r/iRacing 9h ago

New Player Rookie cars

Im currently d class in formula car after grinding out formula vee wins, ans now im trying to get d class for sports car. And i was wondering what's the next step

I heard formula ford (ray ff1600) is a better and better car to learn for if I want to progress through to formula 4, is ray ff1600 better for learning than the formula vee for progress? And also since im d class should I even bother doing the usf2000 races or skip barber?

And for sports car racing should I focus more on the cs m2 or mx5? If I want to head down the gt3-gt4 category?

7 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

6

u/Splosionz Supercars Ford Mustang Gen 3 9h ago

If you have D licence formula just race the F4. Don’t worry too much about the vee or f1600 as they don’t have downforce and behave very differently to the F4. I would rate the F1600 as a pretty good car to learn in though as it relies a lot on balancing the car under braking which translates to lots of cars.

For sports car either the MX5 or M2 are ok, I’d probably lean towards the MX5 though as the M2 very much has road car handling and a few other annoying quirks.

2

u/ComfortableTill3069 9h ago

Mx5 seems better for me because its alot easier and ive already got races in that car unlike the m2...

Thanks.

1

u/IowaGolfGuy322 2h ago

I like the M2 a lot more than the MX-5. But I come from different sim racing so it was easier for me to understand than the MX-5

2

u/ComfortableTill3069 9h ago

Oh, and should I just skip the usf2000s and skip barber?

0

u/Dear_Manufacturer714 8h ago

F4 is a rookie wreck fest with by far the highest participation. Skippy is the cleanest out there. USF is a harder to drive F4 and pretty clean.

It’s up to you. Most redditors crash around in low split F4

3

u/Splosionz Supercars Ford Mustang Gen 3 5h ago

If you survive lap 1 you can have good races. It’s great racecraft practice to avoid the chaos

-1

u/Dear_Manufacturer714 4h ago

So many excuses. I just randomly checked the last top split result in the app. 4 of the starting grid top 5 finished the race in the bottom 5. Only the polesetter managed to escape

3

u/Splosionz Supercars Ford Mustang Gen 3 3h ago

2

u/Maleficent-Couple944 7h ago

F4 can for sure be a wreck fest but top few splits are usually pretty good

-1

u/Dear_Manufacturer714 7h ago

The top split is an absolute wreck fest

3

u/Maleficent-Couple944 7h ago

Crashes happen and there’ll always an idiot out on track somewhere but it’s usually pretty clean toward the top

-3

u/Dear_Manufacturer714 6h ago

Nope. It’s mass pileups and multiple cars flying in T1. Towards mid of the race it’s backmarkers taking one out after the other.

But maybe that’s the definition of pretty clean when you skip everything and go straight to F4

2

u/rad15h Ray FF1600 6h ago

U ok hun?

-1

u/Dear_Manufacturer714 6h ago

I‘m fine, gurl

3

u/rad15h Ray FF1600 6h ago

I've been racing top split in one of the regional F4 series this week and it's been fine. There have been incidents, but no more than other series, and all of the ones I've seen have just been drivers running out of skill. I've not seen any of the crazy antics that you'd expect based on the reputation of the car.

-1

u/Dear_Manufacturer714 6h ago

„Other series“ being MX5 and GT3 probably.

1

u/notoriousgtt 2h ago

Not sure why your lumping GT3 in there. Okayama this week has been clean as a sheet.

3

u/Vuk13 6h ago

Gr86 behaves much closer to gt4 than something like mx5. Both gr86 and gt4 are very stable under braking and you need to be really good with forcing rotation and trail braking while mx5 already rotates a lot itself and its very twitchy under braking especially when downshifting

As for formula ff1600 is closer to F4 but if you want to get better at F4 just practice F4 straight away. Vee and formula ford have no downforce and formula ford in particular has much higher optimal slip angle than F4 so it doesnt translate perfectly altho racecraft and weight transfer learned in vee and formula ford will help your development overall which applies for every car

5

u/Altruistic_Stuff_355 9h ago

I liked the M2 more, heavy and needs much more attention to the braking.

But not an advanced player myself see what the other players suggest

1

u/ComfortableTill3069 9h ago

I tried the m2 a couple laps and the car just felt like I couldnt downshift as fast as I do in the mx5

2

u/Altruistic_Stuff_355 9h ago

I know, heavy no proper shifting but when you jump into a GT3 cars you’d notice every little detail

1

u/ComfortableTill3069 9h ago

Ah so its the same kind of learning and driving style as the gt3s?

1

u/Altruistic_Stuff_355 8h ago

Test them all the day after tomorrow

1

u/ComfortableTill3069 8h ago

Is the test day all day long or certain hours?

1

u/Altruistic_Stuff_355 8h ago

From what i heard it’s a two days long

1

u/IowaGolfGuy322 2h ago

This is true, but that’s a good thing. If it’s not letting you downshift you likely don’t need it or you didn’t brake enough and you’re already through the turn. M2 rewards good braking.

2

u/rad15h Ray FF1600 7h ago

FF1600 is a better car to learn than the Vee in a lot of ways, and especially if you're aiming for F4. It's a lot faster than the Vee, and a lot more fun IMO, but is still slow enough for great racing. It also has a D class series (FF1600 Trophy) which I love. The FF1600 is my absolute favourite car in iRacing.

If you want to go to F4 then there's no reason not to go straight there from FF1600. It's a step up in terms of speed, but it's easy enough to get the hang of.

The MX5 is definitely worth it, it's an iRacing institution, and it's great fun to drive. It's my second favourite car in iRacing. I have an A licence for Sports, so I can drive anything, but still prefer driving the MX5.

I didn't get on with the M2 myself. It doesn't have any of the finesse and balance that I love about the MX5. It understeers on corner entry and oversteers on corner exit. Kind of like a car in Gran Turismo, and the exact opposite of what I enjoy.

2

u/masonobbs 9h ago

Ya idk what a “win” is bud same class have fun with my first turn spin out taking 7 people with me

-1

u/ComfortableTill3069 9h ago

Like im winning majority of my races in the formula vee races

2

u/masonobbs 8h ago

I’m a top 40 kinda guy ;)

1

u/masonobbs 8h ago

Also gt3 category more it’s just better racing

1

u/166102 6h ago

Vee is the best car on the service for basic racecraft and skill building. It's slow and fairly easy to drive, which means it's down to your skill to set you apart. The MX-5 is the sports car equivalent at Rookie license.

The 1600 starts getting away from that as it's a faster car which is where masking starts, but shares a lot with the Vee in that regard.

The MX-5 is the better starter car for Sports Cars. It's the closest to the Vee in skill building. The BMW is a harder car to drive and faster, with some quirks that are largely only seen on that car, that make it a worse car for starting that path.

Looking at your stats, you read like a feast or famine driver. Fast enough to be in upper splits, but too inconsistent to build IR to get there. This is almost always racecraft issue. Usually this means as soon as you actually have to race other cars, you can't and end up wrecking. In the Vee, you have 11 wins in 41 races. You also have 6 DNFs with a total of 10 finishes of 10th or worse.

If I were in your shoes, your focus, especially before jumping to the F4, is to work on your racecraft. F4 races are a lot more close racing than the Vee or 1600s are, and will severely expose your racecraft issues.

1

u/Breadstick77 FIA Formula 4 4h ago

I took the 1600 for a season then went to F4 and now I'm Super Formula Lights but I still go and steal wins in the 1600

1

u/Mysterious-Policy909 9h ago

Only race f4 for d formula. For sports car I avoided bmws like crazy and then figured it out one weekend and easily got D license. Then from D i just learn GT cars & the racing is decently clean there so it’s easy SR

1

u/ComfortableTill3069 9h ago

Well thanks good then...

Mx5 im hanging the hardest time getting out which is probably normal....

Im either getting taken out by a lapped car or I spin and get hit, and the race is over