F1 Official Thread - Grand Prix of Britain

[Thierry Henry]

So many great videos posted here! I watched all of them and I can truly say my knowledge of the sport is growing.

sup louis!
i got my act right a long time ago.. my drinking spree happend about 14yrs ago, i was recruited to play college ball but i passed on playing because i didnt like the schools that recruited me so i went to a different school and get it on with college. then i got injured so i stop playing plus, my girl migrated overseas so... no playing ball, no girl, that got me depressed luckily my friend brought me to karting and found my new sport! it was cool for a couple of years but still cant maintain my weight but when i get back to playing thats where things got better but not my weight, not good enough for karting anymore
now, my fantasy is fully revived because of this playseat.hehe
as for my friend, he carried on with karting and joined a competition sponsored by Marboro and got in to top 5 on national level and they're sent to Italy with drivers from diffent countries and raced in Fiorano in an Alpha Romero GT. they also get a lil tour in the Scuderia camp and dine to Schumy's favorite restaurant right in front of the factory... i'll ask pics from him and try to post it here
Sinner,
im sure if those playseat were mclaren its an auto-copp for you.

Sorry for my rant, I really didn't mean to go at you like that. It's just that it really irks me when I see talent being wasted and not reaching its full potential.
You got recruited to play ball in college? What colleges recruited you, which college did you end up going to, and what type of ball? Basketball, baseball, football?
Sorry to hear about your girl leaving and getting injured. Now I understand why you went into that drinking phase. Now that I realize it, you're one of NT's grandfathers LOL.
As for your friend, I'm jelly he got the privilege to experience something like that Please try to persuade him to give you some pics and then post it here, I would love to see them

LouisLagerfeld,
I dont mind driving the distance since I love highway driving. Although I wish I had a "fun" car to drive unlike my 08 Chevy Malibu. LOL
Those are all dope vids that been posted.
2 weeks left and we will b back in action boys!!

Be grateful for what you have. I still don't have my first car yet and I would take anything as long as it gets me from point A to point B.
I kinda see why you like Xtreme Indoor, been checking out some videos from them and the track looks above average for being indoor. And the fact that their karts are gas and not electric makes the trip up there worth it. I do see that they have a league for all types of skill level, but I see that there is a 160 pound minimum? What is that all about?

 

[Sinner]

I wish there was a way to watch sky internationally live for race weekend. Sucks I'm stuck just watching nascar shows till the little bit speed channel shows F!

Legally, you can't.  The FIA are very stingy about their broadcasting rights.  Sky only covers the UK, so technically, on the UK gets it.  Of course there are always streams, but those aren't too stable.  There's also this Slingbox-type service which basically gives you the Sky channels 24/7, but you'll have to pay for it.  Not technically legal too.

 

[zk1mpls]

^ yup. i stream race weeknds, too. I don't watch the Star Sports F1 broadcast on cable anymore.

In other news, my DIY shifter mount just came loose. It just wobbles between shifts now. And to think i just solved the bottom being wobbly part today, too. :\ Planning a redesign tomorrow. Got to find some scrap square tubing...

Only thing I don't like about the holidays is that mail gets delayed. Hopefully my package flew in over the weekend and is ready for pickup tomorrow or on Thursday. It's just a minor upgrade, but hopefully the benefit would be felt soon enough.

 

[robsheedwallace]

LouisLagerfeld,
Oh I am most def grateful. Trust I love my "pearl" but just wouldnt mind something sportier. Also never heard of the weight limit. Unless its for their league but to go drive its all in a height minimum.

SinnerP,
SMH. They need to see they have fans all over and atleast make it out to Satellite cable systems like DirectTV and such.

zk1MPLS,
Def cant wait to see what you do to the rig. Good luck!

 

[Thierry Henry]

LouisLagerfeld,
Oh I am most def grateful. Trust I love my "pearl" but just wouldnt mind something sportier. Also never heard of the weight limit. Unless its for their league but to go drive its all in a height minimum.

Read under where it says novice, pro, and super driver. Look

Anyways, got some more videos for you guys








edit

 

[Sinner]

Great vids... best way to kill the time before Spa!

 

[robsheedwallace]

LouisLagereld,
I believe thats just for the light weight and heavy weight classes to keep the weights of drivers in a "fair" racing field. Im sure there is classes under 160lbs if you weigh under that.

I LOVE seeing those Senna vids. I miss seeing the sparks on track from the 80s and 90s vids.

 

[zk1mpls]

Great videos, guys.

Here's a video of Checo's race engineer trying to pull a prank on Checo -to get him back on a prank he made during the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix. @ the amount of effort the guys put in just to pull a prank.


EDIT: Just found out that my package won't be here until Monday (at the latest). Just left the US yesterday, apparently. Oh well. The holidays definitely made the week fly by fast. Can't believe tomorrow's Thursday already. Today really felt like Monday.

 

[Thierry Henry]

@loonyrobert- I see. Yeah I'm a small dude I weigh ~145.


SMH, somebody gotta go slap Piquet Jr

http://www.f1zone.net/news/ayrton-senna-not-good-enough-for-todays-f1-piquet-jr/15351/

 

[Sinner]

^ Yeah, I saw that too! 

 Says the guy who's in second-tier Nascar. 

 

[flashout01]

louis - no worries about the rant. i just laugh around when think about that stage of my life... and how dare you to say "grandfther"! though, my hair line is getting worse by the day

Sinner - how do you get that sling box service? im planning to switch on a different proviver inernet+cable+landline and get a new laptop...i just want make sure everything will be compatible

zk- pls your set up i wanna see it mine will be up by december, all my bonuses will surely be cleared by that playseat

if that guy doesnt have Piquet on his name, i doubt if he could reach f1. just an ordinary driver for me. at best he could have a 3 to 5 yr carrer in f1, racing on the midfield

 

[zk1mpls]

@Flashout01: I posted my setup a few pages back. Just making a minor redesign at the moment.

If you plan to spend $1500+ on a racing cockpit, please do yourself a favor and NOT GET A PLAYSEAT F1. Not worth it. Get something sturdier like a VisionRacer Amazon product ASIN B002702BOO
, or if you plan to get the cheaper PlaySeat go for the RSeat http://www.rseatusa.com/

Or the HumanRacing GT Chassis http://www.sigmatimeattack.com/human-racing-complete-chassis/

Modified my ambidextrous shifter mount earlier today, since the old one started to become loose and wobble. Just waiting for the paint to dry. Will post a photo later when I take it home.

Here's the old shifter mount:

 

[flashout01]

^ok, have to backread and check it out... actually i cant see some of the pics or vids you guys posted.

yeah, that playseat is heavy on the pockets i'll definitely look for more cheaper alternative and besides im below novice status i'll check those links. thanks man!

 

[zk1mpls]

^ It's on Page 14 of this thread. Might as well quote it for your convenience

Good to have this thread back. Good qualifying by Lewis. 150 poles in F1 for McLaren, too. They definitely needed that. A less than ideal weekend for Ferrari so far, but I hope Fernando has a good shot at a podium in the race.

Anyway, as promised, here's my renovated sim racing rig: with my new G27 and bucket seat:

From the PC thread:

After finding how much a Playseat costs =|... decided to build my own cockpit for a fraction of the price. Used CLK 320 dimensions for reference. This is what I came up (version 1.0):

Large and weighed a ton! Real sturdy, though. 

A few months later came version 2.0:

About 15% smaller and 25% lighter. Removed unnecessary crossmembers/support and made it narrower. Replaced steel flooring with aluminum.

By the way, used car seats can be had for cheap. The first bucket seat I used for my cockpit (v1 and v2) cost me around $60 for the pair. Since it was a real car seat, it was quite heavy -accounted for half the weight of my rig. That had to go ASAP.

Fast forward to last week: friend hooked me up with a Logitech G27 for cheap (sold Logitech DFGT with the quickness). Needed to mod rig to accommodate larger peripherals -perfect time to make much lighter and compact rig.

Almost finished with fabrication with v3.0. Just need to rivet down the floor and make brackets for the shifter/pedals/wheel. Paint and finishing tomorrow. Should be about 35% smaller and 30% lighter vs. v2.0, while improving functionality.

This might be the final configuration of my rig for a while, until something better and logical comes along. After all, I'm only a semi-casual sim racer. No triple-monitor setup for me. Lol.

VERSION 3.0:

^ Damn, that guy has a lot of rigs. His rig is definitely doable -not that special compared to the other ridiculous ones I've seen with motion actuators and everything. Excellent choice with the Fanatec CSR Elite, though. $540 :x Planning to get the same Thrustmaster TH8RS shifter later on. The G27's shifter kinda sucks.

Anyway, without further ado... here's my sim racing cockpit -version 3.0:

It's definitely a heck of a lot smaller and lighter than v2.0... thanks to the new replica bucket seat I purchased. Steering base came out much more rigid than v2.0 as well. Ambidextrous shifter mount to be installed tomorrow. Just finished fabrication with that. Will paint tomorrow.

Shifter mount installed (sorry for crappy low-light iPhone pics):

Trying F1 2011 out at the Hungaroring this weekend. Need to work a lot on my second sector time. :x

And since this is Niketalk, some driving kicks I got from HK last December or the other year.

 

[zk1mpls]

Anyway, here's the redesigned shifter mount. Full-welded now. No more rivets, it should hardly flex now.

If you're keen on getting the PlaySeat (original one), might as well get the rSeat for about the same price. It has better reviews and doesn't have that annoying center post the PlaySeat has. The only thing the PlaySeat has going for it is the portability.

 

[Thierry Henry]

What we see on TV doesn't do these cars justice

 

[zk1mpls]

^ holy crap that was noisy!

^ This is a better angle of Eau Rouge. These cars are impressive.

 

[zk1mpls]

Finally got my package (and the latest addition to my sim rig) in the mail. The Guitammer ButtKicker Gamer 2 tactile transducer.

It took a while before it came back in stock, but I got it for a steal at $107.99 on Amazon (MSRP is $149.99). So far it gives you more immersion. Need to modify my rig a bit to get the most out of it, but it works quite well mounted where it is now.

 

[Sinner]

^ Ohhhh... I've heard about that... rattling your ace??? LOL

One of my fav vids... This is nuts... an old Arrows F1.

 

[zk1mpls]

^ Ohhhh... I've heard about that... rattling your ace??? LOL

One of my fav vids... This is nuts... an old Arrows F1.
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look at that exhaust glow...

yup. giving my **** a bit of a rumble. should get a more enhanced tactile feedback from rumble strips, bumps, and crashes.

EDIT: Can't say A-$-$ or A-R-$-E here on NT.

 

[flashout01]

nice set up you got there.... i might go diy route too seems pretty cool, feel like a real race driver getting that custom fitting

^what are these btw?

 

[Sinner]

^ Basically rumbles your seat to give you a different dimension of feedback...

 

[Thierry Henry]

 

[zk1mpls]

nice set up you got there.... i might go diy route too seems pretty cool, feel like a real race driver getting that custom fitting
^what are these btw?

Thanks. If you got the skills, or personnel to go the DIY route, I suggest you do so. You'd save a ton of money, and have a lot of fun with building it. Half of the fun is in the build, anyway. And making something bespoke definitely ensures comfort -you get to choose everything that goes into the build, not worrying about profit margins/compromises. Although it might take you a revision or two (or three) to get it right.

Thinking of shaving a couple of inches on my rig again so that it gets a bit shorter, and add a proper ButtKicker mount for it. Currently have it mounted sideways, which is not recommended (it would still work, but you won't get the most out of it).

The ButtKicker is a tactile transducer -basically a rumble pack for your chair/sim racing setup. It translates the Low Frequency Effects into tactile vibration, so you can feel the vibration, instead of just hearing it, vis-a-vis a subwoofer. Less noise for the same effect -a silent subwoofer, in essence. You feel the engine, the bumps, the kerbs all under your seat. Works well with music and movies (especially movies), too.

It definitely complements a racing wheel kit. Heck it even makes my crappy shifter feel halfway decent, since you feel the engine rumble through it -just like a real shifter.

 

[Thierry Henry]