iRacing 2015 Season 3 Release Notes

[Peeble]

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3317265.page

Some changes of note:

- We are beginning to convert some of our cars and tracks to using physically based rendering (PBR) shaders to give more accurate looking cars and tracks. In this release the new Five Flags Speedway track uses these new shaders, as do the new Aston Martin DBR9 GT1, and the updated Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 and updated Legends Ford '34 Coupe.


- When you share a setup from the Garage, all different types of car that should be able to load your setup can now actually see and load your setup (for instance, the two V8 Supercars, or the NASCARs).


- Dave has a new model of the tire carcass that does a much more accurate computation of the tire's stiffnesses. Amongst other things tires now respond much more correctly to tire pressure changes. This is what is called a "Version 6" tire. Most of our road course cars have been updated with this


- We can now model the fact that a car's chassis can twist due to forces and torques acting on the car. But only a few of our cars have been updated with this so far.



BMW Z4 GT3

- Chassis torsion is now modeled.

- Now has the new V6 tires.

- Revised car performance to better match real life. Top speeds and cornering grip are now more accurate.

- Updated setup for the new season.

- Adjusted when G27 shift lights illuminate.


Ford GT GT3

- Chassis torsion is now modeled.

- Now has the new V6 tires.

- Revised car performance to better match real life. Top speeds and cornering grip are now more accurate.

- Updated collision settings to match the BMW. This should reduce the 4x response from light hits.

- Adjusted when G27 shift lights illuminate.

- Updated setup for the new season.


Holden Commodore VF V8

- Chassis torsion is now modeled.

- Improved levels of detail for better frame rates.

- Updated setup for the new season.



McLaren MP4-12C GT3

- Now has the new V6 tires.

- Revised car performance to better match real life. Top speeds and cornering grip are now more accurate.

- Updated setup for the new season.


I think those are the changes that guys here will care about the most, but there's a lot of other stuff too.

 

[Slider]

BMW and 12C getting toned down? Wee!!

 

[Noodleguitar]

Some more interesting things in the notes:

For many series, if you register for a Race session more than a couple minutes prior to the session’s scheduled start time, you will be automatically placed into an Open Practice session. This way you can get onto track, instead of waiting for the Race session to launch. Note that the splits for your Race session will not yet have been formed. So there’s no guarantee that the other drivers you see in your Open Practice will be in your split. In fact, some of the drivers in the Open Practice might have registered for it directly, and won’t be transferring to your Race session at all.

The simulation will notify you when your Race session is ready, and present a green [Race!] button on the Session screen. Clicking on this button will disconnect you from the Open Practice session, and connect you to your Race session. Only then can you tell with whom you have been grouped. If you do not click on the [Race!] button, the simulation will automatically switch you over to your Race session shortly prior to when you must grid your car for the race, or sooner if the Race session also has an embedded Qualify session.

This is good news. Finally we can enter a pre-race practice session without using a work-around method. And it will keep track of when the race start, a nice user-friendly addition. Another good thing is that the practice session contains the people that are also signed up so it can be useful to get to know how they drive.

Show the driver the amount of time they still have to yield in order to clear their “gained time by shortcutting, slow-down” furled black flag

Very good news. The days of "damn, why is my slowdown still here?!" are over. I wonder if the time increases if you fail to slow down immediately.

Add in an option to load split time files from other drivers and cars for you to compare yourself against.

I assume this will also allow you to run a ghost car with another driver's lap. That's only useful in test sessions, but still nice to have. Actually, being able to compare exact split times lap by lap could help you improve more efficiently.

------------------------------------

It looks like they did some balancing to the GT3 cars. Along with the NTMv6 it's hard to predict which one of them will be the fastest now so it will be interesting to see if they are more balanced or the opposite.

 

[Slider]

The pre-race practice session is just one of the regular practice session and it does not have other drivers in your race as splits are formed only after the timer is over. Some people in there aren't even registered and are just practicing.

So there’s no guarantee that the other drivers you see in your Open Practice will be in your split. In fact, some of the drivers in the Open Practice might have registered for it directly, and won’t be transferring to your Race session at all.

 

[Noodleguitar]

Oh yes, I didn't read it correctly. But I assume that everyone that automatically gets put into a practice session by signing up for a race will end up in the same one if there is room? Or possibly it will decide by region.

 

[Slider]

Wherever there is room I think.

UPDATE YOUR SHEET!!!! http://members.iracing.com/download/member/home.jsp

 

[Noodleguitar]

Woohoo, it's back up.
441 MB of updates for me, of which 114 MB is just the Aston Martin

EDIT: Oh, it isn't actually up, they just let us update.

 

[Slider]

It went up shortly after. Also, something else has been up since I tried the Aston...at Spa..I love it, at track I hate, I love it.

 

[Daunt]

So how different do the GT3 cars feel?

 

[Slider]

Ford feels like a proper car now. Very planted, up to pace with others. I've heard BMW is slowest on straight line now (as per real specs), with Macca possibly fstest. Haven't tried the RUF yet.

 

[Slider]

Jplays just mentioning he's dumping BMW for the most part. It's realistically 8-10 km/h slower on straights now, but faster in corners.

 

[Slider]

Ford seems to be just alright this season
http://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/EventResult.do?&subsessionid=13954518&custid=166318