rec.autos.simulators

I am a F1 fan and have been playing F1GP / WC for a long time. I
notice that many of the lap records posted in this group are very
fast. My lap records are always off by 3 to 4 seconds. Even at German
GP, the fastest lap I have seen is 1:30.xxx, but mine is only
1:36.xxx, is there any special way to setup the car to get 6 seconds
faster? Remember, the German circuit has a lot of long straights. My
top speed is about 208mph. Does that mean I am losing a lot of time in
the corners or am I not fast enough on the straights?

BTW, I leave my car's horsepower setting at the default value
(716bhp), are those fast laps made under this setting? Do they cut
chicanes to get those fast lap records? Should I setup the car to
induce oversteering or understeering? Should I have more brake bias to
the front or to the rear? My current setup is both front and rear wing
being equal, at 16, and 8 rear brake bias, top gear ratio is at 68. Is
there any major factor that contributes to my speed loss, or is it due
to my driving style not being "aggressive" enough?

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

------------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Isaac Wong                    |
Computer Systems Engineering  |  "My goal is to go faster, and FASTER..."
Carleton University           |  

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Here is a tip I gave on another service.

 --- begin included message ---

Some of you will remember the advice I gave for the German track last year.
I said to have just enough wing to make it through turn 1 and the Agipkurve
flat out.

Well, I have changed my mind (and my car).  After practicing at other 'fast'
tracks (I'm SMOKIN' at Monza), I brought in what I learned and am now
solidly in the 1m31.xs lap range on Q tires (and no drafting, of course).
That's 1+ secs over last year's pole.  :D

Last year's car was getting 207 to 208mph down the straights.  This year's
car is only getting 203mph.  The difference is definitely in the slower
corners.  Last year's car pushed through the pit entrance corners at 80mph.
This year's car is nuetral going 109-112mph.

Wings made the difference.

Here is what I suggest (I've been wrong before):

- Put your wings at 10 (FW) and 1 (RW).  Don't worry about cornering yet.
  You will still be flat out for the 2 fastest corners with these wings.

- Set your gears to get the maximum speed down the straightaway.  Don't be
  afraid to try a setting above 64.  Once the gears are set for maximum
  speed, don't change them for the wing adjustments.

- Change only your FRONT wing until your car starts oversteering.  I'm not
  talking about while braking, but rather snapping into oversteer during
  high-speed cornering.  You'll know it when you see it cause you'll kiss
  the wall big time.  You can expect to be about 20 counts apart when this
  starts happening depending on your style.

- Back off on the front wing until the car no longer snaps into oversteer.

- Now adjust BOTH wings equally until you start losing top-end speed.  This
  may surprise you how far up you will get them before you start losing
  speed.  I don't mean 1 or 2 mph, but rather 4 or 5.

- Now pay attention to cornering.  Is the car pushing in the slow corners?
  It most likely will be at this point.  This is where the compromise will
  come into play.  You will want to get rid of the push (again adjust both
  wings UP equally), but you will need to sacrifice top-end speed.  5-7mph is
  no big loss since the cornering speeds are now higher.

- Once you get comfortable with this, you can start using the brake bias to
  see how it will affect cornering at the slower speeds.  I still have
  negative bias on my car (-10 for now to be exact).

- Now the final step will be to re-adjust the gearing to gain any speed that
  may be left in the motor.

Once all that is done, you should have a nice car to drive.  Don't be afraid
to tweak it in any direction.  You may be REAL close to that 'magical' setup
I always talk about.

 --- end included message ---

This was written specifically for Germany, but can be used at most of the
tracks.  I hope it helps someone out.

Oversteer; rear.

The rear wings needs to be much lower tha the front, say 26 front, 6 rear.

Practice, practice, practice. Learn how to set the car up. Read the FAQ
(coming this way RSN). Drink more coffee/cola.

Chisa
-- Gizmo
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Launchpad is an experimental internet BBS. The views of its users do not
necessarily represent those of UNC-Chapel Hill, OIT, or the SysOps.
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: Absolutely no to both; read the "rules & notes" posting.

I can drive the first AND second chicanes at full speed by cutting the
corners (It's fun jumping your car 6 feet into the air at 340kph!). BUT,
that's cheating. Then, if I actually bothered timing such a lap, it would
probably be something like 1:25 which is obviously not a 'real' lap time.

: > Is
: >there any major factor that contributes to my speed loss, or is it due
: >to my driving style not being "aggressive" enough?

: Practice, practice, practice. Learn how to set the car up. Read the FAQ
: (coming this way RSN). Drink more coffee/cola.

Also, for the German GP, the lap time depends a lot on how fast you do
that really dangerous (in my opinion) 2nd chicane. I can do it at about
280-290 kph - 12K rpm in 5th, but I can only do this without crashing about
1/5th of the time, which is really annoying. This gives me a time of
1:30.9ish, on my Amiga, where if you only do it at, say, 230-240 kph - mid
4th gear, then you'll be a good 1-2 (maybe even 3) seconds slower. (But you
don't get to die every 2 minutes that way ;-) )

Well, that's my .00002 cents worth (rounded down to 0),
Grant Reeve.

: top speed is about 208mph. Does that mean I am losing a lot of time in
: the corners or am I not fast enough on the straights?

: BTW, I leave my car's horsepower setting at the default value
: (716bhp), are those fast laps made under this setting? Do they cut
: chicanes to get those fast lap records? Should I setup the car to
: induce oversteering or understeering? Should I have more brake bias to
: the front or to the rear? My current setup is both front and rear wing
: being equal, at 16, and 8 rear brake bias, top gear ratio is at 68. Is
: there any major factor that contributes to my speed loss, or is it due
: to my driving style not being "aggressive" enough?

Top speed is everything ! (well, nearly)
Try lowering the rear wing to about 5 and raise the front to 30 approx.
Although this setup looks entirely undrive-able on the paper, it works
pretty well in the game.
Your top speed should then be near 211 mph without a tow.
If you refer to the lap-times in the Hall Of Fame :
The engine power has to be left at the default 716 bhp and
corner and chicane cutting is not allowed in the standard category.
Slipstreaming, however, is allowed and greatly contributes to a good
lap-time, especially in Hockenheim.
Driver DUG, who currently is fastest in the standard category, drove
1:30.9 without slipstreaming.I managed 1:30.055, but with _three_
good slipstreams plus reloading, which is not allowed anymore
in standard category.
Personally I prefer a slightly oversteering car, because it helps you
get around tight corners, especially if you hit  the throttle at the
same time.
Just make sure that you can take the easy right curve at approx. 1:12
without releasing throttle.If you put too much wings in the front you
will bleed off speed by oversteering.
You sixth gear may be a bit to long if you dont expect to slipstream.
When I reach top-speed I prefer the revs to be near 12700 rpm.
The faster I am when I brake, the more I set the brake bias to the
front. However, I always use rear-biased brakes ( e.g. 04 Rear in
Hockenheim as opposed to 08R in Montreal )

Hope I could help ..

                                                Ivanhoe Vasiljevich

I can get the steering wheel to calibrate but seem to have
problems with the pedals (it seems to want to calibrate Joystick
B in the LEFT/RIGHT direction as well as the forward/backward).
No matter what I try, i get a bad calibration.

So is it possible? What am I doing wrong?

Also any recommendations for setup (i.e steering=linear) would
be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Gary W. Mahan

The "rallycross" record is 1:25.285, set by Ivanhoe Vasiljevich (driver IV)
but driving at full speed through all 3 chicanes. The first is dead easy
to cut across (you do NOT want to hit the kurb, you want to slide gracefully
across the grass; if you are very good you can hit the kurb and jump clean
over another car!); the second is very hard but again you need to avoid
the kurb; the third is fairly easy and again, no kurb. You don't
brake till you hit the Sachskurve.

I entirely agree that these aren't "real" laps.

Chisa
-- Gizmo

--
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Launchpad is an experimental internet BBS. The views of its users do not
necessarily represent those of UNC-Chapel Hill, OIT, or the SysOps.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

: The "rallycross" record is 1:25.285, set by Ivanhoe Vasiljevich (driver IV)
: but driving at full speed through all 3 chicanes. The first is dead easy
: to cut across (you do NOT want to hit the kurb, you want to slide gracefully
: across the grass; if you are very good you can hit the kurb and jump clean
: over another car!); the second is very hard but again you need to avoid
: the kurb; the third is fairly easy and again, no kurb. You don't
: brake till you hit the Sachskurve.

: I entirely agree that these aren't "real" laps.

I can go flat out (in fifth) thro' the second chicane sticking to the
*legal* (;-) ) track surface.  I'm convinced that this with a faster
straight line speed is my only advantage at Hockenheim.  It can be
a bit hairy coming in for that corner and there being another car
doing at a `normal' 1st/2nd gear speed.  I can see the merit of
using the grass then! :-)

Thomas

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