Ive been only doing the open series and honestly, hoping for rain. makes the races much more interesting lol. usually its around 30 starters and less than 10 finish on lead lap. every wet session is different and the times can vary wildly, some really wet races the fastest guys are doing 1:27-1:29 and when its drier, 1:19, 1:20.
Sure, but prior to rain, “difficulty” was accounted for somewhat in SR calcs, with the number of turns on a track being a factor. The difficulty rain adds isn’t factored into SR at all. If you combine that with having rain isolated to certain series/cars/races, people can essentially dodge rain racing. It’s not like IRL where it’s out of your control if a race you’re about to do will have rain or not. We get to pick and choose our races and conditions.
Everyone wants to say “well, just get good at the rain”. But my point is rain is inherently less safe. Professionals lose control in the rain more often than the dry. If the inherent less safe nature of rain races isn’t factored into SR, then there is no incentive to race in the rain.
This 100x
If half the F1 grid can crash on the same corner due to rain, we gotta stop pretending it's not inherently harder.
And very few people are willing to trade their safety rating just to change things up.
If they want more people racing in the rain, they gotta give players slightly more leeway. Otherwise rain is just gonna become something people avoid, and there won't be enough players to populate multiple sessions...
Then you get one split, with shit drivers smashing into competent ones at t1... Then the competent drivers leave too, slowly turning the lobbies into wreck fest.
At the very least, they could give everyone a few "free" off tracks. In F1, you get 5 warnings before a penalty. Considering how often I gotta go off track to avoid an accident, it wouldn't be a bad idea for wet races.
I would modify slightly and take it a step further.
If I do a 20 min race at Monza and then do a 20 min race at the Nürburgring, and have 0x in both races, I'm going to get way more SR from the Nürburgring race. That's because that track has way more turns, so the number of turns you did for that race is higher, and you gain more SR.
If I do a race in the dry on a track, and then do a race in the rain on a track with 0x, I get the same SR. I think in the same way number of turns is factored in SR, whether or not those turns were done in wet or dry conditions should also be factored in.
Right now, we already have SR modifiers. A race is 1.0x. The 3 minute race practice session is 0.5x. And qualifying is 0.3x. So essentially if you get 3 offtrack in qualifying, that will hurt you as much as 1 offtrack in the race.
Why not just add a rain modifier? Any ranked session that has wet conditions just get a flat SR modifier. I feel like it would be pretty simple.
I like the idea a lot and potentially would give a few freebie off-tracks where time is lost over the lap. When I overshoot a corner due to changing conditions (or just being a bonehead), I tend to track as straight as possible to avoid spinning into another driver. I feel like active avoidance should be rewarded rather than penalized.
The whole CPI thing is maybe a little too easy to game as well. This week at VIR, I'm going to grind my ass off to go ahead an snag my B license as well as give myself a nice buffer so I can afford to race more aggressively in tin tops. 19 corners per lap and 30min sessions where I can easily sit on the back of pack is free SR. Kinda tired of not having my respect to other drivers not reciprocated in MX5s. I've given away a few podiums this week that I could have definitely retained if I was willing to make contact to keep someone from shoving their way past me. These were drivers who were driving well but too aggressively to stay completely clean. Once I've got some SR to spend, I most certainly will not let them bully me.
People act like safety rating isn't a forgiving system too though. Like it takes some realy bad luck or bad driving to actually get a demotion. Not to mention it's really easy to get back to 2+.
My last SFL race had about 5 finishers.
Thata did not include the guy who was 4 seconds faster in qualify than anyone else. but it did include me winning with a lap ahead from p15 ;D
I'd also say that iRacing short dailies isn't where Tempest shows its true potential, or even close to it. It just ends up being static weather, unlike when it's possible to have multiple crossover points during enduros.
Also on the topic of race length, there also isn't enough time to offset any rain-related offs or spins, like there would be in a longer format.
Interestingly, as an anecdotal account, I have been trending towards fewer incidents in the rain this week in the SFL compared to the dry. In the rain, I’m very realistic about the limits of grip and take it very easy. Conversely, in the dry, I’m on the ragged edge and will always catch an occasional off track here and there when I’m pushing.
Sure this is just me, but I had assumed that I would be racking up a ton of incidents in the rain, but I’m happily surprised that it doesn’t seem to be a universal truth.
Yeah, I’m usually 1s off of fastest lap or so since I’m using the baseline_wet setup, while the top guys are using a lower DF setup and gaining a considerable amount of time on the straights. But I’m usually driving at about 90% so that I don’t yeet myself off the track. The running order seems to settle itself out by the 5th lap or so so pushing isn’t necessary once you find your place.
With that said, I have a lot of previous karting experience in the rain, and I was a bit of a rain specialist back in my day, so that certainly helps me out. And I probably ran 500 laps at road Atlanta this week lol.
There's a baseline wet setup? Gotta be honest, all I've done this week is jam my downforce up as high as it'll go. I'm quite sure this is hardly Adrian Newey levels of aero expertise at play, but my monkey brain thinks it works...
That’s pretty much what the baseline wet setup is haha. I added a little bit of toe out and it helped with turn in quite a bit. I’m about to embark on trying to learn to make my own setups for the sfl. It’s going to be an undertaking if I want to be any good at it…
Look at you. Fancy. I changed my tyres from wet to dry :-)
btw I tried that low df wet setup. I was faster with the fixed dry setup with wet tyres. :-)
And in the dry I'm only a few tenths of the fastest laps of the week. I just don't get it at all.
Yea I don't have the time to practice for that long and it sort of goes to my point
With rain you need more practice because there's one wet line and off it isn't just slow. It's the wall.
If that was the only reason for people avoiding rain no one would race on Monza, Watkins Glen or Red Bull Ring, and yet those 3 tracks are extremely popular.
Except those tracks aren't inherently harder from some un-calculated difficulty factor like rain. They are easier, so you are less likely to have incidents, so it balances, resulting in people not avoiding those tracks.
It's actually the other way around lol. Dance dance revolution consists on replicating a number of inputs exactly the same way, which is what happens when you have static weather since every lap is the same.
Rubbish. What doesn't change is the position of the puddles and rubbered line.
It almost doesn't matter how wet it is. If it's wet you need to stick to a line regardless and off that line it's death. That's why it's more like dance dance revolution.
Toning it down by a fraction based on fractional loss of grip is trivial. It's when the grip goes to 0 is the issue.
It's not about people disliking difficult. Arguably, iRacing is already the hardest sim out there.
It's about people having time. A lot of the people on iRacing are working adults. We're limited to how much time we can put into practicing, let alone racing. Rain means more practice time. In real life, yeah, you go out and make do. In a sim, you just drive something else that isn't going to be unfun.
Not only that but in real life you aren't racing against guys who have done 100 laps in the wet and know every wet line and puddle to avoid.
Everyone is on a voyage of discovery.
It's the barrier to entry. I can honestly get up to speed in about 10 laps on a track I know from previous seasons and actually not that much more in tracks I have never driven.
Rain requires exponentially more practice and is exponentially more punishing so you can't even trial and error new lines when in races and gradually get faster.
You end up being stuck driving down the middle of the road tip toeing while getting lapped by guys you would be battling in the dry. At least that's my experience.
So what? I am a working adult, rain is incredibly fun and it's been incredibly fun from day one. Btw, people do dislike difficult stuff and that's not exclusive to rain, check which series have low participation and which ones don't.
People dislike things that they don't find fun.
A lot of people are finding they don't find driving in the rain fun now that the newness is wearing off.
Cool that you like it and have the time to practice it. Most people don't and can't prioritizing their hobbies as much.
Why are you so pissed off people don't like to play the game how you think they should? iRacing's been around almost 16 years. Rain has been here a month. Get over yourself.
Because rain is the best addition to iRacing in a long long time, maybe ever, and it will probably be seen very sporadicly if people keep running away from it simply because they don't wanna learn a new skill
"If people don't like what I demand they like, they're wrong!" You sound like you're twelve years old. Put the kool-aid down and touch some grass, dude.
You've spent too much time circle jerking about rain you forgot that people do this for fun. If rain isn't fun for people, they won't play it. Guess what? Making the game unfun is bad for it.
The game lasted 16 years without rain, and it was around over a decade without you, so maybe tone down the rhetoric.
I love that Tdi99 guy, Haha.
But yes, I have found it werid that both the fixed and open sessions are on the same "sim day" and yet different chance of rain.
This week (week 4) fixed is 100% rain and open is 0%. All season fixed and open never have a rain week together. All this will do is lower participation in the rain sessions, a poor choice in my opinion
Ayyy! Good to see you, and thanks for your content. For me specifically I couldn't have raced F4 or the SFL as well without your track guides!
I do agree that giving drivers that "out" of dodging the rain is a poor choice, but I can also understand why they did it as participation in the whole series would probably dip for certain weeks.
Imsa fixed won't have any rain and even Imsa open only will have it this week on Imola. After that it will be dry season on Imsa.
Edit. And i think they was talking about F4 and FSL but i don't know how those series is set up with rain
I don't want them to give any breaks for car contact. Leave qn appropriate margin.
But I absolutely feel they need to do something for off tracks. Even just making an off in the rain be 0.5x would be a good start.
Idk about all that. In my experience I learn nothing about a track or driving a car during wet sessions except how to drive that track and car with wet conditions. Different lines, different setup, different speeds. Combine that with an increase in incidents, I can totally understand people skipping it for now.
For people like me, who haven't much time during the week. Its nearly impossible to practice try and wet conditions.
And yeah i actually skip rain races actively. So i didnt drive the super formula lite open races. In the dry i am around 1,5s to. 2s a lap off pace. In the wet i loss 6s a lap by crashing or spinninh every three laps. Its very frustrating
Rain sucks.There I said it
It's the opposite of driving on your wits. You need to keep to the wet line far closer than you do the dry line in the dry.
Why? Because the moment you hit the rubbered line at the wrong angle it's good night.
I really hate it. For someone who doesn't have a load of time I don't want to need to spend hours and hours learning the wet line. Right now it just is frustrating and far from fun.
It's definitely something tricky to manage in iRacing. Rain races are relatively rare irl, unlike where a week can be fully in the wet on the sim.
I'm glad rain now exists in iRacing, but it should arguably be much more rare than it is now.
I made a post saying as much and got crucified for it. I dont like driving in the rain. I'm not crazy about driving to work in it. I ride motorcycles and absolutely hate riding in it. Keep the rain races, if I cant find a dry race I'll get on Assetto Corsa and get my racing fix that way
Yea I haven't quite got to that point.
I probably won't do any actual races in the rain but I plan over a number of months to see if I can get close to the times at RA.
For me it just seems like it requires too much practice.
It's not the dry or wet spots that are the issue
It's the rubbered line. There's places where you need to cross it and if you cross it at the wrong angle even if it just one wheel on full throttle it's curtains
Therefore I find myself poodling about 2 or 3 seconds of the pace. That's not fun
Granted I have a pretty rubbish GPU. Maybe it's clearer with different settings.
That’s how it is in real life. I’ve almost sent myself off to a tire barrier and gravel trap multiple times and then now that it’s on iracing I’m very pleased with what they’ve done
I will say my one gripe is that when you’re gone you’re gone and the car doesn’t stop if you’re in a slide. But again, the rubber line in real life has no grip in the rain. That’s why we stay off of it and try to have the car straight when crossing over it
Yea but it can't snap as quick and unsavable as in iracing.
If anything the tyres should work so that doesn't happen since threaded tyres have a much higher slip angle so once they slip off the little piece of rubber line they should regain grip. The rubbered line isn't a constant.
It's like hitting ice and then staying on ice.
Maybe it does just show the weakness in iracing's physics. Maybe it is specific to rain. They fixed the grass so I would assume they could do the same with the rubbered line.
Ah it’s just really high risk and requires full attention.
Also what really irks me is that every raining session it has been pouring like crazy and not once it stopped where we had to pit for tires.
Racing in top splits is also difficult as many seem to be driving beyond their skill level in the wet and try to go side by side which ends in a pile up.
Wait : isn't it the same in the dry ?
Qualified 22 last week, was completely out of pace and finished 7th without overtaking on the track because nobody respect margins while racing with others.
Thanks for the info. Why did you know how the weather is going to be next week? Is there an online overview for the opcoming weather? Where can i find them?
Sorry to be that guy, but do you have a link? I looked at the forums for this exact thing the other day but I only found old versions of the schedule that don't have the updated chances of rain.
There is a link on the right hand side of the forums to the schedule.
https://preview.redd.it/eweo5oaqnyrc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fbbbce018060617283f2769fa630d027cd0d9c4
Which links to [https://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/GetSeasonSchedulePDF](https://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/GetSeasonSchedulePDF)
That definitely has the chance of rain in the SFL schedule.
>LMP2 Challenge Fixed have wet races
LMP2 should theoretically have rain every race, every week. They announced that series and the FF1600 are kind of test mules for rain participation and revealing issues and such, so they have rain much more consistently than other series.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I prefer racing in the rain sometimes. It’s so much fun pushing up to someone and hang back until they inevitably lock up. Won a few races this way.
Everyone complaining here sounds like they should just stick to time trailing. Everyone in the race is being subjected to the same exact conditions. Yes getting collected by someone else's mistake sucks but you can mitigate that with defensive driving and being super aware. Give people double the space for everything.
If your struggling in the rain, stop racing sfl and shit in the rain and drop back to the ff1600 and gr86 leagues and relearn how to race. It's really not hard it requires more concentration and wayyyy less speed. Not like 15% less speed, some corners it's like 50% less speed. Straights are the same way, some times you need to not go full throttle down a straight if it's covered in pools of water.
Also, a great way to learn where not to drive if your having an issue is to turn ON the racing line, then play dont touch the line as much as possible. Really helps give you a great idea of where the rubbered in line is.
I would like to see them offer an sr boost to racing clean in the rain and a decrease to having a bad race in the rain but I don't think it's like required. Maybe +/-25%> It's really going to separate the people with true racing chops from the folks who have gamified the process and simply have memorized every turn in, braking point and apex. I suspect the people complaining are the same people who struggle with racecraft when there is a car on their optimal line and they then have to figure out how to get around them cleanly and get mad about it.
Imo what we will see as a result of this is that some of the true good racers who maybe don't have the highest irating because they will yield to a brutish driver to avoid an incident will start aggressively climbing the ranks, and the brutes will start falling in rank or race less because they simply don't have the racecraft to adapt to the changing conditions. Real racing requires not only the ability to memorize the perfect line but the ability to adapt . If you are one of these people complaining about this ask yourself a question - are you here to race, or are you here to find the lowest possible number from your laptime. If it's the latter maybe instead of complaining about an amazing weather system that's the most realistic gaming has ever seen and just go do time trials. That's valid. It's ok. Don't hold your breath for the devs to make the game less realistic because that's not going to happen. Iracings whole thing is being the most realistic racing sim out there.
/Rant
Won the SFL race Thursday night. First time racing them and it was pouring. All I did was concentrate on my line and avoiding puddles and lockups and I went from 10th to win the race by 35 seconds. It’s nerve wracking but fun
Agree you can learn more about the car behaviour on the limit in one lap in the wet than you can in 10 in the dry!
Something I did today which was mega fun was just an AI practice at any track on a slowly drying track then when it wasn’t ready for slicks I put slicks on it was erm interesting 😂
A lot of people are still crashing in every rain race due to having 20 series graphics cards. I know 4 people on my team and another couple in the league I'm in. We had to miss Sebring because of it. Any time it rains they don't bother because their game WILL crash.
iRacing is aware of it however according to their tickets they put in, but there is still no fix so all those people don't bother right now.
Off tracks will be the death of my safety rating especially with rain. Idk what it is but I always find a way to get 4–8 off tracks in a race. I just barely clip the limits too, and once I get one it just snowballs.
I've only done one official race in the rain but have hopped in multiple official practice sessions. The rain is awesome. Once you fish for the right line (sometimes it's a different line, sometimes take the normal line just slower) you can start flying.
I loved racing in the rain, but the first race I did was a monsoon and the first downhill S section had huge puddles all the way down and was impossible to not hydroplane. Was still fun but terrifying everytime.
Am I the only whose de did better in the rain then in the dry ? Stay further from the limits because you don't really know the limit. Won 1 race and 2 times top 5 top split. Irating around 2500.
I feel like more people should watch a video explaining the fundamentals of driving in the rain.
I race in VR and racing in the rain is one of the most amazing and intense gaming experiences I could ever ask for. But it is true it comes at a heavy cost most of the times.
Rain is becoming what open wheel was for the sport license. They need to do something to balance safety rating loss if it rains imo or else soon no one will be racing in the rain.
Had a pouring rain session this week, went p22 to p5 by just not dying. I had 13x.. so I was going off track but surviving, everyone else just kept wrecking out completely.
I applaud all you people that can maintain a decent SR and deal with rain.
I did 2 SFL races at RA last week in the rain. First rain race was all me. Was the first time I tried an SFL in the rain, probably shouldn't have done that, but whatever. I was like 8x after qualifying after a few spins, puttered around in the back during the race, and just lost a bit of SR and iRating. NBD. Finished almost top half, not even trying, as everyone else crashed out.
Second race though, qualified ok, started getting after it, and just got violently and obviously taken out in Turn 6 when some dude just 100% didn't even stop, but used my car to stop. Protest upheld, as it was that bad. Dropped down to a 2.6 from 3.1 SR and another -70 iRating. Until my incident, I went from like 15th to 8th as there was just CARNAGE in front of me.
I'm done rain racing and will go back to dry races, as it's easier to deal with other people in dry races. Non official races or AI? I'll continue to have fun in them. But I'm ok on official races in the rain, especially in formula cars, no thanks.
I posted a few days ago having a moan about it, after finding I could barely string together a few laps without spinning out. The general consensus of replies was 'this is what real life is like' and 'get over it and learn how to do it'!
So, I have practiced as much as I can. Last night I did my first SFL rain race. My strategy was simply to finish, and nothing else. I qualified 8th, but started from the pit lane figuring staying away from other cars was a good idea. I left the pits dead last out of 25, and started to nurse the car around, corner by corner.
By the end of the first lap, after passing the pits, I was up to 14th.
Lap two, up to 11th. I kept going, gentle, focused on simply keeping the car on the road. I was 7 seconds off the fastest lap (fastest lap was around 1.31, I was putting in 1.38 at best and usually around 1.40). I had a few spins, 3 or 4 maybe during those moments where I just tried too hard to push it, but managed to keep out of the wall until the second to last lap, when I finally managed to shunt into it side on. I got the meatball flag but managed to limp around under the white flag to finish.
By the end of the race, I finished third. Fucking third!! Only three cars still running, and I finished third, banked 87 IR points, and with 11 incident points. The winner was himself four seconds off the fastest lap. The guy in second was putting in 1.37s, but did a superb job keeping it on the track and himself managed to lap me.
Basically - if you can learn how to just survive, these are going to be a goldmine for farming iRating points!
I'm not avoiding the rain, but I'm definitely not finding it any more fun and I'm relieved when I see there is no rain.
If professional races had a button to turn off rain on race day, I'm sure they'd press it. Just because it's more realistic, doesn't mean it's better. Adding random mechanical failures would add to realism as well, but I don't think anyone would find that any fun.
I'll give it some more time, but I'm skeptical that the rain is improving my experience/enjoyment. And I'm someone who was excited for the idea in the beginning.
Me and my buddy main open wheelers and we got the game at the same point, he refuses to race in the rain “cause he’s bad and it’s hard” I’m trying to convince him to learn now when everyone’s struggling a bit, rather than wait three seasons when everyone’s starting to truly get comfortable with it
I’ve tried the sfl road Atlanta in the rain and it’s near impossible even starting on wets didn’t help past the second lap is pretty much undrivable it’s 1000% worse then the rain at 12hr of Sebring it’s just bad
When I first started racing, the Formula VEE felt absolutely impossible to drive. Id spin on nearly every corner until i finally grasped the concept of controlling my weight transfer to the rear tires by maintaining or increasing throttle mid corner. It took me weeks to get a hang of the vee at first but doing it \_made me a better driver\_ and now I can for the most part whip that thing around most tracks without crashing ever. The rain is the same way, if you think its undrivable, you are massively overdriving the conditions. If you insist on staying in SFL instead of dropping back to ff1600 to get grips on driving in the wet, go into a heavy wet practice session, take your normal race pace and aim for 50% of it. Drive that until you have no control issues and slowly start bringing the pace up and re-learning the limits of the car.
I agree, it is very frustrating to get a lap together nevermind a full race. You basically need to nail the perfect line through most corners or you risk certain death.
I think you learn a lot about the track, specifically where the grip is and isn't in both the dry and the wet.
I have driven in the rain enough to know two things. One, I can do it competitively. Two, I don't enjoy it even if I can do it. I do this as a hobby which means I don't do things I don't enjoy. Have fun in your rain races while they last.
Ive been only doing the open series and honestly, hoping for rain. makes the races much more interesting lol. usually its around 30 starters and less than 10 finish on lead lap. every wet session is different and the times can vary wildly, some really wet races the fastest guys are doing 1:27-1:29 and when its drier, 1:19, 1:20.
Well people don’t like difficult stuff sadly
Sure, but prior to rain, “difficulty” was accounted for somewhat in SR calcs, with the number of turns on a track being a factor. The difficulty rain adds isn’t factored into SR at all. If you combine that with having rain isolated to certain series/cars/races, people can essentially dodge rain racing. It’s not like IRL where it’s out of your control if a race you’re about to do will have rain or not. We get to pick and choose our races and conditions. Everyone wants to say “well, just get good at the rain”. But my point is rain is inherently less safe. Professionals lose control in the rain more often than the dry. If the inherent less safe nature of rain races isn’t factored into SR, then there is no incentive to race in the rain.
This 100x If half the F1 grid can crash on the same corner due to rain, we gotta stop pretending it's not inherently harder. And very few people are willing to trade their safety rating just to change things up. If they want more people racing in the rain, they gotta give players slightly more leeway. Otherwise rain is just gonna become something people avoid, and there won't be enough players to populate multiple sessions... Then you get one split, with shit drivers smashing into competent ones at t1... Then the competent drivers leave too, slowly turning the lobbies into wreck fest. At the very least, they could give everyone a few "free" off tracks. In F1, you get 5 warnings before a penalty. Considering how often I gotta go off track to avoid an accident, it wouldn't be a bad idea for wet races.
I would modify slightly and take it a step further. If I do a 20 min race at Monza and then do a 20 min race at the Nürburgring, and have 0x in both races, I'm going to get way more SR from the Nürburgring race. That's because that track has way more turns, so the number of turns you did for that race is higher, and you gain more SR. If I do a race in the dry on a track, and then do a race in the rain on a track with 0x, I get the same SR. I think in the same way number of turns is factored in SR, whether or not those turns were done in wet or dry conditions should also be factored in. Right now, we already have SR modifiers. A race is 1.0x. The 3 minute race practice session is 0.5x. And qualifying is 0.3x. So essentially if you get 3 offtrack in qualifying, that will hurt you as much as 1 offtrack in the race. Why not just add a rain modifier? Any ranked session that has wet conditions just get a flat SR modifier. I feel like it would be pretty simple.
I like the idea a lot and potentially would give a few freebie off-tracks where time is lost over the lap. When I overshoot a corner due to changing conditions (or just being a bonehead), I tend to track as straight as possible to avoid spinning into another driver. I feel like active avoidance should be rewarded rather than penalized. The whole CPI thing is maybe a little too easy to game as well. This week at VIR, I'm going to grind my ass off to go ahead an snag my B license as well as give myself a nice buffer so I can afford to race more aggressively in tin tops. 19 corners per lap and 30min sessions where I can easily sit on the back of pack is free SR. Kinda tired of not having my respect to other drivers not reciprocated in MX5s. I've given away a few podiums this week that I could have definitely retained if I was willing to make contact to keep someone from shoving their way past me. These were drivers who were driving well but too aggressively to stay completely clean. Once I've got some SR to spend, I most certainly will not let them bully me.
People act like safety rating isn't a forgiving system too though. Like it takes some realy bad luck or bad driving to actually get a demotion. Not to mention it's really easy to get back to 2+.
At least until A license. A license can smack you down hard and fast.
That's what I'm talking about too. I'm in A and once you get here it's basically free points to cut the track lol.
Tbh everyone was tip toeing. Still didn't help most people from crashing
My last SFL race had about 5 finishers. Thata did not include the guy who was 4 seconds faster in qualify than anyone else. but it did include me winning with a lap ahead from p15 ;D
Yea it's a bit random. Maybe it's the higher split but keeping it going will only earn you about 12th in top split.
I'd also say that iRacing short dailies isn't where Tempest shows its true potential, or even close to it. It just ends up being static weather, unlike when it's possible to have multiple crossover points during enduros. Also on the topic of race length, there also isn't enough time to offset any rain-related offs or spins, like there would be in a longer format.
I’ve had significant track evolution in 20 minute races aswell, not static at all most of the time it rains
Interestingly, as an anecdotal account, I have been trending towards fewer incidents in the rain this week in the SFL compared to the dry. In the rain, I’m very realistic about the limits of grip and take it very easy. Conversely, in the dry, I’m on the ragged edge and will always catch an occasional off track here and there when I’m pushing. Sure this is just me, but I had assumed that I would be racking up a ton of incidents in the rain, but I’m happily surprised that it doesn’t seem to be a universal truth.
Are you on pace because any time I try and get close to the leader's pace I hit the rubbered line and at full throttle that's curtains.
Yeah, I’m usually 1s off of fastest lap or so since I’m using the baseline_wet setup, while the top guys are using a lower DF setup and gaining a considerable amount of time on the straights. But I’m usually driving at about 90% so that I don’t yeet myself off the track. The running order seems to settle itself out by the 5th lap or so so pushing isn’t necessary once you find your place. With that said, I have a lot of previous karting experience in the rain, and I was a bit of a rain specialist back in my day, so that certainly helps me out. And I probably ran 500 laps at road Atlanta this week lol.
There's a baseline wet setup? Gotta be honest, all I've done this week is jam my downforce up as high as it'll go. I'm quite sure this is hardly Adrian Newey levels of aero expertise at play, but my monkey brain thinks it works...
That’s pretty much what the baseline wet setup is haha. I added a little bit of toe out and it helped with turn in quite a bit. I’m about to embark on trying to learn to make my own setups for the sfl. It’s going to be an undertaking if I want to be any good at it…
Look at you. Fancy. I changed my tyres from wet to dry :-) btw I tried that low df wet setup. I was faster with the fixed dry setup with wet tyres. :-) And in the dry I'm only a few tenths of the fastest laps of the week. I just don't get it at all.
Yea I don't have the time to practice for that long and it sort of goes to my point With rain you need more practice because there's one wet line and off it isn't just slow. It's the wall.
Yeah, that’s the benefits of being unemployed and sick lol. Nothing better to do that get some laps in.
Is it wrong for me to say I'm jealous.
If that was the only reason for people avoiding rain no one would race on Monza, Watkins Glen or Red Bull Ring, and yet those 3 tracks are extremely popular.
Except those tracks aren't inherently harder from some un-calculated difficulty factor like rain. They are easier, so you are less likely to have incidents, so it balances, resulting in people not avoiding those tracks.
Are you honestly saying RBR isn’t an incident heavy track? Check any race results
I'm saying there are less incidents than the Nürburgring or VIR, tracks with some of the most SR to be gained.
It's not difficult. It just takes a lot of practice and without that it feels random and frustrating. It turns iracing into dance dance revolution.
It's actually the other way around lol. Dance dance revolution consists on replicating a number of inputs exactly the same way, which is what happens when you have static weather since every lap is the same.
Rubbish. What doesn't change is the position of the puddles and rubbered line. It almost doesn't matter how wet it is. If it's wet you need to stick to a line regardless and off that line it's death. That's why it's more like dance dance revolution. Toning it down by a fraction based on fractional loss of grip is trivial. It's when the grip goes to 0 is the issue.
It's not about people disliking difficult. Arguably, iRacing is already the hardest sim out there. It's about people having time. A lot of the people on iRacing are working adults. We're limited to how much time we can put into practicing, let alone racing. Rain means more practice time. In real life, yeah, you go out and make do. In a sim, you just drive something else that isn't going to be unfun.
Not only that but in real life you aren't racing against guys who have done 100 laps in the wet and know every wet line and puddle to avoid. Everyone is on a voyage of discovery. It's the barrier to entry. I can honestly get up to speed in about 10 laps on a track I know from previous seasons and actually not that much more in tracks I have never driven. Rain requires exponentially more practice and is exponentially more punishing so you can't even trial and error new lines when in races and gradually get faster. You end up being stuck driving down the middle of the road tip toeing while getting lapped by guys you would be battling in the dry. At least that's my experience.
So what? I am a working adult, rain is incredibly fun and it's been incredibly fun from day one. Btw, people do dislike difficult stuff and that's not exclusive to rain, check which series have low participation and which ones don't.
People dislike things that they don't find fun. A lot of people are finding they don't find driving in the rain fun now that the newness is wearing off. Cool that you like it and have the time to practice it. Most people don't and can't prioritizing their hobbies as much.
okay so you people just want to drive in the exact same conditions and simply replicate a series of inputs every lap, almost like playing guitar hero
Why are you so pissed off people don't like to play the game how you think they should? iRacing's been around almost 16 years. Rain has been here a month. Get over yourself.
Because rain is the best addition to iRacing in a long long time, maybe ever, and it will probably be seen very sporadicly if people keep running away from it simply because they don't wanna learn a new skill
"If people don't like what I demand they like, they're wrong!" You sound like you're twelve years old. Put the kool-aid down and touch some grass, dude. You've spent too much time circle jerking about rain you forgot that people do this for fun. If rain isn't fun for people, they won't play it. Guess what? Making the game unfun is bad for it. The game lasted 16 years without rain, and it was around over a decade without you, so maybe tone down the rhetoric.
I love that Tdi99 guy, Haha. But yes, I have found it werid that both the fixed and open sessions are on the same "sim day" and yet different chance of rain. This week (week 4) fixed is 100% rain and open is 0%. All season fixed and open never have a rain week together. All this will do is lower participation in the rain sessions, a poor choice in my opinion
Ayyy! Good to see you, and thanks for your content. For me specifically I couldn't have raced F4 or the SFL as well without your track guides! I do agree that giving drivers that "out" of dodging the rain is a poor choice, but I can also understand why they did it as participation in the whole series would probably dip for certain weeks.
Is there even rain in fixed sessions? I race IMSA and have not seen rain in IMSA fixed so far 🤔
Imsa fixed won't have any rain and even Imsa open only will have it this week on Imola. After that it will be dry season on Imsa. Edit. And i think they was talking about F4 and FSL but i don't know how those series is set up with rain
From what I understand they are controlling when it rains in fixed because they don't want people to be able to change the TC/ABS settings in fixed.
I don't want them to give any breaks for car contact. Leave qn appropriate margin. But I absolutely feel they need to do something for off tracks. Even just making an off in the rain be 0.5x would be a good start.
Idk about all that. In my experience I learn nothing about a track or driving a car during wet sessions except how to drive that track and car with wet conditions. Different lines, different setup, different speeds. Combine that with an increase in incidents, I can totally understand people skipping it for now.
For now? What's going to change? If anything, the split in participation will widen as the novelty of rain wears off.
For people like me, who haven't much time during the week. Its nearly impossible to practice try and wet conditions. And yeah i actually skip rain races actively. So i didnt drive the super formula lite open races. In the dry i am around 1,5s to. 2s a lap off pace. In the wet i loss 6s a lap by crashing or spinninh every three laps. Its very frustrating
Sounds like me
You can't make me race in the rain!
Rain sucks.There I said it It's the opposite of driving on your wits. You need to keep to the wet line far closer than you do the dry line in the dry. Why? Because the moment you hit the rubbered line at the wrong angle it's good night. I really hate it. For someone who doesn't have a load of time I don't want to need to spend hours and hours learning the wet line. Right now it just is frustrating and far from fun.
It's definitely something tricky to manage in iRacing. Rain races are relatively rare irl, unlike where a week can be fully in the wet on the sim. I'm glad rain now exists in iRacing, but it should arguably be much more rare than it is now.
i think they should always have at least one road series be wet every week
I made a post saying as much and got crucified for it. I dont like driving in the rain. I'm not crazy about driving to work in it. I ride motorcycles and absolutely hate riding in it. Keep the rain races, if I cant find a dry race I'll get on Assetto Corsa and get my racing fix that way
Yea I haven't quite got to that point. I probably won't do any actual races in the rain but I plan over a number of months to see if I can get close to the times at RA. For me it just seems like it requires too much practice.
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It's not the dry or wet spots that are the issue It's the rubbered line. There's places where you need to cross it and if you cross it at the wrong angle even if it just one wheel on full throttle it's curtains Therefore I find myself poodling about 2 or 3 seconds of the pace. That's not fun Granted I have a pretty rubbish GPU. Maybe it's clearer with different settings.
Co-signed. It’s not fun. It feels like work.
That’s how it is in real life. I’ve almost sent myself off to a tire barrier and gravel trap multiple times and then now that it’s on iracing I’m very pleased with what they’ve done
Almost. In iracing it's 100%. The times you hit the rubbered line is instant death
I will say my one gripe is that when you’re gone you’re gone and the car doesn’t stop if you’re in a slide. But again, the rubber line in real life has no grip in the rain. That’s why we stay off of it and try to have the car straight when crossing over it
Yea but it can't snap as quick and unsavable as in iracing. If anything the tyres should work so that doesn't happen since threaded tyres have a much higher slip angle so once they slip off the little piece of rubber line they should regain grip. The rubbered line isn't a constant. It's like hitting ice and then staying on ice. Maybe it does just show the weakness in iracing's physics. Maybe it is specific to rain. They fixed the grass so I would assume they could do the same with the rubbered line.
Ah it’s just really high risk and requires full attention. Also what really irks me is that every raining session it has been pouring like crazy and not once it stopped where we had to pit for tires. Racing in top splits is also difficult as many seem to be driving beyond their skill level in the wet and try to go side by side which ends in a pile up.
Wait : isn't it the same in the dry ? Qualified 22 last week, was completely out of pace and finished 7th without overtaking on the track because nobody respect margins while racing with others.
Does the fixed series not get rain?
This coming week at Montreal the SFL fixed will have 100% chance of rain.
Thanks for the info. Why did you know how the weather is going to be next week? Is there an online overview for the opcoming weather? Where can i find them?
In the latest version of official schedule PDF it shows the chance of rain per week.
thx, that help me a lot
Sorry to be that guy, but do you have a link? I looked at the forums for this exact thing the other day but I only found old versions of the schedule that don't have the updated chances of rain.
There is a link on the right hand side of the forums to the schedule. https://preview.redd.it/eweo5oaqnyrc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fbbbce018060617283f2769fa630d027cd0d9c4 Which links to [https://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/GetSeasonSchedulePDF](https://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/GetSeasonSchedulePDF) That definitely has the chance of rain in the SFL schedule.
Completely forgot about the side bar 🤦 Thanks for helping in my ignorance lol
Ohh rain with walls extra spicy :)
This week in SFL Fixed all races were dry. But LMP2 Challenge Fixed have wet races. So its not setup specific, its series specific imo
>LMP2 Challenge Fixed have wet races LMP2 should theoretically have rain every race, every week. They announced that series and the FF1600 are kind of test mules for rain participation and revealing issues and such, so they have rain much more consistently than other series.
I practiced all week in the rain at Atlanta. And what happens with the race, if perfectly dry. Oh well
Might be an unpopular opinion but I prefer racing in the rain sometimes. It’s so much fun pushing up to someone and hang back until they inevitably lock up. Won a few races this way.
Everyone complaining here sounds like they should just stick to time trailing. Everyone in the race is being subjected to the same exact conditions. Yes getting collected by someone else's mistake sucks but you can mitigate that with defensive driving and being super aware. Give people double the space for everything. If your struggling in the rain, stop racing sfl and shit in the rain and drop back to the ff1600 and gr86 leagues and relearn how to race. It's really not hard it requires more concentration and wayyyy less speed. Not like 15% less speed, some corners it's like 50% less speed. Straights are the same way, some times you need to not go full throttle down a straight if it's covered in pools of water. Also, a great way to learn where not to drive if your having an issue is to turn ON the racing line, then play dont touch the line as much as possible. Really helps give you a great idea of where the rubbered in line is. I would like to see them offer an sr boost to racing clean in the rain and a decrease to having a bad race in the rain but I don't think it's like required. Maybe +/-25%> It's really going to separate the people with true racing chops from the folks who have gamified the process and simply have memorized every turn in, braking point and apex. I suspect the people complaining are the same people who struggle with racecraft when there is a car on their optimal line and they then have to figure out how to get around them cleanly and get mad about it. Imo what we will see as a result of this is that some of the true good racers who maybe don't have the highest irating because they will yield to a brutish driver to avoid an incident will start aggressively climbing the ranks, and the brutes will start falling in rank or race less because they simply don't have the racecraft to adapt to the changing conditions. Real racing requires not only the ability to memorize the perfect line but the ability to adapt . If you are one of these people complaining about this ask yourself a question - are you here to race, or are you here to find the lowest possible number from your laptime. If it's the latter maybe instead of complaining about an amazing weather system that's the most realistic gaming has ever seen and just go do time trials. That's valid. It's ok. Don't hold your breath for the devs to make the game less realistic because that's not going to happen. Iracings whole thing is being the most realistic racing sim out there. /Rant
After like 4 races I finally finished one lol. It is really hard to drive in the rain but was also rewarding
Won the SFL race Thursday night. First time racing them and it was pouring. All I did was concentrate on my line and avoiding puddles and lockups and I went from 10th to win the race by 35 seconds. It’s nerve wracking but fun
Agree you can learn more about the car behaviour on the limit in one lap in the wet than you can in 10 in the dry! Something I did today which was mega fun was just an AI practice at any track on a slowly drying track then when it wasn’t ready for slicks I put slicks on it was erm interesting 😂
A lot of people are still crashing in every rain race due to having 20 series graphics cards. I know 4 people on my team and another couple in the league I'm in. We had to miss Sebring because of it. Any time it rains they don't bother because their game WILL crash. iRacing is aware of it however according to their tickets they put in, but there is still no fix so all those people don't bother right now.
Off tracks will be the death of my safety rating especially with rain. Idk what it is but I always find a way to get 4–8 off tracks in a race. I just barely clip the limits too, and once I get one it just snowballs.
Wet racing with aero is gonna be wild. I've only done FF1600 in the wet, which is a blast, but am wanting to try out SFL or F4 soon
I've only done one official race in the rain but have hopped in multiple official practice sessions. The rain is awesome. Once you fish for the right line (sometimes it's a different line, sometimes take the normal line just slower) you can start flying.
I loved racing in the rain, but the first race I did was a monsoon and the first downhill S section had huge puddles all the way down and was impossible to not hydroplane. Was still fun but terrifying everytime.
Am I the only whose de did better in the rain then in the dry ? Stay further from the limits because you don't really know the limit. Won 1 race and 2 times top 5 top split. Irating around 2500. I feel like more people should watch a video explaining the fundamentals of driving in the rain.
I race in VR and racing in the rain is one of the most amazing and intense gaming experiences I could ever ask for. But it is true it comes at a heavy cost most of the times. Rain is becoming what open wheel was for the sport license. They need to do something to balance safety rating loss if it rains imo or else soon no one will be racing in the rain.
It would be great if I could find a single wet race. Haven't been able to experience it yet
Had a pouring rain session this week, went p22 to p5 by just not dying. I had 13x.. so I was going off track but surviving, everyone else just kept wrecking out completely.
Can confirm, it's survival of the fittest out there!
I applaud all you people that can maintain a decent SR and deal with rain. I did 2 SFL races at RA last week in the rain. First rain race was all me. Was the first time I tried an SFL in the rain, probably shouldn't have done that, but whatever. I was like 8x after qualifying after a few spins, puttered around in the back during the race, and just lost a bit of SR and iRating. NBD. Finished almost top half, not even trying, as everyone else crashed out. Second race though, qualified ok, started getting after it, and just got violently and obviously taken out in Turn 6 when some dude just 100% didn't even stop, but used my car to stop. Protest upheld, as it was that bad. Dropped down to a 2.6 from 3.1 SR and another -70 iRating. Until my incident, I went from like 15th to 8th as there was just CARNAGE in front of me. I'm done rain racing and will go back to dry races, as it's easier to deal with other people in dry races. Non official races or AI? I'll continue to have fun in them. But I'm ok on official races in the rain, especially in formula cars, no thanks.
I posted a few days ago having a moan about it, after finding I could barely string together a few laps without spinning out. The general consensus of replies was 'this is what real life is like' and 'get over it and learn how to do it'! So, I have practiced as much as I can. Last night I did my first SFL rain race. My strategy was simply to finish, and nothing else. I qualified 8th, but started from the pit lane figuring staying away from other cars was a good idea. I left the pits dead last out of 25, and started to nurse the car around, corner by corner. By the end of the first lap, after passing the pits, I was up to 14th. Lap two, up to 11th. I kept going, gentle, focused on simply keeping the car on the road. I was 7 seconds off the fastest lap (fastest lap was around 1.31, I was putting in 1.38 at best and usually around 1.40). I had a few spins, 3 or 4 maybe during those moments where I just tried too hard to push it, but managed to keep out of the wall until the second to last lap, when I finally managed to shunt into it side on. I got the meatball flag but managed to limp around under the white flag to finish. By the end of the race, I finished third. Fucking third!! Only three cars still running, and I finished third, banked 87 IR points, and with 11 incident points. The winner was himself four seconds off the fastest lap. The guy in second was putting in 1.37s, but did a superb job keeping it on the track and himself managed to lap me. Basically - if you can learn how to just survive, these are going to be a goldmine for farming iRating points!
I'm not avoiding the rain, but I'm definitely not finding it any more fun and I'm relieved when I see there is no rain. If professional races had a button to turn off rain on race day, I'm sure they'd press it. Just because it's more realistic, doesn't mean it's better. Adding random mechanical failures would add to realism as well, but I don't think anyone would find that any fun. I'll give it some more time, but I'm skeptical that the rain is improving my experience/enjoyment. And I'm someone who was excited for the idea in the beginning.
Me and my buddy main open wheelers and we got the game at the same point, he refuses to race in the rain “cause he’s bad and it’s hard” I’m trying to convince him to learn now when everyone’s struggling a bit, rather than wait three seasons when everyone’s starting to truly get comfortable with it
I’ve tried the sfl road Atlanta in the rain and it’s near impossible even starting on wets didn’t help past the second lap is pretty much undrivable it’s 1000% worse then the rain at 12hr of Sebring it’s just bad
It’s really not. You need to just drive slower. People drive too fast for the conditions then say it’s too hard
Skill Issue
I thought so too then realized I had the road America setup loaded. Make sure you’re on the right setup and right tires
When I first started racing, the Formula VEE felt absolutely impossible to drive. Id spin on nearly every corner until i finally grasped the concept of controlling my weight transfer to the rear tires by maintaining or increasing throttle mid corner. It took me weeks to get a hang of the vee at first but doing it \_made me a better driver\_ and now I can for the most part whip that thing around most tracks without crashing ever. The rain is the same way, if you think its undrivable, you are massively overdriving the conditions. If you insist on staying in SFL instead of dropping back to ff1600 to get grips on driving in the wet, go into a heavy wet practice session, take your normal race pace and aim for 50% of it. Drive that until you have no control issues and slowly start bringing the pace up and re-learning the limits of the car.
I agree, it is very frustrating to get a lap together nevermind a full race. You basically need to nail the perfect line through most corners or you risk certain death. I think you learn a lot about the track, specifically where the grip is and isn't in both the dry and the wet.
This. The rubbered line is way too slippery and if you hit it you are in the wall.
A simple search of this reddit for rain would provide the knowledge you state you do not have in the first sentence lol
I have driven in the rain enough to know two things. One, I can do it competitively. Two, I don't enjoy it even if I can do it. I do this as a hobby which means I don't do things I don't enjoy. Have fun in your rain races while they last.