New player, having a hard time heating up tyres

[Alexandre Arruda]

Hey guys, maybe someone can help me out?

I've recently bought a g29 wheel and Asseto Corsa, and this Sim Racing thing pretty much amazed me. This game is a blast. So, next month, iRacing Brasil will host a new season of a championship series for begginers and I'm like "WTH, "i'll give it a try. They'll even give new entrants 3 months of subscription for free."

So, before I subscribe to that racing league I decided to practice the MX-5 Cup in Laguna Seca, one of the tracks that league runs. And boy, do I need a lot of practice.

My first problem is tyre temperature. The hard slicks used in Asseto Corsa take a LOT of time to heat up, up to 5 laps sometimes. And I never get to heat up the left front and left rear tyres. I even tried to use assymetrical settings (15 psi for the left tyres and 17 psi for the right tyres), and although this setting makes me almost get proper temperatures, the left tyres are always a little bit colder than their optimal temperature. I also tried to add some negative camber, but I feel I'm going to some extreme cambers and I know that extreme set ups are usually not good to go for.

My second problem (and proably a consequence of the first one) is consistensy. I still haven't managed to complete 10 laps without spinning or drastically oversteering. Not to mention I still find it extremely difficult to downshift while cornering. Although it might be obvious that braking, turning and downshifting at the same time is an extreme stress for balance, I feel that if I managed to trailbrake and downshift correctly, I would improove my times a lot more .Especially at turn 1 and the corskcrew.

Aaand that brings me to my third problem, which isn't a big deal for me anyway, but... after ~50 hours of practicing, my lap times are waaaay to high. I mean, I've managed a personal best of 1:41:1 and an average of 1:43. Although those are times made with half a tank of fuel, lowering the fuel isn't giving me a better feel of the car.

So, I wonder... do you guys have any tips for setups and driving techniques that might help me?

Thanks in advance

 

[Kek700]

Very true Rasmus.


My mate gave me a go in his v8 powered single seater, I had spent the last couple of years just driving a 1.3 rally.
I was immediately on the pace.

The same just does not happen when I swap completely different cars in assetto corsa

 

[BhZ]

There's a reason why the comments are disable in the YouTube page. It's not a huge gain but it's there, mostly during the entry phase. I'm guessing a 1sec easy on a normal size track.

You get more play & maybe allow you to turn the steering faster because there's more step with the brake while retaining the front load.

At least the game difficulty is adapted for the handicap.

Ah yeah, it must feel good to believe you are slow because of your hardware... As a matter of fact, I am not an f1 driver because of my hardware... If i had better hardware, i'd be faster than Hamilton quite easily and i would have gotten his seat, but sadly, i can't afford a 2k wheel... Such a shame.

 

[Kek700]

Especially the pedal work is difficult in a sim. When you try to go as early on the throttle with your road car like many do in the sim (too early) you simply get smashed into the seat and it feels very wrong. You simply don't start to accelerate before you start to open up the steering wheel again. Yet somehow almost every simracer (me included since a few months ago) tend to do exactly this...

Rasmus I think I understand, but would it possible to expand this statement for me!

I think the little pea in my head is overloaded

 

[RasmusP]

Especially the pedal work is difficult in a sim. When you try to go as early on the throttle with your road car like many do in the sim (too early) you simply get smashed into the seat and it feels very wrong. You simply don't start to accelerate before you start to open up the steering wheel again. Yet somehow almost every simracer (me included since a few months ago) tend to do exactly this...

Rasmus I think I understand, but would it possible to expand this statement for me!

I think the little pea in my head is overloaded

Sure
What I meant is that in the sim you don't feel any forces other than the steering. So when you brake badly or go on the throttle way too early you only feel that the wheel goes a bit lighter.
Until you actually understeer or oversteer you don't really get any information about what's happening with the car. The screen can barely make up for it as you might see what the suspension and chassis do, but you just don't feel it.

Not when you go way too early on the throttle in real life you would feel that it's just wrong. When you're at the maximum steering angle and slam the throttle before hitting the apex you will need to hold the steering angle while being thrown into the side of your seat (of window when you don't have sport-seats).
Same for excessive steering inputs etc etc. What just feels wrong in real life can still feel okay through your virtual sim-steering wheel.

After a lot of practice you will be able to feel the little nuances in the ffb or see that what the suspension and chassis do but at the beginning you just turn and pump with the pedals. You lack a lot of feeling for the combination of lateral and longitudinal G-forces!

 

[Kek700]

Got it, I have always thought this but could never really describe it rationally.

If I specifically put in a lot of practice on a circuit that is particularly advantages to me,
I can get very close to the RSR world records.
If I then do not practice again for a few days and then return, I am automatically
back to two seconds off the pace and need to start all over again.
I's like I do not have the ability to store that feeling in my head or muscles.

This also shows on some circuits, I can be quick for most of the circuit but
a couple of corners I just don't get it however hard I try. I can see visibility
people making up loads of time in these corners.

At times I have been following BHz , and I can see ( I think ) he is fresh to
the car and circuit, it only seems to take him 3 or 4 laps to get up to
speed.
Maybe in the race he improves, but if he does it is only marginal.
It's like he sees or feels something I don't.

 

[fasfdasf]

There's a reason why the comments are disable in the YouTube page. It's not a huge gain but it's there, mostly during the entry phase. I'm guessing a 1sec easy on a normal size track.

You get more play & maybe allow you to turn the steering faster because there's more step with the brake while retaining the front load.

At least the game difficulty is adapted for the handicap.

I'd trust Niels' word more on this than that channel

There's a reason why the comments are not disable in the YouTube page.

 

[Mr Deap]

Ah yeah, it must feel good to believe you are slow because of your hardware... As a matter of fact, I am not an f1 driver because of my hardware... If i had better hardware, i'd be faster than Hamilton quite easily and i would have gotten his seat, but sadly, i can't afford a 2k wheel... Such a shame.

I guess it's worthless to buy better hardware.

If it reduce the step, yes it should give a slight edge. I guess I have to accept it won't change anything assuming if the video above is true.

 

[Stereo]

It's not worthless, just know what you're getting out of it (stronger force feedback, load cell style brakes) which might improve your immersion but isn't required to do good laps.

 

[BhZ]

I guess it's worthless to buy better hardware.

If it reduce the step, yes it should give a slight edge. I guess I have to accept it won't change anything assuming if the video above is true.

I know a driver that was racing in the f1 championship on iracing (the official championship) and he drove there with a g27 for years. He switched to a dd wheel, he's as good as before, not faster, not slower.

 

[Mr Deap]

I'm still waiting of lap time from the topic creator. If he's below 1:38 it prove it has little about skill & it's all learning curve.

 

[BhZ]

I'm still waiting of lap time from the topic creator. If he's below 1:38 it prove it has little about skill & it's all learning curve.

If he's below 1 38 it means he improved. That's the only thing you can deduce from that. Anything else is pure speculation.

 

[Mr Deap]

Maybe he's like wow I did so wrong, but somehow trounce my previous time. I had that feeling when I messed with some combo.

 

[BhZ]

Maybe he's like wow I did so wrong, but somehow trounce my previous time. I had that feeling when I messed with some combo.

Maybe, maybe not... Still speculation.

 

[Stereo]

I think the original question got answered fast... hard slick is the slick designed to run coldest, and needs other conditions matching it (esp. track temps but also a circuit that puts a heavy load on the tires) to hit optimal range.

 

[Mr Deap]

Maybe, maybe not... Still speculation.

You don't get this feeling?

 

[PhilS13]

At first(years ago) you crap was : "You need to drive wrong to make WR." You got proven wrong so many times and then even if you never admitted it you eventually switched to: "You need to drive wrong to not be 6 seconds off and speed up learning curve"

Same crap, still being proved wrong, and yet you're everywhere with this cancer advice.

I can't wait to see what crap it'll become in a year.

 

[Andy-R]

I think the original question got answered fast... hard slick is the slick designed to run coldest, and needs other conditions matching it (esp. track temps but also a circuit that puts a heavy load on the tires) to hit optimal range.

Problem 1 has been, IMO 2 and 3 are quite open ended.

I do wonder if problem 2 has something to do with changing to the wrong gear or trying to change down at the wrong time. From my video I would say it should be something like:

T1 - flat out
T2 - 3rd gear
T3 - 3rd gear
T4 - 4th gear
T5 - 3rd gear
T6 - flat out
T7/8/8a - 3rd gear
T9 - flat out
T10 - 4th gear
T11 - 2nd gear

 

[JoelK]

I know a driver that was racing in the f1 championship on iracing (the official championship) and he drove there with a g27 for years. He switched to a dd wheel, he's as good as before, not faster, not slower.

And I know guy who is leading the official finnish championship in AC and is regurarly on top in ACRL, and drives with a DFGT. Means that u can be ridiculously fast even with a **** wheel.

 

[Mr Deap]

At first(years ago) you crap was : "You need to drive wrong to make WR." You got proven wrong so many times and then even if you never admitted it you eventually switched to: "You need to drive wrong to not be 6 seconds off and speed up learning curve"

Same crap, still being proved wrong, and yet you're everywhere with this cancer advice.

I can't wait to see what crap it'll become in a year.

Whatever what you think.

That tips worked on my end & it helped me greatly
"..sim racing aliens are aliens because they drive unrealistic setups in an unrealistic manner to set unrealistic times...""(basically it applies to all sim)

WR never was my target, just ignorant on what the niche genre was about.

edit:
Don't get me wrong I'm the type to believe there's no such thing as being good at something & bad at other. Just simply dumb founded on the learning curve.

 

[Alexandre Arruda]

Hey guys!

So, let me give you some feedback. After reading this thread, the first thing I did was turning off the auto clutch. As I don't have the H stick gear, I was only using the clutch during starts. So I had to re learn all the technique to break with the right foot again. It took me a while to achieve the same laptimes and consistensy using the 3 pedals. Also, I figured some turns are uneven and offcamber. For example, I was quite prone to oversteer at turn 9 untill I realized the right side of that corner is a little off camber. When I noticed, I started to straight the wheel a little early so that the car didn't get too upset with that transition.

I do have a point to make here. Althouht I figured my main problem is still sticking up to the right racing line (I figured I was turning too early on turns 3 and 5), I believe heating up the tyres gives you more grip than getting the optimal pressures. With my low pressure setup, I managed to find a 1:40:2 hotlap with half a tank, even though the car gets a lot more prone to snap oversteering. Maybe that's not an ideal setup for a long race, but an okayish one for qualy?

When I changed my setup to 21 psi on all four tyres (they heat up and reach 27 psi after 3 laps), I felt the car was a LOT more stable and I managed to complete 14 laps without any incidents. BUT, I didn't feel confident enought to go flat out on turn 6, for example. Maybe I should set lower values for rebound, so the car gets more manageable on all those ups and downs?

And yes, @Andy-R was right. As the MX-5 Cup needs a lot of momentum, I was eager to downshift on gear more than need in order to keep high revs. With a better corner entry, that became completely unecessary, although I always tend to snap oversteer at turn eleven. There is a huge gap of torque between 3rd and 2nd gears, I still haven't managed to "heel and toe" correctly there.

And this thread only made me learn a lot. You guys have been really helpful and I would love to buy you a beer sometime!