Oppo iRacers Raise your hands

"ncasolowork2" (ncasolowork2)
04/30/2014 at 10:33 • Filed to: None

Andrew I know you're out there so I'm not necessarily looking for you. I know 14 of you have been given promo codes from me for a 1 month iRacing trial. Hopefully you've all tried it. If there's one thing I know about iRacing is that there are things that will confuse you.

One of you mentioned having problems with the steering lock of 180 degrees. Well it isn't technically 180 degrees but the driver arms animation only animates 180 degrees. If you keep turning the wheel you'll get more steering input from the virtual car than you're actually seeing. I drive with the arms off so the wheel turns the full range.

Another thing that confuses people is safety rating and iRating. if you have questions feel free to ask. If you're not sure how the championship points work or what SOF means feel free to ask.

As an avid iRacer getting more members is important to me. More members means more people racing. More people racing means better competition for me. If I show up for a race with 10 other people of various skills there's a good chance the race won't be too exciting. However, I raced last night with 145 people and got put with 28 similarly talented racers. Were it not for my half spin and broken LF suspension I bet I would have enjoyed that race.

So where are you iRacers? And if we can get enough of you maybe I can host an Opposite lock iRacing league. I promise to handicap myself.

DISCUSSION (44)

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 10:42

I just got it about a month and a half ago, built a PC essentially just for iRacing. lol Still in the Mazda Cup Series, but I love it! Used to play it on Formula 1 race days back in AZ at my buddy's place, and got addicted instantly.

Was having my best race yet last night, leading through the 5th lap and then in 2nd but with a good chance to take 1st back and running a clean race, until some asshat purposefully swiped into me as I was passing him on a straight. Oh well. haha

Would love to get some more friends/fellow Opponauts to race with!

ncasolowork2 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
04/30/2014 at 10:44

Hopefully you filed a protest if you got wrecked on a straight. If I'm honest I've never seen intentional wrecking in a race. Granted when I first started the Solstice was the rookie car and I was so slow I just wanted to get into the single seaters. I managed to take myself out of my last two GT3 races. GT3 @ Watkins Classic = 4 corners and is practically a road plate race.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 10:47

Present. Haven't been playing much as of late, although I'm always wanting to get back into it. brad_parker2 is my handle, I believe. Mostly hang around the Mazda Cup and Skip Barber Series races.

ncasolowork2 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/30/2014 at 10:51

You should check out the new GT3 series. The McLaren, RUF, and BMW Z4 in a single class series. The number of participants in the series is through the roof. All 3 cars I believe have the new Traction Control system as well making them relatively easy to drive safely with minimal practice. Plus they aren't aero sensitive so there is a lot of good close racing.

Kailand09 > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 10:53

Mark my word, whenever I land a good job I'll be building a PC and getting a wheel to play. :(

Until then, my laptop can't handle it. I've tried playing games on it and have given up nowadays, it's just too old and slowed down.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 10:56

I unfortunately didn't save the replay. :/

Pretty confident it was intentional, and not just newbie ignorance. When I was running in 2nd, trying to find an opportunity to overtake the leader, we got behind the guy in last. He was all over the track, seemingly intentionally blocking any chance we had to pass him. I understand the newbie tendency to try to move out of the way instead of holding your line (I did this for a couple races when I first started), but it went on for over a lap. Then he blew his trans downshifting into the first turn, and continued to run super slow with smoke billowing out of the back of the car. He was even slower, for obvious reasons, but now we couldn't see exactly where he was because of the smoke either. Both the leader and I were being super cautious so as not to rear end him, and passing was even more difficult. The leader finally managed to overtake him (gaining about 3.8 seconds on me because I was still stuck behind the slow dude), and as I was passing him on the straight before the last turn he kept swerving in my direction and finally veered right into me and forced me to run off the track/lose control. Once we were both back in the pits he was sitting there with his pedal down just redlining his car. (Pretty confident he was just trolling). Once I got outta the pit I'd fallen back to 7th, managed to finish in 5th with only 3 incidents but I was still pissed. Should've finished at least 2nd, with a good shot at 1st, and run a clean race. Oh well, more racing today after work! :D

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 10:57

I've been thinking about that, actually, just haven't been playing enough to justify the expense of a new car. Maybe that'll make me commit, though! ha

camaroboy68ss > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 10:59

I still subscribe but haven't raced since Febuary. I stick to oval racing can't get into road racing at all. I have most of the oval stuff. Love running NASCAR and Indy cars.

ncasolowork2 > camaroboy68ss
04/30/2014 at 11:04

Yeah there's definitely different techniques to each discipline. I'm very good in the Indy Cars on the ovals, but just don't find oval racing as fun as road racing. I'm not as good in some of the stock cars on ovals though for whatever reason.

ncasolowork2 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/30/2014 at 11:04

Z4 is probably the one to get. Most people are using it since it is the "new thing." It is also the easiest of the 3 to drive.

ncasolowork2 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
04/30/2014 at 11:06

Definitely remember to save the replay for a protest in the future. Blocking and driving an unsafe car off pace are protestable things let alone intentional wrecking. Trolls typically don't make it out of the rookie series, but they do exist down there.

camaroboy68ss > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 11:10

yeah the main thing in learning techniques in oval is to run the fixed series. Helps get running together and lines down. Running an open is pointless unless you really know how to set up a car. Just running carb cup at like Daytona is a great way to learn drafting and wreck avoidance since its close quarters racing. Plus carb doesn't affect safety rating

ddavidn > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 11:12

I've gotta try with the arms off. I didn't realize the lock wasn't 180 degrees, although I'm not usually looking at the animation anyway, and I don't seem to have a problem with sharp corners.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Kailand09
04/30/2014 at 11:13

That's what I was waiting on too. Finally got an awesome job, which I started back in January, but my tax return ended up paying for my build. $1500 later, I've got a pretty awesome setup. Still need to pick up a couple more monitors though. haha

Kailand09 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
04/30/2014 at 11:44

congrats man, yeah I'd probably spend about the same . Crossing my fingers for work

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Kailand09
04/30/2014 at 11:55

Any idea what components you're going to run? I've got a GTX770, i5 4670k, 8GB of ram, and am running windows and iRacing on a 120gb SSD (with a 1TB HD for everything else). It is one fast machine.

MonkeePuzzle > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 12:11

who is thees andrew you speak of? :P

ncasolowork2 > MonkeePuzzle
04/30/2014 at 12:19

Bakkster Touring car driver = Andrew Bakkster or something along those lines. He's got roughly 12,000 posts on the iRacing forum.

Kailand09 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
04/30/2014 at 13:07

I was planning something similar. Was debating on the GPU, but was thinking GTX760, though maybe I'd bump up to the 770. Definitely going to do an i7, and likely 16gb RAM which is unnecessary but why not RAM is cheap. Also going to do a similar sized SSD with a 7200rpm HD, probably not going to do 1TB not sure. I don't ever use that much space and I have a 1TB external if I really need more space.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Kailand09
04/30/2014 at 13:13

Nice. I went with the best i5 because it was already getting really pricey, and unless I was gonna be doing CAD or something there would be no need for the i7. Put the savings into my GPU. :)

Kailand09 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
04/30/2014 at 13:51

I may follow what you did, actually. I probably don't need the i7, but I may end up doing some CAD on it too so I'm not sure.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Kailand09
04/30/2014 at 14:10

I've got a buddy who fiddles around with CAD recreationally, he actually designed the iRacing frame setup he built with PVC piping and an old Prelude seat using it., and he is running an i5 as well. Personally, I think the money is better spent on your GPU, but either way I'm certain your computer will run exceptionally well. I love the start-up and load times I get running windows on the SSD.

Kailand09 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
04/30/2014 at 14:12

Yeah, I think I'd be fine on the i5, the 770 has a significant performance upgrade on the 760 that I will likely notice if I run multiple monitors.

And yes, I can't wait to boot windows 8 on an SSD. It will be instantaneous lol.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Kailand09
04/30/2014 at 14:19

That was my reasoning too, but admittedly I was all over the place on exactly what components I wanted all the way up until I hit checkout on Newegg. lol

Indeed it is. My buddy has essentially the same build, and when I saw his boot up I knew I had to have a PC that did that lol.

ddavidn > ncasolowork2
04/30/2014 at 17:55

You should reply to this dude: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/well-id-have-a…

ncasolowork2 > ddavidn
05/01/2014 at 08:11

Had 182 people registered for the 8pm race last night. That means 7 splits. Even the rookie races don't get 7 splits. I had my pedals slip out of place while saving a spin and brushed the wall. Cost me 5 spots, but I managed to continue without suspension damage.

DocWalt > ncasolowork2
05/05/2014 at 23:05

I race... I finally won an SRF top split race the other day. I'm hoping to run the whole season, but we'll see how work treats me.

ncasolowork2 > DocWalt
05/06/2014 at 08:09

I've started doing the GT3 races lately. I'm not much of a GT fan, but the racing is too good to pass up on. Sure there's some rubbing of fenders and incidents but that happens when the racing is that close.

Bakkster, touring car driver > ncasolowork2
05/06/2014 at 11:28

Oh, hai there!

Bakkster, touring car driver > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
05/06/2014 at 11:29

Set your options to automatically prompt you to save replays on exit. I save everything even though I rarely use them.

Bakkster, touring car driver > MonkeePuzzle
05/06/2014 at 11:29

Me!

Bakkster, touring car driver > ncasolowork2
05/06/2014 at 11:30

Closer to double that number ;)

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Bakkster, touring car driver
05/06/2014 at 11:31

Good call

Bakkster, touring car driver > DocWalt
05/06/2014 at 11:58

Congrats! Best field I ever managed an SRF win in was 2198 SOF at the Glen. I tend to be mid to tail end of the top split now that I don't get as much practice time as I like.

DocWalt > Bakkster, touring car driver
05/06/2014 at 12:05

It was a relatively low SOF top split, like 2035 or something. I was racing with people higher rated, and a lot of people with lower iRating. I managed to start on pole and held on for the entire race. I normally start mid field and finish top 5 in top split, assuming I get a clean race. SRF is a really challenging car, and it's definitely improved my driving in the other cars.

DocWalt > ncasolowork2
05/06/2014 at 12:08

I've gotta get my license up, it should finally happen this month with all of my SRF racing. I hadn't been doing anything but MX-5 races because I'd have time to play for two weeks and then skip a month or so. I definitely want to try the GT3 racing. I'm not really a fan of the open wheel cars in iRacing.

ncasolowork2 > DocWalt
05/06/2014 at 12:34

Not a fan of open wheel cars in general or the ones on iRacing? Other than a car with DRS I'm not sure how much more variety they could offer. The GT3 racing can be a bit aggressive just FYI. I think later this year they're going to race Brand Hatch Indy... if you're not familiar with it think NASCAR short track racing in GT3 cars. I think the track is under a mile.

DocWalt > ncasolowork2
05/06/2014 at 13:32

Not a fan of the open wheel cars in iRacing. I'm sure that might change when I try them, but I drove the Skippy in testing and it just feels really bleh. Pretty much convinced me to go with the SRF, though the SRF really highlights how bad I am at using the brakes.

I'm familiar with Brands Hatch, I'm surprised to hear GT3 included that in the calendar. That said, they did just run WG Classic, which is a draft/crash fest.

ncasolowork2 > DocWalt
05/06/2014 at 13:39

Oh no... not Brands Hatch... brands hatch Indy which cuts off most of the character that track has. I don't think aggressive will begin to describe the races there.

The Skippy is something special. It is so underpowered and it requires a very specific type of driving to be fast. It has so much off throttle oversteer you almost have to left foot brake and keep a little bit in the trottle to be somewhat fast. Then you have to practice it for 3 months to shave another half second off the lap times. I used to race it a ton and I was within a couple tenths of the pole time. Now I can't really get within a second of it even if I practice it all week.

DocWalt > ncasolowork2
05/06/2014 at 13:43

Ah, I meant to add "Indy" to that and got distracted. My bad :)

The Skippy didn't really feel like that to me, at least compared to the SRF. The SRF is a real challenge to drive since to be fast you need to drift the car into corners and get back on the gas to keep the car from spinning. I need to learn LFB to move up onto the podium more consistently, RFB isn't getting me all that consistent laps.

ncasolowork2 > DocWalt
05/06/2014 at 13:49

There are so many cars in iRacing that use a real paddle shift gearbox where you gain significant time by LFB. Not all of the gearboxes are conductive to that, but I tend to drive cars that are at this point.

If the skippy didn't feel that way I'm thinking you weren't pushing it hard enough lol. Mosport in the Skippy is a great example. You go through turn 2 if you RFB you're all the way off the throttle and turning. You're going to lose the back end unless you LFB and keep in the trottle a little bit.

DocWalt > ncasolowork2
05/06/2014 at 13:58

I was indeed just cruising around LRP and Laguna Seca with the Skippy. I'll give it a try again, but I'm still expecting the SRF to be a lot more tail happy, lol.

ncasolowork2 > DocWalt
05/06/2014 at 14:01

Laguna isn't the best track to try it on as far as free tracks go. My favorite Skippy track is Summit Point.

DocWalt > ncasolowork2
05/06/2014 at 14:06

Tried it at COTA yet? I tooled around COTA for an hour or so in the SRF. The esses are epic...