A question about whether Iracing is what I want from a racing sim.

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monkeywall
Just as the title suggests i'm trying to figure out whether moving to Iracing would be the right choice for me and provide me with the type of racing I'm looking for.

A bit of history to help explain(bit long winded)

I wouldn't say I'm a petrol/gear head. The only motorsport I follow and make sure I watch is F1. Although, I do watch others when I happen upon them. I have a great respect for the talent and dedication it takes to be fast. For a few years now I have been racing online with GT taking part in gtplanet's wrs and the storagetrunks gt500 series.

I have been trying Gtsport since the closed beta. Had such high hopes for the game but I have become disheartened with the quality of races and racers at my level (A S) so much so I don't really race anymore and when I do I don't really race with the attitude I once had. I could join a private series but don't have the time to do so.

I love racing online when it's done right, the close battles, the respect for other drivers, etc. I am ageing a bit (37) so not racing to be the best just for the experience. I would love to find a real racing sim that has an official race series. Allowing me to be casual and race 2 or 3 evening's a week. With races longer than 30 mins allowing setup changes to the car. That is populated with racers who respect each other and don't continuously push each other off track.

For the past few weeks I've been reading up on Iracing among other racing sims/games. Iracing appears to be what I was expecting pd to do with Gtsport. Different official series in different classes that run races of various length regularly, allowing setup changes. That has a ranking system that not only provides close racing but fairer, cleaner racing than Gtsport.

I have come to the opinion that Iracing's sports car and openwheel series may very well be what I'm looking for. But I'm still undecided whether it is want I want.

Getting to the point.

My questions:

What is the quality of the racers? I have the assumption that from the mid level ranking and up due to the initial cost of a pc compared to a console along with a few things I've read is that those who race on Iracing are there to race not just to play a game like many on gtsport. Would I be right or is it just as bad as gtsport?

Am I able to be casual with my racing but still compete in an few official series that have races longer than 30 mins allowing setup changes which are populated with fair racers?

Those of you who've tried both Iracing and Gtsport. Which would you think is better for me, giving the Info above?

Any other comments are welcome. I'm OK with the tech, setting up the game side of things (for now).
 
Jesus Jeff :cheers: for the advice again. I am aware it could cost a bit more than gt. Would be willing to pay it for the racing and experience i'm looking for.

What rank are you? And which series do you race?
 
Jesus Jeff :cheers: for the advice again. I am aware it could cost a bit more than gt. Would be willing to pay it for the racing and experience i'm looking for.

What rank are you? And which series do you race?
D with dirt oval and road oval, c with road, mostly I am practicing to get better and faster and avoiding racing until I get better, little bit of a learning curve with all the different race cars, but it is so much fun though!
 
@monkeywall you won't regret moving over to iracing, I came from sport just like @suprajef and I mean I'm A class now on the road racing part of it mainly doing gt3 racing and I will tell you it is so much better than sport. Only thing you can really give sport an edge on is the graphics but I mean iracing graphics have been improving with the new tracks and cars.

In terms of the racing the early stages can be tough but if your smart and patient early on to let it be, you can get yourself in some serious amazing racing. The competition and racing itself is quite amazing, however you will have a few races where accidents will happen and you will get frustrated. Just part of racing.

It's quite expensive to start up but once you do, your pretty set other than upgrades on your setup that you may do. But overall it isn't too bad

Hope that helps if any questions feel free to shoot them away

Ph1sh
 
Hey @Ph1sh good to see you again. Thanks for the info. I'm definitely going for Iracing especially now after what you've said. Not to bothered with high/ultra graphics like sport just what to race with people who like to race and i'd happily pay a little extra. Think the openwheel and sportscar series will be the series I try. Like I said above it'll be late feb early march by the time I get everything sorted. Will get in contact with you both.

Thanks again :cheers:
 
Whoa... Yall have all moved over to iRacing too? I switched back in November. @monkeywall, from my experience... it is much better. The cost is rough, but it is a much better experience. Just survive in the rookie series. Once you get to D it gets better. You still have the occasional idiot. But, not like in GTS. I am at SR C 3.5 in road and oval, so will be at B at end of season. Think I am D 2.7 on dirt oval. Working on my IR more now. Just a warning, the competition is much stronger in iRacing. No assists like in GTS either. Only a few cars have ABS and TC. You also have options and not stuck with just 3 official races. I dont reget switching at all.
 
Hey @Ph1sh good to see you again. Thanks for the info. I'm definitely going for Iracing especially now after what you've said. Not to bothered with high/ultra graphics like sport just what to race with people who like to race and i'd happily pay a little extra. Think the openwheel and sportscar series will be the series I try. Like I said above it'll be late feb early march by the time I get everything sorted. Will get in contact with you both.

Thanks again :cheers:
Absolutely man, iracing has been the best decision yet since moving away from GTS, as you said I like focusing on more of the physics and racing itself and the competition is absolutely insane. Im mainly doing gt3, dirt modifieds, other dirt cars, some other road races too here and there. However I've got to the point with driver sponsorship on iracing with eSports which includes Z1 Dashboard and now SimLab Chassis and its quite awesome racing with some of the pro drivers out there. They are dang quick. You'll love it, you will have to add me as a friend on iracing and I can help you out as well!

Whoa... Yall have all moved over to iRacing too? I switched back in November. @monkeywall, from my experience... it is much better. The cost is rough, but it is a much better experience. Just survive in the rookie series. Once you get to D it gets better. You still have the occasional idiot. But, not like in GTS. I am at SR C 3.5 in road and oval, so will be at B at end of season. Think I am D 2.7 on dirt oval. Working on my IR more now. Just a warning, the competition is much stronger in iRacing. No assists like in GTS either. Only a few cars have ABS and TC. You also have options and not stuck with just 3 official races. I dont reget switching at all.
Good to see you too bigdawg! Long time no see! Your spot on with your points, you'll have to add me as a friend on iracing sometime and we can get some races in together!!

Here's our team banner for the upcoming Daytona 24H ESports Event this weekend, I'm in the green Mercedes AMG gt3 for this event. Pretty excited for it.

FB_IMG_1547718344221.jpg
 
Good to see some new iRacers coming through from GTP :)
Switching to iRacing was the best sim racing decision I ever made. The day to day competition is next level.

@monkeywall My only advice really, is to just take your time to advance, its not a race to get to A class. And of course...Have Fun !
If you want to do open wheel racing, take your time in the Skip Barber series, plenty of very fast guys still race them so its an excellent place to learn. There was an old saying in iRacing that if you can master the Skippy you can master any car. (not sure if that still applies as I haven't been able to do any competitive racing since starting a family, but sure its still not far from the truth)

@Ph1sh Looking good. You must be doing pretty well for yourself to pick up some sponsorship.
 
Good to see some new iRacers coming through from GTP :)
Switching to iRacing was the best sim racing decision I ever made. The day to day competition is next level.

@monkeywall My only advice really, is to just take your time to advance, its not a race to get to A class. And of course...Have Fun !
If you want to do open wheel racing, take your time in the Skip Barber series, plenty of very fast guys still race them so its an excellent place to learn. There was an old saying in iRacing that if you can master the Skippy you can master any car. (not sure if that still applies as I haven't been able to do any competitive racing since starting a family, but sure its still not far from the truth)

@Ph1sh Looking good. You must be doing pretty well for yourself to pick up some sponsorship.
Thanks man! Yeah having the connections through gran Turismo over to iracing helped a lot. In terms of knowing friends that were on GT and moved over to iracing. From there on getting introduced to people who run companies that relate to sim racing products helped a lot.

Totally agree on your advice for my friend @monkeywall, spot on. I started with the global mx5 and I mastered that thing running top 3 every single race with some of the best mx5 racers, and having them share setups with me to learn how it all works, just how everything worked. From there I went to gt3, and doing a lot of VRS, and IMSA with other fun series too. That's where a lot of competition is especially with the pro Series.

@monkeywall youll do great man! Take your time and enjoy the ride! It's a blast at iracing! Those races you have where it's competitive for any given spot is what you race for. Welcome to iracing man!! Can't wait to see you on the sim! :cheers:
 
@Ph1sh Yeah like everyone I started in the rookie MX5's but I actually spent a good 3-4 months there just learning and trying to get better (I was in no rush to advance).
Near the end of my MX5 time I started picking up some of the content for the Skip schedule and joining in on some practice sessions to get used to everything, once I was comfortable I swapped full time to the Skip. I actually spent quite a long time in the Skip series because there were so many fast guys driving them, the competition in that series alone was enough to keep me coming back, I wanted to see how high up the ranks I could get.

Again near the end of my time in the Skippy I started to pick up content for the Star Mazda to get used to a full time assault on that series. Some very fast guys racing in that series kept me very happy too. I think the best I managed was 26th overall in one of my seasons in the Star Mazda, which I was more than happy with considering it was actually fairly difficult getting into the really high SOF races on my side of the world.
Had a few races in some GT cars too, but never fully 'graduated' into those series. I wanted to but when I found out I was going to become a dad, sim racing has had to take a back seat.

Seeing now iRacing has a more complete 'ladder' for the open wheelers, I'm just patiently waiting for my time to get back into it.

This is why I like seeing threads like this in here, it takes me back to the excitement and all the awesome experiences I had when I first made the switch :)
 
Good to see you too bigdawg! Long time no see! Your spot on with your points, you'll have to add me as a friend on iracing sometime and we can get some races in together!!

Here's our team banner for the upcoming Daytona 24H ESports Event this weekend, I'm in the green Mercedes AMG gt3 for this event. Pretty excited for it.

View attachment 793247

That's awesome Phish! It's no surprise you took right to iracing and the GT cars :cheers:. I will definitely look you up and send a friend request.

I'm still learning it all. I've mostly been running Skips, Advanced MX-5s, and some IMSA on road. Some others mixed in too. Also been running K&Ns on oval and 305 winged sprints on dirt. I have had the best sim experiences in iracing. Especially in the skips! I've had several 3 and 4 way battles that last the whole race.

The most fun week for me so far was 2 weeks ago. The K&N cars were at the Roval. Holy crap that was fun!

Hope to see all of you on track! @monkeywall, welcome to iRacing. You will love it. If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask.

Edit: I should add... You know you made the right sim move when you see IRL pros in practice sessions. I've only raced with one so far, Jeff Burton. But, I have seen quite a few names I knew in open practice.

Edit 2: Check out some streams and YouTube videos @monkeywall. Matt Malone does good videos, I'm even in one :lol:. Jimmy Broadbent has a good one with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
 
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Switched over in November as well and I love it, all the buttons you can map, the competition almost 24/7 long races w/pit stops, different series top of the hour etc. very much impressed, as I say after racing iracing, GTS is a wannabe, but they just couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t say the graphics are better, but I feel they’reofe immersive IMO.
 
@BigDawg_1281 @noshog @1Lambofan @Ph1sh @suprajef

Thanks to all of you. I'm more confident I'm making the right choice. Will be happy with the slow climb through the classes to get to the better racing. The series you've mentioned are the same one's I was thinking of :cool: i'll make sure to take my time at them. Don't think i'll reach your level @Ph1sh but I'll try :) nice to see your doing well. I'll check out some of matts videos you @BigDawg_1281 already watched Jimmy's it was one of the the many things I've watched and read that made me look more in Iracing. When I'm up and running I'll send you all friend requests.


@mirial thought you might like to read some of the guys comments.
 
Gran Turismo or iRacing there just is no comparison for a sim racer that's looking for serious, courteous competition.
Many of us have a lot of time vested into our iRacing license so it goes without saying we look out for each other on the track avoiding those 4x penalties.
I prefer IRacing in all ways over GT, although GT does make for a nice background changing wallpaper.

Welcome and if you need any help, send me a request Corsa1977 on steam.
 
Just started a month or so again on iRacing and already a big fan. Wish I had not waited so long to join. Still just in D class but already races are far better than I've had about anywhere else (except for on those rare "what a great race" occasions). iRacing runs overall smoother and better than any other sim I have also. AC runs a close second on ease of use/reliability but course it lacks the good online and sim racing system is ok but not the same as iRacing for quality of match from what I can see.

I wish people would quit with the cost thing. It's actually pretty cheap if you compare it to any other hobby. Golf? Single driver alone could cost you $600. I fly RC and pay over $130 per year just for the right to fly my planes I already bought (kinda like iRacing huh?). Fact is that to get something good the company doing it needs to have a steady revenue stream to last and I can't see it being done as well for any less to be honest. Quality of the experience so far has me convinced to likely be a long-term customer.

Another great thing about iRacing is you can focus on a single car/series if you wish and know it's going to be around years from now which makes me more willing to invest time in it than I would another sim that might fall out of favor or get replaced soon enough.
 
Good to see some new iRacers coming through from GTP :)
Switching to iRacing was the best sim racing decision I ever made. The day to day competition is next level.

@monkeywall My only advice really, is to just take your time to advance, its not a race to get to A class. And of course...Have Fun !
If you want to do open wheel racing, take your time in the Skip Barber series, plenty of very fast guys still race them so its an excellent place to learn. There was an old saying in iRacing that if you can master the Skippy you can master any car. (not sure if that still applies as I haven't been able to do any competitive racing since starting a family, but sure its still not far from the truth)

@Ph1sh Looking good. You must be doing pretty well for yourself to pick up some sponsorship.

Heck, podcast the other day made me aware of Fahim in the UK who is a top skippy driver and done nothing but skippy racing for years he enjoys it so much. I understand fully as that ability to pick what you like and stick with it and find plenty of support for it year after year is just not something you easily find elsewhere. It's got me hooked for sure.
 
I wish people would quit with the cost thing. It's actually pretty cheap if you compare it to any other hobby. Golf? Single driver alone could cost you $600. I fly RC and pay over $130 per year just for the right to fly my planes I already bought (kinda like iRacing huh?). Fact is that to get something good the company doing it needs to have a steady revenue stream to last and I can't see it being done as well for any less to be honest. Quality of the experience so far has me convinced to likely be a long-term customer.

Another great thing about iRacing is you can focus on a single car/series if you wish and know it's going to be around years from now which makes me more willing to invest time in it than I would another sim that might fall out of favor or get replaced soon enough.

I agree what you said about the price. I have had other hobbies that cost a lot more than sim racing. In general, you get what you pay for. One can easily join and not spend a lot too.

The focusing on 1 series is actually what I am going to start doing myself. Focus on 1 for a season at least and maybe change the next. @suprajef mentioned to me that he thinks it will help make someone better. I think he is probably right about that. So far, I just have been racing whatever. But, next season I am focusing on just one.
 
I agree what you said about the price. I have had other hobbies that cost a lot more than sim racing. In general, you get what you pay for. One can easily join and not spend a lot too.

The focusing on 1 series is actually what I am going to start doing myself. Focus on 1 for a season at least and maybe change the next. @suprajef mentioned to me that he thinks it will help make someone better. I think he is probably right about that. So far, I just have been racing whatever. But, next season I am focusing on just one.
I just Do what I want lol, driving everything til I find something I like. All of it is great to me though
 
@Russ Petersen thanks for the feedback. I agree about the price in my part of the world its the same as a Netflix subscription which I have paid for but rare use.

Seen a pc that was a good price on Tues ordered it, arrived yesterday after some time setting up I got on track for few test laps before bed. It was fun, bit different from gt lots to learn over the coming weeks. When I get more familiar with everything I send out some friend requests. One thing I noticed last night with ffb is I could feel the grip better than gt. Still a bit of reading and tweaking to do but i'm liking how it feels.
 
@Russ Petersen thanks for the feedback. I agree about the price in my part of the world its the same as a Netflix subscription which I have paid for but rare use.

Seen a pc that was a good price on Tues ordered it, arrived yesterday after some time setting up I got on track for few test laps before bed. It was fun, bit different from gt lots to learn over the coming weeks. When I get more familiar with everything I send out some friend requests. One thing I noticed last night with ffb is I could feel the grip better than gt. Still a bit of reading and tweaking to do but i'm liking how it feels.

FFB seems to be a mixed bag as far as people's opinion. I think it's decent myself. Good but not great. Good enough I don't find it detracting from my experience anyways.

I personally am pretty slow as I'm 50 even though I've gamed all my life. Still it's matched me already with some pretty close racing so I'm happy. Already seem my improvement so have hope to move up a bit.
 
I've only competed in a few races so far, but from what I've seen iRacing hasnt impressed me alot.

The graphics are dated. Im usually the last one to care about graphics in a racing game, but the visuals do look a decade old, with a new coat of paint. Ive also experienced oddly timed frame rate drops when there was hardly any cars around me. It was jarring to say the least. Other times the game claimed I was holding steady at 84fps, when it obviously was stuttering.

So far Im glad I spent just $5 to try this out for 3 months. Not really impressed at all.

Its cool I guess if your interested in GT Sport style organized official pickup races but with a much larger variety then just 3 races. I just dont think thats enough to warrant the price.

Keep in mind that you rent iRacing. The minute you stop paying, you lose access to everything. It really irked me seeing the game try to push me to spend $34 to buy 3 NASCARs. The game is obscenely overpriced.

At the moment its looking like Im going to stick to rFactor 2. The graphics are better, the physics are just as good, theres way more free content, loads of leagues, the only thing its missing is the pickup racing of iRacing.

Considering the very high price tag of iRacing, I have yet to see anything that makes it worth the money.
 
Amazing that someone could think rFactor graphics are better. I guess to each his own but in my view seems like you must be blind but you have the right to your opinion. Guess that's why multiple companies can always succeed as there are different tastes. I hated rFactor simply because any code that can't allow me to setup my wheel and pedals in 20 minutes of playing with it when I have very standard stuff is crap code not worth my time. Oh well, have fun anyways.
 
I've only competed in a few races so far, but from what I've seen iRacing hasnt impressed me alot.

The graphics are dated. Im usually the last one to care about graphics in a racing game, but the visuals do look a decade old, with a new coat of paint. Ive also experienced oddly timed frame rate drops when there was hardly any cars around me. It was jarring to say the least. Other times the game claimed I was holding steady at 84fps, when it obviously was stuttering.

So far Im glad I spent just $5 to try this out for 3 months. Not really impressed at all.

Its cool I guess if your interested in GT Sport style organized official pickup races but with a much larger variety then just 3 races. I just dont think thats enough to warrant the price.

Keep in mind that you rent iRacing. The minute you stop paying, you lose access to everything. It really irked me seeing the game try to push me to spend $34 to buy 3 NASCARs. The game is obscenely overpriced.

At the moment its looking like Im going to stick to rFactor 2. The graphics are better, the physics are just as good, theres way more free content, loads of leagues, the only thing its missing is the pickup racing of iRacing.

Considering the very high price tag of iRacing, I have yet to see anything that makes it worth the money.

The official ("pickup") races you mentioned is exactly what the OP, myself, and many others want in a racing sim. Some people do not have time to run leagues. We cant set an exact time and day to enjoy our hobbies. The official races are perfect for us. Something is always available.

As for graphics, nobody is saying iracing is best in this area. GTS has much better graphics IMO. But, they are more than good enough for a sim. It is a sim, after all. It is designed to have the best online multiplayer racing. In those regards, it exceeds by far.
 
FFB seems to be a mixed bag

still trying to play with ffb although I like it compared to gt.

I personally am pretty slow as I'm 50 even though I've gamed all my life. Still it's matched me already with some pretty close racing so I'm happy. Already seem my improvement so have hope to move up a bit.

I'm nearing 40 and noticing I'm slowing down a little. Some of the guys I would normally have raced with on gt and had some great battles with are younger and getting faster. So I was hoping gt would be able to provide me with some nice racing in the offical races. I hope iracing will be like you say still haven't raced only test run's and the tt to get used to it. when I get more time I will try them we I understand how eveything works a bit better and get used to cockpit cam, was using bumper cam in gt.


Hello @Earth

The graphics are dated. Im usually the last one to care about graphics in a racing game, but the visuals do look a decade old,

I agree the graphic's do look dated to me it looks like gt 6 but with out flat trees. I don't mind it really it looks good enough for me to get immersed in.

The game is obscenely overpriced.

I can understand how the price is of putting, it's what stopped me looking at the game in the past. However, in my search for good racing without having to dedicated to a series or constantly put up with dirty drivers iracing seem's to be able to provide that.
The official ("pickup") races you mentioned is exactly what the OP,
As for the price I have changed my opinion after a few months of looking into changing from a ps to a pc. Bear in mind I have only bought ps console's to play gt (played since gt 1), never liked the xbox controllers for playing other games and I would say I'm a little biased towards sony.

Currently iracing cost's the same as my netflix subscription which i really use that often myslef, i don't mind paying if it provides me with what I want. In the long term I think changing to a pc is cheaper and better as well. I've forked out £650 for a I7 7700, 1050 ti 4g, 16g ram I will only have to buy a wheel if mine breaks unlike with a ps5 I may have to buy another. ps5 + wheel = £500 (ish) then the ps plus subscription each year and gt along with any other games the price would go up even further.

With a good pc (with the right PSU, motherboard etc) I can keep an eye out for deals on CPU's and GPU's etc, and upgrade as and when I want. Currently I can race iracing for the next few years without any upgrades. The other games I like to play on the odd lazy sunday such as assassin's creed, fallout, adventure rpg's I guess you'd call them are so big and take so long to complete that I when a new console and version on gt comes out I don't really finish the game, I move on to the next one on the new console. Where as with my current pc I won't be doing this I'll simply be able keep playing these other games and can move on when I'm ready. Granted some of the newer games my require better CPU's and GPU's but by the time I get round to playing them I would have been slowly upgrading different parts of the pc.

This is why in the long run (10+ years) I think iracing and a pc is cheaper for me than my prefered option on gt and a ps.




So far no racing just test run's and tt's but I like how it feel's and really don't mind the cockpit view. Currently 2 sec of the fastest times where as in gt I was 1-1.5 sec off so hoping I'll manage to improve. There's some exploration and learning to still be done with the UI etc. Thanks again guys for the help I'll hopefully be on racing regularly in the coming months. When I discover where and how you send and accept friend request's I'll send some, gave me time.
 
Glad you are enjoying @monkeywall. It took me a little bit to get comfortable with the physics and FFB. What helped me the most was jumping into open practices with the Miata. Practicing around others really helped me a lot. Learned where I was slow and fast compared to others. As well as getting comfortable around others. The open practices are probably one of my favorite things about iRacing. Can't get that in console racers.

Edit: Forgot to mention...

There are several 3rd party apps that work great with iRacing. The ones I use are...

1. Crew Chief: I believe it is crewchief.org, the app works great to help with general race info. He uses your name to speak to you and tells you about wrecks and your times. Several different spotter voices too. Jim will even cuss at you, if you want.

2. Trading Paints: this one is a must. Let's you have personalized liveries and see everyone else's. Several ones on the site you can use. You can also make your own with GIMP or Photoshop and upload them to TP.

3. JRT: Joel Real Timing. Allows you to have overlays to show timing, relevance, class, IR, license, etc of everyone in your session. Comes in handy for different things. I use it mostly in multi class races.

4. JJ Cuss Pack: it is Jimmy Johnson's (from NASCAR) spotter and crew chief instead of the ones in iRacing (or Crew Chief ). They can be quite funny and do cuss at you. I used this one for awhile. Recently switched back to Crew Chief because it is more informative.

There are loads more. These are just the ones I have liked the most.
 
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A couple of things that make iRacing less expensive:

- Renew your subscription with a Black Friday deal.
- Compete in and complete seasons so you get your iRacing credits.
- Purchase cars and tracks in 3's or 6's to get a discount.

I really enjoy endurance racing and the team events in iRacing are incredible.
The private endurance leagues also give good racing.
 
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