I need to start wearing a full body sweat band or something...

Favourite online racer of the moment going large with the 935...

"You're just not driving the car right"

Nuff said:

When reality strikes..

This last week I had an opportunity like very few others...
You see, someone I know, let's call him David, happens to own a McLaren 650s, and he said we should go out in it, this one to be precise:

And yes they are every bit as awesome in real life as you'd imagine.

So David met me in some far out suburb in Sydney that allowed us to take a relatively short trip out to some bendy bits of road without anyone else on them. And fair play to David - he's bought a car that he's going to use...

You'll all know the stats on this car, but the acceleration on it is brutal, as demonstrated, I don't mind a fast car, but the punch into the seat on booting it was intense - I think I braced (you know foot on the brake and hand on the ceiling) and swore out loud. And that was on a relatively straight bit!

And then the road, I won't share location, Mr Police please stay away, but it's a popular spot apparently. Anyway David did a sighting run, all good I thought - the sighting run was probably the fastest I've ever been around a bend in my life. My word that car hangs on! Mind you kudos to the pilot for using every inch of the grip of the car, we were scrubbing into the corners on brakes, around the corners on grip and out of the corners under power. Seriously intense and seriously fun!

At the bottom of the hill/run we stopped (and pics above) and as we jumped out you could smell the brakes, tyres, engine... remember driving your econobox past the limit and smelling thrash? Turns out you can do that with a supercar! Good stuff.

And then, and then it was my turn!!! OMG.

Well, you get into the car and that's easy enough, step into the well and slide on in. The doors hinge closed and the last bit is an electronic snick as it latches in.
In terms of seating, obviously hugging seats and sat on the floor pretty much, but I was surprised at how comfortable the cabin was - no compromises in seating to fit it into such a small package.
And the steering wheel... well, I had an issue with that as it felt way too game system, in a good way. Lovely feel, nice size (not too big) and well placed flappy paddles!

So what does one do when given the opportunity to drive someone's 650s, after dark on a road which was all bends?

I booted it!

No way I was going to get the warp speed of the downhill run, but certainly I think I did the car justice on the way up. I know we both stopped talking, me because I was concentrating like nothing else, and David I suspect was going with equal enjoyment/remorse depending on the way I was driving it.

So how does it feel to drive a half million dollar car? Easy is the word I could use, but that's a gross over simplification I think. Considering it's a very long time since I've driven a fast car (not the same as a normal car fast I might point out) and I've never sat in a car like this let alone given it some beans... It's an amazingly compliant car to drive.
Someone asked me why bother having such a fast car in Australia (200+Mph), the answer is that within the limits of the roads, or at least around it, the car drives and handles far better than you can imagine.

Be it booting it and letting it rev, or short shifting to enjoy the insta-power, be it hanging on the brakes, or indeed (look away David) wanting to really press on them at least once, be it turning in and what you do with the wheel is instantly and clearly reflected in the wheels, the car fully supports the driver in what they want to do. Amazing.

I didn't get anywhere near traction limits, thankfully, and probably didn't even warm the brakes up. But to me I pushed on, and had an experience in what has to be up there in the short list for motoring perfection.

And how do you thank someone for lending you such an amazing drive, I'm not sure, I'll have to think of something for sure.

Of course, now my everyday car feels like a tractor balanced on top of a jelly to be frank. So I'm back to sims to try and do driving the McLaren what methadone is to cocaine.. it's a poor substitute I can tell you...

We've all done it

On the start line at Brands Hatch, there's that slight lean to the right... the lights change, you put your foot down and career off to the side of the track.

Why do I mention this? Well, watching the first round of the BTCC at Brands Hatch reminded me of many online races. And for that it's excellent!

Behold (it is well worth watching!):

More Please

We all lament F1 and the woes of faded exhaust note, excessive politics and generally lacklustre racing.
And then there's this, GP2 racing at Monza - this should be televised internationally...

True, the commentating helps, but the close racing is marvellous and no mistake!

I laughed

30 Minutes into this and I can't stop chuckling at the outright realism of Truck Sim.
Honestly if you have the time, it's worth grabbing something alcoholic and sitting back and listening to a pro-streamer make road hauling fun!

Bosozoku Buddies

Well not quite, and this is good TV over dinner...

And spot the difference, this:

Compared to this:

I reckon those Bosozoku crew folks have something...


//edit//

Bonus content, Tsuchiya (Drift King) abusing a Zonda...

It's like Cheesecake

This is like Cheesecake (yes, that deserves a caps).

Why? Well... lets look at the core ingredients of Cheesecake:

1. Cheese
2. Cake

What's not to like hmmm?

And like Cheesecake this video has Tiff* and Singer Porsche. Which doesn't make it an awesome desert, but I surely want to watch and digest what is a great vid nonetheless.

Enjoy:

For the lawyers - I'm not implying Tiff is a cake, a bit harder to say he's not cheesy I suppose...

Lost soul

So it's all about Project Cars 2 at the moment.
I've not got any screen shots but I will put a few words down about it...

To round it up, Assetto has depth, PCars2 has breadth. There, that's all the review you need!

But seriously, things to do in PCars2 that work and make you think that it's a great sim:

• Take the XJ220 TWR for a spin around Bathurst
• Take the Group A R32 on the California highway
• Do old Spa with weather
• Start your career with the Ginetta racing
• Do spend an hour getting your HUD to be less than all over the screen
• Do set your steering FFB to raw

And here's the things to avoid:

• Don't do the Escort 1600 at Brands short - especially as you can do the same in Assetto
• Don't take the McLaren F1 out, errr, on any road
• Generally avoid the road cars for now
• Avoid the 935 for a bit, then drive it at Red Bull
• GoKarts - authentic maybe, but my word...

Do I like the game? As a game yes, I like it. I like the endless choice of track and cars. I like the racing, the Ginetta at Cadwell was an excellent race. I like the general simness of it, but it's not a sim.

It's hard not to be the smug Audi owner at a party of Hyundai drivers with this. Once I got over the physics shock (so very unique) and dialled in I still couldn't shake that compared to Assetto, well, it doesn't. If I want to play a game I'll happily play this. If I want to drive a car - I'll always go to Assetto.

I will say on one track I had dappled (HDR) sunlight across the track, that was special. But graphically it's not a million miles away from Assetto, and for ball ache beauty I think the venerable Driveclub might still have an edge - how the hell is that possible!
My Pro also has a sold state drive, arguably much faster in load times - my unit of "skyrim" which was about a week on the PS3 is little more than 30 seconds on this bad boy. And the loading of everything is still reasonably slow in this game. A lot going on I suppose.

And part of that will be the weather, as mentioned above it is awesome to have a go, though I think a 956 at 250Kph will have some water related 'issues' on the bends when it's pouring down - though not that I noticed.
And beyond a few goes to see what the fuss was about, and a minor grizzle at not seeing a torrent of water coursing down into Eau Rouge, I have gone back to 'red centre' spec racing - that being uniform blue above and hot below.

Am I disappointed with my purchase? I think not, but then last night I invested a heady $18 on Need for Speed, so I'm buying another game within 24 hours. hmmmm.

And because this is my roots for now, how about this for Assetto, a nice bit of driving..

So long Sport

I'm in danger of the skiing down the hype curve from the peak of expectation to the trough of disillusionment. It's real - as you know I lead a team that writes software and we contend with it all the time...
Anyway, I am not only all aboard the hype train, I'm also sat in the buffet car dining out on the press snippets. What's more I'm thumbing my nose through the glass at the GT Sport commuter train as we pass - though in fairness that one is packed to bursting with eager passengers.

But then there's this...

I am actually tempted to cancel my pre-order and never buy it in a the same way I never watched the butchered Disney Star Wars because the thought of it being great might eclipse the reality of Pocahontas meets Darth Mouse, which I think would have me crying all the way to a re-watch of The Empire Strikes Back (you know, the best one).

So, I'll be online and trying to get my race pass from the 22nd, along with a few hundred thousand tween-year olds (it's a thing) who'll have a. infinatly more time than me and b. a way to earn far more kudos points or whatever it is that'll ensure I stay racing with Bob McSpinner and his mate Ivor Punter until I finally crack at the fiftieth attempt at turn one of Spa and go back to FarmSim - you can't go wrong with baling I can tell you...

Laters.

My Hero

Well, not my hero all out, that's David Hasselhoff for reasons I can't go into...
Anyway, Evan, Callum (Bushby) and I all met up at Lakeside to watch the Lakeside Classic at the weekend and a spirited bit of racing it truly was.

With an eclectic mix of racing there was plenty going on, though in the first TA2 race what promised to be a fantastic race thanks to the ingredients (V8s, tube frame chassis, plastic shells and err racecar stuff) turned out to be mostly line-astern racing.
Maybe due to the tight track, the fact they're epic fast (so no mistakes mmmkay) or perhaps that this guy below wasn't in the running in that race...
You see, number 88, Harris Racing, started at the back in the second race, then made a damn fine attempt to be at the front, and almost made it. What's more, he recorded every sordid lap of himself proving identical cars aren't:

Actually everyone is my hero today, including this chap who I just found online too. Watch the vids and let them know they're great racers!

And an overly artistic rendition too...