Are you a better driver?

G

Graydon McKee

  • Graydon McKee

Have you become a better driver since taking up racing sims?
 
Defenitly yes! It actually saved my life 1 1/2 years a go when i took an exit on the highway at full speed (and a little bit more :D) and my tire blew!! Fast counter steering and a :poop:load of luck prevented me going into the guardrail with the front of the car
 
It's vise versa for me. I have had much more valuable training in real cars and on real tracks. Of course the nice driver trainings we get from work are big bonus.

My last instructor was a licensed F1 driver. :D (He never actually raced in F1 though)

Now if I could only get my setups right. lol
 
  • Bert Van Waes

Definately.

Saved my life 3 times already in my 7 years of driving... It came down to reflexes and being not afraid to let the car go a bit sideways. All tx to GT series and pc sims like gtl and gtr2...

tx to the god of simracing i guess:party2:
 
I drove a tractor once :)

But I'd say SimRacing has taught me shifting, using the clutch, double clutching, managing a car, hard launching, as well as many of the things mentioned here. Also, it can make you more ballsy, advantage or disadvantage... Depends.
 
  • Graydon McKee

Since I asked the question I thought I'd answer it. I'm 38 (will be 39 next week) and I've been driving for 23 years now (wow - that hurts just saying it.) I don't think I was a bad driver before but I've caught myself with both hands on the weel a lot more often and I'm thinking a lot more about the road ahead of me and where I need to exit the corner, etc. I don't push it as often but I'm definately enjoying it a lot more when I do. I certainly don't think sim racing will ever replace actual experience behind the wheel but it has certainly gotten me more mentally engaged when I do decide to push the limit IRL.
 
I would have to say yes. I live pretty much in the woods and during the winter i love to "rally drive" through the twisty roads around here (public roads) but i am allways careful and very safe. I started simracing in setpember last year and last winter i took my "rally driving" to a whole new level. Before i only dared to burn away in tops 3rd gear and at the most 40 km/h turns. This winter i was going sideways in most 60-70 km/h turns with 4th and sometimes even 5th gear. There is this one great uphill with some S like curves and a couple of times i got some great slides through there at 80km/h speeds. So i would definetly say simracing has made me alot better at controling my piece of **** real life car.

Also i just want to to say that i am not a irresponsible driver and even though it may sound like it i dont take big risks when i drive especially not with other people. I know these roads very well and i only slide in corners where there is full visibility so i know i'm not gonna meet another car or person midslide.
 
I would have to say yes. I live pretty much in the woods and during the winter i love to "rally drive" through the twisty roads around here (public roads) but i am allways careful and very safe. I started simracing in setpember last year and last winter i took my "rally driving" to a whole new level. Before i only dared to burn away in tops 3rd gear and at the most 40 km/h turns. This winter i was going sideways in most 60-70 km/h turns with 4th and sometimes even 5th gear. There is this one great uphill with some S like curves and a couple of times i got some great slides through there at 80km/h speeds. So i would definetly say simracing has made me alot better at controling my piece of **** real life car.

Also i just want to to say that i am not a irresponsible driver and even though it may sound like it i dont take big risks when i drive especially not with other people. I know these roads very well and i only slide in corners where there is full visibility so i know i'm not gonna meet another car or person midslide.

LoL Niklas, man you're from Finland nothing that comes out of there is slow or irresponsible (see Mika Hakkinen, Salo, Makinen, Hirvoninen?, Raikkonen, etc etc etc). I wish I lived in the woods although I think then my life would be way more expensive, I would have already wrapped a few cars around some nice spruce trees or even good ol' hard oaks, oooh that hurts just thinking about it.

I'm more of a train like driver, I like smoothness above all things and I hate jerking the wheel or unsettling the car even if it means im losing time. Simracing honestly just gave me a good idea of how to drive RWD cars, all the ones i drive now are FWD, and I hope it somes in handy when I purchase my first car which will be RWD ofcourse.

It has not made me a better driver but one aspect of simracing has made me think better/differently. That is adjusting to different situation or in this case cars. Even if im driving my shitboxes you are able to feel things that would be mudane to and ordinary person, an example is the way the car's suspension settles into the corner after initial entry you feel the car 'sit down' on the road, small things like that which overall can contribute to better safer more alert driving. So lol it has made me better.

Simracing... its guud.
 
apart from the speeding tickets
(just got one last week :confused2:)
I think I might 've become (a little bit) a better driver

A few months ago
I went a little bit to hard over a small slippery little bridge
I countersteered automatically
(like I do so often in Race)
It seemed really necessary cause the car was starting to brake out
and there was not much room

What concerned me the most is how little feedback the car gave
when it started to brake out: I really started to feel how much it was out of balance after I've contersteered. So nothing happened but it could have been a different ending...
 

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