I'm looking for some hints for driving the XF GTR. I've got some good setups that I have been using, but the car is very twitchy, on par with the FO8 in difficulty to drive. I get snap oversteer under straight line braking (yes, I've played with brake bias). Massive understeer in high speed sweepers. The car just seems to always be in a constant state of sliding/skidding (which eats tires). I know its primarily a driver skill issue, since I've seen other drivers do very well with the same setup. Still, I've seen those drivers go flying off the track with the slightest error (not even the XRR is that unforgiving).

So, any hints as to how approach driving the car? It seems that only the FO8 requires as mush smoothness as the XF GTR.

dunno if it helps, but...

- try smoothly switching from brake to accel when going through corners (very important)
- don't steer too much in corners or the car will lock up in a straight line, find the limit when the car still effectively turns.
- try other differencials (clutch-pack) if the car still understeers in corners.
- in high speed corners keep some 30 - 60% throttle to avoid sliding... full throttle will usually result in understeer

Rumiko's final tip is the most important imo.

Allows you to keep more speed and keep the car much more in control round corners, makes a huge difference.

And generally just be smooth, driving smoothly will more often than not lead to new PB's - Speed comes with practise and time

once you get really good maybe even saving a bit of your tires so your can push harder on the last few laps. saving tires by not breaking as hard or turning in as hard.

From you saying you have snap oversteer while braking, and massive understeer while in high speed corners, all I can make of that is.... you have very soft front suspension possibly, or a rear-end of the car that 'picks itself up' a lot (like when braking). Post your setup and I'll see what could be the problem. The XFR is a tricky one to setup properly.

left foot braking

I find the XFR quite easy to drive actually, very fun car.

Does anyone have a good endurance setup for a newbie for the XFR?

Cause with my setup i have no tires after 4 laps...

As a newbie you'll burn out the front tyres. You just have to learn to be very smooth with the throttle, and know when and how much throttle to apply.

Ok, i'll try, but i still need a good setup

Regarding snap oversteer while braking...try adjusting your diff. Set the coast lock to a smaller value, and make sure NEVER to downshift early. I've found in all the GTRs, an early downshift while braking almost always causes snap oversteer.

Quote from Go-carter :

Ok, i'll try, but i still need a good setup

reduce your brake force and gently apply brakes & gas when driving, then you'll be doing more than 5 laps

I'm at ~15 laps at BlackWood GP with one set of tyres, not perfect, but getting there

Quote from 5th Earth :

Regarding snap oversteer while braking...try adjusting your diff. Set the coast lock to a smaller value, and make sure NEVER to downshift early. I've found in all the GTRs, an early downshift while braking almost always causes snap oversteer.

5th Earth, is that definitely the right way round? I thought he would want a higher coast lock value in order to avoid this problem, but I am still coming to terms with differentials so may well be mistaken.

Cheers,
--Jason.

Get Grand Prix Legends and drive that instead of LFS for two weeks or so.
I'm only half joking, I just did so, and now I feel better at LFS: I brake better, take better lines through corners, control my throttle application and get out of bad situations easier.

Quote from jtr99 :

5th Earth, is that definitely the right way round? I thought he would want a higher coast lock value in order to avoid this problem, but I am still coming to terms with differentials so may well be mistaken.

I just look at it like this: the higher the lock, the later bad things happen, but when they happen, they are way more severe than with a lower lock. Also iirc high lock values hamper turn-in a bit.

Quote from jmkz :

I'm at ~15 laps at BlackWood GP with one set of tyres, not perfect, but getting there

Actually XFR can do 30 - 35 laps with R2 slicks on Blackwood GP with average times in low 1:17.

Quote from jtr99 :

5th Earth, is that definitely the right way round? I thought he would want a higher coast lock value in order to avoid this problem, but I am still coming to terms with differentials so may well be mistaken.

Cheers,
--Jason.

I -think- 5th earth is talking about RWD cars. Especially his comment with downshifting. Downshifting early in a RWD car locks up the rear tires, causing a spin, downshifting too early in a FWD car might cause understeer if you lock the fronts.

But you are better off downshifting early (or well not 'early', but downshifting rapidly once you meet your brake point) in the FWD cars in LFS.... Because if you do slow, casual downshifts, they can be late, you will get understeer and go wide -- I notice this a lot when doing it in the XFR and braking/downshifting from highspeeds. You are much safer having high revs from a low and safe gear to slow the front wheels down and carry you through the turn better. (And point you in the right direction) - Good for trailbraking.

Which revs are good for braking depends largely on your brakes and the rest of the setup. There is no general rule.

Vain

Quote from Vain :

Which revs are good for braking depends largely on your brakes and the rest of the setup. There is no general rule.

Vain

But there is a general brake balance we all use (60%-70% usually), so there isn't much of a difference with doing it properly and while being dependant on your brake configuration. The only thing you'd need to worry about is if your lowest possible gear is maxing out through the corner, it should be about half way from redline/shift-point once you come to corner speed (should be nearly/or redlining while braking). Most setups hardly have a gear problem in corners anyways, so this technique is worth knowing about. Once I learned the XFR and that it had this nature of turn-ins, WR times aren't a problem -- Because turn-ins and keeping tucked into the apex was where I was losing all my time on (especially Kyoto tracks).

Quote from Rumiko :

Actually XFR can do 30 - 35 laps with R2 slicks.

I'm sure it can, that's why I state that I'm "getting there" *very very slowly*

Wether it's unrealistic or not is not clear, but it does feel exagerated.
I know i've had this happen to me irl a few times in the Miata. Coming
really fast into a sharp turn and appyling full brakes will unsettle it's
rear, but you'll only realise it when you start turning. Not sure what kind
of diff is in those '99 Miatas (it's an SE version so it has a lsd and sport
suspension). The way i 'cure' this is by braking a bit early and making sure
i'm back on the throttle before turning. This is also what i do in LFS and is
generally the way i drive in the winter also