Simracers storytime (TL;DR - I really, really enjoy ACC)

Felt I finally learned how to feel the car, how to feel the drive today. Felt when I had damage, noticed all the behaviours I have been reading and watching training videos about in the past 3 months. I'm sure there's much more to learn and I look forward to it. ACC just feels so real - personal racing progress feels real.
I have little experience in racing games. Started back when the original GRID came out - I bought a basic Logitech and I really enjoyed the experience. Upgraded to a Thrustmaster FB430 after a year or so, but slowly drove less and less. The inconvenience of using the desk and blocking normal usage of the PC coupled with the wheel not really feeling too good due to dead zone when steering. Tried the following GRID games and a bit of F1 over the years, Project Cars too but only tried that a few times. looking to get back into driving but nothing quite fired me up.
Then I noticed ACC. Still in early access. Premise sounded good I thought. Single type of car, focus on simulation. When the gameplay IS simulation, it's endless. I never drove for the cars, not really interested in cars. I drove for the driving so ACC sounded really good to me. Played it a bit in early access and could tell Kunos was for real even if ACC wasn't really yet. Then ACC was released May 29th. By June I had upgraded to a TS-XW. Still using the desk. By August the pedals were replaced with Fanatec CSL LC ones. Early September I order a Trak Racer R8 and a Samsung 49" 1080p monitor as well as assorted cables. Mid September I get the Thrustmaster Open Wheel add-on (Great feeling rim) and a Track-IR. Mid November, Trak Racer arrives. Everything is ready. Setup takes 2 hours, everything works first time. Had a lot of time to plan
Spent the following 4 weeks adjusting the setup to my exact preference. Fantastic fun. New monitor arm so I can use the monitor as a TV as well - need a fairly hefty one to be able to move a 13 kg, 49" wide monitor about. With that I can place the monitor at precisely the distance I need to eliminte the need for glasses. Bonus! Today the final adjustment was made. Angling the seat - had to drill a few holes and get creative with a pair of angled brackets I had. One thing is making the adjustments, another is discovering and finding out which ones need to be made. Rome and simrigs definitely arent built in a day. Again fantastic fun.
And I sat down, put on all my gear, fired everything up and drove the best 15 minutes of my life in a SP SPA with 28 cars. Race was 30 minutes so I had an incident halfway - consistency 80 is still an elusive target for me but I'll get there. Those 15 minutes may not have been fast. It definitely wasnt the best racing line and the car tuning could probably be better but for me it was the best driving experince I have ever had.
ACC is simply too good to be true.

 

Hello again

Just a followup - on Saturday I saw this recent video from Driver61:

The first point hit me hard. That is exactly me. I spent all morning thinking about this and when I sat down saturday afternoon for training, something happened. I was in the Ferrari at Nurnburgring, aggessive setup, just doing practise. I started driving and I had decided not to be unsure any longer - to drive until I felt the limit - because I can feel it. I know what it is now. I have driven this car so much, I know the sounds. In that mindset, with very few exceptions and errors, I found 2-5 10ths of a second on every single turn - for an amazing 8 laps. It just kept getting better and better - after lap 6 I was completely over the moon.
Sunday and Monday - 3 1 hour races. 15#, 8# and 1# - pitstops and AI at 92% and I normally drive against 88.
I think the penny just dropped.

 

Welcome to sim racing and congrats on getting the bug. The cool thing is, you'll never stop learning and you will also never want to stop improving your technique and your hardware. I've been away for a while, taking a break and playing shooter games until I bought the Samsung CRG9 49" monitor this weekend. I bolted everything up, fired up ACC and I was in Heaven. Now it's the day after and the first thing I did this morning was to go on the forum to look for clues to reduce off-throttle oversteer in the Acura NSX Evo through setup adjustments.

Ah, it's great to be back!