iRacing | Monster Sized Update And Loads Of New Content

[Paul Jeffrey]

iRacing have again done their best to use up the maximum character limit of a post at RD before I've even typed the introduction in a massive new build update earlier today.

• Loads of new content.
• Lamborghini added.
• Graphical Improvements.

Licenses

– Official Events now have the ability to utilize and adjust the iRating and Safety Rating for a license class other than that which is required in order to qualify to join the Event. This cross-license information, if applicable, is provided in the UI via an additional license icon to the right of the qualification license.
– – For example, when an Indy Series that requires a C-Class Road License to participate goes to an Oval for Week 3, this specific event will now use your Oval iRating and Safety Rating for creating splits. When you’re done racing, this event will also adjust your Oval License iRating and Safety Rating based on your performance.

Store

– A new sub-section has been added to the Store: Gift Cards!
– – You can find this sub-section in the Store section on the sidebar.
– – This sub-section takes you to a page where you may purchase iRacing Gift Cards for yourself or others.

Go Racing

– Added a “Race Now” button to every week of the Season Schedule which allows users to either Test Drive or create a Hosted Session based on the configuration of the selected week.

Create a Race

– Fixed an issue where removing and then adding an Admin from the Select Admins step of Create a Race was encountering an error.

Filtering

– Fixed some filtering issues where several cars were classified incorrectly.

– Various car search tags have been updated.

Leagues

– The League Session Schedule has been inverted.

– A Test Drive button has been added to each League Series Session.

– A new column, Aggregate Points, has been added to the Results screen for League Sessions in the UI.

– The current overall League Series winner is displayed at the top of the League Session Results screen.

– Fixed an issue with the League Schedule table not having enough display space for Car and Track names.

– Number of Wins is now used as a tie-breaker for League Championship Standings.

3D Car Viewer

– NEW FEATURE!
– – Some Car windows within the UI, such as that from My Content, now features a “3D Car Viewer” tab!
– – Clicking on this tab will open a new window where you can view a full dynamic 3D model of the vehicle.

– The 3D Car Viewer is rendered in real-time, just like you were viewing the vehicle in the Simulator.

– In the 3D Car Viewer, you can rotate and zoom the camera around the vehicle.
– – Rotate: left-click + drag.
– – Zoom: scroll-wheel.

– The display of all liveries are supported, including custom livery files saved on your machine.
– – Liveries are also immediately updated to any changes to these files. This means as soon as a new version of a car paint is detected, the 3D Car Viewer will immediately update. No more need to load the entire Simulator to check your work!

Paint Shop

– A new sponsor, Apex Racing Academy F3 Championship, has been added to the Paint Shop!
– – Two logos are available for this sponsor.

– A new sponsor, TURN Racing, has been added to the Paint Shop!
– – Two logos are available for this sponsor.

– A new sponsor logo, Sim Labs (dark theme), has been added to the Paint Shop!

– Car decals have been darkened slightly to better match the rendering of the car paint.

– Fixed an issue where your car could sometimes not display the correct wheel rim colors, number colors, or fonts.

MEMBERSITE:

Gift Cards

– The Gift Cards page is back!
– – iRacing Gift Cards are now available for purchase for yourself or others!
– – iRacing Dollars may now also be purchased for yourself or others from the same page!

SIMULATION:

Race Control

– When a Race finishes under Caution, you should now receive the same pace order messages as you would under any other Caution. This may help to prevent unexpected penalties due to passing under a Yellow Flag after a Race has finished.

– Fixed an issue with new pit exit delay Race Control system where if the first and last cars on grid are on either side of the Start/Finish line, the grid traversal time would compute out to be negative instead of wrapping positive, resulting in a 2.0 second Pit Exit Hold Penalty for some racers.

– Fixed an issue where sometimes the gain-time penalties being displayed were astronomically miscalculated.

Track Surface Model

– New convection coefficient and solar constant calculations have been added.
– – In general, the track should retain more heat energy from cars as a result.

Road Racing

– When driving line aids are enabled, pit exit driving lines now appear for road courses that require any unique pit exit paths.

Dirt Racing

– A one second cooldown has been added to firing the ignition for all dirt racing vehicles.

AI Racing

– The following vehicles are now available for AI Racing:
– – Dallara P217
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Chevrolet Silverado
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Ford F150
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Toyota Tundra

– The following track configurations are now available for AI Racing:
– – Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari – Grand Prix
– – Autódromo José Carlos Pace – Grand Prix

– The Actual Skill performance for AI Drivers has been adjusted to provide increased variability at lower ratings. This means AI Drivers with lower Skill ratings may be more prone to perform sub-optimally, make more mistakes, lose control more often, take an imperfect race line, and even crash more often. This better simulates a new driver who is still learning.

– AI Drivers have completed the following specialized training courses:
– – Optimized Race Starts
– – Pitting in Traffic
– – Zen Driving: Keeping Your Cool in Close Quarters
– – Advanced Pit Tactics for Oval Racers
– – Lateral Slip and You
– – Mastering Defensive Driving on Corners
– – Tips & Tricks for Entering and Exiting the Pits
– – Superspeedways 101: Gotta Go Fast

– AI Drivers have received specialized driver skills training with the following vehicles:
– – Dallara F3
– – Global Mazda MX-5 Cup
– – Indy Pro 2000 PM-18
– – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991)
– – Skip Barber Formula 2000
– – VW Jetta TDI Cup

– AI Drivers have received additional driver training at the following track configurations:
– – Atlanta Motor Speedway – Oval
– – Chicagoland Speedway
– – Road Atlanta – Full Course
– – Summit Point Raceway – Summit Point Raceway
– – Tsukuba Circuit – 2000 – Full

– AI Vehicle properties have been improved for the following vehicles:
– – NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
– – NASCAR Cup Series Ford Mustang
– – NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Camry
– – NASCAR Xfinity Chevrolet Camaro
– – NASCAR Xfinity Ford Mustang
– – NASCAR Xfinity Toyota Supra

– Corrected an intermittent AI mind error where some drivers could immediately steer into a wall when beginning from the starting grid.

Tires

– A new tire spec has been applied to a variety of cars.
– – This adjustment corrects issues with grip at the contact patch and alleviates issues with low-load spike correction, where the vehicle could bounce around. Cars affected include the following:
– – – Audi R18
– – – Audi R8 LMS
– – – BMW M8 GTE
– – – Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTE
– – – Dallara F3
– – – Dallara IR18
– – – Dallara P217
– – – Ferrari 488 GT3
– – – Ferrari 488 GTE
– – – Ford GT GT2/GT3 (Ford GT GT3)
– – – Ford GTE
– – – Formula Renault 3.5
– – – Global Mazda MX-5 Cup
– – – Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
– – – Lotus 79
– – – McLaren MP4-12C GT3
– – – McLaren MP4-30
– – – Mercedes-AMG GT3
– – – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991)
– – – Porsche 911 RSR
– – – Porsche 919
– – – Ruf RT 12R (Ruf RT 12R C-Spec and Ruf RT 12R Track)
– – – Street Stock
– – – VW Jetta TDI Cup
– – – Williams FW31
– – – [Legacy] Mazda MX-5 Cup & Roadster – 2010 (ALL)

– Stockcar tires for short Ovals and Road Courses have been made more forgiving over the limit. Cars affected include the following:
– – ARCA Menards Chevrolet Impala
– – NASCAR Chevrolet Monte Carlo – 1987
– – NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
– – NASCAR Cup Series Ford Mustang
– – NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Camry
– – NASCAR Ford Thunderbird – 1987
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Chevrolet Silverado
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Ford F150
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Toyota Tundra
– – NASCAR Xfinity Chevrolet Camaro
– – NASCAR Xfinity Ford Mustang
– – NASCAR Xfinity Toyota Supra
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Impala COT – 2009
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet SS – 2013
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Ford Fusion – 2016
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Nationwide Chevrolet Impala – 2012
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Truck Chevrolet Silverado – 2008
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Xfinity Chevrolet Camaro – 2014
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Xfinity Ford Mustang – 2016
– – [Legacy] NASCAR Xfinity Toyota Camry – 2015

– The tire compound column in the Entries list may now be sorted.

Aerodynamics

– Some stockcars now feature realistic aerodynamic interactions based upon wall proximity. Cars affected include the following:
– – ARCA Menards Chevrolet Impala
– – NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
– – NASCAR Cup Series Ford Mustang
– – NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Camry
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Chevrolet Silverado
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Ford F150
– – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Toyota Tundra
– – NASCAR Xfinity Chevrolet Camaro
– – NASCAR Xfinity Ford Mustang
– – NASCAR Xfinity Toyota Supra

 

[G-Slev]

It really does, it's like an embarrassment of riches. About my only complaint is that I have less time for other sims, because I really like AMS2 too, but have been to absorbed in iRacing to keep up with it.

I have heard that the initial feedback on the IR-01 hasn't been great, but they do a great job of making incremental improvements so I'm sure it'll get rectified.

That is a perennial problem. AC, ACC, Raceroom, Rfactor2, AMS2 - there are so many sims, but not enough hours.

 

[ziogzzz]

Just tried lambo gt3, wow, i think my favorite gt3 car now!

 

[2112]

Any body else having issues with the UI being splashed across all three screens of a triple set-up? I cannot seem to find out how to get the UI screen back to my center monitor only.

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Nice to see the recent cars added to iR. Looks like the LM24 being hosted in rF2 purely because they had the important current cars was a reality check to iR devs. Now drop that stupid car limit and bring on 10+ GT3 lol

There was a forum post recently from one of the devs saying that they have tested with 8 different cars but there are two issues currently - 1) much of the membership doesn't have a PC that can handle 8 different cars, and 2) even on a good PC if the user was streaming and/or broadcasting at the same time the PC couldn't keep up. So it's a 7 car limit until hardware in the user base catches up.

This really stems from iRacing running the same physics model complexity whether it's your car or your opponents cars, unlike how some other sims "dumb down" the car physics for your opponents. Same with AI cars - they run the same physics model as your car does, not some "follow a predetermined line" method.

 

[Will Mazeo]

There was a forum post recently from one of the devs saying that they have tested with 8 different cars but there are two issues currently - 1) much of the membership doesn't have a PC that can handle 8 different cars, and 2) even on a good PC if the user was streaming and/or broadcasting at the same time the PC couldn't keep up. So it's a 7 car limit until hardware in the user base catches up.

This really stems from iRacing running the same physics model complexity whether it's your car or your opponents cars, unlike how some other sims "dumb down" the car physics for your opponents. Same with AI cars - they run the same physics model as your car does, not some "follow a predetermined line" method.

And by not dumbing down oponents physics they end up being dumb
Get a basic physics for oponents/AI that gives a good result, put more effort into colision physics (something the other sims do better than iR, especially at high pings) and it's better, most people won't even notice it. The whole "we proudly run the same thing on all cars" is just for fanboys to argue on the internet really
I mean you don't need to do something extremely stupid for oponents/AI. rF2 AI use rF1 player physics and they use it for oponent prediction online and it works great (well offline was better before S397 messed with it) and rF1 is still more advanced in some areas than recently released sims so.... iR can do better.

 

[GOV47]

man, visually that Dallara look so strange to me, but I'm probably too used to look of F1 I suppose

It looks like somebody took the original Atari top down view of a race car and turned that into a modern concept....and I don't mean that in a bad way, it is cool looking and different. Pretty fun to drive too.

I cannot find anything about the ’87 NASCARs regarding AI on the forums. According to some dev they plan on adding more GT cars to AI, either all at once or one after another, depending on how difficult it might be.

Personally I'd love to have the old Nascars for some road racing. There are great Collections on Trading Paints already.

Sometimes they add new AI cars during the season and not only with the big quarterly builds. So there’s hope.

I would really like the see the '87 cars included in Ai at least in the oval capacity. I don't drive ovals that often anymore, but having them for Ai is nice when I want to scratch that itch. I don't tend to run ovals online as I hate all of the cautions.

More AI the better all around IMO. I will be MUCH more willing to purchase content if I can use it against the AI. Overall though, this update is really impressive. Going to make an effort to compete more this season.

 

[Momperface]

damn i really wish iracing would redo their tyre model, everything else is fantastic but their tyres are utter garbage and rage inducing

i would resub in a heartbeat if the cars had good tyres and aero model like ACC

 

[BP]

The IR-01 is quite a blast to drive...did 3 sprint races last night in top split and it was very intense and fun (top 10 finish in race 1, crashed in the 2nd race, but managed a P2 on the 3rd)...they do get airborne quite easily, but it's nice to hear a V10 again in a modern formula, albeit a virtual one. Long beach is BEAUTIFUL and very fun to drive, had never driven it before this...it's very Monaco-esque (Monégasque? ) but not as many elevation changes. Oh a IR-01 race there is gonna be carnage!

Also, I'm hearing it's gonna be a CLASS C car?! Welp...there goes my iRating

 

[TTM75]

I really hope that there will be change to iRacing subscription system in the future. I glady pay about 40€ for game and then also for single car or track and leave monthly subscrition system only for multiplayer. Sometimes is just fun to drive hotlaps or race few laps with ai.

 

[147852369]

There was a forum post recently from one of the devs saying that they have tested with 8 different cars but there are two issues currently - 1) much of the membership doesn't have a PC that can handle 8 different cars, and 2) even on a good PC if the user was streaming and/or broadcasting at the same time the PC couldn't keep up. So it's a 7 car limit until hardware in the user base catches up.

This really stems from iRacing running the same physics model complexity whether it's your car or your opponents cars, unlike how some other sims "dumb down" the car physics for your opponents. Same with AI cars - they run the same physics model as your car does, not some "follow a predetermined line" method.

I don't think the 7 car limit is linked to the physics model complexity, the problem seems to be about RAM usage, each model requires a lot of memory (300mb+), same as tracks. For example in iRacing you will struggle to load Le Mans + 7 car models with 8GB of RAM (not a problem in AC).

 

[mesfigas]

@TTM75 i agree
they shouldnt charge for offline race
sub model must be for online services
its a cash grab thats all

 

[Patrik Marek]

I really hope that there will be change to iRacing subscription system in the future. I glady pay about 40€ for game and then also for single car or track and leave monthly subscrition system only for multiplayer. Sometimes is just fun to drive hotlaps or race few laps with ai.

not sure this is ever going to happen
but would be great model, you can still buy cars/tracks and only pay subscription for the MP portion of the game
kinda like Playstation does the PSN+

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

I don't think the 7 car limit is linked to the physics model complexity, the problem seems to be about RAM usage, each model requires a lot of memory (300mb+), same as tracks. For example in iRacing you will struggle to load Le Mans + 7 car models with 8GB of RAM (not a problem in AC).

When I have time to find the post from the devs I'll add it here. You probably know how hard it is to find things in the iRacing forums As for 8GB of RAM - 16GB has been the minimum requirement since early 2020.

 

[jooeeyy]

With the money, Iracing forced you to spend on buying new cars, because they removed it from a series and you have to buy a new one, I'm sure you could also spent that on buying additional RAM. This car limit is so outdated, removing the only car you own in a certain series is just outrageous. Iracing is either way expensive.

 

[Nick Hill]

I really hope that there will be change to iRacing subscription system in the future. I glady pay about 40€ for game and then also for single car or track and leave monthly subscrition system only for multiplayer. Sometimes is just fun to drive hotlaps or race few laps with ai.

I completely agree. I've turned into something of an iRacing fanboy over the past few months, but I think they need to consider something like you describe. I feel like the subscription fee should be for the online competition but you should be able to race offline for free (other than the cost of the content, of course).

 

[F_B]

Spend some hours yesterday with the update, especially with the Dallara IR01. In my opinion the handling is a bit strange, too vague. It should feel much more direct and tight for a high downforce openwheeler.

 

[2112]

Spend some hours yesterday with the update, especially with the Dallara IR01. In my opinion the handling is a bit strange, too vague. It should feel much more direct and tight for a high downforce openwheeler.

There is an issue with the set-up of the car. On the straights it floats and becomes twitchy. I do not know the veracity of this but last night I heard a couple of guys talking about it in a server. Apparently one of the people who worked on the car said that the chassis is bugged.

I added +toe to the rears. A guy in the server was able to add +4 toe but I was only able to add +2 to the baseline. Even +2 was able to make a huge difference in reducing the twitchiness on the straights.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Really enjoying the updated tire spec on several of the cars I tested.
Both the Audi R8 and porsche GT3 felt noticeable better imo.
Better grip on cold tires and you can feel the grip building as they warm up.
Alot more grip exiting corners, lateral grip is better detailed when approaching and going over the edge.
Vehicles have a good sense of weight to them, good suspension feel and tire load under breaking.
Best of all that ridiculous bouncing after going over a curb that usually resulted in a zero detailed slow spin is greatly improved.

Anyone tested the Lambo yet?

Two new rallycross tracks are fun, tho I'd like to see the tires on the rx cars get updated.

3d car viewer is kinda neat but really needs a back drop to bring it to life.

Looking forward to giving more over the updated content a go over the holidays.

 

[avenger82]

There was a forum post recently from one of the devs saying that they have tested with 8 different cars but there are two issues currently - 1) much of the membership doesn't have a PC that can handle 8 different cars, and 2) even on a good PC if the user was streaming and/or broadcasting at the same time the PC couldn't keep up. So it's a 7 car limit until hardware in the user base catches up.

This really stems from iRacing running the same physics model complexity whether it's your car or your opponents cars, unlike how some other sims "dumb down" the car physics for your opponents. Same with AI cars - they run the same physics model as your car does, not some "follow a predetermined line" method.

Many games use full physics calculations for AI I.e. AC , ACC and don’t have such limits.

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Many games use full physics calculations for AI I.e. AC , ACC and don’t have such limits.

Understood. Here's what the iRacing dev posted about the issue. It's a concern for streamers and broadcasters, which there are a lot of on iRacing. combined with the number of car models multiplied by the numbers of cars in the session - iRacing allows up to 60 cars on many road tracks.

"Current hardware makes it incredibly difficult for even the most advanced machines to run high car counts with 7 individual makes while also running the high end graphics settings that our users expect for streams and broadcasts. The CPU and GPU loads required to run the sim are substantial and stressed further when software like OBS and other overlay apps are added to the mix.

As users streaming our product are some of our best marketing vessels, we prefer to do everything we can to allow those streams and broadcasts to have the highest possible quality.

Increasing the car count has been discussed and tested as recently as a couple of weeks ago even using our high end broadcast machines. However as frame rates took a notable hit upon adding the 8th car, we do not have expanding the car lineup in our immediate future. We will continue to monitor this concept though and will routinely revisit it until we come to a point where we are comfortable making that change."