Using the handbrake

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superjim

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Hey there folks - er, long term reader, first time poster...

A quick question to see what you people think of the handrake in GT3 (and, I suppose, the other GT games). Despite my repeated attempts to figure out when it could be useful, I most often use the handrake only when I'm laps and laps ahead of everyone else (and thus limit myself to "handbrake only" driving to alleviate boredom) - or when I'm messing around with a new car to see how it feels.

I can't find many "serious" uses for it; when (for you) is it appropriate to use the handbrake as opposed to the footbrakes?
 
From what I've read, I do believe many people here oppose using the handbrake whether it be for racing or drifting.

I personally use the footbrake, (as a lot of people do) when racing/drifting. And never touch the handbrake, except just before I cross the finish line in a race to try to dothe 2F2F 180 degree manoeuvre.

Overall, no. I do not see any serious use for the handbrake as a lot of people see it as 'ugly'.
 
The handbrake in real life is really only used in rallying, and the rally courses in GT3 don't include the type of extremely tight hairpin that calls for it. Even Tahiti Maze requires more momentum than the handbrake turn leaves you with.

Welcome to active membership here at GTPlanet!
 
Exactly ... if tyres in fornt are red, it might help at late braking. Otherwise: No.

At rallying I never use it, foot brake is enough, plus you loose the momentum with handbrake. As for drifting - handbrake is just for beginners in drifting. When you learn, you don't need it... trust me :).
 
I've tried to learn how to use the handbrake in rally driving, more so in GT4P. Problem is it is sorta a pain given it has to be a button as opposed to a stick like in a real car. I found using steering input and the footbrake for what I wanted it to do in rally work better for me and are much faster.

The only use for the handbrake I currently have is doing 360s when I cross the finish line after a long endurance race....not really the intended purpose but it is fun sometimes to go over the line backwards facing the cars behind you.

I don't know if there is anything really against it with GT drivers. It is just so bloody hard to use and use correctly.
 
This is sort of on topic and probably done before but if you take your car to the test course and start at 200mph how many spins can you do without hitting the wall and catching it at the end to continue on. after loosing massive speed of course. I cant remember but i'll baseline it with a conservative ten 360's and update as soon as i try it again.

ps: let me know if this is lame please.
 
wellyrn: Front tyres get red sooner than rear in FF cars - that's the use for handbrake in my post :).

kensel: Yeah ... I agree. Stick is better. That's why I have my own cockpit built with it :).

inferno: interesting. Which car do you use?
 
wellyrn
I guess all you "experts" don't drive FF cars?
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I drive them in real life and also in the game; I just have them set up properly so I don't need the handbrake to make a decent turn. And I don't drift, in the modern sense.
 
Ok here's the deal. One, I seriously over estimated, and two, the 200 mph speed limit was designed to make it so almost any car could be used. the only problem is that like an idiot I didn't stop to realize that such a limit would seriously hender the amount of slideing you could do. :banghead: their's alot of room for improvment. The methods for inducing the spins was left wide open. I should have said that I expected people to toy around with settings and I wanted to leave every possible variable open. chassis size and layout, drive type, power, modifications, tunings. i wanted to see how many people would try to keep it spinning with the throttle, or just feint motion it from one side of the track to the other, lock the breaks and hang on. thats what I did, and in obedience to the speed limit I got three complete 360's with a viper. trying for four just caused me to skid to a stop. I also have a 300 mph escudo. using that and starting at about 280 I can get five 360's.

(EDIT) Not willing to dissapoint, I decided to go back and try the feint motion/four wheel burnout method and to great effect. starting at 280 mph I pulled off about ten or eleven 360's, and doing the same from 200 I loged seven spins.
 
I use the handbrake in rare cases where I have to race a specific car that likes to go pretty fast but can't turn worth a damn. In particular, the PD cup is a good example because you can't modify and tune the car to turn better. I went through the series with the unfortunate choice of the Jaguar XJ220 and used the handbrake quite frequently through the SSR5 and Seattle courses. Sometimes you can hit a handbrake turn perfectly and the car just slides right through wthout touching a wall. More often, though, you slam the wall either sideways or with the butt of your car, but you still have enough speed to keep clipping along at an acceptable speed. The turn in Seattle Circuit II after the long back straighaway (the 70-degree right turn) is a good spot to use the handbrake. Instead of slowing down with the footbrake (which, with the stock XJ220 not only takes forever but is often not slow enough to manouvre the turn anyway) you lock up the rear tires, turn the front ones to the right, let the car spin and then hit the gas again quickly before you slam the wall, so that when you do slam you don't lose all your speed.

Done right this is tremendously satisfying. Done wrong and your car will ram the wall sideways so hard that it'll bounce you back the other way and your car will slow right down to 0 or 5 mph.
 
I use the hand brake all the time. It's a really handy tool. When i'm in the middle of a turn, and I think that I oversteered and i'm heading to the walls, I slam on the hand brake, it'll allow me to slide a little so I can regain control. It can also be used if your burning your tires and you don't want to. I have that problem with the Escudo, I slam on the gas, and still, in 2nd, i'm burning rubber, I just tap the handbrake and it quickly stops and grips the road.

It's been said, the HB can be used for FWD vehicles to drift. You just need to slam your car into the corner, use the weight of the car to push it, when it doesn't want to go any further, help it along with the handbrake.

That's my little tidbit. :dopey:
 
vipersan
bah .. that's not real racing then :).
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No argument there, but like I said it's only to be used in rare instances. The stock XJ220 sucks rocks; it's nice to look at but it drives like a boat. However, I decided this after racing one of the 20-lap races in the PD cup, and wasn't about to start over. The first race was Trial Mountain II if I'm not mistaken, and it performed well enough using the footbrake and some finesse on that course. But in courses with a lot of hard corners and weird angles, I have to use the handbrake to make it work for me. I don't use the handbrake in the other race courses where there is no wall, and I don't use it for EVERY turn in SSR5, SSR11, or Seattle, but sometimes it's the best bet.
 
I sometimes use Handbrake to get GOLD in "License mode". Either I drive pretty retarded or I'm just using it to not to slide and try get better "corning" than i normally drive -_-;;
 
If you drive like a robot you can easily get along without using it. No matter how you set up your car you can't move your back end as fast as with the e-brake. I'll admit that I use it mostly for personal enjoyment. On Licences or Time Trials I obviously wouldn't touch it.

When I race against other humans winning is one thing but making them look bad is better. I'd call it "speed drifting". I don't care much for the modern sense of drifting either.

I don't really get much out of beating the AI's anymore. I have got 100% racing "properly" but now im having fun screwing up.
 
Anderton
Psst...neither is sitting on a couch in front of a television screen with a video game controller in your hand. Close, but not real.
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:) :) :)

That is why I use my homemade cockpit ... 👍
 

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