Racing, Drivers Education, autocross, and other motorsports
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By fpena944
#103705
I've played racing games since the beginning of video games systems. I have Forza for my Xbox One and play it from time to time but never had gotten into iRacing.

Well today one of my Porsche buddies set up an event where we rented two racing simulators with full hydraulic motion capabilities. These rigs were quite impressive as they made it "almost" feel like you were racing in an actual vehicle.

We chose the 991 GT3R and selected Road Atlanta as our location for competition.

I was awful at this whole thing. First I'm used to manual shifting but this GT3 has paddle shifters so strike one against me. Strike two was not being all that familiar with Road Atlanta and unlike a traditional video game you don't have a map of the track's course sitting on the side of the screen.

Strike three and perhaps the most impactful was that somehow this rig was causing me to have motion sickness! Yeah I couldn't believe it, a video game was getting me nauseous so I kept having to look up at the ceiling periodically to "reset" my mind. But doing this caused me to drive like crap so inevitably I was one of the worst out there today.

Oh well, it was fun although my head was still spinning for a few hours afterwards. I want more but I'd rather do it with a single screen in front of me and a static chair!

Anyone else indulge?
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By Gator_86_951
#103782
@fpena944 - this is a bit of a rabbit hole, and while I do not condone Rennlist, there is a lot of information on this topic over there.

I am a bit of a sim racing evangelist, and have many converts in my flock. The latest during the pandemic was a dentist in New Jersey. I let him borrow my projects cars account to futz with the go-karts as a starting point. I need to message him to see how he is doing. Another was a guy around my age with a start up in DC.

You were probably on CXC simulations rigs or something similar.

I haven't been able to find time for my rig in probably 5-6 months or so. I usually focus on endurance racing events, with the last being the 24 hours around the 'ring where I showed up without really practicing and did my stint at night. That was fun. :roflmao:

Me and another group from the same league won our split at the 24 hours of Daytona. :gaywave:

It is a great way to get in seat time per unit time, especially compared to DE. I don't think I will ever bother doing PCA DE again, unless it is to requalify back into solo/red. Even then, I am not sure the time investment is worth it given the extremely limited track time you get at those events. The closest track to me is summit point, which is still 1.5 hours away.

If you have some interest, it would honestly be most efficient for me to explain all this over the phone, including my sermon on where to start. PM if you want to jibba jabba.
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By Gator_86_951
#103783
Also, I am not a fan of the motion sims. I also had an oculus that I basically never used and sold, even though it did not give me motion sickness - I never felt it was a good idea having such a bright ass light so close to your eyes for more than 15 minutes at a time. Here is my rig as pictured from late last year. Still need to tinker with the monitor angles and install the fourth telemetry monitor, but you can see how deep the hole can go without even going that deep (compared to some of the other dorks I run with).

I am hoping/planning to run the upcoming PCA Sim Racing series which uses the GT3 R - time permitting.
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By fpena944
#104006
@Gator_86_951 - wow that is a nice rig!

My friend told me he spent about $5k on his whole setup. Probably well short of the equipment we used with the movement but likely a better option for me!

Yes I had no idea that there was this much support for iRacing and found that there are real cash prizes awarded for season winners! I would love to get into it more but probably don't have the time right now to do so. But I probably will download it and just buy the Logitech cheap-o steering wheel/pedal set so I can indulge from time to time.

The VR headset is also something I couldn't use for long too. Had one that attached to my phone and played a game for a little bit, in minutes I was done! Hopefully that's not how technology will progress because if so looks like I'll be left behind. :biggrin:

Your comment about it being a DE substitute is interesting though. Because one of the comments I made was that these simulations are sure a lot cheaper and safer than going flat-out in a real GT3. Given the fact that out of an entire DE weekend you get just a few hours of actual track time, you make a good case. Not quite the same but could be a decent substitute for the right reasons.
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By TRAKCAR
#104011
I will as soon as I get a turn key rig going, but hard to know what to buy and where to buy it :-)
Left a couple messages at Ricmotech, they seem to be local but probably too busy / back ordered whatever. Looks like fun.
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By Gator_86_951
#104036
@fpena944 - I think poking around with some basic Logitech stuff is a great place to start. Though, the brake pedal will be a potentiometer and not based on pressure, which is sort of the key to all of this beyond the force feedback.

Do yourself a favor, don't start directly with iRacing. That is a recipe for getting angry pretty quickly. I would suggest starting with something sim-cade like the go-karts in project cars. You can borrow my steam account if you want to try that out. I think I have project cars 3 on there and it has karts.

Edit: As for DE vs. sim racing. I may be in the minority, but having done a metric shit ton of DE before I moved up here, I wouldn't even waste my time anymore. Lapping even in red/solo with all the rules and extremely limited track time, and no wheel to wheel anything doesn't sound particularly appealing to me. Sim Racing a substitute for spending 4 hours preparing for basically no track time at a rigidly controlled DE - absolutely. Assuming a decent sim racing setup. A substitute for real life wheel to wheel - of course not. For that, the best bang for the buck is karting.
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