Practice sessions
Lets schedule some sessions in the Solstice this week.
I understand that Romus don't have the Advanced one yet but we can meet at Lime Rock Park if we agree a time.
Good idea. :thumbsup2:
Yes, this is absolutely needed. Tomorrow 7:30 UK time onwards I'll be ready. I am at around 2.6 atm so this week it's only oval if I want to have a race. :angry:
BTW I've bought the full year subscription and then Skip Barber, Virginia and Infineon.
Quote from: romus;241522Yes, this is absolutely needed. Tomorrow 7:30 UK time onwards I'll be ready. I am at around 2.6 atm so this week it's only oval if I want to have a race. :angry:
No, you can have rookie Solstice races.
QuoteBTW I've bought the full year subscription and then Skip Barber, Virginia and Infineon.
Hooked! :norty: :D
Last week I could have raced Solstice on Laguna Sega, but this week all the sessions are "Full". Do they not appear full to you? Is this also depending on the rating?
Quote from: romus;241544Last week I could have raced Solstice on Laguna Sega, but this week all the sessions are "Full". Do they not appear full to you? Is this also depending on the rating?
What is "Full" is the Lime Rock Park track configuration.
The sessions are not full.
Quote from: romus;241544Last week I could have raced Solstice on Laguna Sega, but this week all the sessions are "Full". Do they not appear full to you? Is this also depending on the rating?
You've just been promoted to head plonker. :lmfao: 'Full' is the configuration of the track. Full as opposed to 'South' or 'North' or 'Chicane'
The servers are never full as the more people there are the more servers they put up.
Quote from: Doorman;241564You've just been promoted to head plonker. :lmfao: 'Full' is the configuration of the track. Full as opposed to 'South' or 'North' or 'Chicane'
The servers are never full as the more people there are the more servers they put up.
:roflmao:
LFS has never given me this good laugh!
There must be a view to sessions when you cannot choose any session, because I remember trying to go for online practice but it read Full and session times were not presented as links as I was used to see them, so I concluded that the "Full" means that the session is full.
How does my career path look like? When can we negotiate for a new promotion? :D
Quote from: romus;241567How does my career path look like? When can we negotiate for a new promotion? :D
There are two things that are imperative. 1:
Don't go off the tarmac, even in Time Trials 2:
Don't hit anyone. Unfortunately,
being hit gets the same penalty. :sad: I've have no doubt whatsoever that you'll be up there with the other 'other worlders'
Quote from: Doorman;241587There are two things that are imperative. 1: Don't go off the tarmac, even in Time Trials 2: Don't hit anyone. Unfortunately, being hit gets the same penalty. :sad: I've have no doubt whatsoever that you'll be up there with the other 'other worlders'
I think of SR as money. If I where racing for real I have to have money to pay for repairs. So every race, (actually every clean corner) I add money to my repair account. When I hit someone or fall off the track I have to repair my car regardless off whoo's fault it was. That money comes from my SR account.
And if I get a new licence it will cost me SR 1.0 (one big one) in fees.
It was a good test session last night. I would have not tried 4th gear on those two corners if you Verner had not mentioned it. Also that you could go without braking to the last corner was a surprise.
Sounds are still confusing me a bit, but I'm learning to push it closer to the limit. It was lovely to stay in a controlled four wheel slide all through that first corner. I don't think that it feels so real in LFS.
Tire physics in iRacing seems a bit better than it LFS, at least the slip angle curve feels more realistic. Though I have very little real life experience being on the limit, I still think that when over the limit the car goes too slippery too soon with LFS. In iRacing it's easier to get the car back from the slide. But i rFactor and GTR it was a lot worse than in LFS.
Quote from: romus;241645It was lovely to stay in a controlled four wheel slide all through that first corner. I don't think that it feels so real in LFS.
Yes it was good. Thanks to EarlHaz and Doorman also. Being right behind you in that turn I could tell you where having fun. And your times went down for every lap.
Looking forward to the next one!
Quote from: romus;241645Sounds are still confusing me a bit, but I'm learning to push it closer to the limit. It was lovely to stay in a controlled four wheel slide all through that first corner. I don't think that it feels so real in LFS.
True four wheel slide is not so easy to get. In 2 wheel drives, when the other end looses grip, the pressure on the other end drops down and you get only 2 wheel slide. Easiest way is to get a 4 wheel drive and push the loud pedal enough to get both ends lose the grip. In 2 wheel drive, you often need bad grip in both ends, like in a gravel road. With FWD it might work to use throttle to lose the front and then flick the rear end with sharp steering wheel turn, but how the steering flick works if the front has no grip :g: Often rear wheel slide feels like the car is in 4 wheel slide because front is still going to the direction of the slide, I think.
Quote from: Aquilifer;241705True four wheel slide is not so easy to get. In 2 wheel drives, when the other end looses grip, the pressure on the other end drops down and you get only 2 wheel slide.
That may be correct. What may be happening is that the car is changing between front and backwheel slide as you "control" it. The Rookie Solstice has a slight understeer so you first push off the front and by feeding inn more power and steering the rear gets loose too. You then control the degree and the balance (front/back) of the slide with steering.
mmmm...sounds bit hard car to drive long races. The tyres must in pieces after 10-15 mins.
In one magasine had pics of the RUF test driver (Stefan something iirc...cant remember his full name right now) drove the 'Yellow Bird' RUF (it's a Porsche 911 with double turbos) around the old Nürburgring with insane speed so that he power slided the rear end in most of the corners and controlled the car that way. In the end the rear tyres had pieces of rubber missing and the net/tissue/canvas (what ever it is in English) visible. :blink:
Quote from: Aquilifer;241713mmmm...sounds bit hard car to drive long races. The tyres must in pieces after 10-15 mins.
In one magasine had pics of the RUF test driver (Stefan something iirc...cant remember his full name right now) drove the 'Yellow Bird' RUF (it's a Porsche 911 with double turbos) around the old Nürburgring with insane speed so that he power slided the rear end in most of the corners and controlled the car that way. In the end the rear tyres had pieces of rubber missing and the net/tissue/canvas (what ever it is in English) visible. :blink:
This car is not able to power slide, but you can get it to slide like that at the end of the straight at Lime Rock. The gravity pulls it loose and it is sliding while maintaining some feel of control so you do not spin or go off the track.
I'm sure it would destroy your tires pretty fast. The tires are road tires, so they are tough. Like the roadtires in LFS.
It would be nice to have another practice session. Just to race together and discuss about iRacing. Skippy and Virginia? Or Infineon? Tonight 8:00 UK time? Cu on Ventrilo Next Room if you like the idea.
Sound like a plan :thumbsup2:
Quote from: romus;244187It would be nice to have another practice session. Just to race together and discuss about iRacing. Skippy and Virginia? Or Infineon? Tonight 8:00 UK time? Cu on Ventrilo Next Room if you like the idea.
I'll be there too.
I tried iRacing again this night, and I really like the progress they've had in a few months. There's enough content for racing series now and there seems to be lots of racers. I might try Skippy series this season, though the car is pretty difficult to drive. Web services look really good, improved replays, better tire information ingame.. Nice progress.
So, how about a practice session with Ventrilo? It would be fun to drive around and learn from you Verner hear how your career is going. Would Gnomie and someone else be interested? If you like the idea, then how about Sunday night?
Quote from: romus;261909If you like the idea, then how about Sunday night?
I'm pleased to hear that you see the progress.
But I am sad to say I will be away skiing this weekend and I will be back late Sunday, hopefully my feet will be totally gelly (first weekend in the mountains for the season) so I will not drive that night... :)
But it should be no problem setting up a schedule. I'm otherwise quite flexible.
Good idea Romus! :) Unfortunately I don't have any other cars than the Solstice yet, and of course I understand if that's not particularly interesting to you guys.. but who knows, I might even be persuaded into getting the Skippy one of these days. :flirty: (The reason I haven't done so yet is that for now the Solstice is a lot of fun, and I fear that I won't race it at all once I get the Skippy.)
I'm pretty flexible too, so just give a shout if you fancy a practice session some day!
OK, good. How about Ventrilo. Do we have "next door" anymore? Is it not called nkPro nowadays? What other voice comms could we use if that's not possible?
Solstice is still fun. Gnomie, I think your total laps already exceed what I've done, so don't think I've gotten enough of any car or track in iRacing. :) (not with LFS either) If you are not buying Skippy yet then Solstice is good for me.
Verner, you are funny. How can you be sorry telling that you are going to mountains? :D It must be great fun. I've hiked on top of the Kebnekaise once, but never really been skiing in the mountains. But that was a good trip and gave lots of good memories. First it looked like: the top is so close, it will take us about 1 hour to get there. Then after two hours we did not see it anymore, but it was far away, and after 4 hours we were there! We did not have skiis with us, because it was August, but still coming downhill sliding with those big mountain boots was good fun.
What night would suit you Verner? I'll bring fresh coffee and some snacks.
Ventrilo is fine. Yes there is still the "next door" room. :)
This should be good! :yahoo:
Quote from: romus;261929What night would suit you Verner? I'll bring fresh coffee and some snacks.
Well lets first start with monday and see how that fits into your schedule.
I will be online at 2000CET most likely earlier (depending on domestic taxi duty)
In the DP...... Just kidding, I will join you in a Solstice session. But I can't show you anything you don't do better in that car. :)
Quote from: vobler;261946Well lets first start with monday and see how that fits into your schedule.
I will be online at 2000CET most likely earlier (depending on domestic taxi duty)
In the DP...... Just kidding, I will join you in a Solstice session. But I can't show you anything you don't do better in that car. :)
Doh!! I forgot.. :( :doh: Sorry guys! It just slipped my mind completely. Some other day perhaps..?
Quote from: Gnomie;262767Doh!! I forgot.. :( :doh: Sorry guys! It just slipped my mind completely. Some other day perhaps..?
Same happened to me. I was working home (yes :sideways:) all the night and enjoyed it too much to remember racing. Any other night except friday would be ok for me. Gnomie, what day is best for you?
Any day except Wednesday is fine with me. :)
I got the Solstice, Legends and the Radical (which I cant race online yet :angry:)
I'll be interested in a practice session at some point, especially in the Solstice as I stink. I can handle the Radical with ease in comparison, not sure why I suck so much with the Solstice but I need to pack in all the practice I can get if I want to get my ranking up. :)
My iRacing name is Matt Girvan.
I just had a 40min practice session with Skippy at VIR Full. I started with PB at 2:15:sth and got it down to 2:13:979. But still 1.3 seconds behind Verners best time. It's good that you have done all these tracks already with Skippy, because then I have something to compare to. I should be able to get very near to your times.
Doing the Skippy series will be interesting, because of going to each of the tracks for the first time and seeing how easy or difficult it will be to catch others. I feel that learning those tracks will require me to learn some new skills as well. Some of them, like this VIR Full, is very "technical", many quick corners one after another.
Quote from: romus;263002I just had a 40min practice session with Skippy at VIR Full.
Oh. I was in the Mazda. I guess there is no way to get in touch with anyone in a session you can't join.
Quote from: romus;263002I should be able to get very near to your times.
You will beat me easily. Gnomie too. No doubt about it! Soon too! :D
I've decided to get the Skippy! :D I'll probably buy the Skippy + Infineon + VIR and get the 10% discount. Along with the Solstice (which I love more and more!) I reckon this should keep me happy for the rest of 2009.
So: anyone up for a practice session at Summit Point one of those days? :)
Quote from: Gnomie;264063I've decided to get the Skippy! :D I'll probably buy the Skippy + Infineon + VIR and get the 10% discount. Along with the Solstice (which I love more and more!) I reckon this should keep me happy for the rest of 2009.
So: anyone up for a practice session at Summit Point one of those days? :)
I hope you will like the Skippy, it is a very special car that takes a lot to drive well. All of the tracks are good. VIR is really beautiful.
Send me a PM or something when you are on, and I will try to join you.
Quote from: Gnomie;264063I've decided to get the Skippy! :D I'll probably buy the Skippy + Infineon + VIR and get the 10% discount. Along with the Solstice (which I love more and more!) I reckon this should keep me happy for the rest of 2009.
So: anyone up for a practice session at Summit Point one of those days? :)
:D Skippy is nice. It's very different from Solstice, and also very different from anything in LFS. It's not been very easy for me this far, but I don't have much expectations for this season anyways. I think this whole year will just be learning new tracks I don't expect my iRating to climb very high.
Quote from: vobler;264072I hope you will like the Skippy, it is a very special car that takes a lot to drive well. All of the tracks are good. VIR is really beautiful.
Send me a PM or something when you are on, and I will try to join you.
I will be practising Skippy at Summit Point in a moment.
Quote from: romus;264279I will be practising Skippy at Summit Point in a moment.
Sorry I'm just out of a 38 lap race on Daytona in the Riley. (70 mins) I'm exhausted.... :doh:
Quote from: vobler;264284Sorry I'm just out of a 38 lap race on Daytona in the Riley. (70 mins) I'm exhausted.... :doh:
:D Sounds terrific.
We eventually went to practise nkpro for a moment.
Earlier tonight I did about 1:23.8 at Summit Point. WR is around 1:21 so not too bad after about 20 laps. You've done low 22's, so one second should be found somewhere.
Quote from: romus;264302:D Sounds terrific.
Well there is a bug in the DP Riley (yes bugs!) that it does not fill the tank to the amount of fuel selected in the setup. So after the start several people started talking about not having enough fuel. But I had tested earlier and was sure that my tank had enough fuel, but it turned out that it also had less than ordered. :g:
So I started early to save fuel by going slower. Several people passed me in this period. Towards the end of the race people started pitting but I kept going and the fuel gauge showed that I was going to make it. And I did, but the engine was about to stop on the last lap. So I need to pit next race if the bug isn't fixed.
But yes, it was terrific :yahoo:.
Got the Skippy! :D Anyone up for a practice session sometime this weekend? I'm busy tomorrow night, but today and Sunday are fine.
I'm off to try it right now! :)
Oh, and has any of you got a decent setup..?
Quote from: Gnomie;265017Got the Skippy! :D Anyone up for a practice session sometime this weekend? I'm busy tomorrow night, but today and Sunday are fine.
I'm off to try it right now! :)
Oh, and has any of you got a decent setup..?
Sunday perhaps. Tonight is floorball and tomorrow who knows what..
Quote from: Gnomie;265017Got the Skippy! :D Anyone up for a practice session sometime this weekend? I'm busy tomorrow night, but today and Sunday are fine.
I'm off to try it right now! :)
Oh, and has any of you got a decent setup..?
I'll look for you when I am by the PC. You don't need much of a set for the Skippy. Adjust the balance with front wheel pressures. Best look for Ians "Stable setup". I tried to find it but i may have been lost in the reorganization of the forums.
I use the same set on all tracks. Find something you are comfortable with. I use Spring Perch 7, Antiroll 4, Press 152 rear, Adjust balance with front press. (I usually 179 or 186). Brake bias to what you like.
OK, thanks. :) I found Ian's setups and tweaked one of them a little (cambers mostly). It's working just fine!
I really like the feel of this car.. it's a lot more violent and less muffled than the Solstice. (I'm guessing that's partly due to the Solstice having power steering) Had to turn down the force feedback a few notches to avoid shaking my hands off! Takes some getting used to how it behaves on the bumps and such.
Summit Point is my favourite track so far. I did a couple of practice sessions earlier this afternoon, and it didn't take all that long before I started getting comfortable. In one of the practice sessions me and another dude had a small "practice race" over like 15 laps, overtaking and waiting for each other if one of us had a mishap. It's a great way to get used to the car!
I did a quali session too, and tomorrow I'll try a race. :)
Now what is this, on your third online lap you already beat my best time? :taz:
:D Well done. I don't think your iRating will fall with Skippy.
Now what is it with my driving? :g: It might be the feel, I lose the care pretty easily in fast corners, so I might be driving, for example the last corner in Summit Point, too slow.
Quote from: romus;265062Now what is this, on your third online lap you already beat my best time? :taz:
:D Well done. I don't think your iRating will fall with Skippy.
Now what is it with my driving? :g: It might be the feel, I lose the care pretty easily in fast corners, so I might be driving, for example the last corner in Summit Point, too slow.
Heh, you should have seen my first offline laps... I was mowing the lawn and using my car as a battering ram most of the time! :roflmao:
What I like about iRacing and real tracks a lot are these kind of treasures found on the web: http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:dzY33sV1Ls8J:www.wdcr-scca.org/LinkClick.aspx%3Ffileticket%3Dk89qbR8btNw%253D%26tabid%3D81%26mid%3D1129+summit+point+carousel&hl=fi&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=fi&client=firefox-a
Quote from: romus;265062Now what is it with my driving? :g: It might be the feel, I lose the care pretty easily in fast corners, so I might be driving, for example the last corner in Summit Point, too slow.
I'm not sure, but the Skippy is something special. You need to be smooth with it. Also I am usually driving it with heel&toe and not using left foot braking. But I am much more safe when using the left foot to steady the car with the brakes while holding the throttle a little bit open.
Also you might be setting your goals a bit high and thereby limiting your enjoyment of racing. I'm sure you can be faster than you currently are, but there does not have to be anything seriously wrong. You just need to drive and enjoy it.
Quote from: vobler;265091I'm not sure, but the Skippy is something special. You need to be smooth with it. Also I am usually driving it with heel&toe and not using left foot braking. But I am much more safe when using the left foot to steady the car with the brakes while holding the throttle a little bit open.
Also you might be setting your goals a bit high and thereby limiting your enjoyment of racing. I'm sure you can be faster than you currently are, but there does not have to be anything seriously wrong. You just need to drive and enjoy it.
Right. I think I'll just do what you said and race more that way try to learn what the car is telling me. Currently I'm not always sure when it's sliding or gripping. I think it's easier to hear the difference in LFS and in nkPro.
Quote from: vobler;265091I'm not sure, but the Skippy is something special. You need to be smooth with it. Also I am usually driving it with heel&toe and not using left foot braking. But I am much more safe when using the left foot to steady the car with the brakes while holding the throttle a little bit open.
Yeah, the fast guys all seem to use LFB, even though this is (apparently) not possible in a real Skippy. I think I'll have to learn it eventually.. I've been sticking with h&t so far, but I'm starting to realise that it's an advantage to master both techniques. For example in Turn 3 at Summit Point, where you really need to balance the car and get back on the throttle really quickly.
Vobler, when h&t-ing, do you sometimes skip a gear or two? I never do in the Solstice, but so far I've been doing it with the Skippy. I find it hard to get a perfect h&t motion in a fast car like this.. (compared to the Solstice). In turn one I go from 5th to 3rd to 2nd, and in turn five I go directly from 4th to 2nd. Seems that the gears are so close that this can be done without locking up..
Romus -- I really like the sounds in the Solstice. It tells me exactly how much adhesion I have left. But I have to get used to the sounds in the Skip! At the moment I, too, find it hard to find out when it's sliding and when it's not.
Quote from: Gnomie;265095Vobler, when h&t-ing, do you sometimes skip a gear or two? I never do in the Solstice, but so far I've been doing it with the Skippy. I find it hard to get a perfect h&t motion in a fast car like this.. (compared to the Solstice). In turn one I go from 5th to 3rd to 2nd, and in turn five I go directly from 4th to 2nd. Seems that the gears are so close that this can be done without locking up.
I use sequential in the Skippy and all others except the Solstice where I use the H shifter. I think if I should drive the Skippy again I would use LFB there too. In the Solstice I use H&t to shift down, sometimes skipping a gear, and in some (fast) turns I use LFB to stabilize the car.
So no gear skipping in the Skippy...
Ah.. so the Skippy has sequential shifter in real life? Hm.. then I'll have to rethink my strategy.. :g:
Quote from: Gnomie;265101Ah.. so the Skippy has sequential shifter in real life? Hm.. then I'll have to rethink my strategy.. :g:
As far as I know there are different models of the Skippy, some models have 5 speed manual, but the one that is modeled had a sequential box.
Well, I've decided that mine is gonna have H-gate for the time being, until I can get used to sequential shifting. :D
By the way Romus I joined a practice session just the very moment that you left! We just missed each other.
Quote from: Gnomie;265137By the way Romus I joined a practice session just the very moment that you left! We just missed each other.
Oh bad luck. But I think I'll do all my racing in the Skippy series for now, so we'll meet for sure. I got another 1:22 lap today, so I think I'm getting there, though slowly.
Quote from: romus;265174Oh bad luck. But I think I'll do all my racing in the Skippy series for now, so we'll meet for sure. I got another 1:22 lap today, so I think I'm getting there, though slowly.
I've been driving with full tank this far. I don't know if it was lighter car or what, but now I got 1:22:3xx and quite a few below 1:23. This time I had as little fuel as possible, about 6 liters instead of 20. Bad that the track changes now. :lmfao:
Quote from: romus;265179I've been driving with full tank this far. I don't know if it was lighter car or what, but now I got 1:22:3xx and quite a few below 1:23. This time I had as little fuel as possible, about 6 liters instead of 20. Bad that the track changes now. :lmfao:
Way to go! :D I think the fuel actually does matter quite a bit.
So.. it's off to Lime Rock next, isn't it? The Solstice is at Lowe's. The Solstice is my main priority, and I'll use the remainder of the season to just get used to the Skippy. Then I'll be racing that full force next season! :)
I've been practicing with the Skippy today at Lime Rock.. that sure was a handful!! Incredibly bumpy. Felt like my hands were going to fall off! :D Even the main straight feels like it's been target practice for a squadron of B-17 bombers.
I think I've got a pace that I'm happy with. Tomorrow I'll just try to get more consistent and avoid all those 1x-incidents.. (particularly at that scary part on top of the little hill where you get airborne.. I always touch that patch of grass on top!)
Einar, Ron and me had a few nice practice sessions at Jefferson tonight. Nice to see some dMr's in there for a change.
Me and Ron joined a race but ended up in different sessions. Still, I had a good time in an intense race on that short track. Had a crash though, but it was a very rewarding race. :D
Hope to see you guys in there more. Post here if you are going to spend an evening in iRacing and we'll get together on Ventrilo.
Spec Racer Ford info
I was asked online yesterday what the upcoming Spec racer Ford is and here is a few posts about it.
Links
http://www.deadmen.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=239492&postcount=16
Videos
http://www.deadmen.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=239610&postcount=21
All the links does not work anymore, but once on the tube just do a new search.
Can we resurrect the practice night? :) Pick a day, any day.