miztic

iRacing had a black friday deal, so I ended up signing up, I wish they had my local tracks on there, but road america will do for now.
I build a pc for it with stuff I had laying around the house, Intel Atom (dual core 1.6Ghz) 2GB memory and a nvidia 250GTS video card, doesn't run the sim at max settings but it looks great and runs smooth.

one observation, I keep blowing turns where I wouldn't in a real car, so something is missing, I'm guessing brake feel and 3D (depth perception)

edit: wow the steadiplay is expensive! for $50 more I can get a playseat setup which has an actual seat included.
http://www.playseat.com/shop/us/us/p...eat-white.html

New Yorker

You can watch a very detailed two part review of GT5 on Insidesimracing here…

http://www.insidesimracing.tv/videos...Gran-Turismo-5
http://www.insidesimracing.tv/videos...Gran-Turismo-5

…and read a bunch more here…

http://www.gamerankings.com/ps3/9411.../articles.html

lastphaseofthis

Gran turismo was made be a racer in japan i thought? i mean i saw a documentary years ago from the developer... but that was for like GT ONE... and that was nothing as good as it is today...

maxchao

iTrader: (2)

So I played about 5-6 hours on iRacing. It is really awesome. I think I made a right decision. Not saying this is the game with most fun but I can certainly learn the most out of this. The car dynamics really feels real, and they try to mimic the rule as real life as possible. There is also a lot of penalty in crashing cars, which I like, to add more thrill to the game. It's certainly not the Need for Speed Style which you can bump the wall to go through corners fast...lol
Anyway it's still a long way to go for me...I haven't had much time to play because of work but this is certainly worth playing for a long long time.

New Yorker

GT5 vs reality:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/02/v...gring-edition/


Bryan Heitkotter: GT5 Academy > "2012 24 Hours of Dubai" in two weeks:
http://www.insidesimracing.tv/videos...acing-Episodes

bse50

So?
It's still just a videogame with nice graphics. Simulators are a whole different thing.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

GT5 doesn't TEACH you anything. It can work on skills or talents you already have, but it won't teach you something you don't already know.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I raced an RX7 in SCCA Club Racing between 1987 and 1993.

I haven't played GT5, but I have been in iRacing a few of times. It's not the same. The only thing it can do is give you an idea of how the track moves. You don't get the feeling of how the car is pitching, rolling and sliding on the track. The sensation inside the car are missing. Gear shift levers don't feel the same if they even exist at home. Most home simulators have paddle shifters on the steering wheel to shift gears.
I could go on, but there are so many things that are different. Even running in a HPDE, in your own car, just gives you a taste of what real racing is.

xll Ender llx

i learned how to drive stick on my rx8. forza really helped by showing the redline speed in each gear, and the acceleration is similar. it's also nice cuz you can see what your car would look like with tint, a spoiler, etc. The driving experience, though, is completely different when you aren't sitting in your room =)

Striker-7

iTrader: (3)

Fun subject.

After my first hour on track, first day ever on a race course, I sat down with my instructor and a couple other NASA HPDE1 drivers to compare notes. Courtesy of rFactor and the VIR track setup, I'd been consistently faster around the Full Course because I knew the flow of it. My times still sucked pondwater compared to the Miata pilots in DE3/4, but at least I knew which way the course was going to go after the immediate bend I was in. Same thing later at Summit Point Main, and at my favorite track that summer, Watkins Glen. Each time, the instructors didn't have to waste time showing me the layout of the track, we could get to the meat of it after about the third lap.

To be perfectly honest, rFactor taught me a couple of bad habits I had to lose at The Glen, specifically charging the Esses as gleefully as I was wont to do. The -8 was willing to be thrown in there, but I was overdriving the Kumho street tires to grease, and Tom, my NNJPC instructor, was not happy with my 'feel' of the track in that area. Took the lessons to heart, "mind drove" the track at the hotel that evening, impressed Tom enough I was allowed to run solo the next afternoon.

I drive NASA HPDE3 at VIR (Full and North), NJMP "Thunderbolt", Watkins Glen and Summit Point Main. I am by NO means a racer, but I'm working at it.

maxchao

iTrader: (2)

Very Nice. I think I can learn a lot from iRacing as well. Cars do behave different at high speed. Many of the technique I learned from autocross can apply, but there is something different. Also I can test out different driving lines, which helps out my autocross as well because I am a bit reluctant to use valuable sit time to test out new technique. And the flag/pit system. and more. Overall I think it will benefit for a rookie like me.

That NASA HPDE seems to be a nice way to start. I searched around and all the HPDE I found are like $1500 or something. Even a Miata Cup Driving School is like $800. The NASA HPDE is only ~$300. Seem to be doable.

New Yorker

Of course, real racing is different from video game and sim racing, in many ways. But the original question was could video games be helpful in learning how to race, or is it a complete waste of time.

Differences aside, a game like GT5 or Forza can teach you a lot about racing. I wouldn't be surprised if professional, full-time race drivers practiced learning new race tracks with the help of these games.

SourKraut

If you're (or anyone else reading this) this is a great bunch of people that have been around for 40+ years catering to real people that want to race for fun. Check out http://www.emraracing.org/ and see if it interests you to get a taste for racing. Many of good people in the racing community have come from this group, most recently Andy Lally who raced a MR2 when they were current.
I'm going to try get our Zoomy on the track this year for some TT. Be more fun with some more RX-8 to compete against.

elysium19

iTrader: (1)

Hi - I've been touting EMRA events for a few years now, I always try to get people here to come along. I've done 5 TT days with emra since I've had my 8.
See:
https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/track-day-time-trials-lime-rock-park-august-27th-emra-221781/
https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/track-day-time-trials-nj-motorsports-park-july-12th-emra-175566/

I'll be at the Lime Rock day this April! I suppose I'll make a post about that in a few weeks....

Vid :-)

And to keep on topic, I played a fair amount of GT4 - the benefit is that it lets you explore things that are difficult to get a true immediate instinct for, such as rapidly correcting oversteer, that could be dangerous "learning" on the road or track the first time. That said, nothing can prepare you for what it's actually like driving on the track at speed. I also used to do autocrossing, but completely gave it up after my first track day. Yes, it's simpler safer and far cheaper, but boring as anything in comparison....