F1 2011 Traction Control In F1

[Danny Witts]

Hey guys

ive turned traction control off and im finding it alot better but im 3 seconds off the pace in a mclaren, i feel if i push anymore im going to spin just wondered if anyone could give me any tips pls for trying to get faster.

 

[Steve Greenwood]

I've never tried TC so TBH I don't know exactly how different it feels to you, I know what it does as I have raced with TC users in the wet lmao!
Best advice I can offer is to always remember that any car will accelerate quicker/easier in a straight line, so "make" as many straight lines as you can when exiting corners, be VERY VERY VERY smooth and progressive on the throttle, Then it's a question of practice practice practice.............

As always I also recommend David O'Reilly's excellent guide

 

[Dylan Hember]

Are you using a wheel or controller?
This game has huge amounts of grip, just have more confidence and apply more throttle.
The game has a strange balance of too much grip and not much grip, if you get me?

 

[Steve Greenwood]

@dylan can you explain that in more detail?

 

[Danny Witts]

Hey cheers for the reply steve and dylan ive just downloaded the excellent guide reading through it now then as you say im gonna practice.

and im using controller at the min but getting a wheel in the very near future

 

[Dylan Hember]

An expanded piece on driving without TCS (Traction control system).
As we move to lower assists some drivers have asked for more info on driving without TCS.
Definitely need to have assists off to get any feedback in a setup/testing session. TCS and ABS will both just hide poor setup.
If you think about sitting in a car weighing 650KG with 745HP in a car park with your steering wheel turned and flattening the throttle and imagine what would happen....
Then think about reducing steering lock to 20% and feathering (slight use of) the throttle. The difference between the two is throttle control.
Corner Exit:The more steering lock you have “wound on” and the slower you are going the greater the propensity for wheel-spin. TCS will manage this by taking off power the moment there is a hint of wheel-spin. For you to drive well without TCS the key skill really is to manage a progressive throttle application. If you stomp on the throttle with the wheel turned you will get wheel spin and possibly a slide. In essence you gradually/progressively apply throttle as you wind off steering lock. As your wheel straightens the foot goes down. It is really a movement that is linked as if by an invisible piece of string. This is why Walter Rohrls’ brilliant mental picture of a piece of string works so well.
In your head there is a piece of string tied from the bottom of the steering wheel to the big toe of your throttle foot. So you can only access full throttle when the wheel is straight. Automatically as you straighten the wheel exiting a corner your string gets longer allowing more throttle.
Another mental image could be: 1st gear 30% throttle, 2nd gear. 60 %, 3rd gear 90%, 4th gear 100%.
If we want to get even more precise and technically correct the aero down-force influence starts to kick in as speed picks up. By 5th gear the string is replaced by elastic, by 6th gear it’s not there at all. Hence Eau Rouge you can have near full lock at full throttle in 6th-7th at 250kph.
Another interesting phenomenon is where you might in a fast corner wind off lock temporarily to allow more throttle/acceleration then as aero influence kicks in wind on more lock. This happens in Spa corner 10-11 “Pouhon”. Under full fuel approaching in 6th gear I will brake at about 75 metres and downshift to 4th. Once getting good turn in, feed in more throttle on slight lock and as corner opens in 5th give full throttle then 6th at corner exit with full lock. The higher speed gradually allows more lock due to aero influence (and in a small way centrifugal effect of the wheels).
So in essence you have to develop a connection between the movements of your hands and of your feet. Here follows the section in the F1 2010 Advanced Drivers Guide that also deals with it albeit briefly.

1) Exit. The simplest and least cerebral part where you benefit from your good work in braking and apex phase. At this point you want to get the power down as fast as possible without breaking traction. The car will accelerate faster with minimum steering lock so once past apex allow the car to drift as wide as possible under throttle. If you leave track remaining unused outside you it means you could have carried more speed in corner or applied throttle earlier or harder or used less steering input on exit. All of these actions will net more speed. Exiting slow corners one must be mindful of avoiding wheel spin. This is because of the extra acceleration available in lower gears and the reduction in aero down force at lower speeds. In faster corners you can apply throttle more aggressively. The co-efficient of adhesion is higher than that of friction so wheel spin costs time. When dealing with throttle application a good mental image is that of a piece of string tied to the bottom of the steering wheel and your big toe. As you wind off lock your big toe is freed to apply more throttle

Have a look at your setup too

 

[Steve Greenwood]

Sorry Dylan I meant explain this (The game has a strange balance of too much grip and not much grip, if you get me?)

 

[Dylan Hember]

Sorry Dylan I meant explain this (The game has a strange balance of too much grip and not much grip, if you get me?)

Oh right, well its quite obvious that up to real F1 the game has way too much grip.
So you can take a lot more speed into the corner and out of the corners, but at the same time it feels like the car is moving around everywhere.
So it may feel that the car is a little unstable, but you are still getting those laptimes

 

[Tom]

About the realism: real F1 cars have lots and lots of downforce, so it's not like many games simulate it - driving a real F1 car surely isn't like driving on ice.

So whilst CM doesn't simulate it perfectly fine, other "hardcore" sims don't do either.

 

[Steve Greenwood]

got yer, so push a bit more when you think you've reached the limit of grip?

 

[Steve Greenwood]

About the realism: real F1 cars have lots and lots of downforce, so it's not like many games simulate it - driving a real F1 car surely isn't like driving on ice.

So whilst CM doesn't simulate it perfectly fine, other "hardcore" sims don't do either.

I agree mate, but also if it were a true simulation there's not a lot of peeps who could actually drive it out of the box let alone set a decent time. I wouldn't like to think what a race start would be like with 16 cars stalling on the grid every single time

 

[David O'Reilly]

Hey guys

ive turned traction control off and im finding it alot better but im 3 seconds off the pace in a mclaren, i feel if i push anymore im going to spin just wondered if anyone could give me any tips pls for trying to get faster.

Danny in addition to good posts above there is one thing I have been trying a bit lately.
Rather than trying to always keep it neat and within the limits, have a play and deliberately slide the car to find where they (limits) are. Too much throttle, too early, too much throttle with too much wheel angle etc.
Then try upshifting a bit earlier (short shift), feather throttle, wind off some lock and see how it manages the loss off traction.
Took me a while to realise that I wasn't paying for damage and threw it around a bit more in practice. Helped me control it on the limit a liitle more and save some slides.

 

[Danny Witts]

Ok david thanks for the info ill try what you have said thanks

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

What ever David said was absolutely true you need to throw the car into corners to push your limits in order to find where you can have the Most grip and also learning to get a Clean Exit from Corner

 

[Graham Howden]

nooooooooooooooooooob its called practice without stealing other peoples setups! Create your own to your own driving style! Just kidding cousin the post dylan put up makes a lot of sence and david made a good suggestion about finding the cars limits and just ragging it about a bit. DO NOT even attempt to do your setups in time-trial as the grip is stupid, get in GP mode, put some primes on, 10 laps fuel on normal fuel. Repeat untill the setup feels fine AND tyre wear is good enough for your longest stint in race, eventually when the setup is complete it will feel like you have all the assists on, make sure u do not wheel spin, and if your doing this in 1st gear a lot it might be a good idea to short shift. Try brakes at Medium-Small to avoid locking up, i use these on every track just about and never seem to lock up. If your setup looks good in GP mode, no wheel spinning, lockups, maxing 7th gear and generally the setup feels good get in TT and then when your blasting out top 50times with that very same setup you know your gonna blast the field.