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How To Improve Driver Skill In GT5 ?
This is the question I pose to the best drivers in GT5 Division 1 Golds, GT Academy finalists, and other alien type drivers that consistently top the TT leaderboards. Im lucky enough to be able to chase some of these guys around the track every week. That alone I think helps someone learn to go quicker. Assuming people have limited time to spend, what sort of in game activities will contribute the most to developing GT5 driver skills and help someone go faster?
The goal is to get faster without aids. Yes, practice is good, but practice doesnt make perfect, practice makes permanent. Spending time driving only 1 car will make you very good at driving that 1 car. Driving with skid force on will make you very good at driving with skid force.
So, any advice for the average guys from the aforementioned Division 1 golds, GTA finalists and aliens? I think many people would like to know what helped make you fast. I will update the first post with a list of recommendations from established fast guys.
To get better all you have to do is spend many hours practicing each week, right? Doesnt practice make perfect? Well, no actually. Practice makes things permanent. All the techniques you use while practicing become the things you use in racing. It is better to spend a short amount of time practicing the right things each week.
1) Turn off all aids, right from the start. ABS on 1 is optional. Yeah, it is easier and faster with them on but the aids mask, hide and compensate for many flaws you may have in your driving techniques. Its the reason for poor car control when you turn them off.
2) Complete all license tests and special events, especially AMG Academy. Go for Golds without aids.
3) Dont be afraid of comfort hard tires. This forces you to work on throttle control, go slower into corners, pick better lines, use earlier brake points and modulate the braking. Sounds like car control doesnt it? The worst thing I personally did was use racing softs on all my cars, for all my races. I joined a race league on gtplanet in early 2012 that only allowed sport soft tires and I was 5 seconds per lap slower than everyone else. Those sport softs were so very slippery.
4) Practice with abs off to develop better brake control. Here is a great video from Tidgney. Watch the trail braking practice tip at 8:30.
5) Become a student of racing line and techniques. Fast drivers understand things such as driving line, reference points, brake markers, braking point, threshold and trail braking, turn in/ entry points, apex, acceleration points, track out etc. Here is a great site everyone should have bookmarked!
http://www.drivingfast.net/
You should also check out the great videos at the iRacing Driving School
and the one below on overtaking in F1.
If you do nothing else, watch the Skip Barber Going Faster video.
If you need some one on one help, head over to the GTP Racing School. You will find a number of very helpful instructors willing to share their knowledge and help make you faster. I have used their services twice already and found it very productive.
6) Watch and learn from the pros. F1 has great coverage on TV. Watch GT5 YouTube videos. Many fast drivers from gtplanet have instructional videos. When you race someone online, save the replay and watch it later. See if you can pick up on driving lines, brake points and other racing techniques as take aways to improve your lap times. Another great way to learn is to download one of the Top 10 ghost replays from the GT5 Seasonal Event time trials. Play it back to learn the techniques and line used. You can also load the ghost and try your best to follow it.
7) Slow it down! You only have so much grip and will not be able to threshold brake and turn the car. It's one or the other, or a little of both. In slow, out fast. One of my biggest problems is going into a corner too fast. I miss my brake points, carry too much speed, go wide and fail to hit the apex. This means Ive taken a slower line and cant get back on the accelerator until later. Going in slower allows everything else that needs to happen in the corner easier to accomplish and this makes for quicker corners = quicker lap times. If you are losing time in the corners, go slower to be faster.
8) Prioritize corners. Some are more important that others requiring more of your attention and practice. Corners leading onto the long straights are usually the most important. Taking a proper line that allows for earlier application of the accelerator will result in a higher top speed near the end of the straight. That is how the faster guys are passing the slower guys even without slipstream.
9) Race against your ghost in practice mode with tire wear off. This will allow you to try different lines and brake points etc to find your best line for a specific combo. You can literally see what works and what doesnt. Then you can fine tune by practicing online using race specifications.
10) Online SPEC races and Same Make races in Practice mode. Is it the car set up or your driving? Only one way to find out for sure. Some leagues to check out on Gtplanet are SNAIL SPEC Racing and Turtle SPEC Racing. Don't let the names fool you as you will find some of the fastest sim racers in these leagues including many GT Academy and Silverstone finalists. Don't worry about fitting in. These clubs have divisions from novice to alien.
11) Drift and Rally! It was suggested that drifting helps develop better car control and it makes sense. I happen to be the worlds worst drifter. However I did find a combo recently that really forced me to work on car control. Its a spec 66 Shelby Cobra on Trial Mountain, on comfort hards, and no abs. Use the stock Brake Balance. Its literally a crash course on car control. Something a little easier I recommend would be a stock M3 on Nurb GPF, again on comfort hards with zero abs. Leave the brake balance alone. Lately I do a few laps of the above combos as warm up before I do anything else and it really helps prime up all the muscles and reflexes.
12) Plan and organize your practice time. Most people have many demands on their time and can't spend endless hours practicing. Each practice session must have a purpose and goal in order to use time efficiently. Perhaps you need to practice for an upcoming event. Maybe you have identified a weakness such as defending your position, attacking, race line or maybe its car control. Structure your practice to achieve your goal.
We also can't forget the "rules of engagement" for competing online:
GTPlanet Online Racing Rules and The Good Racecraft Guide.
Reply to the thread if you have a suggestion for the list.
Huge thanks to all the drivers that have offered the advice and suggestions used for this list. They have helped me get faster. I have gone from back marker to mid pack this year with the limited time I have for practice. Please take some time to read their specific comments below.
This is the question I pose to the best drivers in GT5 Division 1 Golds, GT Academy finalists, and other alien type drivers that consistently top the TT leaderboards. Im lucky enough to be able to chase some of these guys around the track every week. That alone I think helps someone learn to go quicker. Assuming people have limited time to spend, what sort of in game activities will contribute the most to developing GT5 driver skills and help someone go faster?
The goal is to get faster without aids. Yes, practice is good, but practice doesnt make perfect, practice makes permanent. Spending time driving only 1 car will make you very good at driving that 1 car. Driving with skid force on will make you very good at driving with skid force.
So, any advice for the average guys from the aforementioned Division 1 golds, GTA finalists and aliens? I think many people would like to know what helped make you fast. I will update the first post with a list of recommendations from established fast guys.
12 Things To Make You Faster
To get better all you have to do is spend many hours practicing each week, right? Doesnt practice make perfect? Well, no actually. Practice makes things permanent. All the techniques you use while practicing become the things you use in racing. It is better to spend a short amount of time practicing the right things each week.
1) Turn off all aids, right from the start. ABS on 1 is optional. Yeah, it is easier and faster with them on but the aids mask, hide and compensate for many flaws you may have in your driving techniques. Its the reason for poor car control when you turn them off.
2) Complete all license tests and special events, especially AMG Academy. Go for Golds without aids.
3) Dont be afraid of comfort hard tires. This forces you to work on throttle control, go slower into corners, pick better lines, use earlier brake points and modulate the braking. Sounds like car control doesnt it? The worst thing I personally did was use racing softs on all my cars, for all my races. I joined a race league on gtplanet in early 2012 that only allowed sport soft tires and I was 5 seconds per lap slower than everyone else. Those sport softs were so very slippery.
4) Practice with abs off to develop better brake control. Here is a great video from Tidgney. Watch the trail braking practice tip at 8:30.
5) Become a student of racing line and techniques. Fast drivers understand things such as driving line, reference points, brake markers, braking point, threshold and trail braking, turn in/ entry points, apex, acceleration points, track out etc. Here is a great site everyone should have bookmarked!
http://www.drivingfast.net/
You should also check out the great videos at the iRacing Driving School
and the one below on overtaking in F1.
If you do nothing else, watch the Skip Barber Going Faster video.
If you need some one on one help, head over to the GTP Racing School. You will find a number of very helpful instructors willing to share their knowledge and help make you faster. I have used their services twice already and found it very productive.
6) Watch and learn from the pros. F1 has great coverage on TV. Watch GT5 YouTube videos. Many fast drivers from gtplanet have instructional videos. When you race someone online, save the replay and watch it later. See if you can pick up on driving lines, brake points and other racing techniques as take aways to improve your lap times. Another great way to learn is to download one of the Top 10 ghost replays from the GT5 Seasonal Event time trials. Play it back to learn the techniques and line used. You can also load the ghost and try your best to follow it.
7) Slow it down! You only have so much grip and will not be able to threshold brake and turn the car. It's one or the other, or a little of both. In slow, out fast. One of my biggest problems is going into a corner too fast. I miss my brake points, carry too much speed, go wide and fail to hit the apex. This means Ive taken a slower line and cant get back on the accelerator until later. Going in slower allows everything else that needs to happen in the corner easier to accomplish and this makes for quicker corners = quicker lap times. If you are losing time in the corners, go slower to be faster.
8) Prioritize corners. Some are more important that others requiring more of your attention and practice. Corners leading onto the long straights are usually the most important. Taking a proper line that allows for earlier application of the accelerator will result in a higher top speed near the end of the straight. That is how the faster guys are passing the slower guys even without slipstream.
9) Race against your ghost in practice mode with tire wear off. This will allow you to try different lines and brake points etc to find your best line for a specific combo. You can literally see what works and what doesnt. Then you can fine tune by practicing online using race specifications.
10) Online SPEC races and Same Make races in Practice mode. Is it the car set up or your driving? Only one way to find out for sure. Some leagues to check out on Gtplanet are SNAIL SPEC Racing and Turtle SPEC Racing. Don't let the names fool you as you will find some of the fastest sim racers in these leagues including many GT Academy and Silverstone finalists. Don't worry about fitting in. These clubs have divisions from novice to alien.
11) Drift and Rally! It was suggested that drifting helps develop better car control and it makes sense. I happen to be the worlds worst drifter. However I did find a combo recently that really forced me to work on car control. Its a spec 66 Shelby Cobra on Trial Mountain, on comfort hards, and no abs. Use the stock Brake Balance. Its literally a crash course on car control. Something a little easier I recommend would be a stock M3 on Nurb GPF, again on comfort hards with zero abs. Leave the brake balance alone. Lately I do a few laps of the above combos as warm up before I do anything else and it really helps prime up all the muscles and reflexes.
12) Plan and organize your practice time. Most people have many demands on their time and can't spend endless hours practicing. Each practice session must have a purpose and goal in order to use time efficiently. Perhaps you need to practice for an upcoming event. Maybe you have identified a weakness such as defending your position, attacking, race line or maybe its car control. Structure your practice to achieve your goal.
We also can't forget the "rules of engagement" for competing online:
GTPlanet Online Racing Rules and The Good Racecraft Guide.
Reply to the thread if you have a suggestion for the list.
Huge thanks to all the drivers that have offered the advice and suggestions used for this list. They have helped me get faster. I have gone from back marker to mid pack this year with the limited time I have for practice. Please take some time to read their specific comments below.
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