Review: netKar PRO

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Getting Out on the Track

Seated in the cockpit, you have to flip the right switches to turn on the electrical system which results in the AIM digital display lighting up and going into it’s test mode. You can program the AIM data logging software to show you the lap-times, split-times and more settings than you can shake a stick at. Then you flip the ignition switch, and wait a few seconds before finally starting the engine. Blip the throttle to hear the immediate response: It picks up revs the moment you touch the throttle. Blipping the throttle in the pit while the audio is turned as loud as possible, is a bliss!

Depressing the clutch you select 1st gear which engages with a clunk. Exiting the pit-box it has happened a few times that I have stalled the engine. The revs need to be right, and turning out of the box and into the pit lane I also have to be careful not to exceed the pit lane speed limit of 80 km/h. It is frightfully easy to go too fast in the pit lane. I can't wait to get a wheel like the Logitech G25 with it's H-shifter and clutch pedal.

Taking it easy on my outlap I must be mindful of not abusing my tires, warming them up before picking up speed is paramount. On some occasions I have been careless, braked too late and too hard, or been to early and too hard on the throttle with the result that I have spun. As flatspots developed on my tires the vibration in the steering wheel got so intense that my arms and teeth were vibrating in sync! No need to be the hero and risk my health and my steering wheel to these vibrations, better to head for the pits for a new set of tires.

With practice I find I am now taking much better care of my tires, and they last a lot longer now than they did on my first outings.

As I open the throttle I hear the sound of the engine which at first seemed a bit muffled and unimpressive, but imagining sitting in this carbon-fibre tub, balaclava and helmet on, I realize that this is close to what it must sound like when you are actually in a car like this. You do not hear the sound as a spectator would hear it, being detached from the car itself. You hear different things; the inner workings of a racing engine. And you hear parts of the wings or chassis hitting the ground at times, and the flexing in the car, as it is cornering at high g-forces. With a creaking sort of noise it really is a bit of a shock the first time you hear it.

You really have to know what to do and when to do it in order to start the cars and how to start a race properly. Did you remember to fill up with petrol before race start? I actually started my first multiplayer race on dry tanks, and couldn’t figure out why the engine wouldn’t start! How very embarrassing.

You can drive from your pits and to your grid position prior to the race, just as long as you make it within the time limit, and remember to tell netKar when you are ready at the grid, by clicking the little box that says ”go to grid”. This signals the software that you are in the proper position and ready.

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