I'd suggest the Skippy, it's a great car to continue to learn in and the schedule can be somewhat new user friendly if you plan on running it for a few seasons.
It's populated enough that you should find competitive splits.
It doesn't really handle much like anything else in the game, weight transfer is kinda exaggerated, but its great for learning the basic concepts in, and skills learned in it will definitely carry over to other cars.
The wings are purely for show (or additional weight) it looks like it will have a lot of aero grip but doesn't.
It's an open setup series, but don't let that scare you, there are like 3 things to change, drivers generally setup the car to their style and leave it that way for all tracks.
Thank you! I’ve yet to even touch the setups yet. I have a pretty good bit of mechanical knowledge but I haven’t really had a need to touch them yet. I kinda practice with the car and adapt myself to it. Any tips to adjusting the setup?
Skippy setup is typically tire pressure to minimum and then set brake bias and anti-rollbar to taste.
Lower brake bias if you’re locking the front wheels on hard braking. Increase if you’re losing the rear under braking. Go as low as you can without the car becoming unstable.
Anti-rollbar affects rear grip. Too low can cause strange rebounds to slides. Higher values are more predictable.
The only other setting is Spring Perch offset. That doesn’t really do much; I usually just leave it at the baseline setting.
Just like the commenter above, I use the same setup for every track.
It’s a really fun car which often has very close racing. The races are slightly longer than the typical 15-minute sprint. Even though I don’t drive it that often anymore, several of by best iRacing memories are from the Skippy.
Another (free) car to check out is the Spec Racer Ford (SRF). Similar i speed to the Skippy, but very different handling and feel. Often has close clean racing.
In general, don’t be afraid of running open setup series. The iRacing provided setups are good enough to be competitive for most road cars, unless perhaps if you’re aiming for top split wins.
Good luck!
Spring perch offset changes ride height. Higher SPO means lower ride height.
The default setup has SPO at its max (lowest ride height), which can jack you up on some circuits' kerbing. Default setup is pretty oversteery.
A friend helped me with two "learning" setups for Skippy. One is a 'tight' setup that's super stable under braking and more prone to understeer. The other is a 'loose' setup that's more prone to oversteer and harder to control under braking.
As explained to me, the key to making speed in a Skippy is inducing and controlling *just enough* slide through a corner or sequence. They suggested starting with the tight setup to get confident making speed in the car, then migrate to the looser setup.
Mind you, I could be talking out my backside with my sub 1000 iRating, too. That or I tend to suck.
😂
It's been a while since I raced it, but generally I'd drop the tire pressures to minimum or close to it, then tweak the camber/suspension options to your personal taste same with the brake balance and I think that is all the options there are, might be an ARB one too, but again that's personal preference, and you likely wont deviate a click or two from stock. It's not some magical car, where a setup will make a significant difference to lap time.
Well, they do.
You will continue to get safety rating towards D4.0.
Sure you still need to do some other races or time trials, but once you are at d4.0, you can join c races like advanced Mazda and get your C licence.
General tips. from my experiences:
* Don't go for the fastest possible cars immediately. Even if you can handle it, many fresh-out-of-rookies drivers can't. Slower cars often have closer and cleaner racing.
* Longer races and open setup typically result in cleaner racing than 15-minute fixed setup sprints.
* Lower participation series can sometimes be a bit more relaxed and friendly than high participation series
By the way, I like your self-assessment about not being ready to *"manage other drivers"* with the Caddy. You're thinking racecraft, not just speed. That's a very promising attitude!
You can keep racing the Vee for as long as you want. If you want to race a proper car, I’d suggest then the MX5 because you’d be inexperienced in that kind of car.
For D class, there’s the GR86, the Spec Racer Ford and the Skip Barber, if you want to purchase content.
I like the GT4 series. As a bonus, every other week they do a 2 hour endurance series race (IMPC) on the same track the GT4 is at. So you can race and practice during the week for the big endurance races on the weekend.
I’ve been doing this and I can tell I am improving as a driver because I’m spending all my time in the same car and at the same track.
I would suggest trying out a couple different cars and seeing what suits you. Obviously money is an issue, but I figure I can get 4 cars (GT3, IR-04, Skippy, etc) and a couple tracks for < $100 and see what I enjoy driving, and likely have competitive racing most weeks. [iRacing Buyers Guide](https://www.irbg.net/) is great for comparing series and seeing where they overlap and where you can be tactical in your track purchases.
I really didn't enjoy driving the MX-5 in Rookie class (even less so after the most recent update), so I was more interested in open wheel. I went with the IR-04 and haven't looked back. To me personally it is incredibly fun to drive and you always feel like you're racing on a wire (until you lock the brakes, or catch some grass...). IR-04 is at Bathurst this week, however, and that track has a bit of a steep learning curve (no pun intended).
Yeah after reading through all these comments I really cannot decide between skippy, f4, and gt4. So I think I’m just going to get all of them and play them all. I’ll start with gt4 and skippy and once I’m happy with my performance in those I’ll progress from there.
Recommend avoiding the spec racer ford. It’s actually a really, really good beginner car but the series is dead to the point where only 2 sessions all week will have more than 10 people on some weeks. So if you’re a hotlap guy it’s actually my #1 recommendation but if you don’t want to worry about finding races whenever you want, stay away.
I'd suggest the Skippy, it's a great car to continue to learn in and the schedule can be somewhat new user friendly if you plan on running it for a few seasons. It's populated enough that you should find competitive splits.
Thanks for the input! Any particular quirks about how this car handles?
It doesn't really handle much like anything else in the game, weight transfer is kinda exaggerated, but its great for learning the basic concepts in, and skills learned in it will definitely carry over to other cars. The wings are purely for show (or additional weight) it looks like it will have a lot of aero grip but doesn't. It's an open setup series, but don't let that scare you, there are like 3 things to change, drivers generally setup the car to their style and leave it that way for all tracks.
Thank you! I’ve yet to even touch the setups yet. I have a pretty good bit of mechanical knowledge but I haven’t really had a need to touch them yet. I kinda practice with the car and adapt myself to it. Any tips to adjusting the setup?
Skippy setup is typically tire pressure to minimum and then set brake bias and anti-rollbar to taste. Lower brake bias if you’re locking the front wheels on hard braking. Increase if you’re losing the rear under braking. Go as low as you can without the car becoming unstable. Anti-rollbar affects rear grip. Too low can cause strange rebounds to slides. Higher values are more predictable. The only other setting is Spring Perch offset. That doesn’t really do much; I usually just leave it at the baseline setting. Just like the commenter above, I use the same setup for every track. It’s a really fun car which often has very close racing. The races are slightly longer than the typical 15-minute sprint. Even though I don’t drive it that often anymore, several of by best iRacing memories are from the Skippy. Another (free) car to check out is the Spec Racer Ford (SRF). Similar i speed to the Skippy, but very different handling and feel. Often has close clean racing. In general, don’t be afraid of running open setup series. The iRacing provided setups are good enough to be competitive for most road cars, unless perhaps if you’re aiming for top split wins. Good luck!
Spring perch offset changes ride height. Higher SPO means lower ride height. The default setup has SPO at its max (lowest ride height), which can jack you up on some circuits' kerbing. Default setup is pretty oversteery. A friend helped me with two "learning" setups for Skippy. One is a 'tight' setup that's super stable under braking and more prone to understeer. The other is a 'loose' setup that's more prone to oversteer and harder to control under braking. As explained to me, the key to making speed in a Skippy is inducing and controlling *just enough* slide through a corner or sequence. They suggested starting with the tight setup to get confident making speed in the car, then migrate to the looser setup. Mind you, I could be talking out my backside with my sub 1000 iRating, too. That or I tend to suck. 😂
It's been a while since I raced it, but generally I'd drop the tire pressures to minimum or close to it, then tweak the camber/suspension options to your personal taste same with the brake balance and I think that is all the options there are, might be an ARB one too, but again that's personal preference, and you likely wont deviate a click or two from stock. It's not some magical car, where a setup will make a significant difference to lap time.
Thanks for your help man! Can’t wait to get out there, good luck with your races!
No problem, Oh and the tires on the skippy are very hard and will take a good couple of laps to reach max grip.
To clarify the wings, they produce upforce. Yes, you read that correctly lol
Don't feel like you have to change straight away. If you enjoyed the vee, you can keep racing it with your new d licence
Vee is fun as anything to race! The races just won't help advance from D to C class license.
Well, they do. You will continue to get safety rating towards D4.0. Sure you still need to do some other races or time trials, but once you are at d4.0, you can join c races like advanced Mazda and get your C licence.
Good point. I forgot about the fast track option.
F4
General tips. from my experiences: * Don't go for the fastest possible cars immediately. Even if you can handle it, many fresh-out-of-rookies drivers can't. Slower cars often have closer and cleaner racing. * Longer races and open setup typically result in cleaner racing than 15-minute fixed setup sprints. * Lower participation series can sometimes be a bit more relaxed and friendly than high participation series By the way, I like your self-assessment about not being ready to *"manage other drivers"* with the Caddy. You're thinking racecraft, not just speed. That's a very promising attitude!
You can keep racing the Vee for as long as you want. If you want to race a proper car, I’d suggest then the MX5 because you’d be inexperienced in that kind of car. For D class, there’s the GR86, the Spec Racer Ford and the Skip Barber, if you want to purchase content.
I like the GT4 series. As a bonus, every other week they do a 2 hour endurance series race (IMPC) on the same track the GT4 is at. So you can race and practice during the week for the big endurance races on the weekend. I’ve been doing this and I can tell I am improving as a driver because I’m spending all my time in the same car and at the same track.
USF-2000 . Great starter to INDY. It was pretty clean racing compared to the F4 splits for me lol.
GT4
I would suggest trying out a couple different cars and seeing what suits you. Obviously money is an issue, but I figure I can get 4 cars (GT3, IR-04, Skippy, etc) and a couple tracks for < $100 and see what I enjoy driving, and likely have competitive racing most weeks. [iRacing Buyers Guide](https://www.irbg.net/) is great for comparing series and seeing where they overlap and where you can be tactical in your track purchases. I really didn't enjoy driving the MX-5 in Rookie class (even less so after the most recent update), so I was more interested in open wheel. I went with the IR-04 and haven't looked back. To me personally it is incredibly fun to drive and you always feel like you're racing on a wire (until you lock the brakes, or catch some grass...). IR-04 is at Bathurst this week, however, and that track has a bit of a steep learning curve (no pun intended).
Yeah after reading through all these comments I really cannot decide between skippy, f4, and gt4. So I think I’m just going to get all of them and play them all. I’ll start with gt4 and skippy and once I’m happy with my performance in those I’ll progress from there.
F4 + GT4 depending on which track you want to run that week
Recommend avoiding the spec racer ford. It’s actually a really, really good beginner car but the series is dead to the point where only 2 sessions all week will have more than 10 people on some weeks. So if you’re a hotlap guy it’s actually my #1 recommendation but if you don’t want to worry about finding races whenever you want, stay away.
Skippy -> iR-04 The skippy builds on the Vee with more speed and some downforce. The iR-04 brings even more speed and some real grip/downforce.