Questions for an actual BMW test driver about RF2?

On the weekend a friend of mine is interested in driving RF2. His job is as an actual test driver for BMW in Munich Germany - he has been doing this for 12 years and his previous/current projects have been the lead engineer/driver for the X-drive development for the X1, X3, X6 and also the new electric I3 and I8. He has done hundreds of laps of the Nordschleife, miles and miles on ice tracks in Sweden, driven countless miles on mountain roads in Italy, etc. He is also involved in development of some of the Mini's and the M sport series BMW's (I guess its a tough job but someone has to do it)! Though him I have been in some Beemers that I cant even mention and have even helped push a broken down electric "thing" to a mechanic in minus 27 degrees C...

His job is essentially traction control and handling. If you own a BMW and have wondered what happened when you turned too sharply in rain or snow and the car corrected you, that was his work. If you have ever swerved to miss a child or animal on the road and the car corrected you, that was his work.

His only driving tip to me has been this - know where your front wheels are pointing! We can work wonders, but we can only make the car go where you point your wheels! Trust me, this guy knows how to drive and is the only person I will let drive me around the "ring" in my GTR to show how good it really is!

Is there anything you would like for him to comment on with the game? He has driven my standard Nissan GTR and I was thinking of kicking him off with a default setting in this car at Silverstone and see where he goes. Any ideas on what I should ask or get him to try?

I (unfortunately, but working on it) have a basic setup - a G27 wheel and pedals, a triple screen setup (HP ZR30w middle and 2 Dell 27 inch side screens).

 

Well, make sure everything is setup right, fov calc and so on for your screen. Realistic head positioning also.

Use real head motion plugin also.

And tell him he need to do atleast 100 laps before he's quitting

 

Ask him if he thinks rf2 is better then iracing....

Just kiddin


I would love to hear an actual drivers pov on the sim in general. how it feels, is it close to what he knows. are particular items spot-on or upsidedown, etc.

Been simracing for decades now and I have seen a million opinions about the big stuff and the small stuff and everything inbetween. and I never know what to think about them, allot of stuff sounds logical but there is little reference for most of us so....hearing from him about it would be nice.

But yeah, he does need to do 100+ laps

And every time he starts to be negative give him a slap and tell him its only Beta

 

Just like when he drives my car and makes negative comments... I curse at him and tell him BMW is the one that hasnt got it right

 

Ask him if he can get me a job like his...

 

Being of Swedish origin John, you must be well aware of the test areas in Arjeplog. I spent a week up there in Jan - you guys certainly have skills in cars that we southerners only dream about - pure ice roads!!!

 

get in line tjc

 

lol...

bet I`m way down that line too

 

I strongly disagree with this suggestion. It's not realistic to try to simulate g-forces with the real head motion plugin visual cues because it removes the best simulation of g-forces which are the default visual cues (i.e. you are viewing through the default static cam in the cockpit and when the car pitches or rolls so does the camera).

It's quite unnatural for the plugin to do the head turning and for your head to stay pointed straight. Also the plugin turns you head after you input a steering angle which is not what you do irl. You steer the car to where you're looking, not looking to where you have steered.

OP has triple screen too, so should be no problem with panoramic vision whilst driving.

 

Yeah, we have some nice testing facilities during wintertime up here that car manufactors seems to stand in line for testing their new cars in pretty cold and fun conditions

 

gave me a good laugh... nice one

 

Well, I remember I read your review of it in the beginning when it was a hot topic here in the forums. And yeah, you got a big point.

Just wished you wouldent be right, cause it "looks" good. But yeah, it's actually better without it now when you mention it.

 

you are for sure below me at least I was lucky enough to go to Sweden to their testing ground this year and there cant be many jobs where the guys go to work on Sunday because its just fun to work.. I spent about 60 minutes just going around in a circle sideways on polished ice in an X3...

http://swaussie.smugmug.com/Sports/Winter-2013/i-nDnKTnC/0/L/SAF_9050-L.jpg]

 

Nice one... sounds amazing... I`m not jealous mind...

No, not at all...

 

Ask him to get ISI BMW licenses

 

Yeah it certainly looks great with the plugin installed, just a same that it's also fundamentally bad to your driving.

 

i would be very interested in what FOV he ends up using ? as he would know exactly what FOV matches his view in real life and so glad you have triple setup.

 

Regarding FOV, the fov calc takes care of that for you coops.

 

As there are no current BMW's in the sim, I would think that all the cars would be a learning experience for him. I would avoid the obvious questions about seeing if it feels real unless you actually have a motion sim to where he gets a little seat of the pants action. Given his driving experience, I would want to know how long he thinks it would take him to become comfortable with the cars in the sim and how he has had to adjust his driving due to lack of specific feelings and feedback.

I would also like to know what adjustments he makes to setups in order to get the cars to "feel better". Not necessarily the exact settings, but what he adjusts and why.

 

According to the description of the OP I guess it will take him about 3 minutes to get used to any of the cars available atm.

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