Why do I suck in the Stock car?

[Sk3ptik0n]

I have been driving the Stock Car and all the other releases since day 1. I enjoy driving all of them but I have come to the realization that in the stock car my performance is far inferior to what I can usually accomplish even in the other series in GSC as well as every other sim I own.

It seems to me as if I am just stuck and I am not getting any better. Driving against the AI I had to reduce the strength to 90% in order to race against them without being left behind by the entire field. And I still don't win, I just manage to stay with the group.

In Formula Reiza, F3 and the Vintage it's a totally different story. I race against them at 120% and while I still don't win, I am not regularly left behind.

I joined the league and to my dismay there too I fell to the very bottom of the field in practice and qualification (not quite the bottom but certainly the lower 1/4).

The reason seems to be that I am simply not getting better. My times at various tracks remain static and there are barriers I am unable to break. With the other cars and in rFactor, GTR2, etc. I am usually in the top half of the field if not racing for the podium.

So far, my best theory is that I am overdriving the cars out of frustration, but I'd like to know what others think. Do these cars require a technique I am unaware of?
I am usually a very regular racer. The reason I am often able to achieve good results in leagues and other races is not so much my speed but the ability to lap regularly. I am often best when I have no drivers around and I can concentrate on the track.
I'd like to think I am a smooth driver when I get in the zone, but if frustrated I can quickly lose it and start making mistakes.

 

[Alex Sawczuk]

The Stock Car AI is quite tough and it's all been finely tuned so they race at set speeds. This is not quite the case for the DLCs so I guess it turns out they must just be a bit slower generally.

 

[Philip Antonia]

I think the main thing with the stock cars is they have quite a bit of understeer in them. You can improve it by softening the front/stiffening the rear, but still you need to make sure not entering turns too fast. I find the approach of slow in fast out more relevant in these cars!!

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Mr Conti, join us on teamspeak during a club event and I am sure we can find a way to shave off a few seconds of your laptimes. No worries

 

[Scott Webber]

Seriously conti take up Bram's offer, me and others did and we lost a good second off our times.

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

I will take you up guys. Unfortunately I wanted to race this past Sunday at Interlagos, but my wife managed to get stuck with a broken car out of town and I had to go rescue her

The thing that drives me insane is that I really like driving the Stock cars. I like the way they drive, the feedback (not just FFB), handling, etc.

Yet, when I race them, I seem to perform at 75% of what I can usually accomplish with other type of cars in rFactor, GTR2 and other games. I have never compared my driving in the F3 in GSC, but against the AI I have to put them all the way up to have a competitive race. If I do that with the stock cars I'll see the AI only when they lap me.

I am not a fast driver to begin with. I usually perform subpar in qualification and in short races, but I often do very well in longer races (1h+) because I am very consistent and I actually speed up as I drive in a race. For me it's actually pretty normal to clock faster laps in a race than I did in qualification.

Sure, to finish well I count more on my competitors being one lap wonders and losing it at some point than I do my innate talents, but consistency has itsown rewards and it's not a bad habit to have.

In the Stock Cars I manage to lose that too.

Anyway, when is the next practice session? I'll look forward to attend.

 

[Dave Begley]

Check the Club Race Forum for the next Stock Car race.

Ive found that if you put the AI to 110% they represent the times the fast human driver can achieve. If you watch how the AI drive during a race its roughly how Bram and others drive. I stick 5 or 10 AI on a Test Day and watch them. Then i go out and try to follow their lines and gears.

You really need Team Speak though as Bram's Instruction will make you atleast 2 seconds quicker within a few laps.

 

[Roberto Costa]

After reading all the posts, looks like i need Bram's instructions either!
Im having some bad times with Stock Cars, probably because the last two years i just raced some arcade/wannabe simulation games, and most of the time open wheels, im trying hard but looks like i can't improve my times with stock car. At Londrina i watched the AI doing some laps and tried the same but i was 1 second slower not matter what. Also i did around 6 different setups, with my agressive one (lot of oversteer) i felt the car faster, but i couldn't do 3 laps without going to the grass...

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

Maybe if we get a few people together we can do an online session like the one they did recently in Race 07.

 

[Roberto Costa]

Lets see how it goes today, but for now, at least at Londrina i can't beat the AI in the Stock Cars, even at 90%

 

[Victor Ivanov]

well 100% is hard for me but not impossible as I find the AI pretty slow at some corners but 110% o_O Come oon 1:11.2 at Londrina... I'm struggling to set mid 13s...

 

[Roberto Costa]

Well, today i just saw 1.11, these guys are really fast. Saw them qualifying, looks like the only part of the track that i can't do the same as them its the first corner, i always do something wrong, lose the rear, break early, break too late, spin, do the turn correctly but too slow!! lol

 

[Victor Ivanov]

The main point of overall slowness is braking. I don't if I'm an idiot or I can't brake but it seems I lock the brakes at every corner and this is done with a just a little touch on the brakes. I tried with 90% pressure - nightmare. With 80 it's a little better but still I lock even at high speed corners (Londrina start of the 3rd sector) with about 10% pedal. I'm starting to think that my settings aren't done right or my brake pedal is broken. If I drive F Classic or Reiza I have to use around 65% pressure. If I use anything above this value all 4 wheels lock even at Interlagos 1st corner where I must be able to apply full braking at least for 0.1 seconds. The moment I touch the brakes and bang 4 wheels locked and I'm spinning like hell.

 

[Roberto Costa]

Yeah im having a hard time trying to improve my braking. One thing i noticed is that you can only apply a high pressure on the brake pedal its with your wheels straight, if you are entering the corner and still with the brakes applied then you should be very soft on the brake, otherwise they will lock the wheels.

 

[RedMetal]

... it seems I lock the brakes at every corner and this is done with a just a little touch on the brakes.

Try to reassign your throttle, brake and clutch in the control menu. I have that problem sometimes where my brake are like an on/off switch and reassigning pedals fix it. I know its not a problem with GSC but with my G27 because same thing happens sometimes with other sims.
Don't know if that will work for you but worth a try imo.

 

[Victor Ivanov]

Well I use DFGT not G27

 

[Niels_at_home]

I posted a while ago with a telemetry screenshot, though there might be too many comments in the charts so its a bit confusing.. How to brake / turn in

See this post http://www.racedepartment.com/forum/threads/abs-on-low-or-off.34796/#post-904300

 

[Victor Ivanov]

Niels thank you for that post.
So first of all - there's nothing wrong with the game. The only wrong is the way I brake and that's caused by my pedals. We know DFGT is pretty good wheel but with bad pedals or at least bad for sims. In F1 2010/11 my pedals seem to work fine but those are more games than sims. That's why the power I added to my brake pedal was enough for CM's games but for GSC it's too much. I've put a pedal camera too see what exactly I do - I press the brakes 100% and then gently lift but I never lift more that 50% and then at 0. This is because of the soft brake pedal of DFGT and lack sensitivity and feel which that pedal gives. So I've searched Google and YouTube and I found this incredible "spunge mod" and after I did some tests with normal kitchen spunge it didn't work well. Then I searched for something else and I finaly found the best one for this mod. Now I have to press brakes reaaally hard and guess what - no locks ins GSC! I even started to play with 87% pressure and I brake later than before the mod. Tomorrow I'll post a picture of the spunge Incredible - so easy and so good.