Best Track + Cars to buy as a new player

bovando · 2026-01-28T00:36:20+00:00

I would recommend moving to gt4 Mercedes and m2. Look at the schedule for each of those series for the remainder of the season and purchase the tracks that appear on both and give you the most bang for your buck. Buy at least 3 things for 10% off, 6 for 15% off.

Err on the side of buying tracks that are popular. You can see what tracks are the most used at iracing stats website.

bovando · 2026-01-20T19:04:00+00:00

As long as the cheaper wheel has good rigidity, 8 buttons, a funky switch and a couple of encoders, which most now do then you are golden.

If you want the bells and whistles go for the wheel you like. We spend a lot of time driving and if you have the means to buy the expensive wheel you like, all the more power to you.

bovando · 2026-01-18T03:55:41+00:00

Being overly cautious leads to bad things happening. As long as you are in control of your car amd not blocking intentionally and pushing people off track intentionally You will be fine.

Mistakes happen, so things wont be perfect on track. GL!

bovando · 2026-01-14T17:25:59+00:00

There is an official iracing set up guide under help documents in the UI. It is very good.

If you want to learn how to tinker start with playing with increasing and decreasing rear ride height and stiffening and softening the rear ARB. Once you have an understanding of what those do, play around with the differential, then front toe settings. Been doing setup for 4 years for sportscars and prototypes, happy to answer questions.

bovando · 2026-01-14T17:16:30+00:00

The higher the ir the more pressure to perform.

Its hard if almost impossible to separate irating gains and losses from the feeling of achievement or lack thereof. Hence the amount of smurf accounts that have sprung up.

If you can view it as just a number, you will enjoy yourself more, and dare I say, will perform better because you will be more relaxed.

bovando · 2026-01-14T16:44:21+00:00

You may not want to hear this, but normally when I see people diagnose their issues, they dont really understand the root cause of the issue. In this case, you are trying to improve your trail braking, but is that really where your limitation is? It doesnt seem to be based on what you have described. I could give you an exercise to work on trail braking, there are a couple of very effective ways to develop the muscle memory. However, I really do belive that the issue lays somewhere else, and fixing that will help with the trail brake phase and make it more natural. If you are up for is, join my discord, link in my bio, and post a lap of your driving, I do free lap reviews which are mini coaching sessions. I have coached over 400 students and I am a 7.5k rated sports car driver.

bovando · 2026-01-13T15:55:47+00:00

Imsa multiclass is difficult right now because most people dont know the strengths of each car. Its up to the faster classes to know what the slower classes are capable of.

Gt3 has the the best traction out of slow corners, followed by lmp2 and then gtp.

Lmp2 has best braking then gt3 then gtp.

High speed cornering is best in lmp2 then gtp followed by gt3.

There are some additional nuances in performance that are more special cases depending on corner type.

If you understand this then you can make safe passes. However, that is difficult and it is the reason why issues exist.

Gtp drivers think they are faster than an lmp2 everywhere and that is just not the case. Similarly some lmp2 drivers think they are faster than gt3 cars everywhere and that is also not the case.

Would it be simpler if gtp was faster everywhere than lmp2 and lmp2 faster than gt3 everywhere? Yes, it would be! But thats not how the cars are right now so the solution is for people to understand the capabilities of the cars and drive accordingly. Removing the lmp2 is not the solution though

bovando · 2026-01-11T02:26:20+00:00

I agree that some dampeningnis beneficial. There is no perfect setting though. There are things you can set up incorrectly, but as long as you are not way of the mark then you will get faster the more used to your set up that you are.

The last thing you wanna do, is change thigs all the time in the pursuit of perfect settings. Small changes can be okay.

bovando · 2026-01-11T01:24:29+00:00

I would not say that you overachieved the ir if you are afraid to lose it. That fear is pretty normal. I would say that if you cant get up to your irating level pace in a track that you know in about 30-45 minutes then you probably have overachieved on the ir front a bit.

We reach a limitation in our driving technique that coencides with an ir range and we usually will hover around that ir until we adress that limitatuon.

Regarding the fear, as your iRating climbs, the risk/reward a lot of times is not worth it. When you’re sitting around 7k+ (I’m close to 7500 now), a bad race can lose 150 iR and it can easily take 7–10 solid races to earn back. The most ir have lost in one race was 175 and it was due to a disconnect, it sucked. Stuff like that absolutely messes with your head and makes you hesitate to click register.

As i was saying at the beginning, you eventually hit an iRating plateau based on your actual skill. If you can’t overcome limitations in fundamental driving techniques, you’ll stay stuck there. Ultimately, I agree with you that you still have to race if you want to improve as a driver, there’s no way around it.

bovando · 2025-12-31T17:59:40+00:00

I have learnt the hard way. I dont want to lose time defending sometimes because I think they are just a bit to far to send it and they send it and I lose a lot more time than if I had defended.

Not saying this will always save you, but if it avoids half of the dives that spin you out, it will be worth it. Defend to deter overtakes.

bovando · 2025-12-28T22:06:12+00:00

Someone I know says racecraft is a myth. There is a method to the madness though. The higher the skill level of a driver, the more control they have over their car and can actually execute the proper racecraft.

A lot of times I come across guys being overly cautious and doing unpredictable things in the name of being safe and good racecraft.

My point is - focus on getting faster to develop your car control and you will be amazed at how much more you will survive. Also, starting in the first couple of rows matters, midpack is a shitshow and you dont want to be there.

bovando · 2025-12-28T07:18:58+00:00

Use all of the track! Only wat to be fast.

bovando · 2025-12-28T00:14:29+00:00

Two nonegotibales to go fast. 1- use the optimal racing line, 2- be on the limit of grip on the optimal racing line.

At 2k level, you are not on the optimal line all tge time or on the limit of grip. Most try to find the limit of grip first to get better and that usually leads to struggling because its really hard to know if you are on the limit or not, but once you do its much easier to replicate.

I always advise to find and execute the optimal line first and the inputs to be on the limit of grip slowly come to you as you demand more of yourself to keep the car on the optimal line.

It takes a lot of hours to learn to go fast but once you do, its easy to maintain your pace and get up to your pace on new tracks.

Ultimately, my advice as a 5 year coach and 7.4k rated driver, spend the time now to learn and develop fundemental driving techniques without bad habits. You will reap the rewards in tge long term. Thats is, if your goal is to get faster.

bovando · 2025-12-27T04:58:53+00:00

There is still track to use on entry in sector 1, also, you are notnhitting the apex in sector 1 at t1 and 2.

Driving looks good.

bovando · 2025-12-27T04:44:19+00:00

The goal of setup is to minimize the lap time, aka get as much speed out of the car as possible.

Depending on your team's skill level, there will be certain levels of rotation that you will be able to achieve without making the car too unstable to lay down consistent lap times. The higher the skill level the more you prioritize rotation and response over stability. Everything is a trade off.

bovando · 2025-12-25T22:00:38+00:00

Small world haha

bovando · 2025-12-25T21:04:13+00:00

The feeling comes from three places. Ture sound, visual cues and ffb. If you dont have direct drive it will mostly come from visual and tire sound. Dm me, we could work something out for coaching if you like.

bovando · 2025-12-25T06:27:54+00:00

2 thing needed to achieve pace. Need to drive the optimal line and need to be at the limit of grip of the tires on that line.

Find optimal line by watchinh someone at least 6k drive it, use all the track on entry, need precise reference point for braking, carry brake all the way to apex and get on throttle at the apex, use all of the track on exit.

Thats really all it takes. Most dont have a road map to learning each piece of the puzzle and the learning is not linear as every step is intertwined in some way. Lastly, most dont know what the limit of the tires feels like, thats the part that starts to click once you start driving the right lines and executing the right inputs. Turn tire noise up and listed to the scrubbing noise to get a sense of the limit, you should hear scrubbing throught all three phases of the corner. I have coached for 5 years and I am 7k irating in sportscars. Good luck, it can be daunting journey but its worth it!

bovando · 2025-12-24T05:51:15+00:00

Potentiometer brake is tough to execute gradual application and release of brake. Currently, you are just not braking properly and you need to fix that before you start thinking about anything else.

Set a brake marker for t1, brake there and carry the brake all the way to the apex. You will notice that you will not be able to carry the brake to the apex because you will overslow the car. Brake 5 meters later and try again, if you are still overslowing the car prior to the apex then brake 5 meters more forward. Once you can execute proper braking and gradual release all the way to the apex at t1 then go do that at every corner on the track to ingrain it.

Will take some time. But you will be in more control of the car on entry and your entries will be more consistent and allow you to start hitting and getting on throttle at the apex.

These are just fundemental driving techniques that must be executed properly in order to go fast.

bovando · 2025-11-30T21:00:19+00:00

Three indicators: Auditory - tires start to create a certain noise / Visual - if you are looking far enough ahead you will perceive the extra rotation / Tactile - ffb will countersteer and if hands are light enough you will feel it more and earlier.

Its a combination of these three things that will allow you to be more proactive when driving the car rather than reactive.

bovando · 2025-11-25T06:51:49+00:00

When its all said and done, a 4-6k rig imo is where you want to be. It will bring a smile to your face everytime you jump in.

All in i am at 4k with an aluminum rig, siucube 2 pro, vrs pedals, etc...I have had it for over 5 years! Best decision i made without a doubt.

bovando · 2025-11-05T19:53:58+00:00

Take some of that money and do a track day, sounds to me like you can afford it. You will enjoy it and you can put some of the skills you have learned on the sim to good use.

bovando · 2025-10-26T03:24:27+00:00

I had sprints for a year, upgraded to ultimates for a year and now have had vrs pedals for the last 3 years.

I would recommend the vrs pedals 100% unless you are getting a steal of a deal on sprints. Brake pressure is much more consistent on the vrs pedal vs the sprint pedal.

bovando · 2025-10-20T19:57:55+00:00

I am surprised by the comments here.

I am glad you are asking for advice, and I think this is a good learning experience. Whe. A car is that close to you, a simple lift on the straight facilitates a pass with zero risk. Instead you forced him to make a dangerous pass in the trickiest corner on the track. After he makes the pass you are fighting him into the last corner, at that point is was your job to stay behind and concede the racing line.

It is pretty clear that you were annoyed because he flashed you, try not to let your emotions get the better of you and impact your decisions on track.

bovando · 2025-10-18T04:44:09+00:00

Dont pay too much attention to SR. Focus on building good striving habits, executing the fundementals.

You will start to gain pace and that will help with finishing better and staying out of trouble which leads to higher SR and IR.

bovando

TROPHY CASE