Part 1: About iRacing
iRacing was founded in 2004 by Dave Kaemmer and other former members of Papyrus Design Group, the group behind the NASCAR Racing Series and Grand Prix Legends. When EA Sports purchased exclusive rights to the NASCAR video games, Papyrus disbanded and iRacing was formed.
iRacing was released to the public in August of 2008 and has received regular quarterly updates for the past five years, and has amassed a user base of over 35,000 racers!
iRacing also has featured partnerships with NASCAR, IndyCar, Grand Am, and Skip Barber, providing premier experiences in many series.
I have been a member of the service since October of 2011, so I wasn't exactly an early adopter, but I definitely have logged many laps on the service.
Part 2: Driving Feel
The feel of driving in iRacing is rather hit and miss as of lately. They have been rolling out their newest version of their tire model, which feels great on the cars they are on. However, there are only about five cars the tire model currently is in place on, one oval car and 4 road cars.
On cars on the older tire model, there is some susceptibility to erratic car behavior, which can be extremely difficult to save. With some of iRacing's most popular cars on the old tire model, you have to wonder if there may be issues implementing the model onto faster cars.
Part 3: Car Variety
iRacing currently features 16 road cars and 12 oval cars. There is a healthy variety in series. However, there is not much variety when it comes to each series. Besides oval racing, each series is limited in direct competition to just the same make. There is multi class racing, but there is only one model car per class (I.E. the series equivalent to the Le Mans series only has one prototype, one GT1, and one GT2 car) which may be a downside to any drivers carrying a manufacturer loyalty.
Another downside of the service having so many different cars is that there are some cars that have fallen asking the wayside, be it iRacing neglecting the car, or drivers just not liking the car. iRacing's premier road series utilizes the 2010 Williams FW31, which is not exactly a popular choice, and you'd be hard pressed to find a time where the Sprint Car, which is on a tire model that is at least two generations old, is widely run.
Part 4: Tracks
iRacing has some of the highest quality tracks in all of sim racing, but they are starting to age rather poorly in some aspects. The laser scanning they use on the tracks creates a level of precision that is nearly unparalleled, but is definitely at a higher level than most simulations.
However, some tracks look the same as they did five years ago, despite real life renovations (Phoenix and Lime Rock Park come to mind). The final NASCAR Cup Series track, Auto Club Speedway, has been released, however, famous road courses, such as the Nurburgring, are missing, and really would not fit in iRacing's system, as I will mention in an upcoming section.
Part 5: iRating and Safety Rating System
One of the things that really sets iRacing apart from other multiplayer aspects in other simulators is that iRacing incorporates a system to "rate" drivers based on two separate aspects:
Your Safety Rating is based by how safe you are as a driver, and your iRating is classified by where you finish during races. However, I feel the system is quite flawed in some ways.
Your progression through the ranks is based exclusively on your Safety Rating, with no weight on your iRating. That can cause some issues where a driver may progress too fast, and may become a hazard in higher series. I feel like iRacing may be able to resolve competition issues if they connect iRating to your license, which would encorage a higher standard of racing.
However, I feel the safety rating system is flawed as well. At its core, the safety rating system has good intentions, but when you go four times off of the track and don't hit anyone, the safety rating system deems it equal to causing a 10-car pileup. In real life, that would not be viewed the same way, and it should not in iRacing.
The "No Fault" system should also be reevaluated, because there are some clear situations where a racer would deliberately wreck another driver, and the wrecked racer would be penalized the same, if not more so, than the wrecker. I hope in the future, iRacing will be able to look into making a more convenient system that is fair to racers.
Added note: iRacing has recently implemented an "incident cap" to races, where if you incur more than 17 incident points in a race, you are "disqualified" and won't get to finish the race. However, some drivers have minor contact resulting in a 4x being registered, but no damage to either car, so if that happens 4 times in a race, or a netcode issue occurs, then that could be an unwarranted disqualification.
Part 6: Competition
When you are in a race with competent drivers, the experience of racing is unparalleled, with the ability to run close to other driver with confidence in other drivers abilities. However, no race is perfect, and be it latency issues, overconfident drivers, inexperienced drivers, or just people who want to see the world burn, there can be issues. iRacing's sanctioning body, F.I.R.S.T, can usually deal with the issues in a fair and effective manner, however there have been some trivial calls made in the service, amplified by the simplification of the Protest system.
However, when you have THAT race, when you are battling door to door with another driver in a respectful manner, just going all out, that is what hooks you! However, some races will have you wanting to throw your wheel through the screen, especially in those wrecks that are caused by some driver's bad connection, with no real contact occuring.
Part 7: Damage
iRacing has some great damage, that is hampered by some current "limitations"that need to be addressed, that create dangerous situations and unrealistic behavior.
When it comes to visual body damage, iRacing is second to none. The way the bodies actually crumple up, and even minor impacts show on the car, adds to a level of immersion.
However, mechanical damage is where the sim struggles in some aspects. Cars can be known as being notoriously fragile, with some cars being "totaled" after a very minor impact, or borderline undrivable. Add that to the state of iRacing's current incident system, and that will leave drivers in fear of hard racing, because they don't want to suffer the "iRacing Consequences".
iRacing also at this point of time does not support wheels breaking off of the car, which can cause many problems. Instead of a wheel and suspension breaking off of the car, it will move to an unrealistic location, like through the window of a car. In other circumstances, like open wheel racing, you can lose a front wheel in real life and get it replaced in the race, however in iRacing, you will have the contact and it will destroy the front suspension in lieu of the wheel breaking off.
CONCLUSION
iRacing definitely is at the top of the "Pick up and Race" Simulator, where a lot of people race every day in the multitude of racing series, however, as other simulators are advancing further in realism, iRacing seems to be in it's own world at the moment, perfectly content with its flaws, at the expense of racing.
iRacing seems to build on the wrong things, like the disqualification system built on the "No-Fault Incident Point" system, The sporadic rollout (no pun intended) of the New Tire Model V5, while some cars are still running on a tire model that is 3 generations old!
iRacing is starting to do some things right, like beginning to pay more attention to the Road Side, but with simulators such as Assetto Corsa and rFactor 2 looming on the horizon with more advanced features, is it too little too late?
Bottom line, iRacing is the go-to online racing simulator, and likely will be for at least the next year, but there may be a chance of it being dethroned in the near future.
RATING: 80/100
However, some tracks look the same as they did five years ago, despite real life renovations (Phoenix and Lime Rock Park come to mind). The final NASCAR Cup Series track, Auto Club Speedway, has been released, however, famous road courses, such as the Nurburgring, are missing, and really would not fit in iRacing's system, as I will mention in an upcoming section.
Part 5: iRating and Safety Rating System
One of the things that really sets iRacing apart from other multiplayer aspects in other simulators is that iRacing incorporates a system to "rate" drivers based on two separate aspects:
Your Safety Rating is based by how safe you are as a driver, and your iRating is classified by where you finish during races. However, I feel the system is quite flawed in some ways.
Your progression through the ranks is based exclusively on your Safety Rating, with no weight on your iRating. That can cause some issues where a driver may progress too fast, and may become a hazard in higher series. I feel like iRacing may be able to resolve competition issues if they connect iRating to your license, which would encorage a higher standard of racing.
However, I feel the safety rating system is flawed as well. At its core, the safety rating system has good intentions, but when you go four times off of the track and don't hit anyone, the safety rating system deems it equal to causing a 10-car pileup. In real life, that would not be viewed the same way, and it should not in iRacing.
The "No Fault" system should also be reevaluated, because there are some clear situations where a racer would deliberately wreck another driver, and the wrecked racer would be penalized the same, if not more so, than the wrecker. I hope in the future, iRacing will be able to look into making a more convenient system that is fair to racers.
Added note: iRacing has recently implemented an "incident cap" to races, where if you incur more than 17 incident points in a race, you are "disqualified" and won't get to finish the race. However, some drivers have minor contact resulting in a 4x being registered, but no damage to either car, so if that happens 4 times in a race, or a netcode issue occurs, then that could be an unwarranted disqualification.
Part 6: Competition
When you are in a race with competent drivers, the experience of racing is unparalleled, with the ability to run close to other driver with confidence in other drivers abilities. However, no race is perfect, and be it latency issues, overconfident drivers, inexperienced drivers, or just people who want to see the world burn, there can be issues. iRacing's sanctioning body, F.I.R.S.T, can usually deal with the issues in a fair and effective manner, however there have been some trivial calls made in the service, amplified by the simplification of the Protest system.
However, when you have THAT race, when you are battling door to door with another driver in a respectful manner, just going all out, that is what hooks you! However, some races will have you wanting to throw your wheel through the screen, especially in those wrecks that are caused by some driver's bad connection, with no real contact occuring.
Part 7: Damage
iRacing has some great damage, that is hampered by some current "limitations"that need to be addressed, that create dangerous situations and unrealistic behavior.
When it comes to visual body damage, iRacing is second to none. The way the bodies actually crumple up, and even minor impacts show on the car, adds to a level of immersion.
However, mechanical damage is where the sim struggles in some aspects. Cars can be known as being notoriously fragile, with some cars being "totaled" after a very minor impact, or borderline undrivable. Add that to the state of iRacing's current incident system, and that will leave drivers in fear of hard racing, because they don't want to suffer the "iRacing Consequences".
iRacing also at this point of time does not support wheels breaking off of the car, which can cause many problems. Instead of a wheel and suspension breaking off of the car, it will move to an unrealistic location, like through the window of a car. In other circumstances, like open wheel racing, you can lose a front wheel in real life and get it replaced in the race, however in iRacing, you will have the contact and it will destroy the front suspension in lieu of the wheel breaking off.
CONCLUSION
iRacing definitely is at the top of the "Pick up and Race" Simulator, where a lot of people race every day in the multitude of racing series, however, as other simulators are advancing further in realism, iRacing seems to be in it's own world at the moment, perfectly content with its flaws, at the expense of racing.
iRacing seems to build on the wrong things, like the disqualification system built on the "No-Fault Incident Point" system, The sporadic rollout (no pun intended) of the New Tire Model V5, while some cars are still running on a tire model that is 3 generations old!
iRacing is starting to do some things right, like beginning to pay more attention to the Road Side, but with simulators such as Assetto Corsa and rFactor 2 looming on the horizon with more advanced features, is it too little too late?
Bottom line, iRacing is the go-to online racing simulator, and likely will be for at least the next year, but there may be a chance of it being dethroned in the near future.
RATING: 80/100
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