F1 2012 Learning to drive witout assists.

[Ravi Kant]

Can anyone give me some tips regarding driving without assists. I just want to learn it.Also state how much difference it can make in terms of lap times.

 

[Victor Ivanov]

Be careful. Learn slowly, just put some fuel and start driving. The time difference will be huge in the beginning but when you get used to it you will match your speed before.

 

[TMDoll]

Try them one at a time.

Start with just Traction Control. Be smooth on accelerator out of corners, as you start to straighten just a little throttle, then more and more and full as soon as you can. Practice on one track, take it slowly at first. Soon you'll be accerating out of the corners no problem, just takes a gentle touch. Quite hard to master on a pad, easier with pedals of course.

For no ABS you can usually brake hard to start with, but then you want to lift off the force closer to the corner as you turn in. Test it out so you lock up on purpose, you'll soon learn the limits involved in braking.

Driving line - I find that initially I need to set braking markers and almost have to memorise them. After about 20 mins of practice, I can then pretty much start ot do it by feel, not really thinking about it just knowing it.

Gears - This is the big one as far as I'm concerned. It really does complete the experience and make things a lot harder. I'm still mastering it and can't really give any particular tips as it's all track and gear dependant. Takes me ages to master though on any given track. Still using auto for online at the moment.

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

Take Montreal track to learn as it helped me to get into speed with in a week
For Gears just Break Hard and Down to 2nd gear in all the Corners before 100 Mt Board and Then Check whether you are able to get the corner right or running wide. I'm Sure with Gear #2 you can see the Ideal Line to Negotiate the corner. Then see whether you can take it Gear 3 in next lap.

 

[Karl Fuss]

I think the thing i struggled with when learning Manual Gears was trying to keep the gears right in my head without having to look at the display. At first i tried to remember all the time which gear i was in, so i was counting up and counting down. But that didn't work so well, i would get mixed up.
Then i tried focussing on how many downshifts i was making for each corner and just counting those. That worked much better.
So, if i was on a long straight and in 7th gear at the end of it, and coming up was a corner i needed to take in 3rd gear, then i just count down 1, 2, 3, 4 gears. for up shifts you just listen to the engine and shift before the limiter (that part becomes second nature quite quickly)

For example Bahrain has 8 places on the track where you brake and downshift.
6 gears for T1
5 gears for T4
1or 2 for T6 (down to 4th gear)
4 or 5 for T8 (down to 1st gear)
5 for T10
4 for T11
3 or 4 for T13 (down to 3rd gear)
5 for T14

 

[Tom]

You might want to use wet setups as well since those are always more stable in the dry.

 

[Kristian Nenov]

I think the thing i struggled with when learning Manual Gears was trying to keep the gears right in my head without having to look at the display. At first i tried to remember all the time which gear i was in, so i was counting up and counting down. But that didn't work so well, i would get mixed up.
Then i tried focussing on how many downshifts i was making for each corner and just counting those. That worked much better.
So, if i was on a long straight and in 7th gear at the end of it, and coming up was a corner i needed to take in 3rd gear, then i just count down 1, 2, 3, 4 gears. for up shifts you just listen to the engine and shift before the limiter (that part becomes second nature quite quickly)

For example Bahrain has 8 places on the track where you brake and downshift.
6 gears for T1
5 gears for T4
1or 2 for T6 (down to 4th gear)
4 or 5 for T8 (down to 1st gear)
5 for T10
4 for T11
3 or 4 for T13 (down to 3rd gear)
5 for T14

Hmm, strange. You were counting? The first time i tried manual gears (which was the first time I played F1 2010 actually) I didn't count anything. And I was doing it correctly. I never count. I never think about it. I don't think he needs to think about it too.

As for Ravi, I don't know what to tell you. I was using full assists on F1 2010 till the summer, when I suddenly thought I should go from Amateur AI to Legend AI and drop all the assists except racing line. But for me it worked really well, I was keeping up with the pace of the AI (barely) and I didn't have much problems around the assists. After some time I could easily drop racing line too. I had problems with spins and I can give you a tip there. Firstly, I was giving throttle (around middle) without moving my leg then suddenly dropping it to accelerate. After time I got used to controlling it. But for the other assists.. All I can tell you is - do not drop the racing line first. Drop everything and then drop the racing line.

As for difference in lap time. I can tell you that with the weight penalty the TC gives, I can't even drive. I go out of the track all the time. Your car definitely accelerates, brakes and corners better without that assists. You just have to get used to controlling the throttle.

 

[Karl Fuss]

I still count gears. I don't have an auto-awareness of what gear i'm in. You must be one of the lucky ones eh?
Besides, it helps me keep consistent lap times and keeps my mind active.

 

[Carlos Luna]

I always found the driving line assist to be redundant, you can tell what line to take from the rubber laid down in the corners, I guess it comes down to personal preference though. Only trouble I really had was learning to play without TC back in F1 2010(It was the only assist I used). I remember trying to race without it and would always slide out of every corner because I would just floor it as soon as I cleared the apex. You have to learn gradually get on the throttle coming out of the slower corners.

Anyways, just work your way up little by little. Run a couple of races and try to take off a couple of assists each time. I would personally suggest running races at 50%, that way you really get used to how a car handles with less assists for an extended period of time and eventually work up to using none.

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

Hmm, strange. You were counting? The first time i tried manual gears (which was the first time I played F1 2010 actually) I didn't count anything. And I was doing it correctly. I never count. I never think about it. I don't think he needs to think about it too.

As for Ravi, I don't know what to tell you. I was using full assists on F1 2010 till the summer, when I suddenly thought I should go from Amateur AI to Legend AI and drop all the assists except racing line. But for me it worked really well, I was keeping up with the pace of the AI (barely) and I didn't have much problems around the assists. After some time I could easily drop racing line too. I had problems with spins and I can give you a tip there. Firstly, I was giving throttle (around middle) without moving my leg then suddenly dropping it to accelerate. After time I got used to controlling it. But for the other assists.. All I can tell you is - do not drop the racing line first. Drop everything and then drop the racing line.

As for difference in lap time. I can tell you that with the weight penalty the TC gives, I can't even drive. I go out of the track all the time. Your car definitely accelerates, brakes and corners better without that assists. You just have to get used to controlling the throttle.

Absolutely Perfectly Summed Up. Use the DRL to help you in Manual Racing Ravi That will help you to learn track's Ideal Line also Helps you to get the Breaking Zones Perfectly.

 

[James Bannister]

If you have other games other than F1 too it can help a lot. I found it easiest to learn on something like Forza or Gran Turismo.

Gran Turismo was easiest as you couldn't damage the engine, on here you can pick a slower car and any random track and just get used to how driving with manual gears/no TC/no ABS works, without it suffering too much. If you drive already, then the gears do tend to come more naturally when to shift up as you're used to the sound of an engine, downshift, my main recommendation is don't do it to quickly, on any game, as if you change to early then the car engine will scream at you!

For Traction control just don't push straight down fully on your accelerator, in gears 1 and 2 especially just ease yourself on the accelerator while increasing the pressure as you accelerate, otherwise you can get various issues, spinning the car/wheelspin as you accelerate. ABS again don't brake too hard, otherwise you will lock up, just apply 3/4 pressure maybe and as the car slows ease the pressure (although I've noticed some people will fully brake, I've just never done so because on some games you can still lock your wheels, if I remember rightly TOCA was one where it locked up almost instantly).

The other tip which I'm sure everyone would vouch for is practice, just keep going and don't get frustrated when you slip up, it will come to you eventually. Just keep at it and eventually you will be more than used to it.

 

[Victor Ivanov]

For learning the gears try not to count but remember the track as it sounds.

 

[Dmitry Zaharov]

I'm juping into "counting" gears bandwagon. But with time your fingers will just remember how much downshifts you should make into particular corner. Just spend thee hundred laps in Sakhir and you will flick six downshifts into turn one without any problems It's just brutal "learn and repeat" practice, very similar to playing on piano.

 

[kenken]

Try to drive in full wet condition. It's very frustrating without assist, but you can learn everything you need. Rough steering or throttle control, wrong gear selection, too fast corner entry speed, every wrong input will punish you. In dry condition, tolerance is high and it makes you harder to judge your control is correct or not.

About lap time, I guess the most average people set faster lap time with traction control than without it.

 

[Ravi Kant]

Can anyone tell me stepwise which assists to drop one by one.Also how do you know when to brake in the corner.Also tell me while braking into a corner do you lift off the throttle or not?

 

[ENDR]

My path to no-aid driving:
- I stopped using traction control in pretty much EVERY racing game the moment I got my first steering wheel. You just don't need it, as long as you don't mash the gas pedal.
- first Chinese GP: the auto gearbox sucked in turn 1, but I think you could override it manually anyway, so I dropped the gears on my own and after a dozen or so laps it became pretty natural and instinctive. Now I just can't imagine racing on auto...
- first Monaco GP and... I thought it would be fun to start racing using the cockpit camera Modmate's look-to-apex cameras made it even more fun.
- after my first season in F1 2011 I wanted a bit more of a challenge, so I simply ditched the ABS and started driving without it. Sure, there were some lockups while braking heavily, but overall I felt that the ABS didn't have all that much to do anyway, cause I've always been gentle with the brakes.
- finally, for a last week's league race in Monaco (again) I turned off the racing line. Monaco is a pretty easy track to find braking markers (trees, banners, fences etc.) so I didn't need it anyway.
Hell, the only reason I still used it, wasn't to know which way goes the next corner (I already know all the tracks pretty well), but to remind me, that A corner is coming (I get distracted easily while racing ). Also, the corner apexes from the cockpit camera on a not-so-high video resolution weren't as clearly visible, as I'd like, but a week or two I got a PC that finally lets me play in Full HD

Also how do you know when to brake in the corner

Practice, I guess. Using the racing line as a reference might help, but after a few laps you'll know if you can start braking sooner or later than the line suggests.

Also tell me while braking into a corner do you lift off the throttle or not?

Uhm... What's the point of braking, if the engine still keeps pushing the car forward?

 

[James Bannister]

Can anyone tell me stepwise which assists to drop one by one.Also how do you know when to brake in the corner.Also tell me while braking into a corner do you lift off the throttle or not?

Personally I'd go Gears, then drop Traction and ABS at the same time, it would come naturally to get used to them together in my opinion, depends on how quickly you manage it though, it is all down to practice.

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

Can anyone tell me stepwise which assists to drop one by one.Also how do you know when to brake in the corner.Also tell me while braking into a corner do you lift off the throttle or not?

When to brake into you a Corner is Purely depends on you mate. How Much speed you carry through a corner or straight will be most important factor to decide a Breaking zone.
If you are in a Straight you will have lot of Speed So breaking at 50 Zone mark would Mostly push your car out of track. So Break just before 100 M board. Also Don't try to achieve lap times it will only make you Pressurized. Just observe how you handle the car. How You break How you accelerate is Important.
If you want a Step wise then Drop TC and ABS and do the practice with Auto gearing. once you get used how to drive with out TC and ABS observe which gear is used for which corner and then Turn the Auto gear and try to take the turns with the Gear # you observed. then go for Lap times

 

[Karl Fuss]

Can anyone tell me stepwise which assists to drop one by one.Also how do you know when to brake in the corner.Also tell me while braking into a corner do you lift off the throttle or not?

It appears everyone has different advice on what assist to drop first.
I dropped the Racing line and ABS first. That helped me focus on learning to visualize the racing line on my own as well as where and how to brake properly.
Then i dropped auto gears.
Then i switched from full traction control to medium traction control and then to no traction control.
Then i jumped in the cockpit view

You might find that you can drop all the assist faster if you leave the racing line on. I dropped it first because i joined a league that only allowed auto gears and traction control, so i had to get rid of the other assists first.

Good luck.