Popularity of iRacing vs GT5&Forza

[Mahnegold]

If you do the full session w/o incidents you can gain .9
I have A licenses. Have not run a single oval race.
But I had a gas doing 80 laps at full throttle around Texas.
Trying to find the fasted line.
I do the same thing every time I TT.
My thought, is why not get paid to test.
When I really want to push it, I do open practices.

.09 sounds more realistic than. 9

 

[BRP17]

.09 sounds more realistic than. 9

Correct

 

[Eric.]

Grinding through TT's will make you a great hotlapper. You might wreck in T1 when you have no idea how to drive 6" off the guy in front of you and he does something you don't expect.

 

[magic_town]

Grinding through TT's will make you a great hotlapper. You might wreck in T1 when you have no idea how to drive 6" off the guy in front of you and he does something you don't expect.

Exactly. Racing with other cars is a different skill to lapping on your own, in iRacing and real life. I would rather pick up positions making passes than hanging out the back waiting for people to crash

 

[Mac K]

Grinding through TT's will make you a great hotlapper. You might wreck in T1 when you have no idea how to drive 6" off the guy in front of you and he does something you don't expect.

More people need to realize this, I actually enjoy racing against "hot lappers" because they can't take pressure at all and a lot of them get frustrated driving in traffic.. someone might be fast on their own, but put them in a field of 20 cars and thats a whole other story..

 

[Eric.]

I don't think I've done a single TT after a month or two in the service. If so it might have been to get those last couple tenths of SR to get out of Rookie Oval.

 

[WRP001]

More people need to realize this, I actually enjoy racing against "hot lappers" because they can't take pressure at all and a lot of them get frustrated driving in traffic.. someone might be fast on their own, but put them in a field of 20 cars and thats a whole other story..

And the very best are good at both hot lapping and racing. The skills required aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[fatkrakr]

Theres no doubt you can be good at both. I just wish they would take the points out of TT. It allows people to join races in cars they have no buisness being in. I know alot of people like using it to get out of rookie license, but I think you should have to race your way out of rookie. I know not everyone will agree with that opinion, but its how I feel about it.

 

[left888]

I think TT plays a much more important roll then given credit for. It allows rookies to gain control of their cars. Have you ever seen someone graduate to a "C" license then jump into a Grand AM race with a DP. They take out 5 cars before the first lap is done.

Let them learn by completing 20 laps without any incidents and to get a good feel of the track in TT. Then they start practicing for a few weeks. Then they try a race.

 

[Wilbur]

I think TT plays a much more important roll then given credit for. It allows rookies to gain control of their cars. Have you ever seen someone graduate to a "C" license then jump into a Grand AM race with a DP. They take out 5 cars before the first lap is done.

Let them learn by completing 20 laps without any incidents and to get a good feel of the track in TT. Then they start practicing for a few weeks. Then they try a race.

This is a good way to do things to get a handle it on it but not feel like your time is wasted. It allows you to practice but maybe at a faster pace too.

I wish some guys on oval side would do that on some tracks, as you can tell they think they know the track (which I will give credit alot of the tracks do drive like another). Rockingham would be a great place to learn in a TT because people always seem to mess up entry and exit of 1-2!

 

[Mac K]

I think TT plays a much more important roll then given credit for. It allows rookies to gain control of their cars. Have you ever seen someone graduate to a "C" license then jump into a Grand AM race with a DP. They take out 5 cars before the first lap is done.

Let them learn by completing 20 laps without any incidents and to get a good feel of the track in TT. Then they start practicing for a few weeks. Then they try a race.

That's the whole point of open practice and testing though isn't it?

 

[Eric.]

If I'm gonna go practice a car/track combo to get faster or more familiar with it, I'm going to do it in a practice. Then there are other drivers to not only compare my performance to, but also to get a taste of how to handle the car in traffic. I rarely do any private testing for official events now, unless I've just never been to that track. Even so, if there are only a few cars in the session I might still join it.

 

[noshog]

I pretty much only use official practice sessions, even when just learning a car or track. About the only time I use private tests is when I want to drive a combo that doesn't have a official session for the week.

And in regards to TT's, I think they are useful for building up confidence in running fast mistake free laps because you still have SR hanging over your head unlike official practice sessions. But also think that you shouldn't be able to 'Class' up using TT's (even though I have done it once or twice, and most of us probably have), still think you should have to race to the next class.

 

[left888]

That's the whole point of open practice and testing though isn't it?

True, although I got hit at 100 MPH during a warmup to a DP race at Watkins by another DP racer. He told me he just got his C license and wanted to race in Grand AM. He had 1 practice and now he was ready to race.

It's true this guy needed practice and lots of it. So what is everyone in the practice going to say when this guys starts taking them out, one by one. My point is, raw rookies should spend enough TT time until they can practice without crashing at every other corner. The funny thing also is it's just not rookies, I've seen A license guys taking out folks with sloppy racing.

If I'm gonna go practice a car/track combo to get faster or more familiar with it, I'm going to do it in a practice. Then there are other drivers to not only compare my performance to, but also to get a taste of how to handle the car in traffic. I rarely do any private testing for official events now, unless I've just never been to that track. Even so, if there are only a few cars in the session I might still join it.

It's a lot different for you as compared to a new driver. You are experienced and are probable in the top 25% of the field, so it makes sense that TT won't serve you like it would a new driver.

 

[noshog]

It's true this guy needed practice and lots of it. So what is everyone in the practice going to say when this guys starts taking them out, one by one. My point is, raw rookies should spend enough TT time until they can practice without crashing at every other corner. The funny thing also is it's just not rookies, I've seen A license guys taking out folks with sloppy racing.

I have no issues with people crashing in practice (unless fully intentional) we all have to start somewhere and believe it is better to learn with others around. I don't understand people who spit the dummy during practice sessions, sometimes it's like it's life or death practice
And everyone makes mistakes left...Rookies, A class drivers, and even real life F1 drivers

 

[left888]

Making mistakes is fine, we all do it. You are missing my point all together. Imagine you are trying to drop 3/10th's of a second in practice. You have race conditions and the flow is clipping along nicely and you find that 3/10th's of a second you have been looking for. Now throw in 2 or 3 rookies that can't make it past 2 corners without taking some one out, lets say this is a road race and now not only can't you get your 3/10th's of a second but now you are 5 seconds a lap slower because the rookies never had any alone time.

When I first started iRacing I was very nervous about wrecking someone in practice let alone a race. I hot lapped for many months before I had the confidence to open practice and feel comfortable with other cars on the track. To prove my point, jump in the mx-5 and try a race at around 11:00pm MST, you will get 2 or 3 decent racers and 5 to 6 terrible racers that can't do 1 lap without crashing.

Poor practice habits? perhaps, maybe no practice at all. I think there are a lot of lazy racers that can't be bothered practicing or hot lapping. There are days I don't feel like practicing but I will do 20-30 minutes of hot lapping. Mainly Grand AM and MX-5, Radical is what I like to drive. If I see a field of 10+ drivers practicing then I'll jump in, if there is 3-5 drivers it is just like hot lapping anyways.

My answer is pretty simple really, if you don't like TT then don't do it. There is no doubt whatsoever that practice will be much more beneficial then TT but until the driver has confidence to keep up with the flow of a practice he needs to stay off the track and do some alone time so he isn't wrecking constantly.

 

[Eric.]

Well, yeah, if you're trying to set lap records in practice I don't know what to tell you. I don't think they have any awards for that.

Actually, welcome to the real world. The FX Motorsports Development NSX set a new lap record at Buttonwillow despite finding Chris Rado's Scion tC mid-corner.

 

[fatkrakr]

I dont think anyone here is saying do away with TT or even saying they are useless. Just that it shouldnt be a way to up your license. You should have to race your way out of the rookie series or any other license level. If you cant get out of rookies in offical races do you really think your ready to race some of the faster cars in the service?

 

[Patrocles]

Well the curiosity got to me last night and I signed up for the 2 year iracing deal for $89.00.

I've been racing GT5 and I was curious if my computer would run iracing.

Well it does and my first impression is WOW the feel of the cars is very realistic.

Make a mistake and you crash. I like it.

Don't flame me but.......

I was testing my new cars and tracks with a PS2 controller.

I plan to buy a wheel tomorrow.

As I was expecting,I needed iracing to force me to buy a wheel.

If your into car gaming and simming,
Have Gran Turismo and iRacing.

Welcome to the darkside!

The Xbox controller seems to be a popular gamepad used in iracing. The Logitech DFGT wheel is a good wheel for an excellent price.

 

[bevo]

I dont think anyone here is saying do away with TT or even saying they are useless. Just that it shouldnt be a way to up your license. You should have to race your way out of the rookie series or any other license level. If you cant get out of rookies in offical races do you really think your ready to race some of the faster cars in the service?

I like the fact that you get points fot TT. Those few little points you get may be enough to get more people to practice and get better at the tracks. Some people have to be rewarded when they do anything. I don't care if some guy gets .04 for running 20 minutes worth of clean hot laps.

I know for me when I get close to 4.0, say around 3.90 or so i will start running TTs to get over that hump. It's nice to know that once you get close to 4 you don't have to risk losing 25 points going into a race and having someone take you out to knock you back to 3.65 or something.

I've ran many more practice laps because of TTs then any other reason on the game. If I have 25 minutes before a race and there isn't any good practice sessions going, instead of just leaving the game and waiting I go into TT and earn myself .02 or so SR, and get myself some really good practice in before the race starts. If it wasn't for the little .02 or so of points I'm sure I wouldn't run near as may practice laps as i do before a race.

I really don't see how anyone is arguing against the tiny bit of SR boost TT gives you. I would rather race with a TT guy then with a practice allstar anyday. I'm sure most that run TT are very aware of SR and worried about losing it or they wouldn't be running TTs. I would bet that if you looked at the guys with decent TT ratings their incidents per race are alot lower then guys who haven't run many TTs. Why would you not want people to be rewarded for learning how to run clean laps? Without that small reward some people wouldn't practice near as much.

As far as TT not teaching you how to drive in traffic, that is true. The one thing though is like I said earlier, that guys who run alot of TT are doing it because they worry about their SR, so I really don't think they would be going into races and pushing in places where they should with traffic around them and wanting to risk losing the 2 or 3 hours it took them to get that .12 SR boost because of a stupid mistake.

I just really don't see how TT giving such a time consuming SR boost is a bad thing. If someone were to TT boost all the way to A class, they will soon be out of it if they need to be. I imagine in more cases then not the SR system will get you into the class you should be in regardless of TT boosters. If they can TT boost to A class and then race in it without ruining their SR then who cares how they got there. They're a clean racer and should be there racing anyway.

 

[fatkrakr]

.

I just really don't see how TT giving such a time consuming SR boost is a bad thing. If someone were to TT boost all the way to A class, they will soon be out of it if they need to be. I imagine in more cases then not the SR system will get you into the class you should be in regardless of TT boosters. If they can TT boost to A class and then race in it without ruining their SR then who cares how they got there. They're a clean racer and should be there racing anyway.

The problem is TT points can (and for quite a few does) allow people to stay in a license class that they normally couldnt maintain without it. It doesnt allow the SR system to work as it could. Just as you use it to get over 4.0, Ive seen alot who use it to not drop thier license class. The SR system could put you in a license class that you can compete in, but the TT boost allows people to side step the SR system to get a higher license than thier skill would otherwise allow them.

 

[bevo]

The problem is TT points can (and for quite a few does) allow people to stay in a license class that they normally couldnt maintain without it. It doesnt allow the SR system to work as it could. Just as you use it to get over 4.0, Ive seen alot who use it to not drop thier license class. The SR system could put you in a license class that you can compete in, but the TT boost allows people to side step the SR system to get a higher license than thier skill would otherwise allow them.

I just can't imagine someone running hours of TT so they could gain enough to not drop a class and the being able to run races that didn't drop them anyway if they couldn't run clean.

Maybe in D class it could work but SR points are pretty hard to raise once you get into the higher classes. It would take forever to gain many points in B class running TT. Even in C class I only get 2 or 3 points for running a TT.

You would really have to put alot of hours in to move from C class up because you did it in TT.

I see what you guys are saying but the boost from TT runs is so small in the higher classes that the people who actually used it to boost would be so small I can't imagine it being a real problem. It's not like you can go from 2.5 to 4 in a few hours and move from C to B. it would take alot of TT to get you there.

Now in rookie you it's different. I think I might have even of got .12 once running a full rookie TT but it was time well spent that made me much more comfortable with a new sim, and forced me to be careful while I was learning.

I don't really care if TT gives you SR or not. I just don't see how it would effect the higher classes at all. The gain vs time spent is so small I just can't see hardly anyone doing it. It might be used to buy a little time not to get dropped a class but if your not a clean racer you'll be dropped the next race you join. Who cares if a guy is somehow holding on to his D class by running 10 TT runs to make up for every race he is in. He won't be around long if that's the case.

The most I've gained is .12 in TT the most I have lost in a race is like 30 something. The gain was in rookie the loss was in a really bad C class race where your lucky to get .05 running a long TT.

 

[Imari]

I agree with bevo. You *might* be able to keep yourself in C class with time trials, anything above that and the time you'd have to spend would be immense.

 

[left888]

If you cant get out of rookies in offical races do you really think your ready to race some of the faster cars in the service?

No one is arguing that point, I agree and I would take it a step further. If you can't pass a basic 5 lap TT without incident in the MX-5 then you can't race in rookie. Make everyone have at least a basic racecraft level before they race with others.

I really don't see how anyone is arguing against the tiny bit of SR boost TT gives you.

That's just it, there s no real benefit of TT other then improving ones racecraft and a small license gain.

 

[GUMP07]

Welcome to the darkside!

The Xbox controller seems to be a popular gamepad used in iracing. The Logitech DFGT wheel is a good wheel for an excellent price.

Thanks!

The PS2 controller is ULTRA sensitive in iracing that's for sure. I've used it to get used to the menu's and navigation and some practice while I wait for my DFGT wheel to arrive.

I joined a practice session and to be polite,I asked if it was ok for me to run some laps with my ps3 controller as I wanted to familiarize myself with the F key options ect. The drivers said yea man you paid the money race the car.

 

[Nastradamus87]

I pretty much only use official practice sessions, even when just learning a car or track. About the only time I use private tests is when I want to drive a combo that doesn't have a official session for the week.

And in regards to TT's, I think they are useful for building up confidence in running fast mistake free laps because you still have SR hanging over your head unlike official practice sessions. But also think that you shouldn't be able to 'Class' up using TT's (even though I have done it once or twice, and most of us probably have), still think you should have to race to the next class.

I like to figure out new tracks in private session. That way I can slowly roll through corners, stop, reverse, drive the wrong direction, or fly off the track in to barriers without bothering other people. This type of solitary confinement practicing might be an old habbit from GT5 though.


TT's on the other hand I have never felt compelled in the slightest to do. I have done one or two in the year I've been a member. The meager SR gain from them isn't worth the inconvenience of having to wait for a official session.

 

[BRP17]

TT's on the other hand I have never felt compelled in the slightest to do. I have done one or two in the year I've been a member. The meager SR gain from them isn't worth the inconvenience of having to wait for a official session.

What, every 2 minutes it too long of a wait?

 

[Hydro]

What, every 2 minutes it too long of a wait?

I was thinking the same thing - maybe he meant quali's?
In the rookie class and even D running time trials is a good way to get a bit of a SR boost while you learn the car / track combo.
My routine in the early days was always similar:
Test privately until I have a good feel for the track.
Join practice sessions to learn how to drive with others and / or run TT's to practice completing multiple laps cleanly.

Using TT's early on helped to establish a realistic pace as it made me lap cleanly. In most rookie races (and D for that matter) it seems most drivers really do all the harm to their SR by themselves through spins and off track excursions (assuming they get past lap 1 - aka wreck city).

They aren't really helpful after you leave D class IMO, but TT's can be useful. I'll still run one occasionally instead of running a practice - SR is SR after all and every little bit can only help 👍

 

[GUMP07]

Logitech Driving Force GT wheel.

GT5= wheel shakes on straights and feels unrealistic and heavy. Brake pedal calibration is incorrect causing the brake to partially engage in game causing users to mod the pedals to try and solve this issue,very disappointing.

iracing= wheel feels smooth and natural with lots of detailed track and car feedback.All calibration is excellent.

 

[Imari]

That's just it, there s no real benefit of TT other then improving ones racecraft and a small license gain.

I disagree with this. I use them for race practise. There's a difference to me between open practise with no SR on the line and a TT with a small amount. In open practise I often find I'll push harder than I would in a race. In TT I drive a slower more consistent pace. Maybe that's just me but I find it useful.