So, I’ve got the basics of acceleration down when I’m coming out of a corner but when I’m braking and downshifting, even if I’m downshifting while still going straight, my car (obviously depends on the car) begins to spin out sometimes; costing me a lot of time on laps.
Is it a problem of when I’m downshifting (which is what I’m guessing)? If so when should I downshift? Or something else?
Some cars will do this, some won’t but right now I’m using the 02 Corvette using the 3rd place world record holder’s tuning on Nurburgring and I’m trying to get a decent lap on the board with this car / tune (Right now I’m in 50th place exactly, it would seem like not a lot of people try to get lap times here because of the distance but anyway… he did it with no traction / stability control so I know I can do it too given a ton of practice…Just need to know the right way to do it and this seems to be the biggest thing slowing me down at the moment).
I’m assuming you are using manual with clutch, correct?
If so you’ll need to rev match on your downshifts. This is especially important on sections where you have to rapidly downshift from the highest gear to 2nd gear. If you don’t you’ll have issues where the car is at a RPM beyond what that gear can take. You’ll spin out as result.
The best way to do this is tap the gas immediately after each downshift. Only a slight tap is needed. Play with it and it’ll be muscle memory before long.
You’ll notice this issue primarily with RWD cars, but it’s possible in AWD and FWD.
I use this same trick for race cars where manual clutch isn’t needed.
Another possibility is if the tune you chose has a high rear brake bias. If you’re not used to this, it may cause issues. I doubt this is the issue because if the car is tuned right you probably can’t tell where the bias was set.
Because you’re using someone else’s tune you’re going to have to adjust your driving to suit the car.
As Swerve said, learn to rev match. Essentially all you do is just quickly blip the throttle when you hit the clutch and downshift button. It’s oddly satisfying, but I also do this when I drive my personal car because it’s fun.
Also consider that trail braking isn’t always the best way to enter a corner. Focus on doing doing your heavy braking in a straight line. The purpose of trail braking is to keep load on the front tires to maintain as much grip as possible to get you to the apex. If the front end has enough grip that you spin out when you trail brake, then completely release the brakes at your point of turn in. At that point if the car still wants to spin, you’ll want to quickly move to open the throttle to keep the back of the car pinned down. Adjust the amount of throttle input based on your ability to get the car down to the apex. If the car turns too tight you need to use more throttle, if the front washes wide use less throttle, if the rear tires spin up and you’re looking in the direction you came you’re using too much throttle.
I’d also agree with this advice, a light throttle tap on downshifting will help stabilise the car under braking.
On a related note, if you’re driving an electric car at any point (Formula E being the best example) you’ll want to keep your throttle held down slightly even when you’re braking/turning. Those cars have a nasty habit of over-rotating when you’re off the throttle.
This is exactly why I DONT use others tune. If you’re going through campaign you have PLENTY of time to figure out a base tune that can be used across all cars. Springs, gears, anti-roll are probably the things that cant be identical across every car but most of those things you can copy onto the next car
A lower gear helps slow the car down faster and provides more power upon exit. I’ve spent way too many times in the grass because I thought I could hold a turn in 3rd gear.
Obviously it depends on many factors (car, tune, driving style) but generally speaking, higher powered cars cannot hold a turn in 3rd or 4th gear. They either stall or they’re way too fast to safely take the corner. SgtFancypants98 has some excellent advice in their post about how to take a corner.
It’s really car dependent. You can have two 800hp and 3000lb cars with equivalent mods. One of them can be ridiculous to drive and one of them can be controllable and very easy to drive with a high amount of hp. I like rear engine Porsches for that reason. They have a learning curve but once you learn to pivot the weight and give it the right amount of throttle out of corners, it’s so quick and responsive. No AWD needed.
This is incorrect for many cars in the game in terms of the lap time issue. Using 2nd is common because adding tunable transmission parts isn’t always preferable or the less likely instance where the gear tuning is such that you lose too much time elsewhere by avoiding 2nd in tight or hairpin turns.
For example, avoiding 2nd in a 4 speed muscle car will result in poor corner off acceleration. The same is true for cars that depend on grip to get a good lap times.
Your comment is more accurate for higher class cars where accelerating out of 2nd gear is a chore (example: Indy cars with no TCS).
Rev-matching is where it’s at and after a little while you don’t even think about doing it anymore. I shifted over a few titles ago and I haven’t looked back.
for a long time in previous motorsports series i downshifted on corner exit. that is until i understood tuning and gearing. now i tune the car to be stable on hard braking corner entry and to setup the gearing to use 3rd gear on most corners.
Most tracks have at least one corner where 2nd is used or should be considered assuming tuning gears is not an option. I know this well from my time making slow cars competitive in lower classes and also tuning most muscle cars. Transmission upgrades were a luxury or had crazy PI values.
In other cars it best to let off the gas a little bit during up shifts to 3rd or even 4th. Some sections of certain tracks can make upshifting without lifting problematic. I find I do this more in stock cars or cars I didn’t tune but I also do it when I’m off line in a side by side scenario.
You can’t tune on someone else’s tune so its a moot point.
As others have said it isn’t one size fits all, everyone has their own strengths and preferences. I use about 150% brake pressure…some use 200 or more but 150 feels right to me on most car. I like a car that’s reasonable neutral but with a pointy nose and the ability to tighten the line on throttle…however to drive a car like that you need fine throttle control not to spin it out, so not really noob friendly and certainly not Tcs friendly given you are using the slight overspeed of the rear wheels to tighten the line.
It’s not difficult to pull a decent tune together…this morning a built a Jaguar Xj220…it’s sitting 29th in class on brands hatch grand prix…this took 6 laps none of which were perfect and about 15 minutes tune and build time.
though also read the guides as each setting does something so blindly following the calculator can mean you end up with issues you don’t know how to fix but are just a simple tweak out.
Will say do not just use the same settings for car after car. The weight, weight distribution, ride height and many other little things change car to car, what works on a hatchback will make a HyperCar lethal.
You guys are awesome. I haven’t gone for another lap time in Nurburgring but this flat out made me faster in almost every single car on every tight corner with next to no practice. Thanks =)
The more you can handle the better; while the majority of players will be totally fine with 100% some can go up to 200% without locking while also stopping in a shorter amount of time. As you try out different cars and setups you’ll eventually find a preferred pressure percentage.
In any case I’d recommend mastering braking at 100% Brake Pressure as that’s what the default is (and thus will be the most popular setting in Tunes you find). Some Tuners will state the brake percentage in the description of their Tunes however, keep an eye out for that when you load a Tune.
Nice one, keep it up. All of the techniques you learn can be adapted across multiple cars, tracks and games. Over time things will come to you naturally to the point where you could get up to speed with a new car/track combo within a few laps.