How to get fast - my journey

I was a beginner once and I thought it would be useful for others to read about my journey towards becoming faster on ACC i.e. what I did to improve. I am going to use Nurburgring as an example but the theory is transferable across tracks. Times are race pace (which I think is more important) not hotlapping.

I started with a controller on PC with all the assists on and after learning the general racing lines my times were around 1.58 flat, with inconsistent fast laps around 1.56 flat. However, the controller input was imprecise and the steering assist was destroying tyres.

The controller was a major bottleneck to progress and so I invested in a Fanatec setup (F1 Carbon Rim, CSL Elite Wheelbase and Pedals). The learning curve was massive to start with and I actually ended up going slower initially at around 2.00 flat.

I subsequently watched 'Aris Drives' Youtube videos on the wheel and pedal inputs and ACC physics. A couple of fundamental takeaways were; manage the steering angle (my steering angle was too high) to maximise tyre grip and manage pedal inputs to control the pitch of the car and maximise entry and exit speeds. These things alone got me back to around 1.56 flat.

The next thing was fine-tuning my setup. A lot of people say setups don't matter but I find it's really important as different drivers have different styles requiring different setup characteristics. In essence, I tweaked the setup to generate the desired amount of oversteer and to maximise rotation and cornering speed. This brought me into the mid 1.55's.

However, my setup was heavily based on oversteer characteristics in the suspension (soft front and hard rear) and required high TC and ABS assists to help control stability. This was another major bottleneck. The high TC and ABS assists were destroying my acceleration out of slow corners and extending braking distances, but lowering them would make the car unstable and I would lose even more time. I had a conundrum.

The solution was to completely change my setup philosophy and instead base it on understeer characteristics in the suspension (hard front and soft rear). The softer rear gave me more traction and allowed me to lower the TC and ABS to get better acceleration and braking performance. I could also address any understeer in medium and high-speed corners by tweaking the aero balance to suit. This brought me into the low 1.54's.

Last but not least, pick a car and stick with it. Learn how it likes to be driven and understand how it responds to different setup changes. Also, look at sector times, understand where you may be losing the most time and think about how you can address it.

The above has served me well at other tracks too. At Spa, I have improved from 2.21 flat to the low 2.17's; at Hungaroring I have improved from 1.47 flat to the low 1.43's; and at Imola I have improved from 1.45 flat to the low 1.41's .

Hopefully the above can help some other people improve as well.

All the best.