rFactor and Sebring

[Steve Davis]

Anyone out there that has RACED at Sebring and has tried the Sebring sim for rFactor? I'll be making my first trip there in Jan and just curious as to how accurate the track layout is. I'm running the SCCA FV and my times (as well as those of the AIs) are well above last years racing fast laps in FV - I *AM* pretty lousy at Sim racing, but I get pretty close to 'real' times on Road Atlanta.

Suggestions, thoughts?
Steve, FV80

[Keith Carter]

I've never raced Sebring in real life, but to tell you the truth, sim racing will only get you so much in comparison to the real thing. It primarily helps with learning of the corners (which way they go, elevation, etc) and how to set up passing attempts if you're racing against live people (AI usually isn't a good test). The latest rFactor version of Sebring has this repeated ripple effect to trying and emulate the bumpiness of the track, but I find it annoying. I've heard Sebring is real rough, but the rhythm'd bumpiness can't be close to the real thing. The layout seems pretty nice and accurate, but if you want dead nuts accurate for tracks, iRacing has all of their tracks laser scanned.

[Steve Davis]

I haven't noticed but ONE bump in the Sebring sim - is there a newer version out there? Where can I find it. I have the one that's on rfc and (last I looked) there is only one there.

I'm aware of the problems about using sims for unfamiliar tracks, but I just would like to make sure that the track I'm "learning" is pretty much the track I'll be RACING - at least turn wise (number and direction) with approximate distance.

Steve

[Steve Davis]

OK - I found the 12h 1.00 by The Lonely (I was using 1.5 by Bud Lucas, et al) - judging from the 'bumps' comment, I must have found the right one . It does seem a bit more 'logical' and realistic (except for the 'double vision' <G>) to me - the "grayed line" in the one I was using seemed to be a bit off - this one is better and more like I expected.

*AND* - the good news... after a few laps I can turn something relatively close to the AI's now. Not NEARLY as consistent, but at least I'm "in the hunt" (at least, till I CRASH! ).

Thanks for the info - I feel better now. Still about 2 seconds off "real" times from last year, but MUCH closer than before. I guess those guys I might end up racing against are "pretty good" ...
Steve, FV80

[Keith Carter]

Yeah, Bud Lucas tracks are typically a last resort if other versions aren't available. I think he uses a pretty old PC to create the tracks on so the poly count and the textures are pretty lo res and simplistic relative to other stuff that is out there. He does a lot of conversions from older sims too so that is also a reason why his tracks are fairly plain because they were never designed with the newer sim engine in mind to take advantage of all of the eye candy that is available.

I'm glad you were able to find The Lonely's version. It's a great version as long as you don't count the sea sickness waviness to it.

[TrackBrat]

There is a new version in development by the crack team at Virtua_LM.

http://www.virtualr.net/gtx5-sebring...-new-previews/