Oh God, I automatically assumed they were talking about the proper racing leagues, not just driving in the game in general. Brain, dead.
Although I run AT I actually use a G27 wheel. I have been trying to talk myself into using MT and did actually do a little practice last friday in the econobox cup. It seemed to be going well but when I switched back to auto I gained 1/2 a second straight away ???
Aw... so I'm the only truly special one around lol I'll go back to default buttons and try using the R stick for accel/brake and use the triggers as shifters. Or if I can get off my ass and set up the G27, that would be even better lol
My theory on braking is to be the last of the late brakers but still making your turn-in point at the highest speed possible without overshooting the corner. For me the biggest priority is to make the apex, this is a fundamental part of being fast ! The best line around a corner includes an apex, some early some late. It doesn't matter how late you brake or how early you get on the power if you miss the apex ! because if your competitor hits the apex perfectly they WILL be earlier on the power because they have the best line. Once you make the apex the rest of the corner is made much easier. The trick is getting to the apex with as much momentum as possible without running wide. If you find yourself picking up the throttle before the apex then you can probably go a bit deeper on the brakes especially on slow corners. The next stage of making the apex is positioning the car to give you the best angle out of the corner, the better the angle the more momentum you can carry the faster you will be. This is IMO where warrior excels, perfect angles + perfect apex's every time ! And he does this with amazing consistency ! Another point about late braking is that you have much greater braking force when your wheels are dead straight as soon as you start to turn the wheel you reduce your braking efficiency. Sometimes you may feel that if you don't turn in NOW you won't make the corner but if you brake straight for a few more meters before you turn you will have a better entry speed and a better line.
Great tips Stig....thank you. SO much to practice. I completely understand what you (and others) are saying, just need to be able to put it into practice now. I guess once you get the feel for braking late and turning in at the correct point to hit that apex it all starts falling into place slowly. The thing that tends to get me during races is when I'm following a car close-up and I'm always wary about braking early (sometimes too early) so I don't run up the back of the car I'm following as they prepare to enter the corner. Something only more practice over time will (hopefully) cure....
If you brake earlier thats not such a bad thing. You will be more balanced going though the corner hitting the apex meaning you can get on the power early and at full throttle earlier then the person in front passing them down the next straight.
Somewhat related, but I didn't think I should start a new thread dedicated too it. At this time, I'm crap at controlling slides. I either over correct and spin in the opposite direction, or don't correct fast enough and just spin normally. I was fine with the controller, but with the wheel, it's just hard to get the timing right, I've found. Are there cars which are slidey, but are easy to slide around, even if you're completely useless at it? The 86 is quite good, but are there any others? Actually on topic, I have a habit of braking early and stop when turning in. It just makes the car (Most of them, anyway) feel a bit less edgey. Braking into a corner with the BRZ GT300 makes the line between throttling out the understeer and accidentally oversteering much finer, I've found.
Catching a slide is easy in theory but a mission to execute for most normal types. What happens is that when you do catch the slide, you have to straighten the wheel again as quick as you can before it starts to swing back the other way or you're gonna get the pendulum effect and just turn it around the other way. It is very hard to judge the exact moment that it has stopped sliding and is about to come back, and I am yet to master it myself except on little slides. They say shifting up gears, thereby taking torque away from the drive wheels helps too, but I find once it gets to a certain point, which is not that much really IMO, it is just unsaveable at my current skill level. You could always just learn to drift with the wheel...
Might sound weird, but watch some Youtube videos of F1 onboard cameras around tracks you know. This will give you a small insight into lines and throttle applications. Might help a little bit with braking, but the slow in, fast out concept will be very clear to see. One of the best corners in the world to see this concept in full flight is the Parabolica at Monza.
IMO that is where having the force feedback setting at its max(at least on the DFGT) helps to 'feel' what the car is doing. With more and more practice (I've had the wheel over 3 years now), I am learning more and more to feel a slide earlier and therefore need less correction making it easier to catch. Unfortunately, I think that may only come with time.
Here are the replay save files Trial mountain (1st one is fast as possible - 2nd is slow and easy entry into a corner.) http://speedy.sh/XUfVT/BCJS37016-RPLY001.zip http://speedy.sh/43cBf/BCJS37016-RPLY002.zip Motegi http://speedy.sh/GWr7H/BCJS37016-RPLY003.zip http://speedy.sh/aKN9G/BCJS37016-RPLY004.zip Silverstone http://speedy.sh/pR4bX/BCJS37016-RPLY005.zip http://speedy.sh/tZCpD/BCJS37016-RPLY006.zip
on Trial Mountian you brake like 4 times and not once in that whole lap did you fully compress the brake pedal, yet i brake like 6 times and my time trial time is the same as yours. WTF no wonder your so fast, you never brake!
I watched your Trial Mountail replays last night Warrior and DAMN, that's a quick time. It certainly gave me more insight into how the car can be driven and I even knocked a couple of seconds of my times just be watching your lines and braking points (or sometimes lack thereof) LOL. I still can't get anywhere near your 2.24 lap (I think the best I did was a 2.27.2xx) but before that I was hitting the 30's (with a best in the 29's)where last night even after 25 laps and front tyres on 7 I was still able to hold it in the high 28's - 29's (most of the time), when I hit most corners correctly. I think the thing that really stood out for me watching your replay was just how early you get back on the gas. With the right line and coming into the corners at the right speed I started to get the hang of getting the power down earlier than usual - though sometimes a little too early or I hadn't straightened the wheel enough and around I spun...but when it worked it really clicked and felt alot faster and alot smoother. It was also amazing just how little you used the brakes and how much of the track you were using. Backing off the gas earlier and dabbing the brakes less (instead of driving hard into the corner than braking hard to wash speed off) really kept the momentum going - except for when I got it wrong and used too little brake and went flying straight through the corner - LOL. Seeing my times drop I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself too until Anon rocked up and hit a 2.25 (within a few laps from memory) - LOL.....brought me back down to earth VERY quickly Finished the night with some great laps chasing and being chased by Hatfield. And a big thank you to Warrior for posting his replays. For anyone wanting to see how it's done, download them and be blown away!