Time Trial Discussion

[Gorefast]

Hi,

Hello 330_d! Just a tenth between us now. Blimey!

I think I am going to have to play around with the TCS thing now...

When I run a lap with TCS 0, I generally end up spinning out on the hairpins. If I run a lap on TCS 1, I am near my best time but can't just quite beat it. So - TCS 0 until each hairpin, then TCS 1 at the "critical" parts? What say you sir?

I have tried this approach previously with limited success and result. That said, I have managed to complete some more Circuit Experience tests today, using this method. Including the High Speed Ring - A test that I have been failing miserably at for almost 2 years now!!! 😳

I have abandoned any further attempts to improve my Road Atlanta time in the Ford. It just is not good for my stress levels!!!


Best regards to all here.

Ian.

Hi Ian,

the circuit experience at High Speed Ring is one of my personal horror tasks. Despite a lot of effort by me and a very nice friend from Brittany I could not make it so far. So I congratulate you to this achievement with all my heart! Awesome!!!

Regarding Daytona I will keep an eye on you...😉 Cheers, mate!

 

[Ian JB]

Hi,

@crome...

I don't mind at all. Not even a little!...

I, like many others here, struggle these Time Trials. Following "ghosts" is one thing. Being a "ghost" is an entirely different thing. Reaching a time within 3% is a challenge. Within 2% is rewarding. Within 1% is, quite frankly, remarkable - Given the number of people involved and the time required to hone and practice the skill set needed to achieve that time.

I am trying very hard not to sound like a well known, and much loved!, member of this community - Its the corners that are killing me!
While following / chasing various ghost times, I always lose time exiting, low speed - tight - hairpin corners. I have this down to lack of throttle control on my account. "Fair play" I hear you shout. So... TCS 2 for my next session... First part and TCS 0 to 1 or 2 second part. I will report back here when I have completed the session. I do think that you are right though. I also suspect that it may be a kind of "placebo" effect here.

All I want is a top 500 finish in one of these infernal Trials!!! 🤪

@Gorefast...

Ohh the joy of seeing that test with a gold time was immense - I wish you luck!

Best regards to all here.

Ian.

 

[Wilsonson]

Hi fam. Finally had time to get back to Atlanta yesterday. Was stuck at slightly above 3 % for what felt like forever. Just couldn't get the hang of the Focus despite watching track guides and trying to stick to the recommendations. After a total of about 300 km I finally made it into gold somewhat safely. Hope it sticks.

Then today had some time to try Daytona. The Ford GT is a pleasure to drive. Thanks to @Chrome I tried CSA and that combined with the forgiving Ford allows me to stay in TC 0 while I usually go for 2 in Gr. 3. It also felt like a record amount of valid laps here. I usually invalidate about 3 in 4 laps.

I will definitely come back. Both because I don't feel very safe yet but also because I absolutely love Daytona Road Track. Guess I will try the Viper and see how it goes.

I also love the classic GT40 Le Mans livery.

 

[feral and bad]

Had to resort to the Meta. TCS=0 CSA=Off ABS=Default Talent=Minimal

Serious kudos to those in the 1:44's and the aliens.

 

[skydragon49]

Hello there (windy night)

One more TT session before the bed and getting back to real life challenges on Monday. And I gotta tell ya, I really like this car but I think I've found my limits.

After reading several posts regarding assists, I set ABS to default and TCS 1. The TCS 1 were more like a safe net, it helped me paying more attention on my lines rather than baby sitting the throttle. Default ABS made me get a better T1 (I guess....) it felt like I was sliding less. The rest of the track I saw no difference.

Besides that I made the obvious changes which was trying to exit the turns using 3rd, however I just couldn't for the sake of my life use 1st for rotation at T4. 28.8 were my regular split in S1 and I just can't hit anything below that. My lap time is built on the other sectors.

The lap is shared in game, in case someone feels like chasing a slow blue Viper.


See you guys next Thursday. 😎

 

[330_D]

Hoping for a little more.. Every session I have improvement so far. This one was a big jump. I figured out the first corner a little more and was much more consistent through the second. Also improving steadily through the bus stop. I don't usually chase time with race cars but this one is awesome and I might keep pushing.
The lap. Open to any criticism or help. Tcs 0 and CSA weak (I'm a proponent of CSA often...)

 

[ScottPuss20]

I was able to jump ahead of @Pesselles with this lap time but that was it. I didn't beat anyone else on my board. I'm not completely satisfied with my efforts so I'll get back on tonight and try to find those last few tenths,

 

[Vule]

Ever since I started taking time trials "seriously", I always got the feeling that there are just some bad sessions, where you can't do anything right, it just won't turn, you cannot nail the apex, you are missing your braking points, no matter how much mileage you put in it, it's impossible to reach the goal. But also, sometimes I just get in the zone, the car listens to my inputs, I'm guiding it just where I want it. Those are not so common and don't happen so often, but tonight was one of those sessions.

I had already put down a very solid laptime at Road Atlanta with 1:31.934, but I knew there was more time there. So I sat down and started lapping. First good lap - 1:31.911 with a very bad first sector, second good lap - 1:31.866 with a below average second sector (here I wanted to stop and post this just to annoy @Dan_Tes who nailed a .867 ) but I didn't, took a break and a shower, ate some dinner and came back.

And here I proudly present to you one of the best laps I've ever done on this game, I could say it's THE best, but I'm missing a couple of hundreds to my sector optimals, so I won't say it just yet.

The lap:



I will go again on the last day probably and try to get into the top 10, who knows how the stars will align

 

[ZevZoq]

well, I managed to squeeze back under the 3% line again! Just...

 

[NevilleNobody]

The guys in the 45's at Daytona, just horrible people, all of you

 

[MiniMax]

I read this thread to get info and tips for the time trials but don't put in many laps if I can achieve a safe gold time in less than 5 to 10 laps. I'm OK to take the credits and move on. This week's race at Daytona was interesting enough to put in more laps and see how much additional time was achievable compared to the record. If you were to think that the competitors posting in this thread are normal racers it would be discouraging. Some of the active members in here are among the best in the world. While that helps a lot in providing good tips, it doesn't really help the average racer as a peer group comparison except for the fine advice.

At this time after about 40 laps, my best lap is 1:45:470 about 1150th on the global board of 109,000. Almost at the top 1%. But among the slowest times that are posted here. This is a really tough and talented crowd. In the end I have learned a lot about how to drive faster and do enjoy seeing the great laps that are posted here even if well beyond my ability to compete or contribute.

 

[crome]

Still having a blast at Daytona. I have built up some consistency in the first three sectors, which helps tremendously with managing "bus stop anxiety" because I know binning a promising lap isn't a big deal, which has a calming effect. This is where I've arrived for now ...

... and it came in a lap with a relatively modest 52.955 S2 split (see below). I can somewhat reliably reach 52.8 and had one 52.765 as well. So if I do the math, the pace is there for my 3rd top 100 placement. Whether I can manage to put it together is another question, as always

I think I'll abandon Road Atlanta even though that one's fun as well, but I don't have the time to work on both, and besides switching back and forth between two totally different cars messes with my consistency

Spoiler: The lap

Happy lapping!

 

[BuzzdoggZ]

Good day gentlemen

I'm extremely inconsistent in my lapping, with the majority being invalidated and very few clean laps. I guess it all stems from pushing too hard and struggling to put being smooth into practice.

One video suggested that too many jerky movements stems from being too reactive and not looking ahead up the track. At the moment I am so focused on hitting the braking point that I don't look for the apex until I'm way into or finished braking.

A question for you fast guys: How far ahead up the track are you looking and any tips for looking into the corner whilst also hitting your braking point? Thanks

 

[P-Courty]

A question for you fast guys: How far ahead up the track are you looking and any tips for looking into the corner whilst also hitting your braking point? Thanks

Not as fast as the others here but my bit of advice to get in the flow of a TT is...

I have said before that for the first lap of any TT the best thing for me is loading @Tidgney ghost and having his guide open on my phone... Watch the last corner first to get the best start you can for your first lap... Then watch only turn one then pause the guide, then you replicate it and pause game, watch guide for turn 2 and pause, the replicate in game... Continue this for your first lap and then if you are still struggling try this....

• load a ghost with reset at each sector and set it to 0.3sec ahead of you.
• to start with forget about markers and watch for the brake lights on the ghost.
• once you are happy with finding a brake marker from the tail lights, start to try and follow the line and speed of the ghost through the corner.

If you struggle with the input of braking / trail braking and accelerator application, go back and whatch the replay of the ghost you are chasing, I usually do this in chase cam to see the brake lights before the brake bar fills up... At this moment I will pause the replay and change to bumper cam (as I use it) to find the best brake marker for me.

Then pay attention to the way the brake and accelerator are applied throughout the corner.

Repeat for each part that you struggle on.

 

[Chris30]

@crome I'm starting to have Road Atlanta anxiety from racing so much Saturday and Sunday morning, I have to take a break for a day or two from the pressing random buttons on my controller. I don't want carpel tunnel syndrome.

 

[Barareklam]

Good day gentlemen

I'm extremely inconsistent in my lapping, with the majority being invalidated and very few clean laps. I guess it all stems from pushing too hard and struggling to put being smooth into practice.

One video suggested that too many jerky movements stems from being too reactive and not looking ahead up the track. At the moment I am so focused on hitting the braking point that I don't look for the apex until I'm way into or finished braking.

A question for you fast guys: How far ahead up the track are you looking and any tips for looking into the corner whilst also hitting your braking point? Thanks

I can strongly recommend to invest half an hour in this method and it will give you many answers, then with practice you will not need it anymore, but test it now and thank me later
BTW, are you on Gyro (motion control ) or I got it wrong? and If yes, are you holding controller in your hands or have some stand?

 

[330_D]

I read this thread to get info and tips for the time trials but don't put in many laps if I can achieve a safe gold time in less than 5 to 10 laps. I'm OK to take the credits and move on. This week's race at Daytona was interesting enough to put in more laps and see how much additional time was achievable compared to the record. If you were to think that the competitors posting in this thread are normal racers it would be discouraging. Some of the active members in here are among the best in the world. While that helps a lot in providing good tips, it doesn't really help the average racer as a peer group comparison except for the fine advice.

At this time after about 40 laps, my best lap is 1:45:470 about 1150th on the global board of 109,000. Almost at the top 1%. But among the slowest times that are posted here. This is a really tough and talented crowd. In the end I have learned a lot about how to drive faster and do enjoy seeing the great laps that are posted here even if well beyond my ability to compete or contribute.

This place is a snake pit. However, most of the fastest here are super willing to share help and methods for most every trial we have. I started really trying about a year and a half ago and to date I have some pretty stellar finishes. I blame this place. If you pay attention, there is a TON to learn here, if the goal is moving up at least. If you do it just to do it, that's awesome as well, and pretty good to be able to jump in and gold most. 👍👍

Good day gentlemen

I'm extremely inconsistent in my lapping, with the majority being invalidated and very few clean laps. I guess it all stems from pushing too hard and struggling to put being smooth into practice.

One video suggested that too many jerky movements stems from being too reactive and not looking ahead up the track. At the moment I am so focused on hitting the braking point that I don't look for the apex until I'm way into or finished braking.

A question for you fast guys: How far ahead up the track are you looking and any tips for looking into the corner whilst also hitting your braking point? Thanks

I'm fastest when I remember to look as far up the track as I can. I switched to VR at the new year and that really showed me just how much I was staring at the bumper of the ghost. The more you open your field of vision, the more you'll drive toward the apex and see your speed more accurately. At least that's valid for me. Good luck,

Also always brake earlier than you think and use less force. It's much much faster 95 percent of the time.

 

[BuzzdoggZ]

Thanks for all the responses. You're a very helpful and welcoming bunch 👍

 

[ZevZoq]

I'm fastest when I remember to look as far up the track as I can. I switched to VR at the new year and that really showed me just how much I was staring at the bumper of the ghost. The more you open your field of vision, the more you'll drive toward the apex and see your speed more accurately. At least that's valid for me. Good luck,

Yeah I'm guilty of focusing on a point too close in front of the car most of the time. I definitely find when I concentrate on looking further ahead on the track I can drive and corner a lot more smoothly...

 

[Gorefast]

This place is a snake pit. However, most of the fastest here are super willing to share help and methods for most every trial we have. I started really trying about a year and a half ago and to date I have some pretty stellar finishes. I blame this place. If you pay attention, there is a TON to learn here, if the goal is moving up at least. If you do it just to do it, that's awesome as well, and pretty good to be able to jump in and gold most. 👍👍

I'm fastest when I remember to look as far up the track as I can. I switched to VR at the new year and that really showed me just how much I was staring at the bumper of the ghost. The more you open your field of vision, the more you'll drive toward the apex and see your speed more accurately. At least that's valid for me. Good luck,

Also always brake earlier than you think and use less force. It's much much faster 95 percent of the time.

Today I look usually very far ahead but sometimes I force myself to look into the apex. In PCars2 I used the moving helmet view and that went always towards the apex and showed immediately when you overshot a corner. This helped and trained me a lot...

 

[feral and bad]

Ever since I started taking time trials "seriously", I always got the feeling that there are just some bad sessions, where you can't do anything right, it just won't turn, you cannot nail the apex, you are missing your braking points, no matter how much mileage you put in it, it's impossible to reach the goal. But also, sometimes I just get in the zone, the car listens to my inputs, I'm guiding it just where I want it. Those are not so common and don't happen so often, but tonight was one of those sessions.

I had already put down a very solid laptime at Road Atlanta with 1:31.934, but I knew there was more time there. So I sat down and started lapping. First good lap - 1:31.911 with a very bad first sector, second good lap - 1:31.866 with a below average second sector (here I wanted to stop and post this just to annoy @Dan_Tes who nailed a .867 ) but I didn't, took a break and a shower, ate some dinner and came back.

And here I proudly present to you one of the best laps I've ever done on this game, I could say it's THE best, but I'm missing a couple of hundreds to my sector optimals, so I won't say it just yet.

View attachment 1422237
View attachment 1422238

The lap:



I will go again on the last day probably and try to get into the top 10, who knows how the stars will align

Congratulations my alien friend. Proof that beyond talent lies hard work and dedication, that some uber-aliens are indeed made and not born. Take a moment, enjoy it, then go find another couple thousandths.
Regards,
Ken

I read this thread to get info and tips for the time trials but don't put in many laps if I can achieve a safe gold time in less than 5 to 10 laps. I'm OK to take the credits and move on. This week's race at Daytona was interesting enough to put in more laps and see how much additional time was achievable compared to the record. If you were to think that the competitors posting in this thread are normal racers it would be discouraging. Some of the active members in here are among the best in the world. While that helps a lot in providing good tips, it doesn't really help the average racer as a peer group comparison except for the fine advice.

At this time after about 40 laps, my best lap is 1:45:470 about 1150th on the global board of 109,000. Almost at the top 1%. But among the slowest times that are posted here. This is a really tough and talented crowd. In the end I have learned a lot about how to drive faster and do enjoy seeing the great laps that are posted here even if well beyond my ability to compete or contribute.

There are many here who weren't that good to start off with. You can look at the GTP Scoreboard maintained by half_sourly and check the average placings. Although some aliens are born, many are created. You do not know how good you can become if you practice and learn. I could show you my results and progress, but to my mind, I wasn't terrible to start with and still am not that good. Numbers being numbers, they need context, but I leave that to you and others. Just a couple of raw stats about a couple aliens in GT7.
dlolliea: in 5 of his first 8 time trials he finished above 1000th.
Dan_Tes: didn't crack the top 1000 until his 16th time trial and (GASP) was above 10000 in 6 of those.

I give those examples because these are 2 bona fide aliens who were not always aliens, but put in the work (as well as had the talent).
I am relatively well acquainted with their results, as I use them to check my result archive.
There are a lot of aliens here, they are surprisingly helpful and most speak terrestrial languages.
There are many here who are part time aliens, who will eventually get there.

As always, check the stats.

Time Trial - Results and Community Leader Boards

Last update to this post 16 January 2025 This thread presents the results of GT7 Time Trials (Lap Time Challenges), along with community scoreboards. I used to post the results every week in the main thread set up by @seadog777, but as interest and participation have grown, so has the desire...

www.gtplanet.net

Regards,
Kens

 

[skydragon49]

Good day gentlemen

I'm extremely inconsistent in my lapping, with the majority being invalidated and very few clean laps. I guess it all stems from pushing too hard and struggling to put being smooth into practice.

One video suggested that too many jerky movements stems from being too reactive and not looking ahead up the track. At the moment I am so focused on hitting the braking point that I don't look for the apex until I'm way into or finished braking.

A question for you fast guys: How far ahead up the track are you looking and any tips for looking into the corner whilst also hitting your braking point? Thanks

To quote @P-Courty "I'm not as fast as others...." But here are my 2 cents.

For me personally, it's all a matter of perception. When I watch a guider saying "the 100 mts board is you braking marker" I take that information as a starting point. I start my TT session and I get to experiment IF I have to hit the brakes AT the mentioned 100 mts, slighty AFTER or a tiny bit BEFORE and see what works according to my... Perception.

During the trying out laps I have this judgment and analyzing exercise going on. "I overtook the ghost, I must have gone too deep in the brakes. My angle is too shallow, so I hit the brakes too early. Is my car aligned right behind the ghost?" Depending on what happens I must do the needed adjusments next lap, and keep working on perception and judgment. "Is it better? Is it faster? Is it aligned to the ghost?"

Sometimes I start working using brake markers and track references the guiders point out (thank God for their time and disposition to share) and end up discovering and making my own references. Always based on the principle of personal perception.

After solving this small puzzle and being able to get the corner "right" it becomes a matter of visual and muscle memory for me. I "saw" what works and where the car has to be and I "got" the right inputs (where, how much to brake, downshifts, where to turn) then I try to do it lap after lap untill I do it naturally without thinking too much.

I guess it was @Barareklam who once replied to me sharing that I should find out what works for me rather than trying 100% replicate what the faster guys do. It really changed the game for me. It is more what you can do to get closer to the faster guys instead of just copying them.

Percpetion and judgment over what's going on in the track.

 

[Lomic]

In PCars2 I used the moving helmet view and that went always towards the apex and showed immediately when you overshot a corner. This helped and trained me a lot...

It is time to get a PSVR2 !

Did a 10 laps stint at Daytona, with the Viper, because why not (with some assists). Not very good, but the car is not the culprit, my poor knowledge of the track is to blame first, especially the braking points.

Watched the video by @Mistah_MCA after to pinpoint those more precisely, I hope I'll improve soon.
Best lap, optimal and medium a bit worse than on my first 10 laps stint, so I should tell myself that the Ford is a better choice for my poor skills, but I am tempted to blame the ghost, I followed @Pesselles instead of @Tidgney 😁

Better S1 and S3 though.

I think I'll forget Road Atlanta as I enjoy this TT more and I already struggle to find time to improve and I am closer to gold here (+0.658 for now).

Spoiler

 

[AdxRE]

Quite happy with that. 100th on the dot at the time of setting (probably already long outdated!)

View attachment 1421883

I tried an absolute ton of cars here. Fastest I got was with the GT at 45.2 - switching to the Viper net me a 44.9 on its first lap and that dropped to a 44.6 the next time I played.

Unbelievably quick around the oval and impressively stable for what it is.
View attachment 1421884

That livery brings back memories of LeMans 1998 - what an awesome era of GT racing back then. Glad to see another of us who enjoyed those classic liveries! Great lap you had there as well.

My Oreca Viper livery from the same era

 

[Dragonwhisky]

A question for you fast guys: How far ahead up the track are you looking and any tips for looking into the corner whilst also hitting your braking point? Thanks

While I'm not one of the fast guys, I'll quote one @Marcus Garvey, who is, and, teaches others.
"

1. Look Ahead
2. Do this...
3. Do that...
4. Look Ahead
5. Do this...
6. Do that...
7. Look Ahead...
8. Don't do this...
9. Don't do that...
10. Look Ahead

"
Not a direct quote, since I can't find where he posted what I'm quoting, which appeared to be a printed briefing for new students.

As far ahead as you can see. If you can see the exit of the turn at the brake point, which you should be seeing in your peripheral vision at the point of braking, look that far down track. What I generally try, and mostly fail at, is this;

At braking point be looking past turn in to apex, at turn in, look past apex for exit. You should never be seeing your car actually hit each point, since your focus is on the next and the next and the next.

I, generally, don't even look for a "turn in" marker. At brake point I look for the apex, and let the body talk with the car and work together to get around the corner. Using that last hairpin at Deep Forest as an example, you can see the exit, especially if you have VR, just by looking left as you brake, and that's what I'm looking for on every turn, whether I can see it or not. Good thieves always get the exit strategy done before the entrance strategy. We're all trying to steal time in these TTs.

Yeah, I did just call all of us thieves. 😛 Ain't we?

Again, I'm not one of the world class fastest, but I usually knock down Silver in these TTs in less than 30 minutes. Which is all I'm usually willing to spend on them.

 

[Interemptor]

Boy oh boy.. what a fight.. Initially I wanted to skip this TT because the Daytona RC is not my cup of tea but gave it a go anyway..

As expected I was all over the place. Tried the Viper first but couldn't get it to turn and understeered off the track a couple of times. The Ford was way better but couldn't get a good lap together and am 4 tenths away from the optimal time.

Tried a couple of different cars after that.. Supra, Huracan, Genesis and even the F1 GTR (lol) but no improvements. Hopefully the gold sticks and I don't have to try again 😅

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Nipped another half tenth this morning. Still chasing that opt 44 flat. Muscle memory is working wonders here. We keep pushin' 💪🏻

 

[bliprunner]

Still chasing that opt 44 flat.

 

[eggmann]

I've tried a bunch of assistance configurations, and I'm currently working with ABS Weak, CSA Strong, TCS 2. My best times happen when I don't look at the speedometer, tach, or ghost, but it's rare that I can maintain this discipline for a whole lap.

 

[TheNormsk]

It’s not impressive but after a month off the rig due to an injury I’m pleased with gold. I feel very rusty and I can still only drive for short stints.