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I always laugh when people say iRacing is a finished product. The physics change every 13 weeks. :/

But… I think it’s sorta scary to see Watkins in CARS after Shift where they sacrificed realisim for a more “visceral” racing experience. You know, where everything was exaggerated a good bit. And what do we see here? Everything in the CARS version is more prononced. Banking is more banked, hills look steeper. Maybe it is just the view points, but that coupled with the fact it’s kinda iffy right now, and the fact they have said more or less “We want to do a sim and hope this is it, but if the money says otherwise that is what we will do” I’m a bit worried.

Sure it’s Pre Alpha, but at the same time I wouldn’t expect a real world place holder that wasn’t somewhat representative. Wouldn’t worry if it was the test track, but the fact they used a “real” track sorta signals the spideysenses.

And of course with scanned tracks you should be able to throw that out the window. But seeing how they probably haven’t done one of those quite yet, we shall see.

Interesting comparison. 
I think, if I had to pick which one I thought was better, it would be….. that one… the one I’m pointing at.  No no not that one, the other one.
Although then again maybe not.   Seems both of them look pretty damn good.
Actually now that I think about it…….

I for one, won’t be renewing my subscription to iRacing from now on… 
I never cared about online racing, only about pure sensation, so my money is (literally) on C.A.R.S… While the track’s elevation is of course more accurate on iRacing, the atmosphere and immersion in C.A.R.S. make iRacing look really dull and boring :(

I think Shift 2 was influenced massively by EA. I suspect SMS wanted to keep things real and the ‘suits’ at EA wanted things watered down for mass consumption

Now SMS is free to do things their own way. I think it’s shaping up very nicely into something very special. Can’t wait. Didnt even know we were getting laser scanned tracks as well. WOW. That’s all I can say. CARS is gonna to look top notch and absolutely feel like it too. I’m just getting hyped cause inspite of the flaws, I really enjoyed Shift 2 and this will be worlds better

I’ll make sure to compare both these tracks myself tho. Cause I own both games + all the content shown in the clips :D

That is why iRacing is iRACING, because it is really about the racing online, which simply cannot be beaten outside leagues. Other sims do offer better physics or driving fun.

:)

Yeah iRacing strength is the detailed online organization. It is basically unchallenged in this area in regards to the virtual ‘seasons’ and detailed stat tracking. I would like to see CARS offer some online organizationa as well but if not, well I already paid up for a year of iRacing. 

Bout to bootup the latest CARS build. I want to check out the AIs. I agree tho iRacing is very lonely when you drive offline. That’s why I just do the online practice sessions primarily for a little company and life. 

Thanks for your input, box’s ;)

All that made me realize that while I crave “realism” and immersion in a racing game, I always prefered the arcadey games for the pure fun, starting many many years ago with Outrun in “luna parks”.
I loved the Screamer series, for those old enough to remember them… But all that was on the keyboard back then, proper FFB wheels didn’t even exist.
When I came back to sim racing a year ago, by buying first a G27, then a PWTS+CSP, then building my own 2DOF motion cockpit, there were only 2 choices available : either hardcore sims with proper handling like rFactor, the SimBin series, RSRBR and iRacing, or full arcade games with poor wheel management, “console” style.
Then there was Codemasters, with DiRT2 and F1 2010, bridging the gap between the 2 genres, bringing proper handling AND loads of “arcade” fun.
And in the netherworld, was the Shift series… Huge potential but limited by the damn suits @ EA, a terrific piece of software dumbed down to please the financial institutions.

In conclusion, what I expect most from C.A.R.S., is to have loads of offline arcade fun while keeping the driving challenge up in full immersion…

The high FOV in iRacing actually made everything look a bit flat don’t you think?

Dude, CARS has my attention. In fact you guys can have my twenty bucks that I WAS going to spend on renewing an Iracing subscription. Money better spent, from what I can tell.

Ehh. It could a bit, but looking back at my own laps at Watkins in iRacing with a much closer FoV, it still looks more “exaggerated” compared to what it should be according to iRacing. Not to mention the detail in the corners, note the difference in the left into the boot section’s inside curbing. The Esses as well look like you drive into a mountain in CARS as well.

Still pretty darn good for basically pulling it out your rear rather than having a super accurate guide to work with. Certainly the best version out there besides iRacing’s, which is probably good enough. Still not as good though. :-P

I’m eager to see a scanned track from these guys.

iracers feel threatend again . keep pouring in that money

I guess the cars is look like much better, but the iracing’ve got better (more realistic) colors.

Unless CARS will come with much more interesting car choices than iRacing, I don’t see any reason why it would be any more worth than iR which is quite boring already. 

Comparing both tracks is quite difficult due to the different FOV. You need the same FOV to compare the elevation changes and the banking.

Nevertheless for a non-laserscanned track the CARS version looks good for me.

BTW in CARS it’s not Watkins Glen. It is Connecticut Hill. :-P :-D ;)

Don’t worry, I will. I actually enjoy doing that thing that is in the title of iRacing. It’s right there, behind the lower case “i”.

  I dont know, the car(or cocpit) obviously look best to date. But this is all(if we dont consider physics). This yellow filters, lightening, texturing of track and the trees. This is so plastic feeling. This ruin everything good what bring the cocpit modelling. That is my opinion ofcourse.

Both versions look really cool and authentic. I see no big difference.

I’ve been an iracing member for 3 years now and from watching this, after all the money i’ve spent, iracing dominates in…………….the blue sky lol. Probably the handling too as i prefer simulation style handling but other than that, CARS looks much more appealing to me. I love how detailed the travel on the front wheels is and there seems to be a lot more life in CARS but i dont know how to explain it. I’m sure i’ll always keep my subscription to iracing though. It’s like the kinda pretty ex girlfriend who is always there when you need her. You may go off with something better looking but when she moves on, you can go back to old faithful.

if a not laserscanned Track, felt more spectaculary, “more real”, then a highdetailed lasescanned iRacing Track, then something great is going on.
When i think about the upcoming British laserscanned Trackpack(especially Cadwell), then i get afraid.
8-)

DX11 does make things look nice. I know iRacing is just starting a 64-bit DX11 update, and that certainly can’t come too soon.

I’ve invested in CARS but here you can clearly see it being OWNED by the laser scanned version it’s even more clear when driving in cockpit view. Happily CARS will have laser scanned tracks and this is just a demo :)

dx11 for iRacing? LOL

I’ll renew both my iRacing sub and buy CARS, because im not on state welfare.

Yes, he is right. It has been announced few weeks ago.

DX11 for iRacing is kinda pointless unless they update the graphics engine to something that actually REQUIRES it.

Difference between the dx11 or dx9 version is minimal in cars.
DX11 just combines some effects to be rendered in one pass.
Instead of a few passes in DX9.
As DX9 cant handle really long shaders.
DX11 is not some magic FX box you can implement in a game-engine.

As the current pricing structure goes, your $20 is sure going to get you a helluva lot more content over 1 year in cars :D

iRacing did colorcalibrate all their textures, so they should be really accurate.
That’s what we pay for.

I find the differences between tracks to be quite obvious. I’m sure using the same FOV would actually make more justice to both versions though

iRacing developped new techniques for tracks from Spa.
So Spa, Okayama, Suzuka and the next Oulton (without naming the oval tracks) have this techniques applied.
The old tracks will be reworked progressively.

For me, the iRacing car shows very little movement in all aspects of motion, where as C.A.R.S. shows all sorts of movement in every aspect! Maybe just some personal settings between the 2 but that’s what really stands out for me. So for this video C.A.R.S. is the winner! Warning, my opinion may be bias! 8-)

My 2 cents… :-D
Laser scanned tracks don’t mean better graphical quality, but higher accuracy.
in that respect, iRacing has the better track.
however, graphical wise, C.A.R.S is way better. looks far better lighted and sharp.
i had iRacing for 2 years, but given up on it. some things just don’t seem to fit me. pricetag is one of them, however, that is something personal, iRacing is great, but so is C.A.R.S.
guess both of them will have a good audience ;)

CARS scared the shit out of me. iRacing never did. Had a race in the Lotus 86 on Watkins Glen against the hard AI. That was just mind blowing. Fighting with the turbo car, fighting with the track, fighting the AI. The MUUUUUUUUCH better sounds in CARS and the well used shaking make iRacing look even older than it did before CARS kicked off. Some don’t recognize it, but even the shaking of cockpit interiors or that the gras on the trackside is not just a flat texture make CARS look at least one generation ahead of iRacing.
Physical wise iRacing is more challenging, which doesn’t mean it is more realistic. CARS is just pure driving fun. I hope the find a good balance between realism and drivability.
Ah yeah…and finally no dumb safety rating and the development process of CARS is many times faster than iRacing’s snail progress.

When Cars actually makes a decent track i will try it out.
I for one cannot drive a unrealistic track over and over and enjoy it, When i go through Eau rouge I know its EauRouge.

I enjoy watching documentaries, but I’d rather watch The Wire even though I know it’s not real.

respect for your opinion :)
but the track isn’t unrealistic. it is maybe not 100% accurate, but it comes close.
you only get the real one when driving the real one.
About Eau Rouge, NOT a single sim so far can re-create the feeling of going over it in real life ;)
did it more than a few times in different porsches…. first time is really to wet your pants :-P

Yes, but their lighting tech is poor, so even if the colours are good, the atmosphere is unrealistic and feels flat…
I mean, I still enjoy driving in iRacing for sure, physically it’s very good (especially with motion cockpit), but after all the new gfx engines, it’s a complete shame Kaemer doesn’t hire a bunch of coders to help him. I guess he’s a control freak that won’t learn to delegate or be helped…

I feel my money is much better spent by the C.A.R.S. team than iRacing.

Just open your eyes, if you don’t see…
That’s a good one, ROFLMAO.

@Riches
You are right. When I play C.A.R.S, the difference of the car models between DX11 and DX9 ist minimal. The big difference is in lightning, shadows and post effects, which lets the game appear smoother and more alive.

If someone who has a CARS WMD acount can answer this as I cannot see currently as not a member.

If you join and get say the lowest pack, but then upgrade to a higher one (seen post saying you can) will it cost you the difference between the packs? or will it cost you the price of both packs?

Its just affecting which I go for at the moment as I am quite keen to get further access to the forums but I do not intend to try racing straight away as my computer’s spec is too low so ideally would get the lowest initially, but may want more in the future.

The two sims are great but racing with AI is very fun in C.A.R.S, even if they are not perfect. And the handling in C.A.R.S seems very good to me.

Only the difference

thanks

man someone k*l*l this guys, comparison after comparison

Yeah I’m still baffled how SMS is chruning out so many updates so fast.

As an iRacing subscriber I am worried about my investment but as a CARS fan I am absolutely stoked!

lets to a comparison video to compare all the comparision videos and see which one was better :-D

Its worth pointing out that C.A.R.S doesnt officially use Watkins Glen in the game, or Imola…………. as the game uses unofficial names/locations rather than the proper track names.

now wether thats licensing, or wether its to get away from being a 100% true (laser scanned) version is up for debate, but the fact remains that the tracks are still very accurate.

Will those tracks be free?

u cannot compare that … because on one side u have an online simulation that is lag free most of the time even with my computer that is not the best…. and other side a game that look really good but that i cannot play because of the graphic… iracing put the emphasis on online racing without lag that is why the graphic is lower than this… nothing more than that