from Assetto Corsa to reality! how big is the difference..?

[Mike85]

I've never driven a real car.... but I love simulation and Assetto Corsa! will it help me in the future once i will have to turn my sim experience into real driving (normal, non GT cars of course)?

How big is the difference between real driving and simulation ? (I use Assetto Corsa + Logitec G27 + Oculus Rift DK2 and sometimes 3D Vision, everything maxed out, no latency) How much will it help me once i will start to drive a real car??

please write your thoughts and advices!

 

[Ricoow]

One thing what you will not learn from AC is clutching, there is no feedback at all in your pedals.
Also traffic rules etc will not be learned at all

 

[Mike85]

feedback in my pedals?.. hmm.. you mean some kind of force?

 

[ouvert]

it will help you but feeling wise it is nothing like real driving ... you`ll be surprise how much you can feel the car, how easy and naural everything feels ... much easier than simracing (not talking about high speed on the edge driving, I`ve never been over 240km/h in car and that was on highway.. but beeing on edge at lower speed is easier in real cars ..)

don`t worry it is easy to drive .. problem is that lots of people don`t use too much brain when driving and that they are not looking few cars ahead but "only on ther bumper" ..

 

[Mike85]

it will help you but feeling wise it is nothing like real driving ... you`ll be surprise how much you can feel the car, how easy and naural everything feels ... much easier than simracing (not talking about high speed on the edge driving, I`ve never been over 240km/h in car and that was on highway.. but beeing on edge at lower speed is easier in real cars ..)

don`t worry it is easy to drive .. problem is that lots of people don`t use too much brain when driving and that they are not looking few cars ahead but "only on ther bumper" ..

thank you Ouvert, nice post!

 

[TheBlackVanMan]

I've been on the road for almost 30 years so here it goes.

Don't go all yahoo on the road if you're good on a sim. Always remember that weight transfers are virtual when playing but crucially real on the road, at the limit/with bad tires/poor road surface/first rains after a dry spell/could go on forever.

Has seen in the episodes of GT Academy Challenge wannabe racers, some kids just learned how to play the game, not idea whatsoever about weight transfers and how tires (or even cars) work.

Learn to drive properly and practice/enhance your skills in the sim(s). Transfer that knowledge to the road and you'll be a much much much faster and SAFER driver.

 

[Tasos Olympou]

The biggest difference is in the damage model, don't go crashing into things even if you go with 30km/h

 

[Mike85]

Thank you guys for your interesting answers, I will do my best once get into a car!!

 

[ouvert]

just remember .. no rush and keep it calm ... it is not about how good driver you are .. its about how bad somebody else could be ... and man I`ve seen drivers you wouldn`t believe

 

[Ricoow]

and you'll be a much much much faster and SAFER driver.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe research was done in this field and Simracers seem to have way faster and better reactions to things happening in front of them on the real roads.

 

[Turk]

The big difference between sim and road is the lack of feedback in sims. In a car you can feel what each wheel is doing, the car really does become an extension of your body. In a sim it's like you're paralyzed so much information is gone. There's also the fact your life is on the line every time you drive a car, that can add a huge amount of enjoyment to driving a car, I know it shouldn't, but it does.

AC is the closest a sim has come to give the exhilaration of driving, I don't know how they do it but the feeling of driving is there, not all the time but sometimes it comes through.

Over all though when you get in a car you'll have nothing more than the basic theory of driving. You'll basically be starting from scratch. You shouldn't rely on what you do is AC as a guide for how you drive a real car. The cars in AC are designed to go fast, the car you'll be driving in the real world will be designed to be safe, it simply won't be able to do the things you do in AC.

 

[Mike85]

Thank you for your detailed description Turk!

 

[Chris Cox]

I've driven a race Porsche 911 and a european race truck and they both have a lot more grip than any sim I've driven

 

[Blkout]

One more tip, most real life drivers are worse than the Assetto's AI drivers, and that's really saying something. Buckle up.

 

[ThugUK]

It's nothing like driving a real car on a real road.
A sim may be good but it's still a game.

On the road you have to be aware of so much more as the consequences are far greater if you get it wrong. You have to respect other drivers, pedestrians and other things that can and do happen in front of you (like animals, footballs, appearing from nowhere). You have to think about the weather, time of day, road conditions, deposits on road (debri, diesel, potholes, painted markings, speed humps. Chicanes, parked cars, kids running from behind ice cream vans etc). You have to consider weight and weight transfer and how it can effect braking, acceleration, cornering etc. You have to be aware of rules and laws in regards to speed limits, traffic lights, signs, vehicle condition.
I regularly drive VERY fast on public roads (legally I might add) and it is worlds apart from driving fast on a sim).
You drive a car with your body, you feel what the road is doing through your hands and senses and feel inertia and how to play the clutch. In real life driving you have to be far more aware of your surroundings.
A driving sim/game may sharpen reflexes, but so will playing Call Of Duty.

Having said that, it's still the closest thing you can get to driving whilst sat at your desk in your computer room.

As for people who play driving sims being better drivers, could that be because they have an interest in driving (or they wouldn't have bought a driving game in the first place) and therefore if you have an interest the chances are you are going to be better than someone who doesn't have an interest at all?

It's the same the other way. I am a very good driver on the roads but mediocre on a sim.

 

[TheBlackVanMan]

@ThugUK Completely right, my man; right on the money. I'm a professional driver (see the pic) and almost no one can follow me on the road on the stringy bits but I'm only an average simracer. I prefer to be fast IRL.

 

[Chris Cox]

Also sims can't do the effects of turbulence under the car and the effects of wind direction that you feel in a real race car

 

[TheBlackVanMan]

Or violent cross winds on bridges/motorways, the thing that most frightens me on the road, much much more then rain, which you learn how to drive on.

 

[Bokonon]

My driving instructor, who was at the time the president of the Andrea de Cesaris fan club and a big F1 fan, was very clear to make the distinction between a good(fast) driver, and a safe one. Learning to drive on the road is first of all about the latter.

 

[ThugUK]

Believe me when I tell you I have seen it all. In my experience open straight roads are the most dangerous. Hell, even I hit a deer at 115mph on one writing off a 2 year old BMW.
There is a BIG difference between fast and safe, although you can still drive fast and be safe or drive slow and not be safe.
None of this will affect you when playing a pc game no matter how good a sim it is.