Braking Point Warning Light

  • Thread starter Thread starter Flattyre
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daan
I'm in Div 2, so if I suck, what does that make you?
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A non participant. Yeah so I guess I under drove the qualifyer. once I get my PS2 fixed, just give me a few weeks, I'll be back in D2. :trouble:
 
I had no idea there was a brake warning light, does it show up on the bumper cam (the one with analogue tach and speedo where none of the car is visible)?

The only light i can think of is the shift light which flashes when you redline.
 
inferno
the driver in the video breaks way too late. the breaking indicator flashes about five times before he mashes it.

[EDIT]
And his line sucks. you have to set up on the outside and turn in before you break so you are traveling strait. Otherwise you will spin. Like he did. Thats why he overshot.
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Yeah agreed it was a bit late, I noticed that too. I tend to use the outside meter markers on mulsanne corner and setup as far left as I can. The "braking suggestion" light is just that, a suggestion. Don't take it as the gospel unless you want your track times to suffer.
 
The follow is MY full answer to Flattyre's questions. All opinions and suggestions are solely my own person experience/preferences.

Flattyre
How accurate is the braking point warning light (the gear light that flashes on the dashboard at the braking point)?
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The braking warning light is there to provide assistant to drivers new to the course. It is there as a guide only. More skilled drivers along with better tires can brake later than the warning light and still achieve the best speed for the corner. I would say, to me, only 50% of it is accurate as I consider myself skillful enough to know my own and the car's driving limits.​

Flattyre
Does it change to take account of car set up, ie when you use stickier tyres or racing brakes?
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It will take into account to all your car's power upgrades and racing brakes. However, I don't remember if it accounts for softer tires.​

Flattyre
Does it assume you're on the optimum racing line, or adjust if you're off-line (I get the impression it doesn't)?
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It doesn't assume that you're on the optimum racing line, however, it will adjust to your speed. Let's say if you slow down and coast towards a 2nd-gear corner (e.g. the last left corner at Laguna Seca) at 60km/h and already in 2nd gear, the gear indicator might come on but doesn't flash, or it might not come on at all.​

Flattyre
What's the difference between flashing red and glowing red?
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The difference between glowing and flashing is that glowing means the next corner should be taking with this gear number, hence roughly suggesting a speed, optimally located in 2nd gear, best to tackle this corner. The glowing number is usually the best when you are driving down a long straight as it mostly comes up fairly early and you can have lots of time to prepare for the braking, down-shifting, and turning.

The flashing red means that you should brake immediately and sequentialy down-shift in order to have enough track distance for you to slow down to the corner's optimal speed. Most of the time, especially the corner at the end of a long straight, it flashes earlier than what the car can brake at. I usually use this flashing red as the my guide and brake slightly after it started flashing.

There are several corners where the indicator doesn't give you the optimal guide or something (e.g. La Sarthe II [without chicanes]). Especially those that come up later than you should brake. If you follow the guide (which you mostly do the first time to drive the course) you will end up crashing, or at least off the track. You will eventually have to remember those corners when is the best braking time.​

Flattyre
And what's your view of it's usefulness, and if you think it's useful do you have any tips for getting the most out of it?
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I personally use it full time. Not necessarily following all the indicator's suggestions, but at least use it full time as a guide. It is useful even when I'm used to the track. Of course, now I'm kind of dependent on the indicator for my braking instead of track reference. However, I find it difficult to use track references as video games are still displayed on a 2D screen. I can have a better scene of that in real life 3D environment/view as I can have some depth perception. But I would say that I use half-and-half of both the indicator and track reference for my braking.

I can probably drive without the indicator. However, in GT mode, you have to drive different cars to different events/races. It would be difficult to have to adjust to different cars without the indicator unless you spend many hours of practice when you switch cars. And that would be very time consuming.​
 
Again another issue which wouldnt need a thread if PD would have cared enough to produce a decent user manual/booklet with the DVD.......... :grumpy:
 
Flattyre
How accurate is the braking point warning light (the gear light that flashes on the dashboard at the braking point)?
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Is that what that dam thing is! lol. i had no idea wat the hell it was, and ive searched for many years trying to find out wat it is! you are now my hero, i bow down to you

thanks for clearing that up for me ^_^
 
I usually ignore that ''braking point warning light '' thing.
I know very well when I should brake. ;)
 
for my part i use a lot the gear light indicator. it change depending your car and depending you tire condition in exemple:

you take qualification tires, while they are blue the gear light will say for exemple 2 for this turn. on the next lap when they are green it will say 3, meaning the grip is better than when they are cold or new. when they are really red, it will say 1 .

btw the gear is poping up before a corner, a long time before it. it indicates not really the gear but mostly i think the same number you see in B spec and you are indicating to bob. when it blinks, it means it's time to brake now it depend how you wanna take the corner, faster or slower, for slower brake when it starts to blink, if no a bit later.
 
I really hate the suggested gear indicator. It was at least fairly consistent in GT3 and before... but in GT4, it's pretty broken. Most particularly, it changes its mind about what gear you really aught to be in after it's too late.

'Slow down to 4th'... and then as you're flipping off the track 'Did I say 4th? I meant 1st.'

It's very inconsistent about when it starts to flash to indicate braking point (ie. you're going too fast). Sometimes even much too late.

So overall, you really can't use it to drive. Better to use your own eyes, because the gauge will lead you down the wrong path.

But it's so very hard to ignore. It flashes insistently. It's central on the display and is larger, more prominent, and easier to read than the small low contrast indicator showing what gear you're actually in. In the heat of the moment, I sometimes get mixed up and read the wrong one. And once I'm confused about what gear I'm in, I'm screwed.

I also find that in the heat of the moment, I end up obeying it's insistent flashing command to switch to the gear that it says. I've gotten so used to games where you need to follow that kind of stuff... like rally games where you're taking cues from your virtual codriver. So I find that I have to divert some of my concentration onto intentionally ignoring that dumb suggested gear display.

I really want to turn it off. I realize that some posts up above say it can be turned off, but I have gone over the options with a fine tooth comb looking for it several times, and I can not see a way to turn it off. I can turn off the map. I can change the display to the bizarro mode with a wheel on it. But I can't turn off the suggested gear indicator.

So please... I must be blind. Where _exactly_ do you turn it off?

(And are you sure it can be turned off in the NTSC american release?)

- Skant
 
It can be turned off if you select "simple" in the screen options, but you loose other usefull info like tire wear too. Maybe just put a piece of tape over your screen to blank it out. ;)
 
ampsarus
It can be turned off if you select "simple" in the screen options, but you loose other usefull info like tire wear too. Maybe just put a piece of tape over your screen to blank it out. ;)
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You don't lose the tire wear info. You do lose the lap times, best lap, position, and the lateral g meter. I've noticed that the position does appear whenever you cross a checkpoint though.
 
AWESOME!!! So I set it to Simple in the Race settings (it's not in Screen) and also turned off the map display.

Now it simulates the information you really have when you're on an RL track.

The info about your position, track times, etc only appears briefly when you reach checkpoints... which is rather like your team calling it in on the radio. You don't have a continuous display of that data in your car in RL. Nor do you have a virtual map to look at or anything. In fact, it's not uncommon for RL racers to be unaware of what position they're actually in because their team may not know either.

The only unrealistic thing you have in your cockpit at that point is a tire wear gauge. But I think that's quite reasonable... you feel the condition of the tires through your butt in the seat, and until the Playstation comes with a peripheral that can simulate that, you really need that virtual gauge.

Wow... this will work much better to practice for RL events now... thanks!

- Skant
 
sometimes it hasnt flashed and ive gone sliding off the track :dunce:
 
It seems to me that the gear indicator is 'wrong' only on double-apex corners, i.e. where a corner tightens up half way through. So the gear indicator is not wrong its just not especially useful for those situations. I have seen very few situations where the braking indicator is either wrong or inconsistent (however I am a long way from mastering group c/lmp cars - I assume most of the problems are with these cars).

It seems that the AI cars do exectly follow the gear and braking lights which explains why they are so slow - firstly they brake way too soon and secondly, they are poor at setting up for double-apex corners.
 
ampsarus
It can be turned off if you select "simple" in the screen options, but you loose other usefull info like tire wear too. Maybe just put a piece of tape over your screen to blank it out. ;)
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Resurrecting an old thread just to say I'm glad I searched this topic instead of asking the forum how to turn off the gear indicator.
Awesome.
 
here you got pleny good answers.
but it always changes depending on car
tires and setup and everything do affect

people did give you good answers and thnas to all those cause i was sorta wondering that too
 
Moloch_horridus
It seems to me that the gear indicator is 'wrong' only on double-apex corners, i.e. where a corner tightens up half way through. So the gear indicator is not wrong its just not especially useful for those situations. I have seen very few situations where the braking indicator is either wrong or inconsistent (however I am a long way from mastering group c/lmp cars - I assume most of the problems are with these cars).

It seems that the AI cars do exectly follow the gear and braking lights which explains why they are so slow - firstly they brake way too soon and secondly, they are poor at setting up for double-apex corners.
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I tend to have a different experience with F1.
In the F1 race at FUJI I was braking when the flashing indicator came on at the end of the straight and the AI were braking later and hitting me. (Lapped cars).
This happened for both a stock 60 point race and a 137 point race with 100 kg ballast and less downforce.
60 point race won by 2 laps, the 137 point race won by 1 lap and 20 seconds. So I dont believe early braking is a why the AI is slow.
At this track they lost heaps of time on corner exit and top speed on the long straight.
 
i personally find the brake warning light to be very useful and accurate. especially when learning the nurburgring. it was pretty much where it needed to be and without it, sometimes, especially late at night, i dont know where id be without it. probrably somewhere off in the wall or sand trap somewhere :)
 
I used the gear indicator first and stil use it on tracks with no or bad markers for braking points. But if anyone wants to see how wrong it sometimes is, just take a stock Ford GT with sport tires and take it to a slippery tarmac track (like Hong Kong) I promise that walls will hug our frontend atleast on half of the corners.
 
but the brake indicator are not that useful

they intend to let you brake very early:confused:
 
Well, I think its quiter hand on the Nürburgring if you want to learn the gears but how did you manage to get the light glowing?

Nice avatar TB

Cheers

T4 GTR
 
its quite good, you can use it when to brake. Wether you brake when it flashes (some tight bends require you to) or if you brake about 1 second after it starts flashing.

Its a great guide to go by if your learning the track/combo.
 
Hmm, the car needed a better driver, nah! I'm just kidding, but no offence... ignore the flashy red light...
I noticed he breaked while he was were turning, which is something you don't do with the Zonda, or any MR type car, all it does is spin the car out, which we all fully saw in that Vid... and it was all the red light's fault for brain washing that driver and making him break at the last moment
 
yeah i agree with some people that its kinda useless after you learn the track and it is completely useless if you drift

it does take into account tires, heat, car setup, etc as far as i can tell
 
For me I find it to be helpful 90% of the time. Its not accurate all the time but most of the time it does just fine.
 
I drive by remembering where I can go higher than the suggested gear, and where I have to go lower. Sometimes this depends on the car - but sometimes not. For example: New York forwards or reverse: it NEVER tells you early enough when to brake for the first/last corner (the double ninety connecting the two long straights). At Special Stage R5, the downhill right-hand sweep before the sharp hairpin left can be taken a up to a gear higher normally (I have done it cleanly in 5th once, when I should have been in 3rd!), regardless of what car you are driving.

Around the 'Ring it is very useful, altho I agree in that when it changes whilst you are braking it can be frustrating. I also suffer from mis-reading 2 as 2 on my smalll (15") TV, so excursins do happen - I completed 15 laps in the FGT last night as part of the c'ship - doubt any of the laps were clean, tho I suspect thats due to tyre issues. Grand Valley Speedway is a nightmare -braking for 3rd gear, then suddenly it tells you that you need 2nd! :scared:

Definitely a guide only. I want to try and switch it off along with the other stuff, however I need to finish the FGT series first - cannot risk making mistakes on that. I do wonder whether or not the AI use the same indicator however; and Ive also yet to see whether it adapts to the car set-up; certainly it seems to adjust the figures if you run shorter gears; and when on cold or orange-red tyres it lowers each corner's speed by a gear.
 
I ran a little test to see if it changes when you tune your car, and guess what... it did!... I don't know if it works for all cars, but I was driving BMW M3 GTR, and i took it for a spin on High Speed ring so i would have lots of space to play around with, and around the S turn it would normally tell me 3rd gear for the stock model, and when i added race tires(medium) and a spoiler(full setting), racing suspension, engine balancing, and brakes controller... the gearing was now 4th, plus the flashing part were it told me to brake changed on all of the wide high speed parts, THE GHETTO RED LIGHT ACTUALLY ADJUSTS, well for me that is :O
I dont know if my driving style had anything to with it, Im still testing it....
 
darkdragoon7
I ran a little test to see if it changes when you tune your car, and guess what... it did!... I don't know if it works for all cars, but I was driving BMW M3 GTR, and i took it for a spin on High Speed ring so i would have lots of space to play around with, and around the S turn it would normally tell me 3rd gear for the stock model, and when i added race tires(medium) and a spoiler(full setting), racing suspension, engine balancing, and brakes controller... the gearing was now 4th, plus the flashing part were it told me to brake changed on all of the wide high speed parts, THE GHETTO RED LIGHT ACTUALLY ADJUSTS, well for me that is :O
I dont know if my driving style had anything to with it, Im still testing it....
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Try adding power, but DONT change the tyres or the gears or any downforce - if it adjusts then, then it will react to tuning. It's always been obvious (to me at least) that it accounts for the grip the car has. Question is - does it account for the power/weight?? I would start with stock power, test, then tune to maximum, then run, and see the difference.

IIRC GT3 was the same in that it altered according to the settings, even suspension tuning. My theory was that it calculates how fast the car, with current settings, could get around, and gives you the answer. Not difficult to achieve - and you can see why B-spec wasn't too difficult to add-on for GT4, since it already can work out how fast to go. Could even be an extension of the same algorithms, with variables to account for the different speed settings.
 
ok, i tried what you said
BMW M3 '04 (stock)
338HP
1570KG
track: Mid-field Raceway(normal)
the flashing red light showed up very early at all turns, and changed abit after about one lap, the gear it was telling me to switch to was ok for the turns after the straights on the track, but it flashed VERY early

SAME CAR WITH:
racing chip, NA tuning stage 3, racing exhaust, stage 3 weight reduction,
470HP
1303KG

guess what?... same results, but this time the early flashing actually made sence since i was kicking out more power, which gave me more time to brake and slow down...
 
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