How Do YOU Decide Which Cars/Tracks to Buy in iRacing?

[newbert]

With the wide variety of cars and tracks available on iRacing, I'm just wondering what the general thought process is in buying cars and tracks?

For example, I'm currently in mid D-class and enjoy both AI and multiplayer racing. I'm leaning towards purchasing the Skippy2000 since it's now available for AI. But then, if I want to race the Skippy in a season, how do I research which specific tracks I'd need?

Right now the only series I'm running is Mazda MX-5. The tracks it uses are all included with basic membership.

But assuming I want to "graduate" to something else, how would YOU decide what to purchase?

Thanks!
Bert

 

[Alex Townsend]

That's great, thanks @Wayne Hutchison , I'll remember that for next time.
In the meantime, I'm going to give my network a reboot, see if that helps.

On a side note, I was having issues with slight stuttering in my two side monitors, (really pronounced when turning sharp corners), the center monitor is smooth as butter throughout though.
I went into the BIOS and it appeared that XMP was no longer on, like the bios had been reset somehow...
I've put my RAM back to XMP Profile 1, which should be at 3600Mhz now and will see how I get on, they were running at 2666Mhz when I was online earlier... will be retrying a race later on today

 

[o0o_MegaDose_o0o]

Look. I didn't read the entire thread, so don't bother flaming me...

...but my "2" cents on this 'topic'... They are the kings of double dipping... Annual sub fee, plus pretty much everything is 'a la carte', passed rookie status racing... HOWEVER... with that being said, you get what you pay for... SUPPORT/REGULAR UPDATES/QUALITY MULTIPLAYER/ETC.

If all you want is GT3/SRO/Related; ACC kicks it butt (IMHO)... but otherwise, I'm gonna have to say I'll be continuing my sub with the Boston/Cambridge folks, despite feeling like I'm being bent over a desk for the experience ;-o

 

[Alex Townsend]

You should have read the last few messages at least, your post doesn't really flow from the discussion. Not a flame but an observation.

But thanks for your opinion. I do agree with what you said but I'm also well aware of the costs involved after looking into it for so long.
I'm mainly racing in the Rookie MX-5 and D class Ferrari 488 series, and will eventually move into the Porsche Cup when ready, then to GTE etc. down the road.

Initial outlay is steep but then later, once you have a lot of the base content, I can see those costs coming down, especially with the completed series offset.

 

[Rob Every]

Adding to the other points I made last year, I also feel a lot of sim racing people have moved on from Iracing, it is VERY biased towards USA based racing, hence the endless oval races etc.

Also I would add the driving standards in that game in cars that are FAR harder to drive is much higher.

That oval scene is their market in my opinion in the main, yes they have a lot of other stuff but I have had far, far more fun racing in ACC than I ever did in Iracing, you simply have to know what you are getting into, and Iracing is basically a pay to play monthly model for people who want to pay. When the good stuff costs you a lot of money and the base stuff is free for a bit until you get out of rookies, then you will find yourself only really being able to race rookies depending on the schedule as that is ALL that will be available to you. hence your ratings will suffer, so the choice is yours, deal with retards endlessly or pay, it's that simple.

If you know this beforehand it's fine as I did, quit, uninstall and take no interest in the game at all ever again as I will, but I am sure some people are duped just a little by the pay model,

Also in my opinion IR needs root and branch physics, damage and tyre overhaul, other games have made it look very average in that respect.

It does a lot of stuff very well, but it's a very old game, that makes good money and never really changes in the last years I have tried it, and that I think is deliberate! This is just my thoughts based on a few times playing it, and I NEVER will again.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Adding to the other points I made last year, I also feel a lot of sim racing people have moved on from Iracing, it is VERY biased towards USA based racing, hence the endless oval races etc.

No matter what you "feel", since Covid-19 iRacing participation along with their membership went through the roof. They have many more people racing now than ever before.

I live in the US but have never had interest in racing ovals. I'm usually in the Fixed series road racing. I started with the Ferrari 488GT3, then BMW M8GTE, then Porsche Cup car.

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Most participation of any of the current racing sims https://www.iracingstats.com/pulse/ And that's with the yearly fee and DLC costs. There is a reason the participation is so high and it's not because it's a "bad" sim. If ACC was as good it would have more than approximately 20% of iRacing's participation that it has currently. Not to mention that the highest participation series on iRacing are road racing series.

 

[Rob Every]

I never said it as a bad sim, or game, I simply said it was not very good for me, their business model obviously works, gamers are notoriously dumb when it comes to subscription models and overpaying for things that are essentially worthless so they have just capitalised on that market, look at stuff in CSgo and Fortnight for proof of that trend.

At least in this game you get cars and tracks but essentially they are overpriced for what they are when you factor in you are PAYING every month anyway.

But it does work for them, lockdown made it huge, but I would imagine that will fade in time as people realise there is a world out there where Iratings and all that garbage dont matter.

 

[RCHeliguy]

@Rob Every Well thank you very much for that insult.

As just one person who has gotten into his rig maybe a bit too far, please explain how dumb I was for building the rig below.

Consider that the other software package that I have spent the most on is DCS and guess what? Many people say the exact same things about DCS. Now try to put into context how little the iRacing subscription and DCS DLC costs compared to the money I put into this rig.

 

[Rob Every]

I would say that is fairly ridiculous to be honest, but it is your money, you can do what you like with it.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Honesty is fine.

The key point here is everyone has a different idea of what a dollar is worth to them and everyone has different priorities.

I consider the price of iRacing perfectly reasonable. In fact the subscription base is part of what makes it work so well. Everyone stays on the same version all the time, so there is no fragmenting of the racing field. iRacing just works. By that I mean it supports every piece of hardware out there. I had an email conversation with Barry at SRG and he mentioned that he always demos everything on iRacing because it consistently works with every piece of hardware that he connects to it.

I got on the other day and there were enough people in the race I was interested in to bin 20 separate groups.

Everyone has a different sensibilities, different priorities and different pain points. iRacing is thriving because enough people think that what they offer is worth it. That is all the proof you need that they are doing things right "as a business".

You may decide iRacing is not for you and that's perfectly fine and doesn't bother me in the least. One thing about racing with real people is that I feel some pressure to learn a track well before racing it so I don't cause an accident. Playing against an AI set to your level takes away that incentive, but it means you race whenever you want. So I do find that iRacing requires a chunk of time if I want to actively race and sometimes I don't have that time. I have used their AI which is quite good, but sort of defeats the purpose of the subscription.

 

[Dawks]

When I found this thread, happy to see it's still active.
Long/Short? I really can't afford to just buy buckshot style! (I just fbew $CDA104 on a single airframe for DCS. F-14, to top that off. But that was a long, long time coming!) Especially with so many tracks, I need to marshall resources, so I gotta have a plan.

Something I did right out of the chute (hot out of pit row?) was to buy 911 and NG Camaro. I wanted to see show spooky real hot stuff was.
Chev? Flat out all'way'round Charlotte. Okay, so Oval is gonna be Rugby.
911? Anywhere close to "limit" and she'd understeer, then whip around like a pendulum as I countered. Zounds! This rocks totally! (I suspect proper Setup will tame that a good deal.) Slick as a viper!

Continuing on that trajectory, while figuring out the iRacing ecosystem, I purchased both Audi RS 3 and Hatch, to get the GP track.
Wow. Pure pleasure. Sane ... challenging ... logical/rational ... cooperative but unforgiving. Glorious!

I'm still just Rookie starting with MX-5 and Street Stock but I thought I'd share this.
An old grunt's approach to complexity!

^5
--ben

 

[Michael Krone]

When I found this thread, happy to see it's still active.
Long/Short? I really can't afford to just buy buckshot style! (I just fbew $CDA104 on a single airframe for DCS. F-14, to top that off. But that was a long, long time coming!) Especially with so many tracks, I need to marshall resources, so I gotta have a plan.

Something I did right out of the chute (hot out of pit row?) was to buy 911 and NG Camaro. I wanted to see show spooky real hot stuff was.
Chev? Flat out all'way'round Charlotte. Okay, so Oval is gonna be Rugby.
911? Anywhere close to "limit" and she'd understeer, then whip around like a pendulum as I countered. Zounds! This rocks totally! (I suspect proper Setup will tame that a good deal.) Slick as a viper!

Continuing on that trajectory, while figuring out the iRacing ecosystem, I purchased both Audi RS 3 and Hatch, to get the GP track.
Wow. Pure pleasure. Sane ... challenging ... logical/rational ... cooperative but unforgiving. Glorious!

I'm still just Rookie starting with MX-5 and Street Stock but I thought I'd share this.
An old grunt's approach to complexity!

^5
--ben

*Brain hurty*

 

[RCHeliguy]

After watching this, I feel like I need to try out the Formula Vee and it's a freebee too!

 

[RCHeliguy]

FYI, my take on the Formula Vee is that they are sort of like an open wheel slower MX-5. I didn't find it tail happy, just easy to rotate. That video's comments about the rear engine layout and comparisons to the Porsche "widow maker" seemed a bit over the top to me. With a top speed of barely under 100, I found I could race LimeRock without touching the brakes.

While I could see how you might be able to learn a few things from the car, it feels a bit slow motion to me except for the side to side motions.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

same here, did one race at Lime, got from 16th on grid to 3rd but it really wasn't all that exciting/challenging, don't think I'll ever touch it again.

 

[pabletux]

In iRacing since 2012, lots of race wins, fun, etc. But.. well, life goes on. And as much as I like the sim, you have to find a lot a time and dedication to be on it, to grow and find some enjoyment. Time and dedication that I don´t have now compared to 2012-2015, and I´m sure a lot of people are on this very same boat. Sim is not bad at all, but the community also was different few years ago, there was no " professionalism" or "youtubers" that we have now, I´ve seen some prople judging other people because they are X class or X iRating, I find it very sad, and this simply add more fire on my desire to go somewhere else. Racing with AI is not the same, of course, but for me it works, and if you find a sim that suit your pleasure, then you can be happy. I have an impression that people have moved on, not because problems with the sim itself, but because other reasons. Time, dedication, and community is a little bit more toxic than years ago, I´m sure is enough reasons to move on, at least on my side.

Sorry for the big reply, I only wanted to give my 2cents on this, damn, I even said in 2013 " iRacing is not a sim, is a life style " what a fanboy I was

 

[RCHeliguy]

I totally get it. iRacing is a double edged sword. The things I like about are the same things that have kept me from real races. I like how "real" the competition is, but iRacing is hard to do without a time investment. More often than not I'm preparing for a race that I never actually take part in. I learn the track for the week, watch the VRS video, check my telemetry, get up to a decent lap time, and then I either run out of time or try an AI race, but I frequently don't get into a real race.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

Interesting take Pabletux. I agree with the community having changed, the introduction of pay sets by private firms really killed a lot of the forum banter / activity, everyone seems to hedge their bets these days. But for the casual player like me, who does not prepare for races other than maybe 15min of reacquainting myself with track / car combo, iRacing is by far the best place to go because during the pandemic the numbers have basically doubled and a surprising number of the new players are still around, so if you pick a very populated series, like Skip Barber or the Fanatec GT3 20min races, you will always be gridded with players about your size and for me, that beats everything there is on the market. Plus: With fixed setups, the whole business of investing time in a setup is gone. Sure, i will never ever progress beyond 1,300 to 1,500 iR, but I have very enjoyable races two times a week almost guaranteed (there is the odd stupid chap from time to time ...), which are about 100 races a year for 100 Euros, good deal in my book.

 

[RCHeliguy]

The fact you can take 15 minutes to get reacquainted with a car and track and be ready for a race, just tells me I have a lot more to learn to get to the comfort level.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

the fact I have never ventured beyond 1,600 iR even though I have been playing racing sims for 18 years, tells me you shouldn't follow my advice, lol