Best events/exercises to improve fundamentals/stop bad habits?

[Niko-H]

Reading the "Time Trial Discussion" thread got me thinking. I'd love to hear some community insights here.

Here's the situation. I am an "OKAY" driver. On the weekly time trials, I can usually get a "high bronze" lap time (6-7% off the top time) within a few laps, no matter the car or track. But I feel that even if I vigorously practice that time trial, I cannot find that last few percent to get into silver or gold territory.
This same problem stumps me with circuit experiences or events requiring much more pace (e.g., the chili pepper races).

After reflecting, I realized I have some poor driving fundamentals. Maybe it's not turning in at the right point, not braking efficiently (e.g. not trail-braking into the turn), or coasting through the corner and accelerating too late (obviously killing the exit speed).

The #1 advice I read is to "keep practicing." But what's the motivation to "practice" when I might be practicing bad habits and don't fully understand what to correct?

• Sure, I can do 500 laps of Sardegna in the Ferrari Dino and MAYBE get a good lap time. But is that improving my underlying skills? Or am I just turning laps with bad habits and hoping I'm eventually fast enough? Sometimes that's what it feels like.
• I can do 500 laps of the Lago Maggiore circuit experience, but will that improve my skills enough to hang with the field in the Human Comedy event?

I've started nosing around YouTube and such (@Tidgney's videos have been great so far) - but watching and reading only goes so far.

With all that said, what cars/tracks/events/license tests/exercises/missions in GT7 can best help recognize and correct bad habits, and practice and improve these fundamental skills?

• Are there specific license tests that help the most? Or should I revoke my GT7 license and start over?
• Are any circuit experience tracks better than others? Or should I pick one each week to focus on?
• Am I too hard on myself with the weekly time trials and should stick with it?
• Do I need to step up to Hard difficulty, try more chili races, race more against Sophy, or start racing online?
• Or is this post just a bunch of rambling from someone who has run out of talent?

 

[Nebuc72]

Use a ghost in the Time Trials, have it reset per sector, and just follow what it does.
Copy where and when it brakes, where it turns into, where it accelerates out. That's how I learn the fastest line around a track.

 

[bduddy]

Until you have golds in every license test and CE, I don't think there's any one specific thing you can focus on that would help more than filling whatever gaps you have. Do you?

 

[Lomic]

Following a ghost is IMHO the best ROI you could get in terms of time spent versus progress.

 

[330_D]

Brake earlier than you think you should. Throttle out later than you think you should. Learn to trail brake. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Throttle and brake are not digital they are analog. ... Use every inch of the track when applicable.


Edit to add, whatever track is difficult for you but also that you enjoy very much is a good place to start working on circuit experience. Just keep at it until it clicks. Don't overdo either. At some point you'll have diminishing returns. Stop. Reset. Try again later. You mentioned the TT thread, that place will make you wicked fast if you stick to it and pay attention. I used to be just like you. Very casual about my GT time. In less than a year I'm pretty consistently in the top 1 percent time trialing. It just takes time.

 

[ShiftingGears]

Don't do offline events. You learn nothing against idiot AI and benchmarks that are too easy.

Do time trials online - load their ghost, figure out what they're doing and try to replicate it. You are literally seeing the best way that anyone in the world drives a car when you do this.

Make friends when racing daily races, load their ghosts in daily race practice and time trials so you can try and beat them.

 

[skydragon49]

I'd say online time trials is your best bet if you're looking to improve your driving.

Each TT can be be a source of important lessons and add up to your experience and knowledge.

Focusing on this portion of the game was the best thing I ever done in GT7.

Edit: you mentioned doing 500 laps in a circuit in the TT. I'm a firm believer that repetition is key, however as you said it is not the fact you drive 500 laps that makes you a better player. It is the amount of laps or time you spend learning where to improve. Analyzing people's laps, seeing how they break, how early they hit the gas or what line they take or whatever you want to see and then you spend time trying to apply what you learned in your hot lap.

Seems simple, but it is quite a process. And it is a rewarding one.

 

[DefInfinity]

Well, first thing: Do you understand what the car is doing?

 

[smoothbore12]

From what am experience till now ,the TT's are a good way to improve someone his skills .
The fact that there's always someone to " teach" you is crucial.
Might be one of your friends on your leaderboard or someone else and you can take advantage as well spoken above .

Repeating the same thing over and over , training the instinct and soon things become more natural, but ......
But there is always the fear to do the wrong thing over and over and no progress show up.

Its when you have to stop and leave it for another time .
Many times works better the other time or the other day cause that's how it goes on everything.

Of course someone must consider the equipment that he and others use and unfortunately we don't have all the same reflections and age.
But always in any level there's room for improvement, so realising where you stand first is a good point to start .
Training the " right " way is the second spot someone must focus.
Also we don't have all the same learning curve but is definitely sure that doing something wrong even for 500 laps can't lead you somewhere.

 

[Pesselles]

Until you have golds in every license test and CE, I don't think there's any one specific thing you can focus on that would help more than filling whatever gaps you have. Do you?

I second this answer.


@Niko-H here are my 2 cents, based on my personal learning curve on GT7.

To improve driving skills and get gold on TTs, it's essential to learn and master the driving basis. No matter you play on controller, on manual, with a wheel, every player starts by learning and mastering these skills first.

Golding the licence tests, and golding the CEs, are the best way to learn, and improve these primary skills.

Once it's done, compare your scores to your leaderboard friends. Replay your lowest scores as long as necessary to get better results (see my CEs scores in my signature). Feel free to add me as friend

If you've started with bad habits, this first step will learn you how to fix them and get the appropriate ones because, there's no many ways to get gold on licence tests and on CE, but only one: the right one. As long you're not doing perfectly, you won't have gold.

Once this step acquired, join the TTs and pratice with humility and confidence. Quickly, your scores will get better but not immediatly. Be patient and consistent.
Some TTs are really hard to gold, even for good players (see my stats).
Following an appropriate ghost (according to your level) and watching videos guides are your best friends to start efficiently each TT. Learn first, drive after. Not the inverse.


Last advice: remember it's only and nothing but a game.
You should play to have fun and joy. Competition is good but not the point.

Best

 

[Gorefast]

I'd say online time trials is your best bet if you're looking to improve your driving.

Each TT can be be a source of important lessons and add up to your experience and knowledge.

Focusing on this portion of the game was the best thing I ever done in GT7.

Edit: you mentioned doing 500 laps in a circuit in the TT. I'm a firm believer that repetition is key, however as you said it is not the fact you drive 500 laps that makes you a better player. It is the amount of laps or time you spend learning where to improve. Analyzing people's laps, seeing how they break, how early they hit the gas or what line they take or whatever you want to see and then you spend time trying to apply what you learned in your hot lap.

Seems simple, but it is quite a process. And it is a rewarding one.

Yeah, time trials were the key for me. They brought me more fun and with that more seating time with GT7 than ever before. I am happy to see some of the guys in this thread also in my PSN-friends list and they all did help in one or another way. At GTPlanet are so many supportive and helping hands that you will reach your goal and maybe even more... Have fun!

Switching to other racing games I love shows me that I improved my driving during the last 12 months significantly. That feels good and brings me self-confidence and motivation. If you're looking for ghosts with the slightest improvement, feel free to add me via PSN as 'apaul3133'. Greetings!

 

[Steer]

• Are there specific license tests that help the most? Or should I revoke my GT7 license and start over?

There is no point starting over. Did you get gold in the licence tests? If no, then you could try to gold them. There is a demo ghost that might help for any that you are really struggling with. As you know, most are bitesized and gold is achievable on all of them with a bit of practice. Some easier than others of course.

• Are any circuit experience tracks better than others? Or should I pick one each week to focus on?

For me the 'Ring and some of the Tokyo tracks are the most difficult. The others are mostly similar for me. I assume you want to get faster on normal tracks, and if so ignore the snow and rally ones. Pick a track, watch the demo, and try to get gold. If you are struggling then you can load up the demo ghost.

• Am I too hard on myself with the weekly time trials and should stick with it?

Weekly time trials are the best way of judging where you are at. I used to Gold only about 1/3rd of them when I got the game, but after a lot of practice I now gold about 8/10. Obviously I still have room for improvement.

• Do I need to step up to Hard difficulty, try more chili races, race more against Sophy, or start racing online?

As mentioned by other above most offline racing is a rubbish way of judging your ability. But yes, up the difficulty to Hard anyway.

• Or is this post just a bunch of rambling from someone who has run out of talent

I am not young but I am better than I used to be. Anyone can improve.

You do not mention what driver aids you are using.

Manual gearbox is a must.

And I suggest not using TCS on low power cars and maybe just use that at 1 on the more powerful cars if you need to. I only use above TCS 1 on the silly 1000 bhp cars that are very difficult to drive.

The red braking markers are useful to us mere mortals who struggle to learn a track. Sometimes they are misleading though. The good players turn them off for a reason.

If you are feeling really brave you could post a video of yourself on here and ask for help. Someone will be able to point out what you can do better.

 

[Niko-H]

Thank you everyone! There are bits and pieces of the puzzle I'm trying to solve everywhere.
At a minimum, I have a few homework assignments - I'll put a much more honest effort into the CXPs/licenses I left off at, and next week's TT!

Following a ghost is IMHO the best ROI you could get in terms of time spent versus progress.

You nailed what I was getting at - maximizing the "ROI" of practicing. I still have a handful of offline events to beat, cars to collect, etc. So I want to balance that with the practicing side, without getting burned out. That's why I tried to poke at specific events.

Love the suggestion of having the ghost reset by sector. Not sure why I never tried that previously.

Don't do offline events. You learn nothing against idiot AI and benchmarks that are too easy.

Fair enough. I admittedly have spent most of my GT7 time following the AI bozos that make the original B-Spec Bob look like Senna. That's probably where some bad habits came from (also by constantly avoiding their nonsense driving).

Well, first thing: Do you understand what the car is doing?

To a point. I don't have the maximum feel for what the car is doing or how far from the edge I am.
But I understand enough to be dangerous - when the car is plowing toward the gravel, it might be because I turned in too late and overloaded the tires with too much speed and turning angle. Or, if it's breaking loose on the corner exit, I either stabbed the throttle too abruptly or at the wrong time. Hence how I landed at "my general driving technique is not great, how do I improve there?" as opposed to "all the cars in this game suck, they don't turn at all, help!"

From what am experience till now ,the TT's are a good way to improve someone his skills .
The fact that there's always someone to " teach" you is crucial.
Might be one of your friends on your leaderboard or someone else and you can take advantage as well spoken above .

Repeating the same thing over and over , training the instinct and soon things become more natural, but ......
But there is always the fear to do the wrong thing over and over and no progress show up.

Its when you have to stop and leave it for another time .
Many times works better the other time or the other day cause that's how it goes on everything.

Of course someone must consider the equipment that he and others use and unfortunately we don't have all the same reflections and age.
But always in any level there's room for improvement, so realising where you stand first is a good point to start .
Training the " right " way is the second spot someone must focus.
Also we don't have all the same learning curve but is definitely sure that doing something wrong even for 500 laps can't lead you somewhere.

Well explained. The part I found so frustrating was leaving a CXP for another time, returning, and landing in the same spot. It felt like I was getting consistent at mediocre driving. That's why I wanted ideas to change my approach.

Last advice: remember it's only and nothing but a game.
You should play to have fun and joy. Competition is good but not the point.

Absolutely! Perhaps the original question could've been, "how can I make practicing more enjoyable?"

If you are feeling really brave you could post a video of yourself on here and ask for help. Someone will be able to point out what you can do better.

Not brave enough yet. It's like the fear those who are afraid of public speaking have - but somehow I'm more afraid of getting annihilated on a message board over a game (sorry simulator) vs. presenting to a room of people.
Maybe when I improve a little and hit the next wall!

P.S. - always MT, ABS weak, and TCS 1 mostly across the board. Occasionally higher TCS to help with rain or on unusually obnoxious cars.

 

[Pesselles]

Absolutely! Perhaps the original question could've been, "how can I make practicing more enjoyable?"

A possible answer to this smart question is also in my signature (check for Titans)

 

[Lomic]

Love the suggestion of having the ghost reset by sector. Not sure why I never tried that previously.

Yep, did not thought about that precision but it is crucial, the ghost is useless if you can't even see it vanishing in the distance 😅

 

[Niko-H]

Hi All -

I just wanted to revisit this thread and thank everyone for again the encouragement, motivation, advice, etc.

I've already doubled my total of gold circuit experiences. It's not much, but considering the only 4 I had were ovals and the mini Kyoto circuit, it qualifies as progress!
I've also been pretty happy with the last two online TTs (GT-One/Fuji and McLaren/VGT). Not yet where I want to be, but closer.

Here are my biggest takeaways for anyone who sees this thread in the future:
1) Confidence. I'm extremely tough on myself in "real life," and I'm excellent at carrying it over to stuff that's supposed to be fun. The gold CXPs came easier than I expected - maybe because my baseline was a little better than I gave myself credit for. I just didn't have the confidence to push that extra few %.

2) Loading a ghost and resetting it by sector. Even if you select a very fast ghost, it is invaluable because it illustrates where you're losing time, where your racing line is sub-optimal, etc.
It also feels great when you start hanging with the ghost through a few turns!

3) Videos and other tutorials. There's a ton of information out there - almost too much. But even casually watching and reading can unlock a few gems.
Tidgney mentioned in one of his GT Sport School videos - "don't be in a situation where the car is doing nothing." That clicked right away - I realized I lost a lot of time letting the car "do nothing" through the corner, which obviously kills exit speed.
The point is that sometimes you just need the concept explained differently for it to be actionable.