rec.autos.simulators

Is there a setup that makes power oversteer manageable...in ICR2 you can back
off the throttle a little and four wheel drift; in GP2 it seems impossible to
catch once its started. Granted wheelspin is more realistic in GP2, but in the
real world you can catch the rear end with less throttle and opposite lock. Any
suggestions? Thanks,

davidk

Not what you want to hear, but practice, practice, practice <g>

I can catch most spins these days as long as I don't do anything stupid
;-) Apply _very_ brief opposite lock & ease off the accelerator. The
timing of these is critical - if you notice that the car is spinning it's
way too late. You need to take counter measures before it ever gets into
the spin - just as in real life.

Try turning down the engine noise & turning up the tyre squeal. That
helps provide a bit more indication of the amount of grip you have got.

It _is_ possible to catch just about any spin despite what some may say
and I've recovered from having the car sideways many times.

BTW It is a long time since F1 cars were driven with four wheel drift, so
don't expect to be able to do so in an accurate sim ;-)

Cheers,
Richard

Using opposite lock help in the Advanced control method screen increases
your chances of catching spins before its too late.

However, as in "real" racing, nothing beats practice.

Peter  #:?)  Please note my real e-mail address below,

: You need to take counter measures before it ever gets into the spin

This is the most true statement anybody can ever tell you.  If you counter
steer BEFORE you start spinning you won't lose it.

If you KNOW your car oversteers at a particular corner then all you need
to do is counter steer slightly before you stab the throttle to make it
drift.  Then just straighten the wheel and grab the next gear.

If you try to counter steer, then counter steer again and again then you
can bet you will lose it or at least get the thing rocking back and forth
a couple times before you have to back off to catch it.

Another thing to do is instead of grabbing the next higher gear and
respinning the wheels, or at least continuously spinning the wheels, just
keep the same gear until max revs are reached.  Once the max speed of the
gear is reached the wheels will stop spinning.  Then you can proceed up
the gearbox and not really lose too much time.  No worries about venting
the motor since GP2 has a rev limiter.

As suggested earlier you may also want to try higher gears.  I usually run
1st gear at 30 or 32.  I don't have 1st gear under 30 for any track.  If
you don't want to do that then just never use 1st gear except at the start
and in pit stops.  Take them in 2nd and it'll be easier to keep control
since the rear wheels will hve less of a tendancy to spin.

On the other spectrum of that is to use lower gears on purpose.  This will
keep the motor in the high rev range exiting corners.  A higher reved
motor will have less power and won't spin the tires as easily.

All of the tricks will only prevent you from spinning the tires, which is
the most likely reason that you will have to counter steer in the first
place.  It does make the car easier to drive, however, applying these
tricks may increase your lap times since you are taking away a good
technique to maintaining speed in the corners.

Interesting! I hadn't thought about that one. I'll try it out tonight.

It's interesting looking at track guides for F1 circuits. All but the
very slowest of slow corners are taken in 2nd. If you can control it
right, a 1st gear of about 27 or 28 can get great acceleration off the
starting grid. Then take the slow corners with a 2nd gear of about 35,
just like the real guys <g>

Also try reducing the front wing. There is a tendancy to increase it to
way more than the rear wing (I do so myself when hotlapping), but it
isn't that realistic. Monza, for instance, feels much more realistic with
a very low front wing. This also helps reduce the chance of spinning
since it makes the front more stable on kerbs and less likely to induce
oversteer.

Cheers,
Richard