Oh, sorry. I got you guys mixed up. The guy in my original post said his test required him to have the handbrake on if he was in neutral.
Cold tires are a feel thing. Don't worry about it. First time I went out on cold slicks I spun so much I got dizzy!
Not really. Just the details.
There is no proof for or against a higher power of some kind.
Don't assume. But why keep the clutch in when you can just put it in neutral? I don't understand why your test says you must have the hand brake on.
If autos are so slow, why did they use them in F1? Every auto I've driven is smoother than most drivers in a manual (most people are not racing drivers, remember), and faster shifting.
I enjoy a manual transmission as much as anyone else but for an everyday runaround car why wouldn't you have an auto? Cost? $1,000 every 150k miles is not that big a price to pay for a little convenience.
Last edited by MadCat360, .
Good and evil are notions completely created by humans.
Rarely. My city put one in (the only one in the city) next to a big high school where the roads would get utterly jammed at 1 particular 4-way stop, so they turned it into a roundabout and no more traffic! It's a bit small, but it's fun to take fast when no one's around.
The US licensing is totally easy. I got 100% on the written test (twice, they had a print error and my provisional permit only lasted 1 month). The practical test really depends on where you take it... out here in California, our fail rate is about 35-40%, but some places in the mid-west have a near-0% fail rate... I failed my test twice. Once for not looking over my shoulder while cutting into a bike lane for a right-hander (WTF?), and then another time for "cutting off" another driver. The actual story was I changed lanes, and once I was completely in the lane, the guy coming up behind (about 3-4 lengths back) slowed down by about 3 MPH, and my examiner counted that as a cut off.
It's good that I passed on my 3rd try, too, because if you fail 3 times, you go on a longer, tougher test. They should just use the longer, tougher test to begin with...
The laws in the US are, if you're 15 1/2 to 17 1/2, then you need to do two courses: the driver's ed (road laws) and drivers training (practical lessons). Once you have those papers you go and take your written exam, you get your permit, you hold it for 6 months and then you go for your practical exam (or when you turn 17 1/2). If you're 17 1/2 or older, then you can forget the DE/DT courses and go straight for your permit, which you hold until you turn 18, then you take your full license exam.
In the US, we really need a standardized practical safety system, like what Finland does. Teach kids how to recover slides, drive in adverse conditions, etc, because as it is now all they have to do is memorize a bunch of rules and they're good to go. And driver's training only teaches you what you need to know to pass the test, not be a safe driver necessarily.
For corners 2-4, you want to set up the first corner so that you will have room to get over to the apex on the second (middle) corner.
Here, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5V_wLBnNc0
When I get to the Turn 8 complex (left left right left), watch how I set up the first corner nice and late so I can take another late apex on the middle corner, then take a normal full throttle exit to the last corner, gaining the most speed (actually I'm full throttle just before the middle apex).
That section is very similar to Blackwood, just in the wrong direction.
Here, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5V_wLBnNc0
When I get to the Turn 8 complex (left left right left), watch how I set up the first corner nice and late so I can take another late apex on the middle corner, then take a normal full throttle exit to the last corner, gaining the most speed (actually I'm full throttle just before the middle apex).
That section is very similar to Blackwood, just in the wrong direction.
Yer, there needs to be a classic muscle car!
Not sure about Formula 3. Isn't that what the Formula V8 is already?
Humans are good at that. Look at what we've been able to do with the simple method of speech.
Do I believe in God? I don't know, I can't tell you. But I do believe that there is more to the universe than the things we see, touch and smell. Be it a higher power (God), or some kind of new elemental entity that we have yet to name or quantify, but be it what it may, there is something out there affecting all of us on a level that we don't realize.
They used them as squad cars quite a lot in the 80s and even into the 90s.
Yes yes, I know, but I'm saying, is a hard shift possible? Can I shift without the clutch the same way I would with any other constant mesh transmission? The wheel I'm getting does have a clutch pedal and an H-shifter. Can I just rev-match into the window and just put it into gear without using the clutch?
I've got something with so much class, so much prestige, so much heritage, so much wealth, and so much floaty handling that your heads will all explode.
Are you ready?
...
1986 Dodge Diplomat. Oh yeah. 100 bucks of lazy V8-ness. Complete with vinyl top and vague, overcompensated power steering!
Are you ready?
...
1986 Dodge Diplomat. Oh yeah. 100 bucks of lazy V8-ness. Complete with vinyl top and vague, overcompensated power steering!
So, you're supposed to just sit at a 3> minute light with the clutch in? Or am I reading that wrong?
I don't know what all the automatic hate is about. Manuals are fun, yes, on a track, but automatics are faster, usually smoother (unless you're well above an average driver), and probably cost less due to less wear. In my opinion, for the everyday "tool" car, you'd be somewhat crazy to buy a manual, unless cost was really that big of a deal.
I read somewhere that something like 75% of cars sold in the US are automatics. In European countries that number is usually reversed. I wonder, are Americans just lazy that way, or is there another reason?
It's also odd that there isn't a separate "manual operator" license in the US, like there is in the UK (I believe?).
Clutchless shifting?
I don't have a wheel yet, but I'm getting a Fanatec 911. Will I be able to shift without using the clutch? How does that work in the game?
The Formula BMW has an automatic clutch. Just lift the throttle and shift, don't use the clutch on your wheel.
Turn 2 complex needs to be 3rd gear, not 2nd. The gearing everywhere else seemed fine.
You're braking too hard and locking the wheels. When you hear the engine get quiet, you're braking too much. Wheels should be making a "chirp chirp chirp" sound, not "screee".
Trail-braking is way too aggressive - you're parking it in the middle of the corner. Don't trail brake to begin with, just focus on carrying speed through the corners. Once you have the speed, bring your braking point down and fine tune your brake release as you enter the corner (trail braking).
Find the speed through the corner. As I said you're parking it at the apex. Get to know "slip angle", Ive done a bit on general cornering on my blog. It's more about driving real cars, but 95% of it is applicable to LFS.
You're also apexing too early. The only thing you do with the wheel after the apex should be unwinding. Don't hold or add steering lock. If that happens, that means either your angle at the apex is too little, or your apex itself is early.
The good news is, you never got loose (oversteer) in that lap. That's good, and it shows a trait of sensetivity on your part.
Turn 2 complex needs to be 3rd gear, not 2nd. The gearing everywhere else seemed fine.
You're braking too hard and locking the wheels. When you hear the engine get quiet, you're braking too much. Wheels should be making a "chirp chirp chirp" sound, not "screee".
Trail-braking is way too aggressive - you're parking it in the middle of the corner. Don't trail brake to begin with, just focus on carrying speed through the corners. Once you have the speed, bring your braking point down and fine tune your brake release as you enter the corner (trail braking).
Find the speed through the corner. As I said you're parking it at the apex. Get to know "slip angle", Ive done a bit on general cornering on my blog. It's more about driving real cars, but 95% of it is applicable to LFS.
You're also apexing too early. The only thing you do with the wheel after the apex should be unwinding. Don't hold or add steering lock. If that happens, that means either your angle at the apex is too little, or your apex itself is early.
The good news is, you never got loose (oversteer) in that lap. That's good, and it shows a trait of sensetivity on your part.
I'm inclined to have that position. The shipping date of the Turbo S was just delayed but in compensation they're throwing in a free copy of Forza 3! Apparently the delay was to implement H-pattern shift into the game.
What should I do?
I just learned that Fanatec has delayed my Turbo S shipment to 4 months from now. With my Xbox wheel busted, I've been unable to enjoy racing games for 2 months now.
Should I buy a Logitech MOMO ($80) for the next 4 months before my Porsche wheel is shipped?
Or does anyone know of a place that will rent out racing wheels?
Should I buy a Logitech MOMO ($80) for the next 4 months before my Porsche wheel is shipped?
Or does anyone know of a place that will rent out racing wheels?
Yes. If you're so close that you feel like he's impeding you, then you're close enough to attempt rather easily. You might not make it, but you're close enough to try with a reasonable success rate.
But the trick is to know when to attempt. Because no matter how close you are, if his braking is hooked up, you're not going to get by without throwing it in way too hot and possibly losing the corner.
One rule I like to follow when outbraking an unknown driver is to make sure I brake lighter than normal, but at the same point. Carry more speed into the corner, get in front of him (and I mean directly in front of him) and then do what I need to make the apex and the corner. You'll be going a good 5 or even 10 MPH slower at the apex than normal, and this is what we call "parking" it in front of him. It's enough for him to have to check up and then he won't be able to re-pass you. The smart pass-ee will hold back slightly under brakes as the passer goes by and get a run through the corner so as to re-pass on the next straight. It's all about a battle for control of the corner, to dictate the actions of the other driver.
The worst thing that happens is you brake too light and throw the corner, and a properly thrown corner (ie, no drama, just wide) will not hurt your time so bad as to lose the battle. So practice outbraking an invisible car and purposely throw it in hot to learn how to recover well and how much exactly over the limit you can go without putting a wheel off.
And don't make the mistake of simply trying a pass at every opportunity. More than 2 pass attempts per 10 corners is a bit much. On your standard 1:30.00 lap, you shouldn't be trying to pass more than twice per lap really. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket but by the same token you don't want to spill them all out onto the highway either.
Remember, the closer you are to the back of another car, the more he runs your race for you. The more fixated you are, the more prominent he is in your vision, the more he will affect your driving. It's key when following is to focus on running your own pace. Brake at your own spots, not his. Turn in at your own points, not his. Apex at your own points, not his. By all means if he's going faster than you through a specific corner, try his way. Maybe you'll go faster because of it. Following is a time of learning as much as a time of battle.
Also remember that distance and time are one and the same. 1 second at 100 MPH is not the same distance as 1 second at 40 MPH. You will naturally close up as you slow and increase the gap as you speed up. It's obvious on paper, but there are plenty of racers and most spectators that seem to not understand this. But part of the skill of being a good follower is being able to correlate time AND distance, not just one or the other.
Grrrrrr... They delayed the last Turbo S shipment till September! Why?!
... and it has the heat sink, and as such would not have the heating problems.
Why the hell would you turn down the free upgrade? It's only a 1 1/2 month wait. Racing games aren't the only games that are fun, surely.
I'd say a Golf Mark 4 is a pretty close match as far as US cars.
But the question is, do you really want a Golf IV?
I always thought the XRG was based on the RX-7... they're both wedges.
But the question is, do you really want a Golf IV?
I always thought the XRG was based on the RX-7... they're both wedges.
The only reason Senna got away with it was because of biblical car control. Take for instance the NSX video. You can see just in his hands that if he had a smooth throttle application he would have come off the corner better in some cases because his tapping habit left him late on the throttle on a couple corners. No driver is perfect. Senna's strength was his amazing ability to gauge sideways traction. Tap-tap-tapping the throttle will unsettle a car and disrupt it's slip angle, in any drive configuration. Senna knew exactly how it would affect his car and he anticipated it, so he was able to do it.
How many racing drivers do you see getting sideways on exit, hmm? Senna was sideways a lot more than most... Keeping traction off the apex is, in my opinion, the easiest part of the corner, provided you did the corner right. If the apex, speed, slip angle, and turn in are all good, then the exit will happen by itself when compared to the work required to coordinate an entry.
If tapping the throttle was the fastest way from apex to exit then you'd see every racing school this side of Saturn teaching it, like heel-and-toe, but you don't, so it isn't.
I say again, he tapped to keep the turbo up. Try it before you dismiss it. The way most people do it now is by left-foot trail braking and accelerating against partial brake well before the apex. It's hard on the brakes and the drive line but it's the most consistent way of doing, because not too many people have Sennalike car control skills.
Last edited by MadCat360, .
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