12 Things to make you faster.

  • Thread starter Oshawa-Joe
  • 90 comments
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Great win tonight outlaw. Good thing you are not an alien. I will have to take a closer look at your tips.
Outlaw, he is an alien but is in denial about it :lol: Just messing, but he did have a bunch of great tips, and is always willing to help, thanks outlaw!! Maybe you could post some of your track notes in here where you go thru how you analyze a track, and where you find all that speed you have. :sly:
I think it all depends on what you need to work on, but if I had to just give a couple tips to someone.....
1. Always try to get the best possible drive out of a corner,always. Most people will try to brake as late as possible, and while this may be an advantage racing neck and neck, it doesn't always equate to fast lap times. The earlier you can get on the power, the faster you will be.
2. Reference points!! You need them, especially braking points, do t use the little flashy gear indicator, this will only lead to inconsistent lap times. I will also use a reference point about 100 ft out of every corner(usually the end of the rumble strips work great) and take a mental note on each lap to see what your speed is. This will help you concentrate on getting the power down and the best possible drive out of every corner. (Leads back to number one)
My final tip would be, don't get on the gas out of the corner until you are 100% certain you will be able to finish the corner without letting off. Nothing kills your drive more than having to let up and wait until your car rotates to get back on the throttle.
Obviously there are many more factors that go into being fast, but I believe these two should help and get you finishing in the top half of most online races(public lobbies).
 
Not that I am all that good, but one thing I find that helps is to drive with crappier tires than you would normally use on a certain car. Then when you switch to the normal tires the track is cake.
 
I don't consider myself to be particularly fast but I found that I vastly improved after doing online Shuffle races.

The variety of cars and tracks and now tyres that you get really help you to be able to jump in pretty much any car and be reasonably fast.

For example when you get a Cobra and everyone alse is in M5s and Vipers and Ferraris etc. You learn a lot trying to keep up and keep the car on the road. :)

I would like to second that ^^^
Shuffle races are a great way to force yourself into driving different cars (FF,FR,MR,RR,AWD).

The best tool for learning, in my opinion, is Spec racing. Since everyone is in the exact same car, if they're going faster, you know it's not because they have a better tune.

Save every replay. Every time you race somebody, save the replays. even if they're not normally a top ten driver, there's a good chance they may be doing something in one corner that's slightly better than your corner line/exit. Then remember to watch the replays every now and then.

When watching replays, switch to the view you use to race (bumper cam, chase cam, etc.). That way, what you see on your screen is exactly what you should be seeing when you're lapping.

Replays seem to have a delay in indicators for the brake and the gas. If you watch closely, you'll notice the nose dive of the car before the brake indicator lights up. This had me scratching my head for a couple of weeks wondering how some people could brake so much later.

Brake Bias - hugely underestimated. If you can change it (RA functions/car options), do so, as it's worth quite a lot of time on the track. The default 5/5 is okay, but 4/5 is almost always faster if your car has a tenancy of understeering. Really, it just depends on the car and the track. I've used everything from 2/3 all the way up to 5/7. It can just make the car feel so much better under braking.

Don't use the gas until you're sure you won't have to lift until the next. It's better to wait and then get a clean shot out of the corner instead of "blipping" the throttle all the way through the corner, resulting in loss of time.

Don't steer more than you have to. Every time you turn the wheel, you're losing speed.

Master the tires. All tires in GT have a different grip fall-off. Racing tires have a very sharp grip fall-off. So when you're pushing the limits of traction and you break them, you'll spin quickly. But on comfort tires, the grip fall-off is much slower. The grip will slowly fade away compared to the racing tires.

Find a line for your car. Every track/car combo requires a slightly different line. Think about what your car has for advantages and weaknesses. Say your car is:

-slow through the corners
-fast on exit

It would be best to use the line that maximizes the corner entry and mid-corner. Since your car has such a great exit, you probably don't need to worry about that as much.
 
I think many people would like to know what helped make you fast.

I feel that the times I improved was on just a few TT's that I got addicted to and couldnt stop doing laps. Every so often something new 'clicks' that you didn't realise before.

Pick a TT you enjoy and say I'm going to perfect this one.
Set a realistic goal and reach it, then try go beyond.
 
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Update:




The winners are:

tpark103---ticket sent
McClarenDesign---what ticket would you like? send me PM please
McSoap-90---ticket sent
klsharp2000---what ticket would you like? send me PM please
NikoBellic---on hold
Feralshooter --ticket sent
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Oshawa-Joe
Update:

The winners are:

tpark103---what ticket would you like? send me PM please.
McClarenDesign---what ticket would you like? send me PM please
McSoap-90---ticket sent
klsharp2000---what ticket would you like? send me PM please
NikoBellic---on hold
Feralshooter --ticket sent
phil_75---ticket sent

All winners were notified via PM.

Thanks Joe. :-D
 
As much as I hate bumping an old thread, I never seen this until now. I feel like many people on GTPlanet may benefit from the information on Oshawa-Joe's post. Great thread man! 👍
 
Brake Bias - hugely underestimated. If you can change it (RA functions/car options), do so, as it's worth quite a lot of time on the track. The default 5/5 is okay, but 4/5 is almost always faster if your car has a tenancy of understeering. Really, it just depends on the car and the track. I've used everything from 2/3 all the way up to 5/7. It can just make the car feel so much better under braking.

I've always wondered what difference have a brake bias towards the rear does for a car. I tend to favour a front bias in most cars, but never knew why exactly. What does the rear bias do best? And what does a front bias do best?

If you don't mind me asking.
 
Rear brake bias can help slightly with turn in under braking. It depends a lot on the exact levels you set, how hard you brake, the track, tires etc. Can also help slightly with tire wear. I've run races with FF's with brake bias's like 0/7 and FR where I was trying to reduce rear tire wear at 5/0. The effect is small but it is there and sometimes every little bit helps.
 
This is a good thread, with lots of helpful advice. 👍

I recommend buying a book called; "Going Faster! Mastering The Art Of Race Driving", it helped me to get faster & is a great read. It's by The Skip Barber Racing School, & contains the wisdom of over 100 driving instructors plus many quotes from various champions. Click on the picture...


 
Ok, so I've been trying to drive with ABS off, instead of at 1 like i usually do...why does the throttle cut out under braking? forgive me if this is a stupid question but learning how to control it would help me a ton. I use a DS3, and the analog stick for gas/brake, should i switch to the R2/L2 to keep some throttle under braking so i lose it completely? I'm very frustrated.
 
Not sure what you mean about throttle cutting out. Are you stalling or locking up? Are you downshifting as you slow down?
Hopefully a ds3 user can offer some advice on this issue.

But generally, yes it's difficult to run without abs at first, until we develop the required feel and adjust braking points.
 
Ok, so I've been trying to drive with ABS off, instead of at 1 like i usually do...why does the throttle cut out under braking? forgive me if this is a stupid question but learning how to control it would help me a ton. I use a DS3, and the analog stick for gas/brake, should i switch to the R2/L2 to keep some throttle under braking so i lose it completely? I'm very frustrated.

Using the stick for throttle/brake control means that you're either one or the other but not both. Using the triggers will allow you to control throttle and braking independently. This will allow you to blip the throttle for RPM matching when down shifting and braking giving you more control. Using the triggers will also allow you to jab the brakes (while still being on the throttle) to shift the weight of the car to get the car to rotate or turn in.

Also, going from ABS1 to ABS0 will almost certainly require you to change or brake balance drastically to keep from spinning or losing control.

Good luck!

Sark
 
Variety is the spice of life....

It's an old cliche, but I found huge leaps of success comes from daring to try something different from time to time and mastering it.

For me rule #1 is don't get stuck on one car, track or setup.

Rule #2 is enjoy the challenge and have fun, else move on.

:bowdown: Nürburgring is a great proving ground to hone many driving techniques.
 
Thinking of trying something tonight but i need alittle help can one of the better drivers here get into a stock premium Honda Integra Type R and tell me your lap times for : Tsukuba, Ring, and Laguna Seca

That would be a huge help for me
 
You should probably state tires to be used along with lounge and abs settings and if tuned or tuning prohibited. That way you can compare apples to apples.
 
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Sports medium are as low as i go ....abs 1 ..no other aids
i cant race online as my internet is slow..but i want to be able to compare lap times (and it would be in a stock car ..no tuning)
 
One thing I realized not too early on, I was turning too late in all the corners. One time after repeadly hitting a wall exiting a turn, I turned way earlier and did not hit the inside wall. I exited the turn without hitting the outside wall also. Lap after lap I was able to increase my speed through that corner and really put a dent in my lap times. trying the same technique on other tracks and other cars had similar positive results.
 
Below are some numbers from SNAIL SPEC racing, by division. Fastest Lap/slowest Lap.

D1 Dodge Challenger SRT8 '08 (Sports Medium tires) Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (6 laps) 1:36.404 1:44.300
D2 Dodge Challenger SRT8 '08 (Sports Medium tires) Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (6 laps) 1:37.187 1:38.127
D4 Dodge Challenger SRT8 '08 (Sports Medium tires) Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (6 laps) 1:37.646 1:47.540
D3 Dodge Challenger SRT8 '08 (Sports Medium tires) Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (6 laps) 1:37.968 1:39.875
D5 Dodge Challenger SRT8 '08 (Sports Medium tires) Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (6 laps) 1:39.146 1:43.913


D2 Toyota Supra 3.0GT Turbo A '88 (Sports Medium tires) Tsukuba Circuit (9 Laps) 1:05.421 1:22.264
D1 Toyota Supra 3.0GT Turbo A '88 (Sports Medium tires) Tsukuba Circuit (9 Laps) 1:05.669 1:06.906
D3 Toyota Supra 3.0GT Turbo A '88 (Sports Medium tires) Tsukuba Circuit (9 Laps) 1:06.741 1:09.032


Which Nurb track would you like info for? Likely one of the shorter tracks, correct?

D1 Gran Turismo 350Z RS (Sports Soft tires) Nürburgring GP/D (6 laps) 1:35.477 1:37.917
D5 Gran Turismo 350Z RS (Sports Soft tires) Nürburgring GP/D (6 laps) 1:37.162 1:41.469
D2 Gran Turismo 350Z RS (Sports Soft tires) Nürburgring GP/D (6 laps) 1:37.197 1:38.712
D4 Gran Turismo 350Z RS (Sports Soft tires) Nürburgring GP/D (6 laps) 1:37.823 1:40.427
 
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Don't be overly aggressive... keep things smooth. Stabbing on the gas/brakes is where time is lost. Also read up on cornering techniques, specifically reading the corners and taking the correct lines through them. The licences will go someway to teach you this.

And as a measurement of how you're improving, do the seasonal time trials and try to keep up with the Top 10 drivers' ghosts.

This is the best way to start getting a lot quicker and is a good foundation of strong race craft. If your driving smoothly with minimal inputs to your steering, you will find it a lot easier to deal with difficult track conditions and reduces the risk of loosing the rear end of the car.

I like many people will never claim to be the fastest driver, but when I started racing with a wheel and tried to be as smooth as possible, I started to win or get good places in online races.

Both Alan Prost and Jenson Button are text book smooth drivers and through their style the have the ability to deal with tricky tyres and grip levels where others just failed.
 
I found nerves to be an issue racing online. Pushing too hard and generally messing up. Get clean track and then get the pace back but its already too late because cracked under pressure and span off at a part of the circuit I'd clear cleanly 99/100 times offline.

Its so different racing other people than racing offline. Only by reading the tips about car control and lines etc will you improve and learning new skills is very rewarding on GT.
 

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