Vhr Stock Car Setups For Sprint
For my short tenure in the sim racing world, I've been sticking almost exclusively with road racing. It just appealed more, especially after I got into this hobby after watching the likes of the BTCC, F1 and MotoGP.However, over the past couple of weeks, I fancied a change of scenery, so I downloaded the VHR mod, F1 stock cars and a bunch of different Oval tracks for rFactor, and attempted to teach myself the art of oval racing.Now after recently mastering tracks of ever increasing complexity in the road racing circuit, I may have come into this a little overly confident. I mean after all, it's only turning left, how hard can it be?It turns out I was very wrong. On the shorter tracks such as Boston and Joesville, I can just about keep up with the AI, and on short races, maybe even get a podium or two. On the longer ovals however, where little if any braking is required for the bends, I'm really struggling. At Daytona for instance, I was consistently about 2 seconds a lap off the pace, yet couldn't seem to find anywhere to go any faster.
I seem to be entering bends with as much speed as the car can carry without losing grip and sliding towards the barrier.One thing to note is that I'm using only the stock setup. The only change I have made is to the gear ratios, to ensure that I'm peaking at the end of the straights.So ultimately, do you guys have any tips on mastering oval racing, any golden rules that I must adhere to, or maybe just some links to good guides or car setups? My brief google on the topic did not prove fruitful.Many Thanks- 08/04/11 02:08 PM Re: Oval Racing for beginnersJoined: Aug 2008Posts: 1,104MemberMemberJoined: Aug 2008Posts: 1,104.
At tracks like Daytona & Talladega, setup rules all. There is little you can do as a driver to affect your laptime other than following the proper line, which at those tracks is pretty simple.I've got a few setups I can send your way after I get home later that'll work for those tracks.Setup is also critical at the other tracks, but they're also more sensitive to how you drive the car.The next version of the VHR mod is due out this month (v7.0) and there is supposed to be a downloadable setup package that includes setups for all the tracks, and all the cars from the 'top three' series. This will go a long way to helping out newer drivers, since the default settings it applies now are often completely inappropriate for the tracks.As for the driving itself, the most important thing with these cars is to treat them like wild animals that are about to bite your leg off. No sudden moves that might startle the beast or it'll lash out and hurt you.Smooth, calm, steady inputs on steering and throttle are what you need. Start out by gradually turning into a corner, with the intention of getting to the bottom of the track.
Ease out of the accelerator to reduce speed, brake a little (but not too sudden or too hard) if you need to. Your goal should be to get around the corner while staying in the bottom 'groove'.you'll notice most tracks have a dark, shaded area in the preferred line.
When the car feels like it has settled into the groove and the front end is no longer trying to slide toward the outside wall, you can gradually ease back into the throttle. Learning when you can do this requires practice, both to get the 'feel' of the car as well as learning the characteristics of the track.Generally, your aim should just be to follow the shaded groove into and out of the corner.
Don't worry about laptime initially; just focus on being smooth and steady and getting around the track without sliding the car all over the place. The more familiar you get with how the car reacts and your braking/accelerating points, the faster you'll go.If you're looking for a good track to learn this technique, I recommend either Michigan or California. Both of them feature high speeds due to the size of the track, and neither of them really require use of the brake to get through the corner. They are pure lessons in throttle control - and if you get it right, you'll find that you're steering the car with the throttle just as much as you are with the wheel. Oval racing demands the ultimate in precision driving to go fast. Since you're not braking much, if at all, the ability to carry momentum through a turn w/out scrubbing it off on the tires makes all the difference. You'll find you're working your butt off just to shave a few hundreths of a second off your lap times, and to keep the tires as healthy as possible for a higher average speed across an entire race stint.
It's a totally different style of driving that also offers a lot more driving door-to-door with your competitors, which is what makes that kind of racing fun and exciting for drivers in IRL and NASCAR.I am glad you've discovered this form of racing and how entertaining it is. Thanks for all your advice. I spent a couple of hours last night just practicing driving smooth and sticking to the groove as Lugnut suggested, and I'm already seeing an improvement. In road racing, you can get away with making little mistakes, and going off the line now and again, but here, due to the simplicity of the track, it turns out every lap needs to be perfect.This now means I can keep up with the pack, which brings a whole host of other problems. Simply keeping track of all the cars around me is proving a massive challenge, and a whole lot of fun.
I think purchasing a TrackIR headset may be on the cards for next month, as I've been meaning to get one for my flight sims for a while now anyways. Do these help here?Also, I'm aware that the AI for rFactor is pretty shocking.
Vhr Stock Car Setups For Sprint Cell Phone
Is there a dedicated Stock Car Simulator out there with better AI that I should be looking at? I hear a lot of you saying good things About NASCAR 2003.Otherwise, I may well pop on the server now and again to get some online practice over the next couple of weeks.- 08/05/11 09:16 PM Re: Oval Racing for beginnersJoined: Oct 2000Posts: 3,831Senior MemberSenior MemberJoined: Oct 2000Posts: 3,831.
Also, I'm aware that the AI for rFactor is pretty shocking. Is there a dedicated Stock Car Simulator out there with better AI that I should be looking at? I hear a lot of you saying good things About NASCAR 2003.That's the only stock car sim I've tried that has good AI. But I do seem to recall that once I passed an AI car, I pretty much never had to worry about them again. Small gripe, though, considering the lack of single-player alternatives for NASCAR sims.On the plus side, there's a pretty robust community doing sim stock car racing on rFactor, with plenty of good drivers out there to race online with.
And we do some racing here at SimHQ with VHR as well, with a friendly crowd that tries its hardest to race clean.
I do think SCE is by far the best stockcar mod but unfortunately it seems to be very unstable for lots of drivers. I was running in a SCE league not so long ago and it was plagued with drivers PC's crashing out, it has crashed on me quite often aswell. Legality has to be top of the list and im not sure about the tracks in that mod, all the car models are legal as I gather, Bristol race anyone?I dont mind in fun races but when its league stuff it really bugs meNSS might be worth a try at least RD has to install nothing as we could use NSS & Orchard lake/Joesville/Jacksonville, to test it.
All standard stuff!