der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 15
Alternate Reality
The Future of Virtual Driving and Simulation Racing
By Dr. Scott Kim
My introduction to iRacing
It was end of 2018 and I was coming off of my
second High-Performance Drivers' Education
(HPDE) season with BMW CCA in my M4.
Winter was coming so I needed to figure out a
way to maintain the skills that I had worked so
hard to gain during the year. After seeing a Black
Friday advertisement, I decided to get a basic
simulated (sim) racing setup (i.e. pedal, steeringwheel base, and steering wheel) and bought a
copy of Forza. I mounted the setup to my desk
and casually drove so as to remember the tracks
and turns. It was enough to keep me interested
during the off-season. It was still closer to a video
game than an actual racing simulation, but it was
fun, it had great graphics, and it provided a variety
of crazy cars that I could try any time I wanted.
Then over the winter of 2019, I decided to get an
iRacing subscription based on good reviews from
friends.
My first impression was that the graphics
were horrible! I said, "What is this, 2005?" They
seemed very basic, and the cars drove terribly!
They were so hard to drive. iRacing comes with
some basic tracks and various cars so you can
July I August
(Top) Field of BMW M8 GTEs approaching turn 1 on the
Summit Point Main circuit. (Above) The view from the
driving seat -- an alcantara wheel with BMW logo is a must.
get into it right away, but ultimately, they make
you buy all the popular tracks and cars. Of
course, having been used to driving my 400+ hp
M4 at HPDE events, I jumped into the fastest car
that iRacing had to offer which was Cadillac ATSV race car. It was a beast and I remember
spending hours trying to complete a lap around
Summit Point Main - I just couldn't. After
frustration, I called it quits and told my friends
this was the worst thing ever.
After weeks went by, I decided to jump back
on it. This time I started with a Miata race car (my
friends' advice) and Summit Point Main again
(I refused to pay extra for cars and tracks for
a "game" with bad graphics). I gave it another
shot, and after cursing about how bad the brakes
were, how slow it was, and how I had no traction,
it turned out that just like a real car you have to
warm up the tires and brakes before things start
to hook up! After a few laps of going off track at
Turn 5 every time, it started to click. Somewhere
inside my head, one of my HPDE instructors said,
"remember, in order to go fast, you need to go
slow". So I took it one turn at a time, as if I was
a novice student trying to learn the track for the
15
https://www.nccbmwcca.org/iracing-2/
der Bayerische July/August 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of der Bayerische July/August 2020
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - Intro
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - Cover1
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - Cover2
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 1
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 2
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 3
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 4
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 5
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 6
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 7
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 8
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 9
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 10
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 11
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 12
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 13
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 14
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 15
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 16
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 17
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 18
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 19
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 20
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 21
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 22
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 23
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 24
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 25
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 26
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 27
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 28
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 29
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 30
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 31
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 32
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 33
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 34
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 35
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 36
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - Cover3
der Bayerische July/August 2020 - Cover4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derBayerische/derbayerische-september-october-2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derBayerische/derbayerische-may-june-2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derBayerische/derbayerische-november-december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derBayerische/derbayerische-september-october-2022
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https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derBayerische/derbayerische-november-december-2021
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https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derBayerische/derBayerische_NovDec2020
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