VRS - Virtual Racing School

[Daunt]

A lot of people are not sure what it is and what it does so I thought I'd write a post about it. Virtual Racing School (VRS) is a pretty new online, in-browser telemetry tool that is still technically in beta phase but feels extremely polished. On that note, I'm wondering if it will stay free forever... as to that who knows, but for now it remains one of the best tools to take a close look at your driving and compare.

What is it?
The best way to put it is a two-fold package - First there's the online app, found through here: https://virtualracingschool.com/ . You're required (I think) to sign in via FB or google +. The online app features some of the best and most advanced ways to look at your lap in detail, and compare it directly to pros (VRS is sponsoring Coanda) that upload laps like Martin Kronke, Rens Broekman, Olli Pahkala and more. Not only them though, you can compare your own runs, across a multitude of different sessions, and with newly-added team functionality, you can compare your runs with other team mates directly.

Second, t's a telemetry program that runs in the background, a lot like trading paints, only it collects your telemetry files, uploads them automatically to your account on VRS and saves them all for reference.

How is it helpful?
Telemetry is not for everyone and if you're newer to racing in general, it's best to learn the basics. The time to pick apart a lap and look in-depth at what you're doing wrong or where you can improve usually comes only after you're a very consistent driver. Not to say it wouldn't help newer drivers, but only marginally so, most likely.

That said, VRS displays information about your lap in the most graphic and easy-to-understand way I've ever seen it displayed, and I've used at least a few telemetry programs like iSpeed/iAnalyze. I'll list a few personal examples so you can get some idea as to how the app looks and how to use it, but I'll do that in the following post (not the OP). This begins to fall into the "how to use a telemetry program" which is a very in-depth topic as it is.

Why?
As I said before I am trying to make the case for this being the best telemetry software I've ever used. And right now it's FREE. And it's incredibly easy to understand and even easier to compare to your times to pros and team mates alike. Use this tool if you're fast and you feel like you've plateaued and can't understand how to squeeze more time out of your very-consistent laps.

Band of Others on VRS
We have formed a Band of Others team on VRS. This allows you (if you're on the team) to see all team mate's telemetry files and compare lap times very simply. You will need to be invited to the team by email. Please either PM me or Noel and we can send an invite to have you added to the team.

Now you can find out just how Noel is alien-ing around the track.

 

[Daunt]

So after you have your VRS running in the background, your telemetry data will automatically be uploaded. You can head to the app online, via the website above and take a look at a lap and compare it to pros, team mates, or your own laps. You can look at your best lap, optimal lap, average lap, and each individual lap as you wish.

For this example I'm comparing two separate sessions between me and Noel at Monza. His fastest lap was about 2-3 tenths faster than mine. Right away at the top you can compare the weather, his weather was a little cooler and you can also see I had a bit less fuel in my tank. For reference, mine is the light blue lap, his is purple.

On left you'll see a track map and a breakdown of important sectors (broken up by VRS, not actual iRacing sectors) and where you gained the most time against the comparison lap, and where you lose the most time. As you can see, I lost the most time in sector 2 to Noel.

The most critical graph on here is the time graph at the top, which is essentially a delta like you are used to. At the start we are basically the same speed but not soon after, that delta bar dives and I lose over .250 seconds to Noel, which corresponds to the first chicane. This is the biggest time dip and where I lose the most amount of time, so it's the best place to focus first.

Now I'm looking at the correct sector in detail, which is sector two. Which as I said according to the tabs on the left, shows that's where I've lost the most time.

Again, you can use the map on the left to look at our lines, which were a bit different but I don't think a major cause for the difference. The sectors are broken up smartly by VRS automatically to highlight each braking zone and subsequent straightaway / acceleration zone. So this sector begins just as I'm starting to brake. The bottom graph is brake %. You can see I started braking a little bit earlier, just about a tenth earlier. But we reach peak braking power at the same time. So Noel's purple line shows he's applying brake faster (going from 0-max brake). I'm also pressing harder which may be causing me to slide a bit more... he reaches 75% top while I'm in the 90% range.

I've moved the curser forward to the end of the braking zone, right before turn-in. From the delta bar, it is apparent I've already lost .12 seconds. The middle graph is showing our difference in speeds. Whether through my line, driving style or whatever, I've slower the car down perhaps a bit too much as I'm 8.4 km/h slower at turn in.

Moving forward a bit more, we're mid-chicane. At this point, we're both adding a bit of gas to get to the next part. Noel moreso, who's also carrying that extra speed that I bled off initially. The delta bar actually went up a bit, as I gained just a bit of time through the corner, but now that is falling off again already.

Right before the left hander of the first chicane... our steering shows that we're already turning in for this, but from the braking graph, I'm applying a little bit of maintenance braking, as much as 16% while Noel coasts through it. I noticed he also held the steering at the exact same angle throughout before unwinding, while my wheel went far past his steering angle then unwound sooner. This is where the graph dips tremendously, and as you can see by the time delta, I'm already 2 tenths behind him.

Last, coming out of the lefthander, you can see delta has hit rock bottom for this sector and i'm just short of 4 tenths back. Amazing huh? You can see the delta does creep back upward and I get a better exit than Noel, gaining back over a tenth of time by the next braking zone. In the screenshot above, at the point where the delta is creeping up, you can see Noel's at 75% going to 100% but I'm already at full throttle. He's still unwinding his wheel so it may be that my car rotated a bit faster than his in this case.

This sort of diagnosis is the best way to pick apart why someone is faster. Sometimes it's tough and you'll see the time delta slowly creep one way or another which may indicate draft, or a different wing angle. Hope this helps.

 

[Daunt]

Updated second post of the breakdown

-reserved-

 

[Noodleguitar]

Very good explanation Kyle, this is what VRS is all about. It also has data packs for most of the popular cars that are uploaded at the start of each week for the corresponding series. These contain the setup, replay file and a .blap/.olap meaning you can use that as a delta bar comparison. Many of the data packs are by Coanda drivers and since they won the Blancpain GT championship you can be ensured they aren't crap .

It has definitely helped me improve on some tracks. It takes a little time to set a lap you're happy with in default weather and then to compare it to someone faster in the analyzer to see how they are faster. But in VRS you can always see where and how somebody was faster and as Kyle showed that's relatively easy to find.

 

[Sam Roselaar]

i just downloaded it to check it out. can you add me to the team?
VRS name is just Sam Roselaar

 

[Daunt]

i just downloaded it to check it out. can you add me to the team?
VRS name is just Sam Roselaar

Need an email from you. You can PM me here on the forums with it.

 

[Sam Roselaar]

how do you pm? start a conversation? xD

 

[Daunt]

how do you pm? start a conversation? xD

Yep