Drive-train adaptation is a skill, and like everything else, it takes patience, experience and practice. I’ve been racing as far back as I can remember, and I know a lot of friends who can hop into their FWD cars and completely trash me on a Rally Circuit, while they tend to get left behind quite easily on tarmac in most FR/MR/RR configured vehicles. In short, riding a horse isn’t the same as riding a bull, so don’t worry about it too much if you’re new to Front-Engined, Rear-Wheel Drive cars (FR, for short.)
There seems to be enough advice in this thread to keep me from repeating any of it, so I will try not to as much as possible. Having instructed amateur drivers and simple folk taking their cars for a track day around many tracks in the US, I’ve found that there’s a very common pattern of habits most people have. For one, most people tend to rely on their eyes and arms. Basically, where the wheel is pointing and where the car is facing. Now, this works well in theory, but your car can have the wheel facing straight, have the car facing the apex of the turn, and still have it drift off the circuit into a tire wall. The sixth sense comes from your butt cheeks. Yes, you read that correctly. Unfortunately, unless you have a full racing-sim setup in your living room, you’ll probably not experience the skill of “steering with your @ss.” Understanding the concept, however, can benefit you greatly. The most important aspect of cornering is distribution. It is, basically, your input as a driver in relation to the output of the car. For example, correcting understeer with oversteer. That’s a form of distribution. The three basic forms of this is Throttle, Braking and Weight. These three things dictate each other, all the time. Lighter cars tend to be more “twitchy,” meaning they tend to oversteer and spin out easily. This due to the much lower amount of energy required to transfer the weight of the car. Have you ever tried braking a very large SUV full of passengers? It’s going to take a lot more energy to slow that thing down vs. a Lotus Exige. This is where balance comes into play. Don’t hop into an IS-F and expect to race like Ayrton Senna around the track. Get something small, nimble, and light. I’ve instructed most of my students in Mazda MX-5’s, which are great learning tools. Keep in mind that getting the most traction out of your tires while producing the the max possible speed is key. Time spent going sideways is time wasted not going straight. I know it’s a lot to take in at once, which is why it’s easier to instructor in person one:one, but I suppose this will have to do.
Let me know if you have any questions. This community is great, so I’m sure most of the lads here can help. Cheers.
In the real world, I drive a pickup everyday that weighs 7,000 pounds empty, being that I normally have about 2,000 pounds of tools on it, I understand what you’re saying about balance. I’m very new to video games so applying the concept of driving with my butt cheeks isn’t something that is an automatic for me. I do understand your premise however…
In the game, I’ve got a few FR cars that I handle very easily. A 190E is my favorite, but I have a Buick GNX and Nissan Skyline that I love driving as well. I recently picked up the BMW Z8 and find that a breeze to drive. Same goes for the 33 Stradale now that I downloaded TNEagle’s tune for it. Though I think that might be mid engine, honestly can’t remember. I wasn’t expecting the Lexus to be a walk in the park for me, but I was really surprised by just how difficult it was. I’m amazed at just how bad some of these cars are in stock form. Granted, I have a lot to learn in the game. yet, many of these cars are insane the way they are (not)tuned.
Surely, adapting the feel of a real world application into a video game is very difficult, and almost completely imaginary, but it’s a great learning tool. The thing about the Lexus, and why it’s more tail-happy, is because it is meant to be. The IS-F is a direct competitor to BMW’s M3 (E92). Both sport V8’s, both have similar power figures and perform very well on a track. The whole point of an IS-F or an M3 is having a wolf in sheep’s clothing; a quiet, civilized car for everyday driving that, when pushed, will roll your kidneys out. This is where each car gets its own personality, or behavior. The 190E was meant for the glory days of German Touring Car Racing (DTM) so it is very well balanced and is, in short, a heavy road going version of an otherwise quick racing car. Same goes for the Skyline. Not entirely sure about the Buick, haha. If you really want a challenge of behavior, try a Porsche 911. If bi-polar disorder existed in the motoring world, the psychiatric department of hospitals all around the world would be filled with 911’s. I compete in a 911 GT3 in Germany and mastering that car has sure been a journey. In short, just because a car doesn’t behave a certain way doesn’t mean it is badly tuned. Most sports cars are purpose built, kind of like having a suit tailored for you. You can easily make the argument that the Scion FRS is badly tuned because of its skinny tires and how inclined it is to oversteer, although I can assure you that everyone who owns an FRS will call this a positive characteristic, and maybe the sole reason for their purchase. It takes time adapting to different behaviors.
something else that would be very helpful for you I think:
you can custom set your triggers for gas and brakes. As standard they have a lot of ‘dead’ travel that has no effect. I found it immensely helpful to reset the range to give a much broader, more realistic range of action. This makes fine gas and brake adjustments a whole lot easier.
I have mine set a 2/98 but some people go for 0/100. Its a preference thing I guess. Look on here for previous threads about these adjustments. You go into My Profile at the FM5 home screen and then to controller iirc. Its easy to do.
I’ve always argued that heavy cars takes much more skill to drive than light cars. When you drive an 1800kg car versus a 1200kg car, it’s a huge difference.
I race much better with light cars than heavy cars and have a lot of respect for drivers that beat me in a heavy car. I’m learning how to drive heavy, high powered RWD cars and they are so much fun to drive but, it’s a steep learning curve. Especially when everyone else is driving golf carts.