How much do curbs slow me down?

[Bullwinkle]

Ok, so I guess the tl;dr version of this is: which curbs affect my traction/speed and by how much?

Here's my latest installment of "Bullwinkle's painfully obvious racing question" series. Enjoy!

This may not be the best week to bring this up, since the curbs at Spa are just plain CRAZY. But I have a general question about curbs on any track: How much do the curbs scrub speed off if we clip them? I realize it's going to depend on the curb, but I can't get a feel for which ones have which affect (other than the sausage curbs--don't touch those, I get it!). How much do they affect traction and therefore acceleration?

A little background and some observations: I've noticed that the really really good drivers can take turns and especially chicanes without touching the curbs while also not slowing down so much that they lose momentum. I feel like I have to do one or the other and cannot do both at the same time. I'm assuming that they do this because of optimal driving lines but also because the curbs can scrub speed off their momentum. Am I wrong in this assumption? And how do they get those lines anyway?! I feel like I'm riding a bicycle compared to these guys. Real pointers on this would be much appreciated.

In addition, I'm using the Fanatec DD Pro wheel and it doesn't do a very good job on FFB with the curbs so I never quite know if I'm hitting them, slipping on them, bouncing over them, or none of the above. It's pretty random which curbs I feel. That's another issue, but it feeds into why I need to ask this question. I just don't know what affect the curbs are having on my driving.

I've learned about the sausage curbs. Just don't.
I've learned about the green runoff areas at Spa as well. I can feel them a little bit, and it's clear that some of them feel like those door mats that you use to rub mud off your shoes: they just mush around and slow me way down. So I avoid them as well.

Now the tricky parts:

• Some of the green painted areas seem to be ok and don't affect my driving. Some do. Does the paint affect my grip? Does it just depend on the track?
• Do the red painted areas affect grip as well? Or is that also random?
• The candy-stripe painted curbs seem to come in two varieties. Some of them are just painted perimeters. Do they affect grip and speed?
• The other striped curbs are clearly ridged and I can sometimes feel the vibration. How much do those curbs slow me down? I'm sure they do, but how much does that vibration really slow me down? Do they affect grip? I'm guessing yes.
• Those weird green mats that are mixed with sand or gravel are sometimes ok, sometimes not. I that also track dependent?

 

[breeminator]

One rule I've noticed in general is that where there is a kind of mat/grid material inside the kerb, like on some of the Maggiore corners, it seems to be intended you'll make use of it, and you can go way onto it without getting a penalty, and with good grip.

 

[AutumnalGlow]

GT7 really doesn't punish players for using curbs. Fast times generally abuse as much of the curb as possible. If you've ever seen Sophy, you'd see that it runs over the grass and curbs constantly with as little of the car within track limits as possible.

Some curbs might still upset the car, especially taller ones and sausages, but if it's relatively flat you can use as much of it as you want in most cars.