Following the much-discussed reality check video of iRacing’s Brand Hatch circuit and the release of the track earlier today, Sam Hazim has put together one of his famous reality check galleries.
The gallery shows photos of the British track side by side with screenshots from iRacing’s latest track, giving everyone an idea how accurate the virtual version of the British track really is.
The 3,7 kilometer Brands Hatch circuit hosted 12 Formula One Grand Prix and is well known as a touring car venue these days, hosting both the WTCC & DTM as well as the British BTCC. iRacing’s version includes both the Indy and the GP layout, selling for $14.95.
jux
December 18th, 2009 at 04:29
Some of the trees and tree lines are quite different in a couple of pics. Maybe they didn’t have a chance to photograph the track as carefully as the ones in the US. The track itself and most of the surroundings look as good as usual though.
GeraArg
December 18th, 2009 at 04:35
It must be difficult to put a tree is exactly like in reality, surely for that require millions of polys and don´t make sense to overload the actual video cards for that.
felipe
December 18th, 2009 at 04:46
provability is that iRacing has got the best racing track surfaces out there but the background are the worse out there too and the colors look so different from the real thing. But still hats off for the track surface!
moppenheimer
December 18th, 2009 at 06:23
the worst out there? name 1 sim with more accurate trackside objects….
Lincoln Miner
December 18th, 2009 at 07:09
Felipe here is a picture of Paddock Hill Bend with those trees…
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Paddockhillbendtop.jpg
And the Google Maps URL.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&om=1&t=k&z=16&ll=51.356722,0.263157&spn=0.010117,0.019956/
I think iRacing positioned those big trees to close to the apex of Paddock Hill Bend. They are at the exit by the Vodaphone sign, but not at the apex. Big goof.
They fixed the water tower, which was too large at their Indianapolis track, so they are concerned with accuracy. My guess is they’ll definitely fix this goof with an update.
I don’t see any other errors, but I haven’t looked that close.
carbonfibre
December 18th, 2009 at 07:12
Can we get the same guy to do like a 4 way version of iRacing, Simbin, Shift and whatever’s the best rFactor mod side by side?
Lincoln Miner
December 18th, 2009 at 07:42
I’ve just run about 50 laps on Brands in the Indy car. Terrific track. Very tricky. A bit like Watkins in spots with bigger hills. They really did a great job with the elevation changes and the subtle off camber turns and bumps etc. I love coming down pit row with all the bricks into Paddock Hill and just when you think Paddock Hill was interesting you get the nasty, blind off camber Druids Bend hairpin. Then Graham Hill is pretty easy, but boom you get nailed with the very tricky Surtees. Up the huge Hawthorn Hill. The uphill Hawthorn bend is a blast followed by a tricky blind Wesfield Bend down Dingle Dell to another blind Dingle Bell Corner. You get a break at Stirlings Bend then Clearways, which is a bit like the baby brother to Paddock Hill Bend… a downhill right hander into the fast Clark Curve and you finish with Brabham Straight past pit row and the main grandstands.
This course is a blast! :-) I’ve only tried it in the Indy car, but man this is a fun track!
moppenheimer
December 18th, 2009 at 07:58
it would be much harder because you’d have to make custom cams for the RF/Simbin stuff, and maybe Shift too, not sure how their cams work
MadCat360
December 18th, 2009 at 10:00
Looks great! But these comparisons really illustrate the weird washed out colors in iRacing. They need to fix that (and I think I read somewhere that they are).
ermax18
December 18th, 2009 at 12:27
moppenheimer, rFactor has a freelook mode where you can fly anywhere you want on the track and can rotate the camera in anyway you want along with zoom in and out. That is what all those button maps are for. It isn’t as well done as iRacings cameras but not to bad.
Panchito
December 18th, 2009 at 14:28
Track looks to much yellowish on iracing, grass is to light, and as always, it feels empty (much more a trackday than a race).
But is the best version I’ve seen
the.cosmic.pope
December 18th, 2009 at 15:46
It feels empty because the screenshots were taken during practice. Like other sims, there is less crowd for practice than with race.
hoboracer
December 18th, 2009 at 16:54
Easy, Toca3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8bvQ6h4ONw
marc1111
December 18th, 2009 at 17:47
Man that track is fun!!! Strange that I noticed a couple inconsistencies with the trees as well. Amazing that we actually complain about that, but iRacing set the standard!!
Also, we are able to use a lot of grassphalt in iRacing, not sure I’ve seen many real live videos where the whole car is on the grassphalt in certain places and still running fast laps.
Anyway, here are up a couple Dallaras fighting. The elevation changes are awesome!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ARNVPhceM
Lincoln Miner
December 18th, 2009 at 18:31
Nice video. You make it look way easier than it actually is… Saw your time of 1:14 in a practice session yesterday. 1st 1:14 I’ve seen.
Good pass at the end of the video at Westfield/Dingle Dell. Nice multi-lap chase. FYI, I tried you Sebring setup and it’s way too loose for me. I’d need a lot more practice to be able to run your setups! :-)
moppenheimer
December 18th, 2009 at 22:44
I hope thats a joke…….
Crazy Bored
December 19th, 2009 at 05:19
I don’t care what anyone says, this track is a lot of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opG5y03-DR8
marc1111
December 20th, 2009 at 01:19
Ha Crazy Bored!!! I recognize your car. We just had a nice battle a couple hours ago in the fun race. Too bad that guy in first spun and took us both out. I wasn’t even trying to pass him into T1 really, just trying to shake him up a little and it seemed like he freaked out every time. Was great fun!
hoboracer
December 21st, 2009 at 21:16
Why, did you notice how accurate the trackside objects were in the video? (granted it’s model is from 2006)