GT5 Saved me!

  • Thread starter Thread starter TomBiddulph
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TomBiddulph

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WNxTom
So, I've been driving for Just over a Year now or Half a year if you only count if from when you passed your test, Also I live in a rural area.
Over the recent weeks the weather hasn't been great to say the least and the roads...don't even ask, Last night really stood out for me though.

It had been raining a couple of days ago and there was still a bit of water lying on the ground, the temperature wasn't too low so I thought ice wouldn't be an issue but damn I was wrong. There I was driving down a country lane at night not paying too much attention to the road because it's in the middle of nowhere and If another vehicle was coming I'd be able to see it quite a distance away due to the lights. The road bared to the right then to the left starting to go down a small hill.

Just as I was exiting the left bend the back slid out (Doing about 35-40mph) and the car was going to continue right round and probably would've ended me up in the ditch, Instinctively I Immediately countered it and the back started to swing the other way but as I was now half in control I slowly steered back to the Middle and recovered the car.

Probably a pretty boring story But I wasn't taught any of this by my driving instructor or anybody else, I can only put it down to racing on Gt5 that gave me the knowhow to recover the situation...I know driving and gaming will never be the exact same experience but I really do believe that without driving on Gt5 and having similar situations in game that I would've ended up in the ditch and god knows what else, so thankyou GT5!
 
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You're not alone. I read an editorial on The Escapist about how a columnist learned more applicable driving skills from his racing games than driver's ed.

That said, the trick, I guess, is to be ready to react to things like that and not, you know, stuff it.
 
I can relate to this - went around a corner a little too fast once in the wet, in a fairly busy area of town, back end stepped out (despite the car being FWD). I kept the power on (gently of course), because I figured lift off oversteer wasnt going to help the situation. Anyway managed to bring it back in line and continued on my way, a little shaken up for a minute or two admitedly. I can't say for sure if its the years of playing racing games prior to passing my test or just instinct taking over.
 
Due to being more of an automotive than a GT5 thread, moved.
 
This story and many more is a giant middle finger to the people who say game make you dumber.
 
the GT series has definetely improved my driving and has saved me from several scary moments out on the roads. some i'm at fault for "playing in the snow" ;) . some were due to traffic and other factors such as dumb people on crowded public roads. gt has prepared me to know what it feels like and what is happening in such situations and to know how to react and what to do in those situations.
 
GT's been teaching me countersteering since I was about 9, the first time I had to use it in my truck I actually knew what I was doing.

That being said I overcorrected and ended up sideways(back end stepped out to the right, overcorrected and it swung left and then countered again and came to a stop sideways after the back went around the right again.

But this is why you go to test this stuff off road where there's nothing to hit so when it does happen on road you can handle it. And on my bald tires, it did happen, and I was able to keep enough control of my spin to keep my truck out of 2 trees and a curb on each side. Probably more luck than skill, But I know I helped a little of it haha
 
saved me from skidding through an intersection with locked brakes. I used to pump the pedal heaps in GT4 with my crappy pedals so I could get the car to turn. (ABS 0)

Managed to pump the brakes and regain traction and stopped pretty much on the line of the intersection.
 
I can confidently say Racing Sims has definitely saved my bacon on more than one occasion. Both with aqua planing as well as evasive maneuver's in non abs cars.

:cheers: to all those hours playing... Saved me possible injury and $$$
 
Good story and good comments.

Back before my retirement one of my job responsibility's was being an instructor for 'first responders' and one of my favorite quotes to use in class was, "You'll do in real life situations as you do in practice." This was said to encourage folks in class to put real effort into practice exorcises like CPR, etc.

It always works that way... so, good job on your GT5 skills and great job on your RL driving skills! 👍
 
huh? the last time I made a comment like this, I got told off with a "yeah, right"...by guys here. even Yamauchi-san himself said his driving skills improved (in an interview included with the GT2 soundtrack disks, if I remember right)

either way, I noticed, too, a skill move-up.
 
I believe my car control skills have been greatly helped by Gran Turismo as well. Had a few scenarios in both my Skylines (and one or two other cars i've driven) that i've managed to recover from with no/not much of a problem. :)

Most notable one was in my GTS-4 (4WD Skyline, like the GT-R it is rear wheel drive 100% of the time until the rear wheels lose traction, then the fronts kick into life) in the wet one day. About five mins earlier around a roundabout i got the back out accidentally by going a bit too fast around it, but it wasn't really enough to have to countersteer at all/too much since i was heading straight out of the roundabout anyway.

That wee slide boosted my confidence and made me think i had awesome driving skills. So fast forward those five mins again and we find me (and my passenger younger brother) stopped at a t intersection about to turn right, onto the top of the 'T'. I put my foot down and it was alright for a while, until the turbo finally kicked in when i was just about in my lane. Then wwoooooaaaahhhh, out steps the back in a big way, so i countersteered and it swung the other way so countersteered that, which made it go back the other way, and then same again but after the next 'tank slap' instictively i let off the accellerator and the car realigned itself in the direction i'd intended on taking (straight ahead) and the tank slapping stopped. :dopey:

In hindsight i realised that while i was countersteering correctly, the fact i was still on the gas meant that the front wheels kept pulling the car in the direction they were facing - as soon as i let off the accellerator the countersteer worked and the car straightened. Lesson learned - after over five years its never happened again. When i get the back out in it now (very easy to do, even in the dry) i don't keep on the gas and it doesn't tank slap, just one 'controlled' tail slide.

Then there's been the situations in slippery/icey conditions. In ice one day i was turning right at an intersection a bit too fast and the car (Mazda MS-6, front wheel drive) decided it wanted to go straight (towards the kerb/power poles etc). everytime i braked they locked up, so just kept pressing and releasing them until i'd scrubbed off enough speed to just make it around without hitting the kerb.
And the other, in the wet, happened in my rear wheel drive Skyline GTS late last year (same corner of the same intersection too...). Was cornering too quickly trying to get to my charity cruise event to open the gates and the car understeered towards the kerb. Somehow i managed to scrub off enough speed again, and gave it a wee bit of gas to flick the rear of the car out and away i went. I think a lot of drivers would have panicked in both situations and just kept on the brakes, thus sliding into the kerb.

I also think GT has helped me to be able to control tail slides in the GTS (stupidly easy to get the back out in the wet, so i don't tend to drive it much when its raining incase the Police catch me/i lose control and hit the kerb!) and sure it musta helped me in the grasskhana i did below (in the wet).


NO traction, but a heck of a lot of fun (and yay for it having an LSD - my fiance's GTS doesn't and she couldn't get anywhere near the angles i was doing). It was only the second rear wheel drive i'd driven with over 100hp (brothers RX-7 turbo was the first) and when this video was taken i think i'd only just had it for a month or so? Think all thsoe cars on the road in the background had stopped to watch me play up. :sly:

But yeah, yay for video games! :D

*cough* My Skylines *cough*
 

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