Bugger, I just typed loads and then lost it trying to insert a degree symbol. Stupid Firefox (that's what I'm going to blame anyway
).
I thought about writing about my event here, but decided that might be considered big headed, so I just let people click on the link in my sig if they were interested.
As for comparisons - the simple way of putting is that LFS is the only sim close to reality so far. ISI is just so far off it's a joke, and nK physics bugs (let alone all the other ones) mean that no comparison is possible.
Everything from the sound feedback (albeit not the sound quality) to the feel of slight high-speed oversteer is so close it's unreal. To those who think that the FOX is too oversteery at slow speeds, I must say they are as wrong as a wrong thing on National Wrong Day.
There are two major things that defy comparison though for me.
1. Braking - in LFS you can brake really late without worrying. You just slam down some gears and throw it in. It doesn't matter if you lock up or even fly off the track. In real life you are always wary of braking too late, locking a wheel, and during this second or two you have to juggle the clutch, brakes, throttle and a shifter, keeping an eye on the revs, your mirrors (if racing or being followed), looking for the apex. Add to this the stuff in point 2 and you can hopefully see why my braking in real life is MUCH less efficient that my braking in LFS.
2. Vibration, noise, forces, cramped conditions, fear of expense/injury, heat... All of these things sit there and try to trick you, so the experience is always less 'pure' than that possible in a sim. On the other side the feel through the seat of your pants (which is actually pretty well made up for in LFS by the FFB, the visuals and the sound) does make up for some of it, and you can feel oversteer/understeer a touch earlier than in LFS.
To be perfectly honest a direct comparison isn't possible, as the car and track are different, my levels of experience are vastly different, and my expectations are different too. But what I can compare tends to compare favourably with LFS.
ISI sims are a joke. Simple. They are not close in any way in my opinion. If real life was powered by ISI engines only a dozen people would bother motor racing, and the rest would get their kicks by sawing off their own head. And you can quote that anywhere.
In time I'll get more experience, and then perhaps a more accurate picture will emerge. I'm also hoping to go racing next year, either in Monoposto or the SEMSEC Open Single Seater championship. Club F3 doesn't interest me as the seriousness and costs are too high, and the snobbishness is vastly greater. I'd much rather learn in a friendly, low pressure environment where you buy each other pints afterwards.
This time next year, with luck, I'll be able to give a much better representation of the differences, but from what I've seen so far LFS and real life aren't THAT far apart...
My Dad was looking at a Formula Renault chassis for putting together a car for sprints & hill climbs but it went for too much. My Dad wants to get back into hill climbing and sprinting next year. The plan is we will both enter 
)could be remapped so easilly, no need to touch anything than a laptop and the results were amazing, frankly even for a power/torque curve it would be worth it. We used this guy http://www.chipwizards.co.uk/ and whilst taking the car to Rochdale and back did take 11 hours the results were worth it. He seems to be very highly rated, even just by looking at some of the seriously impressive kit in his yard waiting to go on the rollers (GT cars, prototypes and some ricer cars) and seems to know what he's doing.