iRacing in the off season.

[Giblet]

Very good idea about the Calendar. I'll take it upon myself today to both invite Tomba, and to see if he can hook us up calendar-wise.

There is nothing wrong with the Oval side of things, many people enjoy it and it presents it's own unique challenges, but I find it less fun for the most part. I also assume that most people here would be more interested in road racing.

And Blackangus, send me a PM with your real name and I'll add you as a friend in iRacing and you can do the same. Then with a quick glance at the practice sessions your friends are highlighted in green, helping you to choose one where people you kind of know are.

[Hangaku]

I can't believe I never mentioned iSpeed. It can be frustrating as much as helpful, when you see all your best sectors, and it tells you your best possible lap if everything was strung together properly, and its a second or two faster than your actually able to drive.

Left foot braking is the preferred way, some of these cars need throttle and brake applied at the same time to be able to rotate the rear properly. The SRF can barely make a corner without 10% throttle at all times. You can do it with heel toe, but most of us are not as advanced as real drivers. If Rubens was able to convert from right foot braking so can you

The Skip is another car that is important to keep up the momentum with.

There is a guy who offers a free 'seminar' periodically in the Skip Barber car tips forum. He does it at VIR and apparently it does wonders for people. I just missed his latest one but am looking forward to the next.

You say this quick fella never lifts the throttle, keeps it buried while braking, or just never completely lets off?

Could be worth looking at the seminar, cheers.

No, this chap never lifts off the throttle completely - where I drop the throttle entirely, he has maybe 10% throttle going on, which is where the 3 seconds a lap appear from. In T1 alone, I'm losing 0.3 seconds, and by T4 I've lost a clear second.

It's a tad depressing, because it sorta proves there's nothing wrong with the lines that I'm taking, it's just the speed at which I take those lines. Bah. Oh well, practice makes perfect

[Hangaku]

So that's two for thursdays or saturdays... Who else

I'm up for it.

[Giblet]

My biggest problem is losing too much speed on entry, and I take a couple of whack lines on some of the slower corners. I don't lean on the tires enough, but i think part of my problem is my pedals. The Logitech Momo pedals are not very good or consistent. The pressure is not progressive, so it's completely just muscle memory.

Then other problem with the Momo is it is only a 270 degree wheel, not a 900 like the g25/27. This means that I have to consciously make tiny little corrections, cuz if I correct a hair too much, I've lost my line.

If I don't get a g27, I'll be looking at the Fanatic Porsche wheels. They appear to be the creamier of the crop and a reasonable price in comparison to the Logitechs.

I know I have some good speed, but the Skippy seems to amplify these problems more than the Solstice and SRF do.

[Hangaku]

Indeed, lots of sideways motion on those tall thin tires has quite an effect on speed - especially on a car that doesn't have the ability to spin it's tires up that easily. And that's a bit of a bastard, considering that the skippy likes to spit it's back-end out quite a lot.

[Giblet]

Well, no more Road Atlanta. Need to learn Watkins Glen Boot configuration now.

The buststop there is quite fun, a couple corners seems like you should be in a lower gear, but you want to be one higher and you don't have to worry about the rear coming out on you, or having to counter steer in anticipation of that.

Guys were getting 2:10's in my practice.

[theblackangus]

I too am losing too much speed into corners.Im almost certain that is where Im loosing most of my time with the solstice. And the stats program will help much.
Does it export for use with MOTEC?
Im used to motec so I would love that.

The Glen is the best.

[Giblet]

No MOTEC support... yet. But it's in the pipeline.

iSpeed runs on a second monitor, or any device that can connect to wifi with a web page. iphone being an example.

It shows your speed and time delta, so you know right away if you were quicker or not than usual, or slower of course to.

I am pretty quick with the Solstice at Lime Rock and Laguna, I can help you if you send me your replay.

[theblackangus]

Well every little bit helps!
Ill have to figure out where the replays are kept.
Thanks!

[DaveKillens]

After over a year off, I'm pulling together my equipment to get back in the game. I'm no alien or a setup expert, but at least I have some experience.

I'm back

[Hangaku]

Well, no more Road Atlanta. Need to learn Watkins Glen Boot configuration now.

The buststop there is quite fun, a couple corners seems like you should be in a lower gear, but you want to be one higher and you don't have to worry about the rear coming out on you, or having to counter steer in anticipation of that.

Guys were getting 2:10's in my practice.

Never driven Watkins Glen before, and I like it. Lots of positive camber, which makes it feel fast! I think I ran a 2:13.655 in my first round of practice, which I was pretty happy with. Can see it getting better though!

I also ran my first Oval practice session in the Legends last night. I thought "this is going to be dull", and actually I found it quite entertaining. I ran 109 laps of South Boston Speedway.

[Giblet]

My best lap so far is a 2:15.1 or so, but I know where I am losing the most time. I think you have the measure of me in the Skippy at this point.

I need to brake a little deeper and straighter, then turn in. My apex's at this point look more lie a V than a U, and I bet my telemetry would look the same.

The guys running 9's and 10's use that whole runoff there. I am surprised that it doesn't give you an off track penalty.

@Dave_Killens

Look forward to seeing you there. We're starting to get a little gang here finally.

What did you end up settling on for your PC purchase?

[Giblet]

Well every little bit helps!
Ill have to figure out where the replays are kept.
Thanks!

there are in your mydocuments/iracing/replays folder. They are .rpy files.

You also save other peoples replays there to view them from the web interface, under events.

[Hangaku]

My best lap so far is a 2:15.1 or so, but I know where I am losing the most time. I think you have the measure of me in the Skippy at this point.

I need to brake a little deeper and straighter, then turn in. My apex's at this point look more lie a V than a U, and I bet my telemetry would look the same.

The guys running 9's and 10's use that whole runoff there. I am surprised that it doesn't give you an off track penalty.

You mean in T1? It's nuts isn't it?! There's also a way around T1 that doesn't involve so much run off, as I believe that I've done it once and it's still competitive, but I'll be effed if I can do it every single time.

Don't be so convinced about me having the measure of you in the Skippy - now that I've run my 1:13, I'll be chasing it until the next track comes along. It was one of those rare laps where everything came together - I can't get close again! And that is what I need to work on - consistency. I wouldn't mind if I wasn't as quick, but ran the same lap time over and over again. At the minute though I run 20 laps, my best is 1:13 but my average lap time is 1:28 or something awful. That's not the way to win races!

[DaveKillens]

@Dave_Killens

Look forward to seeing you there. We're starting to get a little gang here finally.

What did you end up settling on for your PC purchase?

I build my own gaming rigs. Right now I'm trying to revive my Mk IV to get up and going. But once that's working, I will be pulling together a new rig. Pure gaming, moderate processor, but maxxed out on video, you can never have enough video power, resolution, or frame rates for racing.

Introduction: I've been sim racing since day one, and been racing online seriously since 1999. Mostly NASCAR stuff, but I love road racing. Not an alien, not a regular winner, but almost always in the hunt, and strong at the end. I'm the kind of nut who went to the trouble to learn the Nordschleife.