Racing Simulations

by Alison Hine

The computer sims I've used are from Papyrus (now part of Sierra). I've played NASCAR, and it's very realistic, but I like IndyCar Racing 2 (ICR2) much better, because the cars are so much lighter and more nimble. The NASCAR cars do sound great, though!

The highest racing class I've ever driven on a real track was Formula Fords, although dirt track karts actually have a higher power-to-traction ratio. With their very short gearing, dirt track karts probably accelerate more quickly from rest, as well.

At any rate, the dynamics of the cars in ICR 2 are quite realistic. My brother and I raced against each other on real dirt tracks many times. My style was neat and tidy, trail braking into the corners, feeling for the transition from understeer to oversteer approaching the apex, and squeezing on the power to settle the tail while accelerating towards the track out point. Nate, on the other hand, used a more conventional dirt track technique of flinging the kart sideways at the entrance and powering around the turn in a huge, dirt-flinging powerslide. Since we were both equally quick, it's hard to say which technique was better.

In ICR 2, we've run mostly at Loudon, racing against each other via modem since he lives in another state. Loudon's simple two-turn oval is very similar to the dirt ovals we raced on, even down to lap times! It appears that a well-set-up 800 hp IndyCar can feel an awful lot like a 15 hp dirt track kart! Interestingly, our driving styles at Loudon are identical to our styles in the karts! I'm more consistent because I practice more, but he can be just as quick.

The cars slide under power, understeer if you try to horse them, twitch under braking, and do all the other things I remember real race cars do when you push them to the limit. With 800 horsepower, however, things happen a lot more quickly than in the cars I raced, particularly on street and road courses. I drove a real showroom stock Mazda RX-7 at Mid-Ohio, and I can tell you that an Indycar makes that course go by a whole lot quicker! I had to totally readjust my reaction times, and still cannot get anywhere near a competitive time at that track in the sim.

I'm particularly impressed with the vehicle dynamics during spins or when making contact with other cars. The original IndyCar Racing game was not very good at that. If you touched another car, you would crash. If you lost it, you would spin endlessly at some arbitrary rate.

In ICR2, on the other hand, these things are very realistic. If you lose it in a big way at high speed, you can spin endlessly into the grass or go banging off walls, shedding parts at every impact. But if you just get it a little too sideways in a slow corner, you can wind up doing one of those nice slow lazy half-spins that I always loved (except when they happened in a race!)

If you tap another car, you may get away with it with nothing more than a little bobble. But if you whack them hard, you are both going to spin or crash. All of these dynamics seem to be very realistic.

Logistically, the sims are well-designed, too. The race conditions and computer-generated opponents' skill levels can be adjusted from beginner-easy to very realistic (and very hard). The format is excellent; you can choose to change tires in pit stops, and how much fuel to add.

You can tweak most of the major suspension parameters, as well as the boost, and adjust wing angles. I fiddle with these settings and have gotten some significantly better car setups on some tracks than the stock settings that come with the sim. It's very rewarding to lower the rear wing, tweak the roll bar settings for a bit better balance, drain some fuel, and go out and cut a time two or three seconds quicker than your best with Papyrus' best setup. On some tracks, I've made the car much more forgiving and drivable as well as faster.

The sims really need a driving wheel and pedals combo to be at all drivable. Sierra is currently offering a great deal: ICR2 and Thrustmaster T2 wheel and pedals for about $145. I'd snap these up in a minute; the T2 alone runs around $102 to $120 street price.