S2.X Week2 Review
The menus, the layout, the dynamic feel, the racing, the driving, and everything that is LFS is still absolutely awesome and incredible fun. No flashy NFS or overboard Official Game sponsorships getting in the way. Just pure driving excitement and fun.

I have spent most of my time online doing the AS4 on CD1 with a FZR. This really is my fav package and whether full grid or just 5 people it's good damn fun. Last week I was just learning the line and brake zones, a good +8 seconds off a race pace of 42-44. A couple days work and I pretty much got it figured out. I can run easy now high 45 to low 46's all day.

Yet still I am off the 'fast guys' pace of below 43's. And I think I know why.

I don't cut any curbs and I don't like sliding/drifting. I tend to drive realistically (imno).

I have run with some fast guys and the only thing that seperates my laps from their is the T1 and the final chicane.

T1 not so much, I've spectatored quite a few going into their, it's all about your min speed reached. 100mph is the min, 110mph is ideal. I've not seen anyone go through much faster then that. The brake leading into this apex speed is also important, 100m is safe, 75-50m is trail braking into the apex and good for a few tenths if you don't loose it too much. Anyway, I'm not the fastest going through T1 but I'm 9/10's there for sure.

Now the last chicane is a different story and I think this dovetails the whole engine/suspension damage multi-page thread going on. I can not see how anyone can cut a 43 without abusing this chicane. The entry curb is the one, not the middle, and slightly the exit curb.

So that's what I feel, I will never get below 45 without hopping that 1st curb. And I HATE doing it.

The same thing happens on all the big chicanes at other tracks too. Depending on how that damage computation is done, I think a lot of track times are in for a big reality check if it means you can't hop curbs like the AS4 final chicane anymore.

And if it was me, there are no safety issues required for our virtual tracks, therefore, there would be ZERO chicanes like the AS4 final.

Thanks for reading my morning ramble.

To me the last corner in ASNAT is all about car setup. Ride height, suspension stiffness and anti-roll all has to be right for a fast mid-corner speed (90-100mph). The killer is that your set-up has to be right for T1 as well so compromises have to be made.

As for entry into the last turn, I do have my left wheels on the turf and my right wheels on the kerb. Other fast drivers don't (see CD Dimo for instance).

Its catch 22 m8 till something is done about damage for cutting curbs.
If you don't do it your slow simple as that. when im playing with freinds or on a local ill keep it clean as possible. But Online its a must to be fast, on certain tracks.

As far as i no theres a 2 wheel rule in racing were 2 wheels must be on the circuit at all times. Some people just push this rule and then some..

FE bay is my biggest gripe those curbs would be suspension killers in real life.
At the no there time busters. The more you cut the faster u go.

As soon as we get blow outs and a more realistic damage system, this little grips will be done from the game imo.

Are we talking about 4 wheels on the grass into the last turn?

The only people I see doing that do not put in 'fast' laptimes, and conedodgers have barriers set up to prevent blatant straight-lining through the corners. Pretty much all the aliens who set the best times (1.40-41) have 2 wheels on the track and 2 on the grass into the last turn.

Not so fast about that last chicane there, Cargo. You and me, we drive quite similar as I remember from the NAL races. I don't like to cut, and if I do, it's a mistake. My PB at AS3 (it's AS3, not AS4, btw) is 142.x. That was many moons ago though and not current. Currently I'm running 1:45's, but that's mainly because I'm so bored at AS3 that I can't concentrate.

For the longest time I was stuck in that 1:44-45 PB range. What put me over the edge for my :42 PB was nothing more than frame rates. Frame rates were just fine, except for entering the AS3 final chicane. They dropped just enough to give me a little studder so I could not get a good entrance. I tweaked some options back then and immediately improved the chicane when gaining above 35 FPS through there. What are your frame rates through specifically that area I ask? I would run consistant 40 FPS everywhere else, but drop to around 28 FPS when I was ready to turn in for the chicane.

Like I said, I am out of touch with AS3 at the moment and can't run that 1:42 any more, and I don't jump curbs at all. 1:42 is entirely possible without cutting the track, I did it all the time after fixing my FPS issue there.

Many other tracks are like this for me. I'll run them just fine, but there is just one small area that frames will drop down below 30, which is the beginning of it being choppy for me. It's always in an area that is very important for laptimes and consistancy.

Quote from Spils :

FE bay is my biggest gripe those curbs would be suspension killers in real life.
At the no there time busters. The more you cut the faster u go.

Yes. Aston isn't the worst offender on curb cutting. Fern Bay is the worst. You literally have to fly over the curbs to be fast there.

Quote from geeman1 :

Yes. Aston isn't the worst offender on curb cutting. Fern Bay is the worst. You literally have to fly over the curbs to be fast there.

Yes, and this is what I don't understand because if I was to cut over curbs in FE, my car is so out of wack on corner exit that I spin out. Coming out on the front stretch of FE Club/Gold/Black is a good example. If I touch that curb, I'm up in the wall.

Hi Mike

I'm got good punch in the system now, run 1680x1050 on 22"LCD and normal 70-80FPS, down to 40's with a full field. I see you're still struggling /poke :P

I'm talking about the no wheels on the track at all for the AS chicane. Between the white lines, the kurb is not track. So the really fast lappers (I've seen) have 2 in the dirt and 2 on the kurb, with the mid-section scraping and dragging across the inside kurb edge. The exit of chicane is a little more believable with this line because of the small green concrete patch there makes it more believable but the entrance chicane does not.

And it is a catch22, if I don't do it, I am slower. If I do, I feel like I'm doing wrong, learning bad habits, etc etc but can be faster (if I don't screw it up).

I'm not bitching/moaning about it, just another general discussion. Thanks for posting friends.

Quote from Cargo :

I'm talking about the no wheels on the track at all for the AS chicane. Between the white lines, the kurb is not track. So the really fast lappers (I've seen) have 2 in the dirt and 2 on the kurb, with the mid-section scraping and dragging across the inside kurb edge. The exit of chicane is a little more believable with this line because of the small green concrete patch there makes it more believable but the entrance chicane does not.

Yup, that's how I drive it.

Regarding curbs though, on every race track out there if a racer can get away with riding the kerbs (even in F1) they will do so.

Quote from Cargo :

Hi Mike

I'm got good punch in the system now, run 1680x1050 on 22"LCD and normal 70-80FPS, down to 40's with a full field. I see you're still struggling /poke :P

Not for long bud. Little do you know, but I'm on DSL finally now (for a few months) aaaaaand, the gfx card should be here on Friday

[/off-topic]

So you are telling us that you dont like cutting, but you hate that you are slow. Then cut and enjoy yourself man

I don't care is it real or not, as long as it's fast and up to rules i'll do it . So rules says 2 wheels on track full time. Here is how my last corner looks like; 2 wheels on gass in 1st part, wheels fliying over the 2nd curb and finally going to left to tires as more as possible in 3rd last section.

I don't care is it real or not, it's fast and it's fun for me. Also it's hard to do right.

Btw. you are going to fast into T1. If we are talking about FZR. 105 mph is ideal. 110 is too fast. It's not all about apex speed. There is looong looong streght after T1 and it's very important to have as bigger as possible speed on exit, same goes to chicane.

cheers

Well, took lunch to watch a few drivers on CD1 (if was a full race)

Boot was able to drive an exceptional lap, high 42's with a chicane path similar to what I try to keep. ie not putting wheels in dirt on 1st curb, don't (or barely) touch the middle curb, using all the green and curb on exit.
Other's were doing the full curb hop on entry, but yes some weren't and still have good laps 42-43's. So my misconeption is complete.

I don't hate or dislike. I just try to not cut. I also needed some feedback (thank you) in order to help me understand where my missing lap time is. Besides just being slower.

Oh, too clairfy what I was saying at the T1 speed. I think your right.
It just a view that after hitting the brake zone, a glance at the speedo, I try to look for 100-110. Then I figure I hit it good and yes, get to full throttle asap for the long run to Turn 2. (if you look at AS4 as being a 5 Turn track, which I do when I think about just brake zones)

back to work....
/thanks

Quote from Cargo :

It just a view that after hitting the brake zone, a glance at the speedo, I try to look for 100-110. Then I figure I hit it good and yes, get to full throttle asap for the long run to Turn 2.
/thanks

This caught my eye. I think it's not good to watch speedo at all while braking. For me the braking is the most difficult part of a corner and I always try to keep my concentration on the car's movement, trying to not lock the tires, avoiding slides etc. Remember that you'll never get rid of the corner well if you can't make the car turn in well, and that depends a lot on the way you brake.

So I'd advice you to learn to hear your speed. As you get to know which gear you choose for the T1 there, just try to memorize the revs you have to use there. Later you'll do it subconsciously and you have more time for handling the car.

The new aero physics will force you to use a lower setup and correct pitch angle to have a great undertray efect. Lower hide-height = stiffer springs = BYE CURBS!

yeah i'm looking forward to he physics updates .

probabaly in patch Z

Quote from funnybone2 :

probabaly in patch Z

ROFL!!!!

When I first started playing about three weeks ago I set up my car with a quick minumun ride height and etc and was driveing around poorly, so I asked for some set up Ideas and the set ups I was given all had a much higher ride height then i would have thought.

Cutting curbs is always dangerous when it comes to flipping the car and now you cant reset on most servers it could mean race over in an instant.

Personally I dont cut any curbs as I flip alot because of it. I have watched alot of fast drivers on alot of tracks (this is how I learn better lines) and see alot of it going on as with only just controlable sliding through corners to keep the speed up. All of this looks far to uncontrolable for me to emulate but I can see in there times why they do it. It also should be said that I have seem others beat their times in nice "Clean" Raceing Lines and that is the style I'd like to use myself.

If a new update improves the game so as to encorrage people to be clean that would be great but just remember that cutting curbs is just takeing the easy way to faster times. The "REAL" drivers are clean and neat all the way.

:hippy::dnfnoob::hippy:

Well, I'm no GTR expert, I tend to enjoy and much better in the single seaters but I've had many nights of racing at AS National, GTRs. First corner, I generally brake between 60-50 meters and then bring the car right to the apex whilst on the brakes and bring it down to about 165-170 KMH then I just start straightening the wheel (according to how edgy the setup is, different amounts of lock used) and maximum throttle.

As for the final chicane, it is very tricky indeed but I think the quickest way through is to try and use as less steering lock as possible, basically trying to search for the perfect straight line to go through the whole chicane. I like to setup the car to get the left side (perhaps right side wheels too) all on the inside kerb for the first part then just straighten the car up for the exit. I'm no real GTR expert and there are those who can go between 0.5-1 and sometimes 2 seconds faster than me but I am pretty proud of my FZR speed (PB: 1:41.08). I'm ok in the other 2 but I just need to practice more with them.

Hope I helped

Upload a replay and i'll take a look at it, It can't be all because of the chicane. The chicane will give you about 0.4 extra if you cut it. Since your 3seconds off pace that can't be it.

Upload a replay and i'll take a look.

as3 is like a long oval, there are no realy tight turns but very long straights, so the best would be to look for high turn exit speed. eddie jordan mentioned this in his new tv series where he tries to turn some car stealing young guys into mechanics and race drivers. he said that on some courses the corner entrys can be ridiculusly low speeds, but you need that high exit speed to take it onto the straights, because otherwise it will cost you time.
cutting the curbs in my opinion it is part of the race line on some tracks, but not all racing series use the same racing line on the same track, because some cars can handle it while others will break. this is what i like to see in lfs - realistic damage to the suspension depending on car class.

peace mo

Could someone please post some good AS3 race setups for me to try out (if that's not being too cheeky). Or point me in the right direction. I've tried the ones on Inferno, but they all seem to be really low pressures and massive camber that fries the tyres after a couple of laps. I've hit a plateau at around 1:44 with my current one; an adaptation of the Easy Race Low Downforce setting. Best ever was a 1:43.6, with a 45.5 T1. Not sure where I'm going wrong. Any help greatfully received.

I think this is one of the fastest there's around, Biernot's set. He did a 1.40.95 with it, i think i did a 1.41.50 with and i aint the best driver in a FZR.

Quote from battle :

I think this is one of the fastest there's around, Biernot's set. He did a 1.40.95 with it, i think i did a 1.41.50 with and i aint the best driver in a FZR.

What, you told me that 99% of the crap you say is a lie, then you come out and tell the truth!!!!

Ps. Sorry for spam, had to.

WoW, that's just crazy. I must be a slug driver or something. That set just kills me.

Here the set's I'm currently playing with, they are similiar but seem to handle differently to me. Good luck with them