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Sim Racing Discussion Thread

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ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
OK so my simulator post in my build thread got a few replies regarding Sim Racing and setups, etc. It seems like there are at least a few of us here that are into this or getting into this now.

I am planning to do iRacing and ProjectCars2 on PC; I have all the gear but haven't had time to get into it yet, but I'll be "live" in the next week or so.

Also--there is a good Facebook group of largely Track Mustang-oriented people, "Sim Ponies" that is worth checking out, if you are on FB.

@JDee
@captdistraction
@Opolis
@DocWalt
@Drlee50
 
Nice!
I spend about 90% of my sim time on iRacing. Specifically the Kamel GT series, wheelin' around the Nissan 1989 ZX-T GTP and recently the Audi 1990 GTO.
The "team" I am a part of also participates in the iRacing endurance events.
Pretty cool to do a 24 hr race with teammates all across the globe.

Also like Assetto Corsa and Raceroom Racing Experience due to the variety of content.

Most recently I used the Mustang FR500S in iRacing to learn Auto Club Speedway infield before my track day there. Nice to not have to learn the track and focus just on the driving in real life. Now if only one of these sims had Buttonwillow...

If you are interested in persistent stats between races like iRacing, but don't want to pay a subscription, check out Sim Racing System. It's free and works with Assetto and R3E for now.
 
Definitely in.

Looking for a cheap wheel now for

Pc (Xbox one would be nice as well), will build a rig in the coming weeks

G27 is a good cheap entry level setup, but you will hate how the pedals feel (brake pedal is just on a spring).
Entry level Fanatec gear or Thrustmaster T300 won't break the bank and give a better feel.

Kinda funny how I do a bunch of sim racing because track days are harder to work out for me, and you guys have race winning track cars and are trying to break into some sim racing lol.
 
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Funny I was thinking over lunch to start a new thread on SIM racing!
Thanks for doing it!
This will be a good place to get feed back on what's good and what's not as far as equipment, settings, software etc.
Id like a dedicated SIM racing cockpit. Many to choose from out there. I can use my boss 302 recaro seat I got stored in the basement ! I have the oculus rift so it's time for the rest of the gear. After all the reviews, I really want direct druve but as mentioned above , a cheap r27 can at least get me started.
I really wanted to use the SIM to learn tracks i have not been to in person that I will be taking my car to. I run in the advanced group and often there are groups that Don't require point by a and it's a free for all and i dont want to be the idiot not knowing the track !

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
G27 is a good cheap entry level setup, but you will hate how the pedals feel (brake pedal is just on a spring).
Entry level Fanatec gear or Thrustmaster T300 won't break the bank and give a better feel.

Kinda funny how I do a bunch of sim racing because track days are harder to work out for me, and you guys have race winning track cars and are trying to break into some sim racing lol.

The t300 is looking real promising. I had a g27 before and figuring out braking was difficult though the wheel was “good enough”

I’m researching more still but need to keep spend to a minimum. Want to log 100 virtual laps around Cota before I go there for real as a goal.

For me, I think the biggest draw to sim racing is to familiarize myself with new tracks and get some “practice” before real events or compare real laps to the virtual (though I don’t believe any track I regularly race on is available in any simulation). Should be fun though. My last setup was used only once or twice a year, hope to improve that.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
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Arizona, USA
FWIW my most recent experience is running Gran Turismo 5 on PS3 for the past few years, using a G27-based wheel and pedal setup attached to an IKEA table leg stand and a dining room chair. I am stepping up my setup with a real racing seat and reputable wheel/pedal setup so I can do a billion practice laps of COTA before NASA Nationals this September. But I plan on exploring many other tracks in the sim world after that.
 
Assetto Corsa has a huge mod community, and many times you can find decent community made tracks that are of your smaller local variety or more obscure. Of course it doesn't help quite as much compared to laser scanned versions made by the game developers.
RaceDepartement.com has a wealth of mods, including tracks.

My budget setup is a G27 wheel with Fanatec pedals. Broke the little plastic shifter and now have a Thrustmaster TH8A.
It has no "click" into gear though so I would recommend the Fanatec shifter as being slightly better.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
There's no question a huge benefit with sims is learning new tracks. Case in point, I did a track day at Calabogie in their school S197s last year. Had never laid eyes on the track, and it is a really technical track with I believe 21 corners.

I found an old rFactor 1 version of the track and while it wasn't anywhere near the level of the laser scanned sim tracks it was good enough that I was completely familiar with the track by the time I went.

I told my instructor before we went out that I had never seen the track "in person" before and half way through my first session he said on the intercom "I thought you'd never seen this track before!" with a huge grin on his face. It was a huge help without a doubt and definitely made the day much better not having to learn the track from scratch.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
@kitsune1324 I picked iRacing because supposedly they have the best scans of tracks and also quite a few pros swear by it. PC2 because of the wealth of cars and tracks available.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Here is my stuff. Haven't had the chance to use it yet, but I will very soon.
Fanatec CSL Elite Wheel Base, CSL Elite Pedals w/ load cell (self-inverted), Fanatec P1 wheel.
Oculus Rift VR.
Sparco Sprint seat on Sparco brackets and sliders.
80/20 T-slot frame.
Old i7-2700K w/ EVGA 1080SC and 16 GB RAM.

Here are a couple photos of the simulator rig. Now I need to clean up my "office" at home and make a little more room.

35553380_10102099003177804_1852564259716726784_n.jpg


35493232_10102099003092974_3260916428718473216_n.jpg


35525247_10102099003013134_2186108722684624896_n.jpg


I am waiting on a couple of spare parts from Fanatec as there was an issue with the packaging on my Load Cell Brake pedal, but those should be here soon and then let the Sim Racing begin...
 
You'll want a faster CPU or overclock yours if you want VR to work smoothly, IMO. I'm heavily CPU limited and I'm on an overclocked & watercooled i7-3770k with a 1070SC graphics card.

I'm building (slowly) a GT350 for Assetto Corsa. I have a car model that's decent, working on physics now. I have geometry right, working on damper tuning and general setup work to make it feel "right" but I have to kind of go on feel because the MR shocks can't be dyno'd like normal shocks :(

iRacing is my go-to though, competition makes it so much more interesting than just driving around. The tracks are spot on too, which is a HUGE help for actually learning tracks. That said, some tracks have changed in real life since they were scanned by iRacing, so VIR has more concrete aprons to use now.

I'm rocking a G27 wheel and Fanatec V3i pedals (brake performance kit installed so it feels about like my Mustang's brakes), the wheel is pretty weak strength wise and it's getting notchier with age so I'm just waiting for Fanatec to release a direct drive wheel... or I might get impatient and buy the CSL wheel. I'd recommend an H-pattern shifter to go with any sim rig, assuming we all have H-pattern gearboxes in our cars. Feels so much more natural banging down gears when it feels the same as your car.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
I guess we'll have to see how things go with the existing CPU. Maybe dumb-down graphics a little bit if it's really a problem. I suppose it wouldn't be a big deal at this point to switch mobos and cpu but that is all cost...plus more RAM.
 
Philly SCCA did a winter iRacing league and a few people running it have CPUs of similar performance and they had to turn graphics down, mostly disabling the neat particle effects for flying dirt and grass and whatever, but also turning off some shadows and other "niceties" that don't actually affect the racing. iRacing in particular is a heavy CPU user, PC2 may not be.

edit: I don't mean to scare you, especially into spending a bunch of money, just an overabundance of caution because I don't want to see you get disappointed in it. Sim racing is a blast when it's all working well and I owe a lot of my driving skills to sim racing.
 
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ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
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Arizona, USA
Yeah I'm going to try what I have already first and if it can't run in a way that makes the simulation/training useful then I'll upgrade.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
Yeah I'm going to try what I have already first and if it can't run in a way that makes the simulation/training useful then I'll upgrade.

If it ends up being too cpu intensive I’ll straight up trade you for my old rigs mobo/cpu (6 core i7). That rig is now just a hypervisor for minor workloads and I don’t need all the horsepower.

I think the cpu you are running is going to be fine though. Just go through some of the good configuration guides out there
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
@ArizonaBOSS where did you get you sim cockpit? Any words on price?
Hey:

I drew out a rough sketch on graph paper based on measurements from the cockpit of my S197.
Then I ordered a bunch of extruded aluminum T-Frame and fasteners from www.8020.net based on the lengths I estimated for each section.
Total cost was not cheap, I probably spent around $550 just on the frame and fasteners, and roughly another $520 on the seat/sliders/mounts.
There are definitely less expensive ways to get this done but this is fully customizeable, very rigid, and don't have to worry about it breaking on me like some third-world-sourced POS.

That being said--you can make fully functional frames for a lot less money out of PVC or wood.
 

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