Something that takes an hours practise takes a day for me, believe me.

Quote from Jakg :

surely the tyres only have x lateral grip, whether you would use it via braking or engine braking make no difference

Yes. They do only have x amount of grip. But with engine braking you can control the braking to the rear of the car much better (In RWD anyway. Don't ask me about AWD or FWD.) You can garantee that (So long as you are in the right gear) you will not lock the rear wheel under braking. And what with the fronts already taking as much punishment as you can give them, anything you get from the rear of the car to help is a bonus.

Engine braking can also make a kinda anti lock device as it inhibits locking point of the wheel because they are conected to the engine. That means you have that much more friction to overcome before the wheels lock. It might not be much but the effect is there. Thats why you should get all your gear changed over with beofre you enter the corner. Because by changing gear on corner entry, or engaging/disengaging the clutch can cause the driven wheels to react against the increased/decreased engine friction. Prehaps causing a lock up or a spin up.

If your driving front wheel cars then the difference between engine braking and/or using the auto box might not be so obvious. But with the bigger engines and cars, in particular the rwd's, you need every area of control you can get. That includes the manual box.

Engine braking really does make a huge difference.

Driving with normal manual can't be that difficult really. After all it's just a semi-automatic in LFS. Just spend an evening driving with it and you should get the hang of it. Laptimes will definately go up a notch. Or are you guys talking about driving all manual with a clutch and H-shifter? That I can understand to take a bit time to learn, took me about a week to get the hang of proper H-shifter usage without losing too much time comparing to a flappy-paddle system.

Quote from Jakg :

surely the tyres only have x lateral grip, whether you would use it via braking or engine braking make no difference

You mean longitudinal grip. Lateral grip for cornering, longitudinal grip for acceleration and braking.

Quote from Funnybear :

Yes. They do only have x amount of grip. But with engine braking you can control the braking to the rear of the car much better (In RWD anyway. Don't ask me about AWD or FWD.) You can garantee that (So long as you are in the right gear) you will not lock the rear wheel under braking. And what with the fronts already taking as much punishment as you can give them, anything you get from the rear of the car to help is a bonus.

Engine braking can also make a kinda anti lock device as it inhibits locking point of the wheel because they are conected to the engine. That means you have that much more friction to overcome before the wheels lock. It might not be much but the effect is there. Thats why you should get all your gear changed over with beofre you enter the corner. Because by changing gear on corner entry, or engaging/disengaging the clutch can cause the driven wheels to react against the increased/decreased engine friction. Prehaps causing a lock up or a spin up.

If your driving front wheel cars then the difference between engine braking and/or using the auto box might not be so obvious. But with the bigger engines and cars, in particular the rwd's, you need every area of control you can get. That includes the manual box.

Engine braking really does make a huge difference.

ahh, im used to driving FWD's in LFS, hadnt thought about the control issue!

Quote from Matrixi :

Driving with normal manual can't be that difficult really. After all it's just a semi-automatic in LFS. Just spend an evening driving with it and you should get the hang of it. Laptimes will definately go up a notch. Or are you guys talking about driving all manual with a clutch and H-shifter? That I can understand to take a bit time to learn, took me about a week to get the hang of proper H-shifter usage without losing too much time comparing to a flappy-paddle system.

smg, only just converted but it really does help

Quote from Gentlefoot :

You mean longitudinal grip. Lateral grip for cornering, longitudinal grip for acceleration and braking.

oops, i meant longitudinal

Quote from nutty boy :

I'll keep practising manual but online i'm using auto till I get better.

Same with me.

I use the automatic, however, I often over-ride it coming out of corners.

How do you mean by over-ride it.

Quote from nutty boy :

How do you mean by over-ride it.

shift + g tmporarily turns it off

I meant that if you hit the gear up and gear down buttons, even with Auto on, it changes gear.

Yes it's DSG. Is it, someone said it was a special kind of auto and I can't remember what they said.

Decide for yourself!!! I prefer manual shifting!!


CU BlasteR

Quote from Funnybear :

Manual lets you hold a gear through corners or quick change down. I am an FZR driver and the gears are an intergral part of getting the car slowed down. An auto box doesn't quick change to a low enough gear early enough to help you brake whilst with a manual box you can jump from sixth to forth then rapid shift to second for some really smart out braking manouvers. If you can get that right you can pull of some amazing out braking moves.

I wish I had wrote that Perfect. Not only for the FZR, BMW also .
I always use my gears (down) to brake (extra) when needed. Sounds maybe silly but I always 1th go back to lower gear (basicly higher but ok ) and then step on the brakes.
A lot of drivers do it different: 1th step on the brakes then lower gearing
But in common it means that with manual driving you control all aspects of driving, at any moment, and in time you're way faster.

"An auto box doesn't quick change to a low enough gear early enough to help you brake whilst with a manual box you can jump from sixth to forth then rapid shift to second for some really smart out braking manouvers. If you can get that right you can pull of some amazing out braking moves."


I'm really looking forward to the engine damage model - huge pools of oil on the track @ turn 1.........................

Yea. Will be interesting what you can't do with the manual box when that get's introduced. At the moment the only penalty for rapid shifting is the rear locking up and giving you a free ride to the nearest accident.

As a driver in the real world I do know that going from 5th to 2nd is not a good idea. The whole idea of engine breaking is to be progressive and smooth. But a manual box is still better for that. Auto changes down too late to be any use.