well Friday night i fired up RaceRoom Racing Experience (R3E)
i had originally downloaded it in 2014 but that was with my old computer, wheel, and before the massive r3e update and new UI. it was crap then. I like the "new" r3e"thumbsup"
the Sim is free! RaceRoom Racing Experience comes with like 2-3 tracks and like 5 cars
wanted to pick up a car and a track.
whats cool is you can test drive any car before you buy it for free!
went to the Corvettes and test drove the C6R Gt2, and the Z06.R GT3
all the cars are from official series with official liverys from that year. the little paint brush shows you how many liverys are available for each model.
the C6R GT2 was by far better handling and easier to drive than the Z06.R, but the Z06 had the black headlights, more skins, and more like something you could build yourself if you won a $150k lotto. they use VRP to purchase. cost of the Z06 was $3.10 i also picked up Monza which was on sale for $2.16,
Total cost $5.26
General
tires pick up dirt/gravel and loose traction until cleaned. its actually noticable.
Sounds are incredible
you can setup races with upto 4x tire and fuel wear. could make fore some interesting pit strategies
load times faster than iRacing
Cars have excessive/unnatural rotation/wiggle on some entrys. noticed this alot when i first started, not so much after awhile. just move around more than iRacing.
Tracks seem to be exact, i know the Ring is laser scaned but i dont
think the others are, but im able to use all my
exact brake and shift points. Monza did seem about half a car narrower than the iRacing version though.
you really seem and feel the bumps
Sounds Amazing
Textures (track, grass, gravel) are a bit plain and repeated to much. you can see the pattern like old games.
Otherwise the graphics are great. better than iRacing, about the same as AC i would say. but not as good as PC.(but no one is)
All cars feel and sound TOTALLY different
you have to turn "H Pattern" on and off everytime you switch between a paddle shift car and a stick shift car. annoying.
Tons of car variety, the GT3 class alone must have 3 times the cars/manufactures as iRacing
They also have car/track/series packs
the clutch must actually be used life like. you can actually adjust its bite point 1-3 from bottom, middle, and top engagement points. and you do have to work it like a real clutch. ESPECIALLY downshifting. i was constantly locking the rears and spinning on downshifting stick cars, i cant heel/toe(more on this later)
FFB
i had a hard time telling when the back was letting go. i made it better but not good/great
FFB is VERY detailed. Tons of inputs including engine rpms/revs. you feel this constant. more when on throttle and high revs. i turned this down a bit.
I like how all the FFB inputs are labeled and really make a difference. a 5-10% change can totally change the feel. unlike PC i spent weeks on makeing wild changes that did nothing.
for tire slip they use an adjustable rumble. feels great under braking, but not so convincing while cornering.
AI
Ai can be set to adaptive (take 3-5 races to learn your skill level and continually adjusts) or can be set to 80-120% strength
They are very competitive. wont just give you the position and will fight to get it back even after loosing it. love to try the over/under move.
They will flash there lights at you to try to get you to move. or when there coming up on you.
They will
hold to there
pre determained race line most of the time. only moving 10-25% off of it to react to the player. its not that big of a factor when racing most of the time, but when things go wrong they can go really wrong. ie if you were to park yourself on the race line, they will T-bone right into you. not go around.
at times they can also seem to be very heavy bricks when you hit them. at least with damage off.
Physics
the physics seem pretty darn good.
if iRacing has 80-90% of real life grip(my opinion) then R3E has 110-120% in the vette(more on that later)
i ran in "get real" mode, ie no assists. in the vette coming out of the the first Chicane at monza, i could go full throttle, in 1st gear, with the wheels turned, the chassis bouncing, and still not spin the tires. not real at all (more on this later)
Multiplayer
i havent tried it yet but have heard its very active and pretty good.
they also have
monthly competitions where you can win VRP ingame cash, tickets to real races, entrys to real track days, sim hardware, and other stuff.
and whats cool is its all FREE! even if you dont own the car or the track you can do them and drive those cars!
Part 2
now all of the above review was done in the z06R
i tried the GTO classics challenge above in the Fox Body IMSA GTO mustang.
Totally different
for one rear traction was a MAJOR issue now. (no TCS)
turns out even in "get Real" mode with no assists, any car that has TCS(such has race cars with adjustable TCS, it will work) so thats why i could floor the vette and not spin.
also i really struggled down shifting. im used to iRacings auto blip and you can just dump the clutch like a light switch and there is no issue. not here you have to actually slip it and wait for low revs to let clutch out like real life. (unless you can heel/toe i assume)
also grip levels were very realistic in this Mustang. without the downforce and suspension, and TCS of the vette i would say grip was pretty real.
the car was very challenging/hard to drive. but not in a bad way. kind of like the caddy in iRacing, can be challenging to drive, but really rewarding when you do figure it out.
i found it so tough i actually had to turn on TCS, and even auto clutch.

then it was a blast.
also found the mustang easier to know when the back was coming out. but i think this was due more to sound, than FFB, but could be both.
heres a GT3 race i did in the Z06.R. AI set to 98% for vid action.
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6-JK3Biys9w?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Final thoughts
is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY i mean it was 5 bucks. probly worth 4 times that.
Very fun
is it a replacement for iRacing, no. but i do see myself spending more time with it in the future......