F1 2010 Pace Difference: Auto Gear vs. Manual Gears

Chris Sims · May 29, 2011

So I was wondering: How much of a difference does manual gears make? I've never tried manual gears before, and I can't help but wonder if it holds my pace back at all? I see these crazy times on TT and on some of the vids you guys post here, and it seems like the quicker times are done by those using manual gears.

Also, I use an xbox controller; to what extent is a wheel/pedals faster? The only thing I can think of is that you can be much smoother with a wheel than you can with a controller, but besides that I'm not too sure.

The reason why I'm asking is because I'd love to join a racing club on here, but I'd rather be as quick as I can before I get competitive.

Thanks for your input.

David O'Reilly · May 29, 2011

Wheel and pedals is quicker. and will allow you to drive with less assists which is more immersive and will help you get batter faster.
I'm still on auto box and you can be competitive with it. Can;t speak authoritatively on manual box, but I get the feeling that once proficient you can brake later due to downshifting - engine braking. Its for next season for me.
Re the racing. Get into some club racing as soon as you can, great fun. A good test of your pace is to compare your time to the pole sitter in GP mode quali on Legend AI. The fastest guys are less than 1 sec faster than that as a guide.

NoobBlaster · May 29, 2011

I switched to manual a few weeks back & it's been great fun. I have even more appreciation for real F1.

I find that I learn the tracks a lot faster now.
I've beaten 80% of my previous AUTO times. But there are a few which I can't come close to?

I highly recommend going manual if using a wheel

Can't wait for F12011

Craig Whitmore · May 29, 2011

There are numerous advantages to manual over auto, the 2 main ones I can think of are to use the gears to aid braking into and during corners.

Gearing down while braking before the corner is ever so slightly more efficient than just braking alone and will give you a good advantage to pass people on corners who use auto, by out braking them.

During a corner, if you start to go a little wide, normally, dabbing the brakes will just cause you to go even wider, of course you can just stay off the accelerator, but often that's not enough. But, with manual, you can gear down when you start to go wide to lose that extra speed and stay tight on the corner. If you watch some laps of real F1 drivers, you will notice that they are gearing down during some turns before they reach the apex to lose that extra speed.

Both these techniques will give you a massive advantage over any driver using auto.

On the other issue you mentioned about wheels vs controllers, I use a wheel and I've come across some drivers who have claimed to be using only keys and I've still fought tooth and claw with them for several laps to no avail.

Ricardo Fonseca · May 29, 2011

Use auto-gear for starting to know the driving lines of a circuit, to get more confident. But then switch to manual-gear, it will make you faster. Even if you play with a controller or a wheel.

Craig Whitmore · May 29, 2011

It took me about a week or two to switch over from auto to manual gears before I was used to it, found I had to count my gears, I listen for the engine to hit a particular note in the revs to change gears and I kind of subconsciously count the gears without thinking about it now, so I normally know which one I'm in without too much thought, sometimes I do have to have a quick peek at the gear number though, just for confirmation.

I doubt that you will find it easy to switch over at first, but I promise, it will be well worth the transition and you won't want to go back

ropke nine · May 30, 2011

I just restarted my career to up the challenge, before I was with williams then red bull, auto shift and had abs and traction on with legend AI and was back to back champion. So now I'm with Sauber and turned abs and traction off, still with legend AI and auto and I'm leading the championship in the 1st 3 races one of them a win. I tried manual for a bit but on the controller it's too hard and my thumb starts. I need a wheel so I can go with manual and then In car view.

Tom Michelmore · May 30, 2011

The thing with manual gears over automatic gears is not how much faster it is but how much more useful it is. For example, as other people have mentioned: Engine braking; allowed you to use the limit of each gear to rapidly slow you down without touching the brake pedal. Also it comes in mighty help in wet weather. With manual you can short shift preventing spins from happening in the 1st place. Automatic simply does not do this. On top of this, you can stop the engine revving like hell.

Manual gears is more of a tool then being plain faster.

Mark Richardson · May 31, 2011

I have always found manual gears easy, never could understand it being hard, if anything using tc off is harder, I have never used auto gearing, you get a lot of control with manual gearing not only in acceleration but in braking as well, rapid shifting is useful sometimes and auto gearing is just too much of a hinderence.

Steve Stoop · May 31, 2011

you can be competitive on auto gears but you'll still be faster on manual. KEy benefits of manual gears are

1. Engine braking as discussed already
2. shortshifting to save rear tires, save fuel if needed, prevent spin outs at tricky corner exits
3. This is the most important one to me, it will make it easier for you to have consistent pace on a track.
Once I get a track memorized, a lot of my consistency is due to knowing in what gear I take each corner, how fast I downshift in heavy braking zones, where I need to shortshift to get maximum exit speeds. Using your gears allows you to more consistently be at the right speed every single time as you hit an apex. You know what gear you are in, and you hear the revs of the engine. After a while you will know intuitively from the gear you are in and the revs that you hear whether you have judged it correctly or need to slow down more to prevent going wide/can take the corner faster.

one benefit that auto gears does seem to have is that you are less likely to run out of fuel than with manual, probably due to smoother shifting and never overrevving except if your 7th gear is set too short

Aarqiel · Jun 4, 2011

The one thing I find hinders me on auto is that the thing has no idea how to short-shift. I like to keep my revs real high in a lower gear to get the back end to oversteer off the apex in longer corners, and then hammer it out of the exit. It's just about possible to do on auto if you're very subtle with throttle control, but not spinning the wheels up high in 3rd when I'd have shifted to 4th already can be tricky. Better learn how to do it manual, I guess...