Why am I still so slow?

It's not just going with smaller tracks. I think Monza in particular is a good track for learning braking and cornering, Monza is all about precise braking and perfect car placement in corners. Its a track that punishes mistakes harshly due to the long straights and there aren't many corners to learn. You can really focus on what your doing because of those long straights.

Doing an hour long online race at Monza was the biggest boost I ever got to my driving. I'd also point out that I was still learning stuff at 600 hours of play. 300 hours is a good start, but it's not enough time to become an alien. Most professional sports stars put in at least 10,000 hours to get to where they are.

 

Abarth 500 Assetto Corse or Mazda MX5 Cup at somewhere like Brands Indy or Vallelunga Club could be a good place to start. Short enough that you can try many things in quick succession and check them against your delta. The Mazda especially is a momentum car, big losses if you brake too little or get on throttle too early/late I imagine. Maybe aim for 52's at Brands Indy in the little Mazda.

 

I dont understand why "delta sharing" has never been a thing. By far the best way to improve.

 

Try static onboard view or almost static. This can help to see how car behave while driving on edge...

 

Some time ago when it came out, I was driving Laguna Seca like crazy as well haha. I'm so inconsistent in the corkscrew it's not even funny...
It's hard to point the car correctly both for entry and for going down the corkscrew, because you can't see what's coming.

Thank you, that's comforting (and simultaneously intimidating ).

Well, Monza is a circuit I like as well, so I'm definitely gonna do some longer sessions in there.

I can drive manual and do heel-and-toe, but wouldn't it be better for practicing racing lines and braking if I used a sequential? That way I can rule out miss-shifting from the equation.

What do you guys think of the Seat Leon TCR (by Shaun Clarke)? It's an extremely docile FWD sequential.

Yes that would be very useful indeed!

I usually play with Real Head Motion. I might try that, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get used to it...

 

I'm down to trying that, pick a combo (track+car) and i'll upload a delta of a consistent, fast lap. Oh and do mention any special conditions you want to use - like lower track grip, hot/cold weather, different tyres or if it has to be default setup.

 

Hmmm, how about Monza with a slower and easy car like the M3 E92, or even the Seat Leon TCR I mentioned (if you care to download the mod - current version is 1.4). Ideal conditions (26ºC, optimum grip) are fine, default car settings (just tell me tire pressure adjustments, if needed).
Or if you have other suggestions I'll be glad to try as well.

Thanks!

 

Now that i think of it... @PhilS13 did you have any mod app in mind that can actually load a delta? Because the default delta app works only for a given session... we could use ghost but thats not delta, and i guess .tc file could be loaded but thats not live.
Hmm this might take a little bit longer

 

Yeah I guess so, I didn't really think about the gearbox. If your looking for suggestions the BMW M235i is a slowish seq race car and IMO quite good fun to drive.

 

Sidekick

Personal best laps are stored in steamapps\common\assettocorsa\apps\python\Sidekick\personal_best\

 

Thanks! Just noticed that raceessentials seems to save delta too, so will try both.

 

Ok, did 6 laps of M3 at Monza, last one was 2:08:225 stayed within white lines and didn't touch the bigger kerbs. (you can shave like 0.5+s by going knightrider over some of them )
Used sidekick (you can download the app at RaceDepartment) to record, so throw the ini files inside the personal_best folder (in the app folder as PhilS mentioned above). The fourth file is a replay of that best lap (goes in documents->AC->replay) for reference. Remember to back up your own files if you need them. Setup wise, i ran 25psi all tyres, max negative camber all tyres and thats it.

If this works for you i can download and run it with Seat later.

Also something to keep in mind while trying to match delta speed. Some, especially big and sudden, changes of the delta may be actually caused by different line not speed difference, so don't follow it blindly.

 

I love racing on the Nords, my favorite track by far. I don't think I'm even up to 300 hours, but I've improved my times significantly and continuously. My best time is 6:45 with the P1 GTR. I'm sure there's room for improvement. What I've found that works really well for me, is to race against one or two AI opponents with their skill level set just slightly higher than your own. Try to follow them as closely as you can and copy what they do. Follow their line, break when they do. When you get to the point where you can pass them, then increase the AI skill one notch and repeat the process. And don't be afraid to push it. You have to find the limits of every corner. It's not a big deal if you crash, just hit restart.

 

I tried a couple laps now without your delta first (to get a baseline), and the best I could manage was 2:11:554. Same setup. I'll try to put on your delta now and see what I can gather...

 

I watched your replay a couple times, and then proceeded to fight against the delta. After trying for around 2h, the best I could manage was 2:10:14 (with some consistent ~2:10:70s), but I did gain some important insights:

• I start out losing 0.3~0.4 in the first chicane. You brake extremely late and then trail-brake inside it. I have a hard time trail-braking consistently, and I end up coming in too hot. My delta spikes above yours in the first turn of the chicane, and then plummets down as I exit [I'm out 0.3~0.4s here];
  
• A similar thing happens in the second chicane [I'm out 0.6~0.8s here];
  
• Other two fast turns are reasonably easy, just a bit hard to come up with a brake point cue for the first one... [I'm out 0.8~1s here];
• Variante Ascari is a mess. If I'm careful with the kerbs I lose a lot of time. If I go over them, I can even recover some delta by the exit, but it's not consistent. Some spins happened here... [I'm out 1.3~1.5s here];
  
• In the Parabolica I have a hard time getting in the throttle as quickly as you do without the car slipping and losing tons of time as the TC engages [I'm out 1.9~2.2s here].

And a more general thing I've noticed, I seem to be centering the wheel back at the exit of turns a bit late, which results in a minor pendulum effect, especially in a car with so much body roll like the M3.

I consider the experience a huge success, will keep trying to improve.

 

Yeah, the likely reason for your delta to spike above mine in 1st chicane is probably because i drive it like it was 2 separate corners and try to maximize position in the first one, slowing down more than i had to to just "clear" the chicane, even throttling up at the exit of corner 1. I should do the same for second chicane but braked too early so instead decided to carry more speed in, cutting the kerb. If driven like the 1st chicane it would be faster and off the kerb, but im pretty bad at monza.

Ascari is a mess period , i think the key is to not overcook the first corner so you are calm and collected entering the following ones.
Oh and i think i have TC disabled in the launcher so forgot to mention that "setup" difference.

Glad you improved

 

Managed a 2:09:42 being very aggressive with kerb usage. Not a consistent time at all.
Once, I managed to see my delta go green after the second chicane (capitalizing on your minor mistake), but I couldn't repeat it haha.

How many hours approximately do you have in AC, @Nao ?

 

Don't ask, no seriously, it's way too much... mostly due to me leaving PC running overnight and not closing the launcher ... closing on 6k hours atm.
You don't need that much, the time needed to learn all the relevant skills is probably only couple hundred hours, but the time in between where you hone current skills or stagnate can get pretty long.

 

Simple footage from @Nao lap.


It's easier to see how it's done with the brake & accelerator input that way. I learned a lot by watching racing games laps. Some time is lost at 0:21.

 

Yeah it's great to see how doing the complete opposite of the crap you've been spreading for 2 years works.