AudiOn19s

Picked back up iRacing after the real racing season ended in november. Back at it almost every day as a great way to keep sharp and burn hours of boredom away. Middle of the road gear but serves me well. After getting a real pedal setup with load cell the playseat flexed all over the place and had to have Tinman hard weld everything together with supports...it's janky looking but it works as well as really high end rigs now. Would love to build an 8020 rig in the future but this one does the job for now. Only real desire to upgrade at the moment is to go to to multiple shakers instead of the single. The single does well for simple effects but I'd like to go to 4 shakers total, one at each corner of the rig to simulate traction at each tire instead of general effects like the sigle one does now.

We got HBO max free for a year through something (can't remember what) and 've not found much at all that I care for on there.

There are 3 tracks within 90 min of columbus: Circleville Adkins - *has outdoor rentals** Wilmington there are 3 more tracks if you're willing to travel ~2 hours: G&J Freemont New Castle - **has outdoor rentals** ...and is one of top kart tracks in the nation Lots more karting opportunities than just Circleville. I will say, Circleville is more of a drivers track than just about any of them but the degrading surface and the totally degraded facilities make it a turn off to even current kart owners. You basically get sandblasted from the surface coming up these days if you are out there with anyone else.

The continual progression of ring times is impressive. Not the biggest fan of the Mercedes myself but what it's accomplished is pretty impressive. I enjoyed Misha's breakdown of it's lap on youtube talking about how good the aero really is on the car and pointing out that 6:43 was in conditions where portions of the track were a little damp. Porsche apparently ran the new 992 GT3 the other day and it seems as though the new "regular" GT3 is going to be quicker than the last iteration of GT3 RS but that means something in the > 6:50 range. N/A cars just can't make up for the power of some of the newer turbo cars no matter how good they are.

have you considered doing radiant heat in the floors? I keep compiling ideas on how to do my own building some day and after experiencing them it's a must-have on my list.

It's a fair suggestion, and one I've considered but I have 2 issues. 1 - I've never been a ford fan even though their trucks are obviously very good 2 - Everyone I know who's towed extensively with an ecoboost has had to put a motor in them. One is either a 18 or 19 that needed a shortblock at like 3500 miles and the most he ever towed was like 4500lbs. Has ford addressed the reliability issues?

The 5.3 in my '08 only lasted around 100k before it was burning soo much oil that it clogged the cats and made a general mess out of everything. It belonged to my friend back then and he put an LY6 6.0L in the thing which at this point has 130k-140k, without any DoD and it doesn't burn a drop of oil and still runs strong. ...but the rest of the truck is a rusted piece of shit at this point. I own older cars from europe that don't have a spec of rust on them that have been driven in winters and haven't had issues, it's disappointing how bad these damn domestic trucks rust. I literally have to take the body grounds lose every spring and clean them or else random electrical stuff just quits working. My biggest gripe is I started to tow a relatively small enclosed trailer but it's got 7" height with an A/C unit on the top and it's an absolute parachute behind the truck. If someone farts wrong causing an air disturbance and I'm trying to run 78-80mph the thing will constantly be in and out of converter lock and downshift all the time to try to keep in the power band for even the smallest grade. I feel like the newer 8 or 10 speed transmissions will hopefully make towing at that speed a little less of an adventure. It pulls my GT3 on an open trailer better than it pulls a 1400lb enclosed trailer with race karts in it all from aero drag.

Thanks for the link to this dealer. I'm waiting for the '21's to show up in dealers in hopes of finding a smoking deal on a '20 later this year. Also a costco member. The thought of buying a truck frustrates me but the one I've got now needs to be put down and I do a LOT of towing these days. Priced out some used trucks and the new version of the same thing is horrible looking but only a couple grand cheaper than a brand new one. I'm good with the 5.3 as long as it has the 8 speed and towing package. Anything else I should be weary of on the new GM trucks?

I upgraded to: Fanatech CSL Elite load cell pedals Fanatec CSL Elite v1.1 wheel base Fanatec clubsport BMW M3 steering wheel. I was plenty fast with the G27, braking was a little inconsistent though as it's tough to modulate the brake pedal in stock form. I ordered the Nixim mod for the brake pedal and had it come in a timely manor I probably would still be using them to this day. But the f'ing thing took almost 5 weeks to get here and in the middle of that wait period, with no money going out towards racing and no communication from Nixim, I decided to upgrade to the fanatec pedals which gave me exactly the braking consistency I was looking for with the Nixim mod without having to wait any longer :-) Wheel and wheel base were just the slippery slope, isolation boredom, b-day treat to myself!

correct, but one clarification is that if you are interested in it for PlayStation please make sure the game you're looking to us it with is compatible. A couple of the games will not support the wheel which I learned the hard way, this was 5-6 years ago and not as much of an issue these days but should still be considered.

I personally feel like that's one of the most entertaining cars in iRacing. Sad that it's fallen off in popularity but when I used iRacing back in the day to learn new tracks before I went there in real life the Mustand was the closest in speed to my real car and provided me with the best comparison of timing for driving the tracks ahead of time. Also one of the few cars you can drive with a ton of slip angle and get away with it. I've been spending all my time racing the 718 clubsport and 991 Cup lately. As cool as the IMSA / GT3 and open wheel cars are, they're soo far detached from the reality of what I'd have the opportunity to drive in real life that i have a hard time getting too interested in them.

I'm concerned about failures based on feedback I've seen from many that had similar experience to you. That's exactly the reason I went with the CSL elite pedals vs. the clubsport pedals because the clubsports seem to be more delicate than the CSL's. The problem for me was...I found local people with several setups that I tried before I pulled the trigger on upgrades and in that "middle market", there's nothing that comes close to the fanatec lineup from a feel perspective. I had the pleasure of driving a rig with Heusinkveld ultimate pedals and a direct drive setup and it was AMAZING...but also 3x the cost of the gear i ended up going with not to mention there's no way my chassis would support a direct drive wheel.

Fanatec CSL Elite Load Cell pedals Fanatec CSL Elite steering wheel base Fanatec Clubsport BMW M3 steering wheel It's funny because I'm not any faster with the new stuff, but it feels sooo much better :-) (at least that's how I justify it). Also easier to be consistent lap after lap on the load cell brake pedal.

The physics in iRacing are superior to anything I've ever played. That said the latest tire model is a bit challenging and not very forgiving, but its still much better than anything else out there. Also, from a "racing" perspective iRacing is pretty serious about what it's client base is there to do...which is race. You can't go out and drive over your head without penalty. There's a "points" system during each race. car contact can be from 0-4 points. wheels off the track is 1 point, loss of control is 2 points. You accumulate too many points and you are disqualified from the race. It creates a situation where people are more likely to drive within their means and skill level, instead of taking risks that might not pay off. That doesn't mean people don't do stupid stuff...but it's pretty limited. There's a licensing system and iRating system that rank you as a driver and when fields are bigger and need to be split for races you are placed with racers of similar skill to make for better racing. I think it's the best thing going, but it's not without it's challenges. Included content will get you through being a rookie and through your "D" license. Beyond that tracks and cars can start to add up. My best advice is get through the beginner stuff on the included content...pick a car or two to purchase that you want to race for a good while and try not to wander just to try different cars out. The good / bad thing about iRacing is the graphics are good, as good as they need to be anyhow, but you don't need a $2k PC to run them. I spent about $950 this go-around and have plenty of overhead to last a few years. Graphics card will be the next constraint in my system but I just don't see it happening anytime soon. Assetto Corsa is an interesting competitor but one I haven't bothered trying yet. Graphics look much better, physics are supposed to be pretty good, it's a cheaper overall platform even with add-ons. I've heard it requires a pretty stout PC to run it with any detail though, the minimum specs don't seem to really fall in line with that but everything I've read is that it's much more taxing on equipment, esp graphics card, than iRacing.

I was into it a good bit about 8 -10 years ago and when my old gaming computer got to be obsolete I let it fall to the side, put the setup in storage and focused on “real” racing. When isolation started I thought it would be fun to build a computer to get back into it and it’s considerably more entertaining than I remember. Since building the PC I decided to upgrade the screen I’m playing on, then got better pedals, then added better wheel base and wheel and finally just yesterday I added a bass skaker to the setup. The cockpit itself is the glaring weak link in my setup right now. I’ll prob wait until winter to mess with the rig. The only other development I’d like to mess with is possibly triple monitors but a single ultrawide is just fine for right now. It’s been a good escape during these times.

I have a full G27 setup for sale. Includes the wheel, shifter, pedals and a brand new, never installed, Nixim v.2 brake mod (progressive spring and rubber stopper) to go with it. Fully functional with no issues, just decided to upgrade my setup. Offering up to local community first. Don't mind shipping but with sim equipment in low supply and high demand figured I'd offer it up locally first. $250 firm.

We have not tried ClearSlide but we have used Webex, UberConference, Teams, Skype and a few others trying to find just the right tool and have settled on Zoom being the best of the bunch, particularly from a video and screen share perspective. Our whole sales and support organization has moved to it. No clue what it costs, there are cheaper subscription options that we give to certain individuals that limit meetings to 30-40 minutes and others get the full subscription with no limitations. Sometimes it's not about the cheapest tool, rather the one that's most effective.

Should try to drive the GT3 more this year. Last year I think I drove it 5 times total. 2 cars and coffee, one time to work, 2x track days. Would like to go to a larger front wheel and tire for the track, We will see. Like to do the cat delete, MAP sensors and stage 3 tune on the Turbo. I've had the damn parts for 3 years now and never installed them. Still goes pretty ok on stage 2 Probably flash the M2 Comp. if they ever crack the unlock codes for the '20 ECU's Kart racing bug got me though...raced 14 weekends last year, won a points championship and intend on going even bigger this year with the target of jumping in at least a few national / pro races to mix it up with the best of the best. Headed to Charlotte next month to kick off the season.

My wife works in credit...the games you have to play to keep a great credit score are amusing at times. Something to point out here...if you're hoping for a quick score jump it's not going to happen. Opening new cards (I'd start with 2) is going to lower your score in the immediate future, but it's the only way to fix it long term. I'd also see if you can find a credit union that will do a loan on your upcoming car purchase for reasonable interest rate...as one other person stated make sure there aren't early payoff penalties and carry it for 18 months...consider the interest paid the cost of increasing your score and then pay it off. We always pay off our car notes at least 3 months early just because it's one extra thing that goes into getting you those extra points on your score in the long run. Also agree on going somewhere like "The Points Guy" and figuring out which cards work best for you (cash back vs. travel rewards vs. ???) and then LIVING off of those cards and paying them off every 2 weeks. We love to travel so we're more centered on travel rewards cards because they provide the most value for us. We took a vacation in November that would have cost $25K plus and we were out of pocket just under $5k for a trip of a lifetime thanks to all our rewards points.

My wife was diagnosed at 31, we actually just cleared the 10 year mark from her last Chemo treatment and she's finally off ALL meds. Obviously your primary goal was to support her, but I found a ton of people with similar experience that told me I needed to build a support system for ME too, not just her...and they were right. You take soo much time and effort to make sure she's doing well that you often don't make time for yourself anymore and that starts to take a toll. Be selfish once a week and go do something "guy" related with a support system to make sure YOU have time to talk to people about it, how it effects you, and how YOU are coping. For me it was as small as stopping in at my favorite car shop once a week with a 6-pack in hand and hanging out for a little bit on a Friday night on the way home from work. I got to hang around people that cared about me but could divert and talk about my passions as a distraction as well. If I were sick It'd be pretty easy to blame diet / fitness on it, but my wife is the biggest fitness fanatic you've ever met, she eats clean to this day but it's no different than when she got sick.

There's not a single limited production or GT Porsche car produced that's ever going to make sense when you're trying to bring value into the equation.

I've owned some pretty nice headphone gear over the years and have had some sort of amp / dac on my desk for years for when i'm in the office...but I"m either getting old and lazy or tech is getting better. I'm currently using SONY WH-1000XM3 for pretty much everything. I would have cringed 3-5 years ago if you told me I'd own wireless headphones. They're the best wireless headphones I've ever heard thanks to internal converter and amp, the noise canceling feature is handy now that I'm on planes as much as I am for work, corded on an amp at my desk they are very good...you could nit pick that they aren't as good as I've ever heard but they're pretty darn close to just about any closed back headphone I've ever owned. I tried some Open back stuff...they are amazing but have almost zero practical use for what I'm doing.

I dig the idea. Just being a Porsche nerd both of the ones you have designed for the 911 look like BMW theme to me. classic 911 race car needs to be Martini Racing and or Brumos inspired. Dig the pig theme from the 917 though.

I know someone that works there, they aren't highly staffed because of the impressive level of automation that happens in their facilities.