Hello,

I just cant drive over 1.16.30, I always spin out. I don't know how to take T1 properly and the chicane. I tried some setups but those made it worse. Can someone please post a very fast time replay. And some tips please .
It is getting really frustrating.

If you post up a replay we can see exactly where you're doing things "differently" (wrong ) and we can give you some ideas to fix it!

I will post it soon. At the moment my pc is a bit broken.
Edit:Posted it now.

Not that bad!
T1 was a mess but you know that (apex too early, followed by a massive understeer costing you a lot of time and setting the car in a wrong position for T2).

Your lines are pretty good, but there is room for improvement. Overall your apexes are too early for low speed turns, causing you to carry on turning the wheel after the apex and under power - that is the cause for your massive unsersteer.
Check the attached pics for clarity.

So here is my tip: try to brake in a straight line first, then turn in, then apply throttle. After a while you will be able to mix all that while nailing the apex correctly. Correct apex is what's missing from your replay.

Don't ride the curb on the left side of the chicane, it is deadly!
Good luck!

Now waiting for more tips...

I noticed that you use 4'th gear in the turn after long straight, 3'rd gear works better in that bend. 3'rd also works better in the downhill turn before bridge in the last sector. This would also help with the understeer.

Also know that you cannot prevent yourself from getting better, everyone gets better with time.

And dont turn in 6 gear, after finish line. Stay in 5th.

Don't shift to 6th gear going up the hill into turn 1. Stay in 5th.

You're using geometric apexes. This means that you exit the corner with the same speed as the entry. Speed = radius, so the exit radius should be wider to allow the car to accelerate. Take later apexes. Do this (in your specific case) by turning later and faster. Your entry speed is fine. To make the same speed with a later and tighter turn-in, you'll need to trail the brakes past the turn-in point. Start by apexing overly late, so that you exit the corner in the middle of the road, then slowly bring back the turn-in point so that the apex becomes sooner and sooner. Once the apex gets to a certain point, you'll have trouble keeping the car on the road at the exit. Once that happens, you know the apex is too early.

Don't forget about the angle at the apex, as well. I've seen many drivers believe that they were apexing too soon, when in fact it was just the angle of the car that was not right at the apex.

Use less steering input. You're over-asking the front wheels by turning the steering wheel too far. Use as little steering input as possible. You're going fast enough that the steering wheel is acting more like a brake. It's a suggestive device, not a club. Trail braking will help you understand how little steering is actually needed.

You keep applying full throttle even though the steering is still committed to cornering. This stems from the "string theory". If you imagine a string tied from the base of the wheel to your gas pedal. The more you apply the gas, the more you need to unwind the wheel so as not to bind the car up. When you apply full throttle with strong steering input you'll just understeer.

You also "crabbed" the entry to turn 1. Meaning, you moved over about a car-width to the inside before you turned in proper. Trying for a later turn-in will help that.

I did like 1 thing. I liked how you lifted before the turn-in point on no-braking corners. I see a lot of drivers lifting mid-corner. That just upsets the car.

I beat my PB the other day with 1:13.41, and the biggest thing that has crossed my mind since i was on '16's a few month ago is that the more time you spend on the throttle the faster your times will be. For this sole reason brake earlier and power round the corners rather than braking in them and coasting then gently applying throttle.

When this technique becomes second nature you will then need to concentrate on keeping the car balanced into the turn which is the stage i am at now.

I could do 2 sec improving in 1 month though, so 3 is pretty good :P (I was from 1.15 to '1.12 end

It took me a long time to get to low 1:13's. Its hard when you are only a demo user, as your car usage is limited, especially if your not a fan of the xf cars(which on road I am not). The most important thing I learned was that the less you have to fight the car, the faster you are. The top drivers are capable with much more loose setups, where the rear end comes round a fair bit. When you first start out, you are not able to make this setup work. So you need to keep your sites realistic, find a nicely balanced setup which isnt overly difficult to drive, and use that to work your way to the 1:14's, from there you can keep going. I made this mistake, I could do 1:13's and I got given a setup from a guy doing 1:12's, i thought it would be what I needed. I used it, and felt the grip, but I was having to fight the car all the time. I actually got slower, from 1:13 when i first started with the setup I was given to 1:14, and it was only when my mate gave me his setup(who could only do a 1:14 with it) that I suddenly got better again.

Also, as I have a lot of time on my hands after (unfortunately) breaking my ankle in a tragic go kart accident(well, not tragic. More of a pathetic trudge into a tyre wall) and unable to use my steering wheel + pedals, I decided to use my laptop to play LFS on the rally x circuit. I found it much easier to get within 1 second of the lap record there(although I have to admit, the lap record is the OFFICIAL lap record, there are faster out there - I have seen it) fairly quickly. It will be easier the 2nd time around. You can use what you learn in 1 car to use in another.
In conclusion:

When you first start out, the fastest setup might not be the best for you.
Use different cars, all experience helps, and using the same car for a long period can stagnate your improvement.
And most importantly, be willing to help and be helped by others - make friends. Some people on the demo can appear to be arrogant, and annoying. But actually when you get to know them they are fine.

Quote from Dac :

is that the more time you spend on the throttle the faster your times will be. For this sole reason brake earlier and power round the corners rather than braking in them and coasting then gently applying throttle.

Amen to that, you need to be getting back on the power as you turn into the corner, as this makes the FBM turn easier, if you're not careful though the back end will come round so always be ready to catch it, you are essentially steering the car with the throttle, with the back wheels rather than the front.

This will make you especially fast in the 2nd and 3rd sectors I've found.

Ok, thanks for the tips,they have helped a lot. I have improved, ill post a replay
I would have done 1.14.xx, but I stayed too long on the curve so it ended and i went on the grass. How should i do the corner after the big straight, I alway go too slow there.

Man, you've got some basic errors there that can be corrected easily.
first, the way you drive that first chicane is totally wrong. You need to drive it aggressively. Drive the first part so that only the left side of the car hits the track. Then the middle one a bit more carefully and the last one as aggressive as you can. Just straight over the corner as long as you don't hit the tire wall.

During the second stint you need to switch one gear lower while braking to the chicane. then after or during it depending on your transmission you change to 4th gear.

In the last stint you need to switch to 5th gear before the first corner and at the last one you need to release throttle before the corner and drive the corner with full throttle. That's the biggest errors what I noticed.

Also try to use more of the road, you need it all to get good speeds in corners and after them.

Still the same notes I gave you earlier. Early apexes, too much steering, not enough trail braking, still crabbing turn 1.

New ones: brake later for turn 1. 2 things will make you turn in early:

1. Too high of speed. This happens more for experienced guys and/or touchy-feely drivers. Higher speed = higher radius. To turn in with a higher radius you must turn in early. So, the driver feels that the car is going too fast to make the radius he wants for the right apex, and turns in early so as not to bind the car up.

2. (your problem) Too low of speed. You get impatient and you turn in. You're braking too early, scrubbing off too much speed and you turn in early because you want to get to the apex. Remember, you're going up a hill. A little bravery and the right brake pedal timing and you can nail the brake just as the car settles and you won't have to worry about modulating over the crest. Remember, the dangerous part about locking up is not actually locking up, it's what you have to do to regain control (lift the brake).

But the biggest point is still to focus on using less wheel. Use less wheel by carrying brakes past the turn in point. Just remember to trail them off. And stay off the inside curb in turn 3 (the end of the long straight).

Quote from matjuha1 :

Ok, thanks for the tips,they have helped a lot. I have improved, ill post a replay
I would have done 1.14.xx, but I stayed too long on the curve so it ended and i went on the grass. How should i do the corner after the big straight, I alway go too slow there.

Your first problem is learning how to use the controls, every time you stab at the throttle pedal you unsettle the car, this is fine when your recovering from an accident say or pulling away but not mid-way through a corner.

Its also been mentioned before but your steering is too much and too 'jittery', it should be one smooth turn in and then turn out, not in-out-in-out etc.

Quote from Dac :

... it should be one smooth turn in and then turn out, not in-out-in-out etc.

Actually most of people prefer the last option


Thank you guys! I found this some usefull tips Unfortunately haven't time for practice but have some time for stupid post. one else