iRacing Review

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Bram Hengeveld submitted a new blog post:

iRacing Review

More than five years after its initial release, I feel it’s finally time to give iRacing the professional review treatment. Five years is more than enough time for one game to sort out all of its issues, the game costs several times more than your traditional boxed PC game available on the shelves at Best Buy, and deciding whether to take the plunge based on biased forum ramblings is never a good idea. Six hundred million laps later, it’s time to finally take a look at iRacing, and determine...
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All road racing cars on iRacing have a tendency to spin wildly out of control in between the speeds of 60mph and 125mph, or, for a much friendlier description, any low to mid speed corner. The sensation is like hitting a patch of ice, and most cars just can’t be saved once this slide starts. On top of this ice patch effect that pops up twice every lap (or more, depending on the track), iRacing tires don’t actually have the proper grip arc that they do in the real world. Tires don’t actually heat up and gain grip on iRacing after X amount of time, but instead provide max grip during the first lap, and then become exponentially more awful for every lap that follows. These are two problems that have plagued all road racing cars to some extent since the introduction of iRacing’s “new tire model” upgrade a few years ago, and entire road racing series have been abandoned because of it. Every road car is skittish and damn near uncontrollable, with even the top ranked drivers complaining about cars being downright awful.
I think we can categorically say, this is not the case with the latest tire model. Fast laps coming 4+ laps into stints, cars that wash out losing time instead of spinning with minor moments just over the limit, and even the ability to hold the car in a four wheel drift while spinning tires (I'm far from talented with the Lotus, but even I can do it without worrying the car will snap like I did last season).

I'd say they turned the corner.
 
I'm sorry but this is a bogus review !! I can't believe this site allows you to right such untruthful bs !

NTM is currently updated every so often !

Also Mr writer, you say quote ; and deciding whether to take the plunge based on biased forum ramblings ''

What do you call this write up then ? LOL
 
Who cares if DK works that hard. The cars are still hard to drive, slide way too much. There is something wrong with the "game". I have driven real cars on real tracks and the difference is simply too much. Back to the drawing board for DK and perhaps he should give us a big price discount until he gets it right. All these guys who think the physics is that great need to go on a real track and see how things are in reality, but then again people are spending so much money on iracing that they have little left to go on track ... or perhaps they simply like the safe world of the PC where you can spin like an idiot and still believe it's like reality.

What I spend on iRacing is nothing compared to a person going to the track every few weeks.

iRacing is far from perfect, however some cars are much better than others in the Sim.

I race at iRacing because of the competition.

In the Skippy which I race, there are always people to race as it's a very popular series with some very good drivers to race against.

No racing Sim compares to taking a real car to the track, however some do get closer than others.

There is a lot of feel you get in a real car that is missing in a Sim as we all know.

If you're expecting a Sim to feel just like driving a car on a track in real life, you are going to be disappointed.

Hopefully some day we'll get a lot closer than we are today.

They are improving, just not as fast as we would like.

BTW there are idiots at the track too.
 
Very good. The part about iRacing Physics is spot on and I am 100% member. This is something that they'd better fix soon or once AC is mature iRacing won't be getting my $$ anymore.

The most troublesome thing is that for many members there isn;t a problem and that I think gives the developer a false sense of being on the right track (no pun intended). They are not. The road racing physics are terrible and, as you said, if the rear end goes, it's gone.
As it should be-enough said.
 
After playing 75h in Assetto Corsa, iRacing feels like ****. Actually it doesn't feel at all. I can't feel almost anything through wheel. Car does not feel connected to the road. I feel like I am hoovercrafting. I am still fast though. In AC I can feel that cars are gripping. I guess I will be only racing in some big races with prizes and stuff from now on...
 
After playing 75h in Assetto Corsa, iRacing feels like ****. Actually it doesn't feel at all. I can't feel almost anything through wheel. Car does not feel connected to the road. I feel like I am hoovercrafting. I am still fast though. In AC I can feel that cars are gripping. I guess I will be only racing in some big races with prizes and stuff from now on...
Have you tried anything other than the Miata on the latest NTM? Namely the SRF and Skippy.

Not that I ever liked the Miata, but I can't get used to the latest version. The SRF on the other hand feels incredible.
 
Have you tried anything other than the Miata on the latest NTM? Namely the SRF and Skippy.

Not that I ever liked the Miata, but I can't get used to the latest version. The SRF on the other hand feels incredible.

Nope. I drive mainly mclaren and miata. Miata is weird right now. On fast corners it looses end and you can't do much, because when you feel you are loosing it it is too late (only slam on brakes may save it). FFB feels really dull for me right now after AC.
 
Main reason? Money. I don't have many tracks and cars in iracing, cause they are quaite expensive for me. And the only cars with new ntm are skippy, street stock, miata, f1 car, Jetta, SOlstice and ssc for I believe. I dislike skip very much.
Give the SRF a shot. It's free, and I think runs 5 free circuits this season. Missing tracks would make sense.

Do you dislike the Skippy on principle, or because you didn't like how it used to drive?
 
Have you tried it this season? Both the SRF and Skippy are much different now, neither seem to be violent anymore. Though that could just be because I learned to compensate for the violence when they used to be really bad. Worth trying, though.
 
I have not been driving iracing at all since AC came out. Today was the first try. But I was driving skip at Glen this season. It certainly does not like trail barking so it makes it hard for me since I trail brake a LOT.
main reason i object to iracing in certain cars.
also, when you leave iracing, you lose all tracks right?
either way, there are better options around the corner than this rip off.
...waits for the fanboys :whistling:
 
I'll need to check the Skippy again, my only issues with it were with the crest on top of Bathurst (I was pushing way too hard). It's entirely possible that I'm still comparing to the old cars and used to hanging on for dear life. The cars are definitely more stable than before, but I haven't pulled the trigger on AC yet to know how much more stable it is.

I'll say this is the first season I've been truly happy with how the cars drive. I know race cars are supposed to be stable, they finally reached that point, IMO.
also, when you leave iracing, you lose all tracks right?
If your subscription lapses, you get all your content back when you resubscribe.
 
I'll need to check the Skippy again, my only issues with it were with the crest on top of Bathurst (I was pushing way too hard). It's entirely possible that I'm still comparing to the old cars and used to hanging on for dear life. The cars are definitely more stable than before, but I haven't pulled the trigger on AC yet to know how much more stable it is.

I'll say this is the first season I've been truly happy with how the cars drive. I know race cars are supposed to be stable, they finally reached that point, IMO.

If your subscription lapses, you get all your content back when you resubscribe.

Thank you. Handy to know for people who are maybe caught in two minds. :thumbsup:
 
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As a long time Iracing fan I decided to have a break and try AC. The difference is unbelievable. AC is so much fun to drive. You don't have to worry about locking up every time you brake or spinning off if you slightly over do it.
I get all the stuff about NTM and realism but if DK is such a genius why not make a tyre model that is more fun to drive with?
There are a lot of people who think if its not really difficult to drive then its not really a sim but surely it has to be enjoyable at some stage.

The format is great, regular races, penalties for bad driving, but if you've never tried AC give it a go and see how much better the cars are.
 

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