I'm driving the XF GTI on Blackwood, by try as I might I can't seem to get quicker than about 1:39.64 - and I see lots of people doing 1:34's.

Is it mainly down to car setup? (I've noticed that I need to adjust the gear ratios, as the default race settings are not close to topping out on the main straight). Or is it mainly down to driving technique?

Suggestions for car setup / technique would be greatly appreciated!

At 5 seconds off the pace its clearly your driving technique that is at fault
Surely, maybe the setup is completely bonkers or set up for a totally different driving style thus throwing you off, but really, a better time than 1:39 should be doable even in the default "hard track" setup. You can of course always try the setupfield.

Post a reply, and people can then analyse what you are doing right/wrong

Quote from danowat :

Post a reply

Done

:doh: :rolleyes: replay

The default sets aren't all that good, I've attached the ones I use for the xrg and xfg for you to try.

The biggest difference between someone that can do 139s and someone who can do 134s is:
- a lot of practise (which brings confidence in the cars handling),
- some basic knowledge of the race line (is the most critical part too a good lap time) and
- skill in throttle/ brake control (which enables you to more fully utilise the traction circle)

Spend quite some time researching the forums for good controller setup configurations, settings for sound, field of view, etc. Find settings that feel natural and allow you to know what the car is doing. In a sim you don't get feed back through the G-forces on your body so you need to learn to know what the car is doing by other ques e.g. sound of tyres, speed, force feed back from wheel, visual ques, etc.

Don't expect overnight success, because LFS is a sim it's not about learning certain techniques or the right sequence of events but more about developing skill sets and that takes time.

On average I'd say people can get into the 136s in weeks of understanding what a good race line is, but probably would take a month or two to hit their first 134 and possibly six months or more to hit low 133s. I say average here as some may do it alot faster and some may never do it While we are all individuals and have different limits, we can all learn to race confidently, fairly and be competitive at some level

Good luck and enjoy your racing

Pfff........I say reply, when I mean replay..........

Well I have my Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Pro wheel rigged up now, and managed to get down to a 1.38.50 ish.

I think my problem is mainly with the racing line - I think I am turning in too late on corners. The problem is, if I turn in too early and I clip the inside curb too heavily, then on some corners that can cause you to flip.

I guess its practice practice and more practice as you say!

If you posted a REPLAY (not a reply LOL) then we could see what you are doing.

Quote from chrisinthesun20 :

I think my problem is mainly with the racing line - I think I am turning in too late on corners.

That's the most frequent error newcomers make. Turn in too late and generaly with too much speed so don't feel bad

In a real car you are well aware that you are going into a corner too hot but in LFS its abit more suttle (i.e. feedbake ques aren't as strong)

So in LFS you really need to get to know the tyre scrub sound and make it an aim to avoid any major skid sound and minimise tyre scrub also. As you gain more confidence you can push a little harder but until then the fastest way around is often braking a little earlier (making sure you can turn in at the right place) and accelerate earlier. Most people loose alot of time by trying to gain more under braking than the next person, but end up shooting themselves in the foot by going into the corner too hot, overshooting the apex having then to slow more than they should to avoid going off the track and as a consequence get back on the throttle far too late.

In reality it's best to leave late braking skills until you are already pretty proficient in most other areas Late breaking will only gain a few tenths, line and getting on throttle early will gain you a whole lot more.

Quote from chrisinthesun20 :

I guess its practice practice and more practice as you say!

Believe them, believe me. I'm a beginner also and I'm already hitting 1:34's I cut 1-1.5 seconds off the final time by adjusting my racing line and keeping the revs up. It really helped (atleast it helped me) to race online and practice. Couple of adjustments and Im in 1:33 soon

I'd post a replay if someone can tell me which game mode to use and how to save it

drive in single player like you normally would (make sure you dont start the session from the setup screen (youll see a warning that its not recording in the top left if you do))
then drive around a bit and press 1 or 2 on your keyboard (not numpad) to save the replay which you can then find in the /data/spr folder ... the forum allows attaching .spr files btw

Well attached is my replay. Its quite a long one - about 17 laps - gradually getting faster and arriving at about a 1:38.08 or something.

Suggestions on how to improve would be greatly appreciated.

havent got much time right now but here are the most glaring mistakes which should be woth at least 3 secs

1. youre off the line by a good 2-3m most of the time ... eg on the turn after the long straight theres a wide blue curb on the entry and another huge 2m wide greenish area on the exist that you can drive on
2. youre focusing way too much on late braking ... alway keep in mind that the exit of a corner is much more important than the entry especially at your stage
what you should do is brake earlier enter a bit slower and take your time to set up a good smooth line through the turn that enables you to get on the power early with little steering angle all the way through the exit
its very telling that whenever you get a corner wrong you take the following one well and vice versa
3. look further ahead
by the looks of it you often seem to be still focused on the apex when youre already past it and then suddenly realize youre running out of road on the exit ... after that you usually turn the wheel way too far hoping to correct your line which most usually ends in tears
what you actually should do is focus on the exit as soon as it is in view ... by the time you can look at it its already too late to correct your apex anyway
and looking further ahead will also help you with your last problem
4. correct oversteer sooner ... you let the car fall into a slide too much

Quote from Shotglass :

3. look further ahead...

That is a good point to remember I use the following method to force myself into the mode of looking ahead.

I think to myself as I'm approaching my brake point marker - ok now look to the appex and use my peripheral vision to judge when to start braking, when I've passed the braking marker I begin to look to the exit of the corner (dont keep looking at the appex or your speedo ), that way you will automatically be adjusting the cars attitude correctly to hit the appex and then get a good exit

Basically you should not focus on the immediate point of reference but the one after - as shotglass says focus as far ahead as you can, perhiperal vision will take car of the rest. This is a habit you need to form to become a smooth and consistant driver.

Just had a quick look at your replay also - as shotglass said use more of the track! The wider you make the corner the more speed you can carry - generally riding up the outside curbs is safe although braking on them can take some getting used too.

Also begin your turn in earlier on most corners, you are generally turning in too late causing you to have too turn sharper mid corner which washes off alot of speed at the exit. With the lower powered cars in LFS it is very important to carry speed through the corners, the speed you carry in the corner also dictates the max speed you will get down the straights which in turn has a big impact on lap time. The trick is too learn just how much speed you can carry without causing skiding as that washes off speed at the exit which then kills your max speed down the straight.

Your braking zone and corner entry speeds seem ok for now, you just have to turn in earlier (look past the appex) and use more of the track (improve your racing line - go wider on entry and exit) that should set you on the path to improved times

Thanks for all the advice chaps!

Use more of the track, and turn in a bit earlier are the two keys points I think.

Just out of interest, which view to most of you use when driving? I've been using the in-car view (right hand drive). Is there a better view for gauging track position?

I use mostly custom wheel view with FOV of 78deg, this is just the view I got used too initially and it would require alot of getting used too, to change to a new one

I also use incar abit (trying to get used to it) Personally I don't think one view or another will give you a huge advantage, and although I use mostly the custom wheels view, I'd probably recommend you continue to use the in car view

Play with the FOV settings abit though as that can increase your perception of the track. I've found much higher than 80deg gives good perception of speed and obviously increases your field of vision but you start to loose perception of depth, if you go much below 60 deg FOV everything looks like it is in slow motion. But it all depends on you monitor setup, so experiment with it abit and when you find something that feels right stick with it.

Personally I use 68° fov and the in-car view. Setting the fov too high will undoubtedly increase the feeling of driving fast, but it's also much easier to misjudge corners, because even a 90° corner seems relatively flat due to the perspective distortion you get with a high fov.

I also prefer the in-car view instead of the wheels one, not only because it's more realistic, but also the wheels seem to divert a lot of my attention away from the road. I always start looking at them for signs of understeer and to see where they are on the track, which is obviously bad in two ways; first I don't look at the road ahead anymore causing me to screw up the lines, and second that "info" is redundant anyway, as I can feel understeer and know where my wheels are perfectly fine even if I don't see them. Also it's much easier to judge the bounds of your car if the cockpit is visible.

I'm also new and am not getting anywhere, but realized one thing as i watch other cars in replays.

As mentioned here you can drive to the left of a curb on that green area. This kind of puzzled me! Being a nascar head I'm a bit road course ignorant, but usually you wouldn't be considered racing clean/valid if you kept riding that wide.

So with real road courses, do they design them this way too? I'm wondering what those curbs are for if you just swing out over them! Anyway I'll widen my line and see what happens.

Ok in BL1

Curve 1 -Brake at 75m in 50m start to steer take the curve at 78-80Kph

In the Firs S curve take it at 115-120 Wide open

After the straigt Brake at 100M and steer at 75-50m an take at 108-110Kph

In the second 2 S curve Brake to 110kph and whit full gas steer Smooth

In the other curve brake at 50m and take it at 105-108kph whit full gas in the middle of the curve

In the finala curve dont use the breake just up the gas untill 106-110kph and steer smoth

And ther you go


Practice is the key

sorry for my bad english , i hope you understand me jejej
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DODGE TOMAHAWK

MMM... in s2 lic servers in bl1 whit XFG ,what time is the WR??

In demo servers the 70% of racer we have :1:34: xx , or 1:33: xx

I dont under stand why no use more the XFG , is a great car for great races
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James J. Couzens

Quote from Inouva :

MMM... in s2 lic servers in bl1 whit XFG ,what time is the WR??

In demo servers the 70% of racer we have :1:34: xx , or 1:33: xx

I dont under stand why no use more the XFG , is a great car for great races

I think its high 1.32's for the WR........

We don't use the XFG much cos we have the FZR

Quote from HVS5b :

I think its high 1.32's for the WR........

We don't use the XFG much cos we have the FZR

Yeah , in the server Drunker Racer there are players who got 1:32:12 or 1:32:40 , in demo racer "not all" servers we have cool races head to head for the 1 place whit great times and great repect fron the other drivers

I know i better in s2 server i wish for 1 time to race against the best drivers , y have a lot respect to give , i like racing and y like LFS


The Races is in my ADN
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Ford Ranch Wagon History