How do you properly 'Rally'?

[Stratosphere03]

Hey guys,

So I decided to go back and play some GT4 since I never really got too deep into it (About 34% complete). I'm attempting to do some rally races, and immediately my old frustrations are back. I'm just terrible at rallying. There has to be a better technique to it that what I have been doing to get through most of the Easy/Normal races.

Typically I just gun it on the short straights and when I am approaching a turn I'll brake hard and cut hard. The problem here is that I pretty much end up sliding my rear end into the barriers every time. This is the only tactic that works for me though. If I try and be more cautious I get blown by, if I try and race like I would normally race on tarmac, obviously I'm slamming head onto walls and racking up 5 sec. penalties.

I don't know if there are some major tuning adjustments that I should be making or if this is just the nature of the beast. So any of you expert GT rallyers please give me some assistance. Thanks.

 

[PF]

I'm far, far from an expert and loathe the rally courses, but...

I'd suggest you go back and gold all of the rally courses in the license tests. Remember to tap the right analogue stick so the 'perfect' line is displayed and try to memorise the braking, coasting and acceleration points for each different corner. It's all about lining up for the corner so you can accelerate hard out of it without losing (too much) grip in the rear end.

Hope this helps

EDIT: If you want to look at tuning for gravel, check out MFT's Galant, Pajero and Celica (off the top of my head. Have only tested two of these but they should give you an idea of how to tune for these events.

Are you going for Aspec points or just completion?

 

[Stratosphere03]

Shoot I don't even remember how the A-spec/B-spec deal works anymore lol! Uh but yeah I guess I'm just trying to win some races right now.

Ill check out those tunes btw, but I've actually been using the Toyota RSC Rally Raid Car '02.

 

[PF]

Shoot I don't even remember how the A-spec/B-spec deal works anymore lol! Uh but yeah I guess I'm just trying to win some races right now.

Ill check out those tunes btw, but I've actually been using the Toyota RSC Rally Raid Car '02.

Aspec=you drive, Bspec=computer drives for you. Pretty sure you can't Bspec the Spec Con hall; it's just that some of us try to try to get the max Aspec points (200) and others just want to get the bloody races over with.

If you just want to win the accursed things, it will probably depend on your preferred driving style as to which car would be best. Eg, I never liked the Toyota Rally car, and went for the (or one of the) Impreza rally cars and the two Peugeot ones. There's also a Renault 5 that I seem to recall enjoying, but some (or most) of these are prize cars for the very events that are frustrating you.

If you don't mind 'dirty' tactics try the Dodge RAM. Completely unrealistic accel and handling for a two ton behemoth, and it's the size of a small continent, so you can just take the lead and block your way to the win. If you use this strategy, don't forget NOS for the straights.

Also, you really should have searched the forums before making this. There are thousands of posts on rallying and most of the opinions are going to be more informed than mine.

However, you really really should gold all (or most of) the rally licenses. This is really important as the licenses have been carefully designed to teach you every aspect of the game.

Good luck mate and keep us posted.

 

[iluvgt4]

If you're having trouble, use the manumatic function on the auto tranny I sometimes use when I rally my Escudo. Hold down L2 or R2 to hold a gear, press the one you didn't hold the gear with to upshift. It's handy, save for the fact that the manumatic only lets you upshift, though that can be easily corrected with the square button.

Maybe you could try that on a rally car besides your RSC. There are lots of rally cars to choose from. The Mitsubishi Lancer and Subaru Impreza rally cars (any of em), the Escudo (the almighty in GT2), the Mitsubishi Pajero rally SUVs and more.

 

[mafia_boy]

It's more an adjustment of driving style more than anything. Remember, the grip levels on rallies are less than they are on tarmac so you have to drive accordingly, so brake a bit earlier and throw the car into the corner a bit more, and adjust your driving lines to suit.

The best place to learn the ropes is to go to Swiss Alps as it is the widest of the lot and allows for a lot of sideways action to occur.

 

[PF]

If you're having trouble, use the manumatic function on the auto tranny I sometimes use when I rally my Escudo. Hold down L2 or R2 to hold a gear, press the one you didn't hold the gear with to upshift. It's handy, save for the fact that the manumatic only lets you upshift, though that can be easily corrected with the square button.

Oh hell no, don't drive Auto unless you really can't do manual. Especially in rallying the gears are vital. Eg, drop a gear to initiate oversteer, shift up to gain more traction on entry or exit. Just compare trying to gold one of the licenses in auto compared to manual. Brake just a bit too hard and the car puts you in 1st and you lose 0.2-0.4 just readjusting yourself.

It's more an adjustment of driving style more than anything. Remember, the grip levels on rallies are less than they are on tarmac so you have to drive accordingly, so brake a bit earlier and throw the car into the corner a bit more, and adjust your driving lines to suit.

Definitely. But would add that (at least for my driving style) coasting is more important here than on tarmac so it's not just accel/decel, the entire approach to the corner is different.

 

[mafia_boy]

Definitely. But would add that (at least for my driving style) coasting is more important here than on tarmac so it's not just accel/decel, the entire approach to the corner is different.

That's right, the entire approach is different to what you would expect on tarmac, but the lines are very similar in that you aim for the apex and turn in that bit earlier, plus throttle application allows the car to be spat out sideways if it's done correctly.

 

[Smallhorses]

I've just worked my way through the Special Conditions Hall again in my 2nd pass through GT4, my first pass being a 100,000 A-spec point epic.
This time I'm shooting for shortest completion time, but I'm still an A-spec freak, and though I'm not looking for 200 points in every race this time, I'm shooting to average around 100.

The Lotus Elise '00 is a superb rally car with nothing more than dirt or snow tyres for easy level, and with minor modifications (stage 1 or stage 2 turbo) for the normal races. It's also a great car to learn the rally technique with, and awards good A-spec points due to it's relatively low power.
I'd also recommend the Lancia Delta HF Integrale (NOT the S4!!!) Rally Car & Mitsubishi CZ-3 Rally Car as good learning tools.
If you're looking for easy A-spec points and want to avoid the obvious Dodge Ram "cheat" (not really a cheat per se, but an A-spec bug awards this vehicle more points than any other for some reason) the Honda Element is a great option, very easy to drive, but one must get rid of the stock gearbox as it almost refuses, point-blank, to accelerate from a standing start!!!

For turns on gravel or dirt (and indeed ice, although much slower) I find the following works:
Approach the corner on the outside if possible, brake hard & early and turn in sharply towards the inside of the turn . Stomp on the gas to get the back end of your car around, but then lift off as you apply countersteer to avoid hitting the inside of the turn, and once you're clear of the apex, judiciously moderate your throttle & steering inputs until you can straighten up and mash the accelerator out of there.
Swiss Alps is definitely the easiest track to learn technique on, while the ice tracks and Grand Canyon are by far the hardest.
I'd also suggest having a look in the Mission Hall & Driving Test subforum and check out some of the videos posted of gold licence times posted there by such experts as Mr. P, hollo1 & Austin343.
What you'll find is surprising, most folks are very guilty of trying to drive way too fast on rally & ice tracks. Look closely at the apex speeds of some of the gold runs in those videos and they're surprisingly slow, however, it's exit speed that gains you time and if you're clouting your back end on the exit of every turn that's costing you seconds per lap.

 

[niky]

+1 on too fast.

An effective driving style in GT4's rallies is to keep the slides to the barest minimum. Learn how much grip you have and set yourself up to accelerate out of turns at the earliest possible moment... even if this means entering and executing the corner slower than you would otherwise.

I've always ascribed to the Sebastian Loeb style. Don't go for the big inputs and big slides. Set up properly, nail the apex, get on the throttle as smoothly and as early as possible. It's extremely effective in Turismo.

 

[chepe371]

WRC cars are the best choice, the Group B's need a more delicate and refined technique.

Peugeot 206 and Toyota Corolla WRC are my choices.

Overall its a delicate art, these cars are capable of lightning fast accel, even from a standstill, with launch control and anti-lag turbo, they are responsive and agile.

Here's a great 80's video of Rauno Altonen breaking down his techniques.


Entry point is between late(drifting) and early(grip racing), Entry speed is of greater importance than exit speed, 9 out of 10 turns are faster than you think, so having a good entry speed is essential, if your too fast, you kick out the rear and drift out, if you're at the right speed, you succeed.

The way to get fast times is to be conservative with the drift angle, so as your rear is out only slightly without removing grip from the front tires, but still stay loose(unbalanced) enough to kick the rear around the other way to change directions quickly.

Driving for show , i like to slide at high angles. Other than that it costs time. Looks nice, costs time.

 

[AlexGTV]

Learn from the demos, it was the easiest way from me to get the hang of it and of course use the same car as different cars will need slightly different approaches but the basic idea is to use the limited grip to your advantage with controlled powerslides.