Thankyou for some of the previews so far, thy all look great. Ruhr past week I have been renevating and ripping apart our new house. I haven't had the time to reply to anyone or add more details to help people. It's midday here in AUS, I'll fix everything up tonight. :-)

Just to justify that, edges can be curved, but not the actual areas.

Take a look at the first picture in the first post. The wood has curved cuts in it, but the MDF itself isnt bent for the whole area to be curved.

Yeh...

Quote from tristancliffe :

It's not a story of ability and being spotted sadly! I did a bit of regular arrive-and-drive karting when I was about 10 at the local indoor karting place, and used to beat most people that were ever on track with me - family, friends, strangers. But I never entered a proper race there, and I never managed to beat the people that worked at the track when I challenged them to a race. I knew then that I wasn't to have a career as a professional driver

Over the years I went to a few other karting places, and entered a few races at them - heats and finals events for people that turn up on the day, but never won anything (although I did make the odd final!).

I did a few track days in various things once I'd learnt to drive, but nothing that prepared me for racing or competition driving; it's just not the same when it doesn't matter how fast you go.

When I was at Uni my Dad bought the Reynard 883 to experience slicks and wings "before I get too old to enjoy it" - he still hasn't enjoyed it from the driver's seat properly, and claims he doesn't want to. He nearly bought a Formula 5000 car, which would have killed one of us.
I pursuaded him that we should use the car once I graduated, and so my brother and I did some sprints at the end of 2006. I won my class once, he won the class once (because I fell off on both my timed runs, which were quicker than his... but hey, it was nice of him to win something), and we both struggled at a damp Lydden.

After that had whetted my appetite, I pursuaded my Dad to let me race - my parents were both very against that, not least because they lost a son (and me a brother) in a car accident in 2001, so safety was of critical importance. Sprinting is 'safer' because there is only one car at a time... But I kept asking, and they agreed.

There was a certain amount of work to be done to race - the car had an F3 engine, and the series we wanted to enter (and could afford to enter) asked for a road engine. We got from a Toyota MR2, did the difficult conversion, and went racing in May 2007. My first session was a very wet Castle Combe, qualifying with all the classes combined. So I had 1000cc bike engines and faster 2000cc cars trying to pass me. I had 1600 and 1800cc cars getting in the way, all whilst trying to learn a circuit, a car and how to drive either. Talk about a baptism of fire!!! But I didn't qualify last (12th out of 14), and I didn't get overtaken in the race (10th out of 12 finishers).

At the next race I qualified 5th in the wet, beating cars and drivers that had been doing it for years. By the end of the year the only cars regularly in front of me were 'modern' Dallaras, and we ended up with two podiums at Snetterton at the end of the year.

The aim was to do 2008, and try to win the championship. The club had realised that not much could compete with the Dallaras, and set up a class for older pre-93 cars called Classic 2000. I hit the ground running, built up a points lead, and survived a scruffy end to the season to take the championship in my second year.

What to do now? Keep going? Make the car quicker and try to beat the Dallaras? Buy a Dallara? Retire happy in the knowledge that I've been there, done that?

We bought a Dallara. It wasn't anywhere near race ready, so over the winter my dad and I spent about 1500 man hours (plus sub-contracted hours) restoring the car to a decent standard. My social life struggled to cope!! Being a much newer, stiffer car we went into the year intending it to be a learning year - solving reliability issues, learning how to set up the car, and how to drive it. Somehow were were on the pace (pretty much) immediately, with a 2nd, a 3rd, a win, a DNF, a 2nd and a 3rd so far in 2009. I'm now going into every race confident I can challenge for a win, and that is the aim in two weeks time at Snetterton - I'd love to finish the season on a high, and use the mental boost to spring into a championship challenge in 2010.

And that's it. No karting to speak off. No junior categories. No driver schools. Just a bit of luck, lots of dedication, and some fun along the way. And I wouldn't have it any other way. If I'd bought a 120hp Formula Ford I'd never have developed as quickly (as a driver (?) or as a race engineer) as jumping in at the deep end with a Formula Three car.



Hope that wasn't too long and boring for you

Very inspirational! Thanks mate, good story!

Hey guys,

Ive recently been playing online on the PS3 and have enjoyed playing online. It gets fun from time to time and i thought it may be good for the PS3 owners here to go online to perhaps play together.

I currently only play COD: World at War and GT5P online.

My gamer tag is : nsanegtr

If anyone wants to add me, id love to catch up on those games and play.

Post your game tag too if you wish.

Tristan,

if this question has already been answered, sorry.

What steps did you take to get to where you are now? Did you start off in karts? did you race any other series? how long for? etc.

Id really like to know .

This and Monaco, is my favourite track. Dont get anything better then this!

dekojester hit the nail on all of them. If you want raw, good feedback for a wheel, LFS will be far better then rFactor. Any other aspect i think LFS is better, but thats just opinion, not fact!

For more info, http://en.lfsmanual.net/wiki/Main_Page

Quote from ColeusRattus :

But they're not actually building it, but merely assembling it... Not that it isn't a feat in itself, but I rather thought that someone was really building such a vehicle from scratch, so I was actually somewhat disappointed by the still awesome video.

I understand what you mean, its true what you posted.

But for me, im pretty amazed!

LOL my bad, i wrote that thinking, thats the abreviation for feet right? (wasnt sure).

I guess i deserve that one!

Im 6 foot, but i guess 6" now.

As i stated in a previous post, if no one else really enters this, ill work with MariusMM and i suppose he will get the 36GBP voucher.

However, i held this comp because i wanted a designed cockpit, and wanted to give something back to this community, so that said, after this is over, ill hold another competition with the traditional requirements (ie, quickest lap time, or design a skin etc). I assumed people would have been interested in cockpits and had an intrest with construction.

Im roughly 6''.

Sorry for a late reply. I have been all around the place lately.

Pedals to chair. Should not matter too much, go with what you feel is best, and i may modify it myself, if i need to.

Chair size will either be a gokart seat size or a car seat size. I dont have exact measurements for them, ill try to find them out today.

Guys, does it seem like i only have 1 legit entry? just to clear things up!

If so, i might close this competition if no one else will enter and just work with MariusMM.

Quote from tristancliffe :

4 or 5 beers yes, but 4 -5 packs of cigarettes? In Britain, where unhealthy and/or addictive stuff is taxed extra high to 'try to stop people using them [but actually just to get some more money]' 12 pounds is about two packets of decent cigarettes.

Not sure off the top of my head on condom prices. I don't think I've ever actually looked at the price - I'm too busy making sure no one I know sees me buying them!!!! (and besides, I'm single at the moment, so not a lot of need )

Two packets of cigarettes sounds more like it. Here its about $10.50-13.50AUD a packet.

Edit: inappropriate post.

Wheel radius is approx. 13.5cm (135mm) or full length of wheel from side to side is approx. 27cm (270mm).

Pedals are approx. 30cm in width and 38-40cm in length.

The wheel from my chest, roughly 30cm too, no less then maybe 27cm, no more then 50cm. Between 30-35cm would be ok.

Oh and, the screen is a 22'' LCD screen, though i might be getting a 26" if im lucky. Either way its roughly going to be that size, nothing HUGE. And the screen im hoping to have apart of the cockpit, it wont be on a wall mount or anything.

Fat-oil, give the man a break. Its not easy being a moderator to such a big community. He trys his best, and he knows best, Thats why he is in that position, and we arnt!

Plenty of road cars, Plenty of SS cars. GTR cars, not bad, if they where overhauled, thery would be perfect.

I would go for something new, either a rally car (for tarmac and dirt), LMP car.

Dragsters, Pikes peak cars and to a less extent a Nascar shouldnt really be in this, As they would be limited to 1 or 2 tracks. If there was WIDE selections of tracks, i would love a Top fueler or a Craftmans cup Nascar.

I see no problem with it, and i fail to understand how people find a problem with how this will work, i really do.

Its S3 Content for LFS. How hard is that to understand? You want to race a league with rockingham in it? It requires S3 licence. You want to race on rockingham in servers, it requires S3 licence.

Its exactly like S1 licence. They cant use S2 content, but theres no issues for people who are on S1 to drive S2 content, simply because, they cant! They are limited, and soon S2 will be too.

Last edited by aoun, Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:30.

To do a Hamilton: Bring an annoying bitch to the paddock and dump her!
To do a Schumy: Announce a comback. Then fail to comeback!

Oh just to clear things up, im assuming some people think they need to build the design itself. The competition is after say, "Blueprints" for a design, for ME to build. You dont need to go into a workshop or anything.

Ill post up dimensions of the G25 soon.

Also, ive made this competition because i was in need of a cockpit design, and rockingham is being released with S3, so i thought maybe give the community a chance to design me a cockpit, and ill give out a voucher or two, seeing how we are going to be able to by an S3 licence, it would come in handy. And dont forget what the OP said, if im really wowed by a great design that is worthy more of just 36GBP, ill up the prize more.

If you dont have a serious entry, why post one up?

Thanks anyway.

Quote from anttt69 :

Here's my(cough) idea for an MDF cockpit.

Thats actually VERY nice mate! I would bring the wheel closer, while sort-of "stretching out the cockpit. Add specific dimensions etc for the whole dessign and id say thats one that will shine!

Last edited by aoun, Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:40.

Not quite!

Ive been wanting to create some sort of professional online website design business, but havent had any partners or anything to design with. One thing i was thinking of, was doing Logos, business cards, websites etc for people who needed it no charge, to start up a quick and professional portfolio.

PS: If you need an extra designer (Photoshop, Illustrator, Basic flash, basic HTML), im just a PM away!

Post reserved.
Additional info: There is no exact deadline to this. When i feel theres been enough entrys or there wont be any more, ill close it! .


Update: Fixed competition. Now running again.

But will that only unlock s1+s2, or will it give a voucher of GBP24+12?

Sorry for bump, but i didnt realise, I can only give an S2 24gbp voucher. How can i give someone 36gbp for LFS?

Specifications:

• The design will be made out of MDF wood, so make sure you understand what can be done with MDF. No bars/framing etc, just a shell pretty much.
  
• Design cant exceed anything over 170cm (1.7m) (1700mm) in length. Width is up to you. However, it needs to be wide enough to fit a racing/car seat and a G25 shifter OR even the SST lightning shifter.
  
• Nothing from the design involved bending the MDF. Curved design is encouraged, but as the frame only.
  
• Inside the cockpit must have a spot where the G25 shifter can fit.
  
• Post views from Front, side, top, rear etc with all exact messurements.
  

The shape and design itself that im after is something like a Hyper Stimulator cockpit. Not an exact of it, but something that seats you in that position. Nothing where you are in a computer seating position, but rather an Open Wheel seating position. Infact, The Hyper happens to be almost what i was after, but without modifications, you cant fit the G25, Plus the price is alot, and they have stopped making Hypers. The cockpit will include a racing seat though, or just even a car seat. There needs to be a spot to put an LCD monitor on it (min 22" size)
Im after a very professional design. Nothing basic or simple, where its almost 3 peices of MDF stuck together to make the shape of a box.

The design its self isnt ment to be made by the user, just the design itself with exact messsurements etc for me to build myself.


When you look at this image, it puts you in a open wheeler environment. Its not just a basic box design out of MDF that could have been made in two minutes. The edges are rounded, theres elevation, creativity. Thats what im after. (not something looking identical to this).

IF DESIGN QUALITY IS PROFESSIONAL and VERY CREATIVE with NO FLAWS OF DETAIL IN MESSUREMENTS ETC, I WILL BE HAPPY TO ADD MORE TO THE PRIZE.
IE: The better the entry is, the better the prize. (Minimum will be 36£ voucher still)

After i have created the designed cockpit, all credits for design will go to the winning entry, where ever it may be posted.

If you need any more specs, feel free to ask.

Last edited by aoun, Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:17.

Hmm yeh your right. But 36euro or pounds (whatever the main LFS uses), should be good enough to help out people who cant really pay for LFS online.