This has been an issue since the game came out. My group had been hoping it would be addressed and resolved with the NASCAR update/expansion.
When running in the draft at Daytona you gain very very little speed on the car in from of you. You can be 150 feet back and just stay right there. You get no run on the car in front of you. If you are 50ft back you might get a 1 mph advantage by the end of the straight. You get absolutely no run in the corner. This isn’t just a problem with NASCAR but every car on that track. We’ve run Oval races around Indy and been able to stay grouped up and slingshot past each other going into corners. It doesn’t work on Daytona though where it should be even easier. I can put Xbox clips together if needed.
Take the same cars to Indy and the draft works a lot more like it should.
Something is either wrong with Daytona or the draft intentionally nerfed to prevent pack racing. I’m not sure which.
Please also turn off the anti griefing when bump drafting out running right behind someone. If I slightly bump someone in the draft or follow very closely the trailing car gets knocked back and destroyed. Please make it a setting in the lobby for the long owner to turn on and off. This makes oval racing impossible.
Please remove the “exiting pits, getting ready to take control” screen earlier or move it up or down or more translucent. This new interface is a nice improvement but I can’t see where I’m going when leaving the pits until I’m out of them.
Running in the draft should create a 10-15 mph speed difference. As it stands now with the update, the controller just rumbles in my hand to let me know I’m in the draft. You’d never know it from looking at the speedometer.
If we have a two car race (which we did last night) I should at least be able to drop back, get a big run on the lead case and pass him. That doesn’t work though. It’s impossible to even catch back up.
For what it’s worth, and I am by no means an expert, this has been my experience:
Drafting helps both cars - the leading and the trailing car. It seems (probably obviously) to help the trailing car more.
When I was on my on, not in someone’s wake or with no-one in my wake I was consistently around 00:31.5 (give or take). When i was drafting someone I was consistently around .4 - .5 a lap quicker. When I was being drafted I was still quicker, but only by .3 - .4 quicker. So it seemed to me that drafting helps both the lead car and the trailing car, but the trailing car gets a slightly better advantage.
This is only based on one 30 lap oval race at Homestead Speedway. I’m not sure Forza’s coding is 100% accurate to the real world but given what I’ve heard from commentary this seems to hold true.
I’m mostly talking specifically about Daytona. The draft is there but not very effective. If anything, when following something at Homestead you’re gonna have slower lap time from lack of down force.
Here’s a clip of what the drafting should look like when it did work in Forza 5. I’ll have to make one tonight if it not working. It will be a pretty boring clip though.
My friend and I were using E Class cars at Daytona a few months back. We were in the same car with the same tune. We were able to increase our lap time by just over 1 second a lap while drafting. Thats a really significant increase for an E Class car and not all that insignificant for an oval. If we were not drafting correctly, we would only see about a .3 to .5 difference in lap times.
I admit that I do not know how much faster 2 cars can go while drafting in real life. Although I am ignorant regarding this subject, I could not ignore 1 second a lap faster on an oval. Is there any chance the cars are revving out before you’re seeing the full benefits of the draft?
Ok, after my previous post I downloaded the NASCAR expansion pack and started playing it. I do kinda see what OP is talking about; drafting at Daytona seems to make a tiny difference on the tri-oval, but it DOES make a noticeable difference on the back straight. I use a wheel so it’s not that hard to be smooth, and when I’m by myself I think my top speed at Daytona was about 202-203. When drafting all the way down the tri-oval (I actually started drafting in Turn 4), I hit 204 and for a VERY brief moment I got up to 205. But on the back straight I was going about 207 and I think I might’ve hit 208. I also wonder if difficulty plays into this, i.e. reducing the effectiveness of the draft at higher difficulty levels.
My biggest problem with the draft at Daytona is that it’s unnecessary. Drafting helps you go a little faster, but even on Unbeatable difficulty I was able to run off and leave the rest of the field by myself. When the cars behind me are drafting each other, that should not be possible. I don’t know if it’s just Daytona or what, has anyone else experienced this?
There is a Effect that was in NASCAR at the plate tracks a year or 2 back when this body style of cars debuted. It was described as the “bubble effect”. Meaning that once you get close to the car in front of you cannot get any closer to them. This " close" I am talking about was something like 4 to 5 feet but, it does seem like the same effect happens here just a much larger bubble of air is what it seems like.is happening. I noticed this yesterday as well.
For a more visual example of what I am talking about: It was also said it was like a beach ball was placed between the cars. This was causing a problem a lot like we have because it was almost impossible to bump draft. As well as being able to slingshot past the person in front of you was very difficult too.
Thinking of a good visual example of drafting or slipstreaming. A boat on a flat calm lake going across the lake will meet resistance of the undisturbed water. Now a second boat falls in behind the first boat and it is much easier for the second boat. Also the 1st boat will get help because the 2nd boat helps spread the wake out some too. Also the 2nd boat does not need to use as much throttle because of less resistance.
At tracks like Indy & Homestead the draft can actually hurt you too. Because it will cause to go faster than normal and will take down force away from the nose of the car. Causing what is commonly referred to as “Aero Tight”. And " tight means you see the wall before you hit it. Loose means you don’t see the wall before you hit it. And yes there is a condition called “Aero Loose”. It is caused by a car that is following taking the down force away from the car in fronts rear spoiler. By the 2nd car going around it on the right side in the beginning of the corner. This condition will come up as certain Aero packages are used.
I may have made a few too many generalizations though. So don’t jump all over me if I screwed something small up. I will review it later when I have had more coffee.