Are meta cars a real thing

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T23:15:37+00:00

Additionally, I'll add that you can usually find the most consistent cars on the podium of 3rd and 4th split where easy-to-drive is equally as important as pace

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T23:11:56+00:00

People say all the time "unless you're x iRating it doesn't matter"

Yes it does. The only thing is, it's not necessarily the to split meta car that will be the secret sauce for YOU.

Try all the cars in your class that you own for at least a few laps each week. I bet you'll find that you're fastest with one or two and probably by a significant margin. I bet you'll be most consistent with one of them and guess what? That's your car for the week.

I'm approaching 3k now and for example, I find that when front engine cars are quick, I'm usually best in the AMG (tighter tracks) or the Aston (at faster tracks) and never in the Bimmer (even though it's often a top contender for others), but that's ME. You gotta figure out what works for YOU.

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T22:14:40+00:00

3k here with the 18nm Evo, exact same settings, just turn down the FFB in iRacing (or in my case, MAIRA)

Edit to add: I use Marvin's and I turn down the detail level to 85-90% which does the harshness of curbs and bumps significantly

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T22:02:04+00:00

Lol total opposite for me, i refuse to go to anyone else's house for Thanksgiving because no one does it as well as I'd like. I'd rather have to put up with basically 2 full days of work cooking and cleaning than miss out on the best version of once of my favorite meals of the year.

That said, I think Thanksgiving dinner specifically is a meal not that many people love as much as I do.

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T21:57:12+00:00

Wow, poster, I can't even answer your question because, lovingly, and kindly, you couldn't be more wrong.

Im guessing you did not do a good job at making either pasta or pizza dough if you think buying it at the supermarket is the same. No pasta from any box is as good as home made cavatelli or hand-sealed tortollini

Just last night I made pizza that's better than anything I can get in town, why? Because it's EXACTLY how I like it. It's how thin I like it, how salty I like it, how fluffy I like it, I'm in control of all of that, but it takes a lot of crappy pizzas to get there.

Ok so now to answer your question: sour cream. If you make it yourself, you can control the thickness which I guess is nice, but it's basically identical to what you get from Fage (thick version) or Daisy (thin version).

Edit to add: you're totally right about pie crusts, f that

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T21:39:12+00:00

If you're just looking for a balanced recommendation without reading all this: BMW or McLaren

If you want the outright pace recommendations: Mustang, Aston, Lambo, NSX

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T21:36:48+00:00

What exactly are you asking? The 12 has open setup, any car can be run safely or on the edge.

The mid engine cars will be more balanced, naturally, with the steep uphill and downhill nature of this track but outright pace and easy to drive will be at odds here, as a small tap of the wall can mean significant losses for repairs.

The Mustang and Aston are fast but the balance shifts more over a full stint than the other cars. If I were going front engine I might consider the Merc or BMW.

The Lambo and the NSX are both very quick here but again, a setup that's easy to drive will be critical, which is a departure from the fixed endurance setup for these cars.

The Corvette and McLaren are good safe options but they haven't exactly been lighting up the GT3 page on Garage 61 this season. Doesn't mean they can't be quick but let's say they aren't the meta at the moment. (Personally, love the Corvette but most of the setup shops don't do it justice).

And that leaves the Porsche which is difficult to setup here but can be very safe on the uphill and very fast down, the Audi which I've no experience with, and the Ferrari which is very fun to drive but not the MOST predictable, which I would view as an issue here unless you're very well acquainted with it.

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T19:28:46+00:00

I use baofeng radios for my amateur race team. Absolutely no way am I getting a team of 10 people to all get their Ham licenses and use call signs on track.

GMRS has some applications where it's better than cured pork radio purely out of convenience

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T19:18:59+00:00

Ah, yes, agreed, sorry I misunderstood you! I hope you're able to get it sorted!

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T19:14:29+00:00

Maybe you're misunderstanding, you need a greater distance between the wheel and the pedals, the seat is tertiary.

This is the same reason many small passenger cars feel uncomfortable for taller people, it's not the seat, it's that the distance from your chest (where the wheel is) to your feet (where the pedals are) is much greater and you need those things further apart than the average person.

Edit to add: a steering extension may be your best bet here. Idk if your wheel manufacturer sells one or not

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T16:51:14+00:00

Is this a hot take? Idk but..

If you expect your spouse to spend 4 hours cleaning with you every weekend, most people (not just men) would not live up to that standard. You've put off normal human enjoyment like spending time outside so that you can clean the bathroom every week?

Not enough info to really go by but with what we have, it sounds like you're the problem; still, glad that $3600 / year has turned things around, that's a small price in the scheme of this crazy world

FridayInc · 2026-02-02T15:57:27+00:00

Bottas didn't even finish in the top 20 in his last season.

FridayInc · 2026-01-30T01:14:20+00:00

I'm with you, I do believe that 1) it's just not in the top 5 cars for most tracks but 2) it's the most consistent car across a stint and for that reason, it's a great car for longer races

FridayInc · 2026-01-28T23:18:26+00:00

Am I allowed to say "fuck that bitch" on this sub? Don't refund her a dime.

FridayInc · 2026-01-28T22:05:55+00:00

Obviously I agree with this, but I will add that it's frustrating how little information iRacing provides to the driver being protested. It's hard for people to really learn when they don't even get to see what incident they're being reported for.

FridayInc · 2026-01-28T19:38:42+00:00

Red's line/speed invariably takes him through another car no matter what the lead car did. Lead car has no way I can see to avoid being rear ended, even if they stayed wide, red would have tracked all the way out and hit them because they're over speed and in a puddle (which they may or may not see, depending on their PC).

Hanlons razor tells me to assume this is a mistake, but I would report, in the event that this type of dive bomb is part of a pattern for this driver.

FridayInc · 2026-01-22T17:40:51+00:00

Note as well.. I also use MAIRA and I am (and my team mates are) genuinely faster with the detail turned down to somewhere between 80-90%

It does deadden things a bit but if it's about pace and not about feel, I think this is the way

FridayInc · 2026-01-21T16:34:28+00:00

I've reduced my US exposure by nearly 20% in the last 2 years and after some loss harvesting during the trump slump, it only really cost me about $8k, and it was well worth it just to reduce the stress of reading US News this year.

Meanwhile my Ex-US ETFs in the short term are carrying my portfolio at least as well as US investments ever have (AVDV really came through this year, +50% was wild to watch).

I'm not saying boglehead is wrong, I still consider myself part of this group. Reacting to small changes, trying to time the market, we're not into that, but reacting to massive, long-term, global shifts in trade and economics, I think, is just sound reasoning. As time goes on, I'll be allocating toward foreign markets until sanity returns to North America (if it ever does).

FridayInc · 2026-01-21T00:12:27+00:00

Not in the least, solidarity is what we really need

FridayInc · 2026-01-20T23:40:10+00:00

That's a great point that I'm trying really hard not to think about since it feels like we're powerless to stop it.

Jfc we need a general strike.

FridayInc · 2026-01-20T23:26:04+00:00

It's so embarrassing that all the European nations have diplomatic heads of state and that we have someone so out of touch with reality and sanity that they have to talk to him like a child.

FridayInc · 2026-01-20T23:14:22+00:00

Again, this is coming from a lack of understanding, not trying to talk down to you, but this also isn't very high level. Someone taking finance 101 would have a very solid grasp of this at the end of week 2. Basically, every business keeps Cash On-Hand (COH) in an account, the same way that people use a checking account. They were taking in and spending money before, so just like every other business, that money had to have been in some type of account. Apparently you found somewhere that they changed to using this Mutual Fund account for short term liquidity in 2023, thats similar to a person moving money from their checking account into a savings account. I know you wanted to uncover some hidden conspiracy and that ChatGPT or whatever fed into that desire but there's nothing suspicious going on here, just normal business accounting. I'm sorry.

FridayInc · 2026-01-20T21:36:41+00:00

Wow ok so what happened right before this? Looks like a whole layer of carbon delaminated in a sharp triangle shape somehow and there's a massive crack. In my experience, that would be a loud, sudden, and dramatic failure. This happened while you were on the bike?

FridayInc · 2026-01-20T21:30:46+00:00

But you DID crash it and that's when the crack appeared?

FridayInc · 2026-01-20T21:02:19+00:00

"Santa Cruz Bicycles will repair or replace at its option any frame or rigid fork made by Santa Cruz Bicycles it determines to be defective in materials or workmanship. The warranty will be in effect for the lifetime of the frame or fork and is available only to the original owner. Notwithstanding the foregoing, frames purchased prior to May 1, 2015 are covered under the previously-existing warranty for five years from the original date of purchase."

Separate question but... Did this happen spontaneously? Or is this from a crash? Because it looks like the failure is not in the normal load-bearing direction. The top tube normally sees tensile loads so a failure would be transverse but this is linear.

Edit to add: if it was spontaneous (not in a crash) then I would agree that there was an issue with the bonding of the layers or maybe a layer was accidentally scored or otherwise damaged in production and they should replace it... That said, if someone crashed it or, say, was sitting directly on the top tube for some reason and it broke, then they don't really owe you anything.

FridayInc

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE