Paul Jeffrey
Premium
iRacing.com have today released a substantial update to the racing simulation, adding the long awaited loose surface racing and a number of new cars.
The new update firstly comes with some free content for players to try out, namely the Dirt Street Stock and Dirt Legends car, plus free updates for owners of the Silverado and Tundra adding dirt versions of the car that will be available if the player selects a loose surface track on which to race. Additionally iRacing have given players access to the USA Speedway (dirt version) on which to try out the new update.
For those wanting to go all in and sample fully fleshed out loose surface content, available to purchase from today will be the Williams Grove Speedway, Eldora Speedway and Volusia Speedway tracks, Dirt Late Model (including Limited Late Model, Pro Late Model and Super Late Model variants) and the Winged Sprint Car including 305, 360 and 410 variants.
For players not looking to get themselves involved in the current dirt craze found in iRacing, todays new update also includes the brand new 2018 specification Toyota Tundra NASCAR model, featuring a reworked design from it's predecessor and all the new technical innovations found within the latest generation NASCAR racing machine.
With NASCAR undergoing somewhat of a shakeup in 2017, iRacing have looked to try and replicate some of the changes faced by North America's premier racing series by adding the latest rule packages for the series.
The aero map on the iRacing cup cars has been completely reworked to represent the 2017 body style and NASCAR rules package. We have also updated the suspension geometry and made adjustments to the garage setup ranges to represent typical 2017 NASCAR chassis/setup ranges and rules package.
- Minimum front springs increased to 500lb/in
- Maximum front swaybar preload decreased to -500lb-ft
- Swaybar rates decreased to more realistic values
- Maximum Trackbar rake set to 4”
- Maximum Rear Toe set to +1/8” LR and 0 RR.
- Minimum LR spring increased to 100lb/in
- Superspeedway frame heights set to 6” | 8”
"From a driver’s standpoint the most noticeable difference will be that entry and exit do not have that “light” feeling anymore. In the current physics model when you lift for the corner the front feels like it disconnects from the track and you use minimal steering inputs to set the car into the corner. With the 2017 update the tires feel more connected to the track and that feel carries from entry, center, and exit much better than it currently does. The chassis feels stiffer, more planted and “in” the race track, making everything feel much more natural and in control."
"Currently, during most races drivers will short pit after 30 laps or so on a mile and a half track simply because the car is too loose and the tire fall-off is so dramatic. With this new update, on a mile and a half tracks the balance stays consistent throughout a whole fuel run and the tire fall-off tops-out around 2.6-3.0 seconds with a reasonably well-balanced race car."
Hudson goes on to give iRacers some further idea about the difference between loose surface and asphalt racing, plus some useful tips to those looking to engage in short oval racing for the first time:
“Sim racers who are used racing on asphalt need to understand that everything is less responsive on dirt,” he says. “In the first few laps of practice or a race on a ‘fresh’ track when there’s loose dirt on top, the Street Stock, Legend and Truck will feel a little sluggish until the track gets rolled in better and the dirt becomes more compact. On the other hand, the sprint car and the late model will feel very grippy and “hooked up” on these fresh conditions.
“As the track comes-in the cars will begin behaving more like they do on pavement and then you’ll want to drive them ‘straighter’ as the track dries out. But while the track is coming in, you’ll need to turn into the corners earlier and use the gas to rotate the car as opposed to asphalt where you’re used to getting on the brakes, then turning. In general, on fresh dirt you’ll want to turn with the throttle and then ease on the brakes. However, the street stock and the truck are different animals: They require more straight line braking.”
“After a few laps on a fresh track, the loose dirt will get worn away,” Hudson says. “The groove will get harder and hotter, so there’s less grip. It’s similar to pavement where the groove gets hotter and hotter as more cars run laps, and you look for cooler pavement where there’s more grip. With dirt tracks, you can actually see the color of the groove change from dark to light dark, so you need to look for the transition between the lighter and darker track and move your line into the darker, grippier part of the track.“As the track comes-in the cars will begin behaving more like they do on pavement and then you’ll want to drive them ‘straighter’ as the track dries out. But while the track is coming in, you’ll need to turn into the corners earlier and use the gas to rotate the car as opposed to asphalt where you’re used to getting on the brakes, then turning. In general, on fresh dirt you’ll want to turn with the throttle and then ease on the brakes. However, the street stock and the truck are different animals: They require more straight line braking.”
“You want to put the edge of your right side tires on the dark line,” he continues. “But you don’t want to run all the way on the dark line because the dirt is still loose there and your car will start to drift off the line. You want to get just enough of your right side tires on the dark dirt to maximize the bite.”
No matter the amount of grip on a dirt track, however, it’s hard to position your car with the same degree of precision as on pavement. Inevitably, that means contact is likely to result when two or more cars are running closely together.
“When you’re battling with another car or two on dirt, you’re going to place your car in a vulnerable position,” says Hudson. “It’s unavoidable: You just don’t have the same precision you have on asphalt. Add-in another car or two, and they’re in the same boat, so to speak. So you have to accept the fact that there will be some incidental contact. But that’s just part of dirt racing; rubbing fenders is one of the things that make it so much fun to race and to watch.”
Because of the complicated safety rating system employed by iRacing, many fans are wondering how the service will adapt to the more closely thought and contact inducing form of motorsports. iRacing have taken this into consideration and will be providing adjustments to the way damage and contact is recorded when driving on dirt.
iRacing continue:
Incident points are cut in half on dirt. For example, a 4X on pavement is a 2X on dirt while what would be a 2X on pavement is a 1X on dirt. However, an off-track is a 1X on dirt and pavement. The safety rating calculation is the same for both dirt and pavement but, because the points are cut in half for dirt, incidents will not have not have the same impact on safety ratings. iRatings will be exactly the same on dirt and pavement.
To be clear, careless and reckless behavior will not be tolerated on dirt any more than on pavement. But the idea is to make iRacing on dirt as authentic as possible in all respects, and most assuredly that includes the fun factor.
In addition to the Toyota 2018 Camry iRacing have also updated the rear spoiler and shark fins on the Ford and Chevy NASCAR cup cars.
Changelog:
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- Fixed the “Featured Answers” section of the Support page.
- Fixed a bug where newly created lap files for this season would not show up in the comparison lap file selection dialog.
- The “reduceFrameRateWhenFocusLost” and “muteWhenFocusLost” settings in the “app.ini” file have been renamed by placing an “_” before “WhenFocusLost” in their names, and both settings now defaulted to 0. This means that when another program, or Windows itself, pops-up a notification while the Simulation is running, the Simulation will no longer reduce its drawing to a very low frame rate, or mute its sounds.
- Dirt is finally here!
- Dirt race tracks are incredibly dynamic puzzles, changing their surfaces every lap as cars skid, scrape, and push dirt around. All these particles and the fluid nature of the track surface demanded a new particle code system, an artistic overhaul, and realistic audio to cover the vast range of variations these tracks present. We’ve implemented methods to cover the full range of wet to dry dirt, and the full spectrum of densities racing dirt presents including hardpan, loose, compact, and prepared racing surfaces. Finally, we’ve also designed the track surface itself to function like dirt racers can expect, whether it is pushing the cushion, gaining grip in certain areas, or forming a blue groove. Up and down the circuit, the vastly complex and seamlessly layered combination of track conditions creates an exhilarating experience.
- The particles, tires, and surface sounds are dynamically updated using hundreds of debris sounds and scores of tire rolling and skid sounds. These are dynamically adjusted to cover the full range of track conditions to reflect the wetness or dryness of the dirt and to let you know when you’re driving on any combination of hardpan, compact, or loose dirt. We even hurled dirt at helmet visors to get the recordings we required!
- For the initial dirt release, it is best not to run non-dirt cars at the dirt tracks. This is for a couple of reasons. One, most of the non-dirt cars have slick tires, which do not work well at all on the dirt surface. Two, some of the cars are not yet updated to check for the new dirt track types and will fail to load at the dirt tracks. We’ll work to rectify the failure of cars to load, but it is not likely that you will be wanting to drive cars with slicks at a dirt track anytime soon. Dirt tires are significantly softer and have much more tread pattern than even a normal passenger car tire. So even cars with treaded tires (e.g. the Skip Barber car) do not work well on dirt. Finally, most of the dirt cars allow much lower tire pressures than the pavement cars, which additionally helps them to work. – – So if you would like to try dirt track oval racing, please try it in a dirt track car! The new Dirt Legends car and the Dirt Street Stock are available to all, as is USA Speedway, newly covered with dirt.
- A brand new Pace Truck has been built and hired to manage all races at dirt ovals to create a more authentic safety vehicle experience at these tracks.
- Due to the intense nature of the graphics needed for Dirt Racing, it is recommended that you keep “Render Dynamic Track Changes” enabled, and have your “Shader Quality” set to Medium or above, otherwise you will get a notification warning you about your experience.
- Fixed an issue that would have left your computerized spotter disabled if a teammate left the server while they had indicated that they were acting as your live spotter.
- GT3 cars are now less sensitive to drafting – you will need to be closer to other cars to feel the effect.
- Time Trial sessions will now use the same Time Of Day as is used in the other session types in a given series that uses Dynamic Weather, even though the rest of the Time Trial weather settings will be set to the iRacing default weather.
Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
- Updated tires to have a faster response to steering inputs and lower slip angles for peak grip. This should achieve a combination of good responsiveness and the ability to identify peak grip without taking away too much over-the-limit forgiveness.
- Updated the LeMans aero package: a Rearward shift in the center of pressure that produces better balance in mid-to-high speed corners.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: This car now has less aerodynamic understeer, and the rear wing is more effective at tuning both downforce and aerodynamic balance.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: Increased engine torque by 1%.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: Re-tuned straight line speed to match performance from before the tire construction and compound changes.
- Updated tires to have a faster response to steering inputs and lower slip angles for peak grip. This should achieve a combination of good responsiveness and the ability to identify peak grip without taking away too much over-the-limit forgiveness.
- Updated the LeMans aero package: a Rearward shift in the center of pressure that produces better balance in mid-to-high speed corners.
- NEW CAR! – – As with their pavement racing counterparts (with which they share little beyond their generic name), Late Models are among the most sophisticated and popular classes of race cars on the dirt tracks of North America and Australia. “Classes” is the key term, as there is a category of dirt Late Models – Limited, Pro, and Super – for nearly every level of experience and budget. – – There are several classes of this vehicle available, all of which are included when purchasing this new vehicle.
- The classes are: – – – Limited Dirt Late Model (350 C.I.D. engine) – – – Pro Dirt Late Model (358 C.I.D. engine) – – – Super Dirt Late Model (438 C.I.D. engine)
- NEW CAR! Free addition for all Members! – – Our original Legends car, geared up for the dirt tracks! – – This dirt version of the Legends car is included as part of the free Legends ’34 Ford Coupe package.
- NEW CAR! – – Nothing better epitomizes grassroots American racing than a Winged Sprint Car slinging dirt on one of the scores of 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and mile dirt ovals dotting the countryside. The Sprint Car’s iconic roller skate shape hearkens to an era when the likes of Bill Vukovich, Jimmy Bryan, and Parnelli Jones scratched and clawed their ways from the short tracks of America to a front-row seat in the Indianapolis 500. More recently, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, and Kyle Larson have used Sprint Cars as a stepping stone to NASCAR even as the likes of Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Donnie Schatz, Joey Saldana, Bryan Clauson, and Levi Jones have fashioned good (if hard-earned) livings racing World of Outlaws and United States Auto Club Sprint Cars three, four, and five nights a week while their counterparts compete in Canada and South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. – – There are several classes of this vehicle available, all of which are included when purchasing this new vehicle.
- The classes are: – – – Dirt Sprint Car – 305 C.I.D. engine – – – Dirt Sprint Car – 360 C.I.D. engine – – – Dirt Sprint Car – 410 C.I.D. engine
- NEW CAR! Free addition for all Members! – – Our original Street Stock, geared up for the dirt tracks! – – This dirt version of the Street Stock car is included as part of the free Street Stock package.
- The drivetrain stiffnesses and damping values have been reverted to those used before the 2017 Season 2 Patch 1 release. This adjustment is aimed at reducing rear axle tramp.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: Fuel consumption has been adjusted.
- The drivetrain stiffnesses and damping values have been reverted to those used before the 2017 Season 2 Patch 1 release. This adjustment is aimed at reducing rear axle tramp.
- Bug fix for Tech in the Garage: Ride heights are now displayed at the rear left and rear right corners instead of along the longitudinal centerline of the car. This ensures that if the car fails Tech because the rear left or rear right ride heights are illegal, it will be highlighted in the Garage screen. – – All iRacing HPD setups now pass Tech.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: Anti-roll bars are stiffer at both ends in an effort to make handling more benign.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: This car now has less aerodynamic understeer, and the rear wing is more effective at tuning both downforce and aerodynamic balance.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: Re-tuned straight line speed to match performance from before the tire construction and compound changes.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: Re-tuned straight line speed to match performance from before the tire construction and compound changes.
- GT3 BoP Adjustment: Fuel consumption has been adjusted.
- NEW DIRT MODEL! Free addition for all Members who already own this vehicle! – – Our original Silverado truck, geared up for the dirt tracks! – – The dirt model of this vehicle will now be automatically used whenever paired with a dirt track. The dirt version of the Silverado is included in the Silverado truck package.
- NEW DIRT MODEL! Free addition for all Members who already own this vehicle! – – Our original Tundra truck, geared up for the dirt tracks! – – The dirt model of this vehicle will now be automatically used whenever paired with a dirt track. The dirt version of the Tundra is included in the Tundra truck package.
- Updated aero, suspension, and garage setup range for the 2017 season.
- Track-specific vehicle setups have been updated.
- Updated aero, suspension, and garage setup range for the 2017 season.
- Track-specific vehicle setups have been updated.
- This vehicle has been updated with a brand new 3D model.
- Updated aero, suspension, and garage setup range for the 2017 season.
- Track-specific vehicle setups have been updated.
Eldora Speedway
- NEW TRACK! – – Both by geography and history, Eldora Speedway stands at the epicenter of dirt track racing. Situated in what was once an Ohio cornfield near the Indiana state line, the half-mile clay oval lies in the very heart of the Midwest’s roaring racing scene. And as host to some of the biggest events on the short track racing calendar annually – events that have attracted the top names in American racing for more than half a century – Eldora can rightly bill itself as ‘The World’s Greatest Dirt Track.’
- A NEW DIRT CONFIGURATION HAS BEEN ADDED! Free addition for all Members! – – While the real USA International was a super quick, three-quarter-mile paved oval, thanks to iRacing’s talented artists and software engineers, iRacers (and only iRacers) can now race on a virtual dirt version of the Lakeland, FL track. With its long straights and tight but steeply banked turns, USA International requires both a strong engine and a finely-tuned chassis and poses a stern test of Sim racers’ ability to wheel their dirt cars around a lightning quick oval.
- NEW TRACK! – – Known as ‘The Fastest Half Mile in the World,’ Volusia Speedway Park is a favorite stop on both the World of Outlaws and Super DIRTcar Series calendars, as well as home to the Annual Powell Memorial for Late Models and The Iron Man 100 for V8 Thunderstocks.
- NEW TRACK! – – Hearkening back to an era when America’s dirt tracks were as much a part of county fairs and amusement parks as peanuts and cotton candy, Williams Grove Speedway is located in south central Pennsylvania adjacent to the amusement park established by the Williams family in the 1850s. It was not until the late 1930s, however, that Emmett Shelley convinced the owners of Williams Grove Park to build a speedway across the street, a half-mile dirt track that has since become inextricably woven into the DNA of American racing.
iRacing is an online only racing simulation available for PC. Utilising a subscription based system, content can be purchased as individual items priced per piece. Dirt update is available to purchase now.
Check out the iRacing sub forum here at RaceDepartment to engage with your fellow iRacing fans. Leave a comment about your thoughts on the game, or download one of the many community created setups to help boost your competitive advantage!
Have you tried the new update? Do you like what iRacing have done with dirt? Let us know in the comments section below!
), easier than expected (strangely easier than a non dirt track), maybe a bit too easy in fact...
