Does music affect your driving?

[mrcervantes11]

Music does things to our brain (e.g. Good music stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain). That's what I've read at least. But how does it affect driving? Racing games are known to have soundtracks ranging from rap, rock, eurobeat,etc. In the case of Assetto Corsa though, it has no in-game music so you guys might be playing your favorite driving music in the background. Does it have an effect on your performance though?

I tried listening to eurobeat (my favorite genre for competitive driving music) and did a quick-race in Spa. I was a bit "braver" in the corners and I had the tendency towards late braking more then usual. Then again, it might be just me. I've yet to see the actual telemetry.

I know we have the ACTI tool for getting telemetry from races and I would very much want to see your opinion and findings regarding this topic.

 

[William Levesque]

 

[William Levesque]

And because I'm biased regarding Touhou music:

 

[xnorb]

Not listening to music when i'm in serious mode.
No matter if simracing or FPS. I'd also turn off any music in RTS and Mobas if i'd play them.

Loose career mode driving in Gran Turismo or FUEL? Let the rock music roll

 

[brooptss]

Can't drive with music, completely throws me. I need to hear every sound or I lose control.

 

[Brendan Little]

I mounted the kurb on a roundabout on the way to work today while singing to Jackson Five so make your own conclusions on that.....

 

[Jyotiray]

Sometimes it good if the road is clear and you are taking a long drive. But if you are at office time and especially in a jam, then it can create serious trouble. That time you probably focus on your driving.

 

[arthur666]

Driving a modern car in heavy traffic, I like to put on a Nick Drake album so I can CHILL THE F>>> OUT, and stop driving like all the other a-holes on the road. (I have learned to keep Judas Priest and Turbonegro off of my commute playlist )

When in the old Miata, radio is no longer an option. So just wind, engine, and the little metal bits rattling around inside the exhaust behind the cat. And heavy traffic is on some other road. I'm taking the long way around.

When driving AC, no music for me thanks.

 

[Bobby Pennington]

I listen if I'm exploring a track and not worried so much about braking points. I typically do this just to get a feel for entry, apex and exit points. So it's a little mundane and you need something.

Once I start pushing I need more concentration because if you brake 3 meters early or late that equals 1/3 or more of the track width and it's blown.
So no music for me when I'm in serious mode. Just not

that focused

 

[Brandon Wright]

I'm sorry, what were we talking about? I got distracted....

 

[Coffer]

If I'm not at the point where I can handle a car on a certain track consistently well and smoothly, then no, I need to be able to read everything in order to actually learn. But past that, listening to eurobeat does tend to make me faster and improves my concentration. It has to be pretty intense even by eurobeat standards though. Any sort of calmness throws me off completely.

It helps that I generally don't like how most engines sound, so drowning that out to a reasonable extent, especially when I'm in clean air, is a good thing for me. I do tend to keep the music volume pretty low so as to hear anything that I actually need to hear though.

 

[Brandon Wright]

If I'm racing, music is a no-no. But if I'm just taking a cruise down Pacific Coast and blasting through traffic I enjoy having some tunes blaring because I'm just having fun and not trying to concentrate or maximize my performance. It's actually quite enjoyable and in that instance music adds to the immersion because if I was really blasting down a coastal highway I'd for sure have some tunes jamming.

 

[Hyper Beast GER]

For a 20min. Race ill turn the Music off, good to have the Button right on my Corsair Board with a Volume Scrollbar.

For longer turns like 1:45h LeMans or something ill turn my music on, seems more relaxed if youre alone at your stints.
With my Nubert 313 Stereo Set you can easily hear the Details from the Music and the Car Engine or the Tyres at the corners if theyre crying.

Winamp 30% Volume, Assetto Corsa 100% no problem

 

[Turk]

"eurobeat" .......' the heck? Am I gettin old?

No you've just been fortunate until now.

I'm one of those people that can really only do one thing at a time. It would be pointless for me to put on music because I simply wouldn't hear it if I'm focused on driving. If I did start paying attention to it while driving I'd feel like it was taking away from my driving. I get the CPU warning in my brain these days, I have no spare brain cells left over for multitasking.

I don't even like listening to music in my real car, we don't get a huge selection of radio stations in rural Ireland and the ones we do have all play the same music, either charts or country. Or sometimes that horrible dance/country. So I've just gotten used to not listening to it.

 

[Peter Kerényi]

I usually drive in simulators without music, but sometimes for practice sessions when I'm in the mood I put something in the background. I haven't noticed a bad effect, it's even easier to get into the driving "trance" where I do quite good consistent laps while not even thinking about it. For some adrenaline pump the Gran Turismo theme always works, but that's because it was the racing game of my early childhood.

IRL the radio is now always on, since in our "new" car the radio was broken and only played tape ('98 Carisma) and we have just changed it for a new USB playing one

 

[Deleted member 130869]

There's just something about a Hanson and Taylor Swift medley mash-up that just makes one drive like a world champion.

 

[Grabarz]

when I playing racing sim and listening the music it never goes well - I'm making more mistakes my mind is out of the track, i loose concentration, I'm also slower, - well same thing goes in real world for me

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Even now if i click on a youtube vid for a car and its got music blurting out i will turn it off.. I want to hear the car sorry.
Dont get me wrong, some music works very well to build up the suspense but most is just pooo

I Don't drive with music on i hate it, Even when driving in a real car..
I do listen to audio books though sometimes on long journeys.

 

[Enagee]

Have any you tried racing with the engine volume turned completely down?
Its the strangest thing.

Casual driving you can drive to the rhythm of music , Racing...thats 100% focus on everything ....How can you chose the sound of music over the sound of the Engine?

Either way its a bad habit for Racing

 

[purrpurrkatzen]

Well, yeah. It actually distracts people when driving. When i am driving i ALWAYS listen to eurobeat, because eurobeat actually makes you drive your limits.

 

[ReZ]

I'd say it depends on if the song you are listening to, fits the track.
Gran Turismo 4 did a pretty good job in having lots of songs that were perfect for Nordschleife attack.
Initial D Arcade Stages are also very good in combining music with the track to get you in the mood

In AC you would need at least a mod to get the music started at the same time / place to replicate this.

almost forgot ... Racedriver Grid had this nice feature with dramatic music towards the end of 24h LeMans races^^