashing of themselves and/or others as they aren't used to actually racing.
Any questions feel free to @me, iracing isn't exactly the most straight forward thing to navigate for new drivers

MikeTheNative said:
I'd never recommend those the Fixed GT3 and F3 races to a newcomer, they are just carnage and it's more wreck avoidance than racing lol

TonyTurbo78 said:
Amazing, pleased you've entered the amazing online racing world of iracing.

It's been covered very well already so I really echo what has been said above. Practice practice practice each track each week, start in the mazda rookies and race as soon as you're able to get around the circuit with ease for 10 or 20 laps. Rookies is some of the worst experiences you'll ever see, the idea is to get out of them ASAP. But if you know how to race and are quick you'll podium with ease and be out of it in no more than 10 races. Where you go from there is entirely up to you but racing the skippies is a fantastic learning experience to master car control which prepares you for bigger and better things later on.

I'd personally check out the sim labs challenge if you like mazda (the racing is fantastic, it's multi class series - mazda, mustang, jetta and pontiac soltuce. Don't move to GT3 or GTE to quick, learn your trade and master the iracing physics before jumping into the faster stuff. Learn how to pit, learn how to read relatives and and learn how to spot an avoidable accident before it happens. Race smart and you'll enjoy the experience.

If you need any help you can find me on YouTube and twitch (same name as here) loads of videos up mainly iracing but also lots of AC, RF2 too.

BTW.... The merc GT3, she's a big ol boat but a great sounding car to drive.

I can also help you with setups if need be, I know quite a few tuners and have about 4 years experience in iracing.

Thanks guys for all the really helpful posts

really appreciate it.

I'm doing as I've been told and just practising. The biggest thing I'm struggling with is just consistency. Again, having come from pretty much exclusively playing F1 2021, where it's a arcade/sim game, it's a lot more forgiving as long as you're not making huge mistakes. iRacing however, the slightest mistake and you're off the track. So my biggest issue at the moment is I'll go and put 5-6 good laps in a row, then as my confidence comes up, I suddenly make one small mistake and I'm back to where I was again.

I'll have a look at that Sim Labs Challenge, @TonyTurbo78, thank you, is it this one?. Subscribed to your YouTube channel as well

MikeTheNative · 24 Nov 2021 at 15:10

Fast and experienced drivers struggle for consistency as well. There's a part that's mental, not letting one mistake get to you, keeping focused etc. But technique wise you need to have as many fixed braking/steering points as possible, consistency is a lot easier when you know when to brake/turn each lap.

utajoker · 24 Nov 2021 at 21:35

anyone know if the 1 year sub for £29.99 on steam is for first time subscriber or you can only get this offer once?

"£29.99 at checkout is 60% off for first time purchases, auto-renewed every 12 month(s) at £109.99."

i have an ongoing sub at moment.

TonyTurbo78 · 24 Nov 2021 at 22:52

Steedie said:
I'll have a look at that Sim Labs Challenge, @TonyTurbo78, thank you, is it this one?. Subscribed to your YouTube channel as well

No, this one and thanks for the sub, i stream most nights on twitch from 8pm..just did 2 hours of mazda tonigh so might catch you live at some point.

MikeTheNative · 25 Nov 2021 at 09:29

utajoker said:
anyone know if the 1 year sub for £29.99 on steam is for first time subscriber or you can only get this offer once?

"£29.99 at checkout is 60% off for first time purchases, auto-renewed every 12 month(s) at £109.99."

i have an ongoing sub at moment.

Pretty sure it's new users only, Iracing use to offer 50% to existing members but it's only 25% now sadly.

TonyTurbo78 · 28 Nov 2021 at 12:05

Been having some really good races in the multi class Production Car Championship running the Mazda MX5. Some good gains, strong finishes this week and almost at 3k. Probably the last one I do here this week before the next track on rotation tomorrow which is Daytona Legacy I believe. You guys should come check it out, good championship, some decent guys to race against too.

Steedie · 30 Nov 2021 at 22:20

TonyTurbo78 said:
Been having some really good races in the multi class Production Car Championship running the Mazda MX5. Some good gains, strong finishes this week and almost at 3k. Probably the last one I do here this week before the next track on rotation tomorrow which is Daytona Legacy I believe. You guys should come check it out, good championship, some decent guys to race against too.

Really enjoyed watching that mate

great race. When are you streaming next?

Tonight I stopped practising by myself and went and ventured in to a Practise session on Laguna Seca just to see how my times were against some real players. Granted a lot of them could well be first timers like myself or lower skilled, I was curious to see. Out of 22 cars, I finished 5th fasted with a time of 1.40.4. I'd imagine that's immensely slow compared to some of you lot but I'm pleased I was only a second off the fastest. Especially as that was my first time on that track in the MX5.

Dup · 30 Nov 2021 at 22:27

When I was sim racing, for the more popular iRacing series (MX5, Skippy etc), people would upload lap breakdown videos to get the most out of the setup and track. Well worth checking out. In the slower cars, momentumn is key and you can really lean on the car far more than you think. It's difficult to feel compared to the real thing but iRacing is quite authentic in that respect so you just have to trust it and find the limit.

TonyTurbo78 · 1 Dec 2021 at 18:12

Steedie said:
Really enjoyed watching that mate great race. When are you streaming next?

Tonight I stopped practising by myself and went and ventured in to a Practise session on Laguna Seca just to see how my times were against some real players. Granted a lot of them could well be first timers like myself or lower skilled, I was curious to see. Out of 22 cars, I finished 5th fasted with a time of 1.40.4. I'd imagine that's immensely slow compared to some of you lot but I'm pleased I was only a second off the fastest. Especially as that was my first time on that track in the MX5.

Hi thanks for saying glad you enjoyed the race, wasn't entirely exciting, probably one of my less exciting ones but good gains there this week.

I usually stream most nights from around 8, I'm not a massive streamer just do it for the socials really and something to do. I am having a little break this week, will probably come back to iracing next week.

Practicing is great to nail down those lines and brake markers, but that doesn't really teach you race craft and close racing. Once your comfortable you should definitely look at getting involved with races more for sure, like you said you were surprisingly quick.

Steedie · 9 Dec 2021 at 19:27

Finally got round to doing some races to get out of the rookies. Had a week and a bit hooked on ACC and doing the Sim Grid Daily A races on that, but focusing on iRacing now

So did two MX-5 races round Tsukuba. First one was a brilliant experience, qualified P7 and had a nightmare start dropping about 3 places but finished the first lap back in 7th. Really smooth and consistent race, and ended up P6. Should have finished P5 but a couple of missed braking points as I was reeling him in really cost me. Was really pleased with that result though given I was the only rookie in the top 10 and there were some A and B license folks in there too

That set the bar for me and I loved my first experience on iRacing. Second race however...absolute carnage. People not even attempting to brake, rear ending me a couple of times and turning in to me in corners when I'm on the racing line. Ended up finishing last of the people who actually finished as I had to do my last couple of laps with 3 wheels actually spinning, god knows what happened to my front passenger wheel but it obviously took some damage.

Still... .2 safety rating away from escaping the rookies!

Edit - got my D license! Wooo

SKILL · 9 Dec 2021 at 22:43

Congrats on getting to D Class

Jumped on a bit earlier, forgot it was week 13

Ended up doing a few laps around Tsukuba in the MX-5, was quite good fun really, did a 1:03.5 which was 4th in that session, no idea where that stands overall but might see if I can jump in a race at some point...

I was thinking of doing some 'serious' this season but with Christmas coming up I might not get a proper chance until the new year, boo.

TonyTurbo78 · 10 Dec 2021 at 00:03

Steedie said:
Finally got round to doing some races to get out of the rookies. Had a week and a bit hooked on ACC and doing the Sim Grid Daily A races on that, but focusing on iRacing now

So did two MX-5 races round Tsukuba. First one was a brilliant experience, qualified P7 and had a nightmare start dropping about 3 places but finished the first lap back in 7th. Really smooth and consistent race, and ended up P6. Should have finished P5 but a couple of missed braking points as I was reeling him in really cost me. Was really pleased with that result though given I was the only rookie in the top 10 and there were some A and B license folks in there too

That set the bar for me and I loved my first experience on iRacing. Second race however...absolute carnage. People not even attempting to brake, rear ending me a couple of times and turning in to me in corners when I'm on the racing line. Ended up finishing last of the people who actually finished as I had to do my last couple of laps with 3 wheels actually spinning, god knows what happened to my front passenger wheel but it obviously took some damage.

Still... .2 safety rating away from escaping the rookies!

Edit - got my D license! Wooo

Lovely mate, congrats on that D license.

Fancy streaming any of it? I love watching new racers improve.

TonyTurbo78 · 10 Dec 2021 at 00:06

On another note, I bought the Mercedes W12 F1 car a little bit ago, I've not had time to try it yet, but I'll do so tomorrow. I'll try and put up a video the weekend showcasing it, might do a nice 4k vid with all the bells and whistles on.

Steedie · 10 Dec 2021 at 09:08

TonyTurbo78 said:
Lovely mate, congrats on that D license.

Fancy streaming any of it? I love watching new racers improve.

Yeah going to start streaming them now I'm out the rookies. Need to get my mic closer to the rig or get a second one set up as I'll be a bit quiet with the current setup but I'll get it sorted

MikeTheNative · 10 Dec 2021 at 09:09

Not really interested in the AMG to be honest. Despite hearing it's not that difficult to drive.... compared to the IR-01 anyways, I can imagine by the end of the season participation will have dropped massively.
My team is big into touring cars so they are more excited at the two TCR cars.

The start of the year is always good for me in iracing as Daytona and Bathurst are two of my favourite events, looking forward to them.

i-bert · 10 Dec 2021 at 19:05

Bought this a few weeks ago and loving it, and hating it at the same time. What a money pit though. I'll be getting a DD as my old forza fanatec has had its day.