Help with Lap Times

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Cipher, Nov 30, 2018.

  1. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    Hello, I'm quite a new player here (both in the game and on the forums). I'm currently practicing for an upcoming race next week (Interlagos GP in the Oreca LMP2) and... my times are really horrible. So far my PB is a 1:21.865 and the next lap was around 3/10ths quicker until when I bottled it up at Sector 3. Here's the lap, along with the bottled one:

    What am I doing wrong, and where can I improve?
    Sorry there's no steering, throttle, and brake input. I don't know how to put them here in the HUD yet. I'd also appreciate it if I'm shown how to do this :)

    Thank you in advance!
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2018
  2. DanielK

    DanielK Registered

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    Try moving brake bias to the rear more. Also give the rear some more negative camber. Aside from that it’s difficult to tell what else is needed. Your driving seems ok given we can’t see your inputs. In rf2 setup is everything, and I mean everything. In my opinion the only way to really understand what the car is doing and needs is to get telemetry. There’s a plug-in available on the forum here (DAMplugin by Lazza) which will log telemetry files which can be read by MoTeC i2 pro. If you get as far as logging the telemetry (with extra channels enabled, all info available in plugin thread) I’d be happy to analyse it for you. Definitely a rabbit hole though so don’t jump in unless you’re ready...
    Also if you record a replay it’ll have brake/throttle/steering input at the bottom by default.
    I would record a lap but my PC is currently sitting without a graphics card ☹️
     
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  3. Comante

    Comante Registered

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    I'm far from being a fast driver, but if you want to improve your laptime, the first thing you need to do is stop caring about laptime. If you push too hard, everything you will obtain is to waste energy (speed) scrubbing your tires everywhere. A faster friend suggested this: fill the tank, put on the hardest tires, and lap until the fuel is gone. In your laps the only thing you must chek is tire temperature: keep them under control, never too hot, never too cold. After this training you should be ready to try with less fuel and softer tires (if avaiable), you will be amazed to discover that you will lap faster putting while you will think to be slower. You will be able to see new lines along the track.
     
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  4. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    Thank you! :D
    Apologies again that I wasn't able to give you any telemetry. I'll definitely go check out the plug-in you mentioned. Maybe along with the Motec. I'm a bit eager to jump down that rabbit hole haha
    How do I save the replay as well, by the way? I did that lap on a WAN server, if that's anything important
    Great advice! I'll be doing this :D
     
  5. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

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    and drop the tire pressures, waaay down.
     
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  6. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    Here's another lap, this time with inputs

    Included as well is the MoTeC log file (it's lap 2)
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Bjørn

    Bjørn Registered

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    How fast do you want to go? I mean I don't see much wrong with your laps Are we talking seconds, tenths?
     
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  8. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    I'm talking about seconds. 2 of them :oops:
     
  9. Bjørn

    Bjørn Registered

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    Holy, you're that far of the pace with that driving? That's a highly competitive league ;)
    But you can surely shave some of it off with setup... What's your style? Understeer, neutral or oversteer?
     
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  10. tyressin

    tyressin Registered

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    The laps are pretty good, check that you're practising on same realroad as the rest of the league, same fuel load and lowest tire pressures. There might be some time left at Ferradura and Descida do Lago.
     
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  11. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    Yeah, I got pulled into this really quickly and found myself way off the ballpark xD I'm enjoying the progress though!
    Hmm, I haven't found my style on rFactor 2 yet, but on the previous game I played I prefered understeer. I'm faster with oversteer, but I want some consistency in the long run
    The current setup the car has is on the understeery side as well. Very easy to control :)
    I'm referencing myself against my teammates, which are all in the 1:18-1:19 mark. We use the same exact setup, fuel load, and tires. We haven't done a qualifying simulation yet

    For those that gave advice on setups, I deeply appreciate it but I'm afraid I can't do as much on them, since our whole team will be using the same car. :(
     
  12. Gasper Zupan

    Gasper Zupan Registered

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    Maybe ask your teammates to send you replay of their hotlap and then you can compare your driving with theirs.
     
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  13. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    Not hotlaps, but we had some practice sessions together and I was able to save the replay of it. For the most part, their line is similar to mine. But given how slow I am compared to them, there must be something else going on that I don't notice xD
     
  14. Gasper Zupan

    Gasper Zupan Registered

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    maybe compare top speeds and press pause during turns to compare your speed through various turns. also check their braking points and at what rpm they tend to change gears when they upshift.
     
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  15. Emery

    Emery Registered

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  16. 006

    006 Registered

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    Just in case you dont know, this car has different aero packages which can be selected from the tuning menu (not the setup screen in the garage). So make sure you're using the same one as your team. But i expect you've already done this.
     
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  17. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    Ohh okay! Will do this :D
    Thank you :)
    Yup, I also changed the aero package to match my teammates

    Update: Thank you all again for the advice :D I've now got a new pb at 1:21.315, and my optimal is a 1:19.617! It's all about stringing the perfect lap now. Wouldn't have been able to improve this much without guidance; I deeply appreciate it :)
    IMG_20181201_092833.jpg
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2018
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  18. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

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    Just a word of advice on 'optimal' laptime - to get a truer picture you should edit the track sections so that each one starts just before each braking zone and ends just before the next one. The way it splits a track up by default into straights and corners can mislead you, as you can go through a corner faster but suffer down the next straight, and it will combine your best corners and straights.
     
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  19. Cipher

    Cipher Registered

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    Noted, thanks :D
    Can you guide me a bit on how I should split the track? Also another question, what's the rolling minimum part of the chart?
     
  20. DanielK

    DanielK Registered

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    Your driving looks pretty good, if anything you’re just not quite carrying enough mid corner speed. Don’t try to find the time with late braking, get off the brakes early and focus on carrying as much mid corner speed as you can. I’ll take a look at your log file later and see what adjustments you could make to the car. Also I’d suggest getting into the habit of downshifting slightly later, once you have it dancing on corner entry it’s easy to upset the car downshifting too early (unless you’re using auto shifting, in which case ignore that).

    Sorry, I just read that you’re using a fixed setup for your race.. I’ll focus on what you can do differently driving then, the telemetry gives many clues
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2018
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