Road Course Aliens in iRacing Rookie Solstice

I was doing a qualifying session in the Rookie Solstice at LRP and was
having a tough time even getting my times down into the 1:06s. I decided to
jump into the top qualifier's car to see how he was getting high 1:02s and
he was actually "drifting" the car all the way around. In a real-life
situation his tires would be completely gone after one lap I am sure, to say
nothing about other mechanical issues. In T1-T3 he was always completely
sideways with his rear tires always smoking like hell. I am not saying he
wasn't good, in fact, he was very good at what he was doing. I hope that the
physics of that particular car are looked at a little more and that
mechanical and tire failures are changed to a more realistic level. I
haven't done a lot of road racing in iRacing yet and had decided this week
to do more so I could get into another car other than the Solstice. I guess
I have to get out "Need for Speed" and practice my drifting
techniques.........:-).



Ed Medlin

"Ed Medlin" <ed@ edmedlin.com> wrote in message
...
> I was doing a qualifying session in the Rookie Solstice at LRP and was
> having a tough time even getting my times down into the 1:06s. I decided
> to jump into the top qualifier's car to see how he was getting high 1:02s
> and he was actually "drifting" the car all the way around. In a real-life
> situation his tires would be completely gone after one lap I am sure, to
> say nothing about other mechanical issues. In T1-T3 he was always
> completely sideways with his rear tires always smoking like hell. I am not
> saying he wasn't good, in fact, he was very good at what he was doing. I
> hope that the physics of that particular car are looked at a little more
> and that mechanical and tire failures are changed to a more realistic
> level. I haven't done a lot of road racing in iRacing yet and had decided
> this week to do more so I could get into another car other than the
> Solstice. I guess I have to get out "Need for Speed" and practice my
> drifting techniques.........:-).
>

This is why I've stopped racing Iracing. Once they get all the internal
damage sorted out, I'll be back.

On Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:43:32 -0500, "Ed Medlin" <ed@ edmedlin.com>
wrote:

> I was doing a qualifying session in the Rookie Solstice at LRP and was
>having a tough time even getting my times down into the 1:06s. I decided to
>jump into the top qualifier's car to see how he was getting high 1:02s and
>he was actually "drifting" the car all the way around.

Watching other cars online doesn't give you a true picture about how
they're driving. You should watch videos that people have captured and
posted on Youtube, blip.tv etc instead.

"Ed Medlin" <ed@ edmedlin.com> wrote:

> I was doing a qualifying session in the Rookie Solstice at LRP
> and was
> having a tough time even getting my times down into the 1:06s. I
> decided to jump into the top qualifier's car to see how he was
> getting high 1:02s and he was actually "drifting" the car all the
> way around. In a real-life situation his tires would be completely
> gone after one lap I am sure,

Seems to me there should be some other reason than tire wear if
power sliding is to be prohibited. If power sliding leads to faster
times, I would invent high-tech tires that last a long time.

> to say nothing about other mechanical issues.

I guess you mean like engine wear, given current technology.

> In T1-T3 he was always completely sideways with his rear tires
> always smoking like hell. I am not saying he wasn't good, in fact,
> he was very good at what he was doing.

I'd say he is good at pushing the envelope in situation reality.

Computers don't perfectly simulate reality, but computers are
excellent at adjudication. I totally enjoy not having to manually
enforce rules.

> I hope that the physics of that particular car are looked at a
> little more and that mechanical and tire failures are changed to a
> more realistic level.

Or you could get a better car with some good tires. Maybe your
opponent has an outstanding pit crew.

> I haven't done a lot of road racing in iRacing yet and had decided
> this week to do more so I could get into another car other than
> the Solstice.

Have you tried pushing the envelope in that car?

> I guess I have to get out "Need for Speed" and practice my
> drifting techniques.........:-).

If I'm not mistaken, you might be able to achieve the same effect in
Race 07 simply by reducing tire traction. Seems I had the pleasure
of power sliding after doing so.



--
The first big front wheel rollerblades.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27532210@N04/2565924423/
Google Groups is destroying the USENET archive.

> > I haven't done a lot of road racing in iRacing yet and had decided
> > this week to do more so I could get into another car other than
> > the Solstice.
>
> Have you tried pushing the envelope in that car?

I think almost nobody has tried to push the Solstice.

Real World Footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8TW9alkaE

in-sim drifting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvVr81n3LT4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvkFfug-nc4

In reply to the initial poster, you do realise these races are
EXTREMELY short? It would certainly wear them heavily and if any of
those 'aliens' locked a tyre it would probably pop, but I am willing
to bet you that they are extremely precise and the only wear going on
those tyres is during the drift - which would be less wearing than a
lockup.

> I was doing a qualifying session in the Rookie Solstice at LRP and was having a tough time even getting my times
> down into the 1:06s. I decided to jump into the top qualifier's car to see how he was getting high 1:02s and he was
> actually "drifting" the car all the way around.

A possible issue here is was that driver really drifting, or is the apparent
visual and audio feedback that appears to be drifing iRacing's method for
providing feedback that the tires are at the limit?

In GPL, the cars appeared to be drifting, but that was because of the large
working slip angles of the tires used by those cars. Note that slip angle
at the rear tires is the yaw angle of the car, and it was around 10 degrees
or so for those cars.

"vigi" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:43:32 -0500, "Ed Medlin" <ed@ edmedlin.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I was doing a qualifying session in the Rookie Solstice at LRP and was
>>having a tough time even getting my times down into the 1:06s. I decided
>>to
>>jump into the top qualifier's car to see how he was getting high 1:02s and
>>he was actually "drifting" the car all the way around.
>
> Watching other cars online doesn't give you a true picture about how
> they're driving. You should watch videos that people have captured and
> posted on Youtube, blip.tv etc instead.

I got into his cockpit view and watched from a chase view and that is really
enough to know how he was driving the line.


Ed

"Tim Wheatley" > wrote in message
...
>> > I haven't done a lot of road racing in iRacing yet and had decided
>> > this week to do more so I could get into another car other than
>> > the Solstice.
>>
>> Have you tried pushing the envelope in that car?
>
> I think almost nobody has tried to push the Solstice.
>
> Real World Footage:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8TW9alkaE
>
> in-sim drifting:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvVr81n3LT4
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvkFfug-nc4
>
> In reply to the initial poster, you do realise these races are
> EXTREMELY short? It would certainly wear them heavily and if any of
> those 'aliens' locked a tyre it would probably pop, but I am willing
> to bet you that they are extremely precise and the only wear going on
> those tyres is during the drift - which would be less wearing than a
> lockup.

During the actual race it would not be possible to do 20 laps at LRP like
that with iRacing's tire wear model. I was talking about qualifying, which
only took him about 3 laps to get down in the 1:02s. In Tim's 2nd "In-sim"
video I see a closer version of what he was doing, but at LRP this guy was
in a constant drift, barely off the rev limiter, from T1 all the way until
the straight. In the last 3 turns, he took a more conventional line. The
only thing I was trying to say is that I have seen a LOT of races from LRP
in a lot of different classes and have never seen anyone drive turns 1-3
like that.......or anywhere near like that......:-). He was able to keep
much more forward momentum than I would think possible with all the loss of
rear traction. I guess it is just a quirk of the Rookie Solstice because I
don't see much of that in the Advanced Solstice. I just need more
laps........:-).


Ed

On Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:52:00 -0500, "Ed Medlin" <ed@ edmedlin.com>
wrote:

>I got into his cockpit view and watched from a chase view and that is really
>enough to know how he was driving the line.

Maybe the general line (although not even that very accurately) but
the cars always seem to drift more than they really do when watching
others online.

"vigi" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:52:00 -0500, "Ed Medlin" <ed@ edmedlin.com>
> wrote:
>
>>I got into his cockpit view and watched from a chase view and that is
>>really
>>enough to know how he was driving the line.
>
> Maybe the general line (although not even that very accurately) but
> the cars always seem to drift more than they really do when watching
> others online.

I guess so. Like I said, I am just in need of some more laps........:-) I
still have fun with it. The races usually get split up so that I am racing
folks more in my skill range. The qualifying sessions can be a bit
overwhelming though......

Ed