Im trying to improve my consistency and im basically having a hard time doing it so im looking for some tips. Ive read gentlefoots guide, the manual and searched lots of threads but im basically getting overwhelmed with stuff. Im using a mix of the track line, Analyse For Speed, watching replays of myself, WR replays, replays of people 1 second faster than me and lots of practice and laps. Part of the problem is that ive run through lots of control options k/b then joystick then mouse and now i have a DFP, so im sure a lot of it is just getting used to the new controller and settings etc.

However i find that my average lap times fall into a band of about 1-2secs which seems quite large. For example i use the FOX and im just concentrating on AS club and BL GP. On aston the average lap is between 1:03 and 1:05 and Blackwood 1:11 to 1:13.

So what is the best way to go about improving?

Do i just concentrate on 1 corner at a time? ie make an entire session about T1, run a few hundred laps and then start looking at T2. Or do i just keep lapping and switching focus whenever something looks better?

When looking at replays a lot of the time somebody will have a different braking zone, a different line, different throttle use, different steering input etc. Do i concentrate on one variable at a time or try to incorporate them all at once as it would seem they all affect each other.

What is the best way of incorporating AFS and replays together. For example AFS shows me the lines but its hard to see reference points. The replays show the reference points but not the throttle/braking conditions. At the moment i have a hundred little sketches of Aston club strewn about with scribbled notes all over them trying to tie everything in.

Is there any way to simply find the best line / replicate a line every time that i can use or am i going the right way about it already by just putting miles in on track? Ghost car doesnt work with the latest patch, its hard to keep up with racers faster than me, and i have a hard time remembering replay info and then applying it myself.

I can have sessions where i set pbs and do 5-10 laps very consistently at around the same speed, but i will then have trouble replicating that the next day or over a prolonged period. Im also worried (i estimate ive done nearly 2000 laps of Aston now) that im starting to reinforce some of my bad habits which when i do figure out what im doing wrong will take a long time to correct.

Bloody hell, this has turned into a right essay.... sorry about that. Im also prepared for the fact that the answers to all of the above may just be practice. I suppose 2000 laps isnt really a lot in the grand scheme of things.

i have been learning about consistency recently for karting and ive followed these kind of simple 'rules'

1. look the same place each time round, eg, look at the same place on the apex, brake at or near the same point each lap. i use 'i think i should be braking around now' instead of any fixed reference points.

2. know what you SHOULD be doing, or what you were/are doing. for example, know which line to take, how much of each kerb to hit and focus on one corner at a time, but not one corner each lap or else it would take years to get good at a track!!

3. dont push TOOO hard, work your way up to your pace and push slightly more each lap.

4. drive round on your own for a while to get your rhythm, other cars make u push too hard, get in your way or you end up following them by mistake

5. go on loads of different tracks so u get used to adjusting your style or using different lines and dont get too comfortable with the 1 track!

6. its mostly down to experience so practise practise practise

using these 'techniques' i did 4 laps in a row within 57.80-57.85 in the wet and 9 laps in a row within 41.95 and 42.05 in the dry last week.

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1) look the same place each time round, eg, look at the same place on the apex, brake at or near the same point each lap. i use 'i think i should be braking around now' instead of any fixed reference points.

Good point, maybe im concentrating too much on looking for the references on the track and then watching my speedo for braking and turn in speed which is probably taking away from my ability to follow a consistently good line.

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5. go on loads of different tracks so u get used to adjusting your style or using different lines and dont get too comfortable with the 1 track!

Interesting, id assumed it would be better to pound one track to death and then move on. Might be worth a try as i havent even touched most of the tracks yet.

Yes it is Practice, Practice and more Practice and with the Number of laps you say your laying down you certainly have the dedication.

If your driving the fox jump on the GFC (Gentlefoot) server as FE Gold is a relatively easy track with enough technicalities to enable you to learn and I sure you will recieve the help and Setups you require as some of the racers are very fast and experienced within this championship.

Your lap times will come down depending on setup and your driving style, so it's trial and error and over time and watching and learning from others you will I'm sure get your lap times down and become more consistant.

PS. Read this :

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=11154

Quote from jimmytwohand :

Good point, maybe im concentrating too much on looking for the references on the track and then watching my speedo for braking and turn in speed which is probably taking away from my ability to follow a consistently good line.

I think that's pretty normal. As you get more comfortable in the sim you'll find you look at the speedo a lot less, but I think as a "newbie" you rely on it because the sensation of speed on a computer monitor is rather lacking.

Thanks all. Sounds like its generally just more pounding round needed.

nah! not atall!

the track where i did my consistent times was a track id never been before that day. its all about concentrating 100% on each corner and what u should be doing, if u drive too much and just 'pound round' u get into a comfortable rhythm and dopnt really concentrate.

try all different tracks and i guarantee when u come back to aston u will be faster and more consistent.

i stake my reputation on it

Deal! Ill give it a try. Thanks again.

I solved my consistancy problems very simply. I just set out on two 60 lap races back to back, and focused not on getting fast times, but getting close to my fast averages, rather than close to my pb. Fixed the problem; and fixed a crashing problem I was having at one point on as2. Since then; I've just gotten faster and faster.

Ven

Hi, I found that as I started to learn a track I got faster and then actually started to get slower again (by about 1-1.5 sec). Seemed like as I got faster I started to brake later until this was actually slowing me down (braking too late) and reducing consistency. So easing off the pace a bit and deliberately braking earlier seemed to improve my times and made driving more relaxed. So perhaps try easing off abit rather than worrying about / going for the best possible laps times.

Quote from DGW :

easing off the pace a bit and deliberately braking earlier seemed to improve my times and made driving more relaxed.

It took me ages to finally realise just how much faster I'd go if I concentrated on getting full on the power at the apex rather than braking at the last possible moment and having to turn in late with a car that was still recovering its balance from all the heavy braking...

Jump into some other cars, have a blast on some other tracks and enjoy the breadth of the game. You'll come back faster. Problem with the FOX is that it's too easy to overdrive it, easy to put to the power down and hang on to it, which spawns bad driving habits. Jump into the FO8, grab a LX6, the FZR is sweet. Have a go at the other tracks - Fern Bay is underrated.

The biggest thing from real life karting experience is don't expect to set record time every lap. The most important thing is experimentation and split times, then you string it all together and you get your fast times.

I am having a horrible time trying to be consistent myself, although its mostly due to mixed signals I'm getting from the fox...I'll have superb grip up until the last bit of the turn when i'm getting on the gas or am under full power and the back comes out on me.

Slow in fast out is the best mantra you can have, but I can't seem to get the fast out part right every time :P

Quote from ayrton senna 87 :

if u drive too much and just 'pound round' u get into a comfortable rhythm and don't really concentrate.

That's so true!

Some nice tips up there, been thinking a lot about how to improve consistency myself and "look the same place each time round" is something I never really put to practise, gotta try that soon!

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Hi, I found that as I started to learn a track I got faster and then actually started to get slower again (by about 1-1.5 sec). Seemed like as I got faster I started to brake later until this was actually slowing me down (braking too late) and reducing consistency. So easing off the pace a bit and deliberately braking earlier seemed to improve my times and made driving more relaxed. So perhaps try easing off abit rather than worrying about / going for the best possible laps times.

I was wondering what kind of psychic you were until i saw the username. Thanks for following me round yesterday. I think you may have hit the nail right on the head there. Cutting braking distance seemed to edge my times down slowly but as you said doing everything in such a short space of time before the corner is stopping me concentrating on the corner itself.

Braking earlier should allow me to concentrate on the more important aspects of the corners which will give the long term benefits of better times and a smoother more consistent style. Id read about this but didnt realise this was what i was doing until you pointed it out.

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I solved my consistancy problems very simply. I just set out on two 60 lap races back to back, and focused not on getting fast times, but getting close to my fast averages, rather than close to my pb.

Well previously i was doing well if my rubber lasted 12 laps but i think most of the wear is coming from the above braking zone problem. Ill give it a try in conjunction with braking practice and try to kill two birds with one fox.

Thanks all, im going to try as many of these as i can and see where it gets me.

after a while you will look at your speedo less and listen the the engine more. (50mph would be x ammount of rpm) i still look at my speedo but only at the apex to makes sure i hit it (only a glimpse for a split second).

Good thread here with lots of good advice! Keep it up folks and thanks.

For me also the help i found here with all the ''techniques'' everyone of u stated was enormous,a big thanx again guys,thats the community i love!.In fact i am LFSing since mid March and i only now find out that practise is the magic word.Take things easy and concentrate to basics at first and speed plus less braking distance will follow.Once ive learned well enough each corner of a track then and only then i push harder,braking later than i was doing previously and applying a bit sooner the gas pedal.Also there is a magor issue with the speedo.If i look at it all the time and i try to keep the ''right'' speed i almost every time lose my concentration and taste the grass.The smoother i am the faster i go and then pushing isnt as stressfull for me.

Well thats really helped out. Braking earlier and watching the corner more have really upped my consistency, my driving seems smoother and more controlled. As an added bonus its knocking time off too.

Yes, it's the number one mistake you always see new drivers making. People think the key to going fast is braking as late as possible, while it's actually the exit of the corner that is by far the most important part.

When you think about it you realise that you spend maybe 5% of your time on the brakes, 20% of your time going round corners and the other 75% going down the straights. You have to maximise every single mph that you carry out of the corner, as it translates into faster speed on the straights and that is the place where you have the greatest possibility for gaining lap time. Of course the other areas are important, the whole lap is, but you will not see a huge increase in your times by just concentrating on braking hard.

So often on public servers you will see people braking hugely late, then really struggling hard to bring the car under-control and get the nose turned in. More often than not they are still trying to slow the car down once they have passed the apex, ironically exactly the point where they really need to be hard on the gas.

Brake early, turn in, accelerate through the corner and get the best exit possible. If you watch fast drivers, you will see this is how they drive. The best drivers have the best exit speeds. Of course there are a huge amount of techniques and skills involved in being truly fast, but this is the first step you have to take.

I hope I don't sound patronising lol.

One problem I have with the whole braking early thing is usually I'm racing with people who brake as late as possible without winding up in the grass...and if I brake early they plow into me even if I would get a better exit speed

Just brake offline if you think they'll rear-end you. Or slow slightly forcing them to get alongside you. If they do brake too late you can get a nice exit speed and come up their inside on the exit. If they are really determined to get by, just let them go. Half the time they'll get taken off by someone else up the road anyway.

Quote from DarkTimes :

Just brake offline if you think they'll rear-end you. Or slow slightly forcing them to get alongside you. If they do brake too late you can get a nice exit speed and come up their inside on the exit. If they are really determined to get by, just let them go. Half the time they'll get taken off by someone else up the road anyway.

The other half of the times they will yell and scream "NOOB!!! Learn how to drive!!! Get out of my way!!!" Just don't listen to all that crap if you are properly lapping and racing. If they hit you from behind, it is their fault for not leaving enough space if they don't know you and hitting you, not your fault for "causing them to hit you."

my best suggestion is to do one car / track combo exclusively for a few days. in my case I did xfg at fern bay green rev. slow enough to be easy to control, tortured enough to be worried about rolling

(which I did)

(several times)

but seriously, I made a goal time of 20 laps under 30 minutes (no wind) and by the 4th race I reached my goal time after wondering if I might not make it. if I go back now and try, I doubt I would manage it to be honest.

admittedly not as exciting as pack racing, I have to say that the payoff is well worth the investment, just to be able to fly around the track a little farther up the field

The core of your problem is that the FOX is extremly forgiving. This allows you to make mistakes that you might not even consider mistakes which in turn slow you down.
Here's what helped me.
Take a car thats a bitch to drive yet not that fast. For example, use the LX's. (start with LX6, yes 6!)
Take the set from inferno as it's going to be even more of a hassle to control. Now head to your favorite hard track and get to it. Try doing as many laps in practice as your tires will allow and run 50% gas (so you can race for a while without pitting) and hit Shift+F (no lap times or splits).
LX6 will teach you recovery control, trottle and braking and the importance of balance.
It will be very hard at first but after a while you're going to get into it and love it.
Once finished you will be able to "feel" tracks much better which in turn will allow you to race door to door with someone. It will also improve your skill with RWD's quite a bit. Fox is going to feel like on rails after this as well.
As an added bonus, you're gonna fall in love with the LX's, which is the best thing you can do in LFS IMO.

Good luck and have fun.

P.S. Don't be afraid to take a day off as well. You'll come back faster then you think.