Taming Radical SR3

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Comante, Oct 31, 2019.

  1. Comante

    Comante Registered

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2013
    Messages:
    1,694
    Likes Received:
    1,218
    I must say that I'm pretty amazed by how much the two videos overlap, both in track layout and in regards of how the car perform on the track. The real video is more bouncy, but It can't be otherwise with a camera attached to the rollbar, and the hands are a bit more nervous, I suppose the real track is less smooth than the simulated one and this increase the number of hands movements/second required.
    I will go back to the old post to recover your suggestion on the setup of the real car, as my latest attempts have been made with a slightly modified default setup as I found that my setup was going in a bad direction.
    Last question: How many laps can you do in 2.04 before the tires give up?
     
  2. jayk

    jayk Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2019
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    Cheers, I have understeer and oversteer when trying to get on the power early.
     
  3. jayk

    jayk Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2019
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    I did about 5 laps, 1 warm up lap, then you can do a couple of 2:04's. I don't really do more than a few laps at a time when hot lapping.
     
  4. Comante

    Comante Registered

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2013
    Messages:
    1,694
    Likes Received:
    1,218
    Oh oh Thank you! With your tutoring I'm finally grasping the driving of a surfboard on wheels!
    2.05.88 achieved quite easily, mostly with the correct braking and softening a bit the rear to gain a bit more traction during acceleration. but best of all I'm starting to see the light, probably if I would be more consistent timelap would get down on their own, I'm still gaining and losing here and there, now the most difficult part of the track is not losing time between turns 3 and 4. I see that I can gain time braking hard entering turn 3 but I've not found a reliable way to keep all the gain through turn 4 and 5.
     
    jayk and Emery like this.
  5. jayk

    jayk Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2019
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    Awesome, great to see real world experience helping in the sim world, rather than the other way around as I am used to.
    rFactor2 runs from the wing (F1) pits and that start and finish but most races in UK Club motorsport run from the National Pits.

    So working on the rFactor2 start/finish Turn 3 would be Village, Turn 4 is The Loop and Turn 5 Aintree.

    [​IMG]

    Turn 3: I brake hard down but then try and trail the car in whilst downshifting, sometimes I'm almost coasting the car in to the Apex, there is a lot of time to be picked up under braking here. Exit just use the full circuit but keep the steering angle on to bring it around to the right for Turn 4. I stay in 3rd gear here, even though the revs are low, 2nd will spin up the rear tyres. Turn 4 has a few lines but you just have to be so patient, I brake a little drop to 2nd gear get the Apex and and try and really get on the power early and open up the steering, use the kerb on exit. Some times I don't go really wide before Turn 4, you can really play about with it. Turn 5 is flat, hit the kerb and let the car run really wide on exit.

    This might help also. Scott Mansell's circuit guide in his Radical SR3 RSX too :)

     
    DJChrizz, pkelly and Emery like this.
  6. avenger82

    avenger82 Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2016
    Messages:
    811
    Likes Received:
    342
    @jayk
    I'm interested in RL car handling. Is losing and regaining grip realistic in this car, with similar track conditions? How about oversteer behavior? Did you have to correct oversteer IRL? Do such reactions translate to rF2 version?
     
  7. JimmyT

    JimmyT Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2012
    Messages:
    923
    Likes Received:
    578
    @jayk I'd just like to say thanks, I enjoy the radical and you've given some great tips for getting better lap times in rF2. Please continue to share with us.
    MUCH APPRECIATED.
     
    jayk likes this.
  8. jayk

    jayk Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2019
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    Hi, Have you ever driven a go-kart in real life? The Radical is basically a big and fast go-kart. The steering is much the same, very heavy, and gives loads of un-corrupted feedback, you can feel everything. I will try my best to answer you.

    Is losing and regaining grip realistic in this car, with similar track conditions?
    You can surprisingly really play with the balance of the car when driving it because of it being go-kart like, very communicative and direct. Slow speed corners there is a lot less aero on the car so if you push it too hard it will start sliding, but after faster speeds its generating high downforce which keeps it pinned to the tarmac. However when you get to the limits of any car there will be some sort of under or oversteer.

    Did you have to correct oversteer IRL? Do such reactions translate to rF2 version?
    Yes, depending on the situations, for me mostly in the slow speed stuff when trying to get on the power. But watch some videos on YouTube and you will see plenty of drivers making oversteer corrections in different place.

    To enhance my point here is a video of me at Donington Park. 1st Clip shows me come into Redgate, turn in with a nice smooth steering angle and on exit fully on the power keep a smooth steering angle and shitting up to craner curves. 2nd clip something is not right on the car, same corner I brake and under braking I'm correcting a lot to keep the car straight (small inputs into steering amount to a lot as the steering rack is so quick). I then turn in and again am correcting oversteer as soon as I turn right the car wants to continue right and oversteer. I then balance the throttle with the steering correction to keep it on the track and going the way I want. I cannot have full power acceleration. The video then shows the reason this happened. The rear toe adjustment bolt came loose, measure it gave 11 degrees of Toe In and depending on power and weight it was constantly changing as the Toe link was moving which you can see at the end of the clip. But this really does backup my thoughts on how communicative and direct the car is. This issue occured on a straight and when I came into heavy braking I instantly felt it and controlled.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B13yRo_Bnof/?igshid=17x05jm16wbx4
     
    avenger82 and Comante like this.
  9. jayk

    jayk Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2019
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    Thanks, It's good to be able to give back to the sim community :)
     
    pkelly likes this.
  10. avenger82

    avenger82 Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2016
    Messages:
    811
    Likes Received:
    342
    Thanks for the insights! Yes I've driven go-karts. The ones I raced often oversteer , but differently. They often instantly start sliding a little and immediately lose speed until the rear wheels re-grip. So mostly you don't need to do anything,(i.e. countersteer) - just wait when it re-grips. It's like on/off switch, there's no grip transition period. So it's different than most cars in rF2 and even the Radical. I only remember recently, that once had to correct oversteer, because go-kart was in big slide (was at higher speed and it felt good).

    I actually had unrecoverable oversteer with the Radical on Sebring T1(high speed left turn). I had basically default setup, but lowered rear wing to 4 and of course was going too fast. But I think if my reaction was faster it could be recovered.

    Thanks for the video and description. I'll check it when I'm back home.
     
  11. avenger82

    avenger82 Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2016
    Messages:
    811
    Likes Received:
    342
    The Radical in rF2 is more smoother , less fast wheel movements, than in your video. Even in the first part (without the rear toe loose ) there was one fast movement probably caused by hitting curb.
     
  12. JimmyT

    JimmyT Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2012
    Messages:
    923
    Likes Received:
    578
    After following some of the tips @jayk has put in here, I have taken 3 seconds off my lap times at Silverstone.
    Can't stop trashing front left tyre though.:D:D
    Thanks.
     
    jayk likes this.
  13. Comante

    Comante Registered

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2013
    Messages:
    1,694
    Likes Received:
    1,218
    The only way to not trash FL tire is to lft throttle through fastest right corners for that critical second where all the throttle output act on the FL tire overloading it. I don't know if you can make record laps this way, but I think is the way to go for a race.
     
    JimmyT and jayk like this.
  14. jayk

    jayk Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2019
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    Yes I get what you mean about the slide in go-karts, I guess its a lot to do with the wheel base also. I don't generally have oversteering the high speed stuff even if its flat out once tyres are warm. The only time I've had oversteer in rF2 in the Radical is mostly when trial braking, slow speed oversteer i.e getting on the power. Or if there is elevation and rear gets light on turn in or throttle application. The rest generally is very smooth.

    I have not ran the wing at 4 but on a high speed circuit like Silverstone the next thing for me to do would be to drop the wing to 4 from 5 and see how it feels, if its faster over a lap then great then I'll try softening the rear a bit so I can get on the power earlier. So for Sebring you could raise to 5 and run the lap and see if your faster and more controlled over the lap, or if 4 is better over a lap but a bit sketchy on T1 adjust the speed or driving style. Adjusting the wing is the first thing I do on a track day as its easy and takes less time, i can usually find a good balance with wing adjustment for the day.
     
  15. Comante

    Comante Registered

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2013
    Messages:
    1,694
    Likes Received:
    1,218
    Yes the wing has a big effect both for his dimensions and his placement, the first thing to do is to find where is the sweet spot for the track/driver.
     
  16. jayk

    jayk Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2019
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    IRL you can change the angle of the main wing, and the the angle of the winglet.

    Winglet, which the game refers to and the wholes on the side. Here we have more holes and do halfs.

    [​IMG]

    Main wing adjustment. I don't really adjust this.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2016
    Messages:
    7,453
    Likes Received:
    4,369
    Just remembered a thread from a year or two ago. A user was claiming the Radical handled better when the front ride height was higher than the rear. I saw your posts at the beginning about how narrow the shock/spring settings were to get grip. Is this just a sim work-around to save the front tires or an actual setup method?
     
  18. avenger82

    avenger82 Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2016
    Messages:
    811
    Likes Received:
    342
    I know very little about setups, but Isn’t that something that wouldnt work IRL?
     
  19. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    12,345
    Likes Received:
    6,572
    Based on what?
     
  20. JimmyT

    JimmyT Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2012
    Messages:
    923
    Likes Received:
    578
    Yep, I've driven the Radical in the sim with the front about 0.5cm higher than the back and it did seem to handle much better. In real life I would have thought the car is like a wing, designed to have the front down to help with the downforce by forcing the air over the aerofoil shape on the top. If you lift the front you change the angle of attack and allow more air to push under the car and therefore negate the effect you're after.......... maybe...??
    I'm not an aerodynamics expert so maybe I'm using false logic there.
     
    avenger82 likes this.

Share This Page