How do you drive?

[Skid Mark 33]

I just wanted to ask how everyone drives since I'm sure we all have different driving styles. My driving style is very smooth, and very fast. It is also very neat. I swing out wide before the turn, then clip the inside of the coner, and then clip the rumble strip on the outside of the coner exit. To me, this seems the best way, but that is just my opinon. I am amazing at circuit driving, but I suck at drifting. What are you like?

 

[Leonidae]

Modest yet fast. Typical Flying Finn.

 

[Stevisiov]

Well threads of the type are already around, so I would advise you post your driving style there, as always racing styles are difficult to describe by words, a video would be the best medium of description but I will do my best.

Firstly I like to apply the out-in-out technique as often as it is required (which is most of the time) also I try to ensure as good exit speed as possible especially if a long straight follows. I try to make my turn in as early as possible to 'get the nose in' as I often find without a decent angle of attack at the corner the car will insist on understeering and may require me to slow the car further which will effectively ruin exit speed.

I also try to find the shortest route possible around the track, without cutting it, which may sound silly but a lot of time can be wasted if you don't try to find the shortest route through a series of complex tight corners. Basically I don't always try the out-in-out when you would be better staying inside through and after the corner to allow to be on the outside for the next corner, instead of going through on the inside heading to the outside then swerving right across the track just so you can get onto the outside for a turn the other direction a few yards down the road.

So there you have it a few of my driving techinques, not all off them, and probably non-of them where well described.

 

[dking]

Well I drift mainly...but don't make the mistake in thinking I am slow...I think the best way is a balance of the two....while racing you can't always take the line you want. Drifting for me creates a rhythm and feel of total car control. If you want to race me come find me on xlink....Rl9010 The car that just passed you in full drift.

 

[Skid Mark 33]

Well threads of the type are already around, so I would advise you post your driving style there, as always racing styles are difficult to describe by words, a video would be the best medium of description but I will do my best.

Firstly I like to apply the out-in-out technique as often as it is required (which is most of the time) also I try to ensure as good exit speed as possible especially if a long straight follows. I try to make my turn in as early as possible to 'get the nose in' as I often find without a decent angle of attack at the corner the car will insist on understeering and may require me to slow the car further which will effectively ruin exit speed.

I also try to find the shortest route possible around the track, without cutting it, which may sound silly but a lot of time can be wasted if you don't try to find the shortest route through a series of complex tight corners. Basically I don't always try the out-in-out when you would be better staying inside through and after the corner to allow to be on the outside for the next corner, instead of going through on the inside heading to the outside then swerving right across the track just so you can get onto the outside for a turn the other direction a few yards down the road.

So there you have it a few of my driving techinques, not all off them, and probably non-of them where well described.

I do most of the things you said there, but I always use the out-in-out on corners, because that is the racing line, which is alot faster. But on chicanes I just drive straight across them. And no, I dont mean cut across the grass, I mean drive straight-over the 2 rumble strips, that is always the best thing to do on a quick chicane, Like the chicanes on SSR11. But if you get a slow chicane, like at Monaco then you have to drive all the way round it.

 

[Suzuki]

I can't choose both? Damn. Who says good drifters can't be good grippers, and vice versa?

 

[Skid Mark 33]

Thanks for spoting that, I will see if I can put a BOTH option on the poll right now, thanks for spoting that issue!

Edit: Sorry, I cant!

 

[DC9990]

I tend to use a bit of both, depending on tirelife & the track etc..
Sometimes you can go alot faster by drifting the odd corner but gripping the rest.
& when your tires are red & you dont wanna pit you can still drift round almost as fast as when your tires were green =]
So yeah I'd pic both if it were an option *pokes* add both :]

 

[Skid Mark 33]

Yeah it sucks that I forgot to put a both option, so I will try to rember to do that next time when nessacery.

 

[Suzuki]

heh, all is good.

 

[Stevisiov]

I do most of the things you said there, but I always use the out-in-out on corners, because that is the racing line, which is alot faster. But on chicanes I just drive straight across them. And no, I dont mean cut across the grass, I mean drive straight-over the 2 rumble strips, that is always the best thing to do on a quick chicane, Like the chicanes on SSR11. But if you get a slow chicane, like at Monaco then you have to drive all the way round it.

No, no it is not always faster, there is always a racing line, however the racing line is not always out-in-out. Out-in-out works as a general rule but is not faster in every concievable situation, think about it, I will do my best to explain using an example.

1.Hong Kong last sector, the series of 90 degrees bends very close together, if you go out-in-out you will find you are on the inside going into the next corner (bad news) what you need to do is go:

Out on the approach to the corner, turn into the inside (avoiding the high curb if you are in a very low car with stiff springs) but stay inside, even during the exit, that doesn't mean plaster yourself to the wall but don't run too wide, because staying inside means you are now on the outside for the next corner just 30 yards or so ahead. If you exit on the outside here you will not have time to cut across to the outside without a rash swerve across that will almost certainly loose you a good deal of time.

It is hard to explain by writing, but you must understand, out-in-out is just a general rule, it is not the racing line. The racing line is something that will vary from car to car and driver to driver, there is no definative racing line just faster and slower ones. My racing technique is good, but not the best, it takes much time to perfect it so hopefully one day...

Hopefully you will improve your understand of racing lines overtime as well.👍

 

[Skid Mark 33]

No, no it is not always faster, there is always a racing line, however the racing line is not always out-in-out. Out-in-out works as a general rule but is not faster in every concievable situation, think about it, I will do my best to explain using an example.

1.Hong Kong last sector, the series of 90 degrees bends very close together, if you go out-in-out you will find you are on the inside going into the next corner (bad news) what you need to do is go:

Out on the approach to the corner, turn into the inside (avoiding the high curb if you are in a very low car with stiff springs) but stay inside, even during the exit, that doesn't mean plaster yourself to the wall but don't run too wide, because staying inside means you are now on the outside for the next corner just 30 yards or so ahead. If you exit on the outside here you will not have time to cut across to the outside without a rash swerve across that will almost certainly loose you a good deal of time.

It is hard to explain by writing, but you must understand, out-in-out is just a general rule, it is not the racing line. The racing line is something that will vary from car to car and driver to driver, there is no definative racing line just faster and slower ones. My racing technique is good, but not the best, it takes much time to perfect it so hopefully one day...

Hopefully you will improve your understand of racing lines overtime as well.👍

Maybe a test could be done, because I have always found my technique to be faster, but I'm not saying your wrong, so please do not be offended!

 

[Stevisiov]

A test is pretty tricky to do over the internet because results are easily fabricated. Saying that I am game if there is a way.

What I am saying is, while out-in-out is what you should do for single corners, when you get a complex string of corners Out-in-out becomes impractical and you need to improvise and find faster lines.

 

[Wolfe]

What Stevisiov90 is trying to say is that although "out-in-out" is a good representation of the racing line through a basic corner, it isn't always that simple. In fact, it isn't even that simple on basic corners -- you can often get a better corner exit speed (the #1 goal of efficient cornering) if you apex a bit after the "middle" of the turn, straightening out a bit sooner and getting back on the throttle a bit earlier.

The image on top is Stevisiov90's example. The images on the bottom are my example.

 

[Stevisiov]

What Stevisiov90 is trying to say is that although "out-in-out" is a good representation of the racing line through a basic corner, it isn't always that simple. In fact, it isn't even that simple on basic corners -- you can often get a better corner exit speed (the #1 goal of efficient cornering) if you apex a bit after the "middle" of the turn, straightening out a bit sooner and getting back on the throttle a bit earlier.

The image on top is Stevisiov90's example. The images on the bottom are my example.

Exactly, racing isn't as black and white as out-in-out it has lots of different ways thanks to the huge variety of corners, as wolfe said much better and with fewer words, as a basic rule you can't go far wrong with out-in-out but when you have subsequent straight, you need to develop and adjust your line to ensure you can carry as much exit speed as possible, or as I said when you have a subsequent nearby turn in the opposite direction your exit may need adjusting to ensure your exit will positions correctly so you can attack the next corner. You need to plan ahead of the corners and that is why learning tracks comes high on the priority list for me on racing games. (hopefully for real racing in future)

btw, good images wolfe+rep

[edit] Inspired by wolfe's efforts, I thought I would have a go at my own.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=63116&stc=1&d=1185231293

 

[Parnelli Bone]

In GT4 I grip 99% of the time. I'd actually prefer a bit more sliding / drifting action, but during sim races this is impractical.

In GT1,2, and 3, I would mostly grip-race with an occasional power-slide or trail-brake. If I happened to get ahead of the Ai by a healthy margin, then perhaps I'd practice a drift or 2 if I felt safe.

But in GT4 it's so damn hard to get a decent drift unless you use crappy tires. 👎 Since I mostly do close-racing against the ai, I can't afford to do anything that might make me lose.

 

[subyluvr2212]

I'm pretty much with you Skid Mark. I do my best to be as smooth as possible. I've actually spent a lot of time lately training myself to take advantage of the analog gas/brake controls and use partial throttle or partial braking to try to smoothen out my driving.

In the harder Special Condition events, like the ice/snow courses, these skills are a MUST. Sometime, take the Escudo into the Hard Ice Arena, and pretend like you're driving on High-Speed Ring (full throttle, full braking, hard turn-in, etc.) I'll bet that you actually lose the race, even though you'll be racing a Lancer or WRX rally car. You'll lose against a 300hp car in a 1000hp car.

A good example of what Wolfe and Stevis are talking about: The Infineon course. The second 180º turn after the big downhill sweeping turn... sometime when you're in Practice, take that turn as close to the inside as possible, using the out-in-out philosophy. Then, on the next lap, come into that corner really wide (so far that you go into the extra pavement off the track) and slow down significantly. Then come out of the turn very tight and step on it. When you exit this turn completely, compare it with your ghost of your previous lap and see which way is faster.

Remember, sometimes it's better to sacrifice apex speed for exit speed.

 

[Picc84]

depends. I do allot of both. When I'm way overpowering the competition, in maybe 2-300 hp. I'll drift it. Mainly if its a FR though, because i just suck at everything else. Otherwise, I'm not enough good of a drifter to drift races, so i grip. But I vote Drift!

 

[Kurei]

Im kind of like a few of the drivers in Japan, started out a occasional drifter and then switched to grip.

I did it because i found grip to be a little more demanding of the driver, in a sense drifting was were i could just throw the car around, not worry, etc, but grip makes it less relaxing, more demanding, i.e you got to find the right line, hit the right braking point, etc

 

[Quiet_Storm]

My driving style is very smooth, and very fast. It is also very neat. I swing out wide before the turn, then clip the inside of the coner, and then clip the rumble strip on the outside of the coner exit. To me, this seems the best way, but that is just my opinon. I am amazing at circuit driving, but I suck at drifting. What are you like?

My driving style is completely opposite of yours. I drive very irratically, slow and just plain messy. I tend to always brake too late and end up slamming right into a wall. If you watched a replay of my driving, you'd be like "WTF, is this guy on drugs?"

 

[Formula1Driver]

i try to have drive clean but if i need to catch up then ill try to push really hard which will have some consequences but I usually get past 'em

 

[Open Addict]

I vote racing, if you can call what i do racing.

I try to keep to the lines as much as i can but sometimes i go in a bit hot and end up losing to much exit speed.

also i have a little trouble remebering the courses and what speed which car can handle and so forth.

 

[Wolfe]

By the way, since I didn't really answer the OP's question in my last post...

If I'm honest, I'd have to vote for "drift." Not because I'm some D1GP wannabe or because I think it's the fastest way around a course, but because it's just fun. Anytime I'm far ahead of the rest of the pack or driving by myself, I'll kick the tail out just for the hell of it.

Of course, if I'm even more honest, I don't even play GT4, much less drift in it. But this thread is broad enough to cover other driving sims.

 

[Skid Mark 33]

Exactly, racing isn't as black and white as out-in-out it has lots of different ways thanks to the huge variety of corners, as wolfe said much better and with fewer words, as a basic rule you can't go far wrong with out-in-out but when you have subsequent straight, you need to develop and adjust your line to ensure you can carry as much exit speed as possible, or as I said when you have a subsequent nearby turn in the opposite direction your exit may need adjusting to ensure your exit will positions correctly so you can attack the next corner. You need to plan ahead of the corners and that is why learning tracks comes high on the priority list for me on racing games. (hopefully for real racing in future)

btw, good images wolfe+rep

[edit] Inspired by wolfe's efforts, I thought I would have a go at my own.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=63116&stc=1&d=1185231293

Thanks for the diagrams, I understand now. That seems like a really good technique, which will make my driving even faster, and I'm a rocket all ready. That should help me cut my lap times by about 1.5 seconds when nessacary!

 

[Parnelli Bone]

By the way, since I didn't really answer the OP's question in my last post...

If I'm honest, I'd have to vote for "drift." Not because I'm some D1GP wannabe or because I think it's the fastest way around a course, but because it's just fun. Anytime I'm far ahead of the rest of the pack or driving by myself, I'll kick the tail out just for the hell of it.

Of course, if I'm even more honest, I don't even play GT4, much less drift in it. But this thread is broad enough to cover other driving sims.

Yeah I was gonna say...how do you reliably drift in GT4 during sim races? I get a tail-kick here and there, but a full-on drift? I'd best break out GT3 or 2 again.

 

[Suzuki]

Im kind of like a few of the drivers in Japan, started out a occasional drifter and then switched to grip.

I did it because i found grip to be a little more demanding of the driver, in a sense drifting was were i could just throw the car around, not worry, etc, but grip makes it less relaxing, more demanding, i.e you got to find the right line, hit the right braking point, etc

A lot of the top drivers in D1 do both activly.
But who says drifting isn't more demanding than grip? I think they are equally demanding in their own ways. I found that getting good at grip helps with my drift, and vice versa. Competitive drifting is less relaxing than just drifting for the fun of it.

 

[Picc84]

A lot of the top drivers in D1 do both activly.
But who says drifting isn't more demanding than grip? I think they are equally demanding in their own ways. I found that getting good at grip helps with my drift, and vice versa. Competitive drifting is less relaxing than just drifting for the fun of it.

Exactily. I really enjoy the demands of drifting. Unless you've been drifting for a good 10 years, theres no way that drifting is as relaxing as you'd think. when you see a video of people drifting form outside the car, and their doing perfect drifts, it looks relaxing, because its all just one fluid flow. while what you dont see is the hard work the driver is doing, to keep that car sideways at that perfect angle.

 

[Wolfe]

Exactily. I really enjoy the demands of drifting. Unless you've been drifting for a good 10 years, theres no way that drifting is as relaxing as you'd think. when you see a video of people drifting form outside the car, and their doing perfect drifts, it looks relaxing, because its all just one fluid flow. while what you dont see is the hard work the driver is doing, to keep that car sideways at that perfect angle.

Although drifting just for fun, as Suzuki and I mentioned, is rather simple. Doing it in a videogame can easily be relaxing.

 

[BobK]

I find hotlapping the 'Ring in a DTM car to be very relaxing. However I suspect that it might be a tad more stressful in real life.

 

[dking]

My driving style is completely opposite of yours. I drive very irratically, slow and just plain messy. I tend to always brake too late and end up slamming right into a wall. If you watched a replay of my driving, you'd be like "WTF, is this guy on drugs?"

awesome! we need more genuine posts like this....not always..."Yeah I am always on the fast line around the corner", Or "I am always perfectly clippin apexes.."

Without goin in too hot sometimes or making a mistake once in a while...I would have to say....your not really driving hard enough.

I think drift and grip compliment each other....I find myself drifting when I think my entry when I grip is getting too slow....Its good to practice both evenly. Then I believe overall car control can be achieved.

Drifting can be stressful at times when other cars are around you...but other then that It can be very relaxing....less stressful then grip for sure. It basically is grip...but very lazy....