hello, i'm Chung. i'm new here. like everyone on this board, i love this game!

i have a question about track practice. how do you guys practice/learn a track? do you practice one or two turns at a time and do it over and over again? or do you run the entire track and gradually pick up your speed?

thank you.

The whole track. Theres no other way really. Only for the first 2 turns, you can practice them alone over and over again. To drive the later turns, you have to do the other ones before that every time anyway, because you start from the pits.

My step by step guide:

1. Drive the track slowly. "Slowly" means "slow enough to not crash and to always be able to drive the intended line" which is quite slow. The objective is to get a clear view of every corner and drive the line you imagin to be the ideal line. Do two or three laps of this kind and you should be able to increase pace without crashing. Make sure you remember all corners before procedding to the next step.
This step in a nutshell: Crashing is frustrating. Get to know the corners before going fast.
2. Now make sure you're driving an easy to handle car to increase speed. I personally like to use the FOX, as you can throw it around nicely (which is good when you need to correct your line) and it's a very 'direct' car. It's easily noticable where you're losing momentum and where you're getting the line wrong as the car will feel unsettled (at least if you're using a FFB wheel). In this step you're supposed to fine-tune the line and approach the best possible line. Remember to increase the pace slowly. Otherwise you'll crash a lot and won't get a feel for the track at all.
In a nutshell: Try out the line you figured out before and improve it. Use an easy car to do so to crash less.
3. Now pick the car you intend to use (that is, if you didn't already do so in step 2). Notice where the car feels different than the FOX and where you might need to adjust your line. A more powerful car will likely need a line with an earlier apex so you can get on the accelerator earlier. A slower car will need a smoother line to keep momentum. FWD will need to avoid some bumps to avoid understeer.

I hope that helps.

Vain

well, id say (thats what i usually do) take the car what u like the most (or what u plan to drive on that track) and take hard track setup (or make a crappy setup ) and drive the track, carefully of course.
when u think u got the turns go to pit and take ur "normal" setup (if u dont have one visit www.teaminferno.hu ) and drive with that.
because the setup is better u "can" go around that track faster than before, but u dont because u have the feeling from the last setup
that way u get a better feeling for the track and u learn faster as when u start directly with a good setup.
this way (for me it does) works pretty good

thanks for the replies.

i like FOX quite a lot; it feels light, direct, yet it's challenging to drive well.

i'm trying to learn Blackwood track. from watching many replays by other fast drivers, i have learned the lines. the problem is that i can't carry enough speed while stay on the right line. i'd be lossing too much speed to hit the lines or carry some decent speed but not on the right line (ultimately not enough speed either, since i'm not on the right line...)

well, i guess i'll try you guys' approach and run the entire track at lower speed and gradually work my way up. i need more patience...

thanks for the advice and hope to see you guys on track

Quote from Chung Ying :

thanks for the replies.

i like FOX quite a lot; it feels light, direct, yet it's challenging to drive well.

i'm trying to learn Blackwood track. from watching many replays by other fast drivers, i have learned the lines. the problem is that i can't carry enough speed while stay on the right line. i'd be lossing too much speed to hit the lines or carry some decent speed but not on the right line (ultimately not enough speed either, since i'm not on the right line...)

well, i guess i'll try you guys' approach and run the entire track at lower speed and gradually work my way up. i need more patience...

thanks for the advice and hope to see you guys on track

Check your braking zone and the modulation that you use on the pedals.
And, for the first period, keep attention on using only one foot at time on pedals. Take a look to team inferno setups too.

Use a lot XFG, is a good training for starting. Better if on fernbay and southcity.
Tight tracks have lot of object, that are usefull "visual checkpoints" that helps on understanding what you are doing

I definitely do not recommend inferno setups for a beginner racer to use to learn the tracks. Inferno sets are usually very fast, very oversteery, locked diff or max clutch pack diff, very over cambered, and set to last only a few laps. What the beginners need is an easy neutral setup, something like Bob's Easy Race Sets from the old patch.

Sometimes, before you learn the track, you have to learn the car. Even the FOX can get the beginner in trouble if he doesn't understand understeering, oversteering, weight transfer, grip, throttle control, braking threshold, etc. There is a lot of stuff to learn that affects how well you are able to learn the track.