Why is the rest of the world faster than the USA?

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nojoke48

nojoke48

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NoJoke48
After perusing the leaderboards for the time trials in the new seasonal events section, I noticed that we (USA) were some way back? I'm not very good myself but I wonder if they have some sort of advantage?

More driving with smaller, quicker cars and lots of manual shifting maybe?
 
or the update just hit and a lot of people are still at work or school?
 
Uhmm... what about different time zones, and people still being at work?
EDIT: after seeing Stogybear's reply, I'll just go and get my own brain.
 
I think you also might ponder that even in real life american racers in many ways lag behind their s american and european cousins.

I got no clue why that is but watching racing over the years when eu or sa drivers come to american sports they usually do well, even if they did not do so well in their home countries, but if americans go over to eu to race etc they tend to not do well at all.

I mean i would really like a logical reasonable study of the topic and find out why exactly those tenants hold true in the vast majority of cases. There has to be some root reason why, maybe junior motorsports over here is not nearly as big as other places in the world? maybe the general competition over he is much lower and drivers do not develop to the degree that drivers in other parts of the world need to be competitive?

There is some mechanic at work here and would be interesting to delve into.
 
Uh-oh. This is going to get interesting.
 
nojoke48
After perusing the leaderboards for the time trials in the new seasonal events section, I noticed that we (USA) were some way back? I'm not very good myself but I wonder if they have some sort of advantage?

More driving with smaller, quicker cars and lots of manual shifting maybe?
Click to expand...

Maybe because most of the USA is still at work/school? Maybe because Gran Turismo is much more popular outside of the US?

Wrong forum anyways

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=233
 
I got a 1:24 (800th something place) and then I got bored.

Probably doesn't help I am using a controller........ all the top spots are people with wheels.
 
I'm American and I didn't even find out about the update until I got to work. What's that tell you guys?
 
Maybe because we are limited in USA. I live in NYC just like the thread starter.

I feel like we are very very very limited. What i mean by this is that If we speed 7 miles over the limit, we will get pulled over and fined. We will get fined for spinning your tires by mistake.

When im in Asia, i feel more freedom in driving. There are cops there but the limitation is not that much of NYC (or rest of USA).

My cousins from Europe/Asia are really great drivers.
 
Not in terms of kilos per person it is. ;)

(joke)
 
In addition, there is a common phrase in America "Only rednecks and Europeans care about racing". Very stereotypical but true in some ways.

Racing is generally looked down upon by sports media in the United States. "If I want to see fast cars I'll look at the highway" is what you get alot from sports fans and sports media here.

I highly doubt that is the attitude held by European sports media and sports fans.

The Indyracing league, American LeMans, even NASCAR gets little media attention and are generally shunned. Formula 1 appears to be huge in Europe and across the world by not just fans but media too but not in the United States

Europeans and the rest of the world seem to respect and care more about racing from what I've seen therefore there's more of them that try to be better at Gran Turismo so they dominate it. Not to mention THE WORLD outnumbers the United States 25:1 ?
 
No, not the "American drivers are only good on american motorsports" discussion again!
 
skywolf23
I think you also might ponder that even in real life american racers in many ways lag behind their s american and european cousins.

I got no clue why that is but watching racing over the years when eu or sa drivers come to american sports they usually do well, even if they did not do so well in their home countries, but if americans go over to eu to race etc they tend to not do well at all.

I mean i would really like a logical reasonable study of the topic and find out why exactly those tenants hold true in the vast majority of cases. There has to be some root reason why, maybe junior motorsports over here is not nearly as big as other places in the world? maybe the general competition over he is much lower and drivers do not develop to the degree that drivers in other parts of the world need to be competitive?

There is some mechanic at work here and would be interesting to delve into.
Click to expand...


I like this response, I think there is some greater power, of skill in some way, at work here. I've always wondered this as well.
 
yes thats right, america is not the only country in the world that has cars.
 
HeroPride
Maybe because we are limited in USA. I live in NYC just like the thread starter.

I feel like we are very very very limited. What i mean by this is that If we speed 7 miles over the limit, we will get pulled over and fined. We will get fined for spinning your tires by mistake.

When im in Asia, i feel more freedom in driving. There are cops there but the limitation is not that much of NYC (or rest of USA).

My cousins from Europe/Asia are really great drivers.
Click to expand...

GT5 is a video game, it's hardly a simulator. I personally think it's timezone differences right now, give it a day or two. But I agree that Europeans and Asians are better drivers than US drivers but for a different reason than you.

I would say Americans are actually less limited than Europeans and Asians simply because there is more land here. We have states bigger than some European nations, we treansport food, consumeables, commodities etc across these great expanses of land. We have long, wide straight roads because the land is condusive to it, and our cars are bigger ride smoother and less stiff than Euro/Asian cars simply because we don't need them stiff and they're more comfortable to ride in loose. It has everything to do with the landmass this nation is on and how we Americans drivers interact with it and very little to do with inate skill. We have different needs than Euros/Asians and our driving style/ability reflects that.
 
Folks in the US work more, I'm born in Brasil and now I'm a American (10 years) folks here in the US work a lot more compared to Brasil or others.

As we all know practice makes it perfect and we all know practice takes time , if you work like myself about 60 hours a week .. for sure I won't have the same play time as others.

My 2cnts
 
skywolf23
I think you also might ponder that even in real life american racers in many ways lag behind their s american and european cousins.

I got no clue why that is but watching racing over the years when eu or sa drivers come to american sports they usually do well, even if they did not do so well in their home countries, but if americans go over to eu to race etc they tend to not do well at all.

I mean i would really like a logical reasonable study of the topic and find out why exactly those tenants hold true in the vast majority of cases. There has to be some root reason why, maybe junior motorsports over here is not nearly as big as other places in the world? maybe the general competition over he is much lower and drivers do not develop to the degree that drivers in other parts of the world need to be competitive?

There is some mechanic at work here and would be interesting to delve into.
Click to expand...

:dunce:

Ben Speis
Nicky Hayden
Kevin Schwantz
Wayne Rainey
Freddie Spencer

US kids suck at racing cause they spend too much time playing video games like GT5 or complaining in video game forums about why they can't put wheels on standard cars than actually venture outside to do racing stuff....... LOLOLOLOLOL
 
RustyNut
GT5 is a video game, it's hardly a simulator. I personally think it's timezone differences right now, give it a day or two. But I agree that Europeans and Asians are better drivers than US drivers but for a different reason than you.

I would say Americans are actually less limited than Europeans and Asians simply because there is more land here. We have states bigger than some European nations, we treansport food, consumeables, commodities etc across these great expanses of land. We have long, wide straight roads because the land is condusive to it, and our cars are bigger ride smoother and less stiff than Euro/Asian cars simply because we don't need them stiff and they're more comfortable to ride in loose. It has everything to do with the landmass this nation is on and how we Americans drivers interact with it and very little to do with inate skill. We have different needs than Euros/Asians and our driving style/ability reflects that.
Click to expand...

it is true what you say, we need to compete with very hard little roads here.
Example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE-V3TaNGss
 
HeroPride
I feel like we are very very very limited. What i mean by this is that If we speed 7 miles over the limit, we will get pulled over and fined.
Click to expand...

It's all a matter of local cops policy. In Santa Barbara you will be fined for over 75, in LA - 85, in San Diego - 95. Speed limit is same everywhere - 65.

HeroPride
When im in Asia, i feel more freedom in driving.
Click to expand...

True. You can do whatever you want and don't care about any rules at all. The roads are ruled by chaos. Not a good thing
 
They've modeled the weight of an average adult male for each country and added that weight to your car depending on where you are from.
 
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What type of lower level racing does the US have? Around here it's quarter mile ovals or a drag strip.

A talent is nothing if it is not tuned to something particular from an early age. For example Lewis Hamilton was groomed to be a F1 driver since he was 12 or something?

How many US kids get an opportunity to be groomed to be a F1 driver? Scott Speed, an average at best American talent, when groomed to race in F1 did so and did OK. The path to being a top international driver in the US is very tough compared to some areas mainly because the feeder systems over here aren't that great or are broken. Europe has how many Formula ???? openwheel series again to groom openwheel drivers?

Also racing tradition is deep in places like Brazil or Germany where all the young kids want to be the next Senna or Schumacher. There is no international racing history for American kids to want to follow. It's NASCAR or nothing basically. Young openwheel aces like A.J. ALlmendinger are giving up opnewheel careers to race NASCAR because how bad the feeder sereies are in the US. If he was in europe he would be working his way up the many openwheel divisions enroute to F1

Top NASCAR talents like Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon could have gone the openwheel route and perhaps made it to F1. But because the IRL is not a great training ground for F1 nothing ever happens. Not to mention once racing in F1 you have to embrace the European lifestyle, something Michael Andretti refused to do which eventually doomed him. Can you imagine a F1 driver moving to NASCAR country and trying to embrace the NASCAR lifestyle? Theres more to it then simply how heavy your right foot is. Juan Montoya is barely surviving in NASCAR because he's use to, a nd more importantly likes the American lifestyle.
 
VillageBC
They've modeled the weight of an average adult male for each country and added that weight to your car depending on where you are from.
Click to expand...

Have you ever been in US? I lived 3 years in California and people there are in top shape compare to all other countries I lived.

In gym I always saw my 60 years old landlords (both of them). LOL
 
otago
Have you ever been in US? I lived 3 years in California and people there are in top shape compare to all other countries I lived.

In gym I always saw my 60 years old landlords (both of them). LOL
Click to expand...

I agree it's an annoying stereotype that doesn't apply equally well across the US. I live in Colorado which is ranked the most healthy state in the US so I don't really see it around here but if you go down South the stereotype is pretty accurate. Take a look at Dallas.

It's all good though since we have stereotypes against Europeans as well. Rampant nationalists, Elitists, bad teeth, gaudy clothes, rude etc etc. Nothing wrong with a little sibling rivalry if we all don't take it seriously. It's actually pretty funny imo but I'm not fat so I guess it doesn't hit home.
 
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