Project CARS 2 The Self Improvement Thread :) (2 Viewers)

[SBart_uk]

The majority of laptime is definitely not found under braking Fubii . Its probably where the least laptime can be found after finding a good line and accelerating. You might make a tenth up under braking if you're lucky, but getting the power down early and smoothly will give you half a sec or more depending on the length of the next straight as you're carrying that advantage much much further than the 100 meters or so you're braking for.

 

[Puffpirat]

Well the braking is surely important, there’s a reason most say a load cell brake pedal is a better upgrade laptime wise than an expensive wheel.

It’s not the braking alone but the not cocking up the entry of a corner to get that good exit line.

 

[SBart_uk]

Yup, I'm not saying its not important, it is...Just that braking early wont cost you anything like as much time as accelerating late will.

 

[FuBii]

I like to keep things simple. Master the braking, you'll find yourself hitting that sweet line more often. Then it's finding out how early you can hit the loud pedal without going wide. When you can master that for one corner, do it for the rest.
Sounds easy enough, isn't.
"Straights are for fast cars, corners, for fast drivers"

 

[UnstopaPaul]

Guys, thank you everyone who's replied so far. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but so far there have been many great tips, some interesting debates, but most importantly, you're really motivating me to look at improving. I love trying to master new skills. Mastery is always elusive, but trying to get there can be really fun with a group of people around you doing the same.

 

[UnstopaPaul]

Bit of an update from me. With lots of encouragement, and a bit of direct advice, I'm starting to understand a little about racing at speed.

The TT for Revolution Cup has forced me to learn a little about car setup, enough that I can mostly change a car from "awful" to "drive-able". The corvette certainly needed that for Ruanation...err Ruapuna.

So far the "winning" piece of advice is the obvious one - brake earlier, line up your exit. If it feels fast it's slow.

 

[m4nu]

@Pete Morrish

 

[UnstopaPaul]

Time for a new update, since I've now completed my first two big races (Round 1 and 2 of Season 4). Preparing for Monza and Silverstone have both brought lots of new things in front of me

Lesson One - It's better to have a focused 1 hour training session than an unfocused 2 hour session
Total track time is critical, but to translate a business phrase "Do you have 10 laps experience, or 1 laps experience 10 times?". In summary, if you mindlessly go round the track again and again, you are in extreme danger of learning nothing. When I was training for fencing, a friend of mine (who made the Barcelona Olympics) taught me that it's better to have a focused 1 hour training session than an unfocused 2 hour session. Training for these two races has reminded me of that.

Lesson Two - If it feels fast, it's probably slow (and how to tell if its true)
It's easy to nod sagely at this phrase, and even on a basic level understand it. It takes some time in the car (and a coach) however before you genuinely start feeling the difference. At the beginning my main problem was I could not tell whether "slow was fast" or whether "slow was actually just slow". I've found two basic techniques that allow me to differentiate

1. Use a track-side marker on a straight (not too near a corner) and measure your speed at the marker. Higher speed equals greater success. This works, to a point, but you get limited feedback on the trade-off between corner entry and exit. It says little about your total improvement on a corner
2. Much better is to learn to use the HUD element that compares your current lap to the fastest lap. It takes a little time to start interpreting well, but it's actually really easy. The common mistake is to use this as an absolute "I'm going to beat my hotlap" tool. That's not what it's therefore. You can actually tell a lot about your entry and exit, when comparing it to your current best lap
   1. Big instant +/- to differential = you took the entry to the corner much better/worse
   2. The gain remains for the following straight? Your exit was probably just as good as before
   3. The gain drops away immediately on exiting the corner? You probably dived in with too much focus on entry speed rather than lining up for good exit
   4. Your differential "slowly" increases/decreases on the following straight? You got your exit lined up better/worse than before. As you refine, this quickly becomes the overriding thing to look at. If you are focusing on this lap by lap you get very immediate feedback on what is good and bad.

Lesson Three - Understanding setups is much easier when you understand the physics of a car cornering
While this one is something very much in progress, being forced to try and make a car faster on Monza and Silverstone (two very different tracks) has forced me to learn and think about cars in a way I never had. A Level Physics/Maths (or a youngster's equivalent) is very useful as you need to understand momentum, friction and a little of aerodynamics. You also need to understand the physical effect of settings changes on these parameters.

Aerodynamics is pretty straightforward. Far more key for me was understanding tyre contact patches and the effects of pressure and camber on these. Understanding how the amount of contact changes speed, cornering grip and under/oversteer has been invaluable. Silverstone has forced me to learn even more about this, and using imbalanced tyre pressures has helped reduce the understeer on the corners.


I'm sure there is more learning to be had, but sadly back to work for now...

 

[Dama_The_Crow]

I have to say that this is very nice theme and useful posts from you @UnstopaPaul . Thank you.

 

[Zemke]

As others have already mentioned, I've learned to only practice online. I also do that by creating an online session and changing the settings from 'Public' to 'Private'. I usually set the Qualifying time for an hour and match it to the settings of the RSR race. That gives me plenty of time to get lots of laps in, plus makes it easy to go back to the pits and make adjustments to the car.

In addition, I've gotten in the habit of reloading my saved setup before I start the race. In that 2 minutes between the end of qualifying and the start of the race, when everybody is readying up, I reload my car's race setup even if it was already selected. Sometimes I get weird behavior from the car if I just click 'Ready', without reloading my setup. When I've done those two things, my car's behavior has always had the same feeling between my practice sessions and the actual race.

Also, in an effort to improve my speed, stability, and safety, I've been watching the YouTube videos from @Yorkie_065 and www.driver61.com.
Yorkie's Videos: Driver61's Videos:
I hope it helps!

 

[Hujkis]

Also, in an effort to improve my speed, stability, and safety, I've been watching the YouTube videos from @Yorkie_065 and www.driver61.com.

Yep, I think I already mentioned driver61 here. He did a 3h video for Nordschleife with Adam Christo. I wish I had more free time!

 

[SteveO916]

I picked up Dirt Rally in the Steam sale and I'm hoping that driving in that will help me in the same way as riding on dirt helped with my bike racing in real life. (at the very least driving in PC2 will seem a whole lot easier after a session on Dirt Rally)

 

[UnstopaPaul]

I picked up Dirt Rally in the Steam sale and I'm hoping that driving in that will help me in the same way as riding on dirt helped with my bike racing in real life. (at the very least driving in PC2 will seem a whole lot easier after a session on Dirt Rally)

Driving in wet has massively improved my dry driving as I understand how to catch the car much better. I'm sure this works the same Also a great excuse to purchase

 

[Zemke]

Left Foot Braking

Project CARS 2 is my first real racing simulator; certainly the first time I've used a wheel and pedals for any kind of driving game. I started playing in January and have spent these few months learning SO MANY new tracks, how the cars handle, and what to expect from them. But now, it's time for this old dog to learn a new trick. (I'm 41 years old.)

I've always known about drivers braking with their left foot and that it's recognized as the best braking technique when driving a race car, but it also seemed too advanced and awkward for me. This week, though, I decided to take the plunge and commit to learning and utilizing this technique. I used my right foot to brake during the Revolution Cup race at Hockenheim, but since then have forced myself to only use my left foot. At this point, it's been a few days and I just wanted to share a couple thoughts in the interest that it might help others someday.

1) It turns out, IT IS awkward as heck... in the beginning, anyway. The first couple-dozen laps were downright awful. And not just from a lap-time perspective, but from an "I'm out of control!" feeling in every corner perspective. But I stuck with it and it got better.
2) When I first began this undertaking, I created a 'Private' online session with a track and car that I am very familiar with. I wanted to remove as many new things as possible, and focus on learning to brake with my left foot.
3) In addition to practicing this technique in the game, I've also been driving my real car by braking with my left foot. (It has an automatic transmission, which makes it easier.) BIG WARNING: make sure there are no other cars around you, if you also try this. I'd recommend finding an empty parking lot or something to that effect. The first few times I tried it, I put way too much pressure into the pedal and the ABS kicked in as my car came to a very fast stop. It took a few tries before I learned to be gentle and smooth.
4) Physically, my left leg gets tired! By the time I turn the computer off in the evening, some of the muscles down around my shin and ankle are truly sore! I'm sure it'll get better the more I do it, though. And I'm right-handed, so maybe it won't be so bad for someone that is left-handed.
5) Now that I'm getting better at it, it's clear to me that this technique really is the way to go. My best lap times at my favorite tracks have all gone down by 1 to 2 seconds. And I feel WAY more in control of the car through each corner. It's much easier to trail brake right down to the apex of the corner, and I can get back on the gas earlier and more smoothly than I could by moving my right foot from one pedal to the other.

I guess those are all the highlights I can think of for now. Anyone else have recommendations, thoughts, or points of interest on the matter?

My biggest resource for learning to brake with my left foot has been the guide from www.driver61.com:

 

[SteveO916]

I don't drive so when I got my wheel last year it was my first experience of pedals! I didn't have a shifter so no need to use the clutch so I just used the throttle with one foot and the brake with the other...(now that I do have a shifter I still left foot brake & I've learn't to heel and toe too - still can't drive though)

 

[Michael]

@Zemke interesting. For me it was the other way round. With my old wheel I only had 2 pedals (and brake was no load cell), and when I got my new 3-pedal set, i switched to right foot braking to have my left foot only for clutching. But as I never use the clutch 'cause I don't have an H-shifter (yet), it might be worth to try it.

 

[FuBii]

There be a reason most single seater race cars have switched to hand clutches...
trail braking, engineers being able to keep the front end of the car balanced easier, there's also not much room to move your legs to reach a middle pedal.. (You'd risk hitting your knee off the steering column) weight saving...
But yeah if you're gonna be left foot braking in the real world, you can not be gentle enough. The first time I did it on my (now) daily commute into work & back it felt like I was gonna go through the windscreen haha

 

[Tom]

The first time I did it on my (now) daily commute into work & back it felt like I was gonna go through the windscreen haha

I didn't know my brakes could work so well . I can only sim race with left foot braking, and can only drive smoothly on the road with my right foot. I just can't get a competitive and controllable feel with my right foot when attempting to heel & toe, so it's auto clutch to the rescue for me!

 

[Cluck]

I'll brake in whichever way feels comfortable for me. For cars that don't have a clutch, it's left-foot braking all the way. For those with a clutch, ie. manual gearbox, I'll brake with my right foot and use heal/toe to blip the throttle on the downshifts.

 

[Dama_The_Crow]

I didn't know my brakes could work so well . I can only sim race with left foot braking, and can only drive smoothly on the road with my right foot. I just can't get a competitive and controllable feel with my right foot when attempting to heel & toe, so it's auto clutch to the rescue for me!

LOL It is the same with me.

I just can't brake with right foot in sim racing (I mean I can but I am not competitive at all), but also can't left foot in real car (I tried and almost flew through front window).

But it is all practice. When I get shifter, I'll practice for that.