Going From the game to Real life

  • Thread starter vkhibkin
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No sure if this has been discussed here before. I have played Gran Tourismo for years, but only recently got my hands on a g27 wheel, and realized that I have been a completely different game all this time. Im imporving slowly but surely. Meanwhile I wanted to ask if any one here does any drifitng events in real life. If so how does the expereience of drifting a car in the GranToruismo game compare to reality. Do you find the game as a usefull practise tool. Do you find that the skills you aquire as part of the game translate to reality. And any advice you may have to people going from playing the game to doing Drifting Events/Track days/Autocross etc.
 
I'm building a Miata (First Gen, 92') this winter+next year so i can compete in junior drifting in Norway, as I'm still so young I can't get my license yet.
Thankfully you can begin junior drifting and a few other junior racing series the year you turn 15.
I think GT is decent for training, but not 100%.
The first time I drove a car (not just trying, but actually driving on roads with a manual 30+ year old car) it all felt natural, I do think GT has helped me and it helps you with the basics and a bit more. It does feel different from real life but it helps you get a feeling of how it works. And I will continue to use GT, and try others like Assetto Corsa etc..
I can't wait 'till winter and when the car is finished and I have got my race license.
Also any tips, replies, feedback (good and bad), is welcome!
And this is just my opinion, you may have a very different opinion and I respect that, as long as you act properly.
 
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Well, I've been drifting in real life for... A very long time... Same with GT6, I got on GT6, finished the first few races, went and bought an RX7 and was drifting full laps around most tracks within a few minutes. A little less than a year ago I got a G27 and tried and tried and tried to drift with it for several months but I still can't. I drift in real life, I drift in GT6, but I can't drift at all with my wheel. It feels alot better in real life and isn't completely realistic (obviously) but I know people who have gotten most of the basics from GT6 and their wheels. It's really just down to your opinion and experiences.
 
@vkhibkin There's some obvious differences between drifting in real life and GT. Just to name a few, you can't feel the tyre's slipping and the weight transfers on GT.

I started drifting in real life back before I had a wheel and GT5. So, eventually when I got the G27 & GT5 I just used my real life drifting style and quite surprisingly I was drifting without any hassles in under 30 minutes.

Getting really good on the wheel will help you understand the basics, especially if you try all the things from The Drift Bible video, but I think making the transition from game to real life would be completely different than what I did.


 
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@vkhibkin like Mitch said there is some discernible contextual differences. It all really depends on your experiences. Similar to Mitch i began drifting in 2012 in reality. I've driven a variety of cars since then from long wheelbased station wagons to little boxes like AE71 Corolla's. If you have enough seat time IRL the lacking sensations of Tyre slipping and weight transfers can be made up for by natural instinct and intuition. Especially if you have a G27 and have decent senses you will tend to pick up on these. So once i began to drift on GT6, these skills of mine that i've acquired translated really well, meaning i was drifting properly in a matter of minutes too. Personally i've noticed that GT6 is mostly realistic when you are driving cars under the 350hp mark. So yes Gran Turismo manages to simulate the experience of drifting well in reality.

Personally, i've used Gran Turismo as practice platform. Trying new methods of entering a corner and such. As Gran Turismo will really teach you the fundamentals of drifting which is throttle modulation, catching the oversteer, and countersteering.

I've also taught people to drift on Gran Turismo before trying it in reality. Contrary to @tori said, these people have had no issue drifting in real life. Infact the only thing that hindered their IRL drifting was their car and setup of the vehicle. But their initiation and countersteering of the car was fine meaning they could easily handle the oversteer and manage keep a controlled slide. HOWEVER, you have to be mindful that you can't drift as aggressively as you do in GT6, ensure you ease into it all. So that means slow entries into corners and such, especially if its your first go IRL.

Every account of drifting in GT6 i've mentioned has involved the use of ONLY a G27 and no DS3.


Here's some footage of me drifting back in late 2013. Happened to fall out of boost towards the end and the car gripped up severely tossing me around quite violently lol


Better drifting, proper setup, horrible video quality and filming lol



So yeah, in summary.

GT6 will help you get the fundamentals, and depending on the individual will train you in some aspects better than reality. Due to lack of sensation to some IRL aspects. Proving that GT6 sits at around 7.5-8.5/10 for simulation in my opinion anyway.
 
HOWEVER, you have to be mindful that you can't drift as aggressively as you do in GT6, ensure you ease into it all. So that means slow entries into corners and such, especially if its your first go IRL.
My problem with GT6 is I can't be aggressive. I'm very aggressive in real life and with my DS3 but if I try to be aggressive at all on my G27 it just doesn't work.
 
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