Practice Vs. Racing frustrations:

  • Thread starter Thread starter Subaru Nut
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Subaru Nut

Subaru Nut

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Subaru_Nut
So here is my issue / question.

I play GT5 every day and race on my days off (yes I have no life outside work)

I have dozens of setups for all my favorite tracks and drive them daily.
My frustration is that I will be running a setup that in full race trim during practice with a full room (online), all the exact same conditions as during a race I will often be in the top 3 if not the fastest car on the track. My car will drive and handle perfectly, but as soon as the race starts its like I loose 50PP and my setup is tossed out the window.
For example, I have Nurb down so good I will sometimes find myself running the track in my head while Im at work. I can run laps down in the low 6min depending on the car and never even drop a wheel off line, But as soon as the race begins and Im clear of all other racers, Im spining all over the place sliding off line etc.

Im not including the times people bump me out of the way or racing incidents. These are just WTF moments where I know the car will do X and when its time to do it, it dosnt.

Has anyone else noticed similar issues?
 
Yes! i have slightly, i don't know if its the mentality or what but i tend to be off more when i'm not in a race
 
I've heard that connection speed of the host can affect tire grip for other drivers. Not sure the accuracy of that statement, maybe someone else can expand on it's merit?
 
My lap times are the same, if not better while in race vs practice. Then tire wear takes over.
 
I noticed this today in the F10... I thought my setup was all messed up... turns out my tires were cold...
 
No, what he's talking about isn't a driver or skill issue. There can be issues with a room, we encountered one the other night. We were at Suzuka East in the RM Cappuccino's with 14 drivers in the room, the majority of them were ranging between the high :54's and the low :56's during practice but when we started racing most people were having a hard time breaking the :57's even with the draft (which is about 1/3 the track). There was something screwy going on for sure, felt like my tires never warmed up but I was hosting and I have a superb hard-wired connection.
 
You have to remember the 'physics' are different between free practice (free run) and an actual race.

Just because your car is 'perfect' in free practice - means nothing, that is only a 'start', you need to do actual practice RACES to know how your car will actually feel in a race.

I've lost count how many times either myself or friends have a 'perfect' car in free run, only to be gobsmacked by the atrocity we're given to drive in the next race.

Always always always do practices RACES to double check your setup, no matter what PP or car or tyres or track you're running.

If you don't, expect the unexpected, because it will happen on the majority of cars /tracks /pp points combo's.
 
I always am faster during a race than in practicing leading up to the race. I think I focus more because I'm racing for points rather than just doing laps around a track by myself. I don't notice anything different in tire grip or wear either going from practice to the actual race.
 
I had a lotus r111 that i tuned off line and i was an amazing car.. Yet when i took it online it was 100% undrivable! Now anything i tune up, i do in an online room on a custom touge track..
 
Honestly I think you're just worried about leading the race when you're clear of all other drivers. Maybe you push it too hard concerned about maintaining or creating a bigger gap and you wreck. When you have all the time in the world to practice without other droves putting pressure on you, you won't wreck as often. But when you're in the middle of a high speed race on a complicated track and worried about other drivers catching up to you, you can crack. So I pretty much agree with what elliesnutt said.
 
Vitzio
Honestly I think you're just worried about leading the race when you're clear of all other drivers. Maybe you push it too hard concerned about maintaining or creating a bigger gap and you wreck. When you have all the time in the world to practice without other droves putting pressure on you, you won't wreck as often. But when you're in the middle of a high speed race on a complicated track and worried about other drivers catching up to you, you can crack. So I pretty much agree with what elliesnutt said.
Click to expand...

dont agree with this ^
when i use my lotus r111 rm online, the 1st race i lost.. Span off and every turn! Then on the same track with the same people, i change my tune and won the next race by a long way.. So it is posible that the online phisics are killing this guys race! The tune can make a huge diffrence when online!
 
Its not the tires being cold, I allow for that.
In fact on the start of most races I usually let most of the other players run off into the first few turns and crash as I drive around them.
The first few laps of any race are always a bit crazy. Im talking about when my tires are warm, im in my normal rythum hiting my marks and on pace with my setup and the car just suddenly snaps and is undrivable.
Im not over driving, I learned long ago a smooth clean lap is faster than a rushed balls out suicide lap.
I am by no means going slow, just hitting all my marks.

Im curently level 35 but played GT4 from start to finish beating everything.
So I know how to get around a track.

Im thinking now it may be a connection issue tho.
Last night I was on driving Suzuka and the last right hander before the front streight I had my car set up perfect. I could hit my mark, stand on the gas and the car stuck every time shooting down the streight away.
Once the race started, after 3 laps and the tires were heated up I started to run my line and every time, hitting my marks that had been perfect less then 10 minutes earlier I was off in the grass almost every time.

It was a "race for real" room, I adjusted my setup for that specific race in the room. So it wasnt a case of tuning off line.
 
Subaru Nut
-snip-
Im thinking now it may be a connection issue tho.
-snip-
Click to expand...

This.

Happened to me a couple of times as well. Same car, used for a couple of races and different tracks, all good. Qualifying behaviour and times matched that of the actual race.
Switch to another track (the one I remember best was Fuji F), set a typical qualifying time, race starts..... and I'm 3 (!) seconds off my qualifying time in every lap, even with draft.

I did skip the next race, and - lo and behold! - the race afterwards was perfectly normal again.

It's rather rare though; I'd guess every one in fifty to hundred races.
 
I run a championship and except for the drafting, practice laps are always faster than qualifying and qualifying is faster than the race laps. Its a few things.
Pressure of competing with other cars and cold tyres at the start. Definatley the majority of your 'offs' are a mental thing in my opinion.
 

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