Is there someone out there who has tried this car in all the 4 games and tell me if in iRacing it feels as good as the above 3?
I've compared it only to AC one which is considered as the best of the three and I'll paste my comparison from testing both cars on Silverstone I've posted on AC forum:
The first thing is the cars are really similar, I could switch back and forth between them makes without any problem. It wasn't the case some time ago, you could get familiar to iRacing physics but switching back to it after some time in nKP or AC required some time, right now I didn't feel that.
Tires/physics - IMO the cars behave similar, maybe the iRacing version lower grip when the load is combined (accelerating from tight corners), the car has been able to step out even with TC set to 3, but it wasn't anything deadly, just throttle lift or wheel correction was enough to control the situation. AC car feel bit more responsive, less understeery and more pointy thus bit more enjoyable to drive. In iRacing I couldn't attack the corner so aggressively and if I was to late with breaking it resulted in huge plow missing the apex by a lot. Cannot really say which one is more realistic, but I would give small advantage to AC.
FFB - remembering FFB from COTA I've expected, that in this area AC will outperform iRacing easily, but IMO the difference wasn't that huge. Of course in Assetto Corsa FFB gives you more information about what's happening with the tires, but at the same time I'm not really fan of the abrupt shaking on bumps and kerbs on my G27 - iR FFB feels more rubbery when you're going over them. Considering the fact, that real BMW Z4 has power steering I would say, that dampened feel you got in iRacing is more realistic, but I know that many will argue, that FFB is the only thing to communicate what's happening with the car, so screw realism and give us as much information as you can.
Sound - I just can't believe that anyone can prefer AC sound over iRacing one. Maybe you have set just different sound level, maybe my app.ini settings (sampleRate=48000) improve the sound in iRacing so much, but it's just on complete different level and gives iRacing whole new dimension of immersion. AC sounds IMO like a muffled hair dryer while the iR Z4 has aggressive and organic tone. Adding to this phenomenal sound coming from the traction control and distinct shifting clang iRacing wins hands down in this area.
Graphics - honestly I don't now
, when I'm driving I feel the FFB, hear the car and I'm looking at the track, so cannot say much about the graphics - both cars probably look OK and are accurate
.
Overall simulation - I've decided to add such a category, to mention about the details which aren't mentioned often, but which are important in my opinion when you judge the level of simulation.
iRacing car has some very unique features which you won't find in any other simulation, like:
- simulated automated transmission controlled by the ECU which won't allow over revving the engine while downshifting. I know many people don't like this feature, but it is used in real cars and if so, should be simulated too in the game
- realistic setup options from the real car. AC is using general setup option for every car, iRacing is building unique setup option for every car corresponding to real life setting, so in iRacing car you got:
- ABS levels,
- brake pads friction,
- engine map settings,
- throttle shape settings,
- 2-way ARBs (number of blades and outer diameter in front, number of blades and thickness on rear),
- traction control model directly connected to engine model and corresponding sound - you not only feel the traction control in action, but you also hear it.
Summing things up both cars are very good, but I would say, that AC car may feel more fun to drive (for some/many people more immersive if you really like the AC FFB and don't care about sound) but the iRacing one is IMO better simulated.