I have never been that fast of a driver in LFS, always middle pack, but I have noticed over the last week, since I have had a bit of a break from LFS, I have gotten (a lot) quicker, basically the other night N I K I said, how come you are driving so fast!!!!.

I just wonder where this improvement in speed has come from?, there are a few things I can think of that could help.

1) Physical fitness, I am now MUCH fitter than I was a few months ago

Would this have any effect on driving in a race sim?, maybe not the actually physical fitness, how about the positive mental effects physical fitness and activity has on an idividual?, would that attribute something to it?

2) Lack of pressure

I am no longer in a team, therefore I am just driving for my pleasure, would this have any bearing on it?

3) Diversification

I have not used LFS "in anger" for a little while, I have spent a lot of time on iRacing, and other sims, so would the diversification of using other sims help?, would iRacing's physics have made me faster?

4) Freshness

Would it just be something as simple as the break from LFS that would have helped?

Interested to hear thoughts / comments

All of the above.

I know I plain suck at the moment, most probably because I am absolutely bollocksed by the time I get in from work.

For me it's alway been these:

1. the presense of someone you don't ever want to lose against.

2. a calm mind, which even when you are much slower enables you to focus and improve the quality of the driving.

3. many many laps...just do many many laps.

4. the believe that you can still find some time somewhere and never think you have maxed out.

5. occasional inspiration, maybe watching how someone took a line differently.

6. some luck, some combo with a certain setup might just works better.

7. experience in another sim or real life, most of the time it would provide some insight on how you use to drive, your bad habits and leads you to a new way to tackle the flaws.

I think pretty much any reason you can think of will have an effect.

Your physical fitness will have a huge effect. Reaction times will improve and you'll be able to make more accurate changes due to the muscles having a greater range of movement. It's also possible that your heart rate won't speed up as much so you'll make more rational choices too, although that might be a little extreme

Taking a break might help, but I'm more interested in number 4 for now. I found that after playing a lot of RBR I was able to control the more twitchy cars in LFS better. I guess it's because rally driving is all about dealing with and countering sharp turns, cars like the LX6 became more predictable. So yes, other sims can help, but not always in the way you expect

Happened to me too, few times. I just took a little break, then i came back and suddenly i was faster and faster. Reason unknown, but it helped me to get into MG and then also into best czech team.
..and then it stopped and i haven't improved like one year.

Maybe it's also your case. Good to hear, i've enjoyed racing with you, now it'll be much entertaining.

@dan

Point 2: Pressure is a strange one, while some men buckle under it, some excel under the exact same scenario.
For me the less stress the more i will enjoy the racing. Usually focus much easier and keep attention longer.

@ JJ72

Point 1: Nothing like having a target.

In all my years working, I have meet many, many people who claim to excel under pressure, yet, when the pressure comes, they all, to some degree or another, struggle with the pressure, I have yet to meet anyone who actually excels (me included) under pressure, I just don't think the human brain likes pressure!!!!.

I think danowats number two and four are interesting.
Staying away from driving for a while perhaps makes the interest and approach more open minded. So you don't drive by experience only, and I think that might make you go faster. At least until you get used to your routine driving again...

Lack of results pressure helps me a lot. Better to say pressure makes me drive worse... Not neccesarily slower, but I find it easier to make pure driver mistakes (like missing braking points and/or going too wide, etc.) when I have championship points in mind.

(hard for me to explain in english. sorry.)

I think all 4 points are good and valid Dan

But you forgot to put point 5 down:

5) driving the Baby-R. Cause once you've driven that - you think anything else is REALLY fast

It's not a bad point actually, because the Baby-R is all about keeping momentum up, something you can use to good results in alot of the other cars

i think they all have something to do with it, i took a break also, and came back even faster, sometimes i watch racing and get inspired.

Quote from danowat :

It's not a bad point actually, because the Baby-R is all about keeping momentum up, something you can use to good results in alot of the other cars

A point Tiff Needel once made in Top Gear, (I think! ). Racing is all about keeping momentum up, even at F1 power to weight ratios.

I believe fitness can have a dramatic effect on many area's of your life, some of which are to reduce stress, raise energy levels and sharpen the mind all of which could potentialy help in driving.

On pressure, pressure will expose your true colours I.e. if your supremly confident in your ability and have developed skill in an area, then being under pressure will enable you to perform at your peek. On the other hand if you haven't really done your homework and are at all doubtfull of your ability then pressure will have the reverse effect and most likely cause you to stumble.

Quote from Glenn67 :

On pressure, pressure will expose your true colours I.e. if your supremly confident in your ability and have developed skill in an area, then being under pressure will enable you to perform at your peek. On the other hand if you haven't really done your homework and are at all doubtfull of your ability then pressure will have the reverse effect and most likely cause you to stumble.

Indeed the the 5p rule srpings to mind. "preperation prevents piss poor performance"

Qualifying in racing is a prime example of cofidnece/pressure and how you utilise it.

Quote from danowat :

2) Lack of pressure

I am no longer in a team, therefore I am just driving for my pleasure, would this have any bearing on it?

I never got that. It´s just a game. What possible pressure could there be from a team? Atleast I´ve never felt it. Maybe in endurance races where there are driver swaps. Then I wouldn´t want to let the team down but I´ve never done those races. It´s not like anything really important is on the line, just a bit of Internet pride.

I guess I´m just in a weird team.

Quote from Martin.S :

Staying away from driving for a while perhaps makes the interest and approach more open minded. So you don't drive by experience only, and I think that might make you go faster. At least until you get used to your routine driving again...

This. When one has been driving LFS for long term he has developed some habbits and routines for himself. He usually brakes in certain way and turns in in certain way and applies throttle in certain way. He has subsconciously learned to do stuff the way he always has. When he takes a break from LFS and after a while gets back into it he may need to relearn his routines and while doing so he may also learn off or forget some bad habbits and relearn to do things a bit dfferently. He also needs to work towards his personal limit again and in a way he is more free to adjust his driving as he was previously. As a result you may lift your personal limit higher and get better. What actually happens is that you start developing again instead of being tied to that some level. A good driver always develops his skills and maybe this is happening to you danowat?

Quote from danowat :

In all my years working, I have meet many, many people who claim to excel under pressure, yet, when the pressure comes, they all, to some degree or another, struggle with the pressure, I have yet to meet anyone who actually excels (me included) under pressure, I just don't think the human brain likes pressure!!!!.

I'm amazingly excellent under pressure as long as I stay calm. (I mean I'm seriously better than in calm situations) Once I break under the pressure and start to panic myself, I'm piece of confused mess doing all kinds of stupid things.

Quote from danowat :

I have never been that fast of a driver in LFS, always middle pack, but I have noticed over the last week, since I have had a bit of a break from LFS, I have gotten (a lot) quicker, basically the other night N I K I said, how come you are driving so fast!!!!.

Happened to me too. I think sometimes while racing or practicing we learn new things and don't really notice. Taking a break helps settle this new knowledge.

Quote from Kalev EST :

I never got that. It´s just a game. What possible pressure could there be from a team? Atleast I´ve never felt it.

We expect you to finish last in every race anyway so you can't have any pressure.

Its the fact you took a break from lfs.
Whenever you take a break from something your mind is always working on it secretly without you acctually knowing.
So like in a game if you were stuck on a certain part if you left it for a few days and went back chances are you'd be able to pass that part.
Im guessing it must work the same for driving sims.

Somethin happened to me 1.5 years ago:

I was in a championship, I was one of the most fast drivers in it (in practices) and always know that I could be in pole position easily.

Ok, I joined to the server to do 4 or 5 for the pole, I had good headphones, then I was in the track, but something was not allowing me to do it, I did 10 laps for the pole without any success, I could not belive it, then I took off that headphones and turn on my speakers and......pole position in 2 laps easily.

I guess we all are used to our "setups", speakers or headphones, wheel setup and so on, and we get in the groove with that. However when that groove is changed, we lose our ability to automatically do some things that we did before.

For example, with headphones (as for me), you may be able to tell when you are locking the brakes, approching the lateral grip limit at the front by listening to tyre squeal, telling us to apply less pressure, back off a little bit, however, this noise/volume may sound different with speakers, or may be harder to detect so we cannot apply the same principle as quickly as we could before.

As for danowot, mental fitness is quite important, not being stressed or angry does help alot. I find myself that if I am angry or annoyed, I'll make stupid mistakes, in turn get MORE annoyed and make even MORE mistakes and so on. It's a vicicious cycle.

Also having a break is a good thing in some cases, it allows you to relax, lose the strain of the game, and resets your own expectations of yourself. Alot of my old buddies I used to play CS:S with often told me after not playing for a week or two, they come back and they're playing better than before they stopped.

A big chunk of that is mental state. I know it really shows in CS: S, so I'm sure it has an impact in LFS. If you get pissed off, or frustrated in CS, you keep getting owned and owned. It's all mindset, and if you play for fun and don't care about dying (or in LFS case, losing) you can keep a clear mind and play a lot better.

EDIT:

Quote :

Alot of my old buddies I used to play CS:S with often told me after not playing for a week or two, they come back and they're playing better than before they stopped.

LOL. I read your post after posting mine and thought it was funny you mentioned Counter-Strike.

For me, its the freshness. I didn't play LFS in some time and it was much more fun 1-2 weeks later. And with that, i cut down on cruising and started racing more. Even though i always crash on last lap, i kept interested and tried to be faster. I just want better gfx *shakes fist*

sorry of being OT but can S14 use a different font color? red isn't exactly easy on the eye, if you want to stand out use a dark grey or maybe a darker less satuated red. Bright Red is a bit over the top and I can't really read your post.