iRacing News

[vobler]

Awesome!!

Info video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O95fmo88EXI

[vobler]

Every three months (if not more often), we release a new, improved version of our simulation software, usually accompanied by significant upgrades to our members’ Web site. It’s no coincidence that we roll out these updates just ahead of the start of each new season, when changes won’t disrupt official competition. This week, we continue that tradition, with changes that touch most, if not all aspects of the service â€" many in response to long-standing requests from you, our members, and some in a carefully deliberated attempt to improve the quality of competition.
 
Improvements to the physics modeling and Net Code headline changes within the simulation. Meanwhile, the addition of Paypal as a payment option â€" one of our most consistent requests from the community â€" and a new “Events” section on the main nav of the members’ site are tops among the Web changes. Also sure to be popular are substantial updates to the “Customize Car” section of the site. You can now add sponsor decals to your car â€" including new member-created club logos â€" as well as select the color and font for your car number. For a full rundown of all the changes, make sure to read the latest Release Notes, posted in the forum last week by Steve Myers.
 
On the sporting side of the service, we’ve spent a lot of time analyzing data and formulating plans to help facilitate official races and improve competition. First among these changes is a modification of our point-scoring system. Instead of averaging a driver’s points scored throughout a Race Week, we’ll now average only the better half of each driver’s performances during the week, meaning drivers can run as many races as they would like with less concern about a bad finish damaging their Race Week total. After a member poll on the matter, we’ve also changed the FIRST Competition Calendar. Race Weeks will now start at 00:00 GMT Tuesday (8 p.m. Monday evening Eastern US time), instead of changing over during the weekend. (Please note that this means 2009 Season 1 13th Week will be two days longer than normal.)
 
In addition to these changes, we’ve spent a lot of time studying and attempting to tweak the racing schedule to improve competition. Our system works best when large groups of people register for the same session. In addition to guaranteeing full fields, these numbers allow us to improve the quality of racing by parsing the registrants into multiple iterations of the same race, each populated by racers of similar skill level, as measured by iRating. To achieve this focus of activity, we have decreased the number of official races, particularly for Class A and B, searching for the right balance between concentration and convenience. Steve Myers posted a preliminary schedule in the forums last week, but we've heard your responses loud and clear and have made some revisions. The latest version of the 2009 Season 2 schedule is now available.
 
Lastly, we’re adding value to every membership, both in terms of content and price. Although we typically announce the release of new cars and tracks in conjunction with a new build, this time, we’re offering up a popular new road racing car, the SCCA Enterprises Spec Racer Ford, for FREE. The SRF will replace the Pontiac Solstice as the Advanced Rookie road racing car and is accompanied by the Chevrolet Impala SS, as raced in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, as well as Road Atlanta. On the pricing side, we’ve noticed that, while more than half of our members are full-year subscribers, a significant number have opted for a month-to-month arrangement. Consequently, we’re lowering the one-month membership fee to $19, a small change we know, but if it helps even a small number of members to be able to continue racing, it’ll be worth it.
 
We hope you are as excited for the coming season as we are. See you on track!

[Gnomie]

The Spec Racer Ford is ----





---- brilliant!! :yahoo:

I think I'm in love. :dribble:

[vobler]

The Spec Racer Ford is ----

---- brilliant!! :yahoo:

I think I'm in love. :dribble:

There is a 24Hrs of fun series on Watkins Glen now. Lots of people in. Great racing!

[Gnomie]

But I don't have Watkins. :crying:

iRacing marketing.. gives with one hand and takes with the other! :lmfao:

[Doorman]

But I don't have Watkins. :crying:

iRacing marketing.. gives with one hand and takes with the other! :lmfao:

No, it takes with one hand and takes with the other. :lmfao:

[vobler]

I think I'm in love. :dribble:

I was very stoked about this car. And jumped in it right away.

After two laps I was screaming. Not because it was good, but because it was bad. I took a break, starting to fire up rFactor, ready to never start iRacing again. In rFactor Historics I got the same &%¤# feeling. IT didn't feel right at all.

Then I got it. I had just been in SilentWings (Soaring sim) and my wheel was not calibrated correctly afterwards.

After a quick recalibration, both the Historix and iRacing felt good again.

And the Spec Racer Ford? I tweaked the Advanced Laguna set and with that it is the car I was hoping for. I leave it to Gnomie to describe how the car drives as he is better at formulating stuff like that.

But the racing yesterday soon turned out to be a wreck fest. Hopefully people will take it easy when the standard series begins. I never finished a race. And I ran a qualification. Almost nobody else did, so I was put second on the grid in a new car with 25 people behind me. Not good. But very interesting... :lmfao:

Here is a nice Video btw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejc0YnylE4E&fmt=22

[vobler]

Road Atlanta is one of North America’s most challenging and exhilarating road-racing circuits and it is now available to iRacing members. The price is $20.00.
 
Home for 23 years to the Sports Car Club of America’s national club-racing Runoffs, Road Atlanta is today home to the American Le Mans Series premier event, the 1000-mile Petit Le Mans. This 12-turn, 2.54-mile ribbon of asphalt has it all â€" fast, banked sweepers, an acute first-gear corner, blind apexes, long straightaways and lots of elevation changes. Anyone who gets bored racing at Road Atlanta just isn’t paying attention

[Gnomie]

And the Spec Racer Ford? I tweaked the Advanced Laguna set and with that it is the car I was hoping for. I leave it to Gnomie to describe how the car drives as he is better at formulating stuff like that.

Well I don't know about that, but I guess I can try.

This car fits my driving style like a glove. It's just the kind of car I've always been dreaming of in a sim. Pure awesomeness. Where to start??

In iRacing I only own two other cars (Solstice and Skip Barber) and I've had my gripes with both.

The Solstice is all right, but since it has power steering it doesn't do justice to the beautifully modelled track surfaces. Also it's very forgiving and not all that exciting to drive once you get used to it. The Skippy, on the other hand, just got too loose for my liking. In slow corners you can slide the back end around (in a controlled fashion) in a way that I just haven't been able to get accustomed to. I know its real counterpart also is very "slidey" (optimal slip angle ~ 9 degrees I think), but for my tastes it's a little weird.

And, voilà, along comes the Spec Racer Ford! And what have we here?? The PERFECT compromise! :yahoo: It doesn't have power steering, so you can feel every bump. But unlike the Skippy, it doesn't slide around as much. Sure, the back end comes loose easily enough, but it's no longer a big advantage to do it on purpose.

One of the best things is how you control it through corners. Since the car isn't very powerful you want to carry as much momentum through the corner as you can. Trail braking can be an advantage, but you definitely have to do most of your braking in a straight line. Through the corner you want to be on the throttle. If you find yourself understeering, just ease on the throttle a little, since it oversteers quite a lot if you're off the gas. So you really need good pedal control with this car! But it feels incredibly gratifying when you get it right.

The sound is just brilliant, which helps a great deal on the immersion factor. When heel&toe-ing you can use the beatiful engine roar to tell when you've revved it high enough. Exhaust sputtering and other "gritty" noises also make it feel very real.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with this one. It's been very well received in the community, so I think there's going to be lots of people signing up for the Season 2 championship. That means lots of split grids, which again means close racing! It's a pity that my final exams are just around the corner.. I feel a conflict of interests coming up..!

[vobler]

This car fits my driving style like a glove. It's just the kind of car I've always been dreaming of in a sim. Pure awesomeness. Where to start??

Start? No need to continue, its pure slow awesomeness. Thats what it is.

I sure hope we get to use this car on "non rookie" tracks soon.

[vobler]

Little news lately so here you go:

 iRacing Named Official Motorsport Simulation of SCCA

iRacing.com is now the “Official Motorsport Simulation” of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The multi-year partnership between iRacing.com and the 50,000+ member strong SCCA features a contingency program for SCCA amateur, solo and pro solo competitors carrying iRacing.com decals on their cars.  Earlier this year, iRacing.com introduced the SCCA Spec Racer Ford as part of its basic subscription package, insuring iRacing.com novices and experts alike have a Spec Racer Ford in their virtual garage.
 
Road America is sure to be among the most popular iRacing.com circuits for SCCA members as the classic 4 mile road course is slated to host the renowned SCCA National Championship Runoff for the first time this year, September 24-27.

Darlington Now Available!

Perhaps NASCAR’s most storied race track, Darlington Raceway, is now available to iRacing.com members. The price is $20.00, and it comes complete with 60 years worth of racing heritage. Dale Earnhardt, Sr., who won nine Cup races at Darlington, noted that “if you happen to be a race car driver there's no victory so sweet, so memorable, as whipping Darlington Raceway."
 
But if you plan to whip Darlington you’d better pack your lunch, ‘cuz it’s gonna take all day. The other drivers are the easy part; it’s the unique egg-like shape of this 1.366-mile speedway, with wide-open turns at one end and tight ones â€" legacy of a minnow pond whose owner wouldn’t budge â€" at the other, that makes 170+ mph laps at Darlington such a supreme challenge. It takes everything a driver’s got to do a fast lap at NASCAR’s very first speedway-type track, plus a balanced chassis setup with just enough compromise to insure the car is still driveable at both ends of the track. The list of winners at this historic rural South Carolina track reads like a roll-call of NASCAR’s legendary wheelmen. Put in sufficient practice, race hard enough, and you can be a winner at Darlington, too.


Road Atlanta Available Now

And it is superb! :yahoo:
 
Updated Sporting Code Available

The new FIRST Sporting Code, version 20090130.01, is now available as a downloadable pdf in the Reference section of the iRacing Members’ Site. The latest edition of our rule book includes an opening memorandum that outlines the edits made to the previous version of the document (version 20081208.1), with all of those changes highlighted in red. Also included as an Appendix to the Sporting Code is the recently published World Cup of iRacing Official Guidelines document.

Release notes for 2009.05.04.02 build
Posted: May 4, 2009 8:05 PM  

New advanced setups for Lowes and Atlanta for the Impala Class B car.

Fuel mileage adjusted on Impala, Impala Class B and Silverado cars.

Fuel filling bugs fixed on Silverado, DP and Impala Class B cars.

Increased range of adjustment of spring perch, camber and caster, and adjusted tire wear for the Spec Racer.



Release notes for 2009.05.07.02
Posted: May 8, 2009 4:12 PM  
 

Graphics

Added an option to renderer.ini to override the recent cockpit mirror optimization. The optimization still defaults to enabled. Set CockpitMirrorOptimization=0 to disable the optimization and render every mirror every frame.

Spotter

Spotter volume control works again.

Web

Best laps for certain types of event are filtered very "strictly" to facilitate more reliable world record tracking. Qualifying, Time Trial, and Race events will not consider any laps where any type of event that may possibly compromise the lap time (invalid, pitted, contact, internet connectivity problems, etc) as valid for a best lap.

A new service calendar has been added. This calendar is accessible by clicking on the calendar icon in the upper right identity section or by going to the Events section. This calendar lists several major iRacing events for the upcoming year as well as many real world racing series schedules.

Resets

When you run out of resets and try to reset again you will no longer get pulled out of the car ending your race.

Exiting the car is considered a reset, when your limit is reached you will not be able to re-enter the world.

You can exit your car and re-enter the world without limit while people are getting onto the grid at the start of the race, but the instant everyone is on the grid exits are no longer free, so only do this with caution (wrong setup, fix calibration, etc) or you may get locked out of the race.

[Doorman]

Exiting the car is considered a reset, when your limit is reached you will not be able to re-enter the world.

Blimey! I thought the punishment for going on the grass was hard enough! :blink:

[vobler]

Blimey! I thought the punishment for going on the grass was hard enough! :blink:

Nice to see you took the time to read it Ron, and don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to race it anymore. :g:

btw. I just resubscribed for one year a little bit early. To get the $60 so I could get Road Atlanta and Talladega and the new class B Oval car for "free" . Besides the SRF, I'm doing a full season in the Late Model Oval car. I'm really slow but I love it.

[Doorman]

You've absolutely no idea how many times I've fired up iRacing, the last time was straight after seeing Einar's screenies. I think 'maybe I'm wrong about it' maybe I should learn to ignore nags' 'maybe this and maybe that' I can only liken it to being seperated from a beautiful wife. You've been away for a while and you remember her cracking good looks, so you go back to her. Then you recall why you left...she's a nag and she doesn't let you do the things you like to do. She also has this propensity for running round in circles. I understand you love her but maybe you're partialy deaf and don't hear the yadda yadda. :lmfao: Anyway, I won't make any more jokes about her. You just keep buying her new dresses.



She's a real good looker though and that is her saving grace.

[Gnomie]

:roflmao: Excellent analogy, Ron. I laughed!

Seems like the only thing which could "save" iRacing for you would be leagues. They are coming, but not many details are known at the moment. It's not known if we can run any car at any track or if track selection will be limited. Also I'm not sure if iRating and SR will be in effect in leagues, and how the practice servers will work. We'll keep you informed as more info gets revealed.