rec.autos.simulators

Theres one answer and no special secret that will improve your lap times
and
that is practice! I know you dont wana hear that so maybe some of these
tips might
help you:
1:study the "line" from the "blimp" view. Whatch the other cars from
this view to study
their lines and speed through the turns.

2:Try to understand "entrance" and "exit", to have the best times on any
road course is understanding
where to enter and exit the turns PRECISELY at the exact time to get the
best speed and trying not to
bleed off any momentum.

3:The "appex" is the in the middle of the turn, but some turns have more
than one appex. The appex is what you try to meet and then throttle up
on the exit. Pinching or tucking on the appex will usually decide your
all
out exit speed.

4:Try to use anything as brake markers and study each turn
carefully.(its your track so use your resources to the fullest).
Remember turns are like snowflakes, no two are alike and to get fast
precise lap times you need to "know"the turn.

5:Last but certainly not least, Keep the steering wheel(if you dont have
one go and buy one (The T2 is pretty
cheap and worth the money) very still and smooth, which means NO jerking
if only to get you outa trouble.
Your not really driving an Indy car your really just aiming it. Aiming
it precisely, along witha talented tap
dance on the brake and throttle, will increase your lap times
substantially.

6:Understanding out braking, advanced driving tips and Driving in
traffic will take you to order my help guide= "Understanding Car Boogie"
which is a comprehensive look at how certain cars react to momentum
under their dynamics. Filled with fast, quick techniques and
illustrations to help you understand how to make a setup thats right for
you and make you the fastest and smoothest car on the track in the up
and coming NRO that uses Nascar2 as its race model where you race guys
from all over the world and on the future ICR2 developmental
interconnect via the NET. Filled with Setups and one 11x16 limited and
signed and numbered seriograph of the author's BodyGlove/Blaupunkt
custom Indycar for 29.99+p&h

-David Gary-

I can't drive "well" on road course. The best I can do is about 15 seconds
behind the track record. Note that I am using the default easy car
settings with automatic braking, with auto-braking. I go pretty fast in
multiple corners but I miss those wide turns ( lose tons of time, eg the
first couple in Australia ). Any advice on driving skills?

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First, turn off auto braking, turn on auto transmission, and turn damage
setting to none, and erase the "easy" setup from your hard drive (it
sucks)."  Load up the "Ace" setup.  Then be sure you are not driving
with the keyboard, as this is nearly to do and run decent times.  Get a
good joystick, or even better, a driving wheel/pedals set.  

Then run slowly around the track following the "racing line" denoted by
the skid marks on the track.  When you can comfortably run in the
"groove" consistently at the slow speed, then try to increase your speed
in small increments and try to steer smoothly while remaining in the
groove. Begin to mentally take note of where you need to brake to slow
down in time without squealing tires and slipping out of the groove.

As you gradually creep up in speed, find the "limit" (highest
controllable speed) you can take each corner and still remain in the
groove and under total control.  As you practice A LOT, you will already
be running much closer to the posted track records.  Concentrate on
smooth cornering with as few corrections made mid-corner as possible.
Practice until you have every inch of the track, every braking point
memorized, and every max. cornering speed burned into your brain.  Once
you can turn fast laps (within 5-6 seconds of the record times) in your
sleep and never slip out of the groove, begin to experiment with
slightly modified lines around certain corners.  Turn off the automatic
transmission and find the ideal gear to take each corner with and
memorize points on the track to make each key gearshift.  You will
discover lines that work with your driving style to make you faster.
PRACTICE!!

When you have embarrased the track record, THEN start tweaking your
setup to go really fast.

Good Luck,
Matt Lewis

   First off, turn off auto-braking.  It really costs you time.  You
can use it to learn circuits, but it should be turned off as soon as
possible (IMO).  Auto-shifting costs you some time, but I still use
it.  

   Learn the circuits in the Easy car, perhaps with the turbo boost
turned down.  Run a bit with the AI at reduced opposition percentage
to learn how they run the track, then run solo so you don't have to
worry about running into them (or vice versa).  Don't be surprised if
it takes you a hundred laps before you're really familiar with a track
(see, we told you it takes lots of practice).  

   Once you gain confidence with that, move to the faster chassis,
full boost, and more traffic.  These settings will be more twitchy and
hard to handle, but that will come with time.  Read what the manual
has to say about driving tips (p 133-139).  Look at replays of other,
faster human drivers to see what is possible.  Check the new FAQ for
any more tips...

Before you send me UCE, I know what you're thinking...  Did he complain
to five or six postmasters last month?  Now, you must ask yourself one
question: "Do I feel lucky?"  Well, do you, punk?

Selom,

Once you learn the ins and outs of a track, try turning off autobraking and
autoshifting. That should help some. Then maybe try the ace setup with
minor tweaking for you particular driving style.

What input device do you use? I used a joystick for years then switched to
a wheel and pedals setup and immediately saw better laptimes. A wheel and
pedals give you much better control. This can make a huge difference on
road courses, especially at Australia. Have fun.

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