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That's 100% correct. IIRC PCars2 didn't have this limit. IRL you can't cross the pit exit line when racing without warning or penalty

 

I bet the question some people are asking though is: although we are all inspired to a bigger or smaller extent by those cars, how comes people are only racing 100% of their time on those?
They do championship after championship, server after server, only those cars.
I think the answer to these questions still eludes us or probably it's very simple: those cars are easy to drive, full of electronic aids and require little understanding of cars physics and setups. When there is no ABS, no TC no YT setups available and some crafty driving is required then 95% of people are just not going to drive it...

 

For me it's very simple. I just like Corvette's. Don't hate me.

 

I love it too.. I owned one, I just finished a championship in one.. But I still will drive DPis, Group Cs, Formula Classics and more recent...
What I find puzzling is being one class only driver...

 

People are not all the same. Some have simple needs to have fun. Some want to learn every aspect of the car and devote many hours to it. Some have no interest in any car other than the one they own or have owned or have dreamt of owning. Lot's of good reasons.

 

And it will stay that way.

 

I think people like to drive GT3's because they are easy to drive, no setup hassle, just sit and drive, and if the conditions are right, you can have fun and close racing too.

Last weekend I was looking for an online race. I joined a GT3 server (because there was not something better really) with rotating tracks and weather, very short races with practice and qualy. I didn't drive any GT3 car for at least the last four months, so choose the Porsche with default setup and I was able to get good racing on it. After all, there were a couple of fun races on that server, so I started to understand why a lot of people want to drive GT3's. If the conditions are right, you can hop into any of them and have a good time without caring about setups and/or a lot of practicing to get some fun casual races on a sunday afternoon.

I still prefer the Stock Cars, Copa classics or any manual geared cars if I want a challenge, but GT3 are fun when only you want is to have a fun time without spending too much on nailing the track/car combo.

 

(picture @steelreserv instead of Alain Prost)

 

Yes GT3s are the easiest cars to drive, but are the other cars really so difficult to drive that people won't even consider trying them out?
Imo there's a number of cars that are interesting to drive and not that difficult to handle.

 

Well, I wrote "casual races". If you want to be highly competitive you need to spend time with setup and practice as any other car, but for short and fun, default is enough.

There are other cars that default setup is not enough, so I think it's another reason why GT3 are preferred.

 

When entering the multi-race, the camera is changed to bumper camera.
I always have to change to the cockpit camera.

 

Also, the GT3s can take a little contact. I use VR and there is nothing quite like an open-wheeler in VR, but the GT3s are a little more accessible to me.

I'm currently working on learning the Nordschleife and am using the BMW M6 because:

1. It's easy to find reference times for a GT3 car. It's also easy to find reference braking points.
2. Driving the BMW there seems fitting
3. If (when) I have an off the car will usually survive

 

very true!

 

Indeed!

 

The more the time passes, the more I believe this is the true reason people herd towards GT3.

It is not that much about racing, nor the open wheelers being harder to drive, nor setup preferences... it seems to be much more about the unachieveable dream of owning a McLaren, Mercedes AMG-GT3, Lamborghini, Ferrari for those people.

For me, GT3 are beautiful cars indeed, would love to own one, but the racing is as boring as it can get in the simulators (all of them), at least compared to the options available, notably any open wheel.

It really sucks to be part of a niche inside a niche.

 

There was never a single day since 1963 when a Porsche 911 was not popular. Today the 718 series begins to take that place. Im do not care about the particular racing series. Once you drove a few miles in one you are hooked. Compared to Ferrari and Lamborghini, Porsches are affordable, 60.000-70.000€ is not "out of this world". A base 300hp 718 series is the same price as a 280hp VW Passat top model. In addition it is quite easy to rent a Porsche Cayman for a few laps in the nordschleife. Its about the same cost as the annual vacation week on Mallorca.

AMS2 is for the time between.

But, there is a problem... in Sims everything is muss more less exciting. While you get sweaty palms at 200 on the Nordschleife towards Schwedenkreuz even without traffic RL, a lot of Extra speed and power is needed for that effect in the Sim. Driving a race tuned Toyota Aygo at Spa RL is definately more exiting then doing the same ina simulated FIAT Uno.

Here you go, GTE and GT3, LMP and DPi can deliver that way better.

 

Sim racers are not like real racers regarding gt3 popularity... if you ask anyone in karting they either want to end up in F1 or Indycar. There is no one who says: Oh I wanna be a Porsche GT3 driver once I grow up!
Those little racers grow up from Karting and when they get a litte too tall, they mostly have to settle for GT3 or DTM style of racing (if they are too tall). If you would ask any driver of IMSA, FormulaE, GT3 GTE etc... that there is a free payed cockpit for them in Indycar / F1... they surely wouldn't hesitate.
In real life open wheel cars are also much more fun to drive and hassle around a track than in any simulator. That must be the issue for simracing popularity for open wheel cars, I would assume.

 

I wouldn't know about real life outside rental karts, but open wheel cars tend to be a lot of fun in AMS2. Of course it won't make you feel like you're flying without the G-forces involved in real life. But they are an order of magnitude more intense in VR than tin tops. Driving-wise even the F-Trainer is a more complete race car completely detached from road car realities. Weight transfer is subtle and nearly instant. Endless rotation and optimising body slip angle is the name of the game. The steering wheel is not as connected to where the car is actually steering. That is what makes it fun, but can also be a nightmare to some due to sim racing realities.

My suspicion is that they require a certain level of seat of the pants feel and in turn demand a lot from FFB in sims. When you really start pushing the car it includes steering with the rear to some degree and that cuts it close all the time. If you can't be sure what's going on I don't think it will be an enjoyable drive, because even small slides will be unexplainable, uncontrollable and sudden. And then turn into spins.

That would at least be the case with rental karts in my experience. If you couldn't feel the rear in kart sims including AMS2 you could not drive them fast, because they are constantly flirting with spins when you drive them hard. But you can feel it coming if your FFB works right. In real life you don't have to "setup your buttocks", it just works.

 

Open-wheelers are interesting because at least in my view they drive completely differently from sim to sim. Possibly because none of them get the aero simulation and parameters quite the same. This leads to people having strong opinions and preference towards the feel of one sim over the others.

In AMS2 open-wheelers, the setups are very sensitive to the aero balance and ride height. If they are slightly wrong you get an odd driving feeling (either too loose or too tight) and an unnatural snappy car. But once you nail the setup, they are mostly blissful to drive. Just point the nose into the corner and use the throttle to control the rotation of the rear. Pretty much how I would imagine F1 cars used to drive 20-30 years ago. Not like slot cars that you try to squeeze through corners while avoiding kerbs like death, as represented by some other sims.