Question In Regards to General Driving

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pty10

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becatel
Hi Guys,

Bit of a few dumb questions. I'm pretty much a newbie, Did a race a couple of days ago at the Nurburgring (12.7 mi, I think) where everyone was using the same car (Tom's Castrol Supra)

Out of 10 cars, I finished 7th. Drove the best I could, staying on the tarmac at all times. I did use all the driving aids, automatic transmission and using my PS3 controller.

I'm a bit baffled as to why I was so slow. I mean, the setting of the race was for all of us to use the same car. At the end of the two lap event, I came is 1min, 50 secs behind the winner.

Can anyone shed any light or post an opinion on what I did wrong or what I need to improve on? Is it because I'm using driving aids? or I should be driving the car manual instead of auto? using the pS3 controller instead of a steering wheel makes a huge difference?

Thanks guys,

Henry
 
pty10
Is it because I'm using driving aids? or I should be driving the car manual instead of auto? using the pS3 controller instead of a steering wheel makes a huge difference?
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Some people get along just fine with the controller. I personally favor the wheel but did alright with the controller in most cases.

Driving aids do slow you down, so turning them off should help a bit. It's best for you to start driving without them anyway since it forces you to become a better driver, but if you've not driven in racing games without aids before you may want to start ticking them off one at a time, taking time to learn to adjust without that aid, and then moving on to the next aid until you're driving with none at all.

It's very likely that much of your lost time, maybe most of it, comes from your driving style. I can hand the wheel to a buddy that's never played racing games before and he might soon feel that he's doing respectably well when in fact he's really doing terrible, as he has no idea as to what is decent.
 
The driving aid help you to control the car well but slowing your car. As I heard people saying around here. A good driver with driving aid is slower than a good driver without driving aid. but a bad driver with driving aid is faster than a bad driver without aid.
 
IceMan PJN
Some people get along just fine with the controller. I personally favor the wheel but did alright with the controller in most cases.

Driving aids do slow you down, so turning them off should help a bit. It's best for you to start driving without them anyway since it forces you to become a better driver, but if you've not driven in racing games without aids before you may want to start ticking them off one at a time, taking time to learn to adjust without that aid, and then moving on to the next aid until you're driving with none at all.

It's very likely that much of your lost time, maybe most of it, comes from your driving style. I can hand the wheel to a buddy that's never played racing games before and he might soon feel that he's doing respectably well when in fact he's really doing terrible, as he has no idea as to what is decent.
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Thanks for that, what do you think about auto or manual, does it matter?
 
allen-XY
The driving aid help you to control the car well but slowing your car. As I heard people saying around here. A good driver with driving aid is slower than a good driver without driving aid. but a bad driver with driving aid is faster than a bad driver without aid.
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That's a fair point, better to go trough the pain of driving without the aids :)
 
If you're driving the Castrol Supra... there's a lot of places you could lose time. One is your driving style... another is driving aids... another is modifications and tuning. Even if you're all running bone-stock Supras, optimized downforce, suspension and LSD settings will cause a huge difference in laptimes.

And last, but not least... your transmission. Automatic works, sometimes, but other times it will leave you out of the right gear or rpm range to tackle a corner with. Running in manual can take a huge chunk out of your lap times.
 
TCS: If you're comfortable modulating throttle with a DS3, traction control will hurt acceleration off the line and exiting corners. Your ability to use the throttle to rotate most cars around a majority of corners will also be neutered. Unless you're in a monster of a car (I'm looking at you Speed 12!), you should turn it off.

ASM: If you're comfortable modulating throttle and braking with a DS3, active stability will bleed a lot of speed through most every type of corner, from hairpins to sweepers. Give your car as much throttle as you want -- you won't go any faster. You'll actually go slower. Turn this off as soon as humanly possible.

AT: Until you get used to a manual transmission, your stopping distances will be longer, as you have to brake earlier while the automatic transmission takes its sweet time downshifting. Feel free to hum the theme to Jeopardy. After learning an MT, expect your stopping distances to drop dramatically. Start practicing the next time you load up the game.

The only assists that help lower lap times would be Skid Recovery Force -- which seems to be frowned upon by more experienced drivers, as any hint of oversteer is replaced with tenacious grip -- and Anti-Lock Braking System, which... uh... prevents wheel lock-up under hard braking. ABS is nice to have (at least +1), unless you're very, very good with a DS3.

Get rid of the TCS, ASM, and AT. Use SRF and / or ABS if you feel you have to. You should be able to shave significant chunks of time around the Ring. You may not be able to beat most people of equal skill -- and knowledge of the track -- who use a wheel, but you should be more competitive after some practice.

Good luck!

👍
 
Tuning on the castrol toms supra is the key imo. Take a look at the tuning forum and search for the settings for this car I did and it made the world of difference. I don't use driving aids.
 
When you look at this thread:

Nordschleife Fastest Lap Times

you will notice that some people can drive very fast on the Nordschleife compared to beginners.

I do believe that this track asks for a lot of anticipation on what you can not see. Once you can visualize in you mind what is behind the next turn or hill, you will get a lot faster.

Really take time to do the AMG Acadamy special event, it will definitely help to learn sector by sector.
 
I find with powerful cars on a twisty course traction control helps, on 1 or 2, depending on the car. Also ASM but not necessarily Active Steering which slows the car down every time you turn, even when not cornering. I dont have a wheel, costs too much but dont do toi bad with the controller.
 
Because you use AT and driving aids I'm going to take a punt and say that you're not a "hardcore" racer. Regardless of any losses in AT or aids, a serious driver can take tenths or seconds out of you at every turn just through superior car control and exit speeds. I have a friend who does it to me and I consider myself to be pretty good.

The latter is quite important - get on the power early coming out of corners, it gives you a boost on the straights. All the time is made in corner exit.
 
Best advice.... Do the AMG driving school. Once you've have completed that, you'll know the track a lot better and your driving time will improve drastically.
 
Calundanni
Best advice.... Do the AMG driving school. Once you've have completed that, you'll know the track a lot better and your driving time will improve drastically.
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All that course taught me is that the AMG 10 is a dog, one of THE worst handling cars! With a wheel you might do better than bronze but thats all we could get with a DS3. And theres a race in the rain- forget it, no chance as you cant change the tyres!
 
The fact that you finished 7th with an untuned car + all aids on, means that all-in-all you didn't do too bad!

You can easily gain seconds if you tone down TCS (e.g. to 1), tweak the suspension, brake balance and transmission of your car - and that's without even changing anything about your driving style! :)

And then if you focus on your braking and hitting the apexes right, you should be leader of the pack in a matter of minutes!

Good luck!
 
66'Roadster
All that course taught me is that the AMG 10 is a dog, one of THE worst handling cars! With a wheel you might do better than bronze but thats all we could get with a DS3. And theres a race in the rain- forget it, no chance as you cant change the tyres!
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Agreed... using the DS3 on those rainy sections with those tyres I was mostly mowing the grass. No fun at all. :ouch:
 
66'Roadster
All that course taught me is that the AMG 10 is a dog, one of THE worst handling cars! With a wheel you might do better than bronze but thats all we could get with a DS3. And theres a race in the rain- forget it, no chance as you cant change the tyres!
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I use DS3 too, in the Merc. 300SL, I've golded all of the events, dry and rainy track. In the AMG 10, I've got silver on dry track and on the rainy it's a mix of silver and gold.

You don't need a wheel to ace this event. Just.... uhm.... Skill and effort!? The rain tracks are by far easiest, cleared them by seconds.
 
Turn off the driving aids and put some soft racing tires on the car instead. The 'Ring definitely takes some time to learn, but that's the fun of it!
 
Lots of good info here. The three biggies:
1) Learn the track. At the 'Ring, if you have to see the corner to know what to do next, it's already too late.
2) Practice technique. For some reason, people think driving should be easy. It's actually very difficult to do well, requiring a lot of subtlety and finesse. Keeping it on the road is only part of the battle, and even if it seems like you're doing things the same way as the faster guys, you're probably not.
3) Remove driving aids a bit at a time. Keep this in mind when you do the 'Special Events', too. Some are harder to do because of the driving aids.

The more you practice, the more you'll learn how to spot places where you're losing time.
 
ElSecundo
2) Practice technique. For some reason, people think driving should be easy. It's actually very difficult to do well, requiring a lot of subtlety and finesse. Keeping it on the road is only part of the battle, and even if it seems like you're doing things the same way as the faster guys, you're probably not.
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This one is spot on. After I changed from D-pad to analog, my driving became much more smooth and accurate.

And also, in the AMG driving school, use the preview video. Great way to learn the different techniques, speed and gearshift, when to take the different corners, where to maintain speed and when to break.
 

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