Getting quicker....

[Groundfish]

@Groundfish

Have you always driven with TC turned on?

No.
When I purchased this game and my t 80 wheel I turned it off.
Now then my first gr4 online race at Maggiore was in the Lexus with VSC and tcs on.
When I started in gr3 online I used the Renault RS01. By this time I had looked around the net a bit for tips etc and found Z28. I ran no tcs, because that’s what he did.
I think when I first turned it on was when the Gardens track had just come out and I was playing in a lobby with friends just getting destroyed by them through the chicane.
Friend of mine asked if I had tcs on (longtime gt series veteran)
Ended up using it and doing better.
I don’t and never have used TCS all the time on all cars.
I’m generally talking gr3 cars, that’s what I use the most.
It’s as I mentioned above. With it on, you MUST do things fundamentally right to do well.
Like I said I did a 25 lap test vette gr3 Interlagos online daily race q and no TCS on my best 10 laps was faster than my TCS time. I think over those ten laps my average time was 1:29.8
Same conditions same day my best ten with tcs was 1.30.03 or so
Over the course of 25 laps I took several limits pens and had a couple big slides at 0 that lost some time. I never crashed but I had pretty bad wheelspin a few times.
No tcs no limits pens, no moments, no problems.
Sure no tcs peak speed for me was faster, the one lap pace, but only by half s tenth.
But, my style is adapted to TCS more.
My style is really primarily adapted to fr power gr3.
The way I rotate them to get em turned in is via the brake pedal.
For example when I switch to the RSR or R8 or any gr3 mr
I have to run quite a few laps before I stop over rotating them.
First few I will often cut turns and also unweight the rear too much on entry and oversteer badly turning in.
I’ve no problem exit wise on those because they don’t have much power it’s turning in. The RSR is the best for handling mr gr3 imo, but it’s a handling car so you gotta have apex speed you need draft. I’d rather be the guy pressuring the handling car and then easily overtaking them on the straight.
The trailing on those needs to be less aggressive since they are already more pointy by nature.
Plus on those often tcs 0 is almost required because tcs intrusion upsets those things too much in many cases.
It’s not I CANT it’s I CHOOSE to use it when needed.
Like karts
I love driving the karts. I much prefer no tcs.
I often resort to it though for dailies when things get the way they get with the people.
The style changes. If people are driving aggressive it’s needed.

I think though I may take a page from @LeGeNd-1 s book. I may not adjust bb on the fly but I may turn tcs OFF for high speed esses then back on, for example at Seaside. So I learned something too.
For me brake balance occasionally a car needs adjustment, like that last 911 on the Nurb GP imo that thing understeer Ed too much under heavy braking so 2 clicks rearward was just a better easier drive overall.
You’ll never find a quote from me saying ALL CARS AT ALL TIME NEED TCS.
That would be stupid

 

[kilesa4568]

Dude, are you getting paid by the word? A yes, no, or mostly would have been enough.

I take it your TC opinion is solely based on race ET rather than lap time then?

 

[Groundfish]

Dude, are you getting paid by the word? A yes, no, or mostly would have been enough.

I take it your TC opinion is solely based on race ET rather than lap time then?

I feel like number five...


Racepace. Yep. The way I see things I take my chances in the cars I choose tcs3 in race with that my racepace will do the job.
If a fella runs no tcs and walks away from me and beats me more power to them, I tip my cap.

 

[kilesa4568]

Do you think that's relevant in a getting quicker thread or would it be better suited to a thread about race pace itself?

To me, they're entirely different and why I was all over you for recommending TC as a way of going quicker, when all you use it for is damage limitation.

At least I know where you're coming from now.

 

[Groundfish]

Do you think that's relevant in a getting quicker thread or would it be better suited to a thread about race pace itself?

To me, they're entirely different and why I was all over you for recommending TC as a way of going quicker, when all you use it for is damage limitation.

At least I know where you're coming from now.

Jesus buddy do you ever let up?
I literally been just now these last two days pretty much racing all day.
Just decided on Seaside to try to improve my 1.27.5 q time because peoples racepace with that time was holding me up.
I’ve done a LOT of races there.
I shaved 3 tenths from my qual time.
What I found was out and out speed wise it’s faster at the Snorkel on tcs2-3.
Final turn again tcs3
First chicane 0 tcs
Turn 4 tcs3
Running off totally is slower. Tried it every which way.
They hybrid technique is definitely markedly the fastest way for me.
Significantly.
Edit to me getting quicker means getting quicker.
The threads not titled help me max out my QUALIFYING TIME.
For my end there’s no joy in hotlapping.
It’s just a chore you have to complete well enough to get good matching online.
I will definitely take from this thread that sometimes the easiest way to improve time is to change TCS settings on the fly over the course of a lap.
Again though I feel like the kid saying the emperor has no clothes.

Edit I will say too I see how it’s possible for some that brake balance adjustment on fly might provide the same benefit as my tcs adjusting on fly.
My apologies for trashing that idea.

 

[fisheye]

I don't care if you use TCS, ABS, Automatic Trans, or hit pause and let autodrive take over in corners (seen it often) to go faster. There's more than one way to drive and if you aren't using everything at your disposal then you aren't learning.

Do you think that's relevant in a getting quicker thread or would it be better suited to a thread about race pace itself?

To me, they're entirely different and why I was all over you for recommending TC as a way of going quicker, when all you use it for is damage limitation.

At least I know where you're coming from now.

When he turns TCS off you're going to have some stiff competition.

 

[Timm Sheehan]

I would like to throw this out there for thought . . . I have been playing with cockpit view lately and have noticed a slight improvement in lap times because I am driving a better race line (and not over driving the cars). What is the groups thoughts on this?

Side note: I feel like I have lost some situational awareness of cars alongside so I am sure in races my SR might be effected although I am not sure how much yet because I have not tried cockpit view in any races online.

 

[Groundfish]

People will tell you not to. They will say fov is wrong. (Field of view)
They will say you can’t race close using it.
They will say you can’t see.
I think if your wheel is up close to a 50 inch or bigger tv it’s fine, just can be tough to switch cars, renders certain cars unusable due to no cockpit view or like in LMP you can’t see anything.
I use it but I made my own setup to play from close and my screens very big.
Imo if you are setup for it and use cars with good cockpits it’s a tremendous advantage.
Everyone will say I’m wrong though, I always get attacked as a cretin for using it.
So that’s jmo

 

[JEverettL]

I would like to throw this out there for thought . . . I have been playing with cockpit view lately and have noticed a slight improvement in lap times because I am driving a better race line (and not over driving the cars). What is the groups thoughts on this?

Side note: I feel like I have lost some situational awareness of cars alongside so I am sure in races my SR might be effected although I am not sure how much yet because I have not tried cockpit view in any races online.

In cockpit view my laptimes would slightly increase or decrease depending on the car and it's visibility. Its weird but I could "feel" the edges in some more than others. For instance the heft of the M6 would be much more apparent, and the confined quarters of the 4C really felt like you were snuggied in there. I'd encourage you to try a couple of races online to see how you fare. That view did make things a bit more intense, and sometimes not being able to easily gauge where your opponents are can cause you to brake much more as you're trying to get the readout on where they are. I pretty much kept a 99SR the entire time. There were a couple of dips but nothing outlandish.

There is a YouTuber that i check out from time to time(Adventure Racing) that races in that view exclusively and he's pretty competitive.

 

[Yard_Sale]

I recently switched to cockpit exclusively. There was a learning curve...but it was very steep. My best results are when I have my tv setup right on my wheel. But I have been playing it with my tv about 3’ away from the wheel with a lot of success. You have to really use your radar a lot, but that’s ok. If GT7 somehow allows for triple monitors or VR in online racing, that’ll be awesome!

Cockpit view adds one more layer of immersion. Yes, some cars are very difficult to see out of, if not impossible. Some cars are very good. For me, cockpit view really helped me with trail braking and apexing corners. I could never seem to get those right with other views. I still can’t get it right...but it’s better!!

My mid-week qually times typically get within 2 seconds of the fastest. And that hasn’t changed wether I’m in cockpit or the more widely excepted bonnet view. What has changed is my consistency. I’m much more consistent with cockpit view.

because you lose some spatial awareness in cockpit view, I probably don’t win as much as I used to. But the trade off for more immersion is definitely worth it!

 

[fisheye]

Cockpit view is especially fun when drifting.

 

[Groundfish]

I don’t have troubles at all re peripheral awareness. You see the same peripheral angle in all views that aren’t chase cam.
If you lose a car in blind spot, or don’t know where they are you leave room.
If the corners not CLEARLY yours you leave room. That seems like it’d be the same in any view.
In cockpit I can trail brake and steer to apex and race close much better than the other views. It’s a lot easier to see the effects of very fine steering and braking/throttle inputs because of the way your view is “framed”.
The cars attitude is easily seen.
Bad thing is I think it pisses me off to the maximum when I get hit.
Really makes it immersive.

 

[O604]

Pretty obvious, but cockpit view has the best mirrors.

How cool would something like this be for a customizable windshield HUD for radar, fuel, tire wear....?

 

[Darryl Renfro]

I don’t have troubles at all re peripheral awareness. You see the same peripheral angle in all views that aren’t chase cam.
If you lose a car in blind spot, or don’t know where they are you leave room.
If the corners not CLEARLY yours you leave room. That seems like it’d be the same in any view.
In cockpit I can trail brake and steer to apex and race close much better than the other views. It’s a lot easier to see the effects of very fine steering and braking/throttle inputs because of the way your view is “framed”.
The cars attitude is easily seen.
Bad thing is I think it pisses me off to the maximum when I get hit.
Really makes it immersive.

Reminds me of the movie Cannonball : “What’s a behind me is no important “ and proceeds to snap off the Ferrari’s rear view mirror .

 

[LeGeNd-1]

DING DING DING WINNER!
I’ve posted explaining that many times before. This is how I use it to improve. Understanding that is the key to using it to improve.
It’s operation is dependent on steering angle. So in order to have it on and get good laptimes you must get your car balanced in a good line rotate it mostly by the brake pedal release rate vs steering.
It sucks driving with it when you’re making mistakes because it holds you back but if you can get to where your margin of error is just barely ever so slightly too much throttle too soon on exit you get a sliver.
I’m absolutely talking 100 percent about finely modulating brake and throttle.
It’s why I say at apex steering angle is maxed then releasing after. Think of it like a clock...If you turn say 12 to 2:30 no intrusion but 12-4 tcs won’t let you.
Diff cars diff speeds have a different degree where tcs cuts in.
Learning to drive with min possible steering angle is a huge benefit less rolling resistance more speed less tire wear more speed over time big steering angle squealing and scrubbing tires is no different than hitting brakes.
Imo having it on provides constant INSTANT FEEDBACK about my inputs.
Takes time no doubt but it builds the fundamentally sound technique. Braking trailing off while turning max steering angle apex then throttle add and release steering. Tcs provides constant feedback every turn about your driving. I love it.
Anyways that’s my reasoning behind it
and why I believe using it has benefited me and caused my improvement.
That’s all I’ve really ever said.
Understand it, use it to improve.




As above what I’m dealing with is opposite to just planting your foot to floor hard and fast.
Also driving line driving line driving line.
On my LH laps driving line is on and I’m darn near tracing it.
High speed esses are where TCS really forces you to minimize your inputs to avoid being slowed. Nice thing is in race if you do have to swerve the power cut shifts weight forward to allow you to turn.
High speed esses are hard to do well with tcs, but can be done fast. The initial turn in has to be just right and you gotta steer very little but very smooth, it’s hard. Felt impossible to me.
Doable though with some practice and good line.
A great combo to try the benefit of line on is n100 porsche speedster brands Indy sh tire.
It shows how the line itself with the undulations can stabilize the car and keep it nicely loaded and stable.
Anyways these are some points that have helped me go much much faster.
I seem to be still improving too, by using the tcs. By its FEEDBACK of slowing me down teaching me where I punch it too soon or where I stood the car on it’s nose too long coming in instead of releasing brake faster so front tires could donate more to turning.
I find as I improve all these little bits change things a little, causing other changes as well. It’s a very dynamic thing these great modern sim games.

Cheers to all looking to improve

Yes I can see why you use it now. I think that with practice, you should be able to feel when you're overturning the wheel even without TCS. All the top drivers don't overturn, and they don't use TCS. If you get that feel right, then using TCS will just slow you down because you just get the disadvantage without the benefits. Anyway, I'm glad to see that you're coming over to the idea of switching TC/BB to suit the track 👍 I'll keep driving without TCS, but if I'm struggling to get a corner right I might turn it on just to see if my steering input could be corrected. So thanks, it took a while, but we meet in the end

Watching your other replays I noticed you have quite a unique driving line too. You tend to turn in and apex earlier than usual, to compensate for the extra understeer that TCS brings. At the LH Interlagos for example, you take quite a lot of inside kerb in the Pinheirinho hairpin and Mergulho. You can get on the throttle early while on the kerbs because the TCS saves you from spinning out. So yes, I think it's possible to run competitive laptimes with TCS if you use it long enough for your driving to adapt and suit it. It's only when you start gunning for that #1 spot, that it becomes too much of a disadvantage.

 

[Groundfish]

At the LH Interlagos for example, you take quite a lot of inside kerb in the Pinheirinho hairpin and Mergulho. You can get on the throttle early while on the kerbs because the TCS saves you from spinning out. So yes, I think it's possible to run competitive laptimes with TCS if you use it long enough for your driving to adapt and suit it. It's only when you start gunning for that #1 spot, that it becomes too much of a disadvantage.

I built my tight line style on purpose to prevent dive bombing idiots.
I’ve found by using tcs I can take advantage of covering minimum distance, opposed to what many do which is maximum speed carry with max track used.
I think that’s good for low powered cars, but in racecars there’s so much acceleration the most important thing is getting to full throttle ASAP.
I’ll never get the top time in the world on qualifying, but racepace vs qual pace are very very different.
So yeah I practice like I race...
Tight lines...I can run those all day with great pace and almost never crash or bobble.
It’s what I like. Most players crash and bobble tons.

Also, the way my racing developed I was always the mid pack or upper room filler 99 sr guy at the back.
So usually I gained positions only when others made mistakes...
So, not making a lot of overtakes, your goal is often hold starting position and keep your nose clean.
Also when you gain a spot you don’t want to give it back by making stupid mistakes, so you build in a little error margin and don’t leave doors open...

 

[Groundfish]

I have to say, I gave blanket no TCS a try. I ran R8 at Brands all week. It was exactly what I already knew. Results up and down, led to dr reset, highly frustrating, ultimately ruined my alt account.
Trying to bite into that last second of time is just too much for me.
I’m already pretty much at my limit on times.
This week I became just like all the other handling car users at the pointy end of the field, way too many crashes, susceptible to bullying, basically unable to overtake each other...Now it’s the Mountain on C race...I’m going back to what led to my success initially. Power stability and TCS.
IF I had just run vette all week on Brands I’d be A plus right now on alt but instead I’m DE.
Turning off TCS wrecked my technique, I’m still calming back down smoothing things getting my lines back.
I think many players like the no tcs up and down crash every couple races, but that’s not me.

 

[Pigems]

I have to say, I gave blanket no TCS a try. I ran R8 at Brands all week. It was exactly what I already knew. Results up and down, led to dr reset, highly frustrating, ultimately ruined my alt account.
Trying to bite into that last second of time is just too much for me.
I’m already pretty much at my limit on times.
This week I became just like all the other handling car users at the pointy end of the field, way too many crashes, susceptible to bullying, basically unable to overtake each other...Now it’s the Mountain on C race...I’m going back to what led to my success initially. Power stability and TCS.
IF I had just run vette all week on Brands I’d be A plus right now on alt but instead I’m DE.
Turning off TCS wrecked my technique, I’m still calming back down smoothing things getting my lines back.
I think many players like the no tcs up and down crash every couple races, but that’s not me.

It literally took me months and months to finally get used to no TCS, 1 week isn’t gonna do it if that really is the goal.

 

[Yard_Sale]

A year and a half ago I was tcs-3 on everything. A year ago TCS-2. Now I’m 2 on some cars, 1 on most, 0 on some group 4 cars. I’ve done a few tests on zero TCS, and it’s fast when I’m on top of my game, but inconsistent at best.

The way I justify TCS to myself is during a race, I’ve gained WAAAAAAAAAAY more positions from someone doing a TCS-0-induced spin out..... then positions I’ve lost from an opponent overtaking me because they had more power to the ground running no TCS. The numbers aren’t even close.

if you’re a top split guy, I can see you needing every tenth of a second. But at my level, there’s way more to be gained from hitting my braking points and apexes correctly every lap. I’ll save TCS ZERO for when I (never) get to the A+ DR.

 

[Groundfish]

It literally took me months and months to finally get used to no TCS, 1 week isn’t gonna do it it that really is the goal.

Yeah that’s the thing, it’s really not. I’m not trying to get the ultimate possible worldwide GTS times. I’m also pointing out that maybe if it’s THAT difficult to be consistent that MAYBE the common advice in this game given to TURN IT OFF is WRONG.
I saw in the other thread a person was shocked I was A plus.
Fact is for me at least I like going in and racing. In race I need confidence to attack curbs, hairpins, take adapted lines, and I’m ok with not being the fastest car on track every single race.
I’m still finding more time without resorting to disabling TCS, to be very honest for me almost all the time in the game is flow, more than anything, line and flow, and it’s pretty amazing what the top guys do...It’s a little beyond my ability.
Pushing the limits that much trying to be something I’m not is too much for me.
I’m in a big minority as a wheel user on TCS that gets the times I do and the results I do...I’ve found for me the easiest most enjoyable way to compete, because I know how and why what I do works...
Kudos to those out there disabling TCS, just know that it’s certainly not the only option in GTS on gr3/4/1/2...
I appreciate your input man. I think though you are a more serious competitor than I am!
Given my amount of time in and speed if I do end up facing fast guys on FIA I am going to stick with TCS and safety consistency vs trying for maximum risk/reward.
I guess I’m just saying fast is a relative thing...The last thing I want is to go in and be THAT guy whose mistakes cost others their race. Right now 0TCS has shown that I’d be THAT guy sometimes.
If a guy takes me no tcs more power to them, BUT if they get behind me because of their own mistakes they are gonna be in for a tough go...

Cheers @Pigems you are a good man. I’m always rootin for ya

 

[Pigems]

Turning TCS off is only wrong depending on the goal(s) of the driver in question. If they just wanna drive and have fun without spinning, leave it on. But if the goal is to gain every last .1, than it 110% needs to be off at all times. Which takes many many hours to perfect. 👍

Edit: My goal has always been the same, get as fast as humanly possible in a attempt too squeak my way into a WT Event some day, so I need every last .001 possible, and then some.

That’s why I struggle through times like this one, and refuse to turn TC back on.

Edit 2: This is the clip I meant to post the first time.

 

[Ian JB]

Hmmm - This is great stuff ( For me!!! )

Some of you will know I have just bought a Fanatec CSL Wheel and pedals. While I am adapting to it well, I am no way ready to race anyone!

I am teaching my self left foot braking and beginning to learn trail braking.
I am using TCS 1 and 0....For the life in me I cannot "catch" a spin! That said, I almost managed earlier today, so I guess that is part of the learning curve.

On some tracks I am way in front of my best pad times. On some tracks I am wayyyy off the pace. Again, more learning curve.

I have been tinkering with the settings on the wheel and feel to be approaching a comfortable set up for my style of driving ( "Crap" is the word you may be looking for! )

As far as the view goes, I can only manage the bumper cam or bonnet cam.

Progress is being made though and I am....

Getting quicker!

Best regards.

Ian.

 

[Groundfish]

But if the goal is to gain every last .1, than it 110% needs to be off at all times. Which takes many many hours to perfect. 👍

Sure, if you want perfect you want perfect, but perfect in this game is extraordinarily difficult...
Going to WT is definitely not a goal for me personally.
Preventing others from beating out my teammate? Oh yeah.

Hmmm - This is great stuff ( For me!!! )

Some of you will know I have just bought a Fanatec CSL Wheel and pedals. While I am adapting to it well, I am no way ready to race anyone!

I am teaching my self left foot braking and beginning to learn trail braking.
I am using TCS 1 and 0....For the life in me I cannot "catch" a spin! That said, I almost managed earlier today, so I guess that is part of the learning curve.

On some tracks I am way in front of my best pad times. On some tracks I am wayyyy off the pace. Again, more learning curve.

I have been tinkering with the settings on the wheel and feel to be approaching a comfortable set up for my style of driving ( "Crap" is the word you may be looking for! )

As far as the view goes, I can only manage the bumper cam or bonnet cam.

Prgress is being made though and I am....

Getting quicker!

Best regards.

Ian.

Imo Lago Maggiore GP and Interlagos are both fantastic places to practice with line and cones.
I know no one understands why I say it but here it is again...
The line will give you proper steering on those tracks it’s very very fast.
One reason is the need to begin the wheels turn very gently then never stopping while winding it in to apex then letting it straighten. Notice I said let.
Soft hands, feeeeel the force and stay with it don’t force the tires...It’s all too easy to clench the wheel and force it and overdrive...
I know most people don’t get it but if you brake near the cones, hold the line with a nice smooth wind in and throttle only at apex or after and only brake before apex, you’ll be on your way...
This game loves smooth...If I was new on wheel I would practice that smooth and slow and buildup the coordination over time, rather than pushing at first gettin frustrated.
I’m a huge believer in line because it gets you steering properly just by following it. I don’t use line after learning a track but it’s fantastic on those two tracks.
Brake, gently smoothly turn in while releasing brake pressure, apex, throttle and unwind...
Good luck!

Edit if it was ME, I wouldn’t mess about too much with wheel settings. It’s advantageous to use a generally accepted baseline to let your mind learn what the ffb is telling you over time, if you switch too much your brain won’t be able to learn what means what.

 

[RacingGrandpa]

Hmmm - This is great stuff ( For me!!! )

Some of you will know I have just bought a Fanatec CSL Wheel and pedals. While I am adapting to it well, I am no way ready to race anyone!

I am teaching my self left foot braking and beginning to learn trail braking.
I am using TCS 1 and 0....For the life in me I cannot "catch" a spin! That said, I almost managed earlier today, so I guess that is part of the learning curve.

On some tracks I am way in front of my best pad times. On some tracks I am wayyyy off the pace. Again, more learning curve.

I have been tinkering with the settings on the wheel and feel to be approaching a comfortable set up for my style of driving ( "Crap" is the word you may be looking for! )

As far as the view goes, I can only manage the bumper cam or bonnet cam.

Prgress is being made though and I am....

Getting quicker!

Best regards.

Ian.

Let me just add that catching a spin is a lot easier with TCS0 than TCS1 or 2. That why I run the MR cars with TCS0, you can sense the slide much sooner and react before it's a spin. With TCS on it just snaps around.

 

[Pigems]

Damn, I posted the wrong clip! I’ll find the right one when I get home.

Edit: Fixed now. 👍

 

[Ian JB]

Imo Lago Maggiore GP and Interlagos are both fantastic places to practice with line and cones.

I have to agree 100%. Lago Magggiore is my favourite track. It's where I scored my first win. Interlagos is, in my humble opinion, a technical track that requires finesse and a delicacy that could compare to certain women I have known over.... Wait... what?

Interlagos is, in my humble opinion, a technical track that requires precision and accuracy, as do they all?

I cannot say just how much I am enjoying all of this stuff. With Covid and lockdown and all the other **** that we ALL have to deal with right now. This is just pure magic - Thank you all.

Stay safe folks. Stay happy. Be good.

Best regards.

Ian.

 

[Yard_Sale]

Hmmm - This is great stuff ( For me!!! )

Some of you will know I have just bought a Fanatec CSL Wheel and pedals. While I am adapting to it well, I am no way ready to race anyone!

I am teaching my self left foot braking and beginning to learn trail braking.
I am using TCS 1 and 0....For the life in me I cannot "catch" a spin! That said, I almost managed earlier today, so I guess that is part of the learning curve.

On some tracks I am way in front of my best pad times. On some tracks I am wayyyy off the pace. Again, more learning curve.

I have been tinkering with the settings on the wheel and feel to be approaching a comfortable set up for my style of driving ( "Crap" is the word you may be looking for! )

As far as the view goes, I can only manage the bumper cam or bonnet cam.

Prgress is being made though and I am....

Getting quicker!

Best regards.

Ian.

When I first got my wheel in September, I couldn't spin one lap to save my life. I stopped doing online racing for a week and first did TT's to get the feel for steering...and then later custom races to figure out how to "race" with other cars around. When I logged on for online racing 7 days later, it was a disaster. My B/S rating went to D/E IN NO TIME!!! It was that bad.

I use qually times (for my favorite weekly combo) and measure it against the top 10 as my barometer for how I progressed as the months passed. With a controller, I was ~4 seconds off the leaderboards. Now 5 months later, I'm consistently ~2 seconds off the leader boards. From a raw data perspective, that's marked improvement!

One thing that I thought I would have trouble with was left foot braking. Turns out, left foot braking in a video game is more natural than right foot braking. However, my left foot braking technique that I have developed in video games doesn't translate over to the real world hahaha! On that same token, I feel like I'm starting to finally get a handle on trail braking. The weird part is, it took me switching to cockpit view a few weeks ago for everything to kind of "click". I'm guessing the extra immersion of cockpit view subconsciously allowed me to brake the race cars like I do my personal vehicles.

Something that takes messing with to dial in for your preference is the combination of elastomers in the load cell, and your BRF setting on the wheel. It took me a while, but I think I finally got mine dialed in.

The only place I still think I'm faster on a pad than a wheel is when you start descending the mountain at Bathhurst. Those esses are tough to hit going fast in a wheel. Much easier with a pad. That's it though!

Also, I had to get used to the FFB on the wheel. When I first got it, I thought it was so violent!! I had to dial it to about 1/2 power (in game settings) to make it more manageable. Now I run it at full strength. The FFB is definitely something I had to grow into a bit.

Overall, the biggest thing I've noticed going to a wheel has been my consistency. When I get into my groove, I can bang out lap after lap like a metronome. I usually only go off if I do something really dumb, or I'm pushing real hard. When I was using a controller, 7-8 laps was my max of being able to string together consistent, "fast" laps.

Now that I have a wheel, I am enjoying the game so much more than I already did. To tell you the truth, if someone told me how much more fun this was, I'd pay double for everything!

 

[LeGeNd-1]

A year and a half ago I was tcs-3 on everything. A year ago TCS-2. Now I’m 2 on some cars, 1 on most, 0 on some group 4 cars. I’ve done a few tests on zero TCS, and it’s fast when I’m on top of my game, but inconsistent at best.

The way I justify TCS to myself is during a race, I’ve gained WAAAAAAAAAAY more positions from someone doing a TCS-0-induced spin out..... then positions I’ve lost from an opponent overtaking me because they had more power to the ground running no TCS. The numbers aren’t even close.

if you’re a top split guy, I can see you needing every tenth of a second. But at my level, there’s way more to be gained from hitting my braking points and apexes correctly every lap. I’ll save TCS ZERO for when I (never) get to the A+ DR.

Do you try to get DR A+, then turn off TCS?

Or do you turn off TCS, and then try to work your way up to DR A+?

You never know if #1 will happen, but with #2 at least you tried both situations

For what it's worth, I used TCS in the Tomahawk TT this fortnight (along with CSA Strong and AT). This car is so brain meltingly fast, I will allow myself some leeway Sitting 41st worldwide at the moment, though I think the ranking is artifically inflated because most people hate this car

 

[newb1017]

This is going to sound dumb to many of you, but what would be neat is a video for newbs on how to get quicker is to learn the most efficient way to get back on the track once you are off. A second or half second gained off track is just as important as second or half second gained on track. Some examples on brake/steering inputs (or lack of) when in sand, some examples of throttle control when nosed into a rail, 90 degrees to the track. Also, some tips on how best to control the car in grass to avoid spin outs and basically hold a line and make your way back on the track. As we all know there is a ton of slippage in grass, and common sense says really, really easy on the throttle, but lots of time there is nothing easy enough.... you just sit and spin, and spin... I am just assuming that while the best drivers are not off track much, they are also the most efficient at (1) preventing a complete spin out, and (2) assessing the situation and using the optimum inputs to get back on course, and (3) staying on the track in spots where less experienced drivers would go off. I have been in several spots where I could have gone from 16th (after a bad wreck) and made up 2, 3 or 4 spots if I had been better at getting back on the track. I thing this is relevant to "getting faster"

 

[Ian JB]

Hi,

I think its relevant to getting faster / quicker too!!! It does not sound dumb at all either!!!

There are hundreds of videos on Youtube that directly address the issues you, so eloquently, allude to. Having just acquired my first wheel and pedals here. This kind of thing has been instrumental in my "K" score rising dramatically over the last couple of weeks! I have watched, practiced and learned...

With many and massive thanks to ALL those who have contributed to this thread... I really am getting quicker now!

Best regards to all here.

Ian.