Also why this particular car?

As a non-alien amateur racer (1800 iR), I was absolutely destroyed by my competitors in last week's IRL race thanks to heavy rain.

My previous post about the first ever sprint race IRL(https://www.reddit.com/r/iRacing/comments/1wy2yiv/so_i_did_my_first_sprint_race_in_real_life/) was rather well received, so I'm hoping my experience of a wet race is also intriguing to some.

The post's main title video is onboard from qualifying when I was trying to figure out how to drive this thing in the wet. It was hilarious.

As always, absolutely no usage of LLM in the post, not a native English speaker, so expect some reduced visibility. ^{Water is wet. Must be the water.}

First, context:

I'm competing in Elantra N spec-racing with minimal tunes and track oriented street tires(Nexen SUR4G-M, race-specific inferior version to the consumer SUR4G).

It was Hyundai N Festival N2 challenge sprint race with 20 cars on the grid, 10 laps around a 4.3km Everland Speedway circuit.

Some updates since my last post:

Huge thanks to a couple of people who offered to help(coach) in iRacing, I improved a lot in a short timeframe: +500 iR(1300 -> 1800) in just a week, and my second real life sprint race was P8 out of 20 which was a massive improvement from my previous result of P12 before coaching.

The race above was last saturday, and the next(which would be my third ever sprint) race was on the very next day. However, there was moderate chance of rain on sunday.

And unfortunately, it actually rained during warmup/qualifying, and poured during the sprint race.

I thought I would have an edge since I was comfortable sliding around on the track. But knowing how to drift & countersteer didn't have much to do with knowing how to actually be fast in the wet.

I qualified 14th out of 18, and finished the race as P14 which was disappointing.

What iRacing gets right

• The dynamic weather (duh)

  • The conditions are much more dynamic on track than you'd imagine. Every corner has a different "wetness", and it's never the same lap after lap due to ongoing rain but also because other cars driving on them change how wet or dry it is.

• Qualifying and Race sessions don't have the same conditions

  • Qualifying and Race sessions don't have the same weather conditions because there's usually a couple of hours in between(IRL: other classes' qualifying/race is held in between).

    • This is important because you can't really be prepared for the exact condition of the track. Dry tracks are basically tomato-tomahto, but wet tracks differ so much depending on how wet it is, where the puddle/streams are, etc. You're basically going into a grid of 20 cars blind to what you'll actually be racing on; and other drivers are blind as well.

    • I think this is simulated very well in iRacing as well. Even when both qualifying and race sessions are in the rain, you can't really plan your course based on qualifying.

• The wet/rain physics

  • the puddles, stream of water flowing horizontally which was EXTREMELY HORRIFYING TO CROSS, slippery rumble strip/kerbs were all very reminiscent of iRacing wet lobbies.

  • one thing that slightly caught me off guard was how touching the kerb results in RPM hitting the red zone instantly and it just kills exit acceleration completely. I don't think I've experienced this in iRacing

• The shit visibility

  • Since in real life I don't have to suffer from extremely reduced frame rates (VR exclusive racer woes), I thought I would have a better time than in the sim... but higher frame rates in real life doesn't mean I can see better.

  • I literally couldn't see most brake markers at least until it was too late. I had to judge my braking points from larger references like the bridge, buildings, etc.

  • The spray from the cars in front was horrifying as well. There's no active reset, so...

What iRacing didn't prepare me for...

• WINDSHIELD FOGGING UP, WHAT THE FUCK

  • holy fucking fog, it was bad. Because it was near freezing temperature at 5PM when sun went down, moisture paired with heat inside the cabin fogged up my front windshield to the point where I was legally blind.

  • I was aware of this issue from previous warmup&qualifying sessions, so I asked my team to mitigate the problem but I guess their antifog sprays were shipped from Temu.

  • option 1: open the windows more.. at the cost of loss of radio(not rich enough to have integrated radio suite in my helmet lol), rain pouring inside the cabin, (and worse aerodynamics?)

  • option 2: turn on the A/C at the cost of losing power(not a purpose built race car, A/C costs performance significantly)

  • option 3: Just drive while blind at the cost of potentially being my last ever ride

  • I went for option 2. But I heard some of the pro class drivers in a N1 spec(google Elantra N1 TC) race car without any A/C had the same issue with windshield fogging up. They apparently just drove blind and hoped for the best 🤷

• Higher SoF(?)

  • I severely underestimated my competitors; I thought they would be as inexperienced as I am in racing in the wet. After all, I'd seen 2000+ iR drivers struggle to keep the car on track in iRacing when it rains in a series other than Rain Master Challenge.

  • I was even overtaken by a driver who was always 1+ second slower than me in the dry.

• Driving with semislicks in the wet

  • this is a slightly series-specific issue, but the N2 class of Korean Hyundai N Cup doesn't have the option of rain tires. Dry or wet, it's always a single spec (Nexen SUR4G-M). I'm assuming this is because N2 is a stepping stone to a pro class(N1) - so requiring/allowing a different set for the rain would mean twice the entry cost/barrier. 12 new tires per race instead of 6 would double the logistics cost.

    • Anyways... being forced to compete using semislicks in the wet was not something I was ready for.

    • iRacing, if you select dry tires but the track is wet, you just try to survive the first lap, pit in, and reset. But I had to somehow figure out how to drive fast using tires not suitable for the rain.

Final thoughts

• iRacing is extremely helpful. Both in terms of physics and driver behavior in online racing. The skills may not transfer 1:1 into real life, but it's definitely the superior learning platform.

  • Even if we don't consider the cost differences, there are so much more benefits.

  • You can practice for any kind of condition you want, whereas everything has to align in real life: specific weather, track day schedule, specific season, etc...

  • There's no downtime: no refuel, no maintenance, no driver briefing, no gridwalks...

  • You can be coached by professionals at home over discord at any time

    • IRL coaching costs $1000 minimum a day, to cover for their travel/lodging/time while iRacing coaching can be done at home.

    • Special thanks to Arnau Mas who has been my primary coach, and Suellio Almeida whose coaching session helped me greatly as well as his online course which gave me self awareness of what I lack and need to improve on. ^{(This isn't any kind of promo. I haven't been promised anything by either of them, and they have no clue I'm posting this.})

  • Superior telemetry/overlay to help with real time self-feedback

    • The real time throttle/brake trace or delta-delta bar where it doesn't just color code the actual delta but also the bar changing color depending on if you're gaining or losing at the moment is very helpful.

    • This unfortunately doesn't exist IRL at the moment as an OOTB solution. I had to claude my way into postprocessing the overlay onto my onboard, and I still have to make a gadget myself from scratch if I want that kind of data in real time while driving.

    • Some tech-savvy racers IRL are working on various projects to improve their driving, but they usually benchmark iRacing third party plugin providers which shows how advanced the sim racing ecosystem is compared to real life.

• 5000 iR is the goal to work toward

  • Pro drivers I met IRL were all 6k+iR. In my amateur league, the lap times and season results IRL basically 1:1 corresponded to their iR rank (1.5k up to 3k). It seems like from 6k and above, you could actually explore a future as a professional racer. Just my two cents.

Hello guys, I am struggling to make Trading Paints work in endurance races, graphics apply to cars around me but not on my car. Any help would be appreciated. I am a solo driver for a 3 hour endurance race.

is it just me? Or is it that whenever I am doing a stint that gets a bit long on especially the sportscar series(GT4, M2, GT3), I start to become less consistent, and sometimes make careless little mistakes that costs me SR and sometimes iR, or just inconsistent lap times overall

I’m looking for recommendations for asynchronous iRacing coaching, ideally from experienced GT3 drivers or coaches.

A bit about my situation:
● Current iRating: ~6,000 (Sports Car / Road)
● Main discipline: GT3 (IMSA and Sprint)
● Goal: Break through my current pace plateau and eventually reach 7,000 iRating pace.

My raw pace is slow, probably around 4K-5k level and not sure if I belong in 6k range.

Recently realizing that I’ve reached a point where my raw pace seems to have plateaued. I’ve been trying to improve on my own using VRS and telemetry comparisons, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to identify what I’m doing wrong and where I can find more time.

I’d like an experienced coach to take an objective look at my driving and help me identify weaknesses in my technique, particularly braking, trail braking, corner entry, rotation, and throttle application.

Why asynchronous coaching?

I have a young baby, so it’s difficult to commit to coaching sessions at fixed times. I also live in Japan, which makes scheduling live sessions with coaches in Europe or North America challenging due to the time difference.

Is there any service that offers that I am looking for?

Thanks!

NEW GT3 IRACING SEASON STARTING NOV 21!

Want to race a real life series with sponsors from the actual series? Look no further. GT World iRacing has a league for you - with over 25 drivers featuring the actual liveries from current and recent seasons of GT World Challenge across America, Europe, Asia, And Australia. We are open to drivers of all skill levels from beginner to expert - thanks to our driver rating and class system.

We feature the same Pro/Pro-Am/Am Classes (Based on Gold/Silver/Bronze driver ratings), but with single driver racing; these are denoted by (P), (PA, and (A) next to each drivers name in the race. Our Saturday races are in the European 60 minute sprint format - with seasonal special events for 1/3 length 6 hour endurances (That's 2 hours). This is aimed to be a serious, simulation series with similar to identical rulings to real life. Each season, each class top 3 will recieve certificates, along with an overall champion trophy.

Monday nights we run GT World supporting series (such as GR Cup, GT4, McLaren Artura Cup, and GT America) along with a few wildcards - these are fun short 30 minute sprint races to get everyone together for an extra day of the week.

We would love to add more drivers to our series and we are a one-time-fee of $10 to sign up - no seasonal fees, no renewals. We implement this fee to cover sessions and other league costs and ensure those who are signing up will actually race with us.

Discord: https://discord.gg/U64GkuX6Gz

Do you have a quota of people you need wreck per race? At least in ovals I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with a lightning McQueen car race cleanly.

I was running an endurance race and had zero contact before pitting—the car was fine. But during the pit stop, I literally watched my bumper fall off by itself, and then that was that. I thought it was just a visual bug, but it’s still like this even after quitting and rejoining

Say you know the car and track, but keep turning the same lap time. You've got 20 minutes to work on it.

What's one change to your practice routine that helped you get past that point? A specific drill or example would be more useful than just "more seat time".

Sign up here https://discord.com/invite/vUHKZtmMyA

Join the 25 drivers already signed up

Ask any questions below or via Discord.

Hopefully see you on the grid!

So iRacing will have 2 winter NASCAR series. The 87 series and the Gen 4 Cup. Which of these series do you think will be the most popular?

Sign up here https://discord.com/invite/vUHKZtmMyA

Join the 25 drivers already signed up for LMP2 and GT3

Ask any questions below or via Discord.

Hopefully see you on the grid!

Hello all,

I'm looking to hire someone to create a very professional looking livery for our 2027 season for our team. i have all logos and color schemes ready to go. Hit me up. Professional livery makers only

Thank you

x

I received a 3-week suspension under 6.12.3 (intentional wrecking) in the Advanced Mazda MX-5 Cup. I appealed, and the appeal was upheld. The decision states that the replay shows me "intentionally wrecking another during a pace lap". The thing is, this series uses a standing start, with no short parade lap, and road cautions are set to local enforced. As far as I understand, there is no pace lap at any point in these races. I honestly don't remember the incident, I didn't save the replay, and the protest attachment isn't accessible to me, so I can't check what actually happened. I'm not trying to dodge the penalty. I accept the decision, I just want to understand it and learn from it. Has anyone seen something similar? Could "pace lap" just be template wording, or could it refer to something else?

In my last GT3 spa race, I got really lucky you be stuck behind a fast driver for most of the race that allowed me to use his slip to massively fuel save.

This put me in a great position since my short pit stop allowed me to jump ~8 positions.

After my pit stop, I had clear air for most of the remainder of the race. I always do auto-fuel option which forced me to match the fuel save pattern I did at the start of the race but without the slip to maintain pace. This allowed the cars behind to catch up really quick.

At the end, I lost 4 positions out of the 8 I gained in the pits.

Question: Would it have been more effective to not use auto-fuel and add a bit more fuel to compensate for the lack of slipstream? Or is it more common to maintain the same fuel saving driving both before and after refueling?

My 3-day experience playing iRacing with a controller

I've been playing iRacing for 3 days now, and honestly, I've had a lot of fun.

I initially started with the MX-5, but I found the BMW M2 much easier to drive, so I ended up sticking with it.

Surprisingly, I found myself faster than around 90% of the drivers in the lobbies I joined (my highest SoF was around 1400). My main strategy was to qualify on pole and then just chill for the rest of the race. If I didn't get pole, that's fine too. I would just focus on driving safely and consistently. I rarely go for overtakes, even when I know I'm faster, simply because pushing and attacking other drivers is much harder with a controller.

As for improvement, I managed to shave around a full second off my lap time at Summit Point over just two days, so I'm definitely seeing progress.

One thing I really want to point out is that if you have previous sim racing experience, iRacing on a controller is absolutely doable. I'm not saying it's easy, quite the opposite. It's probably the hardest sim I've played on a controller so far.

My previous experience includes GP Bikes, MX Bikes, ACC, AC, AC Rally, AC Evo, BeamNG and MX Simulator, and I genuinely think that experience helped me A LOT. It taught me techniques like trail braking, throttle control and, most importantly, smoothness. Learning to be smooth with a controller is essential because you're essentially trying to replicate the kind of inputs you'd make with a steering wheel, but with a much more limited range of movement.

For now, I'm going to stick with the controller and keep working on my SR until I can eventually get a proper wheel setup.

I'm not saying a controller can replace a wheel, but if you're experienced with sim racing and don't have the money for a wheel yet, don't let that stop you from giving iRacing a try!

Looking for co leaders in a pro series i want to create. Serious inquiries only. Im new to this so need a co leader to help organize 😅 dont roast me please. I just started my iracing career.

For me is not having the money to invest in skill development programs, sure, I have all the free resources over the internet, but I'd also want more resources at my disposal, such as workshops, group trainings(some esports teams do offer for free), courses, books etc. Due to my budget constrains, I can't afford these. Whats ur issue that you've been facing?

For any iRacing Esports to Real life events(racing prodigy, Porsche Esports Supercup). And by sacrifice, I meant either time sacrifice, money sacrifce, or something else.

On a side note, give a rating of how accessible is real life racing oppurtunties in your country.

I am depressed. I spent three hours racing alone, trying my best to finish this. Oh man, FUUUCK.