My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by gmx

Sims give you a sixth sense of grip. Esp old days where FFB was mundane or often completely turned off.
I raced quite a bit with one of your mates in bimmer challenge over a decade ago

No doubt sims can be useful. I gained a lot of knowledge about COTA from Project Cars 2 on PS4.

I just don't like the physics of iRacing.

Who do you know in Bimmer Challenge?

[gmx]

Serhan

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by gmx

Serhan

Serhan! Great guy! And great driver!

[dogbone]

I witnessed a miracle last night. Bought Assetto Corsa. Drove 4 laps in a row and didn’t fly off the track!!! Will wonders never cease?!!!........

But now I need a better video card......hahaha

[StripclubDJ]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Serhan! Great guy! And great driver!

He's "alright"
He has Motorsport traction control, haven't you heard the word ?

[Ximian]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I witnessed a miracle last night. Bought Assetto Corsa. Drove 4 laps in a row and didn’t fly off the track!!! Will wonders never cease?!!!........

But now I need a better video card......hahaha

I picked up this one - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N889XT8 . It's water cooled and should last quite a while.

Maybe do88 will make a bigger radiator for it.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

He's "alright"
He has Motorsport traction control, haven't you heard the word ?

haha nice. No, Serhan is legit!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Ximian

I picked up this one - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N889XT8 . It's water cooled and should last quite a while.

Maybe do88 will make a bigger radiator for it.

Ooh that looks serious. Definitely will need aftermarket cooling!

[tsk94]

The physics on iRacing are quite good, probably better than Assetto Corsa's. The difference being is the force feedback on AC is a lot better and more detailed than iRacing so it's more 'natural'. What iRacing lacks it makes up in its accessibility to race in various classes/cars at basically anytime of the day vs. real people, not just AI.

Sims are a great tool for working on technique and can actually be quite useful for testing setup changes on a car. The caveat being you need to invest in a fairly decent sim setup for these techniques to carry over to an actual car on a real track. I used both Assetto Corsa and iRacing to help me determine what lock-up diff I ended up buying for my car - based on what felt best for me personally.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by tsk94

The physics on iRacing are quite good, probably better than Assetto Corsa's. The difference being is the force feedback on AC is a lot better and more detailed than iRacing so it's more 'natural'. What iRacing lacks it makes up in its accessibility to race in various classes/cars at basically anytime of the day vs. real people, not just AI.

Sims are a great tool for working on technique and can actually be quite useful for testing setup changes on a car. The caveat being you need to invest in a fairly decent sim setup for these techniques to carry over to an actual car on a real track. I used both Assetto Corsa and iRacing to help me determine what lock-up diff I ended up buying for my car - based on what felt best for me personally.

Interesting.

Here’s a few things about iRacing I don’t like---some of the them are physics things that just don't seem to work for me:

-One of the most laughable things about iRacing is what happens when you run over large berms like the “turtle” berms at COTA. The whole car launches and lurches into the air. It would be funny if it wasn’t so damn annoying. In general, it seems iRacing is unhappy on big berms. My real car in real life rolls over the same berms without any issues at all.
-The monstrous front grip that magically appears as you slow down is not realistic.
-The way the car turns at low speeds is not realistic.
-In iRacing, in the Cadillac race car (using default settings) at Road Atlanta, I was able to brake on the back straight from 164mph at the 100 marker for Turn 10 and still make the the turn.......ridiculous. You watch videos of real driving---no one at full speed in a production-based car brakes later than the 250 marker.
-Once you start sliding in iRacing, it’s like the car suddenly hit an ice patch with ice skates on. You’re just gliding and gliding. You are hitting a wall no matter what.
-My ability to judge speed inside iRacing is terrible-to-nonexistent.
-I prefer to drive from the view that just shows open track—no cockpit—-because I’m just trying to learn a track. I want to see it. iRacing does not allow that. The choked off view from inside the iRacing cockpit is annoying at best.
-The graphics are super basic.

I come to these sims simply to learn the layouts of new tracks—usually in Test mode or Time Trial mode. There's no doubt they are a great tool for that kind of learning. It worked great for COTA. So, I’m investing the time to hopefully learn the layouts of some East Coast tracks before I get there.

I purchased COTA on iRacing after actually driving the real track and driving over 1000 laps in Project Cars 2. I cannot get through a single decent timed lap at COTA in iRacing without crashing all over the place. iRacing almost makes me question if I can even drive a car on the street……I wish I could have my $45 back from the three tracks I bought.

Because I’m not a gamer, I thought initially that iRacing was my only option for learning some of the East Coast tracks, so in the last couple weeks, I turned my attention to Road Atlanta in iRacing. I've spent quite a bit of time trying to force myself to learn the "feel" of iRacing. It’s been so frustrating. When I finally learned that I could get mod tracks for Assetto Corsa, I downloaded that and tried it. I like Assetto Corsa better.

If I’m being honest, I don’t like driving any of the sims. I am not naturally good at them. I’m not a gamer. It’s hard for me to get the “feel”. My friends will tell you how bad I am at these games. My family will tell you how much I curse at the games. I think I’ve muttered “That doesn’t happen in real life” over 1000 times at this point. I had to force myself to sit and learn the “feel” of Project Cars 2 so that I could learn COTA. I’m ok at it now. I moved on to Watkins Glen in PC2 and was able to jump right in and do just fine.

This is me on iRacing on any track:

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Interesting.

Here’s a few things about iRacing I don’t like---some of the them are physics things that just don't seem to work for me:

-One of the most laughable things about iRacing is what happens when you run over large berms like the “turtle” berms at COTA. The whole car launches and lurches into the air. It would be funny if it wasn’t so damn annoying. In general, it seems iRacing is unhappy on big berms. My real car in real life rolls over the same berms without any issues at all.
-The monstrous front grip that magically appears as you slow down is not realistic.
-The way the car turns at low speeds is not realistic.
-In iRacing, in the Cadillac race car (using default settings) at Road Atlanta, I was able to brake on the back straight from 164mph at the 100 marker for Turn 10 and still make the the turn.......ridiculous. You watch videos of real driving---no one at full speed in a production-based car brakes later than the 250 marker.
-Once you start sliding in iRacing, it’s like the car suddenly hit an ice patch with ice skates on. You’re just gliding and gliding. You are hitting a wall no matter what.
-My ability to judge speed inside iRacing is terrible-to-nonexistent.
-I prefer to drive from the view that just shows open track—no cockpit—-because I’m just trying to learn a track. I want to see it. iRacing does not allow that. The choked off view from inside the iRacing cockpit is annoying at best.
-The graphics are super basic.

I come to these sims simply to learn the layouts of new tracks—usually in Test mode or Time Trial mode. There's no doubt they are a great tool for that kind of learning. It worked great for COTA. So, I’m investing the time to hopefully learn the layouts of some East Coast tracks before I get there.

I purchased COTA on iRacing after actually driving the real track and driving over 1000 laps in Project Cars 2. I cannot get through a single decent timed lap at COTA in iRacing without crashing all over the place. iRacing almost makes me question if I can even drive a car on the street……I wish I could have my $45 back from the three tracks I bought.

Because I’m not a gamer, I thought initially that iRacing was my only option for learning some of the East Coast tracks, so in the last couple weeks, I turned my attention to Road Atlanta in iRacing. I've spent quite a bit of time trying to force myself to learn the "feel" of iRacing. It’s been so frustrating. When I finally learned that I could get mod tracks for Assetto Corsa, I downloaded that and tried it. I like Assetto Corsa better.

If I’m being honest, I don’t like driving any of the sims. I am not naturally good at them. I’m not a gamer. It’s hard for me to get the “feel”. My friends will tell you how bad I am at these games. My family will tell you how much I curse at the games. I think I’ve muttered “That doesn’t happen in real life” over 1000 times at this point. I had to force myself to sit and learn the “feel” of Project Cars 2 so that I could learn COTA. I’m ok at it now. I moved on to Watkins Glen in PC2 and was able to jump right in and do just fine.

This is me on iRacing on any track:

Forza 6 has VIR, Watkins , Road Atlanta, Sebring, and lime rock and E9x. Physics are fairly good . Good enough to turn a lot of laps.

[Ngilbe36]

Originally Posted by ThunderMoose

Forza 6 has VIR, Watkins , Road Atlanta, Sebring, and lime rock and E9x. Physics are fairly good . Good enough to turn a lot of laps.

Forza 7 has COTA, Sonoma, Leguna Seca, Lime Rock, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, VIR, and Watkins Glen for the America tracks. Pretty decent list. Its not as good of a SIM as others, but it helps learn the tracks at least.

[SYT_Shadow]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who cannot drive iRacing for anything in the world

[gmx]

Originally Posted by dogbone

If I’m being honest, I don’t like driving any of the sims. I am not naturally good at them. I’m not a gamer. It’s hard for me to get the “feel”. My friends will tell you how bad I am at these games. My family will tell you how much I curse at the games. I think I’ve muttered “That doesn’t happen in real life” over 1000 times at this point. I had to force myself to sit and learn the “feel” of Project Cars 2 so that I could learn COTA. I’m ok at it now. I moved on to Watkins Glen in PC2 and was able to jump right in and do just fine.

This is me on iRacing on any track:

I heard this complaint a lot esp when 10-15 years ago in the leagues we use to compete in before this became a full-blown esport. This is what I'm saying about a 6th sense. Back then, there were no sim rigs, ffb was rubbish; i personally couldn't stand it and turned it off completely on the tool of the day; logitech momo or dfp. The pedals/steering had 0 feel, you built reactions/reflexes purely on instinct and honing that instinct.

Heaps of pros using iracing to stay sharp.

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by gmx

I heard this complaint a lot esp when 10-15 years ago in the leagues we use to compete in before this became a full-blown esport. This is what I'm saying about a 6th sense. Back then, there were no sim rigs, ffb was rubbish; i personally couldn't stand it and turned it off completely on the tool of the day; logitech momo or dfp. The pedals/steering had 0 feel, you built reactions/reflexes purely on instinct and honing that instinct.

Heaps of pros using iracing to stay sharp.

My view is that even if you're able to sort through all of that, iRacing (at least on my sim setup) doesn't match the physics that I experience in a real car. Perhaps the pros have improved rigs or perhaps they are trying to sharpen different skills such as race craft. But for Time Trialers, most of the guys that I have talked to or have seen interviewed are only using it to learn the basics of a new track as opposed to figuring out where the last .01 seconds is going to come from. YMMV.

Here's a pretty good video on the value of sim racing.

[OG Shark]

Big believer in sims and not just for racing. I feel like they have helped prepare me very well for life both on & off the track. Just a few examples -

- Track layout - been real helpful seeing the track before actually driving it
- Car balance - can really see how the application of throttle & brake affects the car
- Pipes - I can move through them very confidently especially when I have fireballs
- Zombies - not worried about them at all - I can headshot them from a mile away while on a dead sprint. Same goes for nazis, aliens, robots, etc.
- Bo Jackson - the baddest man that ever walked the planet
- Nissan GT-R - by far the best car ever made - nothing is even close
- Turtles - I can kick the sh!t out of those little buggers!
- Racing - if I'm having a hard time passing someone just turn damage off and use the car in front of you as brakes
- BFG - enough said...
- Mike Tyson - he was a chump - I could go all Buster Douglas on him too now
- The Princess is not in the same castle as you...
- I can hit a ping pong ball with a paddle for hours
- Being Pure Evil - apparently its ok to be the most awful monster of a person ever known and do countless unspeakable acts if you are only pretending!

I have to finish here because I need to go teach my kids how to jump on a turtle. Kids these days - they can digitally construct complex buildings at mind numbing speeds - but try to get them to land on the turtle without missing every time and they are completely worthless...

Edit - these are the kind of posts that happen when you and your family have been stuck inside the house for the last 8 days with the flu...

[StripclubDJ]

My wife put me in the fucking closet

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by ThunderMoose

Forza 6 has VIR, Watkins , Road Atlanta, Sebring, and lime rock and E9x. Physics are fairly good . Good enough to turn a lot of laps.

Originally Posted by Ngilbe36

Forza 7 has COTA, Sonoma, Leguna Seca, Lime Rock, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, VIR, and Watkins Glen for the America tracks. Pretty decent list. Its not as good of a SIM as others, but it helps learn the tracks at least.

Thanks for the heads up. Forza 7 has everything I need. Ironically, an Xbox 1x with a steering wheel and the game is mourn $450 which is cheaper than a decent video card for the pc........I'm considering it.

Although, I did get my Logitech G29 working properly in Assetto Corsa finally today. It's pretty nice. I just need better visuals from a better graphics card.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by gmx

Heaps of pros using iracing to stay sharp.

I know......But it's still not stopping me from heaping on the hate!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by ThunderMoose

My view is that even if you're able to sort through all of that, iRacing (at least on my sim setup) doesn't match the physics that I experience in a real car.

I agree.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Big believer in sims and not just for racing. I feel like they have helped prepare me very well for life both on & off the track. Just a few examples -

- Track layout - been real helpful seeing the track before actually driving it
- Car balance - can really see how the application of throttle & brake affects the car
- Pipes - I can move through them very confidently especially when I have fireballs
- Zombies - not worried about them at all - I can headshot them from a mile away while on a dead sprint. Same goes for nazis, aliens, robots, etc.
- Bo Jackson - the baddest man that ever walked the planet
- Nissan GT-R - by far the best car ever made - nothing is even close
- Turtles - I can kick the sh!t out of those little buggers!
- Racing - if I'm having a hard time passing someone just turn damage off and use the car in front of you as brakes
- BFG - enough said...
- Mike Tyson - he was a chump - I could go all Buster Douglas on him too now
- The Princess is not in the same castle as you...
- I can hit a ping pong ball with a paddle for hours
- Being Pure Evil - apparently its ok to be the most awful monster of a person ever known and do countless unspeakable acts if you are only pretending!

I have to finish here because I need to go teach my kids how to jump on a turtle. Kids these days - they can digitally construct complex buildings at mind numbing speeds - but try to get them to land on the turtle without missing every time and they are completely worthless...

Edit - these are the kind of posts that happen when you and your family have been stuck inside the house for the last 8 days with the flu...

haha somebody check this guy's temps!! I think he's delirious!!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

My wife put me in the fucking closet

Oh man! You really ARE in a closet!!