ApexSense

Download the ZIP file using the button on this page. Extract it anywhere on your PC (e.g., C:\ApexSense\), then run ApexSense.exe. No installer required, it's a portable application. Have iRacing open and in an active session for the overlays to connect to telemetry data.

The iRacing SDK only updates tire temperature channels when the car is in the pits. Once you leave the pit lane those values freeze. ApexSense detects this stale data and activates a physics-based thermal estimation model. Estimated values show a ~ prefix (e.g., ~95°) and "EST" appears after the tire label. When you return to the pits, all values snap back to real SDK readings.

The model accounts for speed-based rolling friction, brake heat (front-biased or rear-biased depending on drivetrain), throttle/traction heat, lateral cornering forces with per-zone distribution, and weather-aware cooling using real track temp, air temp, wind speed and humidity. Tires heat up with a 30 s time constant and cool with 45 s, matching real rubber thermal behaviour. Expect temperatures to be within a reasonable range for hot/cold awareness; treat them as a guide, not a precision measurement.

Yes. ApexSense reads standard iRacing SDK channels that are available for every car. The drivetrain detection looks up the car's screen name once per session and selects the appropriate heat model (RWD, FWD, AWD, RWD Hybrid). Any car not found in the lookup table defaults to the RWD model, which is a safe fallback for the vast majority of iRacing content.

The radar overlay draws a top-down canvas showing your car in the centre and nearby cars around you. Distance is represented in metres and colour-coded: red for cars within 5 m (danger), yellow for 5–15 m (caution), and green for cars beyond 15 m (safe). You can adjust the radar range, scale, opacity, and car rectangle dimensions in the Radar settings tab.

Yes. When "Lock overlays (click-through)" is unchecked in the General settings, the overlays become draggable and you can move them anywhere on your monitor. Once positioned, re-enable the lock to make them fully click-through so they don't interfere with your mouse control in iRacing. Positions are saved between sessions.

The poll interval controls how frequently the app reads telemetry from iRacing (in milliseconds). Lower values give smoother, more responsive updates but use slightly more CPU: 50–100 ms for very smooth updates, 100–200 ms for a balanced approach (recommended), and 200+ ms for lower CPU usage with slower refresh. The app defaults to 100 ms.

Open the Tires tab in the launcher. You'll see four threshold inputs: Cold to Warming, Warming to Ideal, Ideal to Hot and Hot to Overheat. These control the colour zones displayed on the tire overlay. Defaults are 50 / 70 / 110 / 130 °C, a good starting point for most GT-class cars. For cold-weather compounds or endurance cars, you may want to shift all values down by 10-15 °C. Click Save Settings after adjusting.

ApexSense reads data exclusively from the iRacing SDK memory-mapped file, which is the official and supported way for third-party applications to access telemetry. It does not inject code into iRacing, modify any game files, or interact with the game process in any other way. Using the iRacing SDK for overlays and telemetry is explicitly permitted under the iRacing Terms of Service.

Yes, ApexSense is completely free to download and use. If you find it useful and want to support continued development, a voluntary donation via PayPal is always appreciated but never required.

The Standings overlay is a separate transparent window that floats above iRacing showing all drivers, their positions, lap times, iRating, safety rating, incidents and country flags. In multi-class sessions, drivers are automatically grouped by class with colour-coded headers. You can toggle which columns are visible from the Standings tab in the launcher, or from toggle buttons inside the overlay itself. The overlay is freely resizable and its size and position are saved between sessions. When overlays are locked (click-through mode), you can still scroll the standings by hovering over the table.

Yes. iRacing reports all positions as 0 in practice, so ApexSense automatically detects this and ranks drivers by best lap time instead, assigning synthetic positions 1…N. Drivers with no recorded lap time appear at the bottom of the list.

The Setup Coach is a 5-step guided workflow. First, export your current iRacing setup as an HTML file (in the iRacing Garage, click Options → Save Setup and choose HTML (.htm)), then import it into the Coach. Select the handling problem you're experiencing (or use Auto-Detect), drive a lap while ApexSense records your telemetry, and the Coach returns ranked setup adjustments with telemetry evidence explaining why each change should help. Finally, download the modified .htm file and load it directly in iRacing's Garage.

Yes. The Coach works in any session type — practice, qualifying, or race. For best results, use it in a practice session where you can drive consistent representative laps. Choose Qualifying mode for setups optimised for single-lap pace, or Race Setup mode to weigh tyre life against outright pace. The session bar also records live air and track temperatures so recommendations factor in current conditions.