Assetto Corsa - Time Trial

Assetto Corsa - Time Trial

Author
Discussion

Asterix

Original Poster:

24,438 posts

227 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
FYI - I'm running 2f 3r wings.

The middle section is all about downforce balance in the twistier stuff and also being very aggressive on the curbs without triggering the little red light.

SheepDip82

5 posts

108 months

Tuesday 24th March 2015
quotequote all
I've been trying for weeks to get a faster middle sector, I can average 41/62/37 but cannot seem to consistently get under 62 seconds for sector two - I did once, and I can't replicate it (hence my PB being 1 second quicker than what I can average!).

What am I doing wrong!? (vid of average-ish lap here)

(I'm using this setup)

Would love some tips! frown

SlipStream77

2,153 posts

190 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
You're losing quite a lot in Les Combes - braking point looks ok, but I'd trail a bit more into there and use more kerb. By understeering past the first apex, you were out of sync with the others, when you get it right it's actually quite a fast sequence.

You lift and coast on zero throttle for a long way into Pouhon, ideally in this case, you should stay on the throttle for as long as possible, then just brush the brake to get it to the appropriate turn in speed. Be careful trailing it into here though, I don't know how your set would react.

The exit of Fagnes is faster than you think, you were feathering the throttle quite a lot - be brave and use more kerb.

You used a tight line into Campus and that's hurting your exit speed. You were also coasting again. Generally, you should either be on the throttle or the brake, if you're not doing either, then you're wasting time.

I hope that helps!

Asterix

Original Poster:

24,438 posts

227 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
I'll see if I can film a lap and stick it up on YT or something.

SheepDip82

5 posts

108 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
Thanks! Plenty to work on!

I'll have a play around this evening.

I struggle with gentle braking for the turn it at Pouhon, almost always either brake gently - but slow down too much, or end up losing traction on the rear and losing speed from squealing tyres and missing the apex.

RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
SheepDip82 said:
I struggle with gentle braking for the turn it at Pouhon, almost always either brake gently - but slow down too much, or end up losing traction on the rear and losing speed from squealing tyres and missing the apex.
It's certainly a tricky corner! Now that Eau Rouge is easily flat in F1 it's the most challenging bend at Spa for F1. It's one of those with a very narrow window of ideal turn in, but which is also blind. It's quite a long lap at Spa, so Pouhon attempts don't come round again very often, but I'd recommend just experimenting with braking and turning points and see what works best. The instant delta app is great for this, or just keep an eye on your revs down the next straight at a particular point (this is what I used to do in real life, but if I race again then I'd like a delta timer in my car!). Mind you, I tend to find it's obvious if Pouhon is right because if I get it wrong it feels very wrong!

Sorry that I'm not on the TT this time by the way, I've got a second job in the evenings and it's not leaving me much time for sims, and when I do I like the cars with full manual gearboxes that move around a lot smiledriving

Jon_Bmw

619 posts

201 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
Asterix that would be useful.

I am far from an expert Sheepdip but I would agree with the others, on a fair few kerbs you need to have half the car on the apex to straighten the corner as much as possible.

I mainly struggle with low speed traction, so first corner and last corner I find a real struggle. This maybe setup related as you were super smooth there. Perhaps I am just ham fisted with the throttle.


SheepDip82

5 posts

108 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
I've seen Asterix on one of the online servers usually doing Spa, at the front...

Thanks! I shall probably over-do it and spend too much time losing it on curbs this evening :P

It took me a good while to get comfortable with the slow bends - just not applying the throttle unless the car has more or less stopped any lateral movement helps a lot.
I can/do still screw them up pretty badly more often than I'm happy with. I'm quite comfortable coming off the throttle though (as demonstrated with my approach to Pouhon!).

I've tried a few setups but the one from RaceDept seems the best for the way I try to drive the car.

RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
SheepDip82 said:
It took me a good while to get comfortable with the slow bends - just not applying the throttle unless the car has more or less stopped any lateral movement helps a lot.
It's a good way to avoid spinning, but if you want to go fast:

a) you'll need a steady throttle in the middle of the corner to balance the car and get the highest lateral g.
and
b) The nack is to apply throttle as you unwind the steering, as if the two are connected by string. If you're cornering 5% less hard, then there's 5% of grip become available for acceleration, then 6%, 7% all th way to 100% throttle and 0% cornering. If you think about it, most of a lap is spent on straights, so getting on the throttle coming out of bends to get speed down those straights is a crucially important skill to driving fast. Eventually you'll start doing the reverse on the way into corners, which also has a very immediate effect on the balance of the car, which is what Slipstream77 was describing for the entrance to Pouhon. On that note, you may need to wait until you've aced all the other bends and got the hang of brake/throttle and steering before Pouhon starts to come together.

Jon_Bmw

619 posts

201 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
My throttle control is basically binary! Haha.

I know the logic, but find it hard to resist the urge to get too much throttle on too early. The consequences are less dire than if you run out of talent in real life!

RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
Jon_Bmw said:
My throttle control is basically binary! Haha.

I know the logic, but find it hard to resist the urge to get too much throttle on too early. The consequences are less dire than if you run out of talent in real life!
Yes that won't help biggrin Throttle control is one of the most common things I end up working on if I do a day's track instruction, and the other common thing is also closely linked to throttle control! The basic idea of cornering on a track is to brake for the corner and then roll off the brake as you turn the steering at turn-in, exchanging one for the other to achieve a balance in the corner. Too much brake and you'll get oversteer, and not enough and you'll get understeer. Once off the brake you should go straight onto the throttle pedal and apply just enough throttle to keep the car's speed constant. If you coast at this point, then the car will tend to oversteer, feel unstable and not have quite as much grip and composure. Once you've turned in and are on that steady throttle, leave the steering alone unless it's perturbed by bumps in the track (as happens all the time), but the idea is to not put any further input into the steering - get that right at turn-in to take you on your chosen line. Keep the throttle steady until you've reached the apex and are ready to accelerate out of the corner, at which point you back off the steering and add throttle as one, just as I described above - exchanging one for the other. It's very common to fear power oversteer in a rear wheel drive car and to leave the throttle alone as a result, whereas in actual fact that'll have the opposite effect and just make the car unstable.

Jon_Bmw

619 posts

201 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
Rob,

After all that I am expecting 2min 15s from you! Just joking.

I drive a FWD car on track mainly (despite my username) so slightly different. Nice to hear some theory though.

Regards,

Jon_(doesn't drive a BMW on track)

Jon_Bmw

619 posts

201 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
BMW GT2, Spa Francorchamps
PH Name RSR Name Time Sector 1 Sector 2 Sector 3
Asterix Asterix 2.17,298 0.40,560 0.59,925 0.36,859
Jon_Bmw TurboNut 2:17.956 40.644 1:00.517 36.795
Slipstream77 5lider 2.18.834 0.40.834 1.00.715 0.37.285
FourWheelDrift FourWheelDrift 2:18.918 0:40.508 1:01.194 0:37.216
andycambo Andrew Campbell 2:20.470 0:40.822 1:02.117 0:37.531
Trashbat NAME 0 0 0 0
Mr.Jimbo NAME 0 0 0 0


I am losing all my time in the middle sector. Last sector was a good run with minimal wheelspin out of final chicane.

Getting there, I think I have another 3 tenths to find with the perfect lap and that is about my limit.



RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
Jon_Bmw said:
Rob,

After all that I am expecting 2min 15s from you! Just joking.

I drive a FWD car on track mainly (despite my username) so slightly different. Nice to hear some theory though.

Regards,

Jon_(doesn't drive a BMW on track)
hehe Understanding the theory doesn't make me any good at doing it! biggrin I had a quick go the other night and managed a 2:20 after trying pretty hard. I soon went back to the Lotus 49, Ferrari 312, AC Cobra and McLaren F1 GTR that are my favourites. I don't really enjoy the high downforce high grip cars in AC very much, because I find them especially hard to drive without the subtle but crucial feedback you get in real life (the F1 GTR just makes it into my favourites because the 90s slicks have a higher optimum slip angle). I tend to prefer cars that thrive on larger slip angles where it's visibly obvious what's going on, I find those so much easier to drive and enjoy on a sim where all you have is visual cues.

FWD was where I started and I raced it for five years as well as owning a FWD road car for a couple of years back then - it's exactly the same technique, the only difference being the rather unnatural setup you need to go fast and often it's advantageous to get a bit of oversteer before you come onto the throttle and get the inevitable understeer. The basic technique for going fast is the same though. The big difference is of course the absence of power oversteer, but the weight transfer effects are the same, although obviously acting on something with most of the weight up front level with or even ahead of the front axle!

Jon_Bmw

619 posts

201 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
I tend to agree. Getting the F1 round the ring reasonably quickly is my favourite thing. I just tried the FX and that was quite good, but not tail happy enough.

If you want tail happy try the E30 DTM, love that car, although I am painfully slow as I spend most of the time on the lock stops!

FourWheelDrift

88,382 posts

283 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
Try the Ferrari 312T, but be careful at the kink before Bergwerk.

RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
quotequote all
FourWheelDrift said:
Try the Ferrari 312T, but be careful at the kink before Bergwerk.
It's probably my favourite car on Assetto Corsa 😊 It's good to know that my lottery win dreams are well chosen!

Asterix

Original Poster:

24,438 posts

227 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
quotequote all
Currently uploading a lap - sadly, I had all manner of issues with the editing software last night and gave up - so you'll have my out lap as well. It's only a 2:17.5 something I think. Fast enough though (my best is a 2:16.6 but I didn't have RSR loaded at the time - it was before the time trial).

I also added the pedals app as it may help see what I'm doing.

SheepDip82

5 posts

108 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
quotequote all
Were you doing fancy things?

I use the excellent obsproject to record replays. Better than most, and free!

https://obsproject.com

Asterix

Original Poster:

24,438 posts

227 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
quotequote all
SheepDip82 said:
Were you doing fancy things?

I use the excellent obsproject to record replays. Better than most, and free!

https://obsproject.com
Not really - I just recorded it via Shadowplay, it was then a normal file but for some reason the MovieMaker wouldn't cut the file and the GoPro Studio simply wouldn't load the file even though it was an accepted format.

So this morning before I left for work I simply just started uploading the whole file to YouTube directly - said it would take 4 hours! hehe