consevative, effecient Driving

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hapul
  • 8 comments
  • 632 views
Hapul

Hapul

Messages
153
I've been doing the formula GT championship and the trend is that I can't get the tyre life of most others who have written reports or even the AI on some tracks. How can I drive economically? Is is to do with the fact that I do not use TCS?
 
I conserve tires in three ways, all seem to work effectively.

1. Avoid running over too rumble strips.

2. Avoid running off the track as much as you can. Gravel, grass, etc can damage tires.

3. Avoid locking up the brakes going into tight corners. Try bumping the brakes instead.
 
mmm....are you using th Formula GT car? because that's the one I used and I pitted less often than the AI.

I used TCS to "4", but It would be useless if you don't drive properly, like you said before.
Everytime you corner, brake before turning, or in other words, brake in a straight line, AND brake early.
There's also a term that will help you not only on tyre wear but on efficient driving...try to remember SLOW IN, FAST OUT.

The FGT has very good brakes but If you are a late braker, then your tyres will become red quicker.
So, don't brake while you hit the apex, and don't push the gas too early, only when you have gotten out of the corner.
Use trottle control efficiently on every corner and do it with smoothness and ease. Try to imagine classical music on your head so you get a feeling of perfection and not reckless driving.

I didn't give major tunnig changes to the car, but I do recommend turning TCS up a few clicks.

If you're still having problems with pitting, try to follow the AI so you can get a better racing line. Not that they're the best at it, but if they are beating you, then you might want to follow their driving habits as well. :)

Try to search in the GT4 Tunning forum for "tyre wear" for further info on how to get the most out of your tyres.

Ohh and one more thing...if you are not using the FGT and your driving a LMP car instead, try to get the R5 tyres for it, and definetely try to get the FGT by winning the 24 Hours Nurburgring endurance race.

I hope this helped out a little bit :)


Ciao!
 
thanks - I'll try it! The only problem with the 'slow in fast out' (which I do try to use), is it loads up the outside rear on the way out. I often try to brake late and have a very straight exit and late apex. This means the rears wear equally. I'll keep experimenting with different lines, though
 
That's where TCS and/or throttle modulation come into play. I haven't driven the FGT lately, but back when I did the Formula GT series, I used a TCS of 5 to keep rear tire wear down.

It's realistic, anyway. Modern F1 cars do have traction control. :)
 
I can pull an extra lap out of my AMG CLK-GTR Race Car at La Sarthe by braking lighter and earlier and easing into the throttle more and just generally not pushing as hard. It's safer too. If you've got a half lap or more lead there's no reason to push the car flat out. I never get a huge lead and I never make any big mistakes either thanks to it. Just like real life endurance racing. It's a race of atricion in real life as much as it is anything. Push flat out all the time and if you don't wreck the car first it will break.
 
One other thing that can be done with the FGT car is to reduce the rear toe setting. Formula One cars normally run massive toe out in the rear, which helps with rotation in sharp corners, but also causes the tire to crab a lot on the straights, increasing wear.
 
I usually drive conservatively using gearing that has a tendency to keep the engine in a lower rpm range. Trying to go flat out through long sweeping turns is a no-no. I definitely think that using higher TCS settings prevents premature tire wear. Also higher differential settings should work better to save tires. Listen to your tires and you can hear them crying out when you're taking turns a little too quickly. As of yet, I can't really determine proper downforce settings that correspond to less tire wear. I'm sure it could be a critical factor, also.

On the other hand, if you can really gain enough of a lead and burn out your tires in the process it really doesn't matter. If you're in and out of the pits before they catch you, you're gonna win the race. Even if they pass you by a short margin before you get out of the pits, in the long run you're still gonna win.
 
Slow in-fast out is not really what we're looking for I think, at least, I don't think so.

A steady, not too fast speed through the corners should better ;)
 
Back