What NASCAR Sim Should I Buy?

[franko3219]

Let me start by saying that I realize that their are many different opinions on a question like this, but I am just looking for information from individuals who actually play those Sim's. I personally am not someone that knows everything about setting up a COT stock car, but I realize that is why their are communities to help people. Anyways here it goes:

NASCAR Sim's that I have researched and would like your opinions on:

1. IRacing - This obviously has to be on the list, after reading about the sim I am definately impressed, my problem is with the price. For one, if I am reading everything correctly on their site, I have to spend 99.00 for a one year subscription and that does not even get me the cars or tracks to drive in a Sprint Cup style race. Also it seems like you have to spend quite some time to get to the level to even be able to race Sprint Cup cars in the sim? I do not really mind racing my way to that level, but in reading different web pages, to get the full experience, it would cost me like $200.00 - $300.00 and then have to pay for subscription each 1 to 2 years. That just seems a bit steep personally.

2. RFactor - This is not as new as IRacing, but in reading about it I can basically download mods to get the current Sprint Cup style of racing. My main questions for RFactor are these:

-How big is the commmunity, as in, am I going to be lucky to find Sprint Cup races with this sim?

-Can I race offline against A.I. cars, or is it similiar to IRacing in that everything is done online and against humans?

-How much of your car set up can you personalize?

3. NR2003 - I know this has been on the market for a long time, but it obviously has the NASCAR style that I am looking for, but here are my main concerns:

-Again, how big is the community? My fear is that not very many people are still on this sim, but that is why I am asking you guys.

-I understand with NR2003 you can also download mods for the modern Sprint Cup cars, when you do this do the car set ups change to the modern style car? For example, with the old stock car's their were no splitters and obviously with the COT their are now splitters, if you download the COT mod can you adjust the splitters?

Thank you to anyone that takes the time to give me their honest opinion on any of these three sims, or to give a recommendation for a sim that is not listed.

[beatnik]

Re: What NASCAR Sim Should I Buy?

1. IRacing - This obviously has to be on the list, after reading about the sim I am definately impressed, my problem is with the price. For one, if I am reading everything correctly on their site, I have to spend 99.00 for a one year subscription and that does not even get me the cars or tracks to drive in a Sprint Cup style race. Also it seems like you have to spend quite some time to get to the level to even be able to race Sprint Cup cars in the sim? I do not really mind racing my way to that level, but in reading different web pages, to get the full experience, it would cost me like $200.00 - $300.00 and then have to pay for subscription each 1 to 2 years. That just seems a bit steep personally.

Actually you don't have to buy a year subscription to get started. There are actually promo codes that will let you sign-up for just $5 for the first month, or you can get three months for $18. Since you're interested in Oval Racing here is the basics that you start out with. You'll get the Rookie Legends car and the Advanced Legends car along with Charlotte Motor Speedway (Legends Oval, Cup Oval, Road Course), Oxford Plains Speedway, South Boston Speedway and Lanier Speedway. All of those will allow you to compete in the Rookie Series. I suggest trying out the $5 offer to see if you like the sim as well as the community behind it, iRacing's Customer Service is second to none. As for pricing, lots of people will just flat out say no, but I'm glad you asked questions. Yes you would have to purchase the cars (and truck) plus all of the tracks to run a full season in each. However that is a decision you don't have to make right away, and only if you feel like iRacing is for you.

For your concerns on the licensing (leveling up as you put it), a friend of mine actually joined last Monday night and as of this posting he is fixing to get his A Class License (Highest oval license, you can run the Cup car). So gone are the days of waiting 9 months to reach a higher level of car.

Overall I liken iRacing to a video game hobby (price wise). I think of it as iRacing as the platform/console then the tracks, cars, etc as the games. It is really dependent on how you feel about the service.

2. RFactor - This is not as new as IRacing, but in reading about it I can basically download mods to get the current Sprint Cup style of racing. My main questions for RFactor are these:

-How big is the commmunity, as in, am I going to be lucky to find Sprint Cup races with this sim?

The community for Stock Car racing on rFactor is rather odd. You'll find one league that runs a certain mod that has 20 or so per race, but then for that one league you'll find 10-15 leagues that struggle to have double-digit fields. The most popular mod for rFactor is more than likely the VHR Stock Car mod which I myself can't figure out why. If you were to decide to try out rFactor I would recommend Stock Car Evolution as it is probably the closest NASCAR mod there is for rFactor. On most weeknights and on the weekends you can find a race or two online without a problem, but quality wise I make no promises.

-Can I race offline against A.I. cars, or is it similiar to IRacing in that everything is done online and against humans?

You can most definitely race offline against AI, BUT the AI is extremely poor in rFactor. Unless the mod maker took the right amount of time to program the lines for the AI, you'll never even use the offline features.

-How much of your car set up can you personalize?

You can personalize as much as mod you're running will allow you to. Also please keep in mind there is a limit/cap to what kind of adjustments a mod can make in the garage. No mod has every adjustment available to be made. rFactor though has the absolute best in-race adjustments (pit road adjustments) available.

3. NR2003 - I know this has been on the market for a long time, but it obviously has the NASCAR style that I am looking for, but here are my main concerns:

-Again, how big is the community? My fear is that not very many people are still on this sim, but that is why I am asking you guys.

I personally feel that the NR2003 community is stronger than the rFactor community. The user base while maybe not as pure as some of the rFactor leagues, the user base is more active and accessible in a sense. There are still some solid leagues (no more than 10 to be honest) that have some good fields.

-I understand with NR2003 you can also download mods for the modern Sprint Cup cars, when you do this do the car set ups change to the modern style car? For example, with the old stock car's their were no splitters and obviously with the COT their are now splitters, if you download the COT mod can you adjust the splitters?

I am extremely happy you asked this question. It is the most mis-understood perception about NR2003 that there is. Forgive me if I make this a bit longer than it needs to be, but I have to be as clear as possible. When a "modder" creates a mod for NR2003, they aren't actually editing the game's physics or the way the car drives, the aero, the tires, none of it. It is strictly a graphical mod. Yes there are some excellent mods out there for the current Cup cars but none of them can replicate anywhere close to the way today's cars drive. It is basically a COT on a 2002 chassis and tire model. The only way to affect the handling of the cars in NR2003 is to edit track files and still no one has come close to making these things drive like the real COT.

So having said that, all of the adjustments you would make are still reflecting upon the 2002-2003 style cars, no splitter adjustments as you'd want. All of the adjustments are the default ones that ship with the sim.

If you have anymore questions please ask away, I've raced in NR2003 leagues for 3 years before I went to rFactor and now I'm at iRacing. I do realize there is no perfect sim that fits everyone so I try to be as unbiased and helpful as I can.

[franko3219]

Re: What NASCAR Sim Should I Buy?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, I appreciate it.