Hi.
New to LFS and have searched for threads about this but not found anything. Apologies if it has been discussed but if so a link to a discussion would be really useful.

Anyway. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to get a fast start. Im only playing against AI at the mo, just so I dont cause carnage on any servers but always get really slow starts compared to the AI racers regardless of which car im using. Any setup hints, or general techniques I could use?


Thanks a lot.
Clay.

just floor it. never mind the wheelspin. especially for turbocharged cars make sure you have max boost when the light turns green

Hi,

First of all welcome to LFS, and glad to see you got S2 Straight away .

Anyway, back to the subject, what I would normally recommend is keep on practicing. When the lights go Red Red Green, Try and get it as soon as the Green goes on, or when you feel it's going to go green slam it into first and off you go. Keep doing this, you will get the hang of it. Today I got a pretty good start and I passed the guy infront of me off the line, and we were on the front row, so I guess it can really cost you abit of time really.
Also, If people start saying its not the setup its the driver, I find it isn't. I'd say it's 50/50 driver HAS to suit the setup to be able to be up there. Hard track and Race_S you will be way off. Are you on wheel, mouse or keyboard?

Kind Regards,

Matt

I use manual clutch for the start with the car in first gear, full revs, clutch at biting point, at green just jump of the clutch. You can also adjust the first gear ratio to avoid excessive wheel spin of the start line or even go online and watch someone making a fast start and ask nicely for his/her set

Welcome to S2, do not be afraid to go online, it is the best place to learn

Quote from AlienT. :

I use manual clutch for the start with the car in first gear, full revs, clutch at biting point, at green just jump of the clutch. You can also adjust the first gear ratio to avoid excessive wheel spin of the start line or even go online and watch someone making a fast start and ask nicely for his/her set

Welcome to S2, do not be afraid to go online, it is the best place to learn

So that's why you were so quick

Cheers for quick reply's. Really appreciate it. Was so blown away by LFS got S2 license straight away.
I use a wheel. Logitech Driving force pro.
The way ive been starting is to have the car in neutral and then rev away and then when the lights go green i put it in first and floor it.

I think perhaps im a bit of a sunday driver.... Would a better strategy be to have the car in gear but have the brakes on and when the lights go green take foot off brake...or release hand brake?
Perhaps im answering my own question and should shut up and go and try it rather than hassling people here. hmmmm!

apologise if im being denser than densilium...i have no excuse. poor genes.

THE best way to do it is as follows:
Clutch In,
Change Up (Handbrake should stay in),
Full Throttle, making sure that the turbo is at full boost/full revs.
Release clutch when the lights go green.

Yea - flooring it will get you off the line the fastest. It all comes down to being able to keep it going in a straight line during that initial 3-5 second burnout

Lol its alright, Should see the ammount of questions ive asked here .

Jakg - Wouldn't that give you wheel spin tho and give you a bad start or would you have to change the ratio of 1st gear?

Quote from cfus :

being denser than densilium

I can't add to what has been said (revs up, floor it/drop clutch when lights turn green), but I did like this little phrase, and I'm going to remember it. I spend most of my internet time being dense, so it will come in handy.

Quote from dmwright :

Jakg - Wouldn't that give you wheel spin tho and give you a bad start or would you have to change the ratio of 1st gear?

Yup, you get wheel spin, but you do NEED wheel spin, to stop the engine bogging down.

LFS's Tyre Model means full throttle starts are the best even though they shouldn't be, though...

Of course i think that using a clutch that releases the power slower (ie not instantly), as it goes from Full to No Clutch in a fraction of a second rather than instantly probably makes a tiny positive difference.

Quote from dmwright :

Jakg - Wouldn't that give you wheel spin tho and give you a bad start or would you have to change the ratio of 1st gear?

Yes it would, and no it won't. As long as you can handle the wheel-spin (not let the rear end shove its way out) you will get off the line the fastest. Dunno why actually.

It largely depends on the car as to whether to use full revs or not. I generally have most experience of open wheelers. FOX is full bananas mostly. FO8 needs more finesse - you need some wheelspin but more controlled.

Try different styles and compare them by running a few drag races. You can see what style produces the best start (and time).

On the AWDs its full throttle (and so boost) for me. On the RWDs and FWDs I try to get the revs near the first shift point or (on turbo cars) to get around half boost. Full boost makes the wheels spin too much.

Don't think your going to get a better start than the AI anyway,
i mean they're cumputerised so as soon as the lights go green they set off quicker than any of us can i imagine.

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

Don't think your going to get a better start than the AI anyway,
i mean they're cumputerised so as soon as the lights go green they set off quicker than any of us can i imagine.

You have never actually raced them, have you?

He's been playing rFactor again (uberAIstartprediction)

Define race

Hmmm, maybe you would have to aim for both? Like Power but not alot of wheel spin, so the engine doesnt bog down. But not to much power so the wheels don't spin that to much to loose time? If you get me?

*Wonders If its another odd post*

Matty

The trouble is it's hard to keep the wheels from spinning at all without bogging down the engine. Typically it's almost impossible to do, which is why I think it's just faster to floor it. Otherwise if you try to eliminate wheelspin, you completely bog down and everyone passes you anyway.

I went straight to GTR cars when I got S2, so here's my little feedback on those:

For XRR the most important thing is to get turbo pressure up before launch or otherwise you stall for sure, but downside of FR layout is that you'll be lacking rearwheel grip compared to FZR.
I usually do burnout while lights are counting down, atleast I don't have to over-rev engine to get boost up and I get warm rear tires for getting power down faster in T1 exit.

FZR on the otherhand is just amazing off the line due to weight distribution, just floor it and go. I've set 1st gear ratio so that there's enough wheelspin to get moving and get revs high enough before grip returns.

As for FXR, can't say much because I don't drive it but it seems to be pretty much equal to XRR and you can stall easily with that 4WD.

Quote from dmwright :

But not to much power so the wheels don't spin that to much to loose time? If you get me?

In real life, yes probably.

In LFS, however, you don't lose any grip, no matter how much you spin the wheels. If anything, you might even get slightly more grip, seeing how you heat up the tyres to optimum temp that way.

FXR is very simple to get good start. Not too long 1st gear ratio, floor it, that's it.

In that case we need to aim for the fastest gear ratio of the line?

Off the line, I find clutch 1st gear, rev up good then release the clutch on green works well. I'm newer too so, once you get the start, you have to worry about lines