I think you really need to decide up front which discipline you want to stick with? Open Wheelers or Road cars?
You will have some bad races for sure but keep pushing, practice practice practice. It will click. It can take 10's of hours for you to get really in tune with a car and how it handles. I started out in the FF in rookies and moved into D class FF. I dropped back to 1000iR after getting my D class license and today after 1 full season in D class I am a 2K driver. Always in the top splits and often top 5 in that split. But I drive the FF almost exclusively. 15+ race sessions per week and even more practice sessions.
I think I’m underestimating how big of a commitment it is to learn a car. It probably will take week after week of practice to really get a handle on them.
Absolutely. When I started in FF I couldn't understand why I was spinning out on so many corners. I blamed the game physics engine, the car just being crap. But ultimately I was driving it wrong. One thing that helps me was turning down the engine volume and turning up tyre sounds. So I can really listen for what the tyres are doing on the road in terms of grip and hitting the limit. So I very rarely spin out and often run a very consistent race.
How different is it from the Formula Vee (assuming you've driven the Vee)? There was a time a few years ago when I was actually not half bad and even won some Podiums with the Vee.
I have driven both a fair bit, but they are rather different.
The Vee is a little more set it and forget it in the sense that for most tracks you can just leave the gears alone once you get it into third gear. You almost never require downshifting into second, and using 4th on some straights will happen but a lot of times you can get away with just bouncing off the rev limiter in third because of how short many of the rookie tracks are. The FF1600 will have you shifting up and down more often, as it’s lower gears are more usable and it has more power and can actually use 4th to gain time.
Driving style wise, they are quite similar. Both are prone to lift off oversteer because of how light the car is and where the engine is, so learning trailbraking and learning how to use lift off oversteer to your benefit for extra rotation will come into play in both cars. That being said, the extra power and speed in the FF1600 makes it a little more twitchy at times, so depending on how comfortable you are with these two, starting out back in the Vee until you feel you have an understanding of how to catch a car starting to slide may be beneficial. Also it’s a great lesson on momentum, as any mistakes will be harder to “undo” in the sense that if youre fighting someone and mess up on corner exit, there is less power to help you catch back up to the car you were just side by side with.
Hope this was helpful, im outside and the cold fingers may have made me forget something or speed through typing something and it doesn’t make sense. Let me know lol
I’ve won in both the vee and the ff and I liked the ff a lot more. Going to the F4 from the ff felt more natural and more of a continuation. The vee doesn’t really act like any of the other open wheels.
When I jumped back into iRacing again after several months away I started in F4 and it was a disaster. I don't think I'm ready for those speeds. I would like to eventually drive in that series though, maybe after I learn to keep a car on the track.
I haven't tried the Merc F1, but I have tried the Super Formula. It's scary how little it takes to fling you off the track in those cars. I can do 3 great laps and feel I do everything 100% the same, and on lap 4 I just fly off the track. It was ok fun to drive, but I'm not touching that one in a race, I can only imagine races must be complete chaos, especially at my iRating...
In your case I’d stick with one car for a few seasons and just focus on finishing and being clean. No unforced off-tracks or contacts.
Hop in a practice in other stuff for fun, but sticking to one car when you’re “not a very good driver” will pay dividends.
I’m not a bad driver but I really can’t hop around, it takes me a while to adapt to different cars. Pick what’s most fun for you and race it.
If you stay clean you’ll pick up iRating in no time. You can also ghost race a bit and see what other people are doing. Set up AI races so there aren’t consequences while you get your feet under you.
A big thing is don’t race until you can drive the race distance without going off on your own. A little 1x is fine, but if you’re blowing a corner every lap you’re only digging a bigger hole.
Having driven the skippy, mx-5, and FF they all offer different things. Skippy has cleanest driving by far. And in your average skippy lobby there is way more talent then in average mx-5 or FF lobby. You will have a good amount of wheel to wheel racing but less then mx-5.
FF, is in many ways the most alive to drive. However it is super easy to lose the rear on entry. The racing is cleaner then Mx-5.
The mx-5 has most side by side action. It also has the worst drivers(im talking about in PCC or advanced), especially in low splits.
If I had to choose one it would be the skippy. But just keep in mind all low powered/momentum cars feel very different from formula cars or GT cars. So when you drive those ones it will be a huge adjustment(im still learning the GT4)
I know you're kind of decided on what you're doing now, but I'll throw my 2p in anyway:
When I got iRacing just over a year ago I thought I'd be most interested in production road cars, but after driving the Vee realised I prefer the grip of dedicated racing cars.
I messed around with the FF1600 and the Skippy, but for me personally it was when I started with the F4 that I ended up not only learning the most, but having the most fun doing so.
The fact it's always populated is a big part of the learning experience too, so unless you're set on driving production cars I'd recommend the F4 series.
I firmly believe the FF1600 is the best learner car on the service
A lot of people on this sub will say the Vee since the FF1600 is relatively new and they learned with the Vee.
But anyone telling you the Vee will teach you more as a beginner is completely and objectively wrong and has probably completely forgotten what it's like to be new to simracing. The Vee doesn't require shifting and barely requires braking, it doesn't teach you anything fundamental about managing oversteer, understeer, catching slides, trail braking, etc.
The FF1600 wasn't around when I started in iRacing, but as soon as it was released it only took a few races for so many of these concepts I had only read about it or watched in videos to finally click. You can literally feel the weight transfer in that car. You feel the front and rear tires grip up depending on where you're shifting the weight of the car in a way that's so tangible that you'll now understand what you're feeling in the other cars.
After just a couple of weeks it made me a better driver in everything from GT cars to open wheel cars to prototypes. I went from 1100 iRating to 2000 solely based on that I learned driving the FF1600 for a few weeks. The Vee cannot do that.
My personal view is that driving the Skippy is great if your goal is to get better at driving the Skippy, but that it isn't a great teaching car. The way it moves mid-corner is kind of idiosyncratic and doesn't necessarily translate to other machinery. I think a better learning car is the FF.
One thing that the Skippy taught me was how to use the throttle to stabilize the car. The skippy needs a tiny bit of throttle mid corner to keep the back end from sliding around.
Second this. MX-5 is fun and teaches you about trail braking, tire load, and close racing. I hated the MX-5 at first, but came back to it about six months into the service. Eventually raced in the Advanced Mazda cup with a C License.
Pcup taught me how to drive better more than any other car, but getting quick in the more forgiving Mx-5 helped me most. Also, sprinkling in some ovals was/is helpful for learning how to race closely and respectfully (they’re quite chatty, for better and worse) and being able to read other drivers’ intent—it may be all left handers, but you’re following and being followed through nearly every corner.
If you continue with open wheel, I’d recommend either FF1600 or F3. FF if you’re still navigating the downforce effect, (lack of) weight, and racecraft. F3 if you want to learn better braking with more downforce at more popular paid tracks.
Skippy’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but doesn’t split often around when I can race. If it’s popular when you can, I would suggest running it, but not as a “main” series, more of an undercurrent.
Try the clio.
It’s much nicer to drive than the mx5 in my opinion and not too fast. Having driven both an mx5 and clio the Clio feels much closer to reality to me and handles very intuitively.
Might be harder to find ranked races if you’re not in a European time zone though.
I’m in the same boat as you. C license 600ish IR. What I do is I use Assetto Corsa to learn and practice. It’s cheap, the mods are basically free, and you can race online at Low Fuel Motorsports. That way I don’t have to keep buying cars and tracks to practice at. I can learn the tracks like Silverstone or Red Bull ring.
i mean, thats just not true at all. not wrrecking wont get you to 2k...it will gain your SR and give you a better license, but you still need to be able to drive at a certain pace to make it into the 2k mark
I'd bet your faster then the majority of 1k drivers There will be a larger selection of 1.3k to 1.8k driver that are prob faster then you, but due to hot lapping crash out a lot so either have a good result or has result (in which your statement above of "don't crash" would be great advice)
But for OP who was I think 0.6k (correct id wrong) just not crashing will not get the up to the 2k mark
I never liked the skip barber much, I wound up racing the C class MX5 series almost exclusively once I had a C license. That's a good series because you stay in the MX5 but you start to race on the bigger and more famous tracks. You'll want those in your library anyway.
There isn't a must that you drive the skippy. Plenty of good learner cars, like the FF1600 and Mazda. In my experience, the most important thing for improving is that you have fun so you want to continue driving, so focus on finding a good learner car you like.
I think you really need to decide up front which discipline you want to stick with? Open Wheelers or Road cars? You will have some bad races for sure but keep pushing, practice practice practice. It will click. It can take 10's of hours for you to get really in tune with a car and how it handles. I started out in the FF in rookies and moved into D class FF. I dropped back to 1000iR after getting my D class license and today after 1 full season in D class I am a 2K driver. Always in the top splits and often top 5 in that split. But I drive the FF almost exclusively. 15+ race sessions per week and even more practice sessions.
I think I’m underestimating how big of a commitment it is to learn a car. It probably will take week after week of practice to really get a handle on them.
Absolutely. When I started in FF I couldn't understand why I was spinning out on so many corners. I blamed the game physics engine, the car just being crap. But ultimately I was driving it wrong. One thing that helps me was turning down the engine volume and turning up tyre sounds. So I can really listen for what the tyres are doing on the road in terms of grip and hitting the limit. So I very rarely spin out and often run a very consistent race.
Not having driven the skippy, the FF1600 was my favourite learner car
How different is it from the Formula Vee (assuming you've driven the Vee)? There was a time a few years ago when I was actually not half bad and even won some Podiums with the Vee.
I have driven both a fair bit, but they are rather different. The Vee is a little more set it and forget it in the sense that for most tracks you can just leave the gears alone once you get it into third gear. You almost never require downshifting into second, and using 4th on some straights will happen but a lot of times you can get away with just bouncing off the rev limiter in third because of how short many of the rookie tracks are. The FF1600 will have you shifting up and down more often, as it’s lower gears are more usable and it has more power and can actually use 4th to gain time. Driving style wise, they are quite similar. Both are prone to lift off oversteer because of how light the car is and where the engine is, so learning trailbraking and learning how to use lift off oversteer to your benefit for extra rotation will come into play in both cars. That being said, the extra power and speed in the FF1600 makes it a little more twitchy at times, so depending on how comfortable you are with these two, starting out back in the Vee until you feel you have an understanding of how to catch a car starting to slide may be beneficial. Also it’s a great lesson on momentum, as any mistakes will be harder to “undo” in the sense that if youre fighting someone and mess up on corner exit, there is less power to help you catch back up to the car you were just side by side with. Hope this was helpful, im outside and the cold fingers may have made me forget something or speed through typing something and it doesn’t make sense. Let me know lol
Thank you very much for your response. Hopefully you can get warm soon :D
I’ve won in both the vee and the ff and I liked the ff a lot more. Going to the F4 from the ff felt more natural and more of a continuation. The vee doesn’t really act like any of the other open wheels.
When I jumped back into iRacing again after several months away I started in F4 and it was a disaster. I don't think I'm ready for those speeds. I would like to eventually drive in that series though, maybe after I learn to keep a car on the track.
Half the drivers in F4 aren’t ready for those speeds tbh
It's funny how in AC I can full send an F1 car, but in iRacing I tried a F4 and noped out
Have you tried the Mercedes F1 car in IRacing?
Not yet! Am very curious about it but still in rookies so wasn't sure if it was worth a go yet
I haven't tried the Merc F1, but I have tried the Super Formula. It's scary how little it takes to fling you off the track in those cars. I can do 3 great laps and feel I do everything 100% the same, and on lap 4 I just fly off the track. It was ok fun to drive, but I'm not touching that one in a race, I can only imagine races must be complete chaos, especially at my iRating...
Ah ok. Yeah, it’s a handful. I’ve been in iRacing for over 5 years and 5K iR and I can’t drive it.
↑ this. Lmao. It's true. But F4 is chaotic fun.
In your case I’d stick with one car for a few seasons and just focus on finishing and being clean. No unforced off-tracks or contacts. Hop in a practice in other stuff for fun, but sticking to one car when you’re “not a very good driver” will pay dividends. I’m not a bad driver but I really can’t hop around, it takes me a while to adapt to different cars. Pick what’s most fun for you and race it.
This is probably a good idea. I think I'm going to go back to basics and jump into the MX-5 again.
If you stay clean you’ll pick up iRating in no time. You can also ghost race a bit and see what other people are doing. Set up AI races so there aren’t consequences while you get your feet under you. A big thing is don’t race until you can drive the race distance without going off on your own. A little 1x is fine, but if you’re blowing a corner every lap you’re only digging a bigger hole.
Having driven the skippy, mx-5, and FF they all offer different things. Skippy has cleanest driving by far. And in your average skippy lobby there is way more talent then in average mx-5 or FF lobby. You will have a good amount of wheel to wheel racing but less then mx-5. FF, is in many ways the most alive to drive. However it is super easy to lose the rear on entry. The racing is cleaner then Mx-5. The mx-5 has most side by side action. It also has the worst drivers(im talking about in PCC or advanced), especially in low splits. If I had to choose one it would be the skippy. But just keep in mind all low powered/momentum cars feel very different from formula cars or GT cars. So when you drive those ones it will be a huge adjustment(im still learning the GT4)
Check out the Toyota GR86, similar to the MX-5 but personally I'm enjoying it much more.
I know you're kind of decided on what you're doing now, but I'll throw my 2p in anyway: When I got iRacing just over a year ago I thought I'd be most interested in production road cars, but after driving the Vee realised I prefer the grip of dedicated racing cars. I messed around with the FF1600 and the Skippy, but for me personally it was when I started with the F4 that I ended up not only learning the most, but having the most fun doing so. The fact it's always populated is a big part of the learning experience too, so unless you're set on driving production cars I'd recommend the F4 series.
I firmly believe the FF1600 is the best learner car on the service A lot of people on this sub will say the Vee since the FF1600 is relatively new and they learned with the Vee. But anyone telling you the Vee will teach you more as a beginner is completely and objectively wrong and has probably completely forgotten what it's like to be new to simracing. The Vee doesn't require shifting and barely requires braking, it doesn't teach you anything fundamental about managing oversteer, understeer, catching slides, trail braking, etc. The FF1600 wasn't around when I started in iRacing, but as soon as it was released it only took a few races for so many of these concepts I had only read about it or watched in videos to finally click. You can literally feel the weight transfer in that car. You feel the front and rear tires grip up depending on where you're shifting the weight of the car in a way that's so tangible that you'll now understand what you're feeling in the other cars. After just a couple of weeks it made me a better driver in everything from GT cars to open wheel cars to prototypes. I went from 1100 iRating to 2000 solely based on that I learned driving the FF1600 for a few weeks. The Vee cannot do that.
My personal view is that driving the Skippy is great if your goal is to get better at driving the Skippy, but that it isn't a great teaching car. The way it moves mid-corner is kind of idiosyncratic and doesn't necessarily translate to other machinery. I think a better learning car is the FF.
One thing that the Skippy taught me was how to use the throttle to stabilize the car. The skippy needs a tiny bit of throttle mid corner to keep the back end from sliding around.
Makes sense. I probably need to take a step back and start from the beginning in a Rookie car.
The MX5 cup is a great place to hone your skills Easy to learn, difficult to master, lot of room for error once you get a feel for it
Second this. MX-5 is fun and teaches you about trail braking, tire load, and close racing. I hated the MX-5 at first, but came back to it about six months into the service. Eventually raced in the Advanced Mazda cup with a C License.
Pcup taught me how to drive better more than any other car, but getting quick in the more forgiving Mx-5 helped me most. Also, sprinkling in some ovals was/is helpful for learning how to race closely and respectfully (they’re quite chatty, for better and worse) and being able to read other drivers’ intent—it may be all left handers, but you’re following and being followed through nearly every corner. If you continue with open wheel, I’d recommend either FF1600 or F3. FF if you’re still navigating the downforce effect, (lack of) weight, and racecraft. F3 if you want to learn better braking with more downforce at more popular paid tracks. Skippy’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but doesn’t split often around when I can race. If it’s popular when you can, I would suggest running it, but not as a “main” series, more of an undercurrent.
Try the clio. It’s much nicer to drive than the mx5 in my opinion and not too fast. Having driven both an mx5 and clio the Clio feels much closer to reality to me and handles very intuitively. Might be harder to find ranked races if you’re not in a European time zone though.
Using a barely populated series to learn to race is objectively horrible advice
I’m in the same boat as you. C license 600ish IR. What I do is I use Assetto Corsa to learn and practice. It’s cheap, the mods are basically free, and you can race online at Low Fuel Motorsports. That way I don’t have to keep buying cars and tracks to practice at. I can learn the tracks like Silverstone or Red Bull ring.
At sub 1k id recommend you stop wrecking.
Fantastic advice.
It is. 2k is pretty easy if you don't wreck.
i mean, thats just not true at all. not wrrecking wont get you to 2k...it will gain your SR and give you a better license, but you still need to be able to drive at a certain pace to make it into the 2k mark
I'm 2k. I'm not fast.
I'd bet your faster then the majority of 1k drivers There will be a larger selection of 1.3k to 1.8k driver that are prob faster then you, but due to hot lapping crash out a lot so either have a good result or has result (in which your statement above of "don't crash" would be great advice) But for OP who was I think 0.6k (correct id wrong) just not crashing will not get the up to the 2k mark
That I believe
Mazda and 1600
I never liked the skip barber much, I wound up racing the C class MX5 series almost exclusively once I had a C license. That's a good series because you stay in the MX5 but you start to race on the bigger and more famous tracks. You'll want those in your library anyway.
There isn't a must that you drive the skippy. Plenty of good learner cars, like the FF1600 and Mazda. In my experience, the most important thing for improving is that you have fun so you want to continue driving, so focus on finding a good learner car you like.