Are you a better driver?

[Graydon McKee]

Have you become a better driver since taking up racing sims?

 

[David Zafiu]

Here in Romania you can take you driver licence only when you have got 18 years or more.I am 16 and a half but i drive quite a lot with my mom's car and dad's car too(on non public roads,but i drove in town also but only after the midnight).My dad teached me first time how to change the gears and all the basic rules at 9 or 10 years.But i observed that now i am better in real driving than before start simdriving,so yes,i am a better driver.

 

[Kevin Ascher]

It seriously want to know who thinks he's gotten worse

 

[Warren Dawes]

I don't know about being a better driver, but since I took up SimRacing on-line, I find myself constantly watching the rear view mirrors and hoping the guys behind don't rear-end me.

 

[Christopher Aponte]

I don't know about being a better driver, but since I took up SimRacing on-line, I find myself constantly watching the rear view mirrors and hoping the guys behind don't rear-end me.

haha Warren
you are not the only one
I always try to find the freaking button on the steering wheel to see if someone is behind me

 

[Dennis Phelan]

My driving hasn't improved at all. It's a bit late for that!
Racing bikes from 1970 thru 1983 did a little to improve my street driving.
I'm much worse at sim racing than I am at real driving.

 

[János Ócsai]

Well, I started driving a 20 BHP 2tact bike, so I've learned how to keep the momentum and the revs up, and the most important: how to escape "forward" from situations. This I could use in simracing, had just a few online race but a lot of close situations, which I could avoid with ease, but the guy behind me had collision.
Now I drive a RWD car in real life, and it gives me some confidence, that I have experience in sim, how front lockup or tail breaking out feels like, and how to handle.

 

[Mark Guy]

Definitely the awareness is much better.... especially in big groups.

 

[Dave Flower]

How can one judge such a thing? I would say its made no difference at all. The 'practice' can be useful in terms of refreshing one's memory of how if feels to be out of control in real life, so thats good... for example, I like the twitch my pc wheel gives when a back wheel locks, sending the rear end off line and am still amazed that it can be simulated using ffb and that it feels like the real thing... that amazes me and brings home how close ffb and modern games can be in emulating real life feel, but thats where it ends...
I would errr on the side of caution before saying that been able to do and feel this and practice these feelings, virtually, have actually improved my driving - because to start thinking like that, in my opinion is where you begin to cross a potentially dangerous line - the line of, try it in real life because you felt it in game - and that is something we all must absolutley guard against - I'm not saying don't use the feeling of experience gained in the virtual world in real life, in a situation that arises, when you have a BIG moment you have to use all you have. What I am saying is be mindfull to guard against pushing that bit further IRL because you know it feels good to catch it... because, IRL trees n walls hurt, guilt from maiming or killing someone stays with you forever (thankfully I've NOT been there, but have known some who have) -and a smashed up body or car is not solved by pressing ESC for one second.
I would say that my real life driving experience actually hinders my online experience, I struggle because I don't have the real awareness of where cars are around me, I can't glance to one side and see out of the corner of my eye where another car or the kerb is, I can't feel the vibration of the chassis through the seat, I can't feel those slight changes is the attitude and direction of the car like in real life, oh how I long for those days when I had something a bit pokey to thrash around.....
I can see how some would report back increased observation skills, and would say, above all else, in real life, same as online, its observation and concentration that makes the biggest difference to accidents happening, or rather not happening.... so if it helps to sharpen observation and concentration IRL then its got to be a positive. So I think I'll vote yes..... for this reason alone..

 

[Emil Sällberg]

I would say that it has helped me quite a lot. Here in Sweden you have to do some exercises on a skid pad to get a feel of how treacherous conditions are when its slippery to get your license. I managed a lot better than the other people in my group by, for example, not spinning with a FWD car because I kept a bit of power on, not breaking or not locking up my brakes completely without ABS because I had "fought" against it before, albeit not in real life.

This week we had a night of the worst weather out of a driving perspective. My whole town was basically a sheet of ice. It rained, but turned to ice when it hit the ground. I had to be out driving that night, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it a little bit. After an hour or so most of the road had gotten a bit of salt on them and then it wasn't slippery at all.

However, they hadn't salted all of the lanes on the ring road here, so when I was about to turn off I got on to what was basically sheet ice. With no ABS and legal yet non-studded tyres, that all of a sudden turned in to a bit of a challenge, especially when you have a red light ahead of you. That was a moment I was glad of all the sim racing I've done. Not panicking, not locking up the brakes much and finding a possible escape route if things were to go from bad to worse all just happened, in the same way that it does when things go wrong in a virtual race.

Just to get this straight, I did a mistake but not slowing down more, before trying to turn off, no denying that. That's the type of mistakes that you do when you are faced with a new type of weather when you only have had your license for a month. I was well below the speed limit and not in any danger to hitting another car or hurting anyone. I'm just saying that my sim racing (and the bit of real racing experience I have) experience rescued this situation. It also helped me to have a bit of fun that night. Considering that the car wanted to get in to a skid turning a corner at about 6 km/h on a parking lot at a certain point, it was rather slippery without a doubt, yet it was fun.

Also, as a respond to Dave's comment about that you shouldn't ever push the limit. You shouldn't push the limit on a crowded road with lots of hidden dangers around. If you do it in a more remote location, with knowledge of what you are doing, not putting other at risk, knowing that you are risking your car, possibly your license and even your own life if something goes belly up I truthfully do not see much of a problem with it.

People sliding around in the town centre mid day are idiots. Testing how to do catch a skid at an industrial estate or an empty parking lot during the night I have less of a problem with. Of course, going to your local track and joining in on a track day is much better, but there you are pushing the limit even harder and a mistake at high speed there is no walk in the park either.

 

[Ivo Simons]

haha Warren
you are not the only one
I always try to find the freaking button on the steering wheel to see if someone is behind me

If i am almost home i always search for the pit request button, really weird.

 

[PhDDsaz]

- My driving didn't improve. I drive with more risk than before, i drive often faster than before, i brake harder&later etc... And i am scared when this will turn into a crash/nightmare. - But on the other hand especially my car-handling improved 500% (i am driving in realistic-mode: simulation-mode + autoclutch=off, autogear=off, 6-way real shifting, etc). So i know (or believe to know) how react a FWD- or RWD-car in extreme-situations: understeering, oversteering, swing-off-situations, drifting etc..

Edit:
The other day in the traffic i began to experiment braking with the left foot and ended - instead of slowing down the car - in an full emergency-brake. Man, i am so stupid...

 

[Rob Simms]

left foot braking

I was so used to left foot braking with the MS wheel in games. I decided awhile back to try left foot braking in a real vehicle on an open road. I can say, that at first I wanted to brake harder with the left foot compared to the right foot. I doesn't take long to learn it, but make sure you get plenty of time learning not around traffic until you feel comfortable. You don't want to be the driver others are watching in this forum in the rear view mirror. Then seeing you try to left foot brake and slamming into the rear of a car.

 

[Dave Flower]

Also, as a respond to Dave's comment about that you shouldn't ever push the limit. You shouldn't push the limit on a crowded road with lots of hidden dangers around. If you do it in a more remote location, with knowledge of what you are doing, not putting other at risk, knowing that you are risking your car, possibly your license and even your own life if something goes belly up I truthfully do not see much of a problem with it.

People sliding around in the town centre mid day are idiots. Testing how to do catch a skid at an industrial estate or an empty parking lot during the night I have less of a problem with. Of course, going to your local track and joining in on a track day is much better, but there you are pushing the limit even harder and a mistake at high speed there is no walk in the park either.

I'm not saying don't ever push to the limit - I agree do it in quiet places (my time/place used to be country lanes in the middle of the night and I would often drive up and down the same stretch (anything from 2 - 10 mile stretch) over and over just for fun - that way you know theres no parked tractors, fallen trees, cattle or other obstacles and you can go faster each time - as well as seeing the lights of other vehicles coming)

My comments were, just be mindful not to push further than the limit, because of some in game experience... I don't care how much online racing youv'e done - when your out of control in real life headed for the front bumper of a truck, or a tree, or a wall - (or all of the above!) - its REAL life instinct, and sometimes REAL Life Panic, that kicks in - same with the left foot braking - its when the crap hits the fan, and you have that added 'Death is Imminent Factor', that unless your REALLY used to it, your brain can forget it all and you mess up.

Try changing your controls in game from say paddle to sequential change - (just to something your not used to) - you will quickly get used to it - but then drive faster and faster and I guarantee that when you have a 'moment' sometimes you will fumble over the controls - thats fine in game - in real life it could translate into you pressing the brake pedal as if its the clutch in a panic, sending you into that truck, than the tree, then the wall.....

Here are a couple of 'moments' to lighten the seriousness of my boring posts :

Volvo C30 Degrees from Disaster!

Alfa Moment!

Enjoy!

 

[Dave Stephenson]

I reckon I'm better and safer in reality. If i tried some of the moves I do in-game on 2 wheels I think I'd be dead by now

 

[Emil Sällberg]

Country lanes at night? I sure wouldn't dare, considering the animals with huge antlers running around here. And it is not red squirrels.

As long as you are aware of where the limit is, it is usually fine. I don't know why, but in the few situations I've unfortunately gotten in to, it is just like sitting in my bucket seat in front of the computer. Sure, the goals (and sometimes the adrenaline levels) are different, lets say instead of coming first out of the situation instead stopping or avoiding the deer or whatever is the issue. I take less risks in real life than in sims, but that is about it. It's still a car, and you are driving it. If something is about to go wrong, do something about it. And if your quick, aware and smart enough, you hopefully get out of the situation without a scratch.

I do get where you are coming from and do very much agree with what you are saying. I DO (despite the picture I might depict here) really take it easy when driving. I loosen up a bit when the roads are empty, but not near to a dangerous degree.

 

[April Dillon]

I'd say racing sims have little influence on how you drive off the track. A lot of the things you'll learn from racing have little to do with how you'll drive off the track, and consist mostly of strategy. So things like...

- Hitting the apex of a corner
- Changing gear at the right point in the revs
- Defending your position

Won't apply in domestic driving circumstances (for lack of a better word for it)

- You won't hit the apex when you're sticking to your side of the road
- You're changing gear to whatever will not give you the most torque, but get you the farthest for the least amount of petrol. The price of the ****'s getting pretty steep, particularely in Europe
- You won't care about the guy getting past you for the same reason he won't care about overtaking you; it's not a race. Unless he's some ******* luxury car owner. In which case, you're in his way, you filthy peasent

I suppose car handling would most likely resemble the handling you'd have for real, despite the massive differences between racing cars and domestic cars. Steering especially. Lock to lock in 270 degrees as opposed to 900's a pretty big difference. And there was the Swede earlier who mentioned having to get used to driving under dangerous conditions to get his license, which he'd practiced on a video game of some description.

Maybe certain things, such as judging the size of gaps between cars, spacial awareness, etc. can be practiced in racing simulators, since these things come into practice in real driving too; changing lanes on the motorway, parking, etc.

I'd like to wrap this post up by thanking the OP. It's provoked what I found to be a very interesting thought in my mind. Hell I saw this about half an hour ago, and I'm still writing and thinking about it. Some interesting things can come to mind when you start really giving it some thought, and look past the huge difference between swinging by a mate's house in a Ford Fiesta and listening to the bloodthirsty monster under your bonet screaming away in the red line while you're hammering it down the Mulsanne Straight at La Sarthe in a DBR9.

 

[Mike Roe]

It's helped for when i go karting with my mates

 

[Kevin Ascher]

I, with the few hours of driving real cars that I've had in my life, feel so comfortable doing it, I never ever could imagine that to be possible without simracing.

 

[jnl.42]

It hasn't made me any faster in my kart at all really, or more aware of whats around me (already was pretty aware), but I think it's made me a little more consistent and mistake-free. I think karting has helped me in sims more than vica-versa.

 

[Boby Kim]

Nope, not when just driving my Peugeot 106 sport. There is such a difference in racing on the Pc and the real world. At the Pc im capable of correcting a drift. It once happend to me at a 90 degree corner in the wet and before i knew i was facing the other way around the sweat running down my armpits. In real live its all about my life and the life of my girlfriend and other lives. I dont mess with that just because i think im a better driver due to games...