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PC Racing Sims

I agree the delta timer is very useful, it for example let's you see things like how is better to exit corners how you keep gaining or losing in the straight, which is very useful. At times it makes me nervous too if I see I'm green I'll screw up the lap or just be too conservative to keep it green at all costs and ending up doing worst than I could. All in all a great tool though.

:) Totally. I'm green, I'm green, I'm green! Yes! Wait no, I've got to get a hold of myself!

It's a really helpful tool, but it sure adds to the excitement too.
 
Edit2: Oh, that iRacing review is just a user review? Hmm, not sure how much weight I can give to the road car comments. So far I am finding them enjoyable. I might have to splurge on the McLaren (I love that car anyway) and see if it is as hard to drive as he makes it out. That would help give me a point of reference. Otherwise, I am not sure why this review should have any more weight over another user review. Is this guy well known in the sim community?
I find the MP4 to be one of the most stable cars in the sim. The Skip Barber and Spec Racer are much more sensitive to weight transfer, making the rear very loose under slight lifts of the throttle in corners. You can lift off completely (and violently) mid-corner in the MP4 and nothing happens. I'm struggling to go fast in it though. I also bought it because I love the car, but I hardly drive it because the season schedule uses loads of tracks that I don't own. I would strongly recommend the Skip as the first additional car purchase (although the same applies there - schedule uses lots of other tracks).
 

paskowitz

Member
zy0DZBh.jpg


Also:
q1rwlca.jpg

porsche_918_rsr_1_1_1.jpg
Porsche-918_RSR_Concept-2011-800-18.jpg


In case there was any doubt.

Thomas, you are killing my discretionary income.
 

amar212

Member
RSR wheel and CSS are my next purchases.

I do not care how and when and how much but both will be mine.

Perfection, both of 'em.
 

Watevaman

Member
Sexy wheel. I think no matter what wheel I get after my DFGT, it will seem like I'm jumping into FFB wheels all over again with all the advantages these have. Only problem is I'm not going to be spending close to a grand on a wheel and shifter anytime soon.
 

Arucardo

Member
Sexy wheel. I think no matter what wheel I get after my DFGT, it will seem like I'm jumping into FFB wheels all over again with all the advantages these have. Only problem is I'm not going to be spending close to a grand on a wheel and shifter anytime soon.

You can take the more reasonable route and start with pedals for example and work your way up. From all I've heard the DFGT is a great wheel with awful pedals so getting some CSR (Elites)/ Clubsport pedals would do it justice.

After owning a G25 for a year or two I went this route. Found a second had Fanatec Porsche Turbo S wheel with the adapter for the G25 pedals and the cheap plastic sequential. Months later I bought the CSR shifter set followed by selling my G25 and getting CSR Elite pedals (worth every penny). Finally thanks to a heads up from this thread ;) I got the TH8RS for an insanely good price.

I made some other purchases too relating to my sim racing hobby like getting a TrackIR 5 set and a bigger monitor (27" 120hz Asus which I'm super happy with, the VG278H to be exact)
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Sexy wheel. I think no matter what wheel I get after my DFGT, it will seem like I'm jumping into FFB wheels all over again with all the advantages these have. Only problem is I'm not going to be spending close to a grand on a wheel and shifter anytime soon.

It seems like Thrustmaster has had massive authorized sales the past two Black Fridays. So if you save up, you most likely can get a Thrustmaster T500/TH8RS combo for around 450 come November.
 

Watevaman

Member
Yeah I really like the way the T500 looks and would consider a set for something around 400.

Also, doesn't seem to have been posted, but GMG is having another sale on a lot of racing games like F1 2011/2012 and WRC 3. With the code GMG20-GGN5D-FC3NA you can get WRC 3 for 12 USD.
 

saladine1

Junior Member
Pretty awesome video for the new sounds for some of the iRacing cars are getting.

http://youtu.be/C9zQ-dSlQ_g

Sounds great actually. The over run and downshift effects are pretty good too.
However, the doppler and reverb effects are a little off. The cars should sound more distant when out of view and increase as they approach followed by the distant sounds again after they pass. That video is off on all 3 occasions especially when the car is close. It becomes muted for some reason when it actually should be the loudest.

GTR 3's teaser is what doppler should sound like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=I_pnkDG07r4#t=43s
 

Elfish

Member
I still have a Logitech MOMO.

Haven't touched my wheel for a year or 2 I think.

I'm just missing a clutch and a decent shifter for it.

Is the G27 Racing Wheel worth it's money or do you guys recommend me something else?

Are there any great mods or games where you can race with mini cooper classics only?

I've got GT Legends, GTR, GTR2, Race: The WTCC Game and rFactor 1.

Guess it's about time to buy a new racing sim.
 

Arucardo

Member
I still have a Logitech MOMO.

Haven't touched my wheel for a year or 2 I think.

I'm just missing a clutch and a decent shifter for it.

Is the G27 Racing Wheel worth it's money or do you guys recommend me something else?

Are there any great mods or games where you can race with mini cooper classics only?

I've got GT Legends, GTR, GTR2, Race: The WTCC Game and rFactor 1.

Guess it's about time to buy a new racing sim.

Be sure to look in to Power & Glory 3 (Mod) for GTR2, it mostly has content from GT Legends but it's still different enough to be worth trying, it has dynamic weather and time of day too.
 
I still have a Logitech MOMO.

Haven't touched my wheel for a year or 2 I think.

I'm just missing a clutch and a decent shifter for it.

Is the G27 Racing Wheel worth it's money or do you guys recommend me something else?

Are there any great mods or games where you can race with mini cooper classics only?

I've got GT Legends, GTR, GTR2, Race: The WTCC Game and rFactor 1.

Guess it's about time to buy a new racing sim.

G27 is still the sweet spot. Half as much, or twice more is what you'd be looking at for a recommended alternative.

Like Arucardo said, P&G3 is where should should turn to for your classic Mini fix. Obviously there are more recent sims out there if your interests go beyond Minis.
 

Megasoum

Banned
G27 is still the sweet spot. Half as much, or twice more is what you'd be looking at for a recommended alternative.

Like Arucardo said, P&G3 is where should should turn to for your classic Mini fix. Obviously there are more recent sims out there if your interests go beyond Minis.

I dunno... Here in Canada for example, the G27 is still 230$ (at least), yet you can get a Fanatec CSR + CSR Pedals for 250$. Not only are the CSR wheels and pedals better than the G25 (IMO anyway, G27 is still good stuff tho) but you also get Xbox 360 compatibility if you want that.

Or, if you don't want 360 compat but prefer a shifter you can get a 911 GTR3 RS wheel + CSR Shifter + CSR Elite pedals for 260$. This is an amazing deal imo.

http://us.fanatec.com/index.php?route=module/configurator
 

1-D_FTW

Member
I dunno... Here in Canada for example, the G27 is still 230$ (at least), yet you can get a Fanatec CSR + CSR Pedals for 250$. Not only are the CSR wheels and pedals better than the G25 (IMO anyway, G27 is still good stuff tho) but you also get Xbox 360 compatibility if you want that.

Or, if you don't want 360 compat but prefer a shifter you can get a 911 GTR3 RS wheel + CSR Shifter + CSR Elite pedals for 260$. This is an amazing deal imo.

http://us.fanatec.com/index.php?route=module/configurator

The upside to the G27 is that it's build like a tank and has fantastic customer support. If you're in the budget price bracket, that's worth something.

Not saying you're wrong about that Fanatec deal being really good. Just that it's something to consider about the Logitech.
 
I dunno... Here in Canada for example, the G27 is still 230$ (at least), yet you can get a Fanatec CSR + CSR Pedals for 250$. Not only are the CSR wheels and pedals better than the G25 (IMO anyway, G27 is still good stuff tho) but you also get Xbox 360 compatibility if you want that.

Or, if you don't want 360 compat but prefer a shifter you can get a 911 GTR3 RS wheel + CSR Shifter + CSR Elite pedals for 260$. This is an amazing deal imo.

http://us.fanatec.com/index.php?route=module/configurator

Actually, that's true. That GT3RS bundle is a good buy. The elite pedals are what you should be targeting with that setup, which might make it enough to overlook suspect reliability of the wheel. Personally, I'd rather not deal with that. If I lived in Belgium like the poster, than maybe that would be less of a problem though.
 

Megasoum

Banned
The upside to the G27 is that it's build like a tank and has fantastic customer support. If you're in the budget price bracket, that's worth something.

Not saying you're wrong about that Fanatec deal being really good. Just that it's something to consider about the Logitech.

Oh yeah, I agree with you about build quality. No question there. However, I just wanted to point out that there is alternative that will not cost you a ton more and will give you great belt driven wheels.
 

Elfish

Member
Thanks for the info, going to checkout that mod.
I'm more then into minis with a racesim but I just love those cars.
I have a real one in my garage.

Only problem with Fanatec for me is that I need to import it and maybe that will cost me more then the G27.

So the G27 is good enough for me I think.
 

disap.ed

Member
I dunno... Here in Canada for example, the G27 is still 230$ (at least), yet you can get a Fanatec CSR + CSR Pedals for 250$. Not only are the CSR wheels and pedals better than the G25 (IMO anyway, G27 is still good stuff tho) but you also get Xbox 360 compatibility if you want that.

Or, if you don't want 360 compat but prefer a shifter you can get a 911 GTR3 RS wheel + CSR Shifter + CSR Elite pedals for 260$. This is an amazing deal imo.

http://us.fanatec.com/index.php?route=module/configurator

Can somebody explain to me why the same set costs 280€ in Europe?
Even without taxes this makes 200&#8364; <> 240&#8364;.
This is a german company afterall.
 
Ok, I need to redact my prior oval racing hater comments. To round out my iRacing experience I forced myself to give oval racing another try last night. The track was USA Speedway, which requires braking at each corner, what a world of difference! Holy fuck that was fun. Finally the car came to me and I found myself in a zone and enjoying slip angles, trail braking corner exit over steer, etc. It finally felt right. I started 12th and finished 1st with 23 laps led. It was thrilling.

Maybe now after finally getting a feel of the car with this track I can go back to the "lift only" tracks and enjoy them. But yeah, I guess the short tracks are more my thing. It felt so much better to drive entering the corners under brakes. Either way, I just doubled the value of my subscription.

Edit: My CSL Seat gets here Friday. So damn excited!
 

Kipp

but I am taking tiny steps forward
I apologize since I know this question has been asked quite a few times already, but are there any games or mods for games with a career mode or some kind of good singleplayer "campaign"? Excluding any full arcade racers, but "simcade" and sim are both good.

I'm asking since I just got a DFGT and I absolutely love using it, but the games themselves I've been playing haven't really kept me entertained enough.
 

Megasoum

Banned
I apologize since I know this question has been asked quite a few times already, but are there any games or mods for games with a career mode or some kind of good singleplayer "campaign"? Excluding any full arcade racers, but "simcade" and sim are both good.

I'm asking since I just got a DFGT and I absolutely love using it, but the games themselves I've been playing haven't really kept me entertained enough.

Not really and it's a real bummer :(

I'm not a fan of online racing and I'm so tired of doing time trials.
 

Kipp

but I am taking tiny steps forward
Not really and it's a real bummer :(

Ah. That's what I had suspected. :/

Well, at least pCars seems hopeful in that respect. Shame that the career mode will probably be one of the last features implemented into the beta.


Well sure but since the games I like the most right now are rf2, ACR and pCARS well...I'm a bit out of luck. I know that pCars has AI but still....

I think the AI in pCars has improved pretty significantly from where it was about 6 months ago. I've had quite a few very fun races with the AI recently. With faster cars the AI is still pretty bad, but with the Focus or the Megane, AI racing is really good fun. It still doesn't provide the sort of career singleplayer experience I'm looking for though, unfortunately.
 
Ok, I need to redact my prior oval racing hater comments. To round out my iRacing experience I forced myself to give oval racing another try last night. The track was USA Speedway, which requires braking at each corner, what a world of difference! Holy fuck that was fun. Finally the car came to me and I found myself in a zone and enjoying slip angles, trail braking corner exit over steer, etc. It finally felt right. I started 12th and finished 1st with 23 laps led. It was thrilling.

Maybe now after finally getting a feel of the car with this track I can go back to the "lift only" tracks and enjoy them. But yeah, I guess the short tracks are more my thing. It felt so much better to drive entering the corners under brakes. Either way, I just doubled the value of my subscription.

Edit: My CSL Seat gets here Friday. So damn excited!

It really can be a ton of fun with the right car/track combo. Someday I'll get around to putting some cash into the oval side.
 
I wanted to jump into the World Cup practices in iRacing at Interlagos (always enjoyed that track too) so I caved and bought the MP4 and the track. Holy fuck is the MP4 crazy stable and easy to drive. This completely discounts any impressions that iRacing reviewer had about the road racing physics. Seriously, the MP4 is easier to drive than the MX5. You have to go out of your way to make it spin. I can't believe his claims to the contrary.

For those on the fence about iRacing, there is a three month trial membership discount going on right now as well as buy 20$ get $5 credits free and buy $75 get $25 credits free promotion.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
I wanted to jump into the World Cup practices in iRacing at Interlagos (always enjoyed that track too) so I caved and bought the MP4 and the track. Holy fuck is the MP4 crazy stable and easy to drive. This completely discounts any impressions that iRacing reviewer had about the road racing physics. Seriously, the MP4 is easier to drive than the MX5. You have to go out of your way to make it spin. I can't believe his claims to the contrary.

For those on the fence about iRacing, there is a three month trial membership discount going on right now as well as buy 20$ get $5 credits free and buy $75 get $25 credits free promotion.

I don't see what it discounts. People have claimed that the MP4 has the new tire physics that are a major improvement over the old. The fact you're stating it's much easier to drive than the MX5 just shows how unrealistic the road physics are for the majority of the game. The MX5 does not drive like it's on ice in real life.

I've not driven the MP4 so I'm disqualified from making any comments on it. But the skeptic in me wonders if people are raving about it because it's that good, or just because it's so much better than the unrealistic cars they're normally driving in the game.

The ice comment may be a bit over the top, because in my experience you can get acclimated to the iracing driving model. My problem is I then can't drive any other game. Because if I load something else up, I immediately remember everything I hate about iRacing. Hopefully the new model does make everything much better.
 
I don't see what it discounts. People have claimed that the MP4 has the new tire physics that are a major improvement over the old. The fact you're stating it's much easier to drive than the MX5 just shows how unrealistic the road physics are for the majority of the game. The MX5 does not drive like it's on ice in real life.

I've not driven the MP4 so I'm disqualified from making any comments on it. But the skeptic in me wonders if people are raving about it because it's that good, or just because it's so much better than the unrealistic cars they're normally driving in the game.

The ice comment may be a bit over the top, because in my experience you can get acclimated to the iracing driving model. My problem is I then can't drive any other game. Because if I load something else up, I immediately remember everything I hate about iRacing. Hopefully the new model does make everything much better.

I think the guy claimed the McLaren was a total death trap which is why Gutter is dismissing his opinion. I haven't driven it either, but by most accounts it's a pretty friendly drive. He also dropped this; "In short, if you&#8217;re a road racing fan, there is zero point in even trying iRacing." which is hilarious, and undermined everything else he wrote, much of which legit.

To me, iRacing, like every other racing sim, asks you to take the good with the bad. Nobody has even come remotely close to putting the whole package together.

In iRacing's case (beyond cost, beyond no AI, etc) is that dreaded lack of grip. It's certainly true, and goes all the way back to the origins of it's engine with GPL. It's not unpredictable, there just isn't a lot of it.

What it is however is the undisputed king of online racing. It's miles ahead of the pack. That's why you play it, and by and large it's pretty exceptional at it.

Of course it's fair to be critical of it's physics, but there are many sims that don't have the best physics... or the best ffb, or the best graphics, or the best online. Yes, physics are VERY important, but there just isn't room in this genre to be outright dismissive of any title because they come up short in one particular area. You'd be left with nothing.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
I think the guy claimed the McLaren was a total death trap which is why Gutter is dismissing his opinion. I haven't driven it either, but by most accounts it's a pretty friendly drive.

To me, iRacing, like every other racing sim, asks you to take the good with the bad. Nobody has even come remotely close to putting the whole package together.

In iRacing's case (beyond cost, beyond no AI, etc) is that dreaded lack of grip. It's certainly true, and goes all the way back to the origins of it's engine with GPL. It's not unpredictable, there just isn't a lot of it.

What it is however is the undisputed king of online racing. It's miles ahead of the pack. That's why you play it, and by and large it's pretty exceptional at it.

Of course it's fair to be critical of it's physics, but there are many sims that don't have the best physics... or the best ffb, or the best graphics, or the best online. Yes, physics are VERY important, but there just isn't room in this genre to be outright dismissive of any title because they come up short in one particular area. You'd be left with nothing.

All true. I'm not saying it's unplayable, just that it's certainly open to well deserved criticism that nobody should take offense to.

I do wonder how these sims that are slaves to mathematics would play with a motion sensor though. Because even going from a G27 to a T500, I noticed games like iracing/rfactor 2 were much more intuitive and easier to be consistent. And I've heard people talk about how motion simulators cut seconds off their iracing lap times. So maybe this is their blessing/curse. The more you can utilize the raw data they're built on, the less "flawed" they are.
 
All true. I'm not saying it's unplayable, just that it's certainly open to well deserved criticism that nobody should take offense to.

I do wonder how these sims that are slaves to mathematics would play with a motion sensor though. Because even going from a G27 to a T500, I noticed games like iracing/rfactor 2 were much more intuitive and easier to be consistent. And I've heard people talk about how motion simulators cut seconds off their iracing lap times. So maybe this is their blessing/curse. The more you can utilize the raw data they're built on, the less "flawed" they are.

It'd be great to route the monster computational power of, say, McLaren's F1 simulator onto a desk with a 24" monitor, and a G27. I think you'd find the weak link pretty quickly, and it wouldn't be the math!

I certainly think that's a point of interest though, as well as it's converse - less dependence on math, creative room to achieve better feel for using joeschmo equipment.
 
I don't see what it discounts. People have claimed that the MP4 has the new tire physics that are a major improvement over the old. The fact you're stating it's much easier to drive than the MX5 just shows how unrealistic the road physics are for the majority of the game. The MX5 does not drive like it's on ice in real life.

I've not driven the MP4 so I'm disqualified from making any comments on it. But the skeptic in me wonders if people are raving about it because it's that good, or just because it's so much better than the unrealistic cars they're normally driving in the game.

The ice comment may be a bit over the top, because in my experience you can get acclimated to the iracing driving model. My problem is I then can't drive any other game. Because if I load something else up, I immediately remember everything I hate about iRacing. Hopefully the new model does make everything much better.

First off, "easier to drive than the MX5" doesn't imply that the MX5 is hard to drive. I love the MX5 and find it a pleasure to drive. I can even drift that fucking thing now when I want to dick around. The MP4 is absolutely planted. It has ABS for gods sake. What discounts his opinion is that I cannot for the life of me find any of the issues he claimed made it the undriveable death trap in addition to all of the other road cars.

He seems like a seasoned oval racer, it doesn't surprise me he struggled with the road cars. I find it way easier to pursue road racing and dabble in oval than they other way around.

I have yet to drive any iRacing car that feels like it is on ice. Like the post says above me, there is no end all be all perfect sim racing game and iRacing has plenty of flaws, the tire temp and wear issues being one of them. I just wanted to emphasize that the way the reviewer discounts the road racing side of the game almost entirely is a load of bollocks, especially if the MP4 is supposedly the pinnacle of "undriveable."
 
Yeah it's definitely not easier than the MX-5, but I'm quite comfortable with both. The MP4 lacks the lift-off oversteer on cold tyres that you get in many of the rookie cars, and the default setup appears to be biased towards understeer in higher speed corners. So straight out of the pits, the MP4 seems very stable. But it's extremely stiff and powerful, and as such will swap ends very quickly if you give it a bunch of throttle out of the corners, which is nearly impossible to do in the low-powered MX-5. So in that sense it is definitely more intimidating and the sheer speed of the thing just makes it a more dangerous proposition.

I would say in recent months, all the cars in iRacing have become more predictable, whereas they used to catch me off guard. This could be partly because I've set up my equipment better, and I'm improving as a driver, but it is mostly due to the underlying improvements to the sim. The only one I still can't get to grips with is the Cadillac. I have no idea what is happening in that heap of shit.
 
Lol, totally agree on the Cadillac. I hate driving that turd. I'm hopping to do the Skippy season after finally getting promoted at the end of the month.
 

Shaneus

Member
Man, I need to get up to date with my rFactor2... everything. Is there a single place I can get everything official that's been released for it?
 

JamboGT

Member
Well sure but since the games I like the most right now are rf2, ACR and pCARS well...I'm a bit out of luck. I know that pCars has AI but still....

We just implemented the first version of AI into ACR yesterday, still got work to do but it is a start!

I know what you mean though 80% of my driving is in practice modes.
 

Arucardo

Member
The Skippy is great fun, that was the car that finally got me hooked on iRacing.

Though please don't re-enter the track like this guy did to me :) http://youtu.be/Csjq39EXmTk

Wow, I hope you let him know what's what.


I think the Caddy and the Spec Racer are the toughest to drive consistently for me. With the Caddy I don't really feel what the car is doing and with the spec racer you need to be extra careful about basically everything.

Even a small twitch can sen you off the track with the spec racer and if you drive it like a real man (using clutch and H-shifter ;) ) it becomes even tougher.
 

Orgun

Member
What a dick! So, because he re-entered carelessly and you stacked into him, he waited until you came through down the track to screw you again? What a cunt.

Haha no he wasn't that much of a cunt, it's a replay of the same accident from different angles.
 
Anyone else have the problem where they have to wait to get drunk enough before they feel like oval racing? I swear that form of motor racing is impossible stone sober.
 

Watevaman

Member
I have a Playseat Evolution (I guess, it looks like the second one) that I got about 3/4 years back. I love it, but looking at both of those, the WRC would be much better suited to doing any heel-toe shifting, as it can be a pain to get your feet around the post on the one I have.

Also keep in mind they will fold and you can take them apart, but they will still take up a lot of room wherever you put it.
 

Shaneus

Member
Only one real answer - especially if you care about ergonomics.

Fanatec CSL



As usual, if you care, you can find my impressions and some additional photos here.
Are there any budget/DIY equivalents? I have the Fanatec stand but something like that would definitely get me back in the sim-racing scene.
 
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