ashleyknowles » Motorsports

rFactor versus Live for Speed

Ashley Knowles — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:31:49 +0000

After acquiring the Logitech G27 early last week, I had spent a few hours of game time playing rFactor… I was quite impressed with the way everything worked…

Then I started playing around a little.

My first gripe. rFactor somehow “re-calibrated” my G27 in it’s settings, changing the steering such that I have to turn a full 90 degrees to the left, just to drive straight. Not a single Google help desk support issue logged… I ended up having to find the configuration file, which was hidden away in the Windows “appdata” folders in the current user profile (C:\users\username\appdata\local\rfactor). I can’t remember the exact setting I changed, but it was an X-axis setting which was set to 0.00, where the possible values are 0.00-1.00 – i.e. full left, or full right.

Secondly, car control. The slightest touch at high speed and a car will spin out – this could be realistic, but hey, I don’t go driving round at 200km/hr to test this. Correcting your steering at anything more then 10 degrees results in the car just spinning out. Google help desk support has numerous results regarding this issue… Turns out this is an internal rFactor physics issue… Fail.

So I downloaded Live for Speed, or LFS (which I had previously purchased a few years ago). The download size for starters is a lot smaller. The difference is immediately evident.

LFS, from the get go, seems like a much better designed simulator. Money surely isn’t an issue, as both simulators require you to purchase them… The simplest feature, the first thing I noticed, is that LFS includes tutorials, which is on par with Gran Turismo. I like.

LFS fails to allow customization. Something I really like about rFactor… rFactor allows you to add user created cars, including the Yashio Factory S15 which is included in the Oversteer modification. The same is also said about tracks… rFactor has thousands of user submitted tracks available, including Queensland Raceway, Lakeside, Nurburgring, Pikes Peak, etc. LFS includes 7 tracks with 54 configurations, as well as an autocross layout which you can customize.

In terms of drivability, LFS was immediately “better”… Powering out of a corner in an underpowered car didn’t result in a spin out. Correcting a spin didn’t lead to a spin. Driving normally, was, well, normal…

I’ll have to give it more of a go, but from the hour I spent on LFS, I was suitably impressed. I only wish it was customisable, or that it could at least have an S15 and a few real world / local tracks…

BMW Interested in V8 Supercars

Ashley Knowles — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 06:43:08 +0000

Fun times ahead! Mark Skaife has confirmed he has been in talks with BMW regarding their interest in joining the “Car of the Future” program, which might just see the V8 Supercar series opening up beyond Ford and Holden.

For car nuts like myself who have little interest in the Ford vs Holden war, this is a much welcomed change!

For all the Nissan lovers, it’s just another reason for them to brag about the R32 GTR all those years ago.

It’d be interesting to see what car manufacturers bring to the table. BMW, perhaps, could bring the M3, which would make for an interesting lineup.

Original announcement here – www.v8supercars.com.au/newsarticle/bmw-confirms-v8-interest/tabid/70/newsid/10576/default.aspx

That elusive S15

Ashley Knowles — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:21:29 +0000

Been a while since I posted an update on my S15.

I worked out that the starter motor issue was simply just a bolt coming loose and so the starter motor gear wasn’t engaging with the flywheel. Saved me some $$$

Next, I tried whacking a Microtech X4 igniter in. Tried firing it up a few times, nothing…

I was quite frustrated at this point, til I realised it was turning over really slowly to begin with (it’s meant to crank at around 300rpm, was only doing about 150rpm at best). Checked the battery, jump started it, and then found that the air con belt was too tight… un-tightened the air con bracket and voila. 300rpm cranking.

So that pretty much got it all running. It’s still a fair way off, with lots of little bits and pieces to tidy up. Electrically, everything is sorted, except the tune. I need to get the idle tuned up right too, my wideband O2 sensor is reading an AFR of around 18 on idle, which isn’t very nice at all!! Yet to find the actual cause of the high AFR, it looks to be timing related, so that will be my first thing to look at.

Nakama Works

Ashley Knowles — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:29:32 +0000

I recently helped out a friend of a friend and took on the hosting for a site called Nakama Works. As a JDM car owner, it’s something that I love and can really be appreciative of, as well as partially owning other communities and websites. So to help these little guys out, here’s a little bit about them.

We are a South East Queensland based car club with members from Brisbane, Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. The members drive vehicles ranging from Nissan Skyline’s, 180sx and Silvia’s to a variety of Toyota’s and the odd Honda…. We pride ourselves on modifying our cars in a tasteful way with more focus on performance and handling than purely for looks.

Our members enjoy and compete casually in motorsports such as Drift racing, Drag racing and Circuit/Hill Climb events.

Check out their website at www.nakamaworks.com

JUN’s Nissan 350Z, “improved”

Ashley Knowles — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:07:11 +0000

I got linked to this from Cruising Brisbane, and all I can say is “wow”.

This thing looks amazing, and the amount of fabrication work and complexity of the stuff installed in this is just jaw dropping. They’ve gone and taken a standard old 350Z and transformed it into something you’d expect to see in the pits at a Formula 1 event. Let’s just cap off some of the “awesome” dropped into this beast:

Greddy twin turbo setup – the position of these turbos alone is just crazy, yet the Japs have managed to do it, yet again – just check out all the heat wrapping and you begin to realise that no expense, or corner, was cut
Exhausts dumping out through the back of the strut towers, down behind the front of the front fender and out through the sideskirts
The engine internals are pumped up, with a 3.8L stroker kit and Cosworth pistons, amongst other bits and pieces
Air jacks all round – I have a soft spot for these, being the DIY’er I am, I love this kind of stuff.
Massive Endless brakes all round
Upgraded fuel system, which of course is just one of those things you have to do, or over-do, like these guys appear to have done. I think I counted 4 fuel pumps in the boot!
“V mount” radiator and oil cooler setup, just look at the size of the oil cooler and you know this thing means business… I’m running something 1/3rd the side of that in my S15…
Custom panels all round, including the bonnet. The bonnet has enough venting to allow small low flying birds to shoot through the front of the car and out the bonnet, although this is an entirely unlikely scenario.
The custom inlet plenum is a work of art – another prime example of JUN’s handy work…
And probably the hardest part of all this – an All Wheel Drive (AWD) conversion, with parts sourced from the R32 GTR, and a Hollinger 6 speed transmission…

What else can I say? Crazy Japanese, I think the saying goes, “I think that’s just so crazy, it’d work”. And it is…

[youtube id="9knNido7Aj0"]

Track Attack @ Lakeside, 27th September 2009

Ashley Knowles — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:44:41 +0000

After the organiser of Track Attack posted this event up on Cruising Brisbane, I was originally all like, hey, no advertising. But instead, I let it slide, and instead, checked out the event website a bit. I was quite surprised to see it’s a full, proper series. This got me thinking in terms of sponsorship, and I’ve had a chat to the organiser, and have registered my interest in sponsoring the series. Should be beneficial for both the participants, and AusPerformance I think…

Anyway, I headed out there last Sunday to check it out. Had a walk around the pits and had a chat with a few of the participants, and took some photos. It was a really well organised event, and I met some really nice blokes with some even nicer cars. Will definitely be heading back out for the next one, hopefully in my 200SX

[showtime]

Track Attack – www.trackattack.com.au