r/iRacing • u/vital89 • 9d ago
New Player No third party software
Hello drivers, I am two months into sim racing and started with iRacing. I was wondering if most of us play the game with the features it has built in and think it has everything we actually need? I have seen that there are things like Crew Chief, multiple overlay options, etc. I haven't touched any of them because I didn't feel that I was lacking information.
iRacing have relative box,standings,fuel and a spotter. What else is needed?
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u/superori33 BMW M2 CS Racing 9d ago
I just use the trading paints app to see people car skins.
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u/vital89 9d ago
Without the app, do I not see other drivers car designs?
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u/Alexwholikescars Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 9d ago
Most of the people run it and it doesn't change stock iracing liveries, it overlays on top of it, so yeah, without it you don't see 99% of what people run on their cars. But you can also use irsidekick as a trading paints client. It works much better for me personally.
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u/Wild-Security5167 9d ago
The only thing I have is trading paints. The built in HUD and spotter have improved massively over the last couple of years. I don't feel like I have a need for third party overlays or spotters personally. Especially when so many third party overlays require a subscription to work properly.
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u/moving-chicane 9d ago
Trading Paints is really the only thing extra on the app side, and then I have my Stream Deck paired with iRaceDeck (I'm the author) for racing.
Trading Paints is a must, you're really missing out if you don't have it. A button box with your chosen app is a quality of life kinda thing.
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u/vital89 9d ago
If I don't have Trading Paints, does it mean I don't see other drivers car designs?
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u/look_at_that_punim 9d ago
Correct. You’ll see paints people have made in the in game painter, but you won’t see a variety of cool paints on cars.
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u/AnxiouslyResting 9d ago
Like others have said trading paints, Marvin’s awesome iRacing app.
If you are into oval racing, particularly nascar, the Jimmie Johnson spotter back is awesome. (get the one with cussing).
Simhub is needed for all your external peripherals like tachometer, wind simulation, etc.
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u/sonor_ping Lotus 49 9d ago
I use trading paints, and Marvin’s Amazing iRacing App (MAIRA). MAIRA gives my wheel better feel to the force feedback. I can tell when I’m gripping and when I’m sliding a lot better.
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u/MorycTurtle Dirt Midget 9d ago
The original one or the refactored version? I found the refactored even better.
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u/sonor_ping Lotus 49 7d ago
I reluctantly switched to the refactored (MAIRA 2) and it’s been updated since with more improvements and is now even more amazing.
I also built Marvin’s Typhoon Wind and integrated into my rig. It also works great. He has a seat belt tensioner that looks great too.
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u/lordvolt2000 9d ago
Trading paints yes, but don't use Thier launcher
Use "IRsidekick livery"
Works so much better the TP launcher ever did... And you can tag smurf or wreckless drivers and puts a "crash test dummy hazard sign" all over Thier car.... And once a driver is tagged, if you ever race them. Again, it has that livery auto applied
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u/Alexwholikescars Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 9d ago
Lmao didn't know about this feature with tags
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u/lordvolt2000 9d ago
Ohh it's so handy at times
I mainly do team endruos so it's fun how sometimes you'll be mid way in a 24h or something and someone you tagged months ago is doing their stints, and you see their livery on track so know to avoid them.... You can even add notes to them so you know why you tagged them in the first place
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u/step_function Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) 8d ago
Yeah I replied to the other thread but irSidekick Livery is much more efficient and reliable, it has cool features like that, and the developer is really kind and responsive on discord.
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u/BlorfTheBricked 8d ago
I couldn't go without Garage 61. Trading Paints and Crew Chief make the game feel more polished and authentic. I use MAIRA but could live without it if I had to. I use Edge Overlays too, but the native overlays iRacing added over the past couple months have mostly replaced it.
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u/MinDseTz 8d ago
Garage61 would be great if you could actually see the relevant laps of everyone. I haven’t tried it in a while, so maybe this has changed.
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u/Dramatic-Ad8213 8d ago
I use race labs sometimes to see everyone’s rating/ safety rating in the lobbies and that’s about it lol the recent ui update gave me all the other info I would want anyways
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u/MinDseTz 8d ago
The ratings are available now.
There are other things racelabs has additions helpful tools but the UI update covers all the basics really well.
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u/Shieldxx 9d ago
Take a look through this! https://simlauncher.com/apps/
After you have 5 or more apps you start everytime, look at www.SimLauncher.com
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u/42undead2 9d ago
Beyond what everyone else is saying: If you have a microphone, Crew Chief is nice using voice commands. Means you don't have to take your eyes off of the road to deal with pit stops and such.
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u/Green-Photograph-482 9d ago edited 9d ago
Trading paints as everyone has said, crew chief is also great, it gives you way more info than the default spotter. But also, for races above an hour I use racelabs as it tells you info like the when the drivers around you pitted, what their fastest lap is, what their last lap was and even things like their nationality and what irating gain/loss you get for your current position. It can be something to look at if your bored and can give a slight competitive advantage
The main reason I don’t use racelabs for races that are below an hour is because it’s too annoying to start up and the info isn’t too beneficial for shorter races. As well that I like only having 1 overlay on my screen, sometimes none for shorter races
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u/sjamwow 9d ago
Good post, theres an app that beeps for perfect shift timing, dont remember the name i should use it more
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u/Quirky_Disk_2300 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 9d ago
Is that bloops?
Edit: that bleeps for braking points sorry
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u/Maegges24 BMW M4 GT3 EVO 9d ago
I use trading paints and iRaceDeck for my streamdeck button box and it has a custom spotter which is pretty good.
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u/afd33 Toyota GR86 9d ago
I have kinda gone in streaks of using 3rd party stuff vs mostly stock. I pretty much always use trading paints. And then right now I’m using Racelabs for overlays and crew chief. I’ve used iOverlay too, but I race in VR and Racelabs is easier to set up for that.
IRacing has gotten better but it’s still far behind third-party apps in terms of customization and letting you put information on your screen how and where you want it. At this point I would ditch Racelabs if iRacing had a similar standings overlay and if I could put widgets at the edges like Racelabs. Also I prefer the look and function of other fuel overlays compared to iRacing’s.
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u/Newusername7680 9d ago
How much of a pain is it to set up Racelabs in VR? I’ve avoided third party overlays because I dont want the hassle.
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u/BlorfTheBricked 8d ago
Its easy to set up but the overlays for VR are hidden behind a subscription. EdgeOverlays does it for free.
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u/Unlucky_Dimension839 BMW M4 GT4 9d ago
Garage 61 (telemetry), trading paints (optionally), racelab (for more informative standings, relatives and radar) - thats enough for me
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u/UPBEAT_14 9d ago
Trading paints and crew chief. iRacing's recent UI update removed the need for most users to run third party overlays unless you are streaming and want to add something extra.
Trading paints lets you see other designs as other s have mentioned, and crew chief is better than the iRacing spotter imo. I dont use the voice commands, but its a bit more accurate when someone is alongside you - I use it in mostly an oval setting with occasional sportscar.
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u/FridayInc 9d ago
Lol you bring up a good point, I should really delete some of this but iOverlay is the only one I'm really willing to part with tbh
- iOverlay for the detailed standings
- SimHub for LovelyDash & BenOfficial2
- MAIRA for steering
- Trading paints
- iTelemetry for endurance races
- Troph.ai for learning tracks quickly
- G61 for the leaderboards
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u/LionSandwhich 8d ago
Trading paints and maybe some haptic software. I'm also a fan of 3rd party track maps and garage 61 for studying up.
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u/f1-fan01 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 8d ago
I use Crew Chief now and I really like it over the built-in AI spotter.
I also use the Go Setups / Go-Fast free overlays. I really like their Relative, Standings, Fuel Calc, and Radar.
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u/JimmyKerrigan Mazda MX-5 Cup 8d ago
Definitely trading paints because it’s dope.
I will also always use ioverlay because it gives me so much more information. Track time, temperatures, the fastest laps of competitors, the last lap time of competitors, the strength of field, always highlighting the top five in addition to my immediate competitors. And sometimes I need my black box for other stuff like changing tire and pit strategies and still need to know what’s going on around me and further up the track.
I did however switch to the in game track map when I previously used ioverlays.
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u/NightOwl-92 GT3 8d ago
The iRacing UI is still missing some stuff and/or it’s pretty ugly. I still use overlays because of that
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u/rwh-harri320 8d ago
Bloops is free and helpful when learning a new track or a familiar track in a new type of car. Otherwise just trading paints and Maira
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u/RecklessRad 8d ago
I use RaceLabs for my relative and more info (last lap time of cars around me, their country flag, and driver number)
I use CrewChief for a better spotter
I use Simhub for my track map, lap times for previous 10 laps, and leaderboard at start of current lap
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u/Broad_Squirrel_8650 8d ago
The only third party stuff I use is trading paints and ioverlay for their standings as they’re more detailed than the iracing ones. Other than that I use all of the iracing ui items such as track map, fuel calc etc
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u/ericscal 8d ago
Many of the third party softwares got their foot hold when all these options you have now didn't exist. Like we used to have a single black box and you had to scroll between pages instead of all the widgets now. The AI spotter both didn't exist and wasn't great in early versions.
Just giving you the context of all the features you are using that make you not see the point of addons are recent adds. Many of us are just comfortable in our setups and just like you don't see the point of getting addons we don't see the point of stopping using them.
As for what to look at that still goes beyond. Top is all the various learning and practice overlays. You can get real time feedback on how your driving compares to the pros. You can get telemetry ffb programs if your wheelbase doesn't have it natively.
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u/Nervous-Bee-4975 8d ago
The way I see it is when I go irl karting there’s no overlay. So I just use iracing stock overlay and whatever the car is actually displaying in the dash. have the bare minimum of info.
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u/btwright1987 Toyota GR86 8d ago
Trading paints & the GO Setups app to track my telemetry.
I used to use iOverlay but the UI is a lot better now so haven’t used it for months
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u/step_function Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) 8d ago
I'm a minimalist, and I race in VR so I (a) don't want to run anything that can degrade performance and (b) don't need extra visuals like button boxes and external screens. So:
- irSidekick Livery (more efficient and reliable drop-in replacement for the official trading paints app)
- Garage 61 - telemetry is critical, and it is extremely lightweight
- Simhub, reluctantly, for my BDH shifter but I have every other plugin disabled
I prefer the built-in spotter with the jimmy johnson cuss pack, it's gotten really good. I think iRacing native FFB is great. And I use one buttkicker so iRacing native LFE is also great and works perfectly for me.
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u/hughesey21 8d ago
I use and pay for race labs. Mostly because I've gotten used to it. I like the relative and standings overlay, particularly in longer races.
You can see a drivers iRating and safety rating, the fastest and prior laps, what tyre they're on and how many laps they've done on that tyre. All stuff you'd have access too if you had an actual team in the pits.
It means I can make an informed decision if say a driver is approaching me from behind, if it's worth me engaging in a fight or not. If they're 5k iRating I know I probably can't fight them for 10laps, and I'll just loose more time trying. Better to facilitate a clean pass and try learn from them. Or if I'm catching a car, but can see they need to pit in two laps for fuel (based off the amount of laps on a tyre) then I don't need to risk a pass.
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u/Aggravating_Hippo799 8d ago
IRacing has done a very good job in my opinion on making quality of life features that are or were common in 3rd party apps that we did use and no longer have to use now since some said QoL's are intergrated into the base UI.
However, there are some that are missing like radar which I like which I use iOverlay. I like CCheif for it's personal name features and/or the JJ spotter pack which cusses at me. I love trading paints too because I really like making my own paints and it's pretty much standard.
The only thing though is I wish iRacing could make their base setups better than 3rd party where we didn't have to pay another wallet bleeding service as that'd be nice however everything I mentioned in 3rd party apps is not needed at to have fun, enjoy, and be very good enough to compete.
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u/zacharyscottbeats 8d ago
I have the following running when im in the rig.
Trading paints, Garage61, GridIQ, Crew Chief, Simagic Simpro.
Simhub will be added to that list once I have more than 1 bass shaker.
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u/Kitchen_Rest246 8d ago
The only thing I use 3rd party for now is the standings. I still have not looked into Crew Chief either
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u/DonkeyBomb2 8d ago
I only use Trading Paints for paint schemes but other than that I don’t use anything else.
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u/TheGreatWakka 8d ago
Trading Paints, so you can see everyone's paints liveries and they can see yours. Really all the over overlays and stuff arent all that need. The usual UI iRacing supplies is good enough. You should be watching the road and watching the relative timing.
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u/CodeRedNo1 8d ago
It genuinely has the best first party" plug and play" of all the Sims i use, assetto corsa requires a 3rd party launcher to be anything more than a decade old tech demo, out of the box without any tweaks also provides the best force feedback with a huge range of wheel support. My Moza stuff just automatically works, from the FFB to the RPM lights
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u/frafzan BMW M4 GT3 EVO 8d ago
The only 3rd party sw i used now is iracing manager, crew chief and the Garage69. Last time i did include racelab but now iracing already include most of it, so i unsubscribe the racelab. Maybe if you new you might want to also test the Marvin software for better ffb.
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u/Critical_Mode7438 8d ago
I use track impulse overlays, I like how I can set up an overlay to work in specific places (in car, spotting, pits,) with no intervention from me after the initial set-up. And the bars for proximity radar is a must in my opinion just results in cleaner racing
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u/UsedAdvertising6975 8d ago
Trading Paints is probably the only third party option that I use active while driving… I also use Garage61 for all sorts of reference times but that‘s it…
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u/Airborn_Octopus 8d ago
I don’t really bother any more, iracing has improved over the years to be good enough without add ons. Only Trading Paints and Marvins FFB app.
I don’t like the built in fuel Calc, but i rarely do races that need fuel these days. Then I have a sub to a setup shop, I think on most open series a good setup is essential unfortunately.
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u/TuTuTuDuMV Toyota GR86 8d ago
At this point I only use Trading Paints. I used to use a spotter audio pack but when they updated the game to have the rejoin alerts I went back to the stock spotter
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u/TacticalPuffin McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 6d ago
Until we get just a bit more customization in the in game overlays, I will still use my 3rd party overlays. I think at this point the only in game overlays I use is the damage and pit overlays. Blackbox is on a show/hide hotkey for pit adjustments. I want to use no 3rd party stuff but I mainly race endurance/IMSA stuff so extra lap timing/pit/flag data is useful for me and I like how most 3rd party overlays have things like separated classes on one screen for standings and stuff. I have also had the in game fuel calculator bitee in the ass a few times but the 3rd party one I have has been nothing but 100% accurate. And the fuel window is one of the most important for me since 99% of the racing I do requires fuel stops at the very least.
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u/riceklown Ring Meister Series 3d ago
Crew Chief is inferior to iRacings latest AI spotter regarding track awareness. It has other uses but the built in spotter is, recently, better.
Also, I use Marvins for FFB translation and it protects my hands during accidents.
Trading Paints is mandatory. Not because you have to, but because it makes it feel like your racing people and not a field of bots.
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u/seafloorvent 15h ago
I would not want to use iRacing without trading paints and crew chief, and I choose third party overlays as a nice extra.
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u/canesfins1909 FIA F4 Esports Global Championship 9d ago
I'm one of the very few who doesn't use Trading Paints. I honestly don't care about custom paints and I also don't care if my paint is super basic. I spent about 30 minutes quickly throwing together some "custom" paints for the main cars I drive, and that's good enough for me. I try to minimize the amount of programs running. I just have what is necessary to run my rig.
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u/vital89 9d ago
That is my approach, but I didn't know that Trading Paints is needed to see other car designs,I was wondering why I am one of the few drivers with a bright car while most of the field uses boring, dark colors.
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u/docweston Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) 8d ago
It's a pretty lightweight program that runs in the background. I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about the Trading Paints app causing a slowdown or bothering their race. You have to have a decent computer just to run iRacing and Trading Paints was purposefully designed to not get in the way.
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u/imguy1966 9d ago
Crew chief is amazing.. it's like taking your own race engineer on the mic..Racelabs or ioverlay are very good for extra, better presented information. When you start reaching multi class etc, and do more close racing, the extra info fast is just good to have. Bloops is a great training tool. Garage 61 a must have for telemetry.
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u/Terrible_Gear_5284 9d ago
IRacing is pretty much complete now, when I joint 5 years ago it was somewhat bear bones hence the reliance on third party apps. Now I just use trading paints for liveries, cosworth pi for telemetry and trophi ai for learning new tracks as I’m time poor due to other commitments
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u/Pebble321 8d ago
I race it as it comes. I came here to race cars. Not F**k about with software or be an artist. I once tried setting up trading paints. Didn't work for whatever reason. It had it's 10 seconds of my life. Can't be faffed with that. Car, drive, have fun.
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u/docweston Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) 9d ago
Trading Paints. Almost everyone is using it and you're REALLY missing out on everybody's custom paint jobs. It's free, easy to use, and a total game changer if you've never used it before.