More on the “Cushion”

Here are a couple of interesting posts from the iRacing Dirt forum. A member asks a question about the cushion:

I know this is a sim and I know they push to have it as realistic as possible and I also know that some things are also left out for reasons of program things of this nature into a game. That being said my question is, If no one is up on the cushion from the start of a race will it be covered in little dirt pebbles so that if some one just tries to jump straight up there in the middle of a race, they should run into problems with traction(or worse get sent into the wall)or will the drivers have to gradually clean that off to get to the top of the cushion?
And the grooves, can more cars running the same Line move a groove up or down a track? And does the track condition have a start to finish point from the beginning of practice to end of race? or does it reset for each practice/qualifying/race?

I’ve seen and heard about drivers “cleaning it off” throughout the race to be able to run up there with no problems and when they do get it clean enough they can really start hammering some lap times late in a race to make that final push. I’ve also experienced the results of getting into the trash at the top of a track where the groove/cushion wasn’t clean enough or even there for the car to stick… and well that was the end of that night ha.

I’m just curious to see how accurate they was able to get it! Still stocked regardless.

Tyler D. Hudson had this to say:

The track is very dynamic. Something you will not see in any other sim, especially a dirt sim. It is all still a work in progress, so keep that in mind. It isn’t finished so these are just things I’ve noticed when I test it and I know they’re continuously working to improve it to be as realistic as possible.

The groove does move. The track changes. If 20 cars ran only around the bottom from a fresh track (meaning just watered and packed in) then only the bottom groove or the line everyone was running will dry out. The loose dirt accumulates above this line, so eventually when the track gets slick in the spot everyone was running, it benefits you to move around. Most of the practices I have been running start with a fresh track and after thousands of laps combined from all the competitors, the track has become dry and there’s no loose dirt anywhere but up against the wall. This loose dirt or “cushion” is very dynamic, and it gradually moves up the track as cars move up the track.

Likewise, the track is constantly changing, and as dirt moves around the depth of the track is constantly changing as the dirt moves around, even with ruts developing causing certain spots to be very bumpy.

The more I hear, the more excited I get. 😯