Does the Race Line actually provide more grip?

[MusicalArtist]

On most tracks, especially on Monza and Spas, there is a visible racing line on the track (the black tire residue mark on the track surface).
Does driving along the Race Line actually provide you with more grip like it should, or is it just there for decoration and possibly a good line to follow through corners?

 

[Slash]

Pretty sure its only there to provide info on when to brake and corner.



EDIT: Wait you are talking about the rubber marks on the track, not the driving line. That's just a visual effect I think to make the track look authentic.

 

[taz]

I don't think it does, but if you follow the line smoothly you should notice less tire wear

 

[Morgoth_666]

It sure seems to, but part of why I slide off-line so much more is probably because I'm trying to get back on-line. But it does seem I can push a bit harder when on it. Rather annoying when it's in the wrong place on some corners. It definitely has much less grip in the wet, which would suggest it should work right in the dry. Might Grip Reduction make a difference too? .

 

[dahcmai]

It is actually just a thing to make the track look authentic, but it does happen to indicate where the AI drives the most. They tend to follow one of the best lines you can so it's not a bad idea to follow it. You'll notice on some tracks it's not always the optimal line though. Trial Mountain is the one I notice it being off on the most. I can drive much faster by not following it. Though it's quite good on most of the technical tracks. It's pure happenstance really that it's in a good spot to follow.

 

[watermelon punch]

Yes, I think the driving line is often more grippy.
At least on some parts of some tracks.

In the Nurburgring Special Event descriptions, it says in the rain, the driving line has more grip... And it's noticeable... Less noticeable on dry, but I think it's there.

One place it's VERY noticeable is in the rain at Eiger Nordwand Short Track... The big sweeping U turn before the tunnel. In the rain, if you stay on the driving line it's a world of difference than if you take another line or just leave the line.

 

[Emptyone]

Indeed, having watched the B-Spec Spa countless times I can testify that line of rubber is faster and also dries quicker than the rest if the track ie less spray than elsewhere

 

[Nismo34]

Yes, the line does have more grip. Just try the Cape Ring Loop. The Line is on the inside and I can push at 190km/h in most road cars, but as soon as Im off the line, I need to slow down massively.

 

[tonderai]

Suzuka esses also has more grip on the line than off it.

 

[DrifterJoe]

Yeah it does provide more grip, but only on tracks with weather change. Also, when the track is quite wet, it will have less grip than the rest of the track.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Definitely:tup:

 

[Crumpet]

Pretty sure since it is used more, it will have more grip.

 

[watermelon punch]

Yeah it does provide more grip, but only on tracks with weather change. Also, when the track is quite wet, it will have less grip than the rest of the track.

You being funny & I missed it?

Cape Ring doesn't have weather, and I believe what Nismo34 said about the circle.
But I also think it's apparent on Trial Mountain in certain parts of the track especially, and there's no weather there.
Through the last rock cut area on the track is what comes to mind. Even the AI's go sliding sometimes when they try to pass or go 2 or 3 wide in that part of the track.

And according to the game, it says right in the Nurburgring AMG Special Event, that in rain the racing line is more grippy.
And I've definitely noticed this myself. It's definitely better to stay on the line. The more rain, the worse it is to go off the line.

 

[Morgoth_666]

And according to the game, it says right in the Nurburgring AMG Special Event, that in rain the racing line is more grippy.
And I've definitely noticed this myself. It's definitely better to stay on the line. The more rain, the worse it is to go off the line.

????

That is the opposite of what it says in the AMG event description, and what I've heard from people who've raced in real life and also what I've observed in the game.

In the wet, the groove where all the rubber is becomes far more slick than the rest of the track from the residue deposited by tires running over it, meaning that you want to avoid the dry racing line when searching for grip in very wet conditions. The wetter the track, the slipperier the racing line.

The confusing bit is that when taking a wet line, you need to cross over the dry line twice per corner(and sometimes drive right on it in complex sections). When you do that grip drops dramatically, but while off-line it's much better.

 

[watermelon punch]

I don't know, I can only tell you that the AMG Special event says the areas around the racing line are slippery due to traffic wearing it smooth... But the nurburgring gets regular road traffic... does that make a difference?

Does the racing line stay dry in wet conditions? Does it have to do with the % wet? I don't know. Like in the AMG special event, they describe a part of the track where water runs over it, making it particularly slick.

I just know that on Eiger, I put the driving line on one time to see... and sure enough on that sweeping U turn before the tunnel... the best place in the wet was on the driving line.... which made sense, because it seemed like a terribly risky place to pass in the rain - despite the road being very wide there, and mistakes being made there making opportunities for passing. But I just knew from experience, better to just race the track in that U & hope for another passing opportunity, rather than risk stepping the car out in that turn when the road is wet.
Perhaps that part of Eiger is another "water running over it" section, as it is next to a mountain that could contribute to run off!

But that's assuming that has some effect on the rubber on the road.
Or that the amount of water makes the difference, which is what the guy a few post backs said... but the opposite to how this would make sense.

? Anyone?

 

[lowracin]

Yeah it does provide more grip, but only on tracks with weather change. Also, when the track is quite wet, it will have less grip than the rest of the track.

True. We ran a 650pp online on trial mountain in the rain. Cars that touched that groove spun off the track. It was a mess and most of us quit.

 

[Nismo34]

True. We ran a 650pp online on trial mountain in the rain. Cars that touched that groove spun off the track. It was a mess and most of us quit.

Seems legit.

 

[peterjford]

True. We ran a 650pp online on trial mountain in the rain. Cars that touched that groove spun off the track. It was a mess and most of us quit.

Seems legit.

I think he meant Seattle in the rain... or maybe it was Cathedral...

 

[lowracin]

Maybe it was High Speed Ring.

Does it really matter?

My point was, that groove is very slick when wet.

 

[stormbringer]

I dont think theyve modeled road surfaces in the game to have varying grip.
The edge of the tracks have less grip, but the asphalt itself has the same grip over all.

Sometimes some parts of the road feel less grippy, thats more to do with the angle, camber of the road at that point. Can easily induce a spinout.

Your racing line is just a guide to get you through a track using minimum steering input and minimizing g forces. Racing line or certain parts of the road do not increase the grip of a car. Those black marks on the road are just there for aesthetics, but it does provide you with some racing line info i.e cars use this line the most.

 

[Nismo34]

Your racing line is just a guide to get you through a track using minimum steering input and minimizing g forces. Racing line or certain parts of the road do not increase the grip of a car. Those black marks on the road are just there for aesthetics, but it does provide you with some racing line info i.e cars use this line the most.

Ok, so do the cape ring loop a few times on the line, and then a few times off the line. The banking is even so you should be able to go faster off the line... Good luck.....

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I agree I don't think it provides more grip, but I follow it anyways due to racing craft.

 

[Lion-Face]

I belive the racing line is grippier, although on some tracks its more noticable than others. Laguna Seca turn 1 I first really noticed the difference being able to brake later coming into it. Doing my recent time trial around Nurburgring in the XJR-9 on comfort hards it was also apparent the further offline the less grip the tires had. The lower the grade of tire, the more noticable it becomes and how much more important it is to stay on line.

This only applies when Track Grip is set to Real, otherwise the track gives up same grip regardless where you are.

 

[stormbringer]

Ok, so do the cape ring loop a few times on the line, and then a few times off the line. The banking is even so you should be able to go faster off the line... Good luck.....

The loop can be approached in a number of ways depending on the car. Its pretty wide. You can have multiple driving lines there.

Now it would be wrong to say the inner part of the loop has more grip than the outer.

Whether your driving line takes you in and out of there faster depends on how much your line makes your car struggle against the g forces

 

[Nismo34]

The loop can be approached in a number of ways depending on the car. Its pretty wide. You can have multiple driving lines there.

Now it would be wrong to say the inner part of the loop has more grip than the outer.

Whether your driving line takes you in and out of there faster depends on how much your line makes your car struggle.

Ive entered numerous ways. I still find the inside has a lot more grip than the rest of the track... Why is it wrong to say it has more grip?

Also, having drifted up and down the loop, numerous times in various cars, the inside still has more grip.

 

[watermelon punch]

I belive the racing line is grippier, although on some tracks its more noticable than others. Laguna Seca turn 1 I first really noticed the difference being able to brake later coming into it. Doing my recent time trial around Nurburgring in the XJR-9 on comfort hards it was also apparent the further offline the less grip the tires had. The lower the grade of tire, the more noticable it becomes and how much more important it is to stay on line.

This only applies when Track Grip is set to Real, otherwise the track gives up same grip regardless where you are.

This ^ All of it.

And I hadn't thought about it, but yeah, grip set to real likely makes a difference.

I imagine if people only drive with racing tires with the track grip not set to real, they would never notice this at all.

Get in an untuned Lancia Stratos or Lotus Elan on comfort softs, set track grip to real, and check it out.

Better yet, use those cars on Trial Mountain in the rain.

 

[Morgoth_666]

Here are the relevant sections from the AMG wet event descriptions:

First wet test:

... The main thing to focus on in wet conditions is your driving line. The surface of the road is worn smooth by cars passing over it every day, which makes the area around the ideal line very slippery. The answer to this is to try to take a middle-middle-middle line throughout.

Based on the context and what is always stated about real world racing I take "the area around the ideal line" to mean "right around the ideal line" as opposed to "away from the ideal line."

Although what I usually hear about the real thing is that it is only partly due to the rubbered line being smoother, and also because of the water drawing the oil and other greasy material stored in that rubber to the surface, similar to the way very fresh pavement "greases up" when getting wet.

Full lap test:

... Just as when it was dry, it's important to get a feeling for the rhythym and timing of the track as a whole, but the ideal line will be different in the wet, so the rhythym will be different too. If you want to get a fast time here, you'll need to completely forget how you approached the track when dry, and develop a whole new rhythym for the wet conditions.

"The ideal line will be different" sounds pretty clear.

SLS test 2:

... As in the Advanced challenge, there are lots of very slippery corners from Metzgesfeld onward. The outside edges, clipping points, and exits from corners that require hard braking are particularly slippery, so watch out.

Those are exactly the areas where the most rubber is laid down when taking the ideal dry line.


I had thought there was more mention of the "middle-middle-middle" line somewhere in some parts that are only spoken and not in the written descriptions, but I have no idea where, and I could be mistaken. I thought most of the extended spoken commentary came from license tests and not from the AMG events and I'm not quite bored enough to go through and listen to them all.

One more quote I noticed that is on a slightly different topic, from 300SL test 3:

... The most dangerous part here is the area between Hohe Acht and Brünnchen. As well as being slippery due to the rain, the road surface here is particularly old, making it even slippier than you would imagine.

That suggests that they do indeed model different levels of grip in different areas of pavement, making it perfectly reasonable to think that they could, if they wished to, make the proper line slightly grippier than off-line the way it is in reality. And if I'm not crazy and off-line is less slippery in the wet(the way it is in reality), it would only make sense that it would be the other way round in the dry.

I can't guarantee that the game actually gets this stuff right, but those are the things that it says about itself. My own observations make me think that it does work this way, at least with Real Grip Reduction. Others clearly disagree.

 

[Fo Shizzle]

I don't know about those tracks but daytona easily has more grip.

 

[byegad]

where the line is really optimal for the corner you will get a faster time by sticking to the corner. I'm new but think I've found an odd issue with the line anyway. Feel free to soot me down if you disagree.

I've got a handful of examples but this one seems a no brainer to me.

Madrid full circuit, the last chicane before the Finish line. Taking the official outside line, on the left of the track, leaves you with a lot of turning to do to get around the inside barrier at the chicane. Sitting in the RH lane as you exit the penultimate corner leaves you an easy R L R to get around the chicane. It's a lot faster to do this and exiting the penultimate corner tight to the right is not an issue. I can pass AI cars there by braking after the first arrow in the road and blocking the official line at the entrance to the corner as I do my R L R using the marked kerbs on the barriers.

 

[Johnnypenso]

The racing line on each track as defined by the slightly darker rubber on the road isn't always the ideal line through every corner although it's usually close. Remember it's not a real line, laid down by cars racing on the track but an artificial construct imprinted on the track by a programmer. Usually it's right, but sometimes a slightly different line provides a better, faster exit speed.