Licenses aren't even an indication of how long you've been around now with fast track. You can still judge how fast a driver probably is by their number in race sessions since its based on their iRating. If I'm number #17 and I see #2 coming up behind me, then I know I most likely don't have much of a chance against this guy and give him space if he's all over my bumper.
You are right. Begs the question as to what the point of licenses is?
Licenses are based around the ability to safely control the vehicle of your class. The thought is that you shouldn't be able to jump straight into an Indy Car when you've just started in the service, which is a good thing.
There is no point really, especially when you get to the top. I do like the fact that you can't jump straight into the A class cars the first day you sign up, but any reasonable driver should be able to get to that level in a short amount of time. Really, the whole SR system is just a way to make people race smarter, and I think it works. A lot of people put importance on that number, as meaningless as it really is, and I think the driving is at least a little cleaner because of it. I don't think your actual license level means that much though.
One of my favorite quotes on licenses was on the iRacing forum, and it went something like "The only licenses that matter are Rookie and Pro, because if you see either one of those behind you, you have an equal chance of being wrecked". Classic.
LoL - too true!
Fair enough.
But implore you, since you've taken the time to redownload iR and give it a shot, in addition to the Solstice you really should give the Skip Barber car a fair shot. The feedback is great; you can feel the ruts & imperfections in the track surfaces and it's a real raw driver's car - a blast to drive. If you're going to re-evaluate the sim in it's current state, you owe it to yourself to test that car out as well.
If you think the Solstice and Skippy are rubbish, I'll never bug you again. I'd be really surprized though. I'm even tempted to say I'd reimburse you if you honestly thought the Skippy was a poorly simulated car
But I won't say that because surely you can part with the pocket change it costs 
When you drive the Solstice, I suggest that at some point you deliberately overdrive it to the point where you crash. iRacing does a splendid job of making driving on the limit feel a bit dangerous, and if I lose it I actually dread the impact a little because for some reason it feels quite visceral. Seems like something violent just happened in comparison to the same situations in the current LFS. I know the point of a sim is not to crash, but this does add to the experience.
I wish the Solstice was the turbocharged version though. Then I could race that and the skippy and be content for the next year
I'll give it a try! I think I own the Skip Barber (for all I know it's a default car and we all do, but I'm sure I remember driving it when I first got a licence).
I'm not that flush with money - it takes a huge amount of effort and self control for me to afford racing, to the point where my clothes are falling to bits, the paint is flaking off my road car, and my house is in real need of some TLC. It's a massive struggle to find the money to race, let alone race and pay for iRacing for a month
My off-season time is spend hoarding money for next seasons tyres and entry fees, so the winter is no financial rest either...
I'm not that flush with money - it takes a huge amount of effort and self control for me to afford racing, to the point where my clothes are falling to bits, the paint is flaking off my road car, and my house is in real need of some TLC. It's a massive struggle to find the money to race, let alone race and pay for iRacing for a month
My off-season time is spend hoarding money for next seasons tyres and entry fees, so the winter is no financial rest either...No -
hahaha.... I reread the other quote
I meant too true to the two licenses to watch. 1. if it's rookie, be careful as you might get a hit up the back or they might brake early.
2. if its a PRO license they are going to pass easy anyway, so let them go by
Fixed.
Nah, some drivers are just focused on SR and being way too passive when racing for positions.
So true. I remember doing large grids in the radical and not qualifying. I went from 25th to 2nd in race just by catching the back of cars and them letting me by.
Which is one reason I don't like the SR system.
I got hit from behind at t1 under a yellow flag in the rookie Solstice race and one of those numbers actually went down, life will never be the same again.
Car was so damaged I thought it best to pit to avoid problems for others I was then towed to the pits by Superman who must have just had a Kryptonite kebab... 60 seconds never felt so long ... rejoined race... finshed 3rd.... and a lap down!.
ps still like it
.Car was so damaged I thought it best to pit to avoid problems for others I was then towed to the pits by Superman who must have just had a Kryptonite kebab... 60 seconds never felt so long ... rejoined race... finshed 3rd.... and a lap down!.
ps still like it
I like the Solstice a lot, but hate the Skippy. It's just massive off-throttle oversteer. I can't see the point of setting up a car to do much more than tuck in the nose when you let out of the go-faster pedal. It's atrociously balanced if you ask me and I can't set it up to drive like a car ought to at all.
I have most of the iRacing cars. My favorite is probably the Radical once I get it set up more to my liking. The Solstice is great in that you can steer with the throttle and brake a lot more than with the other cars. I find myself using throttle and steering together in a much more fun way than with most of the cars. My other favorite is the F1 Lotus. Spending a lot of time in that. The IndyCar is good fun too, but so far I've only run that at the Indy Speedway (good fun) and Talledega (boring) aside from a few laps at Laguna Seca.
The Skippy's my least favorite by far, although it's been many months since I've run it. If they'd get rid of the horrible trailing throttle oversteer I'd enjoy it a lot more. Star Mazda is a lot more fun to me.
The real car has...horrible trailing throttle oversteer though
There was a Canadian show called star racer. They put a bunch of shit amateur drivers into skip barber cars and the winner got to be a star mazda driver for a season.
They were spinning all over the place on entry.
Its got an open diff, its super light, and it has road tires.
There was a Canadian show called star racer. They put a bunch of shit amateur drivers into skip barber cars and the winner got to be a star mazda driver for a season.
They were spinning all over the place on entry.
Its got an open diff, its super light, and it has road tires.
Plus, it's a trainer. It's designed to teach one how to overcome specific handling issues/characteristics.
271 page threads
Egad!
It has been over a year. I have searched the forum.
Is LFS better than IRacing overall (including replayability) or not?
If I missed the thread I am sorry.
It has been over a year. I have searched the forum.
Is LFS better than IRacing overall (including replayability) or not?
If I missed the thread I am sorry.
Depends what you're looking for in a racing sim, read back few pages to get an idea or check 1-month free-trial from Radical Sportscars (http://www.radicalsportscars.com/racing/virtual-racing)
For the money, you can't go wrong with LFS. Best money I've spent on a game so far. However, as Crommi said, it depends what you are looking for in a sim/game. Each have their merits and downfalls. You just need to look at what's important to you.
For instance, what are the 5 top things you look for in a driving game?
I thought the latest update reduced the excessive engine braking. Was that fix only done for the Spec Racer Ford? I'm not an iRenter, but follow what's going on at a few forums.
I heard this about the Spec Racer Ford too. This had lift off oversteer too, but not nearly as bad as the Skip Barber car. I don't know if they updated that car too though. Just have to give it a try and see.
I'm fine with the real car doing this, but the amount just seems really over the top. Why someone would engineer a car to handle that way is beyond me. A bit of oversteer makes sense, but going to the point where it just completely spins in a fraction of a second is just a design flaw in my opinion. A friend of mine who's a race car engineer ran at a racing school at Laguna Seca. I think that's the Skip Barber school but could be wrong and am too lazy to check online right this second. He pointed out that the cars there were set up really loose, but he didn't mention trailing throttle oversteer specifically. If it was his car to race he would most certainly change the car quite a bit towards making it more neutral.
It's just odd and something seems amiss. In my sim I have to try pretty hard to make a car drive that horribly when no throttle or brake is being used. A lot of people seem to really love it though. Just different taste I guess.
Another thing to point out with the Skip Barber car is that in reality you have people trail braking with those cars into the turns. That's just impossible with the iRacing version unless you go really far forward with the brake bias. Then once you let off the brake just enough it'll spin. I've not been able to set up the car to transition from full braking to no braking and full steering without spinning. There's an area in between there where you have to immediately jump from brake to lots of throttle or around it goes in a real hurry. Then once you're on the throttle it's all understeer. Seems odd to me.
I just can't get used to driving that thing. Maybe in reality I couldn't either
I'm fine with the real car doing this, but the amount just seems really over the top. Why someone would engineer a car to handle that way is beyond me. A bit of oversteer makes sense, but going to the point where it just completely spins in a fraction of a second is just a design flaw in my opinion. A friend of mine who's a race car engineer ran at a racing school at Laguna Seca. I think that's the Skip Barber school but could be wrong and am too lazy to check online right this second.
He pointed out that the cars there were set up really loose, but he didn't mention trailing throttle oversteer specifically. If it was his car to race he would most certainly change the car quite a bit towards making it more neutral. It's just odd and something seems amiss. In my sim I have to try pretty hard to make a car drive that horribly when no throttle or brake is being used. A lot of people seem to really love it though. Just different taste I guess.
Another thing to point out with the Skip Barber car is that in reality you have people trail braking with those cars into the turns. That's just impossible with the iRacing version unless you go really far forward with the brake bias. Then once you let off the brake just enough it'll spin. I've not been able to set up the car to transition from full braking to no braking and full steering without spinning. There's an area in between there where you have to immediately jump from brake to lots of throttle or around it goes in a real hurry. Then once you're on the throttle it's all understeer. Seems odd to me.
I just can't get used to driving that thing. Maybe in reality I couldn't either
The spec racer was far worse than the skippy. In the spec racer we were running the car as grippy as possible and it would still turn around on a whim.
In the skippy I am one click from full stiff on the rear bar, and close to maximum front camber and I can set very fast times with it.
Bastien Barstch set a world record right foot braking...not even rev matching which will cause even more entry oversteer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lB47YLfsjc
Its all about driver input..you can keep the car very straight or very sideways depending on what you do with the wheel.
In the skippy I am one click from full stiff on the rear bar, and close to maximum front camber and I can set very fast times with it.
Bastien Barstch set a world record right foot braking...not even rev matching which will cause even more entry oversteer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lB47YLfsjc
Its all about driver input..you can keep the car very straight or very sideways depending on what you do with the wheel.
I just tried both again and the Skippy seems a lot better than it was before (default setup). Perhaps that's my imagination since it's been so many months since the last drive in it. Pretty sure I remember it being a lot worse than the Spec in this regard.
I tried both at the skidpad just now. At a constant 60mph when the throttle is dropped quickly they both spin to 90 degrees by the time they stop in just under three seconds. This was keeping about 90 degrees steering lock throughout the slide without countersteering at all. You're right. To me it looks like the Spec accelerates more quickly initially and is more sensitive to this. I remember the reverse being true by a long shot when the Spec racer was released. Am I remembering wrong or has the Skippy changed in the past six months or so? I was always at the front of the pack in the Spec racer, but would be off the pace by three seconds or so at Infineon just because I could barely control the car. I should give it another go and see if I move up at all.
Yes, that's true of course. My point was more that it's not really a design goal to make a car spin around when you let off the throttle like that. I understand that some cars do this (the first Toyota MR-2 springs to mind), but it's not something the engineers and drivers will generally want. You want the car just to go straight to the slip angle peaks and stay there if at all possible in all conditions. Some cars do this better than others of course.
I tried both at the skidpad just now. At a constant 60mph when the throttle is dropped quickly they both spin to 90 degrees by the time they stop in just under three seconds. This was keeping about 90 degrees steering lock throughout the slide without countersteering at all. You're right. To me it looks like the Spec accelerates more quickly initially and is more sensitive to this. I remember the reverse being true by a long shot when the Spec racer was released. Am I remembering wrong or has the Skippy changed in the past six months or so? I was always at the front of the pack in the Spec racer, but would be off the pace by three seconds or so at Infineon just because I could barely control the car. I should give it another go and see if I move up at all.
Yes, that's true of course. My point was more that it's not really a design goal to make a car spin around when you let off the throttle like that. I understand that some cars do this (the first Toyota MR-2 springs to mind), but it's not something the engineers and drivers will generally want. You want the car just to go straight to the slip angle peaks and stay there if at all possible in all conditions. Some cars do this better than others of course.
Regarding the Skip, it is a design goal when the car itself is designed as a trainer. While massive lift-off oversteer isn't desirable in most applications, it is when you're learning to cope with lift-off oversteer. There's a reason the school designs its own formula trainers.
Reason for Toyota MR-2's handling characteristics is low polar moment of inertia, caused by engine that is positioned close to car's CG. This results in a car that reacts very quickly and feels very agile, but could also feel "twitchy" on the limit. Most road cars in iRacing have the same kind of design, much weight in middle to give sharper feel. Even Corvette has it's engine moved as far back as possible.
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