Hello!
I've hit a wall in lfs and can't seem to get past it no matter how much I practice. I don't have any racing background so I'm just practicing the same errors over and over... Isn't there an ebook on racing tecniques or something like that? I found a lot of them about drifting, but none about racing . How can I improve my driving skills?

There's two ways to improve:

A) Watch & Learn
B) Experiment

Watching top drivers race can give you insights to take corners in different ways.

Experimenting such as "I wonder what happens if I take 10 degrees of wing off" can make the car perform differently, you then experiment with line and braking to make the new setup work and see if it compares.

When you put a lap in you can usually tell how much faster you "could" go, for instance on my latest SO Classic I setup I know I can do a low 42, maybe even high 41 - I just havn't done it yet. The answer to this is practice.

Sometimes it just doesnt work out though, for example FE Gold hates me. I seem to suffer from laggy grass because it just appears out of nowhere ! If I drive well i'm 4 seconds off the pace ... the solution is to try something radically different on the setup and force myself to relearn the track with a car that is completely different.

What Becky said. To add to it, you can also download the WR replay runs and watch/study those to learn a better line and braking points. Also, there has been some links posted previously about racing. Maybe in the beginners section or the general section, but it would be way at the beginning of the forum.

Whoever remembers posting links like this, perhaps you could voice up if you still have them and get them into a sticky in the beginners section. Tristan and Tweak, I recall seeing something from you guys.

There are also some good links about online racing etiquette posted somehwere as well.

I'll give you some general advice:

One technique I used recently is to categorize turns. I went to the skidpad with my chosen car and ran around the pad seeing how slow I had to be in order to maintain a certain circle. stay outside the inner most circle if you want to see a drasticly sharp turn. I found myself getting around 50 in an easier turn, 40-45 in a medium turn and anything below 30 not being a turn. This was in an F1 car though with cold tires.

I'd say that you at least get around that pad though and see what the maximum speed is to stay within the circles or close to the 'wall'.

This will help you when you are making those hard turns and let you know how much you have to slow down to take a turn "with care"

I'd basically recommend taking a cautious approach to racing. Once you get a bit more confident around the track, go ahead and start gambling a bit and being a tad rougher.

You should also realize that some of the turns are rather harsh. Blackwood is a good example of this. It has some really brutal turns for anyone who just came in from arcade racing. Turn 1 and the turn after the long backstraight are very brutal.


Also:

Be careful with that throttle and with braking. Slamming on them lead to trouble sometimes. If you nail the throttle out of a corner you may oversteer and end up near the inside wall. If you nail the brakes you'll hurt the tires. Be a bit smooth on them.


So basically, be gentle and cautious when you are learning. Taking it too easy and losing the race is better than nailing the outside of a hairpin at 100 and ending up dead last. Also, the skid pad can give you a few numbers to use as a basic guide for the turns. Just use the numbers as a loose and general starting point. After you feel comfortable, rev it a little harder to see just what that turn is exactly made of.

Quote from mrodgers :

you can also download the WR replay runs and watch/study those to learn a better line and braking points.

Where are the WR replays?

Edit. Found them at LFSWorld.

to add to that, set yourself goals to beat even if its a tenth off your time, or to get round without any major mistakes, then to get better places etc.

also for PBs you might wanna consider that you might need to end the previous lap quickly, like AS National, you want a really sweet exit out of the final chicane to be on for a PB the next lap...

Another possiblity is to post a replay of yours here on the forum and ask for feedback. I'm sure at least someone (or myself if I have time) will have a look at it.

http://www.turnfast.com

:up:

There was a post a little while back specifically for the Fox at BLGP.

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=4452

Tristancliffe & AndroidXP gave some great advice - it really helped me to run 1:10s fairly consistently

PS. I just got down to hotlap 1:09:44 last night after the patch and started to tweak the setup

I have another tip for PB times. Don't try for a PB time! Sometimes if you worry about times, you end up messing things up. I know I do. After I gained experienced and moved into the semi-competetive times, PB's would come as I concentrated less on them and was more relaxed racing. Or, I would be chasing someone not paying attention to time and at the end of the race, would be surprised when I saw a PB as my fastest lap displayed in results.

Time isn't everything. It's better just to concentrate on being smooth in the corners and with the wheel and pedals. When you reach the competetive stage, it's better to be smooth and pick up better track awareness. With track awareness, you can start battling others harder, knowing when to attempt a pass, when to let the other pass, watching and taking advantage of other's mistakes, etc. Many times you can let the other car go at the entrance of a turn, slow down yourself, then repass at the exit.

Also, winning isn't everything. I find much more satisfaction at battling someone for 5 or 10 laps midpack than pulling away at the start and just running around 3 seconds ahead of everyone.

Quote from Sh1vER :

Hello!
I've hit a wall in lfs and can't seem to get past it no matter how much I practice.

Ah, I see where you are going wrong...You can't drive through walls!

Hope that helps.