Should we have a sim racing omnibus thread?

[CudaMan]

F1 2019 ranked online racing...

I got put in a lobby of 7-12 racers last night, unranked to average rankings. Qualifying is really hard because I don't know all the tracks yet and you don't even get a warm-up lap, you're just thrown into one lap superpole qualy. Quite the time to be figuring out your brake markers! So I usually started midfield toward the back.

One race in China was interesting. I started at the back and had to work my way forward a handful of cars. Midpoint of the race it starts drizzling and I'm catching 2nd place. 1st place is up the road another 5-10 seconds. I make the pass for 2nd out of the hairpin at the end of the lap as it's getting wet now, and I dive into the pits to put inters on. So does the guy behind me I was just battling with. Except he uses me to brake for the pit entry corner and spins me 180 to the outside of the corner. Remember where Lewis Hamilton beached it on dead tires and threw away the race win and championship? That's the spot. Once I recover I forget I still need to change my strategy to put inters on instead of mediums. As I'm on the pit limiter I'm fumbling to change my tire choice and miss it. I go out on mediums. It's not raining hard yet and it's still just dry enough that my pace isn't horrible, so I stay out hoping it might start to dry up. It gets wetter. Side note, Codemasters did a brilliant job with the force feedback. I can feel the grip change through the steering as conditions change. Really cool. Anyway I overtook the guy who spun me when he made a mistake, but I have to pit for inters now, necessitating a second stop. The leader got the strategy right and only made one stop - for inters. I come out of the pits miles behind with maybe 6 laps to go. I soon see that I'm catching him by ~3s a lap. These tires and conditions are pretty fun to drive on to be honest! I'm catching the leader, the laps are winding down, and if we both continue at this pace it's going to be close... On the final lap I don't quite get close enough for the DRS zone on the long back straight, but I'm hopeful he makes a mistake in the final two corners... He doesn't, I finish 2nd a little less than 1 second behind. What a fun race despite all the drama in the first half!

After my third race or so of the night, I got ranked for the first time. Gold, with a safety rating of A. Then it kicked me out of the lobby with some nondescript error message. Upon rejoining there was only 1 other player, also high ranked. I tried a couple more times and still only one other player was on. I am highly suspicious that I'm now ineligible for lower-ranked lobbies and that there aren't many high ranked players on the PS4 platform. I hope this isn't the case, but if it is, at least the AI and Career Mode are good!

[Rare White Ape]

I’ve just vastly upgraded my racing setup.

Yep.

I’ve ordered a Fanatec CSL Elite F1 PS4 bundle and a Next Level F-GT seat.

I’m pretty darn excited

Now to flog my Playseat Challenge and G29 on teh Facebooks…

[stephenb]

Sweet

[Cam]

Wow.

[dodint]

Next Level F-GT seat.

I really like mine. Enjoy.

[Rare White Ape]

I got to sit in one at the place that sells them. It’s an online store who happens to be right around the corner from me!

I was surprised with how robust it was, plus they’re on sale for Christmas. I couldn’t say no!

Plus the CSL bundle got a $300 price drop down to $1000. Couldn’t say no to that either!

I’ll scrimp a bit more cash and get a load cell kit in the next few weeks too.

[dodint]

Yeah, it's a substantial unit.

[Freude am Fahren]

F-GT is a great value, but I find my butt is pretty sore after about 30 minutes. It also doesn't breathe well, so swamp ass is real. I suppose that's all part of the sim lifestyle

I might try to mod it with a softer cushion. Or maybe even replace the seat itself if I can find a suitable cheap used replacement. I haven't tried the formula layout, that might be a bit more ergonomic and spread out the load too.

Just be careful not to over-tighten any bolts. They can strip and/or deform the rails.

[Cam]

Swamp ass.

I feel my poang chair setup is great, but swamp ass is real. The cushion is warm, cozy and comfy, which is a disadvantage during those intense races when I'm literally sweating from the effort. I should figure out a mesh solution to facilitate cooling.

[dodint]

That's surprising to me given the complete lack of side bolstering in the Next Level F-GT. The only time I ever notice sweat is on my brow after a long VR session, but I'm not a big sweater to begin with so that could be why.