◆ SNAIL [Spec] Racing - Currently Recruiting for GT7 - JOIN TODAY!!Open

[CoachMK21]

Hey guys, just wanted to give a reminder that I will be missing D7 action this week, as I'll be leaving tomorrow. We don't have an official backup replay uploader listed in Team SNAIL, but I'm pretty sure we have a few others who could take care of those duties this week.

I should be back in time for next Sunday assuming travel goes smoothly. Looking forward to it.

i got it dont worry about it

I could do it as well.

 

[fizzer]

On a completely different note, (I think this is necessary as a different post correct me if I'm wrong I don't have a lot of forum experience)

I need some help with my driving habits. I do a lot of track days and also some club racing in real life (looking to become a real pro), and after a long day behind the wheel on GT6 today, I noticed that I tense up my entire body while I am in a corner(not gripping the steering wheel hard) as if I am bracing myself against the g-force in a corner so that I can make fine inputs in a real life scenario. Obviously it tires me out a lot quicker than what is necessary to be on a sim.

I find I get more tense in sim racing than I do in real life racing, I'm glad I'm not the only one A 30 minute sim race can be more taxing for me than a 2 hour stint in a LeMons race (at least after we got a cool-shirt system for hot days).

Its something I'm actively working on though, sim racing should never count as a workout! For me, I think a lot of it has to do with missing the sensations of a real car. I tend to carry tension in my shoulders to keep them dead steady while a light grip on the wheel gets me the most feeling from the force feedback.

Since I'm more of a kinesthetic driver than a visual one, I rely heavily on that feedback. Its probably why I'm god awful (like division 12 speeds) with a controller. Talk about tension, with a controller I'm that guy that's white knuckled while on the sticks, banking the controller left and right like it would help the car do what I want.

What I need to do is become more visually oriented, to trust my eyes more and only use the force feedback to supplement that.

I think that's the case anyway. On Sims with more lively force feedback than GT6 like Assetto Corsa or iRacing, I tend to be much more relaxed.

I haven't found the complete answer yet, but one thing that seems to help if I find I'm a little tensed up while practicing is to run a lap or so sloppy. Go drive a lap like Jeremy Clarkson, just toss the car around. It seems to orient me better with slip angles and since I'm not focusing on precision or lap times, I don't carry that tension since I don't care if my reaction to the FFB is perfect.

As Hill mentioned, driving so that you have spare mental capacity helps too. I'm much more relaxed and usually run just about as fast times if I'm talking to someone in the practice room while lapping. I've been chatting with a lot of snails recently in practice rooms. So feel free to keep on talking to me guys, it actually helps my driving

Obviously that's not an option in a race. There you have to realize that your tensing up and just try to relax. It seems easier the more practice I have on a particular combo.

Edit: grats @kcheeb , that's awesome! Hadn't read through the weekly rewind yet till I saw the other snails' posts.

 

[Dragonwhisky]

Long overdue and much deserved. Looks like I missed the announcement by a few hours but,

Congratulations to @kcheeb!

GTPlanet Member of the Week

The prized status and stardom that only the Member of the Week can bring has once again arrived and thus, it is once again time to acknowledge a member of the GTPlanet community; a member who has stood out among the hundreds of thousands of members already here, both old and new alike for all that they’re worth and all they have contributed to the community.
A Junior member is once again among the ranks, and this particular member is known for being a S.N.A.I.L., so let’s give a very warm welcome to the newest member to find a vacant apartment in the ever-expanding MotW madhouse, kcheeb!
The interview has yet to go live so keep an eye peeled for the announcement once the time comes, and until then be sure to stop by the official Member of the Week and perhaps catch up on previous interviews that you may have missed.

 

[cmbeal317]

Congrats @kcheeb!

 

[Chiochan]

Congradulations kcheeb, this gif is for you! (I know you like the toilet humor)

 

[Rallywagon]

Congrats Cheeb!

 

[Dragonwhisky]

How do you set the seat properly so you don't have to brace? Also, what determines if you are pulling or pushing on the steering wheel, if anything, beyond focusing on it? Is it the distance, angle or height in relation to the driver? Thanks

The only thing that helps with pulling on the wheel is to get it closer to your chest. The only cars I know of where the arms are extended much are F1 or F1 type cars. In almost every on board video I've seen of road racing cars, the drivers have their control situation arranged so the the steering wheel is at or a little farther than elbow distance away from their chest. I'm sure it's really down to driver preference, but the closer you have the load to your body, the less work your arms have to do to move it.

To be a little more precise, consider the below pictures. Which one would put the least amount of strain on the driver's physical aspects?

A:

B:

C:

There is no wrong answer here. There is only what works best for you.

 

[Rallywagon]

I've been slowly moving closer to my wheel myself. When I start making the final changes to my rig, I plan on moving it just a little closer too. There is of course a point where close is to close. A good way to find your sweet spot. Get in a computer chair with height adjustable arm rests. Find a height where your arms are resting comfortably while you are sitting tall and in a good posture. Now lift your forearms, leaving your elbows on the arms rests, until you find the most comfortable angle for yourself. That is where your wheel should be, and it will more than likely be a bit closer and higher than your average car.

 

[Sharkb8ii]

Most Thursday nights are like this.
That is why I stopped attending regularly.

I know I ran into skills a couple of times last night. Due to real life intrusions, it was the first time I ran those combos, and with 12 other cars on the track, it was ugly.

Eventually I was disco'd, I actually considered it a mercy killing

 

[ParkerMO125]

you guys dont know me but i was in your practice room last night for a few races. Very difficult car/track combos! Sorry for brake failing numerous times, tried to stay out of the way. Was the first time for me in the integra and alfa. First time at cape ring since gt5 as well Parker

 

[CCraft]

you guys dont know me but i was in your practice room last night for a few races. Very difficult car/track combos! Sorry for brake failing numerous times, tried to stay out of the way. Was the first time for me in the integra and alfa. First time at cape ring since gt5 as well Parker

So are you gonna join us then Parker
EDIT: has anyone seen NFS yet it's very much like the game but very fun lots of sweet cars and racing if you have seen it does anyone know what his home track was he's driving on to test the mustang

 

[ParkerMO125]

So are you gonna join us then Parker

i submitted entry info wednesday, waiting for PM

 

[intoflatlines]

On the other hand, slower drivers, I don't want to sound offensive but also recognize that you may be 3 to 4 seconds slower over the course of a lap and it frustrates faster drivers a lot when you drive defensively and try to outbrake them throughout the entire lap and then end up spinning off track because you were too focused on what was going on behind you. Know when the battle is lost and slot back in behind. It is more likely that you learn more from following someone quicker even for just a few corners.

I don't think your point was directed in my direction (maybe it was) but IMO reverse grid the whole point is for the faster drivers in back to make the safe pass, not for the slower drivers to open up a gap and let others pass. Slower drivers start up front and do what they can (legally) to stay in front for as long as they can. And if you truly expect a slower driver to allow a pass to someone 3-4 seconds faster per lap, they will be out of sight in no time. I can see how a faster driver would be frustrated not being "allowed" to make a pass, but a few laps of defensive driving is very beneficial as well. The problem is when the faster drivers are bumping you through the corners and spinning you out (not directed at you).

 

[CCraft]

i submitted entry info wednesday, waiting for PM

Sweet glad to have you
Also just read on twitter gt7 game developer has said that the game will take around 5 years to complete but has hinted that a prologue should be ready in a year or two so whoever was talkin about that last week was kinda right about a 1-2 yr release

 

[fizzer]

The only thing that helps with pulling on the wheel is to get it closer to your chest. The only cars I know of where the arms are extended much are F1 or F1 type cars. In almost every on board video I've seen of road racing cars, the drivers have their control situation arranged so the the steering wheel is at or a little farther than elbow distance away from their chest. I'm sure it's really down to driver preference, but the closer you have the load to your body, the less work your arms have to do to move it.

To be a little more precise, consider the below pictures. Which one would put the least amount of strain on the driver's physical aspects?

A:
View attachment 130666
B:
View attachment 130667

C:
View attachment 130668

There is no wrong answer here. There is only what works best for you.

NASCAR drivers seem to take being "up on the wheel" to the extreme:

I like being close myself, but that's seriously up close and personal

Makes sense though from an endurance standpoint. NASCAR might not be pulling all that many peak Gs compared to high DF sports and formula cars, but they obviously are turning for an extended period of time. Minimizing arm extension makes sense.

 

[turnupdaheat]

The only thing that helps with pulling on the wheel is to get it closer to your chest. The only cars I know of where the arms are extended much are F1 or F1 type cars.

Comfort is the key. Extending your arms too much could lead to the effect of each both arms pulling against each other on the wheel. Ideally, the arms should be in a nice relaxed 90 degree V shape like the examples below.

 

[Dragonwhisky]

What I think is way extreme as well, is how high that wheel is in relation to the driver's eyes.

 

[CCraft]

Comfort is the key. Extending your arms too much could lead to the effect of each both arms pulling against each other on the wheel. Ideally, the arms should be in a nice relaxed 90 degree V shape like the examples below.

I think since I play on my bed when I get a wheel I'm gonna design my rig to be similar to this

 

[Mark II]

THE PRACTICE ROOMS ARE OFFICIALLY OPEN ! If you are assigned to D1, D2, D3, or D4 please join, with your best racecraft, the BLUE ROOM:
1472-6118-4216-8212-9854

If you are assigned to D5, D6, D7, or D8 please join, with your best racecraft, the RED ROOM:

1472-6681-3286-8590-4112
Sunday March 16th Results
Sunday March 23th Lineup

Photo Courtesy of @shmibal43

Photo Courtesy of @shmibal43

Photo Courtesy of @Wolfsatz

Hi all, sorry for being the creeper just chillin in the lobby last night for practice.. HA! My roomate wouldn't leave me alone so I could not concentrate. Thank you @Neovre for your advice - I could barely hear anything during earlier practice but the slow drive-and-follow really helped my time. Manged to get a 2:15 on Ascari from a best 2:25. Thank you all, great experience so far!

 

[chuyler1]

has anyone seen NFS yet it's very much like the game but very fun lots of sweet cars and racing if you have seen it does anyone know what his home track was he's driving on to test the mustang

I'm pretty sure it was Road Atlanta. I thought the plot and acting wasn't quite up to par with the F&F series but the action and race sequences was worth the price of admission. They made the right choice to minimize CGI and it shows. My wife and I were laughing at the Drive-In scene. We enjoy going to a local drive-in but 95% of the people there show up in trucks or Minivans with kids piling out. I'd love to go to a drive in where the people and cars are all hot...but I think that only exists in movies. Anyway, that was a minor detail. The bigger issue I had was...why would you enter in a race where winner takes home all the entered cars...but then you wreck all the cars to win? Not much of a prize. ...although that's pretty much how the races went in the original game. I used to play those for hours using the arrow keys on my keyboard!

 

[CoachMK21]

I'm pretty sure it was Road Atlanta. I thought the plot and acting wasn't quite up to par with the F&F series but the action and race sequences was worth the price of admission. They made the right choice to minimize CGI and it shows. My wife and I were laughing at the Drive-In scene. We enjoy going to a local drive-in but 95% of the people there show up in trucks or Minivans with kids piling out. I'd love to go to a drive in where the people and cars are all hot...but I think that only exists in movies. Anyway, that was a minor detail. The bigger issue I had was...why would you enter in a race where winner takes home all the entered cars...but then you wreck all the cars to win? Not much of a prize. ...although that's pretty much how the races went in the original game. I used to play those for hours using the arrow keys on my keyboard!

That really is a fantastic picture. Road Atlanta is definitely a track on my list to get on.

 

[Troggy]

Acting and plot not up to F&F standards? So you're saying NFS is in the conversation for worst movie ever?

 

[gmraces]

Not sure if it is because Thursday everyone wants to come on top, but must say that lately Blue Room has not been observing basic SOLR.

As a D3 driver I want to improve and be competitive, but faster drivers need to respect slower traffic.

Last night was my first time practicing with you guys. I am planning on racing sunday night for my first time. I wanted to practice to see how things were run and how close the action was to the OLR rules. For those who were there, please let me know how I did so that I can make adjustments before sunday.. Thanks.

 

[ptslopoke]

Last night was my first time practicing with you guys. I am planning on racing sunday night for my first time. I wanted to practice to see how things were run and how close the action was to the OLR rules. For those who were there, please let me know how I did so that I can make adjustments before sunday.. Thanks.

I was around you most of the night, you did just fine...no complaints, if you keep doing that you will be just fine here.

 

[Wolfsatz]

Last night was my first time practicing with you guys. I am planning on racing sunday night for my first time. I wanted to practice to see how things were run and how close the action was to the OLR rules. For those who were there, please let me know how I did so that I can make adjustments before sunday.. Thanks.

you did very good from what I could see... most of the time I was just viewing your tail lights getting smaller and smaller.

 

[Wolfsatz]

I don't think your point was directed in my direction (maybe it was) but IMO reverse grid the whole point is for the faster drivers in back to make the safe pass, not for the slower drivers to open up a gap and let others pass. Slower drivers start up front and do what they can (legally) to stay in front for as long as they can. And if you truly expect a slower driver to allow a pass to someone 3-4 seconds faster per lap, they will be out of sight in no time. I can see how a faster driver would be frustrated not being "allowed" to make a pass, but a few laps of defensive driving is very beneficial as well. The problem is when the faster drivers are bumping you through the corners and spinning you out (not directed at you).

So, stealing a little bit the idea from @AJKVail, next week I plan to open 3 rooms. The traditional Blue / Red rooms when everyone can go all out. and a 3rd YELLOW FUN ROOM; everyone is welcome to join but the emphasis will be to race in a fun relaxed way (instead of going all out) and we will be implementing competition yellows to bring the pack together.

If anyone is willing and capable to host the fun room, please PM on the side to coordinate.

 

[CCraft]

Acting and plot not up to F&F standards? So you're saying NFS is in the conversation for worst movie ever?

I don't think worst movie ever I mean it was based on a video game and by that standard I thought it matched the game pretty close I don't believe F&F can really be compared to it because F&F was it's own original story and didn't have to live up to staying true to a game
EDIT: and the racing and stunts were awesome with minimal cg it definitely made me think that the crap that was pulled was very possible except for a two lane grasshopper that doesn't destroy the suspension or front clip

 

[Neovre]

The more relaxed you are the better in my opinion.

I used to have this philosophy on how to learn to drive fast that I applied with pretty good success. It went like this drive only as fast as you can be relaxed and still have enough focus to think about something else while doing it. Over time I found this would make you a better racer because you were relaxed at the limit of the car while everyone else was just hanging on trying to drive at 110% of their capabilities. One other part of this is you can see what you're doing well and where you need to improve because you're not hanging on for dear life. You won't be the fastest at first but you're playing the long game and you will be fastest in the long run. This of course means being relaxed.

On the point of real life verses sim if your driving tensed up in real life you might want to look at your seating position and if you are pushing or pulling on the wheel. Focus on pushing the wheel verses pulling and that will help you relax more also. When I drive any car in real life I'm relaxed even at it's limit because I set my seat properly so I'm not having to brace myself through a corner. Anyways if you need more specifics on this feel free to ask. SNAIL on!!

P.S. Congrats @kcheeb

Thanks for the thoughtful insights, I do think there would be merit behind with having relaxed muscles while driving. It's not like I would tense up to a point where I wouldvhave insufficient mental capacity I just automatically stiffen up my upper body, torso and arms, against G forces.

But yeah I do plan on breaking my habit and try new things or else I wouldn't improve. sometimes you just have to go back to the basics and re work your way in order to gain more I believe.
Any methods you've tried to loosen yourself up while driving?

In real life though, just FYI, I track a stock daily driver with leather seats so yeah I do need to counter the Gs myself, and all the money is channelled towards paying for my racing in a car I am sharing so no upgrades for bucket seat or harnesses yet. I do endurance races or WERC by NASA in Norcal if you're familiar, my co-driver/ car owner is more of a "gentlemen driver" versus me being more athletic and slim. All I have is a seat insert built from paddings so I can reach the steering wheel with less effort yet I'm not snug in the seat so again I need to brace myself to a certain extent over a 1.5 hour stint.

I find I get more tense in sim racing than I do in real life racing, I'm glad I'm not the only one A 30 minute sim race can be more taxing for me than a 2 hour stint in a LeMons race (at least after we got a cool-shirt system for hot days).

Its something I'm actively working on though, sim racing should never count as a workout! For me, I think a lot of it has to do with missing the sensations of a real car. I tend to carry tension in my shoulders to keep them dead steady while a light grip on the wheel gets me the most feeling from the force feedback.

Since I'm more of a kinesthetic driver than a visual one, I rely heavily on that feedback. Its probably why I'm god awful (like division 12 speeds) with a controller. Talk about tension, with a controller I'm that guy that's white knuckled while on the sticks, banking the controller left and right like it would help the car do what I want.

What I need to do is become more visually oriented, to trust my eyes more and only use the force feedback to supplement that.

I think that's the case anyway. On Sims with more lively force feedback than GT6 like Assetto Corsa or iRacing, I tend to be much more relaxed.

I haven't found the complete answer yet, but one thing that seems to help if I find I'm a little tensed up while practicing is to run a lap or so sloppy. Go drive a lap like Jeremy Clarkson, just toss the car around. It seems to orient me better with slip angles and since I'm not focusing on precision or lap times, I don't carry that tension since I don't care if my reaction to the FFB is perfect.

As Hill mentioned, driving so that you have spare mental capacity helps too. I'm much more relaxed and usually run just about as fast times if I'm talking to someone in the practice room while lapping. I've been chatting with a lot of snails recently in practice rooms. So feel free to keep on talking to me guys, it actually helps my driving

Obviously that's not an option in a race. There you have to realize that your tensing up and just try to relax. It seems easier the more practice I have on a particular combo.

Edit: grats @kcheeb , that's awesome! Hadn't read through the weekly rewind yet till I saw the other snails' posts.

good points, thanks for bringing up some of your solution I will give those a try.

 

[chuyler1]

Acting and plot not up to F&F standards? So you're saying NFS is in the conversation for worst movie ever?

If you were not interested in action sequences and based the quality of the movie solely on acting and plot...then yes it is the worst movie ever. No wait, I reserve that claim for "The Happening" so I'd say second worst movie ever.

...but add in the awesome action sequences and its worth seeing just for that.

 

[CCraft]

Ha Ha The Happening did suck bad just think that's what we have to look forward too homicidal trees "The Ents are going to war"