F1 2011 Manual or Auto Gears?

[Roger Snead]

I have done a Search and read many posts regarding this subject, so please forgive the subject that has been discussed. Didn't find the answer to my Q below.
I had been using automatic for F1 2011 up until a couple weeks ago. I tried manual, and picked up on it fast, as I use Manual in all othe sims/games.

I enjoyed manual gears so very much!! The game was so much more fun, and immersive. Nothing more rewarding than catching a corner perfectly while downshifting. Just so much more fun.

Then I did a test at New Delhi with automatic vs manual. I was so bummed out that I was a full 1-2 seconds faster in auto! Same fuel on board( 4laps) TC med, ABS off, Fuel sim on, tire sim off. I ran about six laps each way, and was faster on all laps with auto. BTW,Using an Elite wheel

Here is my question..........

I was thinking if all the gears are set just right, for automatic, where you just hit the red lights and it changes perfect on up and downshifts, why wouldn't auto be faster? I would think itw ould make sense that auto is faster,with everything relevant, since a human can miss shift. How could one be more effiencient than the computer shifting?

Please explain, as I am sooo wanting to believe manual is faster. Is it as simple as I am not shifting as efficient as the auto gears? BTW, I am burning more fuel than I did in auto, so that probably means, I am not shifting at the right times, but what about the scenario in above paragraph? Thanks.

 

[Chicane500]

In dry you can be as fast as TC on, in wet conditions TC is still overpowered. However if you just keep practicing you'll get used to no TC and you'll learn to control it, or cap the car back when you accelerated too much. For a small test I had to set TC back to medium, and I started losing the car at certain corners, that always went perfectly without TC. It's a bit different driving style.

Cams: Some enjoy cockpit cam better, because they feel more involved. Others rather stick to T-cam, because they enjoy that better. I'd say use what you feel comfortable with.

A few other setup tips:
ride height 1/1 (or variations, but max 3)
Camber to the left in setup screen, at least the front camber. Rear camber differs imo.
Toe: towards the right.

You don't have to join leagues straight away. You can request a license and join club races on RD. Club races are single races where you have to sign up for the race if you want to join. Requirements: respect the rules, and have a common understanding of the tracks and its braking points.

 

[Roger Snead]

Thanks for more tips. Yea I didn't mean Leagues, just couldn't think of what to say. That happens to old guys.

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

Well you will first start with Slow Lap times just like me
When i was practicing first in Montreal i posted 1:19 which was way too slow but after Getting Things right i was able to post 1:14 then 13 and Now 10 or 09
Remember one thing if you are practicing in GP Mode with Weekends either Short or Long the Lap times will Decrease according to Session
IN Australia you can post 1:24 or 25 in FP1 or P but in Q or Q3 you can go to 1:21 or 20 according to your Caliber

 

[Roger Snead]

What about riding the kerbs when exiting a corner for better traction/control?
All right, I'm going out on Yas marina right now

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

You need to apply throttle Slowly to use the Kerb so that you won't get Wheel Spin over Kerb

 

[Jack Acid]

I race manual, but am not always quicker with them. Takes practice of course.

 

[Graham Howden]

go in GP mode, 50% race short weekend, stay in p1 until you find the setup, 16-17 laps fuel in, prime tyre's, normal fuel mix, work out your gears and your setup for those first 5-6 laps of your stint then put fresh tyres on and repeat and restart untill you have a setup that not only sticks, has the turn in and acceleration of a heavy car.

Honestly if you try this for an hour then smack some options on with 5 laps fuel your gonna fly AND be completely confident with sticking to the road. I usually do this then post a TT time with my 50% race setup and usually get a top 100 time, top 10 no assist time consistently

 

[Jamie Francklin]

@Rob Mekkes, I don't suppose you have some words of wisdom for roll bar and suspension stiffness as well do you?

 

[Chicane500]

@Rob Mekkes, I don't suppose you have some words of wisdom for roll bar and suspension stiffness as well do you?

Indeed I don't because even in 'equal performance' I find it very much depending on both track, car and personal preference.
For example Hungary, which in a HRT I'd drive on 11/11 stiffness, but in case of Force India I'd go for a slightly softer rear, like 7 or 8 or so, to make it a bit easier to accelerate out of the slow to medium speed corners.
On roll bar I usually start with 1 front 11 rear, but depending on car and track I put more to the front and sometimes less to the rear too (running 7/5 for example).

So roll bar and suspension, you gotta test and feel those for yourself.

 

[Jamie Francklin]

Indeed I don't because even in 'equal performance' I find it very much depending on both track, car and personal preference.
For example Hungary, which in a HRT I'd drive on 11/11 stiffness, but in case of Force India I'd go for a slightly softer rear, like 7 or 8 or so, to make it a bit easier to accelerate out of the slow to medium speed corners.
On roll bar I usually start with 1 front 11 rear, but depending on car and track I put more to the front and sometimes less to the rear too (running 7/5 for example).

So roll bar and suspension, you gotta test and feel those for yourself.

Had a feeling you were going to say that! I will fiddle around but do you think it's sensible to start with 1,11 roll bar and 11,11 stiffness and work from there?

 

[Mike Partington]

Had a feeling you were going to say that! I will fiddle around but do you think it's sensible to start with 1,11 roll bar and 11,11 stiffness and work from there?

Starting setup for every single track in the game (Yeah I know, its stupid) which most people use online for competitive reasons.

Wings 9-11
Brakes 48-52 high small (this is actually personal preference, I like 50-50)
Balance 1-11
Suspension 1-1 11-11
Gears set 7th gear for longest straight then sort the rest out as you practice
Camber -3.5, -1.5
Toe 0.05, 0.20

After doing a few laps you can generally get a feel for what you need to change. Getting alot of oversteer lower your front wing by 1 point and go out again, but if you get understeer add 1 point of wing etc. If you feel like 9 is to understeery (that a word) but 10 you get to much oversteer, use 9 wing and move front toe up a point or 2 and continue to you get something you like. You don't really want to go higher than 0.09 or 0.10 as you start to lose straight line speed.

At this point depending on track you may think that your car does not feel responsive enough in some corners and I may be wrong but I feel balance helps with this. Most cars you can just up the front balance to 3,4 or 5 but it is very car dependant. You will lose grip in the longer corners though and start to understeer more in them so you need to get a good balance, hmm hence the name.

Suspension stiffness, I would leave at 1,1,11,11, although I know a few people do lower than slightly for driving style or car choice but I don't like those cars .

This is generally how I figure those out, hope this helps.

 

[Karl Fuss]

Had a feeling you were going to say that! I will fiddle around but do you think it's sensible to start with 1,11 roll bar and 11,11 stiffness and work from there?

Personally i find it much easier to start with softer springs and stiffen them up after more practice. Stiffer springs seems to be faster on most tracks, but the grip is more limited the stiffer you go. So, if you're just learning tracks and getting a feel for them, softer springs and softer ARBs may help you be more consistent. You can always revisit the setting and stiffen things up later on.

 

[Jamie Francklin]

@Mike Partington and @Karl Fuss thank you so so much. That is incredibly useful and hopefully will help me with confidence as sometimes when i'm driving i have nagging thoughts of not getting the setup quite right (making me slower) so following a protocol will make it easier. Cheers guys

 

[David O'Reilly]

There has been a lot of good info on this thread.
I will add a couple that might be useful.
TCS- It hides bad setup. You want the car naked in all its imbalances to test setup. TCS hides bad balance. You must do setups with it off. Its also is much more rewarding to race with no TCS. Its harder but thats the whole point. Its a massive assist just like auto braking or auto steering would be. Without TCS you will become a better driver much faster.

Manual gears; Again its more realistic and you will improve as a driver faster with manual gears.

Viewpoint. Cockpit is in my opinion the most immersive, most realistic by a mile. On some tracks Tcan may be easier or just a little faster. I stiil wont use it anymore. Having gone to cockpit there is no going back. I have the most respect for racers that use it.

OK some of this is hardcore advice but 3 seasons ago in F1 2010 I used many assists. Since weaning myself off them the game has gone up a level. In fact with each assists you drop it goeas up a notch. Who cares if auto is 1 sec faster (which I dont think it is) F1 cars dont have auto transmissions, dont have traction control and you arent allowed drive them lying on the air intake (T-Cam) to get a better view.
So the harder core you make it the more real it gets.
Karl Fuss above is a great example. One season ago he drove auto, TCS and swing view. He is now No assists , Cockpit view and racing online in 75%races in our Championship League (top league) and having 3 times the fun.

But of course the transition takes a little while. Enjoy as you go. But my recommendation is that you drop assists as a matter of urgency then slow AI as much as you need to get good racing!

Have fun, get an Xbox and come racing