So I bought an S2 license and I'm in an awful rut of sucking in the FBM at BW. Smart spend of cash obviously.

And I'm stuck there because I know I suck badly enough at it after a week of afternoons hacking away at it that attempting any other car on any other track would be nightmarish. I run anywhere from mid-1:17:00's to my lowest being a 1:15:15. I've tried a couple setups from online racers and tried adjusting them for some softness and understeer according to a guide I found, but I only make setups worse every time I touch a single setting.

What I have generally been recommended to do, here, in servers, and elsewhere, is to watch the faster racers from spectator. It doesn't work well when the cars appear to be updated every fifth of a second and just kinda skitter around the general racing line as far as I can anticipate. No idea when they're braking, how the cars really need to move, what are the proper steering inputs, etc.

I've attached 3 laps' RAF data with a setup that has been "good" to me so far, which, to you all reading this, might be as useful as me saying it was quite like driving a car on a racetrack. And yes, I do think these aren't bad laps for me. As in, I know they are absolutely atrocious, but... could be worse...

My biggest issue is that I don't know what proper technique, setup, etc. are, and I don't want to get settled into the wrong form, and I fear this has been true for my several years of sucking at racing sims (in a competitive sense).

I will be back to edit this if necessary as my dad is getting mad at me for something I don't know what it is.

Have you viewed hotlaps from LFS World, and used the analyser to compare your laps? It's a lot more accurate than watching online or MPRs. Make sure you have pedal inputs visible too.

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

Have you viewed hotlaps from LFS World, and used the analyser to compare your laps? It's a lot more accurate than watching online or MPRs. Make sure you have pedal inputs visible too.

How do I get hotlaps from online to use in the analyzer side-by-side?

Hotlaps are single player only. Those RAFs you got, upload one of those SPRs to LFSW, view the hotlap ranks and click the 'c' in the list to compare.

Alternatively download and install LRA: http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=20056
Then download an SPR and RAF from LFSW and compare.

Log onto LFSworld.net and either:

1. Open the 'S2 Hotlaps' window and go to the 'WR' tab. All the lap times are links to SPRs of the current world record for the given combo.

2. Open the 'Hotlap analyzer' window and select your combo. You can only load SPRs that are previously uploaded as hotlaps to LFSworld. But you can download the SPR and RAF for any entry in the selected combo.

The last thing you need is a replay analyzer. There is a few to choose from here: http://www.lfs.net/?page=analysers
I haven't tried any of these, so I don't know which one is the best.

Can't for the life of me figure out how to upload my files. Is there a button somewhere?

EDIT: Let me read that reply that got posted as I posted.

OK I do have LRA. I'll just download hotlaps then. I'd still like help from other angles than my own. I know I suck, I'm not a race engineer that can read and understand this sort of data right off the bat.

You don't really need the data. View a fast SPR a couple of times, view your own SPR and look at braking points, throttle position, brake modulation and line. Try to do more or less what they're doing. If you do upload a lap to LFSW, you can overlay two laps and see quite easily where you're losing time. Look at the replay to see what you're doing differently.

I just took your test1 time and compared it to someone with a 14.87 lap(if you compare to a time much faster than yours its hard to find something to focus in on) and until the last corner of sector 2 you're pretty much even with him but then in the last sector, and the last corner especially you go a lot slower than him because you brake more and use a lower gear. The last corner is a 4th gear corner and the braking itself especially with the downforce could be unsettling your car. I'd focus on that first and then once you're happy with that area compare it again and then look again.

I was always sceptic about using this sort of stuff in a game but when I went to iRacing I was told by team mates it could really help to pick it up faster and certainly it made it a lot less frustrating trying to learn something new for someone who is competitive.

E: yay my 500th post was an attempt to help someone.

I got ONE 1.14.96 in, a few 15.0X, with that tip, but nothing else in about three hours of hotlapping. My keyboard or monitor will be broken after a few days of this crap.

I really think that I just need to re-learn HOW to wheel the car in general instead, rather than focus on individual sections, and that's why I was looking for help mostly. I know the technique is just wrong somehow, but I don't know what that how is, etc. etc.

Really sucks to be a car guy and have absolutely no talent in sim racers.

EDIT: also here is the file.

Don't give up so easily. I spent one and a half year driving the FZR GT2 before I began doing quick laps in it. Sometimes you just need time to figure out the secrets of the car, find the right setup for your driving style, and learning some driving finesse

Knowing that's the proper amount of time to get it helps. Thank you.

Quote from Fred931 :

I got ONE 1.14.96 in, a few 15.0X, with that tip, but nothing else in about three hours of hotlapping. My keyboard or monitor will be broken after a few days of this crap.

I really think that I just need to re-learn HOW to wheel the car in general instead, rather than focus on individual sections, and that's why I was looking for help mostly. I know the technique is just wrong somehow, but I don't know what that how is, etc. etc.

Really sucks to be a car guy and have absolutely no talent in sim racers.

EDIT: also here is the file.

The default for people who are slow is to say that its because of talent because its something you can't change, it stays the same. But nobody makes it to F1 straight out of a kart - its the same in sim racing too. If I was the same level 2 years ago(around the time when I joined into a proper league racing team for the first time) I would be midpack at best in the leagues I race in atm.

Quote from Fred931 :

Knowing that's the proper amount of time to get it helps. Thank you.

Some people need more time than others to improve. And improvements doesn't have to be linear. Some people improve in big steps all of sudden after periods of little or no improvments.

Extremely few have such talent they can just jump into any car and do smoking fast laps. The rest of us just have to practice.

Quote from Skagen :

And improvements doesn't have to be linear. Some people improve in big steps all of sudden after periods of little or no improvments.

I agree totally on that. Sometimes you are driving (and improving by the time) a car in some way, and then, after months of training you realize that you were doing it wrong. Maybe if you are softer on the brakes instead of searching the late braking point you could be a lot faster (or at least be more consistent on fast pace).

This could be a bit depressing, if you see as wasted time, but on the other hand, it makes you more open to new ideas. Not always the "ideal racing line" is the best, in some corners (just a few, and maybe with just some cars) there is a completly ilogical line that is a lot better.

Breaking the 13 was my goal, and I just pulled a 1.13.99 this afternoon. Thanks for the encouragement. On to a 12...