Are you an iRacing member (past or present)?

[Keith Carter]

Just ran my first race a few nights ago. I was impressed with the way the Solstice handled in comparison to other sims I have raced. It's going to take some getting used to though with how races and qualifying are done. If you're a member, post your real name as a reply to this thread.

If you know of any professional drivers in iRacing, post those too.

So far I've seen:
Dale Earnhardt Jr
AJ Almindinger
Tonis Kasemets
William Power
AJ Foyt IV

[GeoffRain]

I spent a lot of time on iRacing a few months ago. The Formula Mazda is my favorite. It took a little while to get the steering wheel set up to feel right, and I still don't think I have the brakes perfect, but it's a great sim.

[VehDyn]

I am not a member yet, but that is my next purchase. I am looking into cockpits and wheels now. Since I am not racing, might as well make it as real as possible.

[racinray]

Hi Kieth,

I have been an iRacing member for about a year now. I'm currently driving the Star Mazda. I personally have had a blast with it although I'm finding it difficult to achieve really fast times. The only issue I really have with it is that I seem to have a target on my back on the first lap and you get penalized even if someone runs into the back of you. That has killed my finishing positions and my iRating.

Ray Phillips

[racinray]

Oh yeah, Justin Wilson is also a member.

Ray

[Speed Sport Engineering]

I've been a member of iRacing for about a year now. I used it a lot last fall prior to the runoffs. My favorite car to drive is the Skip Barber, although the Mazda has been fun too. I think they are supposed to have Mid-Ohio available in a month or two.

Michael Varacins

[Keith Carter]

Yeah, that happened in my first and only race too in the Solstice. A guy dive bombed me and hit my left rear. After that the car was junk and I would spin under braking. It was frustrating.

I also see that Takuma Sato is a member.

[cooleyjb]

Yeah, that happened in my first and only race too in the Solstice. A guy dive bombed me and hit my left rear. After that the car was junk and I would spin under braking. It was frustrating.

I also see that Takuma Sato is a member.

Yeah get away from teh Solstice ASAP worst racing on their IMO.

As for pros, the list is very long but much of the GrandAm grid I've seen on there, a bunch of ALMS guys, lots of the orundy round guys. All the TDI cup guys are on it, most of the Skippy kids are on it.

There are a few threads in the iRacing forum that have the lists of the 'pros' on the site.

[Matt Satchell]

I was in a Legends race Saturday with Orial Servia and Sunday with William Power (he won). I assume he was winding down after a day at the brickyard.

I have driven a Solstice around a racetrack in real life and you dont slide/pitch them nearly as much as you have to in the game to be fast.

The Star Mazda is a lot of fun. I am slowly getting to a respectable time around Road America (2:06) and Road Atlanta (1:20).

[veefan]

A few of the Vee racers are running iRacing, a problem with the sim/hardware is the braking. None of the controllers offer realistic "brake pedal feel". The pedal offers little to no real resistance so it becomes hard to brake like you would in a normal race car.

Check out this product, it's great. It's a direct swap for the brake on the logitech G25 or G27.

Totally changes the feel of braking and offers a more realisic pedal.

http://www.apelectrix.com/

[racinray]

Yes, I'm using one of those with my G25 and it makes a huge difference.

Ray

[Speed Sport Engineering]

Without turning this into a commerical, I'm using this for a brake pedal:

www.perfectpedal.com


They provided some support for me at the runoffs last year, so I would like to return the favor by mentioning them here.

[awhitston]

Ive been a member for a while now. Once you get out of the lower licenses the amount of bad driving definitely goes down. The pro list is very long. The track models are unbeatable and there are a lot of very good drivers to compete with from all around the world.
There is a lot of speculation if sim racing will make you faster in the real world I think its hard to say one way or another. But, I hove found the most benefit from being able to race in proximity to other drivers. Its a great tool to figure out how to set up a pass/defend a move or when to let the other driver have the position. It gives you good practice analyzing tracks and working on focusing for a race for 45 min and minimizing mistakes.
My favorite car is the 79 Lotus. Definitely worth a try if you havent. Running mostly Star Mazda lately though.

Andrew Whitston

[Ed Cavalier]

The Pastore (apelectrix) load cell mod for a G25 or G27 brake pedal helps a lot.

One thing that would help sim racing a lot would be tactile gforce feedback. With no "feel" for what the car is doing, it seems far more difficult go fast in the sim than in the real world. Imagine a belt around your midsection with four vibrators. One on each side, one front, and one rear. As the gforces go up, the vibration increases. I don't think it would take very long before you would integrate this input into a "feel" for the car. Giving credit where it's due, I first heard this idea from Doug Azzarito. He's an SRF driver and a sometimes IRacer.

[DMac]

I was a member but I have since let it lapse due to budget concerns.

[SMac35]

Keith, you did real well in the SRF race we were in. Only 2 sec off my time is really good considering Ive had iRacing for 7months now. The only thing I don't like is the grass, you drop a wheel and you spin, or if you hit the grass, the car never stops until it hits something.

As far as pros/well known guys, I've raced with Simona de Silvestro, Devin Cates, Joey Atterbury, Pat Gallagher, AJ Nealey and a few others I forget.

It's really fun once you get used to it. Don't play too much or else it gets really frustrating.

Have fun,
Steven

[Tigaman]

Been a member since beta testing March 2008. Use it a great deal as a training/demo tool. I use pedals developed by Justin Wilson an Dale Jr. built by Todd Cannon. They're terrific!

I have a Rennsport Cockpit from Fanatec with triple screens and it's pretty good, but a portion of the folks who use this rig get some motion sickness. I don't. Use a G27 on that one. It's in my Driver Development Studio at VIR.

Also have a VisionRacer VR3 I take to the track to work with clients. Logitech G25 on that one.

[VehDyn]

Been a member since beta testing March 2008. Use it a great deal as a training/demo tool. I use pedals developed by Justin Wilson an Dale Jr. built by Todd Cannon. They're terrific!

I have a Rennsport Cockpit from Fanatec with triple screens and it's pretty good, but a portion of the folks who use this rig get some motion sickness. I don't. Use a G27 on that one. It's in my Driver Development Studio at VIR.

Also have a VisionRacer VR3 I take to the track to work with clients. Logitech G25 on that one.

Which cockpit is yor favorie, rennsport or Visionracer, and why? Have you tried the Rennsport wheel and pedals?

[Tigaman]

Which cockpit is yor favorie, rennsport or Visionracer, and why? Have you tried the Rennsport wheel and pedals?

The Rennsport is really nicely made, looks great and is a better value aesthetically than the VisionRacer. The customer service is horrible, I waited 5 months for the RS Cockpit and I am wary of buying the Turbo S wheel and pedals, even though that's the preferred solution for the XBox 360/PC/PS3 all in one. Thomas means well, but is overwhelmed and has no reliabe North American distributor. I'd buy one again for a triple-screen solution.

The VisionRacer is the best use of space, very well made and is durable enough to cart around in the back of my Suburban all over the country. The bling of the plated parts is killer. There is a deal on them shipped from VR's warehouse in LA to the CONUS included in the price. If I had to have one, this would be a no-brainer.

I can't imagine using anything other than these two as static platforms. They're great for that. Someday, I'll do a Blue Tiger or a CXC system and beyond that, maybe one of those motion platforms from up near the Glen.

Problem is there are TWO Moog/Cruden 6DOF platforms (same as the Ferrari/Red Bull/Williams F1 simulator hardware) across the street from me, but the software is so bad, it's unusable. Boris Said and I got sick in just a few minutes on one. The movement and the screen action is not synced in their solution. Maybe rFactor Pro would do it. For now, my static platforms work just fine!

[Keith Carter]

I love my VisionRacer3. The only shortcomings it has is the thin gauge sheetmetal used to mount the shifter and seat flexes when shifting so it gives the shifter a flimsy feel to it. It could use some more adjustability in the seat as well, but it suits me fine and I'm 5' 7". I would also like the option to do multiple screens, but a single 27" LCD works pretty well as long as it is light enough.

[SMac35]

Man you guys have some sweet setups!

I use my mom's laptop with a 17" screen with my Logitech MOMO steering wheel that has failed force feedback and is strapped to my dining room table.

Im sure you guys have more into your sim racing than I have in my 2 racecars and 1 racing season.
Steven

[Cole Morgan]

Cole Morgan

Florida Region or Florida Clan, or whatever the region grouping thing is. Let me know if were gonna start doing league races or whatever.

[fezzic181]

Mark Swick

Been a member for close to a year now. Love running around in the srf. It's made watching real racing a lot more fun since I have a much better feel for what the drivers are doing on race tracks that the sim has.