What is the most effective way to practice?

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tedgreene

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tedgreene
I'm a noob and want to be good at this, but I have a long, long way to go to be able to hold my own with you guys. My time to play/practice is limited so it is important that I make all of the time I spend playing most effective for improving.

I'm curious - what things helped you make the biggest strides in developing your skill?

Time trials? Driving with high powered rear-wheel drive cars that require precise throttle control? Or is it better to drive something with lower power and work my way up to faster cars? Is any one course better to practice than others? Is it better to spend hours on end perfecting one TT? Or is it better to split up your time among many different cars so you don't get too used to just one? What things have you done that made the most difference? Is it better to spend all time doing TTs for now, rather than racing? Or does racing have a place, too?

For a little background, I'm using DFGT, no assists other than ABS 1, professional physics, 1:49.4 and 1:36.9 on the TT.

I'm hoping some of the many super skilled drivers here can help me out. Thanks in advance for your input and suggestions.
 
He tedgreene,welcome to Gtplanet...

Well you asked the right questions there,

Timetrails:yes,best way to learn to get everything out of any particular car...

High power/low power:start with low power untill you master steering techniques...then move over to high power throttle controll class...

Courses:every course has its own technique so you have to learn to adjust to every one of their particular corners/setups/do's and don'ts....

Hours: practice is your friend...it takes everybody hours to get to the top....

Things to do:Thats different for anyone i guess...But when timetrailing,download a ghost from one of the top times and study their lines/throttle responses/braking points etc etc...

TT and racing:2 different things...many guys and girls who are superfast at TT are also fast in racing,BUT not everyone can withstand the pressure racing brings you and make mistakes all over the place....racing is about overtaking/respect for fellow racers on the track/patience/keeping your cool at all times....lol..


Hope i made some sence to you...if not,ask more questions and i am sure me and other members here are happy to assist you....




good luck,



spy.
 
The just opened Fuji event with N3 tyres seems to be a nice place to practice. The low grip of the tyres forces you to focus on basics. GT-R is the easiest car to begin with there (and probably the fastest one too).
 
ted ,

I find cool ,smooth driving / throttle control can get get you quite far ,but as Spyrrari says each car has it's own characteristics and when you can judge a cars/tyres limits drive within or just to the limits of it.

I'm sure everyone here will agree with me that learning the layout of a track is also half the battle
 
You have to buy the best car for your 10.000 bucks (GT4), and then practice, no other way. I'd prefer real races, because you learn the layout of different tracks, sometimes in both directions, you get money and often an additional car if you win, which you can sell to upgrade your race-car. Learning the layout and brake-points can last a few rounds on easy tracks like the High-Speed-Ring or days and weeks on the Nürburgring.
 
I do a few different things to help improve myself. And for me, the best track to learn a pretty clear overview of everything (both steering and throttle control) is Suzuka. It has a great combination of tight steering turns, and long straights that you will take advantage of at both the straight entry and breaking points.

In addition to learning just the overall feel of how to drive a car, you also want to become familiar to how each car/track handles.

Car: whenever I either buy/aquire a new car, i usually take it to a track that i know very well in order to learn its strengths, weaknesses, and limits. Normally i will try it at two different tracks; Nurburgring and a small ctiy-street circuit. Doing so allows me to futher find the cars pros/cons on a medium-sized scale of depth in terms of speed vs. cornering.

Tracks: When I learn a new track, I usually take a car that i either know really well (such as the Honda NSX-R), or something that I know is meant for the track that I'm currently on. Now learning tracks are a little bit harder, but also a little bit easier at the same time. In terms of learning the layout of the track, that's easy. But as far as having to learn a different line throughout it depending on the type of car you have, is a lot more difficult.

Overall you jast have to spend a lot of time doing both races and time trials. I think time trials allow you to find the best possible (quickest) line throughout the track, where as racing a track allows you to find the most consistant line. Remember that the best thing to be in a race is consistant rather than driving the balls of the car (unless you're in a heated dual, then it's on! ;) ).
 
Practice what you want to succeed at. If you want to beat the online races, doing them is your best bet. Also, doing free runs of the online races is a great way to see what cars perform well without the distractions of other cars.

If TTs are what you want to get better at, practice them. Racing and time trials are so different in my opinion that they are barely comparable. For time trials, though, I find one of the quickest ways to get better is to watch replays of the fastest lappers for the cars and tracks you are practicing. View from the same viewpoint that you use when driving. You'll see what driving lines they take, at what speeds, braking points, throttle application. You can watch a whole lap just taking note of how much throttle is applied at different points, then watch the same lap only watching timing of braking, then another same lap just looking at turn-in and exits from corners, etc. etc. etc. After watching the replays try to apply what you've seen, which wil be a challenge in itself.
 
I managed to get in to the Australian GT Academy final by watching replays and chasing the ghost of DHolland and trying to do exactly what he did. Plus hours and hours of practice.
 
I agree on the N3 GTR F430 Z06 Event. It helps develop your control skills, you develop effective steering, learn about understeer and oversteer. You are forced to develop throttle control and ontop of all that practice you are in a race so you are getting valuable race experience. It is 10 laps so you can develop your rhythm and practice you concentration. You can watch other racers and learn from them. You must learn how to keep all this control in a high pressure situation. It is difficult to control throttle when it is the penultimate corner on the last lap of a 10 lap race with a GTR breathing down your neck... It is also very fun and you are making money at the same time. (Hope I helped :))

-Spiran
 
tedgreene
I'm a noob and want to be good at this, but I have a long, long way to go to be able to hold my own with you guys. My time to play/practice is limited so it is important that I make all of the time I spend playing most effective for improving.

I'm curious - what things helped you make the biggest strides in developing your skill?

Time trials? Driving with high powered rear-wheel drive cars that require precise throttle control? Or is it better to drive something with lower power and work my way up to faster cars? Is any one course better to practice than others? Is it better to spend hours on end perfecting one TT? Or is it better to split up your time among many different cars so you don't get too used to just one? What things have you done that made the most difference? Is it better to spend all time doing TTs for now, rather than racing? Or does racing have a place, too?

For a little background, I'm using DFGT, no assists other than ABS 1, professional physics, 1:49.4 and 1:36.9 on the TT.

I'm hoping some of the many super skilled drivers here can help me out. Thanks in advance for your input and suggestions.
Click to expand...

if u want to be good online (means being first 9 out of 10 times) u got to learn track a respective cars in arcade mode, try to get to top 500 and believe me there gonna be hardly anyone online who can beat you, if you gonna be in top 100 - well there hardly gonna be anyone to beat u at the very time u drive online. If you want to master tracks just watch top 1 replay a see his driving trajectory for the respective track and dry to repeat it and also pay attention at gear shifting in replay, hope this will help - and yes its not easy to be either top 500 or 100 u will need a lot of practice, if u r noob like u said i think it will take you more than 100 laps just to get basic feeling of the track and the car u drive, and after 1000 laps u gonna be ok i guess.
 

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