Fairly new to RF2 and sim racing generally and I'm hot lapping the new Spa track in a Porsche GTE and completely stuck at around 2.20 lap time. Been doing this on and off for a week or more and slowly going insane. Seems like a moderate to good time is somewhere between 2.17 and 2.15 but I am completely stumped as to how to get those 3 or 4 seconds. I thought maybe get smoother runs but as soon as I complete a smooth as silk lap I lose another second or more and when I push past my current limit on any corner I'm in the wall. I've watched youtube vids and studied break points and racing lines but nothing seems off I'm just somehow 3-5 scs slower than everyone else. So I guess I'd like to know if I'm wasting my time or if this is a common experience and it is just a case of countless hours practicing the same track to get there? I'm not against that but steadily losing hope it will make any difference. Thanks!
Everyone can improve, and the further off the pace you are the more you can improve Hard to give targeted advice on a forum especially without some videos to check what you're doing. Also need to be aware of realroad (rubber) settings, potential setup tweaks or drawbacks, and pc or controller issues that might be affecting things. Driving around for thousands of laps isn't very productive or exciting, the difficulty is when you're the slow one it's hard to see what you're doing wrong (faster drivers - which will include you later - will spot the errors easily). If someone can share their setup (session and car) and replays, and maybe critique some of your driving, it will help. If I thought I might be faster I'd give it a shot, but I might be slower and I don't have Spa. A couple of completely blind tips: Check your driving in replays, including from "chasecam" view (Page Up) to check your track use Keep your wheel as straight as possible at all times Aim for one smooth throttle application from apex to exit, as early as possible, and only brake as late as still allows that exit. You gain more time on the straights than by braking super late. ("Slow in, fast out")
remember too, race laps at the ENDURANCE layout include starting on the old downhill starting location which shortens the first lap of a race by 6 + seconds. So that lap should be thrown out of all reporting of lap times, but I do not know of a way to do that.
If you are stuck for a long time with no progress you have to change your driving style Do you know how to brake properly? GTE has no ABS and is quite heavy, so braking is of utmost importance There is a big problem nowadays with people driving GT3 cars too much, or starting with GT3, because GT3 will never teach you how to brake.
Pick some rudimental car, like Puma from Reiza or something like that and start learning braking. In iRacing there is Mustang FR5000 that is perhaps the best learning car out there. That car is almost a learning tool. There is no such car in rFactor 2 but find something simmilar It can even be 3rd party content, but be careful because a lot of 3rd party has completely fictional physics and handling Fictional physics will further ruin you as a driver. So beware.
@BillyDB Also to use the semitransparent "Trainer", if it still works, can help you to improve your Laptimes.
People focus on braking, but when your braking make a difference in lap times is when you already grasped the basics. For started you picked the less forgiving car around , but anyway, my guess is that focusing on braking , you mess up corner exit. Is there that seconds are: earlier you apply throttle, faster you are, think about it: you are slow, with a loooooong straight ahead: the sooner you accelerate the faster you will be at the next braking point. So, stop worrying with braking hard and late ... this is stuff for pro-pilots. Remember the mantra: enter slow , exit fast. Then you can care about shaving with braking. If you want to learn driving: skip barber and limerock park.
Keep in mind the people doing those lap times *live* in rF2 and have thousands of hours in it. They also understand the quirks of rF2 and how the driving models work, etc. If you are new, concentrate on having fun with it.
Yes, I'm into RF2 since beta and I'm consistently from 2 to 4 seconds slower than good drivers on fastest laps, but maybe often many don't end races. So even outpaced you can still get your fight for a place. Enjoy your fun. It's a long road to the top, and many will never succeed, but this doesn't mean it's not fun, league racing is fun because there will be normal driver of any speed.
Try different ways of going into the corner. You can go with an oversteer setup and go smooth into the turn, or you can go with a more understeer setup and throw your car in harder for example. That's all stuff you can try. Some things work for you, some don't. Just make sure you hit the apexes and all the usable road at the exit.
Where did I mention late braking? Where? 1st thing to learn is to learn how to brake. There was no talking niether about late nor early braking. Because. That belongs to the "line" And line in the 2nd lesson This here is the most common thing. People skipping steps. Important steps. Do not teach him the line before you thought him how to brake.
What he needs to learn is how to properly appy the brakes. Not where on the track. But how. Generally he needs to stab the brake and than slowly releasing it. How hard you stab it and how slow you release it depands on the car. In general people do not understand brake pedal. Instead of stabbing they mush and mash around it and fiddle about it without the proper articulated action. Mastering brake pedal takes around 100 hours practice and than you will be fine. And then you are ready to learn where to brake.
My reply was not aimed at your post, but at what people believe make them fast. Braking is the last thing. Turn exit and understanding how much time you waste running turn too fast come first. Here is where seconds are.
If you can upload a video perhaps we can check what you can improve. However, make sure you have a nice hardware. I know many cases of people who improved 1 or 2 seconds just by updating their devices....
Judging by his post he lacks the basics Usually if driver is outside 102% he lacks basics. And the most basic thing is the technique of applying brake pedal. You wouldn't beleive how many drivers skip that and never pay attention to brake pedal. In my younger days I worked as a driving instructor at track days. I have seen all that first hand
I am not talking about late braking. On contrary. I am talking about effective braking. And than comes turn in point at which you have to keep momentum going. It is releasing the brake pedal and steering into the turn. A lot of time is lost at that point.
Laptime comparison is useless without knowing the griplevel and also environment temperature. Fuel level also. Boost setting.. If you start your session green, you will allway suck. Use autosave and build up some good grip, maybe also with accelerated real road For Spa maybe LeMans tuning was used, so check topspeed to get an idea about tuning and wing setting Note that some enjoy some advantages which could be described as "more grip", so dont believe you can come close. rf2 has no indication about the grip level you drive on, but grip is the A and O after all, its the ultimate definition of your limit.. think about it
I would say a 2:20 with the Porsche GTE around Spa for someone who is quite new to sim racing and rF2 is fairly fast. What many people completely underestimate is that he uses a pretty long track and a very difficult one at that where basicly every single corner is very technical, so it's easier to rack up time loss if you make a little mistake here and there. I would also say that i am not the fastest guy, propably around 2:15 with enough practice and setup work, but I know this and rather try to work on my consistency and racecraft than trying to be a good hotlapper. Last online races I joined, I was basicly nowhere during qualifying but could compensate alot by just being smarter during the race. Alot of pace comes with practice though and one week of Spa in a single car is actualy not that much. I don't know how many laps I've driven at Spa alone but it must have been hundreds if not thousends of laps in the different sims. Best thing might be to also join a newcomer friendly online league because racing online helps you building racecraft and gaining more experience. It will also teach you the basics. Most people allready fail with stuff like slow in fast out or using the complete width of the track, so that stuff becomes more natural from simply being surrounded by other more experienced racers. And on a last note: maybe try lapping consistantly at a shorther track like Lime Rock or even Mores with the Skippy, with National tires for a start. It can get pretty frustrating at the beginning but this car instantly teaches you how to properly drive a race car as it uncovers your bad habbits. Race against AI as you can set the difficulty properly according to your skill level. Start with something easy like maybe 70% difficulty and work your way up. At this point I feel like the Skippy as a trainer car is better suited to get the basics right than the RSR.
Agree with hitm4k3r that a 2:20 for someone new to sim racing is a pretty good time. Yeah, the faster drivers will be 2:15 (or perhaps even quicker) but they've probably spent considerable time refining their sets and learning the track, far more than a week I would imagine... Getting an understanding of where the car is quick & where the car could be quicker is a prime consideration, especially with a track like Spa. I'm not the best by any stretch, but I've been doing some laps recently in the Porsche GTE, as one of the clans where I race are running a GTE endurance series next year, which will include Spa. With a full tank I'm only just down into the 2:19s, though there's a lot more development left in the car, and my knowledge of the track isn't what it should be. Getting my head around a mid/rear engined car is also a little new, after years of racing Supercars or front engined GTs in rF1/rF2. It really comes down to doing as many laps as you can to get the best understanding of the vehicle & track...
[QUOTE = "BillyDB, publicación: 1049188, miembro: 56268"] Bastante nuevo en RF2 y carreras de simulación en general y estoy dando vueltas en la nueva pista de Spa en un Porsche GTE y completamente estancado en alrededor de 2.20 tiempo de vuelta. He estado haciendo esto de forma intermitente durante una semana o más y poco a poco me estoy volviendo loco. Parece que un tiempo de moderado a bueno está entre 2.17 y 2.15, pero estoy completamente perplejo en cuanto a cómo obtener esos 3 o 4 segundos. Pensé que tal vez conseguiría carreras más suaves, pero tan pronto como complete una vuelta suave como la seda, pierdo otro segundo o más y cuando supero mi límite actual en cualquier curva, estoy en la pared. He visto videos de youtube y estudiado puntos de ruptura y líneas de carreras, pero nada parece fuera de lugar. De alguna manera, soy 3-5 scs más lento que los demás. Así que supongo que me gustaría saber si estoy perdiendo el tiempo o si esta es una experiencia común y es solo un caso de incontables horas practicando la misma pista para llegar allí. No estoy en contra de eso, pero estoy perdiendo la esperanza de que haga alguna diferencia. ¡Gracias! [/ QUOTE] Amigo, tranquilo, no es nada que deba preocuparte, es parte de esto creo, hay circuitos que podrían darse mejor y otros no, es cuestión de piloto. Particularmente me costaba mucho spa y de un momento le encontré la mano y fui mejorando. Es un circuito muy técnico y por la extención si no eres totalmente minucioso la suma será negativa al final de la vuelta. Además de las condiciones de la pista puede que los otros pilotos dominen mejor que tú el setup de los autos y tengan un mejor ajuste para cada condición. Saludos y a no bajar los brazos
