If you're just getting into Sim racing, it's an exciting time. There's a lot of different titles out there for you to try, and a lot of different experiences ahead for you. You want to have fun, and do your best.
In this article, I'm going to cover the basics of driving quickly, so you can get up to speed and into the fun more quickly.
Accelerating
Acceleration is obviously how your car moves. You press the throttle and the car goes forward, at different rates depending on how much you push it. Pretty basic stuff. But there are different ways you have to accelerate to drive optimally, without having a spin or a crash.
The key thing to note is different cars respond differently to throttle inputs, and you should experiment as such, but the general rule is : The more power you have, the more gentle you need to be with the throttle - Again this is the general rule, there are many different reasons why this may not be true for all cars, such as weight and drivetrain.
Typically, try to be gentle and progressive with the throttle in most rear-wheel drive machines, whereas front and all-wheel drive machinery can usually handle slightly more aggressive inputs. The throttle is for more than accelerating. It is a tool for rotation.
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Braking
Arguably the most important part of driving quickly, braking is slowing down...obviously.
But have you ever considered how you brake? You will not be fast on a simulator, or in real life if you just smash the brake pedal and try to drive otherwise normally. This is because of weight transfer and it's effect on the stability of the car. Brakes are for more than slowing the car down. They are a tool for rotation.
When you brake really harshly, the front of the car dives down, transferring the weight of the car onto the front axle. First of all, if you don't have ABS (Anti-lock braking), chances are the front wheels will lock and you will go straight on. Secondly, even with ABS, if you try to turn, your braking distance will be extended (due to ABS cutting and reapplying brake inputs to avoid locking) and your ability to rotate heavily reduced because you are not using the available grip from the rear tyres, which are still heavily unloaded. Therefore, you are not using the total grip available from all four tyres.
This isn't to say you shouldn't brake at all whilst turning, it's just that the brake pressure applied needs to be a lot less.
Try to follow this rule: THE MORE YOU TURN, THE LESS YOU BRAKE. This is called trail braking, because your trailing the brakes into the corner.
The more you turn into the corner, the less brake pressure you apply, all the way until the apex of the corner in an optimal scenario. Doing this will allow and even assist the rotation of the car and help you be quicker and more stable into the corner, allowing you to use up more grip.
Remember I said trying to brake fully and turn will completely unload the rear tyres, not allowing you to maximise grip usage? Well if you brake at a much lesser pressure whilst rotating the car, you actually help the car rotate. Why? Because a small amount of brake pressure will keep some weight on the front tyres, the rotational tyres, pushing them into the ground to an extent allowing them to 'bite' into the circuit more and increase grip and therefore the ability to rotate. I will talk about this more and how to use it to your advantage in an article on what I call DMT - Driving Manipulation Techniques.
Steering
Seemingly the most simple part, steering the car is actually a little more complex than you might think. You have to be smooth, to keep the car stable, and not unsettle it by being too violent. You have to use it to decide and make micro-adjustments to the rotation of the car, in perfect balance with the throttle and brake.
Again, every car is different. Some will require more steering, some less, some will require more smooth inputs whereas some may require more aggressive inputs. This is something that can only be learned by practice.
Generally though, aim to be smooth with your steering, try to be light with your hands, especially on a FFB (Force Feedback) wheel, letting the car and the wheel do the work for you. Don't overdrive or overcorrect the car. Try to just guide the car in the direction it needs to go and then just assist it through the corner. It sounds alien to a beginner, but again, the more time you spend driving, the easier it will become.
Drivetrain
That leads onto my next point - the drivetrain. The drivetrain determines which wheels of the car the power goes to, so that it can be put onto the circuit, via the tyres.
There are four main drivetrains, but it's likely you will only find 3 in sim racing.
- Front-wheel drive (FWD)
- Rear-wheel drive (RWD)
- All-wheel drive (AWD)
The other is 4-wheel drive (4WD) but these are predominantly used in off-road vehicles, so unlikely to be seen in circuit sim racing.
It is important to note that different drivetrains will respond differently to throttle inputs and have different handling characteristics.
Front-wheel drive cars have a tendency to understeer (more on that and it's counterpart in another article) because the front tyres are both turning and accelerating the car simultaneously. The tyres can only take so much, and this is often an overload on the tyres, reducing their capability to turn and accelerate the car. This usually means they are a safe bet for beginners, as the chance of crashing or spinning due to understeer is significantly reduced compared to oversteer.
Ideally, you will have the vast majority of turning done before you apply power, because the cars ability to rotate will be heavily reduced once you apply throttle. This means though that after you have done the rotation, you can really mash the throttle quite hard. Just feel it out in cars of varying power levels. I will do an article on driving technique required to be quick in a front-wheel drive car.
Summary for front-wheel drive
- You can usually apply throttle harder with less risk than in a rear-wheel drive car.
- Aim to finish rotating the car early, because the car will not be able to rotate nearly as much when you begin accelerating.
- Understand you might need to change your driving lines and technique to allow for this different throttle input style.
Rear-wheel drive cars have a tendency to slide (commonly referred to as oversteer) if you apply heavy throttle to them too quickly. The rear tyres are responsible for putting the power down, and unlike the front tyres, do not have to rotate the car physically through the axle. Therefore, the car can rotate more throughout a corner, generally. If you're too greedy on the throttle however, the car may not hesitate to throw you in a completely different direction to the one you should be going. Again, experiment with different power levels and cars, some are more difficult than others. You will need a more progressive application of the power compared to front-wheel drive in most cases to avoid spins and crashes.
Summary for rear-wheel drive
- A smoother, more progressive style is needed, especially during acceleration
- The car tends to have better rotation (on-throttle) throughout the corner than front-wheel drive
- A more traditional style is usually required in terms of driving lines and technique
All-wheel drive cars put power to all wheels on the car. This, in most cases, helps massively with grip, as all four tyres can help to project the car forward and generate usable grip. They almost always have more traction than the other two drivetrains, and produce a lot of grip. So you can usually be pretty firm with the throttle inputs.
As a general rule, all-wheel drive cars tend to have similar characteristics to front-wheel drive machinery, though usually with the effects dampened somewhat. All four wheels pushing the car through the corner can result in understeer because the rear axle needs to turn slower than the front. The differential wants them to turn at the same speed, which is simply not possible except in a straight line, hence the tendency of the car to 'push' through the corner. There isn't always a 50/50 power split front to rear though, which can affect car characteristics, which I will explain in another article.
Summary of All-wheel drive.
- More traction and grip
- Ability to accelerate more harshly without major consequence
- Can understeer due to different rotation speed front to rear
Assists
For a beginner, assists can be a saving grace. A way to gently introduce you into the world of sim racing. First off then, my most important tip - DO NOT BE ASHAMED TO USE ASSISTS - IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS.
Everyone learns at a different pace, and in a different way, and that's okay. Assists recognise that. You can leave them on for as long as possible, and set them at varying degrees of assistance, when you become more confident. It's all about having fun and getting more confident.
The racing line assist shows you the optimum line around the track, and often acceleration and braking points. These are fantastic to give you an idea of where your car should be at points around the track. It allows you to learn the lines and the rough references. Keep in mind though that the line shown is the ideal racing line, and that may not always be the quickest (more on that in the future). The limit of braking and acceleration points will always be later and earlier than the racing line shows. But remember, this isn't really an issue for beginners. You're unlikely to be on pace anyway initially. The acceleration and braking guides are set like that because it's a safer way to show you the basics and let you learn them without careering into a wall at every turn. When you feel confident, you can begin to try turning it off and braking later, because you will have a better understanding of what to do and when.
Braking and steering assists give you a rough idea of where to brake and turn. Again, these are a rough guide, but can be useful if you want to learn the track without having to focus as much on the braking and steering points, or if you want an estimate on where to turn or brake, as it helps you guide the car. Again, turn these off and on at will to help you throughout your journey to gaining confidence.
Automatic gears can be your friend if you want to learn what gear to be in at a certain time or point, by doing it for you. Or, if you want something less to think about whilst driving, auto gears are helpful. Eventually you may choose to control the gears yourself, but automatic gears are fantastic for learning, so you don't overload yourself with things whilst focusing on learning.
Finally, ABS and Traction Control. ABS stops the tyres from locking up (stopping rotation) under hard braking to help you slow down, whilst Traction control cuts the power to the wheels when you're losing traction to help you gain it back. These are especially useful to beginners, as they can help you when you're still trying to grasp the basic fundamentals of driving. You can turn them off when you feel like more of a challenge, or learning how to delicately control the throttle and brake inputs. I will do an article detailing more about how to turn off the assists - it's an individual process. Don't worry if it takes you longer than others. It's all about fun. It is important to note that some racecars, mainly GTs, have TC and ABS fitted as standard. When this occurs, use them to your advantage. The Pro's use them for a reason, because they are often warranted in handling the power and weight of a GT racecar.
Racecraft
Racecraft is the art of defending, attacking, and even just being patient, behind the wheel.
You need to think about giving rivals space, or when the right time to make a maneuver is, both in defense and attack. When or where on the circuit are you able to do it? Where is your rival weaker or stronger than you?
All these things need to be thought about. But the main thing is experience. You will learn as you go.
Of course, that's not to say you can't have a basic understanding. When attacking, look at where you gain time to your opponent. Where are you quicker? Can you make a move there? If not, where else? How will they respond if you try? Think the same way with defending. Where are they quicker than you? Can they make a move there? How will you defend it - often (not always) you move to the inside of the corner, off the racing line. You will have to brake earlier for the corner and turn tighter, but it won't matter, your opponent won't have anywhere else to go. Other times you're better staying on your line and not slowing up.
When you're side by side, what do you do? You have to leave them space, but you have to think. Where will you place your car? Where is it likely they will place theirs? Don't worry too much, again you will learn from experience.
My suggestion would be to go and watch battles from different types of motorsport on the internet. Watch what they are doing, and ask yourself questions.
- Why are they doing that?
- What did the opponent do and why?
- What would you do next?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of what they did?
There are rules to racing too. These vary per series, but as a general rule:
- If a car is more than a quarter of the way alongside you (usually the rear wheel forwards), you have to leave them 'racing room'.
- You can only move once in defense. You can't weave back and forth, you have to make a decision, usually before the other car does - moving in response isn't well received in most cases..
- You cannot launch yourself down the inside of a car from six million miles back and then claim they need to leave you room at the apex of the corner.
- It is heavily frowned upon and illegal in most series to make your defensive move under braking. This is because it is dangerous and will likely result in contact.
Remember, sometimes you just won't be able to get past. But you'll learn for future races. Analyse that race you couldn't overtake, and ask yourself questions like:
- Why couldn't I overtake?
- How did they defend? (Can I learn from that for my defense?)
- How did I feel in the car? (sometimes, desperation and anger can hinder our ability to think and make decisions - maybe you missed and opportunity because you weren't completely focused.
- How could I have overtaken safely?
- Could I have overtaken safely?
- Where can I be better in future battles?
- What did I do good and bad? (sometimes you need to look at the positives too. Just because you didn't get past, doesn't mean you didn't do something good.)
In conclusion to everything in this article, you will learn as you go. You never stop learning. It's all about fun. I hope this guide helps all young and old sim racers, whether new or even experienced, become better drivers.
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