iRacing is an excellent platform for on-demand, high-speed sim racing. On top of that, there are so many extra services that can make the experience even better. While some of these are paid services, such as the wealth of setups that we offer here at Coach Dave Academy, there are some excellent services that are available for free! In this article, we’ll discuss some of the must-have apps that can make iRacing just that bit more awesome for you.
What are iRacing apps?
Apps for iRacing are essentially mods. They do a variety of things, however, each has a common goal: to improve your iRacing experience. The way that they do this varies from app to app; some will be cosmetic, some will be aural, and some will be in the feeling of the car on the track. You’ll find these listed on a variety of websites, with some on their own sites and others on sites such as GitHub. However, the main question that comes from this bit is “how do I install them?”
Most of the apps on this list don’t require much in the way of installation. It’s typically just a matter of downloading them and opening them. Most apps can also be set to open when starting up your computer too, meaning you can just get up and go racing. This is the same in iRacing itself. Some of these tools use the Telemetry feature in iRacing to get the data they need to run, others just run within themselves. Either way, you’ll definitely want to go through the iRacing folder in your PC’s Documents folder every once in a while, some of these apps will really eat up your storage.
Trading Paints
If you ask anybody on iRacing what “that one app” is that everyone should have, it’s Trading Paints. iRacing’s in-engine system for paints is a good starting point when it comes to making something that feels personalised, however Trading Paints is that next step up. You can access it through their [website], where you can also set up which paints you wish to run on your cars. It also, importantly, allows you to download the paint schemes of all of your rivals while you race. Want to race your McLaren MP4-30 in Papaya Orange against someone in a Ferrari F2004 livery? With Trading Paints, that’s a very real possibility!
VRS Telemetry Logger
The Virtual Racing School’s Telemetry Logger is a great way to track your progress as a driver with comprehensive details about your driving in each session you startup. It works both online and offline, meaning that you can make use of iRacing’s downtime to test out a new car and see how it stacks up compared to both its competitors and cars you already own. Do you want to try out that new GT3 and see how it compares to your current one? With this, you’ll be able to do that while also tracking your inputs and how the car itself behaves to them. This app runs off of the in-game Telemetry feature to record this information and, as well as being viewable by you, it’s something that you can share with anyone on your VRS “Team” to compare notes ahead of big sessions such as the many endurance races available on iRacing.
irFFB
irFFB is a must-have app for iRacers. It’s a great add-on that makes the transition to iRacing from another sim like Assetto Corsa Competizione even smoother. irFFB is a way to customise your Force Feedback even more than you can with the in-engine settings, with the biggest reason for getting irFFB being its “SoP” factor. Literally meaning “Seat of Pants”, it uses the same Telemetry feature in iRacing as VRS’ Logger to add extra forces that you would usually feel through the seat to the feedback you get through the wheel. Not only is it something a bit more familiar to those coming into iRacing from other sims, it’s also a great way to really feel the limits of the car without splashing out on running something like a Buttkicker.
- Entire Setup Collection
- New Setups Each Week
- All Popular Weekly Series
Crew Chief
Okay, technically we’re cheating with this one. Crew Chief is a must-have for all sim racers, not just in iRacing. The way it works is simple: it looks at the information in your current session and feeds it back to you in place of your normal crew chief. The information it gives is incredibly comprehensive, telling you not only that somebody’s spun but also who has spun and where. Many people also use Crew Chief for its work in Assetto Corsa Competizione, which is also exemplary, but today we’re talking about its use in iRacing. And, as you can see from the rest of this list, this app is very simply a must-have.
RaceLabApps
iRacing’s “black boxes” are incredibly useful, but they’re also a bit limiting. With the one that comes with the engine, you can only have one of the many features on-screen at any given time such as your relative standing to other cars, overall standings, car info, and session info. RaceLab allows you to have several of these on-screen at once, as well as adding little extra pieces of info that can prove incredibly helpful. One such example is on the relative and standings, where you can find the iRating for your rivals as well as calculations for what your iRating might be after the session. If you’re having any problems constantly flicking through the boxes and getting the right information on the screen, this solution will fix that once and for all.
Soundshift
Is shifting gears the big issue for you? Soundshift plays a beep when you reach the upshift point in your car. You might not get the clearest of hints in your car, with different cars having different displays that each means a different thing. Soundshift can be tailored to each car and, on top of that, be adjusted even more to meet specific gear ratios and engine tunes. Some drivers in the real world use it to help them finesse their skills too, so it’s not as if this is something just from video games!
SIMRacingApps
What is SIMRacingApps? Put short, it’s a way to be able to get a HUD running on other devices over the internet. Available on its website, you can use SIMRacingApps to put your HUD on a tablet or a smartphone. If you’ve got your view set up so you can’t see the car’s dashboard, or you want something a little bit more uniform than trying to figure out each and every different dashboard, then this is the app for you.
iRacing Week Planner
Want to be able to race week-in-week-out whilst not having to splash the cash on a literal ton of content? With the iRacing Week Planner, you’re able to both sort out the limited free time you have in order to go racing and also figure out what that next step is in your purchasing plan by seeing what’s running wherein the remainder of the season.
iRacing Stats
As a website, iRacing Stats lets you know how which races are best to head to and when. By tracking the number of drivers that enter into a race, as well as the number of overall starts in a series either by week or by season, it’s a good way to figure out if that next piece of content that you’re looking to pick up is worth the purchase or if you’re likely to end up in a bunch of races that fall short of the numbers required for an official race.
Kutu’s iRacing Browser Apps
Okay, technically this isn’t one app but rather a collection of them. Available on Kutu’s website, you have a variety of tools at your disposal that rival the best that you can find in other programs such as RaceLabApps. An extensive fuel calculator allows you to see the ins and outs of the gas in the tank, whereas a setup comparison tool allows you to see which setup is better where, and the helmet overlay feature gives that extra touch of realism to those racing in VR by giving them a full-face helmet that comes up in front of their face.
These 10 apps are the absolute best if you’re looking to take the next step with your iRacing experience. If you’re looking for more hints at tips for iRacing, make sure to stay tuned or look through our articles on Coach Dave Academy. We also have a variety of setups updated weekly for series such as IMSA and GT3 Open series and an entire iRacing setup subscription to give you the best setups for your racing.
