Traction Loss Light manual

GRATIS

The traction control warning light on your screen: it lights up when the wheels spin under throttle. A GRATIS (free) plan overlay of Raptor Racing Overlay.

It's the TC light from the dashboard, brought to your screen. It lights up when the wheels turn faster than the car is moving, which is exactly when traction control cuts in, and goes out when they stop spinning. In the sim you can't feel the rear of the car step out: the light shows you what you'd feel with your body in a real car.

It's a standalone icon, with no panel and no text. Put it where your eyes fall, above the wheel or to one side, and while it's not lit it takes up nothing on screen. It only reads iRacing data: it never touches traction control or anything else in your car.

The light on, in its factory color (blue).

1. 1The car: this is the light. Lit in the color you pick, it means the wheels are spinning. Gray means it's visible but not active.
2. 2The zigzag tracks: the classic traction warning drawing, the marks of sliding wheels. The whole icon lights up and goes out together.

The light lit and unlit

The light has only two states. In the pictures it's enlarged so you can see the drawing; while you drive, as long as the wheels aren't spinning there's nothing on screen.

How it knows the wheels are spinning

iRacing doesn't report when traction control is cutting in. For TC it only reports which position your knob is on. So the light doesn't copy a signal from the game: it works it out.

With the clutch engaged and a gear selected, engine revs and car speed are tied together by the gearbox: at a given speed, a given number of revs. If the wheels spin, the engine revs up without the car going any faster, and that ratio goes up. How much it goes up is how much they're spinning, and when it passes the sensitivity you picked, the light comes on.

It doesn't read each wheel's speed because iRacing doesn't send it while you drive. Engine revs, it does.

It's an inference, not game data: a very small slide can slip past it and one right at the limit can trigger it. That's what the sensitivity is for.

At these moments it doesn't look at anything and the light stays off:

• With little or no throttle.
• Under braking.
• Almost stopped, in neutral or in reverse.
• With the clutch pressed.
• For a split second after every gear change: the jolt of the shift isn't wheelspin.
• With the pit limiter or the rev limiter active: then engine revs bounce by themselves and say nothing about the wheels. That's why it doesn't flash all the way down pit lane.

It learns each car's gearbox

The ratio between engine revs and speed in each gear isn't something you set up: the light learns it by itself while you drive. It learns it mostly when you're off the throttle and not braking hard, because with no force on the wheels there's no slip and what's left is the pure gearbox ratio.

Until it has collected enough of those moments in a gear, it starts with what it has already seen in that gear, so the light works from the first corners and not only halfway around the lap.

What it learns isn't saved. Every time the connection to iRacing drops, for example when you leave the session, it's wiped and the next car is learned from scratch: a gearbox learned with another car would leave the light on the whole lap or off the whole race. If you change the final drive in the pits during the session, the light readjusts by itself after a few seconds of rolling off the throttle.

What the light means

It only shows while you're driving on track. In the garage and in replays it hides, unless you ask for it in its settings.

The factory color is blue, on purpose different from the gold of the ABS light: if you use both, you know at a glance which one kicked in. You can also pick Gold, Red or White.

Lit

The wheels are spinning more than the sensitivity allows. It shows in the color you picked.

Unlit, in gray

The icon is visible but not active. It shows while you're placing it or have its menu open, and all the time if you tick “Keep it visible, unlit, when idle”.

Nothing

The normal state while driving: the window is fully transparent, you can't see it and it doesn't catch your clicks.

How it blinks

Traction control cuts and releases many times per second. You choose how much of that to see:

In sync with the slip

The default. The light follows the signal exactly as it comes. A short blink on corner exit is TC doing its job; a light that stays on halfway down the straight means too much throttle or a gear too low.

Soft blink

Merges the separate pulses and the blinking drops to about five or six times per second, easier on the eyes.

Steady light

Comes on when you open the throttle and goes off when you straighten up, like the warning light in a road car.

Sensitivity

It sets how far the wheel has to get ahead of the car's speed for the light to come on:

Fine

From 3.5%. It warns at the slightest slip: for drivers hunting the traction limit.

Normal

From 5%. The default: the pace of a real warning light.

Coarse

From 7.5%. Only the big slides, the ones that cost you time.

On your phone and in OBS

The same light can be shown on your phone or tablet, with the wifi connection, and in OBS, with Streaming; both are part of the PRO plan. It's the same icon, in the color you picked, and it lights up, goes out and hides just like on your screen. Even if a slide lasts only an instant, the page still flashes.

It's included by default. If you don't want it there, turn off “See it on my phone or tablet” in its settings: that only removes it from the phone and from streaming. The connection itself is turned on and off with the WIFI CONNECTION PHONE OR TABLET button in the menu.

Controls and settings

• On the overlay: it has no buttons. To place it, use the MOVE button in the menu (or Ctrl+M): drag it wherever you want and resize it by pulling a corner, between 40% and 60%. With “Allow moving the overlay” ticked, you can also drag it at any time.
• Right-click on the overlay: Blinking, Sensitivity, Light color, Overlay size (Bigger, Smaller or 40% to 60%), Keep it visible, unlit, when idle, Also show it in the garage, Also show it in replays, Allow moving the overlay, Light opacity, Test the light (5 s), which makes it blink for five seconds so you can place it without going on track, and Close the TC light. Since almost all of the icon is transparent, it's sometimes easier to go through the menu.
• In the Raptor Racing Overlay menu, the Traction Loss Light settings are on a single page, with no tabs: HOW IT BLINKS, SENSITIVITY, COLOR, WHEN IT'S IDLE, SIZE, LIGHT OPACITY, Allow moving the overlay by dragging it, WHERE IT SHOWS (garage and replays) and SEE IT ON YOUR PHONE. The Restore factory settings link puts everything back the way it came, without moving it.

Tips

1. Start with Normal sensitivity. If the light keeps coming on, switch to Coarse; if you want to see even the smallest slide, to Fine.
2. On the out lap, let the car roll for a few meters in each gear without throttle or brakes: the light learns the gearbox faster.
3. On cold tires the light comes on a lot more. That's normal: the car really is sliding.
4. If you see it lit halfway down the straight, you're using too much throttle or you're in too short a gear.
5. Use Test the light from the right-click menu to place it: it blinks for five seconds without you going on track.
6. If you also use the ABS light, keep each one in its own color: at a glance you'll know which one kicked in.