iRacing

[Guest2]

AC Pros

- Has by far the most content due to all the mods available (its not all consistently good quality though)
- Cheap with a ton of content
- Can be made to look like the best looking racing game on the market via free mods like CCP
- Has road cars, something iracing lacks

AC Negs

- Multiplayer is pretty dead relative to other sims and the stuff that exists is mostly populated by casual racers and slow potatoes.
- Physics and tyre model are a little dated relative to more modern sims, both ACC and iRacing are superior nowadays.
- Not much of an actual game, its mostly good for just driving around on track by yourself due to poor AI

IRacing Pros

- By far the best platform for online racing, nothing else comes close
- Biggest player base by far and is generally taken a lot more 'serious' than other competitors thus the quality of racing is usually superior to what you will find in other sims
- All types of racing covered (Open Wheel, GT, Prototype, Touring Cars, Oval, Dirt etc)
- Has more or less every feature you could ever want from an online racing game such as insanely detailed stat tracking, team racing, leagues, divisions etc etc
- Probably the most polished and feature complete sim on the market (single player stuff excluded)

iRacing Cons

- By far the most expensive platform for online racing, a lot of people can't justify the cost... this ultimately is what helps keep the player base a lot more serious than other games though.
- Graphics and lighting are fairly dated albeit with some nice bells and whistles attached to make it look a bit more modern...
- Single player functionality with AI is still quite basic but what is there is done pretty well
- A lot of people lose patience in the rookie series because it lumps all the noobs together often resulting in carnage, this can give people the (false) impression that the player base is no better than other sims



TLDR : If you are new to sim racing then AC is the logical first choice for its low cost and free content via mods. If you then want to take it to the next level in terms of online racing id look at ACC (provided you are happy to drive just GT3 and GT4 cars) and then finally if you are addicted to sim racing online then iRacing is your final destination. I spent £20 on AC, £45 on ACC (including the DLC's) and about £3500+ on iracing alone... you don't need to spend that much, I just loved it so much I ended up buying 100% content over the 12 year period I have been using the sim.

Thanks, really useful. I think i'll stick to AC for now but iRacing does sound great for online play.
I would be happy enough if I could enable other peoples 'ghost' car tracks times on tracks I play, then just race hot lap against them... At least for now whilst I get used to basic sim racing

 

[MikeTheNative]

Thanks, really useful. I think i'll stick to AC for now but iRacing does sound great for online play.
I would be happy enough if I could enable other peoples 'ghost' car tracks times on tracks I play, then just race hot lap against them... At least for now whilst I get used to basic sim racing

Funny enough you can do that on iracing.
You can join any race currently running and join the track as a ghost.

 

[Guest2]

Funny enough you can do that on iracing.
You can join any race currently running and join the track as a ghost.

I have read you can download ghost files for AC too, which can be saved here (or share yours from here)
C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Assetto Corsa\GhostCar\
Currently trying to best my time on 'Monaco 2017 2.0 by patrikpat' available here should anyone want it. It's a great Monaco track - http://www.mediafire.com/file/24ld1trvidybkul/monaco_2017_2.0.zip

I'll start looking into iRacing for online play too

 

[N0ddie]

I've now done 4 of the IMSA races around Indy Road course. My god is it an absolute blast. My biggest issue is unforced errors (on my part) losing me chunks of time. Tis great when you get in a battle with another fair driver scything through the GT traffic.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Yeah it's a surprisingly fun track to drive for a roval.

 

[glenimp617]

Racing when it's hot is hard work, lost patience, got angry, made a right mess of it all

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Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

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[N0ddie]

I had to take a shower after each of the 45 minute IMSA races this week

I didn’t realise a tonne of people actually pay “reasonable money” for car setups in this game? I didn’t know this was a thing.

 

[MarkeR]

I had to take a shower after each of the 45 minute IMSA races this week

I didn’t realise a tonne of people actually pay “reasonable money” for car setups in this game? I didn’t know this was a thing.

Been a thing for years and years, I used my prime sub to get setups from Craigs Setup Shop. Probably the best I have used! I don't mind using it for that, have zero time to make my own due to work, would rather jump on and do a 15 min practice then race.
You also have Apex, VRS and PDS who are prob the most popular.
VRS also gives you telementry that you canoverlay onto their ghost car, so you can work out where you are going slower!

One thing I have found, and it is personal preference is that all the setup shops have brake balance way to much to the front, I have to turn it to the back a few clicks.

 

[GravyMonster]

I didn’t realise a tonne of people actually pay “reasonable money” for car setups in this game? I didn’t know this was a thing.

When I first started, it wasn't. People used to share setups in the forums all the time. Others would give feedback and it would be a collective effort to improve them through the week, it was good fun and helped create a community around each series.

Then someone realised they could cash in and suddenly a setup became a commodity which had a value. Within a season setups stopped being shared and numerous copy cat setup services appeared. Massive shame really.

 

[GravyMonster]

One thing I have found, and it is personal preference is that all the setup shops have brake balance way to much to the front, I have to turn it to the back a few clicks.

Just a suggestion, but you may want to check you're not braking too hard/deep in to the corners and over-slowing the car.

 

[MarkeR]

Just a suggestion, but you may want to check you're not braking too hard/deep in to the corners and over-slowing the car.

Nah I'm fine with my braking, I prefer to brake just a tad later than most, having more brake to the back helps with that!

 

[N0ddie]

Been a thing for years and years, I used my prime sub to get setups from Craigs Setup Shop. Probably the best I have used!

I've used my Prime sub to his channel so now have access to his setups. Cheers for the tip.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I have an ARA sub and do think it's worth it.
Iracing have really stepped up their game recently with baseline sets now though, for most cars there's a decent selection and they aren't half bad.
You only have to go back a year or two and the base line sets were dog slow, borderline undrivable or a bit of both!
Saying that though once you get to a certain level you probably will not be competing with the baseline set (unless you make your own ofc)

 

[Wang]

Slightly off topic here people, but does anyone know who that fella on Facebook is who builds sim rigs? And if so, has anybody here bought from him? I'm looking to get myself set up properly and this is the next piece of the puzzle. (btw, if you do know who it is, could you link me).

 

[MikeTheNative]

Slightly off topic here people, but does anyone know who that fella on Facebook is who builds sim rigs? And if so, has anybody here bought from him? I'm looking to get myself set up properly and this is the next piece of the puzzle. (btw, if you do know who it is, could you link me).

Most sim rigs are aluminium profiles which you put together yourself, it's reasonably straight forward and the best bang for your buck.

 

[SDK^]

I spent most of the weekend racing the IR-04's on Watkins Glen. Love those cars, fairly easy to get into and push to improve times.

 

[Wang]

Most sim rigs are aluminium profiles which you put together yourself, it's reasonably straight forward and the best bang for your buck.

Do you mean I should buy pieces of aluminium 8020 and cut them all to size myself? How would I go about getting all the mounting points for the wheelbase and seat? I'm not bad at DIY so would definitely give this a go if the parts are available.

 

[GravyMonster]

If you can figure out the dimensions you need, most aluminium profile providers will cut the pieces to size for you for a couple of quid extra when making your order.

 

[Muska]

Slightly off topic here people, but does anyone know who that fella on Facebook is who builds sim rigs? And if so, has anybody here bought from him? I'm looking to get myself set up properly and this is the next piece of the puzzle. (btw, if you do know who it is, could you link me).

My brother bought a rig from him, it's Si Turnbull.

Good service, I know he's been really happy with it.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Do you mean I should buy pieces of aluminium 8020 and cut them all to size myself? How would I go about getting all the mounting points for the wheelbase and seat? I'm not bad at DIY so would definitely give this a go if the parts are available.

Sorry should have been a bit clearer. You can research and design yourself then but the profiles direct from the manufacture, as some else said they will cut them to size for you for pretty cheap.
However many people (like myself) just buy a kit from a company that you know will work and often comes with well made pedal plates and wheel mounts. I got mine from here https://sim-lab.eu/
Good thing about getting a profile rig, is even though I got mine from sim lab as it's standard parts I can just buy additional upgrades for it myself.