IFCA Series News

If you haven't noticed by now, the IFCA is committed to Trans-Am racing in all its forms. We are the home of simulation Trans-Am endurance racing.  This is our unique place or niche among all Forza leagues.  

Here at the IFCA we are attempting to standardize a popular segment of motorsports history known as Trans-Am racing. After each season ends a refining process begins to further balance the cars for the next time they are used.  We do this because we know that people want to have cars that are as fair or equal as possible.  They also want a selection of cars to pick from.  

Many have said it's just too hard to have so many cars to balance and is futile to try to do.  But we disagree.  It's just a matter of refining the cars after each season.  Generally speaking, once the cars become track dependant you are in the sweet spot and from there you can fine-tune them even further.

As it stands we will have 4 classifications of Trans-Am cars to rotate going into the future.

1. Original 60's and 70s Trans-Am cars including the Australian touring cars (with sport suspension and sports trans) A-Class
2. 80's and 90's Trans-Am cars (with sport suspension and race trans) A-Class
3. 2k Trans-Am cars fully tuneable but without down force. S-Class
4. Modern Trans-Am cars fully tuneable with down force. S-Class

We will add cars to each roster moving forward while working to further equalize all the cars after each season.  So far we have a good baseline of data to work with.  And this is what it really takes to balance such a large number of cars.  It takes time.  We need to see how well the cars perform in a season of racing before we can know for sure what needs what.  Testing alone doesn't do it.

Thanks to the IFCA rating computer we are able to offer the Forza driver a way to accurately measure his skill against others.  Because of this we are the only Forza league that can offer a slower driver a slightly faster car for improved competitiveness and driving satisfaction.  It's great to know that you don't have to worry that your car is too slow and that all you really have to work on is your driving.

Having more drivers closer in performance makes for more exciting racing is our point.  Many times our slower drivers are in the mix with our faster drivers whereas in other more straight-up series this would never be the case. What this does is breed confidence in our slower drivers, and injects a little more fear in our faster drivers.

So we hope you all continue to support the IFCA each season as we help everyone get faster and have more fun doing it.

Just a quick follow up, it looks like we will be going with the 2k Trans-Am Cars for Season 7 on Dec 14th.  These cars will be a lower S-Class fully tunable car without downforce.  So not quite as fast as the Modern T/A cars but with a little less handling too.  We should have 10 cars to pick from too.

Hey everyone out there in IFCA/Forza land, we need more concentrated effort for Rider's well being!  I know it is easy to forget or think it's all taken care of, but that's not how this stuff works. 

Look, I get it, we are not all best friends, I know, but we are all connected via this hobby which means we do share a few things in common.  

I'm not one to ignore a stranger in need, and Rider is no stranger to any of us.  So, please, it is imperative that we all continue to say a little prayer every day so that Rider can continue to progress towards better health.  Recently he mentioned to me that he was having some difficulty, so I think it is time to bring this up again and get back in his corner to fight.

The problem in these situations is that there is a struggle that goes on and if we don't maintain the pressure on our side for Rider to fully recover, the pressure on the other side gains ground.  And I can't let that happen. Can you?

Thanks to you all.
Don

Stay positive Rider you are in our prayers!

Before I begin, please don't forget Rider in your meditative thinking and prayer requests from the Almighty.

To date, I just have to say how fun and comfortable and thrilling our format has been.  The Trans-Am Relay Challenge not only offers everyone a very different format and departure from standard series racing but one that is truly team-based.  I think it is the team element that really mixes things up in a lot of ways.  It is this shared experience and the positive teamwork where the blame for success or failure is shared equally which infuses so much entertainment for us all.

Having a good teammate becomes more important than just having a fast driver on your side, it's equally about having a reliable teammate too.  It's about helping each other as well.  Several times Incognito though he is the slower teammate for Team Penske has helped me with trying different things.  And though we were in perhaps the worst car for the season, our effort netted us 2nd place finish on the season!  This says a lot about the close equality of the cars and the fairness of the format.  It says that had we picked a more competitive car we could have done even better.  This is interesting because we are not equal drivers.  It means that you don't have to have 2 fast guys to do well or to have fun, which we did.  We had a ton of fun!  Much of this is due to the rest of the field and the driving manners of our fellow competitors.

It's worthy to note that unlike anywhere I've raced there is indeed a great deal more respect between drivers here at the IFCA Trans-Am Relay Challenge. Rare is the day that we have drivers yelling at each other or doing stupid things.  Makes for a much more enjoyable session than other events I've raced.  Not having microphones on helps too I admit. lol
 
Moving forward we have a great lineup of 4 different era cars, 60s-70s, 80s-90s, 2K, and Modern Trans-Am cars to rotate and keep everyone's interest fresh.  And this is also the point of what this series is about too.  To keep FM7 fresh until FM8 arrives.  After each season all the cars undergo a BoP so that we can make them as equal as possible.  This is a huge part of the success of this series.  It is a long term approach that the drivers depend on and can trust.  They trust that the cars are not simply formula cars and untested.  They know the cars have been tested, raced, and tested again.  Makes a huge difference.

So, we hope to see everyone in the upcoming Season 6 which starts at the new time of 7pm EST Oct 12th and that everyone has a fun time win or lose.

Good luck in qualifying over the next 2 weeks!

P.S. Get some of your friends to enter too!

Just wanted to say it was a real pleasure racing at VIR South with everyone and again special thanks to our substitute drivers EZT Neo 45 and HCCR Fatal for helping out with the driving duties.  

Everyone was very clean and showed a real sense for track awareness, situation and respect.  This was one of the cleanest non-contact races we've had to date which is great especially on a small track.  

The pre-race thought was that there would be a number of contact points to watch for and that we would probably have several incidents out of the pits, going into turn 1, or the S's in the valley, but everyone kept their head, raced hard, and most importantly raced clean.

It's always good to reinforce our clean racing emphasis here at the IFCA every season, especially for new drivers.  What we do here is rare in the league world of Forza racing to say nothing of public lobbies.  We place a premium on clean racing above all else.  Once everyone understands this the result is amazing more realistic driving which is what we want.  People begin to drive knowing that if they can't pass cleanly they won't usually take the chance.  In turn, as drivers pick up on this they reciprocate and instead of dive-bombing, they wait, race close, and pass when the opportunity actually exists without forcing anything stupid.  It is then at this moment when everyone can race hard and close with confidence no cheap shots will be taken.  And this is what makes for amazing racing moments lap after lap.  The kind of realistic racing we all want to experience but seldom do.  A tight battle, neck and neck, door to door, bumper to bumper with hardly a scratch or a tap the entire race.  It's rare, even here at the IFCA, but it is the goal precisely because it is so hard to do.  I don't know anyone who has raced in this way and lost, say it wasn't one of the greatest races they ever had.  And that's what we want!  We want that "skill-thrill" of car control and equality of performance earning a clean win by a bumper!

Good luck at Sebring!

I would just like to say to everyone, Thank you for your continued support of me and my fight with cancers. It looks like another biopsy on the 21st to find out what is up now. It is a real struggle and your support is always appreciated and still needed.

Thank You! (an extra special thank you to Don for all he does)

Was reading the details of the current ForzaRC and had a look at the recent races too.  I have to say in all honesty it is difficult to follow either the racing or the rules format. 

The format although ingenious to a degree is an overly complex ball of rolling debris. If you can't follow the rules format don't feel bad you are not alone.  In addition, if you can't follow the format, how much are you going to then be inclined to follow the racing?  Not much is my thinking. 

Proof of this is in the YouTube numbers.  On average T10 is getting less than 4000 hits per round of racing.  This is about the same as last year.  If you contrast this with the number of FM7 copies sold which was about 1.52 million copies, you have to ask, where are all the fans?  

T10 is only able to draw 0.003% of the total number of customers to its worldwide premiere racing event!  WTF?  Even if you were extra generous with the numbers and said that there are really more people on other platforms like Mixer or Discord or whatever watching too, the numbers are still going to be tiny!  

Let's say there are at least ten times as many people tuning into the ForzaRC as are on YouTube.  That's 40,000 people worldwide and still only 0.027% of the number of copies sold!  Do you mean to tell me that the best T10 can do is draw the attention of less than 3 tenths of 1 percent of the people who bought the game?  Really?  

It's no wonder racing has taken such a backseat in Forza with numbers like this!  It's no wonder T10 thought it was incredibly important to add all kinds of non-racing items to the game like cartoonish racing suits.  I mean if you thought there was no market for racing wouldn't you try going after other things too?

The problem as I see it isn't that there is no simulation race fan market, but that the market is not being cultivated and supported by the people who provide the product.  They (T10) think that unless they try and do things in a unique way they won't have very much success. When the reality is the pattern for success is already in place as exemplified by real racing leagues like F1, NASCAR, NHRA, SCCA, FIA, Trans-Am, etc.  There is no need to reinvent the wheel.  All you have to do is follow a similar pattern to what racing organizations around the world are already doing and have done for many years.  It's not that complicated!

Here T10, let me show you how it works, and then maybe you can get more than a tiny fraction of a percent of your fan base to pay attention to it.

1. Grass roots racing
2. Local regional racing
3. Divisional semi-pro racing
4. National pro level racing
5. International pro level racing

With success in each category, you are then licensed to move up to the next level.  In this way, the fans become the racers and support the entire sport from the bottom up, rather than from the top-down as you are doing now.  Only in this way can you increase the number of patrons and develop a marketable fan base to build off of and grow.

The most important aspect to growing a sport is for the fan to be able to both participate and relate to it at some level.  But if there are no levels to relate to because there are no meaningful levels to partake in, no one will care.  No one participates in what they can't relate to is the point.

It's really that simple.  Cultivate and grow by participation, organization, and being able to relate to the sport and boom! You can have a legitimate world championship and enormous wild fan base supporting it!


Good luck,
GTDon2

Well, one of the cancers had returned. Had tumors removed again, hopefully, another round or two of chemo will keep it away. Thanks to everyone for your support. It is appreciated and very welcome.

Midnite Rider wrote:Well, one of the cancers had returned. Had tumors removed again, hopefully, another round or two of chemo will keep it away. Thanks to everyone for your support. It is appreciated and very welcome.

Right on Rider, we will keep up the fight!

As earlier noted in the original post, the cure to establishing a legitimate racing simulation organization/league/series on a global scale that mimics or rivals actual racing organizations is through the grassroots.  I was recently told that T10 read what I had to say and somewhat scoffed at it.  Apparently they don't want a Forza version of the FIA or NASCAR or you name the organization.  This is not their intent or goal, and so what I said doesn't apply to their goals.

I find this extremely short-sighted and almost a waste of their resources.  Why wouldn't they want an equivalent fan base to that of F1? F1 has an estimated 205 million fans under the age of 35!  That's more fans than T10 has sold copies of Forza 7! Makes no sense to ignore this kind of potential unless you are simply satisfied with being your own big fish in a truly tiny pond.

What's frustrating is the lack of vision T10 has in this regard.  It just wouldn't be that hard to create a set of Forza standards and licenses for different levels of drivers so that everyone could compete at whatever level they were at and work their way up to the pro ranks of elite international Forza racers.  Not with quirky hard to follow racing formats, but with realistic racing formats and seasons already in existence.  Make it more real not less is the key! Make simulation racing legitimate by cloning the venues of the real heroes of racing! That's how you will gain a larger market share and enthusiasm for the sport of simulation racing!  

Come on T10, this isn't rocket science.  You've done it your way for years and where has it gotten you? 4000 hits on YouTube. Try it our way for a change, the way of the real racing fan.  What do you have to lose?  Your numbers are already at the bottom of the barrel.  All you can do is go up from here.




GTDon2

you tell them Don

Midnite Rider wrote:Well, one of the cancers had returned. Had tumors removed again, hopefully, another round or two of chemo will keep it away. Thanks to everyone for your support. It is appreciated and very welcome.

Stay strong young Fella

Since it has been revealed that some of the T10 Dev's have been dropping by the IFCA and having a look recently, I thought it would be a good time to mention that we aren't here to beat up on T10, but instead help them bring Forza to a higher level of gaming excellence.  It's just that, as the old saying goes, sometimes the truth hurts.  

To make Forza better we have to be honest with ourselves and the game and how it has evolved over time.  And while an author is always thin-skinned to hear his critic's complaints and loathes the sometimes unfair or uneducated criticisms over his hard work, if he wants to sell more books he still has to consider them. 

Coming from a military background as an Air Force "Brat", and then an Army infantry veteran myself, it was never good enough to simply complain about your problems, but to also be prepared to offer solutions.  Anyone can complain, but not many who do complain can construct viable alternatives.  You probably noticed that with all of my criticisms about T10 and the development of Forza I've always offered corrective options or other ways to go hoping that T10 sees that we do want things to be better.

In this regard, one of the easiest ways to make Forza better is to amplify one of their strong suits, which is car selection.  T10 has done a good job collecting their cars for Forza; presenting the most diverse selection of cars from any simulation racing game anywhere.  But, (and there is always a "but") there doesn't seem to be a particular pattern or coherent thought about the type of cars they select.  T10 doesn't behave in the same way as a car collector does, or a car museum curator either.   Instead, they have a more shotgun and random approach in the cars they choose to do.  Whereas a car collector will want the most unique cars or even series of cars, T10 leaves glaring vacancy's on their impressive list that simply can't be ignored or accounted for.  Insult to injury, T10 includes cars that no one asks for or would want like various full size SUV's, trucks, and oddity cars like limousines.

Cars that T10 has missed or overlooked over the years are not always the rarest or most difficult to find either.  For example, they have never included a 1965-66 Chevy Impala SS, 69 COPO Camaro 427, 1966 Mustang Fastback, Ford Torino's and Galaxies of different years, 1969 1/2 Super Bee-Roadrunner, 1969 Mustang Boss 429, Ford Fairlane GT, AMC Hurst Rambler and the list goes on. Many of these cars or clones of these cars are at every car show every weekend at every city in America.  There just isn't a very good excuse to have never included these and many others on the Forza list.

So, help me help T10 compile a list of cars that you think they should include, and maybe they might find the time to include them or at least see what they are missing.  I've started a list over here https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6536-great-cars-inexplicably-missing-from-forza

Please message me or post cars you think deserve to be in Forza's future.

Thanks,
GTDon

Guess what the fastest jet aircraft of all time has in common with the fastest muscle car of all time?  They share the same "A-12" designation!

The Skunkworks Lockheed A-12 was the CIA predessor to the more famous Air Force SR-71 Blackbird.  Because it was smaller and lighter than the SR-71, it was also faster and could fly higher making it technically the true king of speed.  Its development code name was "Archangel" and it was the 12th design version of its creation. Estimated speed MACH 3.0+



Like the A-12 and SR-71, Dodge and Plymouth had a similar issue.  The cheaper Plymouth RoadRunner came before the creation of the Dodge Super Bee and was slightly shorter and lighter, making it, you guessed it, slightly faster than its younger sibling.

The original Dodge Super Bee was based on the Dodge Coronet two-door coupe, and was produced from 1968 until 1970. It was Dodge's low-priced powerful muscle car and a rebadged version of the Plymouth Road Runner. The origin of the name, "Super Bee", has its basis in the "B" Body designation pertinent to Chrysler's mid-sized cars, including the Road Runner and Charger.

Plymouth's Road Runner sales were enough to have Dodge Division General Manager, Robert McCurry, request a similar model from the Dodge Styling office. Senior designer, Harvey J. Winn, won a "contest" with the name "Super Bee" and a new logo design based on the Dodge "Scat Pack" Bee medallion. The design of the first Super Bee was influenced by the 1968 Coronet convertible and the show car's interior was built by the Alexander Brothers. The show car was introduced at the 1968 Detroit Auto Show.

Although the two cars are similar in external appearance, the Super Bee was slightly heavier (approx. 65 lb (29 kg)) and rode on a 117-inch (3,000 mm) wheelbase compared to the Road Runner's 116 in (2,900 mm) wheelbase. In addition to minor external differences, such as larger rear wheel openings, the bumblebee tailstripe and fancier grille, and the taillight ornamentation, the Super Bee also used actual diecast chrome-plated "Bee" medallions. These three-dimensional medallions were prominently mounted in a raised position in the grille/hood area and the trunklid/taillight area of the car throughout the first three years of production.

The Super Bee used the dash cluster from the Dodge Charger, while the 4-speed manual transmission cars received a Hurst Competition-Plus shifter with Hurst linkage; this shifter compared to the Road Runner's less expensive Inland shifter and linkage. Due to the higher-quality accessories attached to the Super Bee, the car was sold at a higher price in comparison to the Plymouth version and this had a negative effect on sales.

The Super Bee was available with the Hemi engine. This option raised the price by 33%, and only 125 were sold. The 1968 model was only sold as a two-door coupe, with two engine options, the base 335 hp (250 kW) 383 Magnum, and the 426 Hemi, rated at 425 hp (317 kW).

The Super Bee included a heavy-duty suspension, an optional Mopar A833 4-speed manual transmission, and high-performance tires. Outside, a stripe (with the bee logo) was wrapped around the tail.

A "six-pack" (three two-barrel Holley carburetors) version of Dodge's 440 cu in (7.2 L) engine was added to the offering list mid-year (1969) rated at 390 bhp (395 PS; 291 kW) @ 4700 rpm and 490 lb⋅ft (664 N⋅m) @ 3600 rpm of torque. The option code for this was A12, which changed the 5th digit of the VIN to M. These special order 1969 1/2 Dodge Super Bees (and RoadRunners) are known as A12 M-code cars. The A12 package also equipped the cars with a Dana 60 axle with a 4:10 gear-ratio, heavy duty automatic transmission or a 4-speed manual, and a 'lift off' flat black fiberglass scooped hood. Other components to the A12 package included heavy duty internal engine parts, black steel rims with high performance G-70 15" tires, and heavy duty 11" drum brakes. Only 1,907 A12 M-code 440 Six Pack 1969 1/2 Dodge Super Bees were produced. This option fell half-way between the standard engine and the Hemi as a USD463 option. The 1969 model year included the base 383 Magnum, 440 Six Pack, and the 426 Hemi.  But it was the A12 package that proved to be the more reliable and better-performing performance upgrade even over the legendary 426 Hemi.  

The MOPAR nickname for the six pack 440 A12 package was the "Street Fighter" as it was a street-legal production car built for the drag strip. Because it was lighter than a Hemi powered car with nearly as much horsepower and even more low rpm torque the A12 cars were too quick even for the Hemi on the street.  In fact,  the fastest/quickest 1/4 mile time ever officially documented by a bone stock right off the showroom floor muscle car was when Ronnie Sox of "Sox and Martin" fame took a 1969 1/2 Plymouth RoadRunner A12 car and clicked off a 12.91 @ 111mph, on skinny bias ply 70 series tires no less!

In this modern era of 800hp Hellcats and Demons ripping down the drag strip in the 9s with all the computer driving aids might not seem very impressive to you but honestly, if you saw how skinny the tires were, even at half the horsepower, with no computer or mechanical aid at all, you'd swear it was impossible to run 12s in such a grotesquely analog car.

Oh!  I forgot to mention, both vehicles, designated as A12's were produced in the 1960s too.  Just a coincidence? You be the judge. lol

I was recently informed by my insider that T10 is compiling and sorting their FM8 mega car list as we speak and that they are in a bit of a time crunch already (not surprisingly) as the new cars with new physics for the new console (Scarlet) is due to release in less than a year now.  I'm feeling like we have to help T10 out in this regard and let them know that though we in the simulation racing community are their harshest critics, it's only because we actually care the most out of all the Forza communities.

It's important to keep pounding it into their heads that they haven't begun to exhaust a myriad of racing features and tools for the purpose of using the game as it was originally intended i.e., a simulation racer.  And that non-racing features such as racing apparel for example, though nice, should take a back seat in terms of allocating programming resources.  If Forza was complete and replete with most of the higher value racing features (such as controlled pit stops) of its competitor's games like ProjectCars, Arsetto Corso, and even iRacing, then they could justify some of these more frivolous non-racing features.

So too it is with the car list.  Before adding all sorts of comic relief cars to Forza 8 that are better placed in Forza Horizon, how about perfecting the gameplay and Forza racing features first, and including some of the cars that are so deserving to be included and yet so painfully missing from Forza?  

Our current car list of inexplicably missing cars isn't a complete list, but it isn't a small list either.  Out of the 60+ cars we have listed T10 should be able to include at list a few of them before heading over to the joke car lot.

As far as I know, our car list is one of the most complete lists of significant missing cars in Forza anywhere.  Please, I implore all of you who are reading this to post the following link to our car list of missing cars, on the forzamotorsport.net site so they can see what they are missing.  I mean really flood them with this link and let them know this is what you want even at the expense of having to drive in the same boring smelly racing suit as everyone else. lol

https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6536-great-cars-inexplicably-missing-from-forza

Don any particular place to
post your link on the site provided

papa creech172 wrote:Don any particular place to
post your link on the site provided

https://forums.forzamotorsport.net/turn10_postst91001_Forza-Motorsport-7-Car-Wish-Lists.aspx

Apparently, there has been an uptick in the number of temporary 24hr banned Xbox Live accounts for excessive use of IMs on Xbox Live.  A newly updated filtering system designed to thwart spammers is now in place.  These Bots are automated and if they catch a user sending out repeated messages or URL's, it spots this and will ban your account.  It doesn't take into account those folks who have large friends list or organize leagues.  All it knows is that you must be a spammer to be sending out so many IM's.

For this reason, I will not be using IM's to communicate with everyone going forward.  You'll have to come here to the IFCA without my prompting if you want to know what is going on.  I will also be setting up a club group as a workaround too called the "IFCA TransAm Relay Challenge" for you to join to help disseminate information hopefully.

GTDon2 wrote:Apparently, there has been an uptick in the number of temporary 24hr banned Xbox Live accounts for excessive use of IMs on Xbox Live.  A newly updated filtering system designed to thwart spammers is now in place.  These Bots are automated and if they catch a user sending out repeated messages or URL's, it spots this and will ban your account.  It doesn't take into account those folks who have large friends list or organize leagues.  All it knows is that you must be a spammer to be sending out so many IM's.

For this reason, I will not be using IM's to communicate with everyone going forward.  You'll have to come here to the IFCA without my prompting if you want to know what is going on.  I will also be setting up a club group as a workaround too called the "IFCA TransAm Relay Challenge" for you to join to help disseminate information hopefully.

Oh jeez, when will T10 and MS learn they are truly slitting their own throats. What are they thinking? Guess I will just have to go play NASCAR Heat more since T10 & MS can't get their act together. They have only been going backward with their Flagship game since at least Forza 4, but I think the best online experiences I had with the title was Forza 2 with in-lobby tuning and weekly tournaments. They have Horizon which they can do all their campy BS in already. IMHO  

I've tracked the manufacturer's points since we began Trans-Am racing back in Season 3 and added them all up to see which brand has dominated after nearly 30 rated races and almost 4 seasons, and around 40 drivers.  As a MOPAR Man it warms my heart to see a Chrysler brand at the top of the heap.

	Manufacturer	sea3	sea4	sea5	sea6	total
1	Dodge	1950	2230	2150	0	6330
2	Chevrolet	0	1900	2240	2030	6170
3	Ford	1930	0	2400	0	4330
4	Porsche	0	1880	0	1990	3870
5	Ferrari	0	1640	0	1940	3580
6	Pontiac	1640	0	0	1840	3480
7	Shelby	2420	0	0	0	2420
8	AMC	1900	0	0	0	1900
9	Mercury	1640	0	0	0	1640
10	Mini	0	1500	0	0	1500

Of course, there are many other manufacturers who have yet to be selected by a team to compete, but we will continue to monitor this stat as we go into next year.


MOPAR or NOCAR!
GTDon

Qualifying is now open for Season 7, and closes Dec 20th Friday night.  

Car build sheets are here:
https://ifca.forumotion.com/t6612-2k-trans-am-car-builds


Tracks
1.Road America
2.Lime Rock
3.VIR Full

4.Sebring
5.Watkins Glenn Full
6.Road Atlanta
7.Daytona Night (double bonus points, no driver exchanges)






Please be sure to join the Xbox club we have set up called "IFCA TransAm Relay Challenge" if you haven't yet.  This is just a tool to help direct people and inform them about the series.  It isn't designed to lure you away from your local/home clubs.  It's mainly a way to safely funnel people to the IFCA website.  Some people find the IFCA website hard to navigate, our club site will help in this regard.