I just saw in lfsworld.net the the world record for Blackwood GP Track in the XF GTi is 1:32. How is this possible? I can only do it in 1:43, i know is not much but that's an 11 second difference!!!! Is everyone using a setup i don't know about or am i just that bad?

practice makes perfect, if you want to have a good setup, ask people that have gotten close to the record or try http://setupfield.teaminferno.hu/, they have many useful setups

Hope this helps!

don't worry about your times at the moment. You joined this month so your times are about right for somebody that has been playing that long, all you need is practice

Just keep practicing! Don't worry about lap times, they will come naturally in due time.

Wow!!! thanks for the support guys... i really thank you all for the tips. I'm gonna go practice now!!! Really, thanks!!!

I've just gotten back to that combo after months of abstinence.

You'll find that after the track's worn in for you, and you're more familiar with the car, that times in the 1.40 range and below are quite achievable. Just take it day by day and you'll see that you're getting better. Notice your split times and remember what you did when you shave some time off each section. Watch the WR's, download the good setups, and practice, practice, practice.

Wish I could find an old thread about this- Kev and other folk helped me out greatly when I was starting out here. Some good info. But the forum will only let me go back to my last 500 posts

edit: i'll attach my own pb .spr if it helps- best time- 1.34.62 (lap 9). There's a lot of fiddling and farting in there which will probably help you to learn from my mistakes I always use one of PartyBoyU's setups..

Quote from Electrik Kar :

Wish I could find an old thread about this- Kev and other folk helped me out greatly when I was starting out here.

Me? I'm a shit driver! Also, about 4000 of my old posts mysteriously went missing a few months back, so any advice I did have (which I doubt was of any great value anyway) is probably gone.

To the thread starter: If you're still above 1:40 then you're probably just very new. I remember when I first dipped under 1:40 and being very pleased with myself about it (I'm sure everybody had the same experience).

Chances are the biggest mistake you're making is braking too late (remember - slow in, fast out. It really does work) or steering too much (turning the wheel too far will just scrub the front tyres and the car won't turn in properly), or more likely both. Try taking the corners slower and backing off the steering when you realise it's not turning the car any more and you'll probably knock a couple of seconds off your time immediately.

Thanks for the feedback. I have already knocked 0.8 seconds to my time... thisnameistaken, your suggestions where great, those are things i knew but i forgot about them... i guess i need to learn my basics a bit better. Thanks to you all guys. I also want to say that people in this game are great, and ver friendly. When i wrote this post i was thinking that i was gonna get flamed. It turned out to be the complete opposite!!!. Again, thanks for the support.

Remember that if you click on the time displayed on lfs world you can actually download the replay of the WR lap, and watch it back to see where they are doing things differently

11 sec is alot. try to go as smooth as you can. and sure, you are new. but 1 week driving everyday can put you in 35/36s easy

PM Ducky if you want some tips/setups
or ask on our forum, we did lots of laps there in the demo days
im sure we can help you out and get those lap times down

I've got a problem where I try to use as little steering lock as possible, yet I can get nowhere the degree of yaw that the fast people get with the same lock at the same speed. But when I introduce more lock so I can avoid running out onto the dirt, the tires immediately begin to scrub badly, and it takes some time of full throttle before speed begins to climb again. I use the default RACE_S or hard track setups. Would a better setup really improve handling that much?

you'll tend to get understeer going into a corner if your traveling too fast into the apex. slow your approach until the car starts to oversteer (too much turn in grip) then you have been at the limit of both aspects of car control. i am not sure, but there are plenty of track guides out there (in this forum i think). there has to be one for "old faithful"

Quote from undertech :

I've got a problem where I try to use as little steering lock as possible, yet I can get nowhere the degree of yaw that the fast people get with the same lock at the same speed. But when I introduce more lock so I can avoid running out onto the dirt, the tires immediately begin to scrub badly, and it takes some time of full throttle before speed begins to climb again. I use the default RACE_S or hard track setups. Would a better setup really improve handling that much?

First of all, before you compare the behaviour of other cars to yours, you should be using the same setup (or at least similar)... cornering is where different setups have the most impact...

Next you need to make sure you are using a good line through the corner... if the other guys are using the whole width of the track and clipping the apex, while you are taking a narrower entry and missing the apex, they will get through much faster than you...

Once you have a comparable setup and a good line, the rest is down to technique... try googling the phrases "traction budget" and "traction circle"...
It is very important not to unsettle the car when approaching a corner e.g. if you brake later, you have to brake harder, so there is faster weight transfor to the front tyres causing them to wash out more easily giving you understeer... try braking a little earlier, and more progressively...
On hairpins, sometimes the opposite is true, you need to learn techniques that intentionally unsettle the car so you can get the rear to swing out.. "scandinavian flick"... or e.g. in xrt using changedowns at the right moment to make the rears break away...
Then of course there is "trail braking" this is something else to read up on, once mastered, it will give you an advantage at most corners over other drivers who cannot do it (well)....

Basically it is a combination of working out a good line, carefully controlling the weight transfer of the car and managing your traction budget.

good luck

Col

Hope these help:
Make sure you brake enough before the corner, you don't want to be scrubbing off speed with the front wheels (like you can with a formula car). I try to always make sure I'm either on the brake, or throttle, no dead zone (where there's no throttle or brake).

Try to get as little as tire scrub as you can.. be smooth on the wheel and don't jerk also use as little as lock possible. This will allow you to hold more corner speed, providing you brake early enough.

Run as little fuel as possible (to get you round the track of course :P).

Always look where you want to go (at the apex, unless you're aiming for another racers car lol, which we hope you don't ).

Try not to stress, relax when you drive, when you see a fast split don't think 'this could be a 33.0 or whatever, think, wow I wonder how fast I can go with this split, without over-driving you'll probably beat the time you expected).

Try not to use too much of the track, have a wide entry, late apex, and relatively tight exit, don't want to run too wide and lose time, you also don't want to run too tight and lose km/h (mp/h).

I picked up 0.1 sec using manual clutch with no blip. Maybe you could try that.

Try those tips for the moment.. Hopefully that will helped you!
Good luck