Suggested

Option to Disable DRS

First off I understand this might sound crazy but just hear me out. I think DRS hurts the strategy of the game and I think it would be interesting to give every league the option to disable it. That way the people who want it can still have it.

But anyways, in F1 (I know iGP isn’t an F1 game, but it tends to mimic a lot of things about F1) DRS is necessary, because otherwise cars would rarely, if ever, be able to overtake one another. I don’t believe that is the case in iGP, just using races in the rain for an example. Savvy management of push levels and boost are still available to make overtakes, even if two cars are fairly equal. Neither might even be necessary if you’re just quicker than the opponent. And of course in the rain, everyone is on the same tyre compound and there are minimal options as far as strategy goes (you either 0 stop or 1 stop on full wets). In the dry you would obviously have multiple tyres to choose from. And despite that my most strategic races have came in the rain. 

Examples; I was leading 1-2, and 3rd place pit halfway through the race. I had planned to run the full race without stopping, but seeing this I decided to pit my 2nd driver on the following lap to ensure I had a driver at the front of both strategies. This would never work with DRS on, because on most tracks you gain way too much time by keeping your cars together to leapfrog one another with DRS. It would’ve cost each of my drivers individually way too much time. But in the wet it was very satisfying pulling a maneuver used by real life teams, even though my defensive decision cost my 2nd place driver a position because the 0 stop was faster, and I finished 1st and 3rd.
In another full wet race, my drivers had gotten separated by about 10 seconds, and of the teams that decided not to pit I was at the front. But the 1 stop strategy was quite a bit faster and gaining rapidly. The trade-off though, was that in order to quickly make it through traffic they were using quite a bit of boost. So when they reached my driver in 2nd, who had much more boost than the attacking drivers, I used it and high push levels to keep them behind me and hold them up as long as possible. Even though they eventually got past my driver in 2nd, I delayed them long enough that I still managed to win the race with my other driver on what should’ve been a slower strategy. And once again this definitely wouldn’t be a possible scenario with DRS. If the faster cars were getting DRS they would’ve soared through the field and blown past both of my cars without ever needing to push the boost button.

Those scenarios were way more entertaining and satisfying than being trapped in a DRS train or spending an entire race making sure my drivers stay within a second of each other. Removing DRS would add more elements to the game than it would subtract. You would actually be able to defend a position. This would make qualifying an interesting part of the strategy, as you may have to give up track position that wouldn’t be so easily regained if you wanted to start on a slower compound. Players would be incentivized to try new and unique strategies, maybe undercutting more aggressively, or going the opposite direction and pitting one less time, both strategies trying to gain track position, but if you are too aggressive and unable to defend the position, you could be punished with significantly slower race pace. Managers efficiently utilizing their boost to make it through traffic would be rewarded, and teams would fall behind if they waited until the final lap to use all their boost when they could’ve been using it to hold up competitors or get past slower cars more quickly. The leader of a group of cars would actually be the leader, and not just a sitting duck waiting to be passed by 1, 2, or even 3 cars, just for the same thing to happen to the new leader on the next lap.

If you read all that you have my thanks. You must want this game to be as great as I do, because I can ramble sometimes :) I think that the game would have more depth without DRS. Or maybe even if DRS was just weaker. It isn’t necessary for overtaking in iGP like it is in real life, and at the higher levels it can make the car in front look like it’s standing still. And to reiterate, I’m not suggesting removing DRS entirely. But I think giving leagues an “on-off switch”, like with refueling, so that everyone can choose for themselves, could only be a good thing. Worst case scenario everyone hates racing without DRS, and they don’t have to, they can just turn it back on.

I agree with the general idea, but to make it work, the current overtaking system would have to be revised first.
At the moment it is not balanced at all, sometimes even the slowest car overtakes.
A simple example of the problem is how difficult it is to overtake a car running a harder compound.

look at the 0:22 mark

Try overtaking in a wet race full of experienced level 20’s

I understand the sentiment, but don’t believe it is the right direction.  Reducing effect of drs isn’t the answer either.  If the forthcoming tyre rebalancing has been done well then that will help a lot and work needs to done to make tyre wear and performance more variable on a track by track basis.

Drs isn't activated in the wet so that arguement doesn't fly here pal., Having said that.. as all drivers are identical.. and strategy is identical... It does become very boring and DRS does bring that extra element into the game.the only element, It's literally the only variable in the game to swing the race your way, or away from you. Without it I am doubtful many would still be playing.

Exactly so deactivating DRS in dry races would turn them into defacto WET races so it very much does fly pal ?

As you said any changes made need to improve gameplay by adding more variability and disabling DRS would do the opposite.  However, based on previous iGP comments about losing developers/merger with another studio I doubt we will see any major changes for a while notwithstanding the pending tyre rebalance

So to anyone that agrees with the statement “DRS does bring an extra element to the game”. How? Where is the extra element? Maybe I’m just not seeing it in my races. Most races with lots of equal managers in my experience result in DRS trains of a single (or multiple very similar) strategies. Nobody in the middle or back of a train is overtaking anyone. The front guys are cycling the leader every few laps… but that’s about it. Being able to defend a position WOULD be a variable. It would require more strategy on the managers part, both before and during the race. And not needing to be part of that DRS train (bcs leaving the train loses a ton of time) would open doors that were previously closed. DRS, thanks to how strong it is, is a restraining factor in the game. Not a variable that allows managers to experiment and compete with one another strategically


Also responding to Ghost Rider, that’s really crazy I’ve been lucky enough to never witness my cars getting stuck like that. Usually I blow right past slow cars without any issue

And to Ricky Bobby saying dry races without DRS would just be wet races… I gotta disagree. I think there’s enough difference in the compounds that you’d be able to overtake slower cars. Of course the point is that you’d struggle to pass cars of similar speed. That’s where the strategy comes in. It’s a racing manager after all… not a time trial manager. The fastest way to run the race if you were on the track alone shouldn’t necessarily be the best strategy. Maybe I’m wrong obviously none of us can test it :D but especially if the upcoming tyre update does add more variance, I think that would make this idea even more feasible!

All of this thread is to an extent irrelevant now until we see impact of tyre changes later today, but Randy do not underestimate the impact of removing DRS for the bigger leagues.  The impact in leagues where everyone are experienced lvl 20 managers will be totally different to a league with some level 18’s, 16’s,14’s etc. 

For the latter the impact may well result in the more developed cars being able to pull away from the rest, but sadly wouldn’t happen in the former.


Hopefully today’s changes will result in more varied strategies at least in the short term until managers have worked out optimal strategies.

In my opinion there are two "problems" with DRS in the game.  Of these two, the first that I will speak of should not be changed for reasons that I will go into.  The second, I will suggest a fix for.

"Problem" 1.
This is where you are initially following a backmarker and then, just before the DRS zone you go past them and give the backmarker the DRS advantage.  THIS HAPPENS IN REAL LIFE AS WELL!!!  If you want some authenticity in the racing sim, this will just have to be endured.  If you want to take an advantage over somebody whom is markedly slower than you, you will just have to slow down accordingly.  If you are high up in the race standings, you should just take that sort of thing on the chin so that you can keep your overall pace to be competitive.

Problem 2.
This is where you are in the middle or back of a DRS train and just maintain position without the use of boost or higher PL.  This does make racing a bit monotonous.  I do not know if this idea is in the background already, or not.  But.  I believe that DRS in trains should also be affected by the slipstream effect.  So that there is some percentage of chance that a car can go faster or slower than those around it.  Also, driver error should be taken into account.  Thus allowing for changes in position, even if you are in the back of a DRS train.

To conclude.  I do not believe that getting rid of DRS is a good idea.  Neither do I believe that having the option to not use DRS would be the most productive thing for Devs to sort out.

I feel like nobody is acknowledging the fact that, at the high levels with leagues full of level 20s, DRS is just another on a long list of equal factors. I’ve given many examples and scenarios. Someone give me one where DRS was beneficial to the game. You say “without DRS there would be no overtaking”. All things equal between cars, there’s no overtaking right now anyways. If you’re in a train there’s no overtaking. Passing each other back and forth lap after lap isn’t overtaking. It’s not realistic either. If you’re fast enough to pass and pull away from another car to where they don’t get DRS (without the cause being that DRS launched you a full second past them…), then you are fast enough to put significant pressure on them without DRS. A car that’s only slightly slower should be able to defend anyways. THAT would be realistic. 

@Ricky Bobby I don’t understand your comment about all level 20 leagues vs leagues with a variety of levels. My point wasn’t that turning DRS off would create greater gaps in all level 20 leagues. It is that it would give managers more power to… well, manage. More control over where they wind up in the running order based on strategy calls. As for the leagues with variety… do you want level 20 teams to be significantly faster because they’re level 20? DRS is just another thing that gives them a leg up on their peers. When I was at lower levels I had many races I felt that I had superior race pace and strategy to higher level opponents, but I had no defense to any scenario where they got DRS. Even if I also got DRS it probably wouldn’t keep me ahead. Turning off DRS would help require higher level players to earn their wins off merit, and would help give lower level players who knew how to play a better shot, rather than leaving them waiting around to level up so they can compete

@Timothy, ummm you didn’t really touch on any of my points at all then proceeded to say it was a bad idea. Not to be rude but that’s kinda what I’m looking for. If I’m wrong, prove it. Tell me how DRS is good. And I don’t like the “overtaking too hard” comments. We’ve not raced in the dry with no DRS. We don’t know how that would impact the racing. As for disabling DRS not being productive for the devs… I’ll admit I’m not a programming expert or anything. But given that DRS already has the ability to disable itself based on the amount of rain during a race, I’d assume adding an option to disable DRS would be among the simplest and least time consuming things they could do. Even a cheeky fix like making it to where a league disabling the DRS drops the necessary rain to turn DRS off per race to 0, or -1, would probably suffice

A man with common sense ✊?? this is why I am in favour of rechargeable kers, you have to plan and be Pro active and it makes it a touch more fun.

I don’t see an issue with having it as a league rule option in the future. I would be completely against removing it altogether but that isn’t the proposal here.

Personally I don’t think I would ever race in a league with DRS disabled as it would turn everything into a mini wet race. Yes there would be tyre compound differences but I would say that many many races would become qualifying based. A bad qualifying and your race is likely to be over.

As for why DRS can be a good thing, it is a point to attack your opponents, break away From a pack or simply force others to spend more boost than you do. That’s an addition to the game in my books. 

Without it you could defend against any attack by pushing boost yourself and this generally favours the player ahead. You can wreck your own and somebody else’s race just by boosting until you are both out and then assuming you are on similar strategies it’s down to maybe an over or under cut in pit stops to change position. 

On track position changes between cars with similar pace, or even a moderate pace advantage are quite rare in my experience.

The problem is tyres, imagine if all compounds were a viable option that would make for some fantastic races as the strategies would be much different, as of now everyone uses pretty much identical, so the drs becomes important to get that break away from the pack. Then saying that I also think the lead car should have stronger clean air, maybe match the drs speed behind, you shouldn't be able to catch P1 so easily. Again adding more strategies in the fact you can either choose to go hammer time from the start, or play it cool. Nothing worse than pulling out a nice gap for it to be destroyed by the closing train behind you.

Hmmm. Well the tyre update might help with this a bit. We will have to see.

But I don’t think it will ever be possible to have all 4 compounds viable at the same time due to how they operate in different temperatures. Hards shouldn’t work in 5 degrees and supersofts shouldn’t work in 40 degrees as extreme examples.

You aren’t wrong it would be great for every track for strategy to be a game of something like Rock Paper Scissors with a different strategy working if too many are on a single prime strategy. I find Turkey works quite well for strategy variance in particular already.

But that’s much easier said that done for every circuit.

Edit: just realised I replied from my second account ? same Michael as above.

So,  you are saying that my idea for a fix where you do not need to use boost in a DRS train, yet, still, you can change positions due to DRS usage is a bad idea?

An idea where all that our poor beleaguered developers have to do (potentially) is plumb in a few extra factors into the DRS bot, against their having to write a whole extra load of code to allow for DRS to be selected as used or not.

Although I am not averse to having DRS as a selectable.  I am a believer that DRS gives backmarkers a hand to get up the league table, it gives leaders something to selectively to use as a weapon of mass distraction.  It also gives midfield racers in 2-4 car trains a chance to catch some leaders up during a race and challenge for points.

I still stand by what I said earlier.

Not sure if this was aimed at me?


I wasn’t really addressing your idea but rather that of the original post.

Fully agree that devs probably have better things to work on right now. I was just noting that should there be a league rules update in the future DRS on/off is one that could realistically be considered.

I’m a fan of the DRS too. It gives heavier fuelled strategies a chance to cling on and is a tactical weapon to use to attack those following as you say. 

It does make it hard for lower level teams they have found themselves in elite to compete though. It’s very dispiriting losing track position every lap because others around you have higher text and can overtake you even when you have DRS to the car ahead.

I’m not sold on the percentage chance of slipstream impact in a train though. I interpret this as random. I’d prefer solid logic to a dice roll. something such as car position and proximity within the train triggering an overtake attempt. Maybe this is something already in the works for future updates (like wheel to wheel racing) when everything is back on track.

I didn’t say yours was a bad idea. I said that you went off on a tangent of your own without addressing any of my reasoning for why removing DRS could be beneficial, and without disputing any of my points, but at the end of your original comment said “I do not believe … is a good idea”. As for the difference on the effort level for the developers, you’re suggesting a new aspect be added to how the cars race. It would need to be added, tested, balanced, etc. I’m suggesting a button that allows me to do what the game can already do automatically when it rains. For whatever it’s worth, my idea would take much less effort to implement than you seem to believe. Because I don’t think the gameplay needs to be adjusted at all to remove DRS. At least not any more than it needs to be adjusted currently. As for your idea, I thought it was a good idea to improve gameplay with DRS still active, but my proposal was to allow the option to turn off DRS, not fix it. So I had no issue with you offering a different solution, I only wished that you’d addressed mine more if you were going to claim it wouldn’t work.


@Michael’s original comment. I agree that qualifying would be much more important than it is currently. And a bad qualifying could really hurt you. But that is realistic, and also adds to pre-race strategy. Do you run what you believe will give you optimal pace over the entire race, or start on a softer compound to get the track position? As for your points on the benefits of DRS, I’m not sure I understand the comment that it can help you “break away from the pack”. Maybe you can expand on that? But my perspective was that the pack only existed in the first place because DRS keeps everyone together. Plus if removing DRS worked the way I expected it would, I think there would create a wider variance in strategies that would naturally spread out the pack that is currently present in most races due to a single dominant strategy. And while I’ll agree with you that it helps attack your opponents (I still think it should be weaker bcs it’s not so much an “attack” as it is guaranteed you pass them), I don’t necessarily agree that it forces opponents to use more boost. I don’t see any reason someone should defend against DRS with boost, because the same scenario is going to happen on the very next lap. Unless you’re meaning they expend boost to keep up with a train? Just trying to make sure I understand you correctly