Anyone else more consistent after finishing time trials?

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vat_man

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As mentioned previously, I completed the ol' 100% a while ago and am now picking my way through the prize cars to complete my collection.

I've been fairly consistent with lap-times, but would get fair variations with cold/worn tyres, plus my notorious short attention span....

What was I saying again? Oh yeah...

Anyhoo, now that I'm re-running a lot of the series to win the nice cars, I've noticed that my laptimes are much more consistent, eg. about a 2 to 3 tenth variation in events with no tyre wear, and steady incremental improvements, and then degredation in lap times as the tyres warm up, go through their optimum grip period, and then go orange.

Has anyone else noticed this alteration to their driving?
 
Mostly I find that the Time :clock: is the main factor in improving racing/driving.

More track time always improves gettin to know the corners on a circuit. Endurance races are great for this. :smilewink

Special license :gldmedal: and time trials are handy as there's no lapping traffic or tyre wear..

What's everyone else think?
:sun:
 
I give 100% credit to the time trials for making me a better driver.

Well, ok, I'll give 95% credit to the time trials and 5% to that stupid flashing light telling you when to brake and what gear you oughtta be in. Those 2 things have cut HUGE ammounts off my time.

I admittedly used to just take a car that I know would blow the doors off the competition, drive up, slam the wall, then take off again.

After spending a day tearing around Trial Mountain in that lousy Miata (I hated that car for a while after that time trial) I learned (had a better feel anyways) about when to start braking, how much, etc... etc...
 
That Miata time trial is a really good one for learning about maintaining optimum grip and momentum - if you slide it any point you can't recover the way you can with a more powerful car and you lose a heap of time. I practically had to re-learn the lines around the circuit!
 
The only TT that improoved my driving was the complex string one, Ive already shaved 2 seconds off my initial 1st position time. Is it me or am I just the only one who finds the S - Licence Miata Trail mountain easier than the TT one??
 
The time trials are very hard to do the hardest is the Complex String i never made tha one tips anyone
 
Yes, definitely. They really made me find the best lines and keep hitting them.

As for the lap times/tire wear. I have that, too. My best times seem to come when the tire indicator shows yellow.
 
Originally posted by Sertsa
As for the lap times/tire wear. I have that, too. My best times seem to come when the tire indicator shows yellow.
Click to expand...
I think I always turn better laps with my tires yellow/orange than anything else.

My theory is, you may have lost grip at this point (at least, it's not optimal) but since you know you're going to have to pit relatively soon, you don't spend as much time babying the tires - I know that's true with me. ie - I may not brake as hard coming into a corner...

<shrug> When trying to conserve the tires, I normally end up erroring on the side of caution.
 

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