Best way to learn to drive 100% realistic? advise sought!

Hello AC community.

I'm looking for some advice and pointers on the best way to learn to drive well in a 100% realistic settings.

I'm a complete newbie to sim racing. (messed about with driving game for years, but all arcade style). I have a G25 wheel, pedals & shifter. (got just to get into AC)

When I went out for my 1st practice lap in a fancy looking race BMW, I set the game up 100% realistic, manual gears, clutch, no assists etc etc... I had complete overload and couldn't mange the work load.. it was a disaster.

Do you think if my end goal is to drive without aids in as realistic manner as possible I should start with aids and reduce them over time or jump in the deep end, have a nightmare for a month or two (or more) but not learn bad habits?

Presently i'm trying going full real settings but having auto gears just while i learn and get more experience. But would like to hear what route people think is best when starting out.

Thanks Watoh

 

Thanks mate, exactly the advice is was looking for. Will give this a go.

Might have to determine 'mastered' in my own context

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Since 1.0 RC we have the career mode. Why not use that to naturally progress to faster cars. You'd never jump straight into a race car in real life.

Set everything to realistic (ABS and TC to factory) and start with the Abarth 500. Drive it like it was your own car. Slowly at first and focus on getting lines correct and make sure not to overdrive it. Think real driving and not so much racing game.

 

I will put that as my signature

 

Great advice already. I'd keep the cars on their factory settings. They how they are supposed to race, so that's e most realistic setting.

Some old school simracers might say that the only way to race is without any electronic help like ABS. Sure when you race the Lotus 49 that's very true, but the modern cars have ABS, so just feel free to keep it on.

I had a great time with the Ferrari 458GT2 yesterday. Very drivable car with the factory settings on.

 

One thing i'd like to add is trying to understand what you have done wrong whenever you screw up a corner or braking manoeuve and what you should do next time around. This maybe sounds silly but if you don't do this on a regular basis you won't learn from your mistakes. If you wonder about what to do in certain situations you can always post a video and ask for advice. GT3 cars are good to start with since they shift easily so you can focus more on optimize the braking and accelerating inputs and timing the shifts right.

 

Thanks for the advise.
Just to clarify one point; when I say realistic I mean as they are in real life i. e. if it has ABS I'll use ABS.. nothing wrong with aids that are built into the the real car..

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as you had "a great time with the Ferrari 458GT2 yesterday" , pls, give me a hint:
front wheels nearly always locking
- tweaking break balance to rear, even to 80 = full rear = same
- lowering tire presure = same
- lowering bumps front = same
- even at braking from full speed, wich means FULL downforce/pressure, front wheels lock

I`ve driven several fast street cars (Porsche 911 and BMW M3) as well as some smaller racecars, but NEVER did/does front whells look that easy as it is with this 458 GT2...pfff... no fun to me... do I miss sth!?

 

First 1-2 laps you've got to get heat into the tires. Make sure you don't just slam the brakes but learn how far you can go. Once you've got that you won't lock them up as much as before

 

With my G25 I find I have to "calibrate" my pedals each time I start AC. If I start the game and go straight into driving then I'll find the brake pedal ridiculously over sensitive, it seems to go to 100% at maybe 5% travel, my wheels lock at the slightest tap of the pedal.

If I go into controller setup and depress the pedals then some sort of calibration occurs and my pedals are fine. This may or may not be your issue though.

 

As Phen0m said, don't slam on your brakes. Best thing to do is go on a practice track, do a lap (taking it easy) and then start experimenting with how far to push your brake pedal.

Obviously temperature and road gradient have an affect but you'll get an idea as to how far to push the pedal. I run with all assists off, abs included. A lot of the GT/race cars don't need much. As soon as your wheel starts to lock, back off ever so slightly. The Mclaren GT3 can lock up with about 30% of the pedal compressed but with some warming up and high speeds you can eventually compress the pedal completely. (Depending on settings ofcourse)

When I first got this game and the G27. I went to complete basics. Grabbed a low powered car and did a few laps around a course. Get a feel of how the car behaves. I actually had this game for 2 weeks before going drifting properly in real life and in those 2 weeks I spent all my free time learning how the car might react when putting it into a drift, maintaining it, transitioning it and then straightening up again. Everyone has their own way of coming to grips with learning a new game ofcourse. (Most of what I've written here is aimed at OP as well or anyone just starting out)

TLR Grab a car. Become one with it. Experiment and just enjoy it. As soon as you get frustrated it's time to take a break.

 

I haven't had much track time, but what I've had I've loved. Been getting some laps in at Spa in a fast Lotus (can't remember the model), the feel and feedback is just amazing. A lot of practice is going to bring a lot of fun. I don't think there are many shortcuts with this sim, practice practice practice!

 

Yeah same thing here.
Before you start driving (or just in the menu screen) just press all pedals (all the way as fast as possible) and then let them just come up. Should be fine then

 

This is how i tried to tackle your problem not long ago, and am still learning:

Set to realistic obviously(factory now),
and imagining sitting in the real car. just take it slow and easy and increasing the speed every round.
Also if you learn the track at the same time CTRL+i for guidlines.
With "slower" cars like the non-GT BMW you can (mostly) drive very save if you brake at red guidline and not accelerate at yellow guidline.

 

Brake earlier than you think you should - especially if you're struggling to hit the apex or get on the throttle quick.

Took me easily 6 months to really grasp that, but you'll know for sure you need to do this when others spear past you on the straights simply because you got on the gas much later than other drivers (or AI).

 

Quite a bit of good advice has been given already. I think it IS about slamming the brakes. I have Clubsport pedals with a load sensor brakepedal. I have to push really hard to get full travel on the brakes, so that's probably what really helps me here. On my old Logitech brakes I had to be easy on them too.

Do you have factory defaults on for the 458GT2? Cause that should give you a bit of ABS I think.

 

Nope, GT2 cars don't have any ABS at all. Not even 'slightly' since it's prohibited by the rules made by the ACO & FIA.

 

thx mate!
yep, factory defaults on. And I`m using Fanatec Elite pedals with load cell, so this is not the point I guess (or hope so ).

Its more as I described it:
even with brake-balance COMPLETELY to the rear(80) AND doing 2 or 3 rounds for Tyre temp (which is itself sth not that easy depending on what car u use) I have to brake so much earlier than with other GT2 cars (wich I have driven now for about 200h in AC!!!) to get the corner without locking the brakes...
if I use the normal ( = not "Alien" ) braking points (or up to 5 or 10 meter more!!) and brake nearly like I normally do,
this car ALLWAYS lock frontwheel!! ALLWAYS!

Thats strange to me, in AC, but as well as I def KNOW, cars with such performance like GT2 cars NEVER do like this...
So I thought maybe I miss sth or default setttings 458 GT2 need kind of a "special" tweak regarding brakes...
Thats why I asked...
But thx a lot that you guys tried to help me!
cu on track

 

@McStinger wait how "brake-balance COMPLETELY to the rear" equals "80"? The number indicates "front balance" so if it shows "80" it's 80% front 20% rear. If you set up the brakes to the minimum front (52) hitting the brakes is like pulling a handbrake. A value of 60-64 will probably give you best braking.

Edit: also, a Mogster mentioned some wheels have brakes decalibrating, maybe that happens to you. (Try pushing the brakes fully when in the car to reset the calibration)