rec.autos.simulators

Try this thought experiment. Collect at random 200 people who have never driven
a real race car or a racing simulator, but drive to work every day in their
street car. Let 100 of them spend 10 hours a week (this is how much the hard
core sim racer practice) for two years driving a racing simulator with a wheel,
pedals and a gear stick, for example GPL with a Thrustmaster Formula Pro wheel.
Let the other 100 continue to just drive their street car to work. After these
two years let all 200 take a three day course in driving a real race car, where
there will be timed laps on the last day. It goes without saying that the 200
people will be evenly spread in that time chart, cause driving a racing
simulator can not possibly prepare you for the real thing, now can it :o)?

/Christer
--
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~w-41236/ (Read all about the "Global online
racing"-proposal under "For developers". Read it a couple of times, cause noone
has understood it the first time they've read it yet :o)).
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~w-41236/GplLadder/SOGL/ (Join one of the online GPL
ladders)

I don't know, you learn when to get back on the gas after you hit the apex and
all that stuff.  You'd understand the physics of the car somewhat.  So in
someways a racing sim can prepare you for the real thing.
Racer X
Veteran Sim Racer
Victory Lane-
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1423/

You learn trail braking, how weight transfer affects the car etc. I
still like karting more than sim racing, nothing beats it.

Scott

For his 8th birthday he went karting with a friend for the first time. This
introductory session was for 8-16 year olds. His friend went out & held up
the older guys as expected (no overtaking allowed in this session) and was
frequently asked to pull over to allow the other guys to get some decent
practice.

When Michael went out (there was only 1 kart small enough so they had to
share) we thougt the same would happen. Only he pulled away from the older
guys to catch them up (i.e. lap them).

Either he is the next Schuey or the experience gained from PC sims gave him
an advantage over similarly inexperienced kart racers.

Similarly I comfortably won our works karting event in my 3rd time in a
kart - others had competed in a number of corporate events (that's sales
managers for you).

My only experience of motor sport is some road rallying back in the 80s -
hardly sufficient to really get to grips with a sliding kart.

So I believe PC Sims do help prepare a person for handling a sliding car -
experience that cannot be gained in a normal road car on public roads.

Sure it lacks the physical elements of real racing, plus the fear factor of
it being real, but I believe it can have positive contribution towards
learning to race a real car as PC flight sims can help someone save money on
flight lessons.

Cheers

Tony

Its for that very reason that part of your training on aircaraft for an
instrument rating can be simulator time (I'm talking PC based non moving
i.e. no hydraullic rams etc). All airline pilots learn to fly their
particular type on simlators first - for the reasons I've mentioned above.

Your proposed test with the 200 would be very interesting. I suspect that
you would have a high percentace of good lap times from the "sim 100" than
you would from the "daily driver 100". Of course some of the daily drivers
would make low lap times becasue some of them would have a natural ability.
It would also be very interesting to see the results if you didn't do the 3
day driving course.

cheers

-Lindsay

Now the way i see it, if real world racing helped me in the virtual world, then
it should work the other way.  Being a good sim racer will never fully prepare
you for driving a real car...but it will definately help.

The part i find that alot of people dont understand in sims is setups.  This,
in my opinion, is the most realistic part of them.  GPL is a prime example
because the setups are more complicated than N1, N2, or ICR2.  

Just my opinion.

Chris

Same thing happened to me, sort of. First time I ever went on a "proper"
kart, I broke the track lap record by 3 hundredths. This was after 2
years of F1GP and a year of GP2.

Cheers!
Graeme Nash

http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk
ICQ# 11257824

1998 Xoom GP2 League Champion

It was Karting that best prepared me for that experience, but whether or not
Sim Racing prepared me for Karting is a good question.

My first time in Karting was ages ago... maybe early 1996, when I was only
playing F1GP. That sim certainly helped me to understand that turning left and
right made the Kart point in a left or right direction, respectivly...
brilliant! But really, the most important thing it prepared me for was the
'racing line' and also how to apply throttle (wheelspin) and brake effectivly
(without locking up)! I certainly had a good advantage in those early races,
but since then my amazing talent has taken over and no-one has been able to
touch me since :o)

Rob

--Tel

Just remind me I am twice your age by comparing yourself with my son!!!

Cheers
Tony

From an honest-to-god Racer.

Can't be all bad - you're not the one who spun the lead away at Spa!

:-)

*Cheers*
Graeme Nash

http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk
ICQ# 11257824

1998 Xoom GP2 League Champion
1999 IGPS GPL Series Leader   <----------- Just had to say that TR!