Introducing: The Allen Wrench

by David Allen on June 4th, 2011

Editor’s Note: inRacingNews is pleased to introduce David Allen who will be contributing a regular column focusing on the technical side of iRacing.  A long-time sim racer himself, David brings two decades of experience to bear on some the technical challenges associated with sim racing.  Ray Bryden fans relax.  He’ll still be contributing to his, er unique perspectives to inRacingNews.  In other words, it’s a win-win situation for our readers.

Building a competitive race car can cost a considerable amount of money right?  If you’re a racer, rookie or not the decision on how to spend that money to run up front can be a brain-numbing decision.  Racing on a simulator in your game room can be the same way.

Confused yet?  Don’t worry that’s why I’m here. As a tech contributor to inRacingNews I’ll try to make some of these decisions a little less of a challenge.  The economy is hard and for most racers the money set aside for that simulation rig was hard-earned.  Most users want the best bang for their buck.  I’ll help you achieve that.  Bringing my background of over 20 years in PC building, backed by ten years of simulation racing, I’ll help you get the most out of your iRacing experience and offer several guideposts to get you where every sim racer desires to be:  Victory Lane.

Hold on, you don’t go straight to Victory Lane.   Just like Jimmie Johnson, we’ll do this one step at a time.  First we’ll cover that rig you have already built; we’ll talk about maximizing those all-important frames per second.  Do you need all those graphic options?  We’ll cover it.  After we get the basic rig dialed-in and you’re on the track we’ll start picking up speed.  Don’t expect to go out and run up front the first time you take the grid.  In the rookie series iRacing locks the setups of the cars down, so it’s about  getting comfortable on the track.  Assuming you’re an oval racer you’ll be advancing quickly on your way to the Sprint Cup car.  You’ll find the cars on your way aren’t as driver friendly as you might like.  You’ll hear terms such as wedge, sway bar, camber and caster just to name a few. Opening that setup screen can be a very scary moment with all the adjustments and choices.  I’ll help explain that setup screen to you and show you just a few simple changes to make to dial your car into your driving style.  I’ve often heard race cars described as evil and they can be if the setup doesn’t match your driving style.  We might not make your car an angel, but we’ll certainly make it more driver friendly.

If you’re an experienced racer, I’ve got something for you too.  We’ll discuss accessories, button boxes, headsets, steering wheels, and racing cockpits.  We’ll make sure you’ve got all the advantages with all substance and no fluff.  Got questions?  I’m always here, just drop me an email at news@iracespace.com and I’ll be glad to assist.  I have the same passion as you; every bit of time gained on the track is a step closer to victory lane.  I’m happy to be here and I’ll see that you are too!