Hey guys,

There is something that is really bugging me. I just can't be consistent. I can put down very fast laps but then just crash at the lap after one of those fast laps. My question is , is there anyway to train being consistent ? If so how ?


Cheers

I thin the trick is to be a bit more relaxed and not push SO hard:
instead of going 100%, go for 95%.

Quote from Rikje :

Hey guys,

There is something that is really bugging me. I just can't be consistent. I can put down very fast laps but then just crash at the lap after one of those fast laps. My question is , is there anyway to train being consistent ? If so how ?


Cheers

I removed the split time display from the options menu. I found I was more consistant when concentrating on driving smoothly rather than my lap times, and have broken quite a few pb's since I changed it.

Dont overdrive the car and voilá
Try to be smooth and gentle

I agree with the above suggestions. I tend to stop trying, usually if you find yourself driving and day dreaming at the same time, you'll be much more steady in your laptimes.
Well it works for me anyway.

If you get stressed, walk away and come back to it later. It's all about being calm.

Quote from Rikje :

Hey guys,

There is something that is really bugging me. I just can't be consistent. I can put down very fast laps but then just crash at the lap after one of those fast laps. My question is , is there anyway to train being consistent ? If so how ?


Cheers

Don't try to go faster, just drive... Always think about the next step: the next braking point, turn-in point, hitting the apex right and powering out of the corner without wasting propulsion... If you do that instead of "How can I go through that turn faster?", you'll soon get into a groove and before you know it, the race is over without incident and you broke your pb (a couple of times)...

The main trick is that hotlap pace and race pace are not the same thing. In a race you want to drive at the pace where you can do that 10, 20, 50 laps back to back and not lose it. Hotlap you are aiming at poll.

Quote from Rikje :

There is something that is really bugging me. I just can't be consistent. I can put down very fast laps but then just crash at the lap after one of those fast laps.

Funny, same here, only "in reverse". I can't do fast laps but I'm extremely consistent being slow.

À propos this; I wonder which approach is better. Consistency first, then speed, or speed before consistency? I'm kind of torn on this one.. in one way it's good to do it step by step, learning the track, getting familiar with the car and the handling before pushing it to the extreme, but on the other hand there's no use getting consistent if you are too careful and don't know how far you can go..

I prefer the first approach, though. But every now and then if I feel I'm not getting any progress I'll do a lap where I really push it to the limits (and sometimes, inevitably, beyond.. ) to see if I can "surprise myself" by driving faster than I thought possible.

As for concentration: I find that if I catch myself daydreaming, chances are I'm slacking off, loosing my consentration and soon I'll be off the tarmac. But I guess different people have different approaches.

First speed, then consistency IMO.

You have to know where the limit is before you can drive just below it, don't you?

practice practice practice. imo the more laps you do, the more consistant you become. fast is good but consistancy is much better imo. maybe if you concentrate on the corner you are approaching you might get more consistant times.

A little tip that i find helps me is that before you do a race, take a quick breather. Have a nice glass of water, or just sit down and do some breathing exercise's. Also (i dont suggest this in rl :razz is that when you come onto the straight, keep the car going and quickly push your arms backwards then forwards so you can have a quick stretch and untense yourself.

In driving terms, just get plenty of practice and dont overdo it. Resist the urge to go past your limits when battling with someone. If you know you cant get past them, dont risk everything to do so. Afterall, whats the point of trying to beat someone who is obviously faster then you, if your just gonna exceed your limits and skills and crash?

Try to think about the corner long before youre in the braking zone, try to think of it the same way each time and block out the crap like shopping lists and what to have for dinner.

I am still new to this game. Less than a week actually. Ive only been practicing with one car(FOX) and two tracks BL and Aston Club. I am still about 2 seconds off the fast laps most people get on those tracks. But thats down from 7-15 seconds that I was down initially. Alot of the time made up has come from finding good setups that match my style, and just watching replays of the fast guys and finding the right lines.

I also will drive a course as fast as i can until i hit spots i know i have trouble with. I will take those a gear down or so just to make sure i take the right lines, then slowly try to take it faster and faster. Obviously i stil lhave 2 seconds to make up, but I feel with constant practice practice practice I will get there.

For Example on Aston Club, with the FOX, the usual average fast laps seem to be around 1:00-1:01, and 1st sector is 32.50ish or something. I am consistently driving in the 1:03's now and hitting 33.40 on that first sector. I notice that my times keep getting ever so slowly, faster...from consistently driving at my best pace w/o being reckless over and over. Just from concentrating on driving consistent laps, rather than trying to get with the leaders. Accepting that I will be not in the top spots makes it easier to just practice finishing the race and learning to drive.

I agree that starting out slow and going for consistency and then speed is a good way to go. What I imagine you're doing is trying to improve lap after lap, setting faster times as often as you can. Instead, just set yourself a goal time to stay under. If you're fastest lap on a track is 1:06.00 (for example), don't try and match or beat this every lap. Just try and stay under 1:07 for a handful of laps. If you struggle with this, then just aim to be under 1:08 for a bunch of laps. Once you're happy doing this, then try and go back to pushing a bit harder to try and stay under 1:07.

Another important thing I find is knowing where I can push harder, and where I am already going as fast as I reasonably can. When you want to try and improve your laptime, it's important to know where you can pick up speed. If you just try and speed up everywhere, you'll likely go over the limit at some point and crash. The more aware you are of your limits and how close you are to them at different points on the track, the better.

Speaking of consistency..

Quote from pl1ght :

I am still new to this game. Less than a week actually. Ive only been practicing with one car(FOX) and two tracks BL and Aston Club. I am still about 2 seconds off the fast laps most people get on those tracks. But thats down from 7-15 seconds that I was down initially. Alot of the time made up has come from finding good setups that match my style, and just watching replays of the fast guys and finding the right lines.

I also will drive a course as fast as i can until i hit spots i know i have trouble with. I will take those a gear down or so just to make sure i take the right lines, then slowly try to take it faster and faster. Obviously i stil lhave 2 seconds to make up, but I feel with constant practice practice practice I will get there.

For Example on Aston Club, with the FOX, the usual average fast laps seem to be around 1:00-1:01, and 1st sector is 32.50ish or something. I am consistently driving in the 1:03's now and hitting 33.40 on that first sector. I notice that my times keep getting ever so slowly, faster...from consistently driving at my best pace w/o being reckless over and over. Just from concentrating on driving consistent laps, rather than trying to get with the leaders. Accepting that I will be not in the top spots makes it easier to just practice finishing the race and learning to drive.

That sounds a very sensible way of doing it

The thing is once you get competitive you will look back and wonder how you were driving so slowly!! I'm pretty sure thats happened to everyone.

Quote from Gnomie :

Speaking of consistency..

so what if you are?

I usualy get in a new car/ track, take the "Blank" tarmac set, an set it up with average tire pressure, 0deg camber, etc. Then go out and learn the course for 5 laps and try to follow the racing line more than trying to go fast. Then, I gradually increase my pace and go all out on sections I wish to test... this gives me a good Idea on just how hard I can take a corner. After this, I go take a breather, and then do a 10 lap practice for consistency. After that, I can safely go online and not worry so much about flying off.

Well, I'm not very fast, my computer sucks, and I do screw up once in a while, I love to race, and it's really fun for me. Good luck!

Quote from Rikje :

Hey guys,

There is something that is really bugging me. I just can't be consistent. I can put down very fast laps but then just crash at the lap after one of those fast laps. My question is , is there anyway to train being consistent ? If so how ?

Cheers

Being fast over one lap and being fast over a race distance are different things. On a hot lap you need to push yourself to your limits to get a good time, but in a race you need to drive within your limits in order to finish. Your race pace will be slower than your qualifying times, it's just the way it is. Relax, take it easy, and don't try to put in a PB every lap.

Consistancy?

Ok. First your question of which is better, consistancy or speed. Well that's pretty simple. If you are consistant, you will get PB's cause you are no longer thinking and pushing. It'll just happens that way.

As for getting consistancy, well, the way I did it when I was getting 102's at Aston Club in fox and crashing alot, I did 2 back to back 60 lappers, and didn't push, just nailed my apex's. That solved crashing, and as a by product produced consistancy. Now; I'm .65 off wr there, and I'm working on the same thing again, consistancy, and of course I'll solve it the same way I always do. Everytime I get a problem, 1 or two lots of 60 laps fixes it. Here's a quote from Dik Dolan whose very fast, and I think it's the best advice you can get.

"Think about the weight transfer as you change from braking/steering/throttle. Try to do all inputs in a smooth continuos flow. Don't just hit the brakes- lift off- yank the wheel over then hammer the throttle. That will upset the ballance of the car and you will lose lots of grip. Ease on the pedals and ease off again, try to be gentle, same with the steering; smooth inputs. Yanking hard on the wheel and the tyres will just slide.

Another tip that helped me was : look further ahead. Don't focus on the upcomming braking point or apex, use your peripheral vision to take note of those, with just the occasional glance etc at them. try to keep your focus on where the car WILL be, not where it is now.

Try filling the car up and just driving lots of smooth easy laps. Don't concentrate on anything in particular, just try to be smooth and keep good lines and decent exit speeds. Brake early and lightly, try not to slide. Do it at a time when you have no distractions ,and the room is quiet and dark. If you're lucky after a while things just "click" and your subconcious does the driving, you can "feel" the car better and you get faster. it's a weird zen like thing, and it works=)" - Dik Dolan

Couldn't say it better if I tried.

Venus

Consistency: Consistently making the same mistakes over and over again.

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

Consistency: Consistently making the same mistakes over and over again.

Aye, I got plenty of that today in form of confusing clutch pedal for a brake

Quote from zeugnimod :

First speed, then consistency IMO.

u seem pretty consistant for someone who isnt working on it yet

id say conisistency first, that way as speed improves itll be a consistant speed rather then once off laps you cant "replay" to understand why it was faster.

i'm still working on my consistency as well, but here's my method/tip:

work on 1 corner at a time. i set a target lap time to try to keep my times under (something reasonable, but challenging). then, pick only one corner on the circuit at a time and try that corner different ways. different braking points, turn-in points, gears, speeds, etc. See how that plays into your lap times.

tough to be consistent when you don't know what's best...

once i'm satisfied with my "ideal lap" on a certain circuit, i take at least 10-15 laps on it with my goal being consistency rather than speed. for example, if my average time is ~1:07 on a given track, i will try to stay within 1:06.5 to 1:07.5. What i find is that after several laps, i actually have to slow myself down in certain areas to hit that 1:07 mark, and that's how consistency yields speed.