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Posts Tagged ‘Skip Barber 2000’

2010S1 Week 4 – Skip Barber Race Series – Lime Rock – 8th Place

Monday, March 1st, 2010

This weeks racing really was quite a test of patience. I ran twice in the final two time slots of the week and in both had problems that were hard to come back from. I knew I was very capable of doing 58 second laps around Lime Rock Park, so I ran a basic qualifying time of 59.196 and settled for that.

The first race I slotted into the grid in ninth and held the number 16 on my car, this meant I was the lowest rated driver in the event. Still, looking at everyone else’s qualifying times I figured I’d probably be able to finish in the top-three if I didn’t make any mistakes…

I got a decent, safe start, but as usual I made the mistake of driving too safely. This always seems to happen to me and it’s incredibly annoying: I was much, much faster than those ahead of me, but they were all over the race track (and off it – I managed to avoid someone who span across the racetrack having ran wide out of the final turn), so with them being all over the race track, I stand back and wait for them to sort themselves out.

But, by waiting, by not shoving my nose into a multi-car battle, I leave myself open to the people behind because I am being forced to lap slower than I am capable! How annoying is that? To get passed not because you’re slower, but because you’ve reasoned that nobody infront of you is actually going anywhere! Honestly, on that first lap, they were crawling.

So, basically that’s the story: I dropped a few places, got annoyed at losing those places, made my own mistake running wide, slapped the wall under the bridge, damaged my left side and of course the person behind went to overtake on the right in the downhill… I had to stay left, with a damaged left side, and went off-track and into the fence.

Watch on Youtube.

I reset and rejoined the race in 12th, gradually making my way up to eighth without passing anybody on the track. My fastest lap was on lap 11 of 31 and was a 58.797 and this was especially annoying because I came out of the pits with the leaders and lost almost no time to them at all in the 26 laps I ran after the reset.

I also tried to join the race after and jumped the start. That race was done for literally before it began and I finished with less points that the race above netted me, so the race was dropped.

I am now standing eighth in Skip Barber Race Series points, 164 out of first and 80 out of second-place.

Tags: 2010S1, 2010S1W4, iRacing.com, Lime Rock Park, LRP, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series
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2010S1 Week 3 – Skip Barber Race Series – Summit – 4th Place

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

This was a fun race. I basically just wanted to try to squeeze a Skippy race into what looked like a busy weekend, so shortly before running the iRacing Daytona 500 I joined this event having had no time to qualify or practice.

I like the track, so missing qualifying wasn’t that big of a deal but the number of registrants was really large. I ended up in the third of four splits! My race had 15 drivers, of which I was iRated as fifth but would be starting back in 12th.

I got a decent start and as usual in the Skip Barber Series saw some patient driving into the first turn. Due to a few errors from other drivers I had climbed to ninth-place by the end of the lap.

I made a pass for eighth out of turn one on lap two, but half way around the lap had to brake hard to avoid a multi-car crash ahead… Luckily I didn’t hit anything and when everything shook out I ended lap two in seventh-place.

It was very early in the race and I had quite a bit of speed I wasn’t using. I could see that many people around me were pushing too hard and starting lap three I let the car behind pass, figuring that his car number of 15 meant he would probably make an error later in the race.

A lap later I took advantage of an error by the car ahead into the first turn and slipped ahead, up into seventh-place now. Seventh became sixth half way around the lap when the #15 spun his car onto the grass.

After an error in the final turn of lap five I saw the car I had passed with a mistake it turn one close up behind me… Again, with it being early in the race I didn’t fight and let him go.

One lap later I was flipping through the screens of data available to me to see what my last laptime was, basically seeing if I needed to speed up, when I noticed I had passed my braking point for the first turn! I quickly locked it down but slid into the sand anyway, losing two positions! Luckily half way around the lap I was able to overtake one car who had spun, but I ended lap eight in seventh-place.

I pushed really hard for the next seven laps, setting my best lap of 1:22.339 during the run. It was now lap 15 of 22 and I had closed right in on the pack I had been leisurely following before my mistake…

Between then and the end of the race I led a bit of a charmed life; people just kept falling off the track infront of me! By lap 16 I was sixth, 19 I was fifth and 20 I was fourth – but it was then that I realised my trip to the sand had probably cost me a much higher finish as the car I had been following at the time was up in second-place… I had no time to catch them now and ran across the line on lap 22 in fourth.

It was a great run though. Coming from 12th to fourth isn’t easy for me… The only kind of annoying thing is that I really didn’t have to fight to finish where I finished… Still, maybe I’d see better luck on that front in the 500?

Fastest lap was 13, a 1:22.339. I had two incidents (trip into the sand and running wide once out of final turn).

Watch on Youtube.

Tags: 2010S1, 2010S1W3, iRacing.com, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series, Summit Point Raceway
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2010S1 Week 2 – Skip Barber Race Series – VIR – 3rd Place

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

This race contained one hell of a comeback drive. Two spins to avoid car contact on lap one put me firmly at the back and to drive up to third? Awesome.

I put in a qualifying time of 2:12.597 the previous day and felt pretty well tuned with the Skip Barber Formula 2000 around VIRginia International Raceway. The qualifying time put me second on the grid and being the tenth-rated driver I knew this was a field rated well above me… I was looking forward to taking advantage of my liking of VIR.

I noticed the third-place car creeping shortly before the green light and knew that he had jumped the start, I knew that I just needed to concentrate on not screwing up the first turn and I’d be in a great position to challenge for the lead later in the lap. Unfortunately that perfect start was taken from me when going into the turn I noticed the second-place car getting closer and closer to mine… I had no choice but to run off the track. It was either a spin or certain car contact followed by probable damage – and a spin.

I recovered and rejoined in last-place (12th). I quickly set about catching the pack as I knew that at this stage they’d still be bunched together and forcing each other to run slower than they were capable of alone. It didn’t take long before I caught the pack and moved past two cars going into the final couple of turns; Unfortunately into the final turn the car ahead had to brake sharply to avoid the car ahead of him, forcing me to react and yet again I was spinning off into the grass to avoid them. I crossed the line to end lap one in ninth-place, infront of the driver who had damaged their cars in the final corner.

I crossed the line to start lap two in seventh-place and considering I didn’t pass anybody, assumed this was due to crashes ahead of me I didn’t see.

Ending the third lap I was closing in on the battle for fifth when I saw them both spin ahead of me: Very similar to what I had to do in the NASCAR Class D race I ran this week I split the two spinning cars, missing each by a very small distance and crossing the line to start lap four in fifth.

I pushed really hard from lap four to lap eight, setting faster laptimes on each lap. By lap eight I caught the battle for third-place and after seeing how quickly I had closed them down, was given fourth-place by one of the cars ahead. It took another lap before I got close enough to the third-place car to make a pass attempt and when I did, he simply ran off the road. I think he didn’t think there was room – although I left him plenty – but whatever, I was in third-place.

I continued to push hard, hoping something might happen to the first or second-place cars to move me further up the finishing order, but it wasn’t to be. I finished third and still think that was an awesome result.

I set my fastest time on lap 14 of 14, a 2:11.932. I had four incidents (from two spins) in the race and took home 84 championship points.

Watch on Youtube.

Tags: 2010S1, 2010S1W2, iRacing.com, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series, VIR, Virginia International Raceway
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2010S1 Week 1 – Skip Barber Race Series – Infineon – 3rd Place

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

I came very close to not getting in a race during Week 1 of 2010 Season 1. I wound up joining the very last race session of the week, just 45 minutes before the series moved on to Virginia International Raceway for Week 2. I’m very glad I joined. I had a really enjoyable race, felt competitive with no testing and took home a healthy points haul during a week which, again, I didn’t run at all in 2009 Season 4.

I ran a qualifying session earlier in the week and was really just looking for a decent time. I set a 1:51.624. It wasn’t a great time, but it would get me infront of those who don’t post times in qualifying prior to races.

I joined the session and found that I would be seventh on a 13-car grid where I was rated as being the second best driver. Looking at these numbers I knew that I should be slightly better than most of the drivers I was racing with and with most of them I’d just have to be patient. After all, the iRating is calculated from finishing positions, not necessarily how fast someone is… Most of the time I find that if a driver with a larger number overtakes me in a race, he will make some kind of mistake later in the race which causes him to be back behind me where the iRating predicted.

Anyway, the race started and I got a pretty good start, holding my seventh-place. I did have a bit of trouble with one of the cars ahead who ran into the side of me out of the corkscrew and then almost spun coming out of the final turn on the first lap. I did manage to hold my position, but I became desperate to get away from him, lunging to the inside into the first turn to start lap two and again being turned into… He then spun as we came to the end of lap two, and along with a spin by the leader I now found myself in fourth starting lap three.

I began to come under a bit of pressure now from the car behind and for four laps held him there before finally pulling over to let him go. I figured there was a chance he would spin and give me the place back and if not, at least he wasn’t going to push me into making an error. He lasted from lap seven to lap eleven infront of me before spinning, giving me back my fourth-place.

One lap later I saw the second-place car spin ahead of me and managed to sneak around the outside of him before he rejoined. This put me up into third-place. I now felt a lot more comfortable with the car and track and had now started to lap in the 1:49’s. I decided to try to push and catch the new second-place car.

Over the last five laps I did get closer and closer, but simply ran out of time. I was slightly disappointed that I had started the race in such a leisurely fashion, but still with a third-place I had brought in 75 championship points – a massive haul for me.

My fastest lap was 8 of 16. Laptime was 1:49.325. I had two incidents: One when diving to the inside in turn one on lap two, the other when running wide out of the corkscrew.

Watch on Youtube.

Tags: 2010S1, 2010S1W1, Infineon Raceway, iRacing.com, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series
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Skip Barber Race Series – 2009S4 Week 7, 10

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Gave up a top-3 to work Autosport. Here are the videos from the rest of the season…

View on Youtube.

Felt great to come away with a victory at Road Atlanta. Feel like I really have a handle on the Skippy like I had a few years ago (yes, years). I really had to work for the win, too. Full race: Part 1. Part 2. Race results.

View on Youtube.

This was another great race with a result that was great but disappointing. I simply could not find a way past the leader without wrecking him. I even let the 3rd-place guy past and when he got wrecked by the leader while trying to pass I decided 2nd-place was better than no place. Starting tenth and finishing second does feel good… Full race: Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Race results.

Tags: 2009S4. 2009S4W7, 2009S4. 2009S4W9, 2009S4W10, 2009S4W7, iRacing.com, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series
Posted in Racing | 2 Comments »

Skip Barber Race Series – 2009S4 Week 8 – NHMS – 1st Place

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

I had a dropped race just before this one where honestly, I was pathetic. I screwed up so many times coming back onto the oval that I decided in this race I was going to go much slower. To my surprise that actually seemed to give me a better exit, so I got pretty excited about that! I hadn’t qualified before my first race, but did do before this second one. I set a time of 1:11.823 – which I thought a decent lap – and that gave me pole position for my race later on (the amount of drivers registered was large and this gave me a split where I was the 4th highest rated driver).

I got a great start and led until we exited the oval. I braked badly, locked up and went very wide, letting 1 car past and almost dropping to 4th! Luckily I regained my composure straight away and set about chasing down the leader.

I reeled off a number of really nice laps while in 2nd, including a 1:11.915, and we had a really tight battle for position.

Much to my amusement, the instant I passed the leader on lap 7 I did exactly the same thing as I had on the first lap and let him by as I slid wide exiting the oval! I typed “lol” into the chat as I couldn’t believe I’d done exactly the same thing again.

We had another series of laps were we were very close to each other and it wasn’t until lap 16 when I got by him for good. He slapped the wall coming off oval turn 2 and damaged his suspension. During my charge to pass him I set my fastest lap of the race at 1:11.274! I took the lead on lap 16 and never looked back, only now having to worry about the backmarkers ahead of me!

Really feels awesome to win races, doesn’t it? After doing it last week at Road Atlanta in this series too I’m beginning to wonder what the hell is going on!

Full battle part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXm9pEOWLQQ
Full battle part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX-L9hgT-vI

Edited highlights of race.

Tags: 2009S4. 2009S4W8, iRacing.com, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series
Posted in Racing | No Comments »

It’s been a while… Want a free iRacing trial? Hey, that rhymes!

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Edit: Free trial of iRacing disabled. Click here to see details of a reduced price one instead.

Ok, so it has been a while since I made any kind of blog post whatsoever. There are a myriad of reasons for that, not least because I got into using Facebook to express myself rather than my blog. I think I’ll probably get more into this again though and also try to find my interest in photography again, too.

So, what have I been up to?

Well, Sheila and I decided we’re moving back to Chicago at the end of October. She misses her family and friends a lot and of course, my marriage comes before my work. We (well, I) drove to Chicago in August and have found a great apartment which we’ll rent until we’re stable enough to buy a place.

I’ve also bought firstly a 10 gallon fish tank (in July), soon after progressing to a 55 gallon fish tank. I’m getting pretty addicted and learning so much about the whole process of keeping fish. I’m keeping Tropical Freshwater fish (most breeds come from Amazon River fish, but some come from Asian rivers). Really enjoying this and if you follow me on Facebook at all, you’ve probably seen photos of my fish on the Wall.

My 55 gallon fish tank, complete with the dead guy's skull.

Thirdly, I’ve been working. It’s been an incredibly busy period for iRacing…

I’ve been involved with the setup of the new inRacing News Web site, which is a great site mixing iRacing news and real-world racing news from many different series.

I took over and then have been managing the companies Facebook page. I regularly post news items, screenshots – all the good stuff – there for people to share with their friends. It’s a way for iRacing members to keep in-touch, for ex/prospective-subscribers to see if iRacing now has that item they’ve been waiting for and also, it’s great viral marketing.

We sponsored Marcos Ambrose (one of my personal heroes as I have been watching him race since he raced in England, then followed him racing Aussie V8’s – a series I love) at Pocono. I got to go and now I’m probably ruined for attending a NASCAR race ever again. Why? Because I got to sit next to the crew chief on the pitbox and watch the race from there… It was an awesome experience and the level of interaction and access I had was just awesome. I shot and produced a quick testimonial from Marcos about the software and you can see that on the companies Youtube channel (which I’ve also been busy running)!

We also recently announced IndyCar will be coming to iRacing in the Fall of 2009. This is a huge deal for me personally and I’m extremely excited. During my school exams (when I was 16) my friend Kieron and I went back to his house (he had a PC, I didn’t) to play on my copy of (I owned it, he didn’t) Indy 500 – The Simulation. I had no idea who produced the sim, infact in those days I don’t think I knew there was any difference between a developer and a publisher. It’s now 20 years after that software was released and it’s incredible that I’m now working in the same office, just a few doors down from the man responsible. I had quite a part in the announcement (which took place at Infineon Raceway), as I was tasked with providing the first ever footage of the Dallara IndyCar in the simulation at nowhere other than Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I drove some laps in the very early version of the car available to me and put together a comparative video (meant for amusement and an indication of how far we have come) to be used in the press conference… Everybody seemed to find it almost as much fun as I did!

After the press conference, I was tasked with the duty of editing the press conference just like I had for the NASCAR press conference. I think I did a pretty good job with it and you can see the IndyCar edited footage here.

It was also pretty cool interacting with some people from IndyCar (and actually being recognized by someone from IndyCar by name who said they remembered me from RSC) while getting them the footage they needed to produce their own edit of the press conference. You can view that on their Youtube channel here.

Anyway, that’s pretty much what I have been up to recently. Now onto the thing I am up to now…

I’ve been trying to get a suitable ‘demo’ trial of iRacing put together for new members for a while and I finally managed to get it done. Until now, the only way to try iRacing without paying was either illegal and out-of-date by a long way, or provided you with two pieces of content that you would not be able to race in anger against others during your trial period. The Radical Sportscars promotion gave you your first month of iRacing membership, Silverstone Circuit, the Radical SR8 sportscar along with the basic content you normally get with a 1-month subscription, but as I said, the Radical is Class B – it takes longer than the trial period to be able to race that.

So what have I setup? Two new-member trials.
SB2000
The first, aimed primarily at Papyrus simulation users who are still running Grand Prix Legends, includes a free first month, the Skip Barber Formula 2000, Virginia International Raceway and of course, the basic content normally included with a 1-month subscription (Pontiac Solstice, Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe, SCCA Spec Racer Ford, Lanier National Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Oxford Plains Speedway, Summit Point Raceway, South Boston Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca).

So, why did I choose the Skip Barber Formula 2000? Because it’s a lot of fun and out of all the iRacing cars it drives the most like a car from Grand Prix Legends. You can also reach a Rookie 4.0 license within a few hours of membership and this will allow you to drive this car in official races.

Why did I choose Virginia International Raceway? This track is like a cross between Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring in Grand Prix Legends. This track needs to be tamed and it can give you that sense of exhilaration and achievement which you until now believed could only be gotten after lapping the ‘ring. It’s also a very important track for your career within iRacing (it is used all the way up the ladder) and comes with seven (yes, seven) track configurations.

Any Tips? Yes. The SB2000 is a school car, it is supposed to be driven in a technically correct manner. You need to either be on the throttle or brake at all times to keep it stable; If you lift off the throttle completely in the middle of a turn, it will likely spin out on you for example. Think about where the weight of the car is moving to, be smooth and try to keep even a little bit of throttle down in each turn to keep weight in the rear.

To claim your free first month new account ‘SB2000+VIR’ version, go here, use promo code: REMOVED DUE TO ABUSE

The second promo code allows Papyrus simulation users who are still running any of the NASCAR Racing simulations a free first month, the Chevy Monte-Carlo SS late model, Martinsville Speedway and of course, the basic content normally included with a 1-month subscription (Pontiac Solstice, Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe, SCCA Spec Racer Ford, Lanier National Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Oxford Plains Speedway, Summit Point Raceway, South Boston Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca).

So, why did I choose the Chevy Monte-Carlo SS? Because it’s a lot of fun. Secondly, because it’s a lot of fun (and I do know I said it twice). This is my favorite stock car. It doesn’t require you to be so precise and you can drive this car the way you want to drive it – and it rewards you every way. I drive this car with what I call ‘happy hands’, as I am constantly working the wheel and the feel the car gives is just superb. This car will show you just how far things have come since NASCAR Racing 2003 Season. You can also reach a Rookie 4.0 license within a few hours of membership and this will allow you to drive this car in official races.

Why did I choose Martinsville Speedway? because who could say no to this paperclip-shaped beauty? It produces close side-by-side and bumper to nose racing every time. This track is one of the few tracks on the late model schedule in iRacing that isn’t already given to you with the basic subscription, and although my favorite track on the schedule is Concord (a three-turn oval) I thought it better to give you Martinsville Speedway, which is used later in your iRacing career all the way up the ladder.

Any Tips? The late model, as I said before, is very driveable. The best way to drive it technically will be as smooth as possible, but the car easily accepts being sideways and has enough feeling to allow you time to recover it. Many say the late model series in iRacing provides the best quality racing available…

To claim your free first month new account ‘LM+Marty’ version, go here, use promo code: REMOVED DUE TO ABUSE

How the subscription works/things you need to know:

The promotion code creates a new account. Therefore, this cannot be used to add content to an existing account in any way.

A credit/debit card or Paypal account is required and will be needed to access the trial.

This is a free first month. You can cancel payment for the second (and onwards) months at any time. When logged into the members Web site, go to the My Account link, click cancel and cancel again. Regular monthly billing is $19 per month.

Some credit/debit cards (especially European banks) will not accept a $0 transaction. To get around this, we sometimes request $1 – which will show as pending, but this $1 will drop back into your account and will not be taken.

You can switch your trial to a 3-month, 6-month or 1-year subscription at any time. Go to the My Account link on the members Web site and renew the account. Any amount of time you purchase will be added to the time remaining on your trial.

If you buy any additional content on the trial account, but do not wish to continue the trial after the first month, the additional content will be waiting for you to re-subscribe at a later date along with all your racing stats and license.

At the moment there is no end-date for this promotion. But one is set in the system for 31st December, 2009.

If you have any questions about the trial, feel free to contact me by email or facebook.

Feel free to share this iRacing trial information on any other Web site or forum.

Tags: 2003 Season, Chevy Monte-Carlo SS, Demo, Free Trial, Grand Prix Legends, Indycar, iRacing Late Model Tour, iRacing.com, Late Model, NASCAR, NASCAR Racing, RSC, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series, VIR, Virginia International Raceway
Posted in Family, Racing | 4 Comments »

LRP Track Comparison

Monday, April 13th, 2009

iRacingTV have added another track comparison video, showing the similarities between the real-world and in-sim versions of Lime Rock Park.

HD also available

Tags: iRacing.com, Lime Rock Park, Skip Barber 2000
Posted in Racing | No Comments »

VIR Track Comparison

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

iRacingTV have added a track comparison video, showing the similarities between the real-world and in-sim versions of the VIRginia International Raceway facility.

HD also available

Tags: iRacing.com, Skip Barber 2000, Virginia International Raceway
Posted in Racing | No Comments »

Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Steering Wheel Review

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel, Pedals & H-pattern gear shifter.

I was sent the Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel for review having not heard much about it, other than what I’d read on a few simracing Web sites, of course. I knew the build quality would be good and that I’d be overcome with new things to get used to, but really I had no idea what an ‘awakening’ I was set to experience with the first truly spectacular wheel I have ever owned.

I did have a lot of things to get used to with this wheel. Firstly, I had to adapt to 900° of rotation from the wheel. Both wheels I have owned recently hit a physical stopper at around 90° each side and totaled out at 180°. Second, I had to adapt myself to use a more realistically stiff ‘racing style’ brake pedal. Third, the big one, I had to adapt to use the clutch… I’ve never had a three pedal set before and have hardly ever driven on normal roads… Lastly, I haven’t used any force feedback since about 2000… I would have very many bad habits from years of simracing and this wheel was going to rip them right out of me…

Upon reading the wheel specifications, one thing stood out for me as an area of concern: Wireless. This steering wheel features no cable between wheel and PC and this worried me for a couple of reasons: Would the latency of the wheel be fast enough for my steering commands to be instantly delivered to the simulation on the screen? Would interference from the ‘wireless world’ be a problem?

For the PC I think that the wireless option isn’t really too much of a bonus, I have cables going from every device except my mouse to my PC. But, for the Playstation 2 and 3, wireless is an obvious requirement: You can be sat on your couch as far away from the TV and Playstation as you need to be and not worry about someone tripping over controller wires.

I was quite worried though that someone next door might turn on their microwave and cause me to crash in-sim when the wireless lost connection (yes I’m joking with the microwave, but this genuinely concerned me)…

My concerns turned out to be absolutely wrong as I found there to be no issues with the connection and absolutely no problem with controller lag.

INSTALLATION

Please note that I suffered problems during installation. I had read in other reviews that there are some problems on installation of the wheel… I wanted to prove that everything worked perfect when you followed instructions but I found that even following the instructions turned out to be difficult… I have since contacted Fanatec about it and they told me they have a totally different procedure for installation now which matches the conclusions I drew myself during my own struggles:

1. Fully build and mount wheel and pedals.
2. Do not use the automatic updater on the USB stick.
3. Download the latest driver manually on the Fanatec website.
4. Plug in the RF dongle before you install the driver.
5. Run Setup.exe from your manual download.
6. Calibrate the controller.

I spent nearly 1½ hours trying to figure things out the way the manual I received was telling me to. I eventually gave up and did it my own way (shown above).

FIRST USE

I went into the Control Panel > Game Controllers and calibrated the wheel next. This was a simple process, but I was concerned to see a lack of Force Feedback preferences available… I set the wheel to a 0% dampening strength, 900 degrees of rotation and loaded up iRacing to take the Skip Barber 2000 for a spin…

Quite a lack of config options...

Unfortunately, spin was a bad choice of word: I have been so used to using a wheel with about 180° of rotation that I wasn’t moving the wheel nearly enough to catch the little slides and wobbles that the car does, especially at a track like Lime Rock Park… I asked on the iRacing member forum for help and someone thankfully told me they had experienced the same thing. I went back to the control panel and temporarily set the 911 Wheel to (it’s minimum) 200° of rotation, finding that I could then drive perfectly I knew it wasn’t a problem with the wheel, it was a problem with me.

Note: If you wind up purchasing this wheel, be aware how different it is to almost every other wheel on the market. If you haven’t experienced huge amount of wheel rotation or stiff brake pedal like this before you might find it quite hard to adapt at first – be patient. It’s taken me about four days to re-claim by pace and consistency.

BUILD FEATURES

The power supply for the wheel is nice and long. It’s the little things like this that make life easier and I was delighted to see that where this wheel needed cables, it provided cables long enough to not make life difficult.

The pedals for this wheel are one of the biggest features of it and actually a major step forward in terms of realism. I have driven the Skip Barber 2000 in real life and the brake pedal for the 911 Wheel is getting pretty close to reality in terms of stiffness. It isn’t quite as hard to push down the 911 Wheel’s brake as it is most race cars, but it’s close enough, for sure. The pedals can be either wireless (with the use of four batteries – supplied by Fanatec), or they can be wired. It would also be nice for the pedals to be made of metal… They are currently plastic and while they both look and feel solid, my clutch pedal has started making a noise when fully pushed after just a couple of weeks, though this has not affected performance.

$The 911 Wheel\'s pedals, solid, with a stiff and more realistic brake pedal.$

The 911 Wheel's pedals. Solid, with a stiff and more realistic brake pedal.

The fixings and clamps for the 911 Wheel are strong and tight, I haven’t experienced any slippage. Like most wheels though the desk clamps don’t reach far enough under my desk to get past the ‘lip’ my desk has, but this doesn’t seem unusual. Like with other wheels I have had to clamp the wheel to the lip itself.

The wheel also comes with a set of ‘knee fixings’ which should allow you to use the wheel on your legs… I have not tested this as I can’t imagine being able to keep it on my legs while force feedback is active. This feature is undoubtedly useful for the Playstation 2 and 3 users.

The desk clamp and leg fixings for the under-side of the wheel.

Having a choice of gear selection sticks is a major reason to buy this wheel. Not only is there a set of buttons behind the wheel (which simulate the paddles most open-wheel race cars have), there is a sequential gearbox (forward and backwards to shift gear) and H-pattern shifter that will sit at the side of your wheel (on the end of poles clamped inside the wheel housing). The gear sticks are very strong and feel they’ll take a lot of racing, the method of housing them (on the poles) also feels strong and sturdy.

Dual metal poles go through the wheel body and the (changable) gear stick.

Dual metal poles go through the wheel body and the (changeable) gear stick.

The steering wheel itself is based upon the real Porsche 911 steering wheel. It feels so wonderful when driving! Being able to slip your fingers around a stitched leather steering wheel is an absolute privilege. It is perfect thickness, the construction feels solid and the amount of available buttons means you can control everything you need to control. I haven’t found anything to use the buttons on the front of the wheel for yet, but the ‘paddle’ buttons on the back of the wheel are in use whenever I drive the Formula Mazda! The front of the wheel also includes a very cool illuminated LED display that I assumed can be configured to work with software and display output of speed or shifting indications. I’ve personally turned it off (via the control panel shown above in this article) because, like I said, I don’t use any of the front buttons.

Note: Fanatec say that they are about to release a driver update that brings information from the game or sim out to the LED display.

The Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel provides the perfect look and feel.

FORCE FEEDBACK CAPABILITY

Until very recently I used a Thrustmaster steering wheel, I also hadn’t bothered with Force Feedback since the year 2000. I got a Logitech Driving Force EX and tried it’s Force Feedback – I wasn’t impressed enough to continue using it.

The Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo steering wheel is a totally different animal. I am now hooked on Force Feedback and can say with absolute joy that the experience this wheel is capable of delivering converted me to a fan of Force Feedback in general.

With a setting (within the iRacing simulation) of between 8 and 10 in strength, the feel this wheel gives is simply amazing. I can feel the changes in camber of the turn, levels of banking and occasionally can feel the tiny transition from one type of surface to another very, very well. That feel, combined with a higher degree of rotation in the wheel, is making me a much smoother driver and I’m finding myself able to tame circuits I have struggled at quite badly over the last couple of years.

To sum up: 911 Wheel Force Feedback = YES!!

NOISE

I actually don’t remember hearing the motor of the force feedback, ever. It is far quieter than any wheel I have ever owned, have seen on show displays or have seen in friend’s homes.

When you run a long session with Force Feedback the unit gets warm and there are fans that will run until the unit cools off. They’re not loud, but I did wonder what on earth the noise was the first time I heard them!

The body of the wheel has airflow grills above the fans.

PROS

Fantastic build quality. Feels solid.

Looks the part. Porsche-branded and cool looking. Nice leather finish.

Sequential and H-pattern gear shifters are provided and easily swapped.

900° of rotation, the same as many road cars (and the Pontiac Solstice featured in iRacing).

Wonderful Force Feedback capabilities that allow you to really feel things at a whole new level.

Stiff brake pedal that is much closer to the resistance of the real thing. It isn’t exact though, from my experience it feels about 50% as rigid as a real-life racing brake pedal (but that’s better than the 0% resistance most pedals offer).

Clutch pedal. Not every set of wheel and pedals has a clutch… Although it can be quite difficult to perfect, it might be worth it in the long run.

Non-slip pedals. When I say non-slip, I mean it. If you fix the metal plate to the bottom of the plastic pedals like you’re supposed to, these pedals aren’t slipping anywhere…

Haven’t had to recalibrate the wheel since I had it. Normally I had to recalibrate Thrustmaster and Logitech wheels before every running as they would both lose ‘center’ – I’d find myself having to turn the wheel to go straight. No sign of this issue with the 911 Wheel.

Wireless pedal to wheel communication. (Batteries in the wheels provide wireless communication, cable is provided if unwanted).

A choice to use a cable for pedal to wheel communication, rather than wireless (useful if those batteries die).

Wireless connection between wheel and PC/PS2/PS3.

Compatibility with PC, Playstation 2 and 3.

CONS

The installation from the USB stick of the USB wireless hub. Bad drivers/software… Fanatec are aware of this issue though and confirmed my installation method (above) works.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Working instructions need to be shipped with these wheels.

The clamp could do with being a bit longer. It’s wide enough for any desk but doesn’t get over the ‘lip’ on the edge of mine so I’m attaching it to the edging, rather that the desk – it doesn’t feel safe like that. Fanatec do have a solution though, they have a different clamp you can buy…

Clutch pedal has started to make plastic ‘tapping’ noise (after two weeks) when pressed fully. Still works perfectly though, I guess a part is hitting the casing.

CONCLUSION

My concerns over the wireless being interfered with or laggy seems to be misplaced and although the installation was a bit of a pain, it hasn’t caused me any further stress. The lack of configuration options in the control panel was a concern, but after using the wheel for some time now – I haven’t needed to change anything outside the game or simulation’s own settings. Amazingly, I haven’t even needed to recalibrate the wheel at any time!

At the moment, all in all, the Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel is probably one of the best pieces of equipment you can buy in terms of quality, feel and performance. It is genuinely making me a much better simracer and that’s only after weeks of usage… In terms of pricing, it is a lot of money, but I honestly think it’s worth every cent if you want one of the best wheels available today.

Buy from: fanatec.de. Wheel is for PC and PS3 (PS3 untested by me).
Price: $200 (approx).

Note: The wheel comes with a 1GB memory stick (that looks the same as the USB hub). This stick contains the PC drivers but you can use it like any other memory stick. I’d advise against using the drivers on the stick and instead suggest downloading the latest ones from Fanatec manually.