Tips on Driving without TCS

  • Thread starter Khannie
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Khannie

Khannie

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I've been searching for a thread like this but have been unsuccessful. I recently made it to DR. B and realized that I'm probably never going to get to DR. A (which I am fine with). But I do need to get faster to keep up with the B guys so I have been trying to go without TCS. I don't enter races - I just qualify without TCS and sometimes spin out several times per lap. I can do it on FF cars but not on RWD cars.

Any tips would be helpful. I am on a G29 steering wheel.
 
Turn on CSA on the harder to drive cars instead of the TC but basically lots of practice is what you need whether you use the assist or not and only apply lots of throttle when the wheel is straight or close to it.
 
All I can really advise is to pay close attention to your steering angle, the red dot above the RPM gauge and watch your throttle input. You don't want to be full lock and mash the throttle or you'll spin out for sure. Some times gradually pressing the throttle while exiting a corner and/or decreassing your steering angle can prevent oversteer. I find that most of the time that I spin out is because I've already entered the corner too fast and have the tires at their limit even without pushing in the throttle. I know it may sound generic, but paying close attention to your entry speed, your cornering speed, and your steering angle will help in letting you know if applying more throttle is a good/bad idea.
 
For me i find the best way is turn the wheel as little as possible as slow and smooth as possible.
Obvioulsly let off the gas but as soon as youve slowed down enough to make the turn just give it enough throttle to make the apex and coast thru.
Then keep turning with little throttle until you see ur exit line and slowly straighten the wheel and slowly ramp up the gas until the wheel is straight or within 0-20 degrees of straight, only then give it full throttle.
Try to never be abrupt and remember the straighter your front tires the faster you can go.
 
I'm moving out of that boat, now that I have finally bought a G29 and playseat. I've learned to crank the balance to +4/5 and rarely have the TCS on any higher than 1. I will still spin occasionally with some cars but its always when I'm turning the wheel too much with too much throttle at the same time. I will hold a higher gear sometimes instead of dropping into 1st or 2nd just to prevent it if I can.
 
Drive very slowly.

I'm only half-kidding. Start out just focusing on stability and getting a feel for when the car starts complaining. Be glacial with your throttle inputs. Do some laps and start adding throttle until you know where the line of stability is.

Tire wear adds a big wrinkle and you'll have to become good at catching spins because there's no safety net.

It can be a frustrating experience, but pretty satisfying when you can put down a good lap.
 
There was another thread about this. Countersteering is something you will need to learn. Less steering input is vital (new people tend to steer to much) and very slowly progressive on the gas on corner exit.

It starts with those, it ends up with hours of practice.
 
i wish i could find the video on youtube, but i recall watching some analysis of throttle inputs from different drivers in a race series i can't recall (not sure if it was F1 or something more production car based), and this was probably back in the late 90's or early 00's, but some drivers were very on/off while others were much more progressive. it was really neat because these guys were doing nearly identical lap times with different styles.
 
Thank you all for your inputs. One more reason why I enjoy coming to this forum! I will be doing a lot of qualifying laps around Dragon Tail tonight when the kids go to sleep without TCS and see where I end up. Don’t worry, I won’t join any races without the TCS - this sounds like it will be a long learning process as I tend to jam on the throttle as soon as I get out of a turn.
 
I got a g29 recently too and struggling with TCS 0 a lot, my problem is that I don’t know if the throttle that i want to apply will make the car spin or not, like i am driving blind, I don’t know if there is a tip to know beforehand or if is just practice.
 
TCS is very helpful in getting you up to speed while learning to drive. However it does teach bad habits, such as mashing the gas WAY too early. If you’re a complete mess without TCS, ween yourself from it slowly. When you feel the TCS kick in, you know your on the gas too soon. Once you’re able to run good laps without feeling the TCS, turn it down a notch. Keep doing this til it’s gone. If you’re using a wheel, especially a mid level wheel or less, a firmer more progressive throttle spring will help. A weak factory throttle spring is tough to feel the amount of throttle you’re giving.
 
If you can keep this image in mind while your practice after a while you will discover when you can safely go full gas, after that you can learn how far you can press your luck.

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You might have a non-linear pedal to in game throttle issue that many of us had before. Do some testing with 50/75/100% pedal travel and watch the throttle meter in game. I had the issue where 75% pedal was barely 50% throttle in game which made driving many Gr3 cars hard, but that was fixed with patch 1.10.
 
Progressive and smooth application of the throttle is important, increase the pedal input as you decrease steering angle, if you spin you probably had to much throttle for amount of steering angle.
 
I'm in a similar position, just made DR B and trying to figure out what I need to work on next. I think I've gotten pretty good at keeping the TCS down to 1 or 0. My question is how many of you use manual transmission? I've been using Auto, but wondering if that's the next thing I need to start working on.
 
hermtownhomy
I'm in a similar position, just made DR B and trying to figure out what I need to work on next. I think I've gotten pretty good at keeping the TCS down to 1 or 0. My question is how many of you use manual transmission? I've been using Auto, but wondering if that's the next thing I need to start working on.
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It is.

There are many ways you can add control to your car with manual gears, when I switched I started using a "hold gear" function that gt3 I think it was had. It did not take long to go full manual and it's one of the easier adjustments to make IMO.
 
hermtownhomy
I'm in a similar position, just made DR B and trying to figure out what I need to work on next. I think I've gotten pretty good at keeping the TCS down to 1 or 0. My question is how many of you use manual transmission? I've been using Auto, but wondering if that's the next thing I need to start working on.
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For me, that makes more difference in lap times than TCS. Being able to use downshifts to slow the car, to rotate the car, and up shifts the way I see fit when coming out of turns and uphill and downhill... makes a world of difference.
 
hermtownhomy
My question is how many of you use manual transmission?
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My impression is, above high DR/B nearly everybody shifts manual. In the beginning you will need time, couple of days I guess, to get used to it, but afterwards you won't go back to automatic shifting.

Khannie
trying to go without TCS
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Don't start directly in sportmode-races without it suddenly. Test TCS on/off and Countersteer on/ff during training first. TCS off does not make you automaticly faster, but TCS on holds you off from learning what the car does. So train without these asists, but in the race you can use it. What makes you probably faster is Countersteer asist, because it is not effecting the throttle in fast curves like TCS, so you keep your speed.
I#m a middle A-Driver and I still use in the races CSA, because in the heat of a race I dont want to be ruined because of an oversteer. But in hotlapping/qualifying I turn CSA off until I reach my limit lap time, and after then I turn CSA on.
 
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LennyB
It is.

There are many ways you can add control to your car with manual gears, when I switched I started using a "hold gear" function that gt3 I think it was had. It did not take long to go full manual and it's one of the easier adjustments to make IMO.
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I'm sure you could 'manual override' gears in previous versions... ?
 
Robben
I'm sure you could 'manual override' gears in previous versions... ?
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I'm not sure, I started with GT2 and I did not take the game serious so, I'm guessing I used to use R2 to make the car stay in whatever gear I chose, either while acceleration, deceleration, or holding a corner, so forth.

In fact I often think of how I was doing it to this day as I use the manual, it's a reminder how effective gears can be.
 
LennyB
I'm not sure, I started with GT2 and I did not take the game serious so, I'm guessing I used to use R2 to make the car stay in whatever gear I chose, either while acceleration, deceleration, or holding a corner, so forth.

In fact I often think of how I was doing it to this day as I use the manual, it's a reminder how effective gears can be.
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Yeah I'm sure you could select Auto but then use the change buttons to manually shift if you wanted to.... not just on GT.
 
Robben
Yeah I'm sure you could select Auto but then use the change buttons to manually shift if you wanted to.... not just on GT.
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Damn, I never thought I could have full manual options while auto was on. Oh well I turned out well enough. How does it work now? I can't always test these things right off because of my game is not in my house. If there is the best of both worlds still available it would help new drivers making the change a bunch easier.

It is true to note that some people can be extremely quick with auto, I knew a few.
 

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