What a racing simulator is and isn't

"ncasolowork2" (ncasolowork2) 07/17/2014 at 11:12 • Filed to: iracing

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It is obvious around Oppo that I'm heavily invested in sim racing. In a lot of ways it, in my mind, is a form of motorsport competition. While I really may have no idea how close the physics are to reality or if my driving style would translate to the real world there is one thing I'm confident sim racing teaches anyone willing to use them and that is the nuances of a track.

John Potter !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! regarding going to a track he's never been on before. One of the biggest challenges in modern motorsports is the limited track time. Teams and drivers need to maximize their time on track and that means you can't be lost trying to figure out the best line while you're also trying to improve the handling of the car for the weekend's track conditions.

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One of the sidebars in the article was John's comments about how he just doesn't get simulators because he doesn't get the feel of the car. I think John missed the point of how drivers can benefit from a simulator. Take iRacing for example. iRacing has laser scanned Mosport. The dimensions of the track and many of the bumps and characteristics of the track are inch perfect on iRacing's virtual version of the track. Sure iRacing may not have the specific GT car that John was going to race in this weekend, but they do have Mosport. One of the things you can learn from a sim (as long as it generally represents the laws of physics) is the racing line at a particular track.

Believe it or not the fastest way around every track isn't always setting up the widest entry for every corner. Not all corners are apexed in the same way. I'll use Suzuka as an example most of you are familiar with. The famed esses at Suzuka are going to be run different ways by different people. Some people will try to open the entry of the corner as much as possible from one to the next. Others will know it is actually more effective to try and straight line it as much as possible. Opening the corner up means you're likely to carry too much speed into the next one and thus understeering and overall losing time. Pretty much any simulator can help you find that racing line and that's where I think John missed an opportunity.

The video above is a lap replay in the BMW Z4, used by Turner Motorsports in the TUSCC, at Suzuka driven by me.

All of the different games and simulators have their interpretation of tire physics and car handling characteristics. None of them really give you the same level of feedback you can get from a car on track. (Yes, duh I know) Those same simulators may not refine your driving technique or give you the guts to keep your foot planted as you go through Eau Rouge ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), but those same simulators can make sure you're spending your time listening to the feedback the car can give you that the simulator can't. It can do that because you spent time preparing for the weekend by learning the track and developing a racing line in advance giving you one less thing to worry about at 150mph.

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djmt1 > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 11:23

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When Formula 1 drivers are arriving at new tracks saying they know the layout from playing on a Xbox or a GT driver dominating a tournament by honing his skills on PlayStation, you can see the value simulators bring to Motorsport. One to One simulators are a pipe dream all that matters is authenticity in my opinion.

Forgetful > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 11:24

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At the GT Academy National Finals last week I asked Danny Sullivan if, when he started the first season of GT Academy, he thought that us 'gamers' ever stood a chance as real race car drivers. His answer: "No". But in the 4 years he's been judging and instructing his opinion has changed completely, and it didn't take long to disprove his initial bias.

The first season at Silverstone, when the first competitor headed in to turn 1 of the Stowe circuit, and the driver hit the braking point, apexed and exited the corner beautifully, he thought it was one of the instructors driving. Then the next competitor did the exact same thing. From then on he knew his initial opinion was flat out wrong and that there was a lot of value in sim racing... despite the fact that he says he can't drive on simulators because they make him sick.

Now he has seen the competitors over several seasons of racing and they've proven many times over that not only are they competent race drivers, but they are fulfilling Nissan's desire to develop championship caliber drivers, something that was made clear to us several times throughout the event.

ncasolowork2 > Forgetful 07/17/2014 at 11:38

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Speaking of GT Academy... is your passport up to date? I'm sure you understand the question.

tromoly > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 11:48

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It's not something exclusive to iRacing, Rene Rast has been running Project Cars as lead-ins to his endurance racing events to further learn the tracks he's about to race on. Over the years drivers have used most the sims out there, I'm forgetting the rest off the top of my head.

Sims can also be used to model vehicles. When I'm further along with my personal FSAE-spec build I'm going to build the car in rFactor for simulation testing, that will give me a better idea of how the car will handle when finished than try to figure out how the car will feel through reading vehicle dynamics equations.

Forgetful > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 11:51

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Yes it is, but I won't be needing it any time soon. They still haven't announced the 12 Boot Camp attendees yet. We were told in New York, but we aren't allowed to say. Not sure if they're just going to keep it quiet until the show airs, or maybe the boot camp starts. It could be they just haven't finished the background checks and such.

ncasolowork2 > tromoly 07/17/2014 at 11:54

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I only used iRacing as the example I was most familiar with but I totally agree that any track that has been authentically represented can be learned on a racing sim such as Asetto Corsa, pCars, Forza, Gran Turismo, iRacing etc.

ncasolowork2 > Forgetful 07/17/2014 at 11:56

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Yeah... you didn't understand my question. Too late now lol.

Forgetful > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 11:58

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I thought you were slyly asking if I was going. Guess not.

ncasolowork2 > Forgetful 07/17/2014 at 12:00

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I was which is why I was hoping for a yes or no answer lol

2BWise > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 12:06

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There are a lot of parallels to a good sim (like iRacing) and the actual track, but it needs to be weighed accordingly because it is not a 1 to 1. What it is very good at is speeding up the learning process. You do get a good opportunity to figure out the line, which corners are throw aways, where time is made by carrying big speed on entry, and where you need to get a monster run off a corner. I used iRacing to learn Barber Motorsport Park and was up to speed in 5 laps! Certain characteristics of the sim don't translate to the real track though. Turn 2 at Barber in the sim causes a lot of understeer and I never understood why. It wasn't until I actually drove the corner that I realized it's because the corner is downhill from the entry all the way to the exit.

With a sim there is zero penalty to crash, so as a driver you can really experiment with speed and not worry about the risk. It allows you to get a good idea of where you can really attack the track and where you have to be careful. One of the downsides is that it doesn't track how a track may change over a weekend. Some tracks with vary quite a bit over the course of an event. At Mid Ohio the track will improve throughout the weekend and you'll find that cornering speeds will continue to creep up. You also don't experience which curbs deteriorate during a race. Certain curbs, like Turn 3 at RA, are crucial to a good lap time, but the severity will increase as drivers' continue to pull dirt up from the backside and eventually you have to start using less.

For me, I've never developed the skills sets to be really good at the sims. I'm ok, but it's mostly because I'm missing a lot of tactile inputs that I rely on in the vehicle. Recently I had the chance to use a full motion simulator and that really helped to bridge the gap, but it was tough to stay focused enough to avoid motion sickness, for me. I now understand why some drivers can't last in a motion sim. Once my brain finds the disconnect between the movements and the screen it's instant nausea.

I'm not trying to bash the sim because it's how I survive the winter. Like anything else it is just a tool to help improve yourself when real track time isn't available. As a tool you have to understand the limits and appreciate its value, but also understand its downfall.

Forgetful > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 12:10

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I posted to oppo and spilled the beans a bit the last night of the competition anyway, so no, I didn't make the cut.

ncasolowork2 > 2BWise 07/17/2014 at 12:15

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I think part of your configuration can impart some of that feeling and impact what you learn. I don't know if it is the FOV I use or the fact that I use three screens, but the one thing I've gotten from iRacing that I didn't from Forza or any other sim is the sense of elevation change. Road Atlanta in particular conveys this.

As for some of the short comings I agree. I'm not sure how closely you follow iRacing but a recent snapshot was taken and in the background was a tire with dirt on it. Presumably they're working on dirty tires in compliment with dynamic track surfaces. I don't expect it soon, necessarily, but I believe they'll get there.

As for curbs they could use some work. Turn 5 at Road America has some of those extremely deep dangerous curbs that are OK on iRacing and not in the real world.

ncasolowork2 > Forgetful 07/17/2014 at 12:45

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bummer. Still you got an auto-cross session and some coaching for it out of the deal.

Forgetful > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 12:49

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It was the experience of a lifetime.

2BWise > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 13:10

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Yeah, I monkeyed around with FOV a bunch over the winter. A friend of mine helped me work thru a lot of the issues I was having. For me the tradeoff in spending on a sim rig versus spending on the real car is a tough compromise to make. I've driven his 3 screen setup (I've only got 1) and while it is awesome it does get a bit spendy to reach that level of commitment. My comparison always comes down to the number of tires I can buy for what it would cost to do a 3 screen setup. I value real track time over sim track time, but in the winter I don't have much of a choice.

Do you do much with the data analysis available to iRacing? That is a really cool addition that I've only brushed the surface of. There is tons of data available which is very handy, but are there people really digging into it? There is more available in the game than what a lot of mid level race teams use.

ncasolowork2 > 2BWise 07/17/2014 at 13:32

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I literally don't have the attention span to sift through the data. I'm the type of person who can provide feedback on what the car needs, but I don't have the ability to sift through the data to figure out how to change things. Since you have real track time I totally understand the idea of a set of tires or two vs. 3 screens.

As for the data available the software they use is the same software used by the McLaren F1 team. That stuff is definitely no joke as far as the amount of information available.

If you ever decide you want 3 screens keep in mind you can do the monitors for $300 total and not notice a difference over spending $900 total. The only catch depends on what you have for a sim racing seat/monitor mounts. A nice Obutto with a triple monitor mount will run you something like $600 if you don't already have one.

2BWise > ncasolowork2 07/17/2014 at 13:39

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Unfortunately it's not just the screens. I would need to upgrade my computer to run it as well. I tried to see if I could price it all out for 1k or less, but was struggling to do that. It'd involve a lot of waiting to find the right used equipment. In the meantime I have been keeping an eye out for old carbon and aluminum tubs to build a rig with. I had an old Atlantic tub lined up, but it was sold out from underneath me before I had time to pick it up. If I could find a fun way to build a rig around an old racecar I might just go ahead and do it.

Do you commit much time per week to iRacing or do you just hop on when it's convenient. I know a few people that commit to leagues and run an entire season, but I find it tough to commit that kind of scheduled time. That was one of the upsides to GT being I can turn on the PS3, run a few laps, then move on to something else (usually wrenching).

ncasolowork2 > 2BWise 07/17/2014 at 13:45

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I've done the iRacing Pro World Championship series for road racing. That was a lot of time. The FW31 isn't easy to just pick up and drive plus you have to race specific time slots to score competitive points. I usually needed a half hour just to get settled in to a rhythm after endless amounts of practice to reach that point in the first place. (I get fast by developing muscle memory)

Now i have a 2 year old in the house. For the first time in probably 18 months I've actually had some time to race. I try to get an hour in a couple nights a week (2 or 3) and then do a couple races, but it is all about when it is convenient. The BMW Z4 is so easy to pickup and race for me and 9 out of the 12 weeks their races are 30 minute races so finding good competitive racing has been easy. I think in my last 25 races I've self-mutilated once (bathurst) and finished in the top 3 all but 2 times (4th and 5th) all with just a little bit of practice a qualifying session and then just racing.

Dr_Watson > Forgetful 07/17/2014 at 14:21

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I went to Silverstone last year and I can say that learning the track in a sim is very transferable. Knowing the track cold is a huge advantage since you can concentrate on learning the car rather than wasting seat time figuring out where the road goes, is this turn flat, do I brake hard for this one, etc... Was able to be calm and confident my first lap rather than nausious with nerves.

Everyone at race camp is also very onboard with the virtual training being meaningful. I'd never turned a lap on a race track before in my life, but on the first day they assumed you knew all the classroom stuff an were guiding me through Abbey in a GTR encouraging me to "let the car drift out toward the kerb" at about 110mph.

wiffleballtony > ncasolowork2 07/18/2014 at 02:24

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I think they at least give you a good idea of what to expect especially somewhere you have never been before.