Learning to actually drive - GT5/G25/G27

[silicon1138]

I have a question for all you wheel users who are also actual real life drivers.
I passed my driving test over a year and a half ago in the UK, but now live in Paris. We don't own a car and i never get any chance to drive a car here.
I feel like i've forgotten it all already.
My question is this: Is the G25/27 with pedals etc good enough to practice real driving technique? Like, using the clutch for example, if you let the clutch out too fast in a lower gear in GT5 does it stall?
I was thinking i could buy a wheel and really get back into the whole gear changing thing and actual foot braking and accelerator control so it becomes second nature.

Your thoughts are welcomed.

Thanks!

 

[Mudkipz]

You can't.

GT5 is not a driving stimulator game. If you want to actually learn how to drive or practice for real life driving, try iRacing.

 

[zedextreme8177]

You can't.

GT5 is not a driving stimulator game. If you want to actually learn how to drive or practice for real life driving, try iRacing.

It definitely is a driving stimulator as far as I'm concerned

Answeing the OP, GT5's clutch probably doesn't work too well when you're using a G25/G27 wheel.

 

[Sureboss]

It'll stall with a G27 clutch, but there's no biting point like with real cars.

 

[NFSCARBON1]

GT5 may be helpful, but I wouldn't rely on it. A dedicated simulator would be better, I think there is one just for learning to drive.

 

[Devedander]

It might help non drivers get a feelinng for driving, but I doubt it will help you re learn your feel for the finer points of driving.

The clutch implimentation on GT5 with G27 is poor and since you don't get to feel the car move or feel the engines revs it's not going to help you with the real thing much (unless your whole body and inner ear are numb while driving IRL).

 

[Cosbuster]

If you're simply trying to remember how to drive I wouldn't advise any of the track-based simulators.

 

[t.o.]

If you've never or rarely driven then don't expect this game to help you much. When you're in an ACTUAL moving vehicle all bets are off to what you learned from this game. I use the Fanatec wheel with shifter and while manual shifting is "similar" to real life nothing is going to replicate that feeling of the car scooting from underneath you and that "biting" of the clutch catching and you taking off like real life. Once that happens, for that first time, trust the last thing on your mind will be the junk you try to "learn" in this or any game. There's a reason why some simulators cost 60 bucks at your local Walmart and others cost millions.

 

[BigYoSpeck]

No.

If you do both then you can definitely feel the similarities between them and it's a good simulation but the skills are not a 1 to 1 transfer.

I'm still not as good with a clutch and H shifter in game as I am in real life and there are so many sensory inputs missing in the game that you cannot develop the muscle memory needed to control a car for real.

 

[Bigbazz]

iRacing is no more helpful than GT5 to learn to drive. Both are simulations, both are different, neither are exactly like driving a real car. GT5 wheel feels closer to a real cars because it has less FFB information going on, FFB is something designed to make up for the lack of physical forces you get in a car. iRacing FFB attempts to produce all effects, which makes it easier to feel the car and make up for forces, but driving a real car is nothing like this, thus it is not helpful.


Can GT5 help you get used to the action of driving again? yes, but to be honest you should just get into the car and go for it, nothing better than the real thing.

 

[8oost]

Absolutely not I'm afraid. You can never get the same 'feel', even with the best wheel and pedals money can buy. The good news is, as soon as you start driving again it will come back very quickly. The real skill about driving is observation, which comes with experience, the rest will come naturally.

 

[psychot|K]

I have a fair bit of experience with real-life racing, so I can say with some confidence that playing GT5 with a good wheel setup WILL help in that aspect. The appropriate racing line, where to place your eyes along the track, proper throttle technique, and your sense of where the grip is will all be boosted by playing any decent racing simulation. The rest, I'm afraid, will have to come from very expensive track hours

As far as VERY basic driving skills (clutch usage), I don't think anything will take the place of real life practice.

 

[Destinkeys]

In fairness, with decent physics and fairly accurate tire grip and brake distances, many parents would probably go for a paid DLC that had a couple of city tracks (with cross traffic, lights, pedestrians and the like) for their teenager to practice SAFE driving.

It would be an excellent way to talk your parents into a system and wheel for youngsters, too!

💡

 

[sems4arsenal]

It is Helpful in some aspects like How Clutch works (although it isn't identical to the real thing),Know the car dimensions ,limitations of Braking ,Cornering (fast of course) and some aspects of Car Control But As People Mentioned There is no Substitute for the real thing In GT5 there is no G-Force like how there is no Restart Button in real life .Practice Makes Perfect so Real life Driving is the way to go and GT5 (or other sims) are for Racing on the limit and car control 👍

 

[MowTin]

The funny thing is the first time I learned to drive I used 3D Driving Simulator

http://www.3dfahrschule.de/uk_index.htm

It sort of helped. It made obeying traffic signs and proper signaling second nature before I ever got behind of the wheel.

I'm surprised no one tries to make a real driving test simulator for the 360/PS3.

 

[JJ72]

it has very limited use.

Because real life day to day driving is maybe 15% car control, but 85% about smoothness and situational awareness. As you can't feel the sudden jolts and change in G forces any sim won't teach you how to ease in the clutch properly, brake smoothly and coordinate your steering, being able to move the car isn't really a difficult thing but it's how you do it that counts.

There may be advantage building muscle memory and getting familiar with the controls, however ever car feels different, the steering feel will be different, the pedal feel will the different, so you end up adjusting in the real car, and not like it is hard to pick up without previous knowledge anyway, it take less than an hour of actual driving to build that memory.

And then there's the spatial and situational awareness, which racing sims can never ever provide.

 

[magsolid]

buff, driving in g forces while going 40 to 80 isn't that hard guys. It makes driving easier at least for me so why go on about the g forces. If you want to use simulator to practice traffic driving don't practice it on a racing sim, instead practice it on traffic sim game because there are both hugely different between racing course and street driving.

 

[Atarwii]

Try City Car Driving.

 

[fbccars924]

You might just try getting a really cheap car and finding a large parking lot late at night.

 

[Bluntified]

Some interesting responses here. I'm surprised that no one brought up the fact that driving is mostly observing! In GT you don't/can't move your head to look around, so IMO this will cripple your learning. There's also the lack of sense of speed, which is really important in real life.

As for user inputs using a gaming wheel, it's kinda close but not close enough. You'd have to mod your pedals to get it feeling real - add more brake resistance etc. It can probably teach you the fundamentals (gas means go, brake means stop etc.) but that's it!

Also, once you've driven, you never - I mean NEVER forget. All you need is a few minutes behind the wheel and it comes back, like second nature!

 

[MSTER232]

It'll stall with a G27 clutch, but there's no biting point like with real cars.

I do believe it does have a biting point, I don't have a G27 but I saw a GT5 vid demonstrating that it is existent:

 

[Bigbazz]

Honestly for road driving I think practicing in GT5 will do more harm than good! What will help is if you get in a real car and take it easy to begin with.

About the controls though, most modern brake pedals in cars are lighter than a G27 pedal. A lot of new cars especially have powered brakes that bite hard and pretty savage without much pressure, I felt like I was putting my foot through the floor with just a touch driving a 2013 DS3 for a few months earlier this year, compared to my 2003 Focus. I had to really adjust to extremely light braking due to how light the brake was with the powered brakes.

 

[GBO Possum]

On a positive note, I have found that regular hard driving in Forza and GT has honed my "skid reflexes" for icy winter roads.

This is a situation where the lack of G Forces in these games is less of a limitation. A slide on ice is typically detected first by visual cues.

As for clutch usage, one thing you won't get simulated in games is the "kangaroo" takeoff!

 

[jlmcmillan1978]

IMO, there is no game, and no wheel/pedal set up, that feels even remotely close to the real thing, mainly because of control weights and feedback and sensory inputs that are pretty much impossible for any game or controller to replicate.

 

[Camaro69427]

On a positive note, I have found that regular hard driving in Forza and GT has honed my "skid reflexes" for icy winter roads.

This is a situation where the lack of G Forces in these games is less of a limitation. A slide on ice is typically detected first by visual cues.

As for clutch usage, one thing you won't get simulated in games is the "kangaroo" takeoff!

Yeah, or that push forward that your body gets when shifting the gears. It is an unrivaled feeling of complete and utter POWER. Unless you are so obsessed with getting a close to real experience out of GT5 and you've built a full cockpit around the G27/G25/DFGT that moves like a real car, GT5 won't be even close to the real thing.