OK, I have been practising like mad since coming back to this game after 10 years away. My old best times used to be around 1:34 for blackwood, now, no matter what I do i cannot get under 1:36.5, even getting under 1:38 is hairy at best.

I remembered back then I struggled as well, but then someone sent me a setup that was almost perfect for me. After that I really enjoyed myself.

Now I think I am in the same position, struggling with setups that are simply unstable for my driving style. I have tried all the ones in the setups section but they are mostly too unstable for me.

Can anyone send me a reasonably fast setup for a mouse user, something that I can try?

I'm no car mechanic and I have no clue how to tweak one myself.

I know it's a bit of a cheeky ask, but have a heart, I just want to at least be able to keep up with everyone else and have fun.

What car?

Download one from here https://www.lfs.net/files/setups

I dont know are you driving with wheel, mouse or keyboard, but 1:36:5 with xfg/xrg is not bad time at all at on new Blackwood. However demo servers are quite populated with experienced racers so if you compare yourself to them, you may think you are "slow" or you should perform better. Having a time "around 1:34" on current new Blackwood, requires much experience.

If you haven't still done, join a demo server and instead of joining the race, spectate the fastest driver (you can jump on other's cars with TAB key) and watch how he drives. You may find out some critical driving line details just by watching him.

A 1:36 is average, not bad. 1:34 and below only comes with practice and experience.

Like what Lucaf said, spectate faster drivers (consistent ones), and learn a thing or two from his driving, be it lines, throttle and brake applications, or gears through a corner.

Grab a set that suits you (mouse sets for mouse, wheel for wheel, etc), and slowly adapt your driving style.

I did 249 laps in XFG and never bettered 1:35.91, so I'd be happy if I got near your time.

Couple of sets attached I used with keyboard. I hate oversteer, so not sure how they'll be. The one with time is a set I got from someone named Spikee, who could drive much faster than me, but I could drive with his set - just nowhere near as fast. Not sure about other set - I haven't driven that combination in years, but likely my hotlapping set.

I have other sets, some I was given when racing (sometimes I asked and got, and sometimes I got because people took pity) and they were all by people with great times and much, much better car control than I had, or even have now, and other sets were taken off Team Inferno's Setupgrid website.

If you want to try them, let me know, and I'll attach.

You could also try XFG sets for other track combinations, like KY2, SO4, etc. The gearing might not be exact for BL1, but maybe the handling will suit better, and you can always change gearing on the set that suits you best. If the tyres overheat too soon, pump them up, and if don't heat up enough, let some air out.

Quote from Yumeito :

blah blah Protweaker blah

Interesting.

Someone has asked for a set to help them do a time they've done before; a time they know to be achievable, just slightly out of reach because they don't know how to properly adjust a setup, and the setups that they've tried haven't been suitable for their style of driving.

Not only have different setups been tried, but a lot of laps have been driven - all in pursuit of trying to shave off even bits of a second.

But instead of giving a set that may help them feel good about going faster because of their particular skill with a particular setup, you think the answer is to cheat your way to a faster time.

Why just bother with different tyres? Why not just change size of the engine, or add wings, skirts, splitters, diffusers and other bits and pieces the standard car doesn't have.

In fact, why not just go the whole hog, and get some program that transports the car from start line, to each sector/split point, then the finish line. Maybe, to make it interesting, you could make it so that you had to tap a key to make the car jump from one position to the other. If nothing else, at least that way you could compare your reaction times.

I can understand that as a demo user you don't have a big choice of tracks and cars, and changing some of the parameters might be a way of getting some more variety out of the game without having to pay for a license, but don't assume we all want to cheat our way to the top.

Quote from Yumeito :

I usually use XRG for drifting only and FBM for racing. I never drive the XFG.
But after reading this post I put slick tires on my XRG with my usual drift setup and tried a hotlap on the Blackwood circuit and made a personal best time of 1:26.
After that I tried doing the same with the default XRG setup with normal road tires and made a time of 1:40...
For FBM I always use a default setup and my personal best time is 1:18 on Blackwood.

I have attached my XRG ProTweaker setup. I drive with a mouse too so you might find my setup good...

XRG ProTweaker setup : https://www.dropbox.com/s/q12csba62p8v3l4/LFS%20CONFIG.pt06H-all?dl=0
In pro tweaker after loading up my setup enable slickmod, write values and then in the game create a new setup and then simply change the tires to slick R1.

Ask me if you need more detailed instructions on using Protweaker.

And this is why we can't have anything nice.

Quote from sinanju :

In fact, why not just go the whole hog, and get some program that transports the car from start line, to each sector/split point, then the finish line. Maybe, to make it interesting, you could make it so that you had to tap a key to make the car jump from one position to the other. If nothing else, at least that way you could compare your reaction times.

But someone might have a better reaction time than him! Better to just replace the 'join' button with 'win', then he'll always be the best

Quote from Yumeito :

OP asked for a fast setup. I gave what I had...

OP asked for a car setup as for car settings (tyre pressures,suspension etc) and not some external programme settings. Some people like to race fair and see actual skill level compared to best and not hack his way to unrealistic times.

Tweak is just another word for adjust.
And I don't really want to somehow offend you,but I find it hard to call someone very skilled if he drives 1:18 times with FBM at Blackwood. At my very start I was lapping regulary under 1:16 and that with pretty crappy gamepad.

Thanks all for the replies, just got home from work after being away all week, I'll see how I get on this weekend after reading all the advice and trying out the setups.

i'm not interested in tweakers, I race fair and simply, want to be able to keep up with everyone on the servers, not beat them at the first attempt, I'm a realist and know how much practice it takes.

So thanks, I did not actually know you could jump into someone else's car, so that in itself will be a great help, seeing their lines and braking points.

Thanks to the help I got under 1:36 (1:35.88) for the first time tonight and got a not completely useless 4 lap time of 6:32.12 on Blackwood.

Still not good enough to join the races, but I'm getting there.

Sinanju, the first setup you posted is good for my driving style and I am using it now. Thanks mate. Appreciate it.

Quote from BAD_BA :

Still not good enough to join the races, but I'm getting there.

Just go out and do it, man! Even if you're getting dropped over time, following someone faster for just a while you'll pick up little details without slogging endlessly on your own. I too hesitated when I started out but I almost always found people on my level I then had great battles with. So don't worry so much and just have fun...

Yes,and when you see someone ahead of you just a tick faster,you'll get that little extra motivation boost that will make you faster.

what means "to join races"? The best races on demo combos happens every night at demo servers, and you definitely have enough pace to join them. Of course fastest guys go there 1-2 sec faster, but in every race there is someones going also slower.

Quote from BAD_BA :

Thanks to the help I got under 1:36 (1:35.88) for the first time tonight and got a not completely useless 4 lap time of 6:32.12 on Blackwood.

Still not good enough to join the races, but I'm getting there.

Sinanju, the first setup you posted is good for my driving style and I am using it now. Thanks mate. Appreciate it.

I suggest you give LFSLazy a go, if you haven't already. While I haven't ever used it, I understand it has this feature of "split prediction" that can help you understand better when and how you lose time in the corners, and the opposite, the times when you go through a corner particularly well even if other corners of the sector mask your total time – a bit like studying your telemetry afterwards, but without all the hassle.

Quote from expr :

I suggest you give LFSLazy a go, if you haven't already. While I haven't ever used it, I understand it has this feature of "split prediction" that can help you understand better when and how you lose time in the corners, and the opposite, the times when you go through a corner particularly well even if other corners of the sector mask your total time – a bit like studying your telemetry afterwards, but without all the hassle.

That is true. Amazing feature in Lazy;you see in realtime where you lose speed (compared to your best lap) and where you gain speed

go into a race without expectation and have fun then better lap times will follow as you will be more relaxed. Good luck

Literally, just go race, don't let your experience put you off racing or however you put it, go there solo or take a few friends and have a laugh, if you win you win, if you don't then hey you had fun with it.

Imho even racing when your inexperienced is better experience than just hotlapping, use the things you see as small hints, look how other drivers drive, take lines etc and maybe even try to pick up a few sets and see how they're made or even adapt them for how you want to drive!

Go in and do it, have fun!

Quote from expr :

I suggest you give LFSLazy a go, if you haven't already. While I haven't ever used it, I understand it has this feature of "split prediction" that can help you understand better when and how you lose time in the corners, and the opposite, the times when you go through a corner particularly well even if other corners of the sector mask your total time – a bit like studying your telemetry afterwards, but without all the hassle.

WOW!

Thanks for the tip, that really is an amazing bit of software. It's a massive help, I got my best time of 1:35.53 for a lap at Blackwood and can now see where I am losing time and I can try different things to see if I gain time in particular corners.

Thanks very much for pointing this out to me.

Still a long way off the 1:34's I got years ago, but its coming slowly but surely. Just a few weeks ago I could not even break 1:37.

As everyone keeps saying, its simply practice and perseverance.

if you got 34s in old Blackwood and mid 35s now you're pretty much on par with your old self. Old BL was quite a bit faster than new BL, so the offset is kinda right between your old best time and new best.

Keep pushing though! Today in the average demo AA or MRc Gti server, a 1:35 would get you a probable 6th or 7th in a full grid quali. You can do better!

Quote from MicroSpecV :

if you got 34s in old Blackwood and mid 35s now you're pretty much on par with your old self. Old BL was quite a bit faster than new BL, so the offset is kinda right between your old best time and new best.

Keep pushing though! Today in the average demo AA or MRc Gti server, a 1:35 would get you a probable 6th or 7th in a full grid quali. You can do better!

I can't seem to remember the old Blackwood, even back in 2005 I think it looked exactly like it does today.

Maybe it's senility creeping in. When did it exist?

The difference on the main track is really only the sausage kerbs - you can't cut as much as you used to in those places. Just to echo Nova, 35s are easily enough to mix it up on a demo server, and you'll pick up lots of tips/tricks/lines etc from being amongst other divers. See you on the tracks

To give you a comparison. Former XRG Blackwood WR was 1:32.16. Today, it stands for 1:32.68. More than half a second slower. If it doesn't sound much, trust me it is.

As for the 'why is it slower': Up until January 2017 Blackwood doesn't really change. This is the 2nd track to receive major changes after 0.6H Westhill. Many of the noticeable changes were bumpier track, the introduction of sausage kerbs, a smaller run-off area and industrial area

This is truly an amazing program.

I have now got into using the analysers to look at my laps compared to the WR lap of Mikus. 1:33.16

I can see exactly where I am losing time and why. I just need to figure out what to do about at least correcting the major loses. I'm never going to match any of his corners as I'm on mouse steer and he obviously uses a wheel (it looks like that anyway). But shedding the big losses will make a massive difference.

The first time I looked I realised I was using brake help, and it made a massive difference, so I turned it off. I then had to adjust the brakes to get the balance right. Struggled at first but before long had beaten my PB. My track looks very similar to Mikus until after the long straight, after that I lose a lot of time on every corner and need to find out how to correct that.

I'm now down to a PB of 1:35.36 and I'm taking at least 2 tenths off each night. I'm not driving hot laps, I'm driving a 4 lap solo race because there is no point getting a setup right if it works only for hot tyres.

This is just as interesting as far as the physics is concerned than it is driving the damn car LOL.

Never had any of this back in 2005.