Assetto Corsa | News and General Discussion

[Masscot]

I just started racing in SRS again myself. 8 or 9 under my belt and so far the racing has been both competitive and clean with a couple of exceptions here and there. I got caught up in a couple of spinning cars in front of me and my incident count is a little high (over 2) but very impressed so far and it's a lot busier than the last time I was there.

Any tips for someone who's never used SRS before?

 

[ALB123]

Any tips for someone who's never used SRS before?

Sure. Go to simracingsystem.com and create an account. Download the SRS app. Now you can sign up for SRS races (CM Support integration too). You just better pray to your maker that you don't get me in your starting grid because I will put you into the wall Masscot!! I play for keeps baby!! Just kidding. You'd probably lap me twice and tell all the guys about it...and everyone would point at me and laugh... Seriously, I haven't done a race with real people in a LONG time. It's just been me and the robots and that's not good. I need to start racing online again otherwise I'm going to hate ACC.

 

[SlantSix]

Any tips for someone who's never used SRS before?

Stay away from open wheelers, stay away from Monza, openwheelers at Monza. Monza. If you get past T1 or lap 1 without being rammed or put into a wall then thank the gods. It is reputational in theory so people should behave, but the practice is that people are dumb and not as good at racing as they think they are. I had 9... yes,9! contacts in my last race in the classic F3 @ Silverstone, 7 of which happened in the first few corners and resulted in a ram -spin into a wall. I fought back and had a largely fine midfield battle with guys around my skill level and rating (400ish) who left room and knew when to fight and when to cool it. Still got a final hit/spin on the last lap by a guy who outbraked himself and me - he actually waited for me to get going again! This was a particularly bad experience of the first lap rubbish that happens, but not an unusual one.
I have since deleted the app as I just can't see it getting any better due to the lack of racecraft by hotlapping heros who'll have you off more often than not.

 

[Dopplegagger]

Sure. Go to simracingsystem.com and create an account. Download the SRS app. Now you can sign up for SRS races (CM Support integration too). You just better pray to your maker that you don't get me in your starting grid because I will put you into the wall Masscot!! I play for keeps baby!! Just kidding. You'd probably lap me twice and tell all the guys about it...and everyone would point at me and laugh... Seriously, I haven't done a race with real people in a LONG time. It's just been me and the robots and that's not good. I need to start racing online again otherwise I'm going to hate ACC.

I see you shivering... When it comes to venturing online, I'm having a panic attack. One look at the player servers any I start to have the feeling I need to leave, and I start frantically shouting "I got to get out of here! I got to get out of here! I got to get out of here!..."



But really, I know that I would just be awful in a race against actual people. Hell, I'm getting soundly beat by AC's AI on it's lowest setting.

 

[Silvio]

Sure. Go to simracingsystem.com and create an account. Download the SRS app. Now you can sign up for SRS races (CM Support integration too). You just better pray to your maker that you don't get me in your starting grid because I will put you into the wall Masscot!! I play for keeps baby!! Just kidding. You'd probably lap me twice and tell all the guys about it...and everyone would point at me and laugh... Seriously, I haven't done a race with real people in a LONG time. It's just been me and the robots and that's not good. I need to start racing online again otherwise I'm going to hate ACC.

I think we could make some new AC Club. People who didn"t race long time online or didnt"t at all

 

[Masscot]

Stay away from open wheelers, stay away from Monza, openwheelers at Monza. Monza. If you get past T1 or lap 1 without being rammed or put into a wall then thank the gods. It is reputational in theory so people should behave, but the practice is that people are dumb and not as good at racing as they think they are. I had 9... yes,9! contacts in my last race in the classic F3 @ Silverstone, 7 of which happened in the first few corners and resulted in a ram -spin into a wall. I fought back and had a largely fine midfield battle with guys around my skill level and rating (400ish) who left room and knew when to fight and when to cool it. Still got a final hit/spin on the last lap by a guy who outbraked himself and me - he actually waited for me to get going again! This was a particularly bad experience of the first lap rubbish that happens, but not an unusual one.
I have since deleted the app as I just can't see it getting any better due to the lack of racecraft by hotlapping heros who'll have you off more often than not.

I hate Monaco with a passion. Hate it in all driving games and sims I've ever played, and hate it as an F1 venue. It's probably THE most inappropriate place to race ANY vehicle, never mind rocketships like F1 cars.
F1 races there are invariably boring processions, and sim races there are invariably undriveable crash-fests.

It's a ridiculous venue that's been dining out on 'oooh - the history.... oooh - the passion' for far too long.

In my opinion.

TL;DR - I'll be avoiding it at all costs.

Edit: Ha ha... LMFAO. My confirmation bias totally misread Monza as Monaco.

I LOVE Monza..!

 

[Johnnypenso]

Any tips for someone who's never used SRS before?

Mainly be prepared. Know your braking points really well, use your radar, be ready to have to run on the outside and inside of corners etc. In the races I've run I've generally found people that were nearly exactly the same pace as me and made very few mistakes so I was having to drive my best to keep up the pace when racing in a pack. The draft is minimal in AC so you don't get a lot of opportunities to pass and have to be ready to pounce.

Practice your starts as well. It's something I've always done in sim racing and it gives you a small edge sometimes. For example, some cars you can start faster with TC on, some with it off. Some cars like the Audi TT will wheelspin like crazy in first so you can shift to second and third quite quickly to gain traction. Not everyone does or they use TC and you can gain a small advantage going into the first corner. TC is adjustable on most cars that have it so you can turn it up or down while sitting on the grid and then change it back to your preferred setting before the first corner. I don't think everyone knows about the Push to Pass button in the Audi either because I've raced guys that never use it. Setting up your first gear properly, when you can, is big as well.

Some races require a pitstop so set up your pit strategy ahead of time. Choose the right tires for the race and make sure your pitstop gives you the tires you want with the right pressures.

 

[Sturdy]

I'm tempted to give SRS a go, I've seldom strayed online in my racing game history.

I dabbled briefly in Live For Speed and had a good time, but never quite got the bug. I also tried it out in the rather exciting world of Gran Turismo matchmaking (GT6 I think?).

I remember one evening spent racing at High Speed Ring reverse, given it was such a draft focused track it turned out you were better off to be in 2nd place for the final corner, draft the leader all the way around and on to the final straight to then pass just before the finish line. Worked every time, even to the extent I'd deliberately slow before the final corner to let the guy past!

Since getting VR I've found racing the AI much more entertaining as they feel like cars that are really there (before having VR I almost exclusively just 'drove' for the fun of it). I'll have to try it out in AC at some point!

 

[Masscot]

Mainly be prepared. Know your braking points really well, use your radar, be ready to have to run on the outside and inside of corners etc. In the races I've run I've generally found people that were nearly exactly the same pace as me and made very few mistakes so I was having to drive my best to keep up the pace when racing in a pack. The draft is minimal in AC so you don't get a lot of opportunities to pass and have to be ready to pounce.

Practice your starts as well. It's something I've always done in sim racing and it gives you a small edge sometimes. For example, some cars you can start faster with TC on, some with it off. Some cars like the Audi TT will wheelspin like crazy in first so you can shift to second and third quite quickly to gain traction. Not everyone does or they use TC and you can gain a small advantage going into the first corner. TC is adjustable on most cars that have it so you can turn it up or down while sitting on the grid and then change it back to your preferred setting before the first corner. I don't think everyone knows about the Push to Pass button in the Audi either because I've raced guys that never use it. Setting up your first gear properly, when you can, is big as well.

Some races require a pitstop so set up your pit strategy ahead of time. Choose the right tires for the race and make sure your pitstop gives you the tires you want with the right pressures.

Thanks for this. I've been racing online for years but never in AC, and never using a third-party app like SRS.
Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever done a pit stop in AC...

 

[BrandonW77]

Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever done a pit stop in AC...

I've done like three or four and I have to relearn how to do it every time.

 

[ALB123]

You can practice doing Pit Stops. Hit the track in Practice Mode. Whenever you feel like pulling into the pits, go ahead and do it. Your red box will show you where you need to put the car and in a blip you'll see your crew guys changing tires or whatever. You can literally do it every single lap because it's just a Practice Mode. It is good to practice though because even if you wisely set-up three different pit stop strategies before the race, you're still going to have to bring that Pit-Stop Choice box (hit left on your direction keypad for DFGT owners). And controlling that thing while doing 150 mph isn't exactly the easiest when you've got cars around you.

Johnny made a great point about online racing. You need to be able to take corners on the outside of a driver who has the inside spot. We're all so used to running hot laps or practice sessions where we can clip the apex anytime we want. You need to know how to keep your car in your lane throughout the turn. I would imagine VR has helped with this tremendously.

I don't think I've ever used the Push-To-Pass system. How do I engage the P2P in the Audi?

 

[Johnnypenso]

You can practice doing Pit Stops. Hit the track in Practice Mode. Whenever you feel like pulling into the pits, go ahead and do it. Your red box will show you where you need to put the car and in a blip you'll see your crew guys changing tires or whatever. You can literally do it every single lap because it's just a Practice Mode. It is good to practice though because even if you wisely set-up three different pit stop strategies before the race, you're still going to have to bring that Pit-Stop Choice box (hit left on your direction keypad for DFGT owners). And controlling that thing while doing 150 mph isn't exactly the easiest when you've got cars around you.

Johnny made a great point about online racing. You need to be able to take corners on the outside of a driver who has the inside spot. We're all so used to running hot laps or practice sessions where we can clip the apex anytime we want. You need to know how to keep your car in your lane throughout the turn. I would imagine VR has helped with this tremendously.

I don't think I've ever used the Push-To-Pass system. How do I engage the P2P in the Audi?

It works on the KERS button. In the 20 minute races I think you get about 15 boosts of 30 hp that last maybe 10 seconds or something like that. It'll let you pass on the longest straight if you use it but since you can use it at least once a lap that's where most people use it so it makes it hard to gain any advantage with it. It would be better if it was only available say 5 or 6 times. It's on the in car HUD on the bottom right. IIRC it's red when it's not available, blue when you are using it and white when it's ready to be used. It isn't available in qualifying or free practice online, only during the race.

 

[Masscot]

SRS only has one race per hour?

SRSly..?!

 

[Johnnypenso]

SRS only has one race per hour?

SRSly..?!

I've seen the Porsche series races start on the half hour but usually it's an hour apart yes.

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

I think we could make some new AC Club. People who didn"t race long time online or didnt"t at all

I'm all for this too. I've only done two back to back races online ever since the early Alpha stages of the game. Never bothered because of the disadvantage that I'm at.

I'm on a controller sitting on a couch, just a cushion for the wireless mouse and the micro keyboard is only 5 - 6 inches in size, so accessing options or using hotkeys is impractical. I can only assign a couple of features simultaneously like push to pass, KERS, DRS, adjust TCS, ABS, and brake bias because of the limited amount of buttons on the controller, so usually they're set to brake bias and looking left/right/backwards.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Just finished a race with SRS, Guilia in Portugal, 20 minute race, I like that length.
I had too many contacts for my taste but nothing outrageous. I had a good pace, participated in a few good battle.
Probably as good as it gets outside a well managed and well populated league, which is as easy to find than a unicorn.
Multiplayer can be fun, but thanks god we also have a great AI in AC.

 

[Masscot]

Just finished a race with SRS, Guilia in Portugal, 20 minute race, I like that length.
I had too many contacts for my taste but nothing outrageous. I had a good pace, participated in a few good battle.
Probably as good as it gets outside a well managed and well populated league, which is as easy to find than a unicorn.
Multiplayer can be fun, but thanks god we also have a great AI in AC.

I fnally managed to get into an SRS race. I needed to download a browser extension in CM to be able to see the 'race register' button which wasn't visible without it.

First race was classic Lotus zero-aeros at Spa. Couldn't keep the bastard in a straight line and had to tiptoe around like on ice. Started last, finished third from the back.

Second race was Audi TT Cups at RoAm, so much more my type of transport (although I've not really driven that car before). Managed to nab pole and win the race.

Everyone just disconnects when the race ends then? No results screen, lap times etc? No neat return to the lobby? I got dumped into practice sessions on my own (same car and track) when both races ended. Is that normal? Seems a bit janky.

My steering ratio was borked in both races too. I had to tweak the TT using the on-wheel adjustment on my Fanatec. Never had that issue before, it's always been 1:1 offline no matter the car.

 

[Cote Dazur]

@Masscot the results are all on the SRS page either on their web site or within CM SRS direct access.

 

[ALB123]

Congratulations on your online win, Masscot. I don't think I've ever won a race online in AC, but I have very limited online race experience. I won a few races on GT6 but AC alludes me. 20 minutes is a good race time, for sure. I see people running 50 laps at Silverstone and I'm thinking "Are you out of your minds?!" But, I'd bet that if I were good enough to compete at that level I'd enjoy long races like those. It starts feeling more and more like a real race.

 

[Masscot]

@Masscot the results are all on the SRS page either on their web site or within CM SRS direct access.

Aha! Thanks bud.

Congratulations on your online win, Masscot. I don't think I've ever won a race online in AC, but I have very limited online race experience. I won a few races on GT6 but AC alludes me. 20 minutes is a good race time, for sure. I see people running 50 laps at Silverstone and I'm thinking "Are you out of your minds?!" But, I'd bet that if I were good enough to compete at that level I'd enjoy long races like those. It starts feeling more and more like a real race.

I've no doubt that future races will be a lot more difficult. I think I just lucked out with my opponents.

SRS seems pretty cool though. Certainly a gazillion times better than public lobby flusterclucks.
I just need to avoid vintage F1 races on skinny rubber and stick to my preferred GT/Cup classes. It's a shame races are only every hour as it leaves a lot of down-time between them, especially if the next race doesn't tickle your fancy. I'll try to run at least one race a day from now on I think. I can see this getting quite addictive.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Just had a pre ACC race on SRS, Lambo at Paul Ricard, Blancpain layout. Too many contacts, again, but nice race overall.

 

[Masscot]

Just had a pre ACC race on SRS, Lambo at Paul Ricard, Blancpain layout. Too many contacts, again, but nice race overall.

Lol, I might have been in the same race as you, but I messed up big-time. Qualified third, tweaked my tyre pressures a smidge as the FR was a little cool, then suddenly realised I'd been running mediums. LIKE A FOOL I switched to softs immediately before the race and LIKE A FOOL didn't adjust the pressures. One lap into the race and Crew Chief is already expressing concerns, two laps into the race and my tyres are lava. Had to retire for the safety of others after a high-speed 720 spin. Why the hell I changed tyres so late I'll never know. FOOL.

 

[ALB123]

Lol, I might have been in the same race as you, but I messed up big-time. Qualified third, tweaked my tyre pressures a smidge as the FR was a little cool, then suddenly realised I'd been running mediums. LIKE A FOOL I switched to softs immediately before the race and LIKE A FOOL didn't adjust the pressures. One lap into the race and Crew Chief is already expressing concerns, two laps into the race and my tyres are lava. Had to retire for the safety of others after a high-speed 720 spin. Why the hell I changed tyres so late I'll never know. FOOL.

Are you saying that switching to the Softs was a foolish move because they wore out quickly?

 

[Masscot]

Are you saying that switching to the Softs was a foolish move because they wore out quickly?

Tyre wear wasn't the issue, it's that they were on fire by lap 2..!
I literally* couldn't even look at the accelerator without the car spinning like the hurricane it was named after. Crew Chief was advising me to drive into the nearest lake to cool them down.

*not literally.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Tires compound choice is dictated by ambient air and track temperature and driving style, it does not always yield faster lap time, except in gran tourismo,
I did a nice 1 hour race with mandatory pit stop on SRS at Mugello yesterday, nice experience and required some tyre management to be consistant for the whole race.

 

[Masscot]

Tires compound choice is dictated by ambient air and track temperature and driving style, it does not always yield faster lap time, except in gran tourismo,

Oh, I know all of that, I just suddenly thought "Damn! I bet everyone else is on softs for a twenty-minute race! I'd better switch or I won't be competitive!" despite qualifying third (actually second in the pits, then put in third on the grid for some janky reason). A silly decision that still haunts me and cost me a few points.

I did a nice 1 hour race with mandatory pit stop on SRS at Mugello yesterday, nice experience and required some tyre management to be consistant for the whole race.

Ooh, I like the sound of that. What car? Note to self: try a pit stop.

Edit: I see from the SRS website it's in the 911 RSR, a car I looooove. There's a race at 9pm tonight local time but I don't think I'll be home in time, certainly not early enough to work out how pit stops work...

Edit 2: ah, just watched this. Seems simple enough. There's no 'request pit stop' button like in pCARS then, you just roll in whenever you want?

 

[BrandonW77]

Tyre wear wasn't the issue, it's that they were on fire by lap 2..!
I literally* couldn't even look at the accelerator without the car spinning like the hurricane it was named after. Crew Chief was advising me to drive into the nearest lake to cool them down.

*not literally.

I've been known to have a lot of weird things happen on my system, I think something weird may be going on but at least this time it's a good thing. I never experience tire issues like that, never had a problem with tires getting too hot (especially not after a couple laps). I remember a few club races at RD where everyone went with mediums or hards because they couldn't make softs last for a 30 minute race. I went with softs and won a couple races and still had pretty good control of the car and tire life at the end of the race. So either something weird was going on or I'm the next Jenson Button.

 

[Masscot]

I've been known to have a lot of weird things happen on my system, I think something weird may be going on but at least this time it's a good thing. I never experience tire issues like that, never had a problem with tires getting too hot (especially not after a couple laps). I remember a few club races at RD where everyone went with mediums or hards because they couldn't make softs last for a 30 minute race. I went with softs and won a couple races and still had pretty good control of the car and tire life at the end of the race. So either something weird was going on or I'm the next Jenson Button.

I'd dropped the pressures on the mediums as they were running slightly cold during quali then switched to softs and kept the pressures the same. Lethal combo..!

 

[BrandonW77]

I'd dropped the pressures on the mediums as they were running slightly cold during quali then switched to softs and kept the pressures the same. Lethal combo..!

I've done that same thing. I think it was even in one of those races I won, had the pressures dialed in on the Mediums (thanks Sidekick!) but then switched to Softs just before the race start and didn't adjust the pressures. They got about 2psi over the ideal but still didn't really have any problems and lasted the whole race without issue. Weird.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Some cars are harder on tires, the McLaren GT3 is not very tender on the soft compound. They over heat when pushed.