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I live not far from the Nordschleife and I own a car built for the track. Nothing insane but fun enough to drive. The e-sports is appealing to me in some ways,

I live not far from the Nordschleife and I own a car built for the track. Nothing insane but fun enough to drive. The e-sports is appealing to me in some ways, I am considering getting a proper setup. But there is simply no comparison going into Schwedenkreuz at 200kph+ in a real car vs a video game (call it a simulator, if you wish). When things go wrong, they go wrong very fast and it could hurt. This is what keeps you focused. A lot of the people who play those video games, they come to drive the real thing. It ends in tears quite often. The vdeo game simply does not reflect things like: track surface bumpiness, knocks in the car, feeling of the steering rack, driving over curbs, the forces on ones wrists and what happens to them after 20 laps, having to actually move your head to check the mirrors, tires going off, brakes fading, changing weather conditions and having to choose a different line in the wet and dry, dirt on the surface, brake discs going out of shape from overheating, etc. The video game experience does not relate to the real driving. All the forces under braking, acceleration, going over the crest, compression when going into the dips, gear not going in because the forces between the engine and the gesrbox do not allow for it to go in - it's all missing. It's a washed down experience. It's good maybe for concentration training and learning general track layout. What's really annoying in virtually every video game is that, somehow, none of them even manages to really reflect the track width. All other things like changing weather is just algorithm, once you learn the algorithm, there's no surprise anymore. * edit for readability

lodi 9y ago
You need to try iRacing in VR. It covers about a third of the stuff on your list. > no track surface bumpiness... none of them even manages to really reflect the track width. iRacing laser-scans real-world tracks. You feel the bumps through your force feedback wheel and/or motion rig if available. > having to actually move your head to check the mirrors You absolutely have to crane your neck 1:1 in VR. Super immersive in flight sims particularly. > having to choose a different line in the wet and dry, dirt on the surface Even simpler sims model this kind of thing, and especially all of the market leaders. iRacing models rubber build-up during the course of the race, track temperature, water evaporation, etc. > This is what keeps you focused. Obviously there's no fear of death in a simulator; but the drivers in these virtual races take this stuff seriously. This isn't Forza. > is just algorithm, once you learn the algorithm, there's no surprise anymore. I'm not sure if you've played any modern sims, but they're incredibly sophisticated. iRacing is used by Nascar, etc. teams. DCS A-10 is an offshoot of a military simulator for pilot training. --- Oh and forgot to add... the F1 game featured in the article is trash as far as driving physics go. It's a 'game', not a 'sim'.
- rad_gruchalski 9y ago
  I shall give it a try then, thanks for feedback.
  - rad_gruchalski 9y ago
    The sim expo (http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/events-tickets/automobile/blancpain-gt-series-sprint-cup/simracingexpo-2017.html http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/events-tickets/automobile/blan...) has been at the Nürburgring about a couple of moths ago. Does anyone know anything similar happening in Germany / Belgium / Netherlands in the near future?
  - mrguyorama 9y ago
    Even the super cheap options like Assetto Corsa (my sim of choice because I can't afford to maintain the skill and money required by iRacing) meet many of the challenges you listed. Check out EmptyBox on youtube [0]. He's recently started using VR headsets in his regular races and he is quite good at sim racing. He also is entertaining. It's certainly not a replacement for an actual car, track time, etc, but the $1000 I spent on hardware to get a simulation of it (that I also use for other things like Flight simulation) was well worth it. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEze6vbAp-s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEze6vbAp-s
exDM69 9y ago
It sure must be fun to go for track days, especially if you live near the Nordscleife but there's one critical element that you won't get into unless you're a semi-professional racing driver: the competition. Yes, hotlapping can be a competition but wheel to wheel racing is where the fun is at. Someone already replied to you about how detailed iRacing can get. Some other sims are also quite good, but IMO none come close to iRacing's fidelity let alone the great online competition with safety ratings and sanctioned series. You absolutely do have to care about tire temperatures, bumps on the road, dirty/clean/hot/cold track (e.g. shadows are cold) and brake temperatures. Especially once you get into the single seaters like Star Mazda or Formula Renault, where you have to start with cold, underpressurized tires because for competitive times you need an aggressive car setup that only starts working once you're warmed up. It's no substitute for track days, but no-one in their right mind would let me take a 1966 Lotus 49 Formula 1 car (only a handful in existance) on the Nordschleife, let alone go wheel-to-wheel with others on one.

lodi 9y ago

You need to try iRacing in VR. It covers about a third of the stuff on your list. > no track surface bumpiness... none of them even manages to really reflect the track width. iRacing laser-scans real-world tracks. You feel the bumps through your force feedback wheel and/or motion rig if available. > having to actually move your head to check the mirrors You absolutely have to crane your neck 1:1 in VR. Super immersive in flight sims particularly. > having to choose a different line in the wet and dry, dirt on the surface Even simpler sims model this kind of thing, and especially all of the market leaders. iRacing models rubber build-up during the course of the race, track temperature, water evaporation, etc. > This is what keeps you focused. Obviously there's no fear of death in a simulator; but the drivers in these virtual races take this stuff seriously. This isn't Forza. > is just algorithm, once you learn the algorithm, there's no surprise anymore. I'm not sure if you've played any modern sims, but they're incredibly sophisticated. iRacing is used by Nascar, etc. teams. DCS A-10 is an offshoot of a military simulator for pilot training. --- Oh and forgot to add... the F1 game featured in the article is trash as far as driving physics go. It's a 'game', not a 'sim'.

rad_gruchalski 9y ago
I shall give it a try then, thanks for feedback.
- rad_gruchalski 9y ago
  The sim expo (http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/events-tickets/automobile/blancpain-gt-series-sprint-cup/simracingexpo-2017.html http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/events-tickets/automobile/blan...) has been at the Nürburgring about a couple of moths ago. Does anyone know anything similar happening in Germany / Belgium / Netherlands in the near future?
- mrguyorama 9y ago
  Even the super cheap options like Assetto Corsa (my sim of choice because I can't afford to maintain the skill and money required by iRacing) meet many of the challenges you listed. Check out EmptyBox on youtube [0]. He's recently started using VR headsets in his regular races and he is quite good at sim racing. He also is entertaining. It's certainly not a replacement for an actual car, track time, etc, but the $1000 I spent on hardware to get a simulation of it (that I also use for other things like Flight simulation) was well worth it. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEze6vbAp-s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEze6vbAp-s

exDM69 9y ago

It sure must be fun to go for track days, especially if you live near the Nordscleife but there's one critical element that you won't get into unless you're a semi-professional racing driver: the competition. Yes, hotlapping can be a competition but wheel to wheel racing is where the fun is at. Someone already replied to you about how detailed iRacing can get. Some other sims are also quite good, but IMO none come close to iRacing's fidelity let alone the great online competition with safety ratings and sanctioned series. You absolutely do have to care about tire temperatures, bumps on the road, dirty/clean/hot/cold track (e.g. shadows are cold) and brake temperatures. Especially once you get into the single seaters like Star Mazda or Formula Renault, where you have to start with cold, underpressurized tires because for competitive times you need an aggressive car setup that only starts working once you're warmed up. It's no substitute for track days, but no-one in their right mind would let me take a 1966 Lotus 49 Formula 1 car (only a handful in existance) on the Nordschleife, let alone go wheel-to-wheel with others on one.