Hi, newbie here...

6
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Hi all - this xmas treated myself to a PS5 along with a G29 steering wheel as Ive become more and more obsessed watching the likes of SuperGT/PxCam/Tidgney playing a game that I have had no access to.
My gaming background in racing games is super limited - would always race in manual as I struggled to co-ordinate changing gears on a controller, I am certainly a steady driver in general in racing games (allbeit a somewhat safe one) but now going manual and looking to play without traction control where possible.

I wondered if there were any "basic steps" to getting good? I watch track guides if I'm racing and the likes, but I feel like I'm missing a number of tricks - obviously I'm not going to be great overnight but wondered if there were some key ones that you particularly helped improve your times/racing.
For instance I have no clue which adjustable settings when racing I should or shouldn't be using (understand weak ABS is favourable), also is there a "best and worst" way when taking corners - understand its hard to steer under braking, but feel like I'm missing something basic when it comes to changing gears (when to change up/down) whether this be on fast paced corners or the slow ones where required to drop to 1st/2nd gear - is it best to change them all in one go or keep it relative to speed?
Any additional tips or perhaps pointing me towards videos that could help would really be greatly appreciated, hope to be around here more often in the future!
 
Hi all - this xmas treated myself to a PS5 along with a G29 steering wheel as Ive become more and more obsessed watching the likes of SuperGT/PxCam/Tidgney playing a game that I have had no access to.
My gaming background in racing games is super limited - would always race in manual as I struggled to co-ordinate changing gears on a controller, I am certainly a steady driver in general in racing games (allbeit a somewhat safe one) but now going manual and looking to play without traction control where possible.

I wondered if there were any "basic steps" to getting good? I watch track guides if I'm racing and the likes, but I feel like I'm missing a number of tricks - obviously I'm not going to be great overnight but wondered if there were some key ones that you particularly helped improve your times/racing.
For instance I have no clue which adjustable settings when racing I should or shouldn't be using (understand weak ABS is favourable), also is there a "best and worst" way when taking corners - understand its hard to steer under braking, but feel like I'm missing something basic when it comes to changing gears (when to change up/down) whether this be on fast paced corners or the slow ones where required to drop to 1st/2nd gear - is it best to change them all in one go or keep it relative to speed?
Any additional tips or perhaps pointing me towards videos that could help would really be greatly appreciated, hope to be around here more often in the future!

@Tidgney has a Driving School series, start there.

As far as changing gears, the best thing when starting is watching top 10 replays. They're available for every daily and FIA race. In the replay settings there's an option to turn on the driving info - that'll show you all the driving inputs. Generally speaking, you want to rev meter to fill up before shifting. A few cars are faster with a bit of short shifting, though.

Trail braking. Learn how to do it and it will take an incredible amount of time off of your lap. The offline driving missions have a few dedicated to this and Tidg has an entire episode devoted to it.

Brake bias is really the only setting most people mess with. Look it up on YouTube but either Tidgney or Kie has a video dedicated to this, I forget which.

More than anything, this game favors smooth inputs and exit speed. When you're starting, you're generally better off braking a bit early and trailing to the apex than trying to brake as late as possible, that'll come later. Much later. I'm not even there yet, really.

Edit: Most people leave ABS to default. Some prefer weak. Try both and see what works for you. Also, make sure ASM and CSA are turned off. There's currently a big discussion in another thread about using TCS or not. Top drivers turn it off and many racers follow suit. Several people swear that leaving it at 2 is beneficial for most players.
 
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@Tidgney has a Driving School series, start there.

As far as changing gears, the best thing when starting is watching top 10 replays. They're available for every daily and FIA race. In the replay settings there's an option to turn on the driving info - that'll show you all the driving inputs. Generally speaking, you want to rev meter to fill up before shifting. A few cars are faster with a bit of short shifting, though.

Trail braking. Learn how to do it and it will take an incredible amount of time off of your lap. The offline driving missions have a few dedicated to this and Tidg has an entire episode devoted to it.

Brake bias is really the only setting most people mess with. Look it up on YouTube but either Tidgney or Kie has a video dedicated to this, I forget which.

More than anything, this game favors smooth inputs and exit speed. When you're starting, you're generally better off braking a bit early and trailing to the apex than trying to brake as late as possible, that'll come later. Much later. I'm not even there yet, really.

Edit: Most people leave ABS to default. Some prefer weak. Try both and see what works for you. Also, make sure ASM and CSA are turned off. There's currently a big discussion in another thread about using TCS or not. Top drivers turn it off and many racers follow suit. Several people swear that leaving it at 2 is beneficial for most players.

Appreciate the detailed response! Trail braking I'm certainly struggling with and feel like sometimes it's ideal, other times i go flying off the track - lack the finesse given I've had very limited time on the game

At the moment guess Im trying to brake as late as possible and I think Im struggling to switch between qualifying mode and racing mode, especially if Ive spent alot of time on trying to improve qualifying before a race - difficult to suddenly switch racing styles, find myself spinning out more than I would like!

At the standard I am at (Did a 1:32.2 in Race B qualifying and was over the moon with it) I guess TCS at 2 is probably favourable for now before slowly coming off given I am getting a bit too squirley at corner exits and occasionally spinning in race - would you recommend off to nail the perfect qualy lap, but on in the race perhaps?
 
Appreciate the detailed response! Trail braking I'm certainly struggling with and feel like sometimes it's ideal, other times i go flying off the track - lack the finesse given I've had very limited time on the game

At the moment guess Im trying to brake as late as possible and I think Im struggling to switch between qualifying mode and racing mode, especially if Ive spent alot of time on trying to improve qualifying before a race - difficult to suddenly switch racing styles, find myself spinning out more than I would like!

At the standard I am at (Did a 1:32.2 in Race B qualifying and was over the moon with it) I guess TCS at 2 is probably favourable for now before slowly coming off given I am getting a bit too squirley at corner exits and occasionally spinning in race - would you recommend off to nail the perfect qualy lap, but on in the race perhaps?

For now, I'd find a TCS setting you like and use it for both. For now, at least, it's better to focus on your racing line and inputs than tinkering with settings. Just my opinion but TCS is an aid rather than a setting to turn on and off. (Except for standing starts. Set it to at least 1 for standing starts.)
 
Appreciate the detailed response! Trail braking I'm certainly struggling with and feel like sometimes it's ideal, other times i go flying off the track - lack the finesse given I've had very limited time on the game

At the moment guess Im trying to brake as late as possible and I think Im struggling to switch between qualifying mode and racing mode, especially if Ive spent alot of time on trying to improve qualifying before a race - difficult to suddenly switch racing styles, find myself spinning out more than I would like!

At the standard I am at (Did a 1:32.2 in Race B qualifying and was over the moon with it) I guess TCS at 2 is probably favourable for now before slowly coming off given I am getting a bit too squirley at corner exits and occasionally spinning in race - would you recommend off to nail the perfect qualy lap, but on in the race perhaps?
Based on your time at RBR TCS off is way down the list of things to focus on. My qual time is only marginally faster & I have TCS on at 2. I have been playing for about 6 months now & found that using whatever you can to do consistent laps is the key. Once you have that baseline then work on getting faster.

When I first started I used all the assists to help get around the track. It is slow, but it helped me learn the tracks. Now everything is off except TCS & ABS. I still use the cones & sometimes have the line turned on. I dont use the line as a train track, but find it handy as another reference point as to where to have the car on the track at turn in on certain corners.
 
First, pick a car that you like and stick with it until you really know how it handles at the limit. Then LEARN THE TRACK AND THE BRAKING POINTS. Use the cones. They're a little off sometimes but a good baseline for beginners. Focus on the correct out-in-out line through corners and entry and exit speed. Remember "slow in, fast out" and consistency will always have good results. If you nail all this then it really doesn't matter if you have TCS off or at 1 and BB at -1 or 0. These things will not make you seconds a lap faster, they might just help you shave off a tenth here and there. Although I do recommend having ABS at default. It gives you the most control under heavy braking. After you master this then you can start braking later (and inevitably trail braking), tinkering with TCS and BB and basically start looking for those extra tenths here and there around the track. But it will not happen over night. Knowing perfectly what you have to do is useless if you can't do it. You must practice. A lot. The fastest players have been doing it for a long time and have done thousands of hours of practice. Well, that's my two cents. Good luck.
 
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Really appreciate all the feedback, thankyou for taking the time to respond!
Literally only looking to focus on one of the daily races every week I think along with the campaign single player goals at said tracks to get to know it a little more, and with that sticking it out with the one car.
Started playing around with trailbraking a bit and went to TCS1 which feels like a big difference tbh. Did a couple of qualy laps and improved my time by a couple of tenths trying that out, it felt far from perfect also whereas without really understanding the concept before I fetl very much limitied, especially with no traction control where braking was very much all or nothing.
As mentioned obviously know it won't be an overnight transition but wondered if there were some key things I may have been missing out on - trailbraking Im sure is the first of many of these things, whilst also in the process of trying to learn gearing when entering/exiting corners but for now trailbraking is the priority. Do have all the visual aids switched on which I guess helped me considerably to get an idea early doors but now Im comfortable with the RBR I essentially ignore them as I know every corner
 
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