Dusting off the rig and getting back into things

I was really into iRacing until a combination of work-related projects, lack of mental focus, and my S.O. going through a surgery which left her hobbling on crutches for the better part of June.... all drained me from the ability and capacity to really enjoy getting behind the wheel and going head-to-head with everyone.

It especially left me sad that I was unable to realistically kickstart the VSRA at the beginning of Season 1, but it appears that everyone here has gotten along pretty well - kudos to everyone!

So yesterday, the opportunity lands in my lap to finally ditch my Driving Force Pro wheel, and step up to the G27. That'll actually take place tomor... wait what's today? Yes.. tomorrow. Thursday. Yes. And it couldn't happen soon enough because truth be told - that DFP wheel has jacked up my wrist something fierce on multiple occasions.

Long story short: Now that I'll have better driving controls, I got all sorts of antsy/excited and loaded up my backup account on iRacing to derp around in Charlotte on the road circuit, but not before tripping over the many wires and dropping my racing seat on my foot. Yeah that kinda hurt. Anyway....

Here is my brief YouTube video that I made -



Yeah, not impressive at all I know. I thought I'd come by and share that with everyone anyhow. I've always enjoyed making videos and now that I've got the process down to a decent science, I'm looking forward to finally being passionate about sim racing.

I'm still unable to stick to a regular schedule until after the beginning of the Fall school year (I work in the education sector.) so .... good luck to everyone participating in Season 1!

Jordan, if you're reading this - miss you man!

Have an awesome day, all!

Good to see you can make it back on for a while !! Nice video !! I can see how you jacked up your wrist, hitting the wall like that all the time lol, just kidding !! Looking forward to some good racing!!

Got the G27 last night and.... holy cow that wheel is above and beyond superior to the Driving Force Pro wheel in EVERY. SINGLE. WAY.

Thank you so much Scotty for throwing me the opportunity. The wheel works amazingly, and I couldn't stop toying with it after I got home.

...except now I have to learn how to drive a stick shift. Flappy paddles are great, but I really think I need to incorporate the clutch and learn how to not shift into 5th from 2nd gear (which happened more often than I'd like to admit).

I was so stoked when I was finally able to get the MX-5 up to speed at LRP that my brain didn't comprehend what exactly to do going into "Big Bend", and I continued to eat it around that corner until I forced myself to turn around and try it again over and over and over until I was able to bring the car from ~120 down to ~70 without spinning out.

Manual shifting with clutch really adds a lot of complexity to things. I've got a lot of practice ahead of me before I can safely put myself on track with anyone else with enough confidence to know that I'm not going to be a detriment to the people who aren't as spazzy as I.... (aka "Capt. Grind-em-n-find-em") am.

I'm actually feeling slightly more confident about my garbage run at Charlotte Road Course, hitting 1.26.7xx - that seemed to be a solid lap time when looking at the results from last night's event, although I was using the cute little DFP for that.

Anyway, I'm really psyched. Even though I regressed immensely adding manual shift/clutch into the mix, I feel that in due time I'll come to embrace it and make it feel natural.

Thanks for making a brother feel at home, Joseph! I'm looking forward to racing with you guys very soon.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

I have a G27 and love it. The clutch is hard, very hard, for me anyway. If you want it realistic make sure to turn off the clutch assist in iRacing.

darktechkelly wrote:

Got the G27 last night and.... holy cow that wheel is above and beyond superior to the Driving Force Pro wheel in EVERY. SINGLE. WAY.

Thank you so much Scotty for throwing me the opportunity. The wheel works amazingly, and I couldn't stop toying with it after I got home.

...except now I have to learn how to drive a stick shift. Flappy paddles are great, but I really think I need to incorporate the clutch and learn how to not shift into 5th from 2nd gear (which happened more often than I'd like to admit).

I was so stoked when I was finally able to get the MX-5 up to speed at LRP that my brain didn't comprehend what exactly to do going into "Big Bend", and I continued to eat it around that corner until I forced myself to turn around and try it again over and over and over until I was able to bring the car from ~120 down to ~70 without spinning out.

Manual shifting with clutch really adds a lot of complexity to things. I've got a lot of practice ahead of me before I can safely put myself on track with anyone else with enough confidence to know that I'm not going to be a detriment to the people who aren't as spazzy as I.... (aka "Capt. Grind-em-n-find-em") am.

I'm actually feeling slightly more confident about my garbage run at Charlotte Road Course, hitting 1.26.7xx - that seemed to be a solid lap time when looking at the results from last night's event, although I was using the cute little DFP for that.

Anyway, I'm really psyched. Even though I regressed immensely adding manual shift/clutch into the mix, I feel that in due time I'll come to embrace it and make it feel natural.

Thanks for making a brother feel at home, Joseph! I'm looking forward to racing with you guys very soon.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

I have been driving full manual with no shift assists this entire season and even though it is technically "slower" I like the immersion and challenge of it, I highly recommend it! How is your heel/toe technique?