Hi Guys,
Can you please help with tips on car selection. I seem way too slow when racing online, other cars just drive past me (especially in the ghost c class intro race) and I know i’m guilty of over-braking at times but I believe other racers use cars that are more suitable for the tracks. Thanks a lot for your help.
Staj
Staj,
As far as I know, car selection usually isn’t a race-winner, unless one car is objectively superior to the other. In my experience, a car that is tuned properly for the track you are racing will do pretty well most of the time. Long straights? Set a tall final drive, shorten your first 2-4 gears for the tight sections of the track, and lower the amount of downforce your make. Tight and technical circuit? Shorten your gears throughout and dial in more downforce. Additionally, you should keep some wet-weather tunes in your back pocket (raise tire pressure so your tires have a larger contact patch and heat up more quickly). I also found this link http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=58 useful for adjusting my cars’ over/understeer. Hope this helps!
-Mako
Raising the tire pressure actually makes the contact patch smaller and the tires heat up slower. The car will be more nimble but will lose grip more quickly and more suddenly.
I was confused with this too, until i raced some spec races (where all cars are the same).
I was still slow, and other cars were pulling away from me much faster than i could explain. So i figured out that i was just not as good at driving as i thought i was.
Two things i have found out up till now, where i lose time are:
-Carrying speed through the corners. Don’t brake too hard, brake a bit earlier and make sure you are in the right gear to go through and especially out of corners (if you use manual). This is especially important in corners that are right before long straights, So if you want to focus and practice on a few turns, pick the ones that are right before straigs
-Transmission and engine damage. I was new to manual gear, and was using gears, to help me brake. This, and over-reving the engine, obviously/apparently damages the engine and it will make you slower the more damage it takes. This took me 3-4 weeks to figure out, so it was a huge aha moment for me!
I am sure that there are other things that can help you get faster, and will be keeping an eye on this to make sure i haven’t missed any. If you use automatic gears, you’ll get much much faster by using manual, and even a little bit faster if you use manua/clutch.
Depending on the car & class, traction and stability control systems usually also make you slower.
Thanks a lot for this, I finally decided to learn manual w/clutch and spent more time practicing and now i’m better in Leagues, crazy delighted with it but of cos there are still so many levels to go that its like oh boy new level new devil lol so I have to practice a lot more and i’m getting great tips from you Great guys on here so soon enough i’ll be pretty competent hoepfully, lol thanks again.
Ok well listening to you guys I can tell that it is not about the tuning. Trust me tuning does help, but that is for later. Before I can help you guys out I need you to do me a favor and ignore everything about tuning right now cause that is only going to confuse you. First I need some info from you guys that need help. When racing do you use clutch? are there any other setting that you use? Next thing you need to check is your deadzones on your controller. Are they stock default settings or have you adjusted them yet?
thanks a lot and Sorry for the late reply, but since posting this i’ve learnt to use manual w/clutch and deadzones have been adjusted, Raceboy’s videos helped and i’m seen progress in leagues, i just need a lot of practice, i’m beginning to see spots on the tracks where i don’t need to brake as much, i’m terrible at it - way too slow in the corners and other cars blast past.
Best way to become more brave under brakes is to find a ghost in the rivals that’s that’s .2 to .5 of a second faster than you. Follow it and watch where it breaks, the line they take, where they take their apex etc. The effect is dramatic and you will find yourself getting braver and braver under brakes even in race situations with the ghost.