Thats quite a negative way of looking at it Dave. They are giving you the opportunity to try out the most expensive race sim ever for absolutely nothing. You even get slightly more content to play with than a basic subscriber would beings that its via Radical sport cars.
Also canceling your membership before it renews is very easy (2 clicks & thats it). There is no smoke screen or scam in sight.
If anyone is thinking of trying it, probably best to wait until the next update is released as there are quite a lot of improvements due out.
Oh, it does... Slarti's observations are completely true (although he confused the light feel of understeer with tyres in the air), there is way too much grip over the limit... Or show me one RL driver that uses excessive induced understeer to scrub off speed and stabilize the car on corner entry? See any Orion HL-replay for how it's done to be fast in iRacing... Don't even let me start about the yaw angles the cars achieve without any loss in downforce... And there surely is a problem with low speeds too - I haven't watched Daytona Prototypes but I bet none of them bog down on the start even when they were on full throttle the second before, and the Radicals are no different...
Fact: in the Aero department, the only thing iRacing has over LfS is Ground Effect.
Fact: induced understeer, especially as excessive as shown in iRacing, in a car on fat, grippy slicks won't result in faster cornering.
Fact: dampers and ARBs in iRacing have no absolute value - how do you know you're setting realistic values there? How do you know if you even have realistic values to choose from?
Fact: driveline-model is non-existant. Shift with neither auto- nor manual(/petal) clutch - iRacing doesn't care. But god forbid you may want to get into gear when you get to the grid - silly boy, you have to wait for the lights to come on to do that!
I agree that iRacing has the potential to become the best sim quite quickly... If they'd finally wake up and focused on the physics instead of new cars when you don't even have enough members to get official races in any of the leagues other than the rookie ones and/or anytime else than peak times... As of now, there are so many elemental things still missing that the price seems quite cynic - I've got a year, but just because I am someone that can't stop halfway... After getting to A (which should be within the year) I won't continue as it stands now... What I then have for the € 200+ is nothing, maybe not even access to the member site/forums...
The concept "induced understeer" has been mentioned only once on the iRacing forums, and even in that case not as a viable technique but as a mistake a driver made.
Have you confirmed with the Orion guys that they are really using the technique or just basing your opinion on watching videos? Of the top guys I've only been watching Huttu's and McLean's replays (Team Redline), and I don't think they show even a hint of induced corner entry understeer.
I've never had a problem with the braking issue you are having, and tbh you are one of the first I've heard talk about it. As far as "too forgiving" goes, how the heck do you like LFS then? LFS is by far the MOST forgiving sim out there hands down.
1. Aero modelling has to be better in iRacing, as it's very simplistic and laughable in LFS.
2. I'm guessing you have never seen induced understeer in LFS at all? I find it more beneficial in LFS than I do in iRacing (barely do it in either, but that's not the point). In LFS (on an endurance set) I'll create understeer to try to balance the tire temps front/rear. Works perfectly fine, and I don't lose time, if anything I end up gaining time because my car isn't sliding..
3. Gets annoying sure, but at least I am not changing things to the .001
4. That's just a nab feature IMO, agree with you there.
I do wish they'd get that sorted out already, I miss being forced to use the clutch(really I do). I don't get the "can't get into gear on the grid" thing though, I've seen others mention it too. Maybe because I'm using the H-shifter on the G25? All I know is, when I'm in a Solstice race I can stand on the clutch, pop it in first, and when the green light goes I dump the clutch and I'm off, no shifting needed. If it just that sequentials can't shift before the light?
I think I was referring to using too much steering angle after I have successfully braked at the top of the screw. I've noticed that as my times drop in iRacing, and my SR is rocketing, I am using more and more induced understeer. If I start to push wide at say T1 Limerock, I simply crank the wheel and tighten up my line. Slowing all the while. If I try that in the 3rd gear hairpin at the end of SO5, under the overpass, the car slides into the rail. I've had understeer more than a few times in RL, in both street cars and racing breed. I will have to say that in my experience, LFS rings more true. Having raced on the same track with you in LFS, I do give your opinion serious consideration. I wonder what leads to our difference of experience. I do know you are much quicker than I in LFS. So, driving under the limit can explain a lot.
As far as the braking issue goes, you don't need to give my opinion thought because all is well on your end. As it is for many, many KaemmerWare drivers. But. And this is a big but. Many, many drivers are struggling with the issue. Including iRacing test drivers. (It was intimated to me in a PM with one of the devs that some of the testers had the same problem. DX was immediately blamed.) Just go drive on the iRacing servers and look at all the tire smoke. I am not the first to say it. I will certainly not be the last. DK and Crew have proven over 11 years of negligence that they intend to keep publishing the same mistake. Over, and over and over...
(Don't make me post the archives of the Mighty Vegemite Server. You don't want to read 100 threads about how stupid the controller setup is and what hundreds of sim racers went through to stop locking their brakes in GPL and NR. 8-))
I was under the impression that DXTweak doesn't work with iRacing? It doesn't do squat for me anyway.
I've got the Nixim mod as well, and sometimes I would lock up with the Skip. But there is a trick: after plugging in the pedals, depress the brake pedal as hard as you can using your hand. Like you're doing CPR on an elephant. So when you brake fully in game you'll only reach ~ 80% of brake travel! Makes it a lot harder to lock up.
You are correct. DXTweak does not work in iRacing. Nor does any other external calibration software. When I recieved my CST pedals today this was mentioned in the calibration documentation. FYI: These pedals have range like you wouldn't believe. In Love.
I have been racing iRacing for 3 or 4 weeks now. I figured why not if I got a free month. Unexpectidly I ended up buying an entire year and while this may sound crazy, I think the price is worth it for structure and the attitude of the iRacing community. The ability of most the drivers in iracing is good. The system seems to work. And their is a championship beyond the scope of each seasion. The first is the iPS or iRacing Pro Series for the top 250 drivers that starts in August. That is a feeder for the iRacing World Drivers Championship the top 50 of the 250. In iPS you get a pro license for a 39 week seasion. After that you get either A: be in the top 50 and move to World Champs series. B: Below 50 and higher then 250 and maintain your pro license or C: be below the top 250 and loose your Pro License. That is the how the top tier operates or will operate i should say.
I do not like the wheel calibration in iRacing. I have found ways to make it work the way I want it too. For me iRacing has been a hard sim to put down. I feel a bit guilty as I love LFS. But I'm not married to LFS or iRacing for that matter.
You can shift before the green light in any car. You just can't shift to first (or make a false start) until the game has confirmed the drivers who will make the grid. At that point the starting lights are put on screen.
I'm almost certain that they thought you referred to the problem with pedals losing their calibration settings and locking very easily until you have either re-calibrated them or pushed them to the bottom a couple of times on the track. It's an issue often brought up on the forums.
What you are describing, however, is a design decision, not a problem. As I see it, they chose to implement pedal calibration in a way that requires you to modulate something while braking as well as best rewards people with realistic, high-quality equipment (load cell brake pedals). Those with the more common, potentiometer-based pedals will have to modulate (mostly) distance instead of (mostly) pressure.
Of course how hard it is depends on the type of pedals you have. I find that even a small bit of progressive resistance in your pedals helps a lot. In any case, modulating at least something is rewarding, and, depending on how you choose to look at it, realistic too.
Unfortunately, smoke from remote drivers isn't implemented yet. The smoke will all be from your own tires.
You won't be the last, but as I said, it's not a mistake, and there is no real reason to change it. What really needs to change is the crappy quality of most pedals. Recently, load cell brake pedals are getting into the mainstream sim pedal market and progressive resistance is getting more common in the potentiometer-based ones.
Are you talking about inducing understeer on just entry, or all throughout the corner?
The braking issue IS/was a calibration problem like Liff described (I was one of the testers with the problem). Now it all seems to be fixed as I don't have it anymore. I would say it's DX (I don't use it myself) as I have seen others put the blame to it.
I don't have to... Quickly cranking the wheel to almost 180° on corner entry and straighten it as quickly when stepping on the throttle again is textbook induced understeer... But, if you feel better: Richard Towler himself said on the iforums there is an issue with too much grip over the limit...
I had a look at a dozen Orion racing team hotlap videos, and none of them were even close to what you describe. Have a discussion with the top guys, and I'm sure they'll tell you that it's not the way to go fast in iRacing.
These two are very good points that the LFS devs should keep in consideration to improve their game, I've been trying to discuss them (and many of those bbman made) in several of my own posts and other threads.
LFS needs to improve, get more realistic about the setup choices but this is hardly new. It's one of those recurring issues that get discussed over and over and that the devs never seem to find the time or will to address.
TBH I think there's a good reason for that: it makes LFS more accessible, makes it more quickly rewarding - hence more licenses are sold. I'm pretty sure the number of hard core simmers who switch to iR because of the exploitability of LFS is offset by the number of drifters, cruisers and less finicky racers that are lured in that way.
This is a good strategy because LFS has very few ways to spread other than word of mouth: it also draws in people that are new to simracing without forcing them to spend money on wheels or other dedicated equipment, which is a Good Thing(tm). OTOH it also allows those users to get so many helps (both in the form of setup choices AND driving helps) that they often end up so fast that they never ever think about getting a wheel.
iR is doing exactly the opposite: use traditional marketing techniques and limit the ways drivers can exploit the sim. There's a lot of money behind it, so they can afford to do it that way.
In the long term this could favor iR, especially if they stick to a high development pace and if they decide to drop their prices. LFS would then be forced in the role of the 'kindergarten' (where no serious racing takes place) or the poor man's sim :worried:
Ok... i know it might be offtopic... but i want to be able to choose between adv. setup options(like now) and "realistic" ones. Why? Maybe You might disagree, BUT IT IS FUN TO MESS WITH SETTINGS! I've learned a lot about cars, basic dynamics etc. We need something like IRacing "ROOKIE" and "ADVANCE" setings, which will be enforced on servers. It's cool that Scirocco has locked setup, but still I WOULD LIKE to play with different suspension setting in SP at least. That's also one of LFS advantages! Rather to restrict those settings(and loose one of LFS advantage, and make a lot of people MOAN a lot!), we need to be able to choose between those two modes.
Just because I suggested that setup choices should be more realistically limited, that certainly doesn't mean I want them to be crippled or removed altogether.
One thing should be kept in mind at all times: we all want LFS to improve.
(well except the iRacing fanboys that have nothing better to post silly pictures on the LFSforum, since they probably don't have so much fun on their own subscribers-only uber-moderated boards or they just have too much time to wait between a race or the other )
Hmm, can't find any from Richard again, he's doing it very profoundly... It may not be THE fastest, but certainly fast... Hell, I've tried myself: 1 lap smooth, one lap conciously overturning on corner entry... Guess which one was faster?
@PMD: Aero has to be better? Better values maybe, but from what I've read, iRacing implemented downforce based on angle of attack (rather than set angle in the garage) not that long ago... And since there's a new discussion about not losing downforce when the splitter (on the COT I presume) touches the ground, the DP may also be the only car with undertray aero... Sounds awfully like LfS (minus the DP) of about 2 years ago...
It doesn't do squat for me anyway. 
)
great