Your Preferred Driving Style
#1
Posted 18 January 2012 - 15:50
Over the years I've been racing on video games, I've tended to prefer cars/vehicles that understeer rather than oversteer. Mario Kart, F1, Forza--you name it, I like cars that aren't as sensitive to delicate steering movements. If I can set up the car so that it will just make it through the sharpest turn on the track at a competitive speed with maximum steering input, I'm usually in my element. Cars that have oversteer-related grip issues during cornering have never been my favourite--I don't like having to micro-correct the car to keep it on the ideal racing line. My steering inputs typically aren't smooth but I seem to be good at finding quick lines around corners, so my setups are generally less responsive than others but have more grip. I prefer racing to time trial, but consistent lap times seem to be my strong point, so I'm generally better at front-running than overtaking; because I depend so much on using specific lines (understeer isn't really good for trying to overtake), overtaking with my preferred car setup is usually easier with a high top speed.
How do you guys like your car set up on racing games?
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#2
Posted 18 January 2012 - 17:05
The old N64 F1 game was very drifty, once you got past a certain point you could slide around every fast corner. Tremendous fun but not very realistic.
For something like Mario Kart I just pick whatever drift boosts easiest (on the Wii I use Peach on a bike).
On something more 'realistic' like GT5, I'm very picky. I want plenty of turn in because I'm using a DS3 rather than a wheel, but not too much so it causes oversteer in that initial phase of turning the car in. Mid corner I want stability, obviously. Coming out of the corners I want perfect traction. Isn't that what everyone wants?
Generally in GT5 I set my cars up to be slightly on the understeery side I guess. There are some instances where you need to change that, such as moving the brake balance rearwards so that you can use the force of the brakes to turn the car in quicker.
As for gearing - whatever suits the track! I just try to make sure I hit the limiter in top gear at the end of the longest straight. That's the first thing I do, since it gives you peak performance in top gear when you need it most. Technically I should gear all the other gears to suit the smallest margin on every single corner, but I can't be bothered
#3
Posted 18 January 2012 - 17:12
#4
Posted 18 January 2012 - 17:56
Basically, I tune for the highest grip level possible while being able to make the corners.
#5
Posted 18 January 2012 - 18:02
In GPL i used to have an "agressive" differential, that made me steer with the throttle (almost needed to be on the accelerator to get turn-in) and brake balance such as the car "snaked" into the turn. Back then i used a joystick to drive with, so i could get lots of small adjustments very quick compared to a wheel/pedals setup. When i got a FF wheel, those setups where quite impossible to drive, but fast if you got a clean lap. Also, the rear tiers where glowing after about half a lap, so i had to do fast/slow laps during races to keep it on the track
Lately, in Forza 4, i also want a front end that really bites, and a looser rear end. When i enter a corner in Forza4 i usually get in a bit too fast, try to swing the rear end out and then worry about sorting out the exit of the turn. In that game i feel i don't loose that much speed at the exit, making it both fun and quite fast. In most other games or sims, that approach would probably see me end up off track, or quite slow.
#6
Posted 18 January 2012 - 18:54
#7
Posted 18 January 2012 - 21:18
I think thats why i seem to get on with the MX-5 Cup on iRacing as thats predictable and easy to control, especially on fresh tyres when the front is also very positive.
#8
Posted 18 January 2012 - 21:59
Stiff suspension, more front bias, oversteering, good grip, steady to drive.
+1
#9
Posted 18 January 2012 - 23:15
Depends on the car. If it is a high powered RWD car, then going towards a bit of understeer can help to put the power down. If it is a AWD car, then the car is likely to have inherent understeer, and so I try to tune for better turn in /oversteer on corner exit.
Basically, I tune for the highest grip level possible while being able to make the corners.
This is me too.
#10
Posted 19 January 2012 - 11:25
In the real world however, i am all about the oversteer. Much happier controlling a kart/car with my right foot.
#11
Posted 19 January 2012 - 11:59
#12
Posted 19 January 2012 - 13:25
Depends a bit on the game/sim, but i allways try to get the front end to grip really good, and rather have a loose rear end to help turning in to the corner. Most games allow for me to go faster with oversteer comapred to understeer. Also, i don't really like the feeling of the front just sliding out towards the gravle with not much to do other than lifting and waiting.
In GPL i used to have an "agressive" differential, that made me steer with the throttle (almost needed to be on the accelerator to get turn-in) and brake balance such as the car "snaked" into the turn. Back then i used a joystick to drive with, so i could get lots of small adjustments very quick compared to a wheel/pedals setup. When i got a FF wheel, those setups where quite impossible to drive, but fast if you got a clean lap. Also, the rear tiers where glowing after about half a lap, so i had to do fast/slow laps during races to keep it on the track
Lately, in Forza 4, i also want a front end that really bites, and a looser rear end. When i enter a corner in Forza4 i usually get in a bit too fast, try to swing the rear end out and then worry about sorting out the exit of the turn. In that game i feel i don't loose that much speed at the exit, making it both fun and quite fast. In most other games or sims, that approach would probably see me end up off track, or quite slow.
Knut! Long time no see, old friend! How have you been man
Man, we had some great races in GPL, and I certainly remember you pulling away during the first half of the race, only to fall back at the end with overheating rears.
You surely gifted me a few wins when you spun out near the end
My preference is to set the car up loosely so that it wants to go round the bend without me having to force it.
Then I drive it with care and ease and allow it to find its own way without too much input changes from me.
What I aim for is smoothness in all my input, progressive on the throttle, only put that foot down when I know I never have to take it off again.
Understated steering, too. I like to use as little as I can get away with.
I always seem to need more rearward brake balance than the rest of the world, otherwise I'll lock up easily.
I always right foot brake, so that limits my choice of cars somewhat to older vehicles.
That's cool though, I like how they lean and roll. It's hard for me not to get the tail out too much sometimes
Heck, my new cockpit won't even allow for left foot braking! The steering column gets in the way
#13
Posted 19 January 2012 - 17:34
Been pretty good, thank you! Those races where lots of fun, even though i gifted quite a few races away Remeber a few races around watkins glen where i was on pole, stormed away, only to spinn later on loosing any advantage i had managed to get...Knut! Long time no see, old friend! How have you been man
Man, we had some great races in GPL, and I certainly remember you pulling away during the first half of the race, only to fall back at the end with overheating rears.
You surely gifted me a few wins when you spun out near the end
Nowadays i don't have as much time and motivation for simracing as before though :/ I also do need a new wheel as my old logitech momo has lost some of the precision, and the FF is a bit iffy, so at the moment i've done most my laps in Forza4.... I do some practice laps in iRacing now and then, but even though Forza is not quite the sim iRacing is, the pick-up-and-play ease of it is great, and it is pretty fun driving online with mates
Edited by mahelgel, 19 January 2012 - 17:40.
#14
Posted 20 January 2012 - 04:52
#15
Posted 20 January 2012 - 07:35
Edited by BRK, 20 January 2012 - 07:37.
#16
Posted 20 January 2012 - 12:34
#17
Posted 03 February 2012 - 15:13
#18
Posted 03 February 2012 - 20:18
Why the capitals?SIMS
I prefer a slight understeer bias because I want stability under braking. I mainly play the Historic GT mod for rFactor, and those cars have no grip, so it's easy to induce a bit of oversteer if necessary. I usually crash if I do that.
#19
Posted 03 February 2012 - 21:55
Why the capitals?
I prefer a slight understeer bias because I want stability under braking. I mainly play the Historic GT mod for rFactor, and those cars have no grip, so it's easy to induce a bit of oversteer if necessary. I usually crash if I do that.
Even with new cars, or in GT5. You get more control of the car. I hate dealing with a car that has the rear end wanting to not go in the direction that the front of the car is.
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#20
Posted 04 February 2012 - 20:03
#21
Posted 06 February 2012 - 01:45
#22
Posted 26 February 2012 - 23:19
#23
Posted 27 February 2012 - 02:41
The early turn in and heavy trail braking really didn't suit the early ISI games or LFS. It did work quite well in GTL and GTR2 and still works OK in the lighter/open wheeler cars in iRacing. I'm hopeless at the heavier cars (read all oval cars and the V8SC) that require a bit more finesse on the brakes and turn in stage.
#25
Posted 05 April 2012 - 18:18
My blog on this website:
http://f12011-setups...-continued.html
Good read, though I get the feeling that even if I get the setup right you'll still be faster than me!
#26
Posted 05 April 2012 - 23:09
Good read, though I get the feeling that even if I get the setup right you'll still be faster than me!
Haha thanks Dan.
You should add the founder of that website, DarkPSI. He's a really friendly (and fast) German guy. Sometimes when we get all our friends online at once we have some epic races
#27
Posted 06 April 2012 - 16:31
#28
Posted 06 April 2012 - 22:50
This comes from racing mainly fwd cars in the sim I played the most when I started with a proper wheel, Race 07. I was always miles quicker in the fwd cars and things like the Mini than with the rwd BMW's. But what you found was that no matter what you did the aliens nearly always used 3 series and were able to find lower lap times. Obviously with fwd you are able to trail brake a bit, but rwd cars hate it!
Not always, but invariably in the early days the real quick guys in RACE 07 were 3 series.
Rfactor really doesnt like trail braking, and interestingly in mods where I can drive fwd cars I am far quicker than with rwd.
Also, a few of the real quick aliens are able to drive with a very different steering ratio to most, they use most of the 900 rotation and are somehow able to find rwd feel, even though all you are ever able to feel is feedback from the front end, which is why most people like to feel some understeer as that is the only END uyou can ever feel!!
I still get this now, with f or 4wd I am closer to the freaks, with just rwd always further away!
#29
Posted 07 April 2012 - 09:22
Those opposing needs of a good front turn in and good traction usually leeds to me fiddling a lot with the camber and wings.
Edited by Sevach, 07 April 2012 - 09:23.
#30
Posted 07 April 2012 - 15:42
The issue I find with a lot of sims is that I prefer to have a good feeling from the front and I also trail brake a little too much.
This comes from racing mainly fwd cars in the sim I played the most when I started with a proper wheel, Race 07. I was always miles quicker in the fwd cars and things like the Mini than with the rwd BMW's. But what you found was that no matter what you did the aliens nearly always used 3 series and were able to find lower lap times. Obviously with fwd you are able to trail brake a bit, but rwd cars hate it!
Not always, but invariably in the early days the real quick guys in RACE 07 were 3 series.
Rfactor really doesnt like trail braking, and interestingly in mods where I can drive fwd cars I am far quicker than with rwd.
Also, a few of the real quick aliens are able to drive with a very different steering ratio to most, they use most of the 900 rotation and are somehow able to find rwd feel, even though all you are ever able to feel is feedback from the front end, which is why most people like to feel some understeer as that is the only END uyou can ever feel!!
I still get this now, with f or 4wd I am closer to the freaks, with just rwd always further away!
That's been a massive problem for me as a relatively new player of rfactor. I've got used to trail braking from most of the other sims I've played, that when I got into any car on rfactor a session would usually with a lot of headscratching thinking where had I been going wrong?
Most of my sim 'education' has come from Gran Turismo, where there a lot of different types of car, but lots of fwd cars compared to other titles. I do enjoy driving fwd and often in GT5 I've won online races in them against rwd and others purely because my style happens to suit the drivetrain. It's not my favourite type to drive, as like I've mentioned before I prefer a bit of oversteer in order to get the front into the corner, but I'm good with it.
As for 'feel', to get a sense of oversteer or whatever, even with the wheel I'm still more trained to the slight visual signs than anything else. All the force feedback has added to that is a greater sense of confirmation on what I'm seeing. So my first inkling that the car is going to oversteer or spin out is the tiniest movement of the car body relative to what I've done steering wise. That's come from years of playing with a pad and learning how to be fast with that, rumble or not.
#31
Posted 08 April 2012 - 21:27
The fact is, every driving style is wrong. The best drivers just have it less wrong. A hypothetical perfect computer bot would have it right, but no human can. That's why it's important to constantly try unlearn the bad habits. Instead of saying "this is my driving style" you should be constantly looking for ways to change that driving style, otherwise you will just be repeating those bad habits, drilling them deeper to your subconscious. The more you repeat the mistakes, the harder it is to get rid of them.
Always practice with your mind! The simple fact is, human body learns negative stuff just as easily as it learns positive stuff. The trick is to try and maximize learning the positive stuff. That's why just smashing lap after lap without thinking where and how you could improve is actually counter effective.
But to answer the question, the car has to turn as well as possible. Not even slightest amount of understeer is allowed. That basically sums up simracing!
Edited by Bosseking, 08 April 2012 - 21:32.
#32
Posted 28 April 2012 - 13:08
#33
Posted 15 May 2012 - 09:08
Rfactor really doesnt like trail braking, and interestingly in mods where I can drive fwd cars I am far quicker than with rwd.
I'd say you have a problem with either controller/car setup or driving habits in general. Some serious and competitive rFactor F1 leagues are being run for years online and I've never heard from anyone that "rFactor doesn't like trail braking". Pretty sure it's down to your case.
As someone said here, playing around constantly is the best way to explore the ultimate limits. I've seen many drivers carrying their driving habits for years and it simply doesn't work with changing car physics and championship rules.
Edited by mkoscevic, 15 May 2012 - 09:15.
#34
Posted 17 May 2012 - 19:15
http://f12011-setups...torial-1st.html
And onboard vid:
http://www.youtube.c...player_embedded
#35
Posted 18 May 2012 - 14:11
cheers!
#36
Posted 18 May 2012 - 16:35
thank you so much! very interesting
cheers!
Hey, thanks for your kind words
#37
Posted 14 October 2012 - 19:58
#38
Posted 16 October 2012 - 22:59
oversteer
Any particular setups or tricks that enable you to drive that way?
#39
Posted 20 October 2012 - 16:32
I'm awful at sim games, but I'm pretty good at judging grip and speed in reality. I must feel it with my whole body.
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#40
Posted 22 October 2012 - 07:55
Got myself Fanatec wheel, pedals with clutch and proper gearstick (hence if car has over 6 gears I can't use it ) so I had to adapt to slightly different approach on driving quick.
OK. auto-clutch, gear shift paddles are superior to speed up and brake efficiently. Great. If you drive in game with 90's Toyota, you might think you have no those options in real life either.
So...it's clutch, H-gears and track full of enemies. Changing gears is much slower with stick and clutch than thing I mention above. Doing it too quick might stall your engine (at start) or damage clutch (Forza 4). You also need to be carefull changing gears middle of corner too. Veterans of Grand Prix Legends knows this.
Downshifting from 6th gear to 2nd gear isn't so smooth it was with paddles and auto clutch. Approaching from highspeed to slow corner just means you hop on clutch and brake pedal and switch from 6th gear to 2nd gear and slow down enough when releasing clutch won't ruin grip onto road. On the otherhand, if game is programmed well, clutch allows better regain of car control if you happen to lose it.
I still have lot to learn, since daily normla driving with real car is nothing to compare driving fast on track as all manual.
#41
Posted 22 October 2012 - 09:41
The ideal setup for me is neutral, IE not front limited, not rear limited but somewhere in the middle so you can turn in at as high a speed as possible without understeer yet still have enough rear grip to get on the power as soon as possible to control the yaw of the car to set it up for a fast exit.
#42
Posted 11 November 2012 - 13:33
#43
Posted 11 November 2012 - 21:09
#44
Posted 12 November 2012 - 10:05
Romain?
Haha no - but the first lap is a great time to make up a lot of positions (especially cause my qualifying both online and offline isn't great). I rarely make crashes
#45
Posted 21 January 2013 - 09:46
My preferred driving style is not the fastest. I prefer braking to the apex and go on the throttle quick with short stabs untill I am on fullpower. It's quicker, I have found, to trailbrake through the corner and feed the throttle slowly. But at some tracks (and with some, if not most mods) I am just not able do that. And hence: I am slower than I could be. Take a lot out of the front tyres as well...
#46
Posted 23 January 2013 - 00:40
I don't mind less top speed, at least not since F1 2011 came out. I have DRS and KERS to pass, and if I have to defend, there's always weaving and blocking.
#47
Posted 23 January 2013 - 01:00
Qualy:
When braking, I tend to brake quite a bit earlier than most other drivers. In fact, I sometimes brake as early as the AI; which, as you all know, brake ridiculously early. However, my braking is quite gentle, and I continue to persist a consistent decrease in speed when going into a corner. Where's in F1 2011 driving style made no difference, as tyres degraded by laps, in F1 2012 driving style can affect tyre wear. I am quite easy on the tyres.
I keep throttle all the way through the corners, even hairpins. Frankly, I also hit the apex quite late. This allows me to carry tremendous momentum coming out of the corner. In fact, me and my buddies once had a side-by-side comparison between my Q lap and his. It turned out that, where I made the most time on him, and at the end beat him by 8 tenths, was on the exit of corners. I make up so much time with my rapid corner exits.
I have a good feeling for the absolute limit. I can explore the boundaries of both the track and the car as much as possible, without actually going over them. That being said, I am rubbish under pressure. I choke and make mistakes whenever I have to deliver the most. That's why I generally qualify with more fuel onboard, so I can have multiple attempts on a quick lap.
I don't know whether my driving style be the fastest or the smoothest, but it seems very effective for me, and I guess that's the most important thing.
Racing:
My pace in the race is commonly on par with my qualy pace, if not better as I am quite easy on the tyres. Anyway, I do lack a bit of stamina. My sector times are inconsistent at times. Likewise, I have my occasional brainfade moments where I either completely forget to brake, turn in 100 meters too early, etc... you name it.
Now, looking at race craft, I'd say I'm a tad above average. During crucial moments, I do sometimes get overexciting when pulling a pass on someone, hence making a mistake and losing the place back again. Then again, as previously stated, I can't drive under pressure, so no surprise there.;)
Nevertheless, in less stressful situations, I am generally quite clean when pulling a pass and rarely make contact. I prefer diving down the inside, as I seldom can make it stick around the outside. If that means two wheels on the grass, than so be it.
In concern of defending, I am quite aggressive. When someone tries to pass me on a long straight, I normally park my car on the inside. When being followed closely, I frequently hit the apexes quite early (which goes against my qualifying driving style).
Two or three other strategies which appear to be quite proficient when defending from another car are:
1.) Use all your KERS when the car behind is in your DRS zone.
2.) Turn to rich mixture on the main/DRS straight only.
3.) If this helps for anything, change the brake bias to the front.
Lastly, call me a dirty driver if you want, but when someone has DRS on me, I tend to weave around, as it is the best and perhaps only possible way to defend from that. When a driver gets too near your car with a wide open wing, or is forced onto the grass, it will force them to disable DRS or brake. Fair or not, I have found this technique to be quite effective.
Edited by Kingshark, 23 January 2013 - 01:06.
#48
Posted 23 January 2013 - 08:41
Regarding my actual driving style, I have a different driving style for qualy than I do in wheel-to-wheel racing combat.
Qualy:
When braking, I tend to brake quite a bit earlier than most other drivers. In fact, I sometimes brake as early as the AI; which, as you all know, brake ridiculously early.
If you play F1 2012, yeah. Currently I am playing the FSR 1991 mod with rFactor and in that mod the AI brake like crazy... You have to tweak the game to stand any chance. At the moment I am driving the mod at the Chinese Grand Prix track... the AI cars gain a second at the long straight, because they brake at about 70 meters before the hairpin...
#49
Posted 26 January 2013 - 11:45
#50
Posted 11 February 2013 - 00:20
Execution is inconsistent.