rec.autos.simulators

1) How much time will I lose using either auto shifting and/or throttle
help?  I started off with A-shifting, but have since switched that for
throttle help. Without one of these aids, I simply spin under braking
far to often.  Comments?

2) Which car should I be concentrating on (or is this too subjective)?
It would be nice to stick with one chassis.  If this is possible, where
can I find the best set-ups for my situation.  Is the Ferrari or Brabham
with Allison's set-ups the way to go?

3) As an example, in the last quick left-hander at Monza, I've found
that I can either let up a bit before I turn in and then ease the power
back on or I can throw the wheel to the left (and bleed off speed in a
drift) whilst keeping the throttle pinned.  Which of these styles is the
quicker (A.Prost vs G.Villeneuve?) and should I be concentrating on as a
general approach?

I've studied the included hotlap replays and frankly, I can't see
anything that I'm doing differently yet I'm 4-5 seconds off the pace.
But I'm going as fast as I can goddamit!  What to do?!

Much obliged,
Simon Goodwin

Hmmmm . . . I've never used any of these aids.  I recommend losing them as
fast as you can.  Learn to modulate the throttle and brakes on your own, so
some SLOW laps to get used to the car's response, then step up the pace.
You'll make faster gains this way, even though it's going to seem slower at
first.  Also, have you downloaded Allison Hine's Ferrari setups yet?  If
not, do so NOW:

http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/setups.htm

See above.  Yes, Allison's setups are the best.  The Ferrari is the best,
and the Coventry is a good starting point, but I also like the Murasama
(Honda).  Not as fast, but good for helping you learn car control.

I ease off the throttle AND throw the wheel to the left.  I think the
throttle help is giving you a false sense of what's going on here.  Then
again, I'm not all that fast at Monza.

Again, it could be the throttle help working against you.  Lose it, and have
fun!

-- John Bodin
    Publisher, The IRL Insider Magazine
    http://irlinsider.adnetweb.com/

Lose all aids (they all slow you up and throttle help will mess up your
setups). '67 GP cars have surprisingly long braking distances. If you have
trouble slowing the car, just brake earlier. I recomend you practise for at


to much, they're good enough for those sort of times (drop some fuel). Then
E-mail me (my address is unscrambled) or add me to your ICQ (UIN 1619610)
and I'll fill you in on my setup strategy.

The Lotus is the fastest car in the game, but it's also the most nervous.
The Brabham and Ferrari are good allrounders, but need the Lotii to suffer
problems to take a win. The Eagle has an edge at certain tracks, but it
doesn't like slowing down, nor tight places. Coventry (Cooper) is a nice car
to drive, but ultimately lacking. I've yet to get a handle on the Murasama
(Honda), but in the right hands it can be used to great effect. BRM is
outclassed in every way, but with the right setup drives itself. To save
yourself some frustration in getting to overcome the specific quircks of
each car I'd say take the Coventry for now.

Allison's setups are very good if your driving style includes a lot of left
foot and trail braking, otherwise you might find them too pushy. I strongly
recommend you read up on setup parameters and car dynamics (the Steve Smith
book is a good place to start, but you need to read carefully) and then
"roll your own". GPL is complex enough to tune the car to your driving style
instead of having to adopt someone elses. You could do worse than look at
Allison's setups for inspiration though.

Well, Monza and Watkins Glen are nice and wide, so you can afford to let it
hang out a little. But going fast is all about getting those 400 horses down
on the road and working for you. I'd say a clean line will beat a powerslide
any day (on the whole, some corners require drifting to take them
consistently). The turn in question should be flat out and clean with the
right setup and warm tyres.

Unfortunately, the included hotlaps are not that good (technically). They
were made a long time ago, before certain insights about car setup had come
to the fore. This to me is the most amazing thing about GPL... Dave and the
boys managed to code a driving model which is correct seemingly without
actually knowing how the '67 cars were set up.

I think you should concentrate on driving the correct line, practising the
proper techniques and not worry about the times for a while. You don't need
to do laps like that to win races off-line and certainly not to win on-line.
To me the sim is about enjoying driving the cars and the tracks.... they
will lead you to more speed, there's no way to force the issue.

Practise, practise and then practise some more... no two ways about it.

Jan.

Simon

Eldred

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Eldred

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beat them... low 1m30's will do on a GP distance.

Jan.
------

Jan.
------

Well, these laptimes match my laptimes after a week of playing quite well. I
play GPL now for about 1 1/2 months and I'm at 1:29:xx at Monza and 1:06:low
at Glen with the Lotus.

I would recommend to turn off all helps. GPL is alot about getting the
"power of the car on the street" and make it slow down despite the low grip
tires and with throttle- or brake help on you'll have a hard time to get the
right feel for that when you switch the helps off. Also you don't want the
computer to change gears in the middle of a corner and so on, so I'd switch
to manual shifting.

Alison's setups are good choice anyway. Just try out the cars and you will
find out for yourself where their good and weak spots are. Also try out
Ricardo Nunnini's Lotus setup at
http://www.simracingnews.com/guides/gpl/nunnini/
There are good driving tips also.
Just get rid of some fuel and set the braking balance a little bit higher.

The fastest way for this corner is to take it flat out without using the
steering too much. To do that you have to get an exact entry point for the
corner a little bit inside the racing groove. You also need a setup which
doesn't understeer. It is then possible to stay inside or at max at the
racing groove and only lose 2-3 kph through the turn. If you get outside the
racing groove you have to backup or you die in the armco.

Hey, you are playing the game for a week now! Don't panick! To get
competitive in GPL takes time and practice!

Peter
Vienna, Austria

To me Kylami is a medium difficulty track which will train your skills
needed for most of the other tracks.

IMO other tracks:-
Nurburing       A drive in the country, if you've got the time
Mexico  Complete frustration
Monaco  Not much fun either
Glen            A jolly good thrash
Monza           Boring, go to Spa instead if you need a burn up
Kylami          My favourite
Spa             Excellent blast
Rouen           I like this. It should be easy but never is
Mosport ditto
Silverstone     Frustratingly difficult for some reason
Brands Hatch    Only for experts
Zandy           My second favourite
Loudon  Complete brain death

Become consistent round Kylami then go back to the Glen and 1:07's
wont be a problem and 1:06's not far away.

p.s. as a newbie my handicap was not realising that you go faster with 4
gallons rather than 46 gallons. I'm sure your not as thick as me.
--
Alan Goss

Ditch *ALL* the helps. In the short term it will hurt, and the car will
seem undriveable. But in the medium to long term you will reap the
benefits of *FULL* car control. Just put in lots of practice without the
helps and you will slowly get quicker, but you will also be feeling what
the car is doing. This *feel* or feedback from the car will greatly help
you to control it.

Just settle down and try to drive say, 20 laps with no helps on at all.
Don't try to break any World records, just try to stay on the track.
Note your laptime when you start. It will be slow I know compared to
your usual times. But after 20 laps of just trying to stay on the
track, you will have learned quite a lot about the way the car handles,
and your laptimes will have come down.

I personally started on the Lotus, which is very hard to master. I now
drive the Eagle (a bit easier and with almost as much power) I use
alisons set-ups with the Eagle (just replace the Eagle's default gear
ratios when you use one of Alison's sest-ups). They seem to work well.

You should be able to take this bend at full throttle without bleeding
off too much speed at all? The key is to anticipate the corner (cos you
cannot see the bend over the blind bump in the road) and turn in before
you actually see the bend stating, just before you go over the bump. You
must also be silky smooth with the steering to avoid bleeding off too
much speed, and let the car slowly drift across the track so that you
are on the right hand side at the end of the corner heading down the
straight.

As ever, practice makes perfect.....

8-)

*Peter*     8-)

Simon

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If you haven't yet gone the steering full linearity route (ESPECIALLY if
you've got force feedback), DO IT NOW !

The handling becomes a lot more transparent. Worth about 2 seconds to me.

Ryan

Andre

On Thu, 19 Aug 1999 00:52:56 +0200, "Ryan Mitchley"