rFactor - IRL Style Part II

[RaychelSnr]

Robert Nielsen continues his look at the top rFactor mods by taking at look at the Open Wheeled Racing Series mod, or OWRS for short.

"Last week I looked at the X-Race Oval Series add-on for rFactor, which looked to be the only mod available to simulate the winged rockets that make up the IRL. A new player has entered the fray, the Open Wheeled Racing Series 1.00, or OWRS."

[pk500]

The IndyCar Series does not run at Charlotte or Atlanta. It hasn't run at Charlotte since 1999, and it hasn't run at Atlanta since 2001.

[TCrouch]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

I love the handling model in the OWRS mod. It's twitchy, but combined with the RealFeel plugin (thanks for the advice, pk), it is unbelievable. I looped it twice trying to get started while shifting at too high RPM, and the model is extremely fun at speed. Laps around the IMS were unreal...can't wait to put more time in with it.

[ramenite]

Yes, I have to agree, this IRL mod is great, It's in the category of mods that you MUST have installed in rFactor.

I may see what leagues are going to form with this mode and join up. My laptimes need to improve slightly though. I'm lapping high 38, while what I've seen, leaders are dipping into the 37's at Indy.

[ramenite]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

The thing I noticed about racing Indy that's kind of true to life, is that there is NO margin for errors on the turns.

You even THINK about putting a tyre on that white line, and you're going to spin. And if you turn too late and take a higher line, you're dropping maybe 1/4 of a second on that turn.

[pk500]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

Ramen:

You're right -- this is one KILLER mod. Indy requires all of the precision you need in real life. Miss your turn-in points, and you're going to scrub too much speed. Put your left front on the rumble strips, and you're going to do the loopdy-loop.

Regarding those fast times, those are all due to setup. The guys running in the 37s are running unrealistic, trick setups. I have a few of those. While it's fun to rip at those speeds, turning laps in the 37.4 range, it feels a bit dirty knowing that you're running a setup that either would be illegal or would result in a torn-up car in reality.

I never run those setups when racing with friends, but I'll use them in the RACE@RFC open track events at Indy just so I can keep up with the Joneses and try to get a decent world ranking.

The lack of control over setup parameters is about the only weakness in this mod, and one of the few weaknesses in rFactor, overall.

Regardless, the IRL 07 mod is fantastic.

Take care,
PK

[ramenite]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

And something Re: the tach

It seems this changes my tach to have a red line at 18000 rpm. I thought this may be due to the MMG F1 mod I had set up(where the revs get that high). So I did a clean install of rFactor, then installed the IRL mod. Same 18000 tach.

I installed again and just saw what it did on the defaults, and it gave me the default one with no numbers. Is there something I have to change to make the tach correct? The gauge itself is correct, just the numbers are wrong. And it keeps this same tach though every mod after it installs.

[ramenite]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

And something Re: the tach

It seems this changes my tach to have a red line at 18000 rpm. I thought this may be due to the MMG F1 mod I had set up(where the revs get that high). So I did a clean install of rFactor, then installed the IRL mod. Same 18000 tach.

I installed again and just saw what it did on the defaults, and it gave me the default one with no numbers. Is there something I have to change to make the tach correct? The gauge itself is correct, just the numbers are wrong. And it keeps this same tach though every mod after it installs.

Ok, there's a patch on rFactorcentral on the same page as this mod. It resets the default settings for the cars to their default state.

I'd just delete the original comment, but there may be someone else wondering the same thing.

[pk500]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

Yep, happened to me, too. I manually restored the player files that this mod inexplicably overwrites to create that tach a few days before the patch was made available. The patch works just fine.

I have spoken with Mike Peters, the creator of this mod, about the player file issue, and he assured me that those overwrites wouldn't be in the 1.1 version of this superb mod, which he's working on now.

Take care,
PK

[bluengold34_OS]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

Man, you guys were not kidding about how awesome this mod is. I just ran a 100 lap race at Iowa, and was just blown away by how competitive and precise it was......Thanks for pointing out this mod PK, truly a Hall of Fame Mod.

[pk500]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

No problem, dude. Glad you're digging it -- it is deeeeeee-luxe!

Take care,
PK

[ramenite]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

Ramen:
Regarding those fast times, those are all due to setup. The guys running in the 37s are running unrealistic, trick setups. I have a few of those. While it's fun to rip at those speeds, turning laps in the 37.4 range, it feels a bit dirty knowing that you're running a setup that either would be illegal or would result in a torn-up car in reality.

I never run those setups when racing with friends, but I'll use them in the RACE@RFC open track events at Indy just so I can keep up with the Joneses and try to get a decent world ranking.

The lack of control over setup parameters is about the only weakness in this mod, and one of the few weaknesses in rFactor, overall.

Regardless, the IRL 07 mod is fantastic.

Take care,
PK

Yeah, I had a look at the setup I was using for the mid 38's. I couldn't match it within rFactor's setup. Just going with the base setup, and what I could adjust without hand editing the file, I can't any better than like 39.7. The gear ratios I had in the 38 setup weren't available. I will note that like 39.7 was good enough for pole at the 2007 Indy 500.

With a "clean" setup, I'm reaching like 380 at a the entrance to turns 1/3, and out of 2/4 about 360. I'm also trying some different camber/tyre pressures, to see if I can get a bit more even temps. I'll see what happens.

[pk500]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

Get rid of the kph, mate: You're at Indy!

Just kidding,
PK

[ramenite]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

Get rid of the kph, mate: You're at Indy!

Just kidding,
PK

Just out of curiosity, what are your times using a "clean" setup at Indy?

And I have a tendency to use metric in racing games because they are a smaller unit of measure, and I can use whole numbers. And some mods(TV plugin for example), can only use things like KPH. It just becomes natural after awhile.

[pk500]

Re: rFactor - IRL Style Part II

I can run in the mid-39s with a clean setup and low fuel, no tow. I think I've hit 39.2 on low tanks with the same clean setup, no tow.

The only changes from the default setup are minor gearing adjustments so the car is on the rev limiter most of the lap and adding a bit of oversteer because I like a loose, "pointy" car. Otherwise it's stock.

Take care,
PK