Last week i went to my first trackday (at Zandvoort) and one of the things i noticed afterwards was that i couldn't tell my top speed or anything - i never looked or glanced at my speedo at all. Was quite a surprise, but the whole sensation just makes you forget about that needle (that and paying attention to the other cars on the track). It's all forces and sound that tell you when to throttle or brake.
Though I can imagine when you get used to driving fast for real, you start to have time to pay more attention to the little things like your exact speeds.

Quote from andybarsblade :

you dont need a speedo in rl because you can feel or sense the speed. somthing that cannot be created in LFS

but over time, you'll start to develop a "fake" seat of the pants feeling. sometimes i get chills up my spine when i am driving super fast because i know i am just at the limit.

Quote from Victor :

Last week i went to my first trackday (at Zandvoort) and one of the things i noticed afterwards was that i couldn't tell my top speed or anything - i never looked or glanced at my speedo at all. Was quite a surprise, but the whole sensation just makes you forget about that needle (that and paying attention to the other cars on the track). It's all forces and sound that tell you when to throttle or brake.
Though I can imagine when you get used to driving fast for real, you start to have time to pay more attention to the little things like your exact speeds.

I love that track

It reminds a bit of my home track, some feeling in corners is same.

Of course when one gets used to driving on track it gets easier to judge how car handles different things, also you start to test different things a bit, I tend to look my max speed at straights from video as it tells something how well I have driven last corner, I would imagine that I might start to check that if I would drive lot more on track, but not at corners, there one tends to look far more ahead and looking to speedo might be uncomfortable because of g-forces.

Nope, I don't. Not that my primary car has a speedo, but other cars I've driven on circuits, including race prepared stuff on 'private' track days have had one, and I've not looked at it other than to make sure it's working.

Quote from Victor :

Last week i went to my first trackday (at Zandvoort) and one of the things i noticed afterwards was that i couldn't tell my top speed or anything - i never looked or glanced at my speedo at all. Was quite a surprise, but the whole sensation just makes you forget about that needle (that and paying attention to the other cars on the track). It's all forces and sound that tell you when to throttle or brake.
Though I can imagine when you get used to driving fast for real, you start to have time to pay more attention to the little things like your exact speeds.

What car did you take to the track day?

In LFS i have used it alot (digital). IRL never... I get enough feedback from my "assmeter". In LFS you dont feel G-forces, thats why i use the speedo there.

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

What car did you take to the track day?

http://www.hco.net/index.php?o ... id=30&g2_itemId=12055

Very nice!

Quote from Victor :

http://www.hco.net/index.php?o ... id=30&g2_itemId=12055

Awesome! Pretty powerfull car for 1rst trackday! Hope you loved it!

Grats, you even passed a Golf.

I found that in real-life there are much more important parameters to give you feedback. The "on-the-edge feeling" really comes from the grip level of the tyres and you get that feeling through the wheel via your hands, and through the seat via your buttocks - to your brains. Those two very important parameters are things that either don't exist (unless you have that Force Dynamics machine) or hardly exist (Force Feedback in the wheel is quite good, but by far not good enough to simulate the real-life feedback) in LFS.

Besides that, the good thing about racing compared to normal road driving is that you don't have to look at the speedo

@Victor: hope you were't involved in the crash that day on Zandvoort? Pity I wasn't there this time, car's in repair at the moment. Any chance you're going again sometime next year?

Quote from traxxion :

@Victor: hope you were't involved in the crash that day on Zandvoort? Pity I wasn't there this time, car's in repair at the moment. Any chance you're going again sometime next year?

Heavens no! I wasn't on the track that session even.
And yes, very good chance i'll be going again next year. And not just to Zandvoort i hope.

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

What car did you take to the track day?

Isn't that obvious?? The XFR.

On topic, I don't drive in RL

In LFS I only look @ the speedo because I get bored on the straight. Each lap I try to achieve a few more MPH.

Quote from Victor :

Heavens no! I wasn't on the track that session even.
And yes, very good chance i'll be going again next year. And not just to Zandvoort i hope.

Was it any bit like LFS?

Quote from niall09 :

Was it any bit like LFS?

He told me it was the same.. pssst.. :shhh:

Seriously now, that's the kinda answers i was expecting, but i guess that there are not much people on some really high level of racing here, high competitive etc, maybe if Nils posted, that would be nice, or Jardier but i'm courious does F1 drivers for example while qualifying, watch the speed, and do they behave like some Hotlap people from LFS, the ones that are REALLY missing the digital speedo, i wonder is it important for them, do they watch the speed they are exiting corners etc.. I guess not, speeds are massive there..

Quote from Boris Lozac :

He told me it was the same.. pssst.. :shhh:

Seriously now, that's the kinda answers i was expecting, but i guess that there are not much people on some really high level of racing here, high competitive etc, maybe if Nils posted, that would be nice, or Jardier but i'm courious does F1 drivers for example while qualifying, watch the speed, and do they behave like some Hotlap people from LFS, the ones that are REALLY missing the digital speedo, i wonder is it important for them, do they watch the speed they are exiting corners etc.. I guess not, speeds are massive there..

I'm 99% sure that F1 drivers don't watch speedo, I don't know if cars even have one, but I'm also 101% sure that they do look datalogs

RPM and gear tells to driver his speed when he has spend enough time on track, also from that driver can tell if corner exit was faster or slower than previous lap.

I know several cars that race on tracks here which don't have speedo or it is broken, most what I have heard from it has been that "could not check top speed from tape", but I guess there can be different driving cultures in different countries.

Victor, very nice car to be on track, I'm sure you will enjoy from coming trackdays as well when you get such bite, it won't let you go

Quote from Victor :

And not just to Zandvoort i hope.

Did I hear Nordschleife lap record?

Quote from Moonclaw :

Did I hear Nordschleife lap record?

I guess he might go to Zolder, that is quite nice track too and has very nice enviroment, maybe some inspiration/viewpoint for LFS tracks from there too

Experience from real tracks surely is going to help Eric with his work, so it is great personal fun and is also possible to put to expenses at tax form as you need to that for work too, one must be bit clever with taxes, could not get better

edit:
While on Zolder and Zandvoort, Eric could also take a peak at V360 geen modena cup, that is some proper entry level racing, bit like with XRGs on LFS

Unless you plan on telling your friends how fast you went in a car it really doesn't matter.

Back in the days when my dad used to race, they didn't even have speedometers in the cars!
All they needed was fuel, temps, and a tachometer.
Speedo is worthless, except when you're on the road and need to know your speed, on a track it does you no good. RPM and feel is how I get through turns in LFS (and.. on mountains .. last night iny my car lol).

Entry speed to a turn may be helpful, but only if you plan on being a rally navigator.

Quote from traxxion :

@Victor: hope you were't involved in the crash that day on Zandvoort? Pity I wasn't there this time, car's in repair at the moment. Any chance you're going again sometime next year?

Ahh the aw11. R.I.P.
pics of that day

Quote from Michel 4AGE :

Ahh the aw11. R.I.P.

Oops! That looks like an expensive track day Maybe he was too busy looking at the speedo and missed the apex

Quote from XCNuse :

Entry speed to a turn may be helpful, but only if you plan on being a rally navigator.

The speedometer in a rally car on the stages is probably more useless than in a track car to be honest. You are sliding around and the tires spin all the time so you won't know the real speed. Rally drivers drive by pure estimate of the road conditions and the notes.

The sole purpose of speedometer in a rally car, is to help the driver stay within the speed limits so the police doesnt' have to pull you over, and put you in jail when you are driving down to services or the next stage.

I think.

Quote from Blackout :

The sole purpose of speedometer in a rally car, is to help the driver stay within the speed limits so the police doesnt' have to pull you over, and put you in jail when you are driving down to services or the next stage.

LOL and even then they don't always use it

Quote from Victor :

http://www.hco.net/index.php?o ... id=30&g2_itemId=12055

DUDE, you need a cooler looking helmet !! :P I wouldn't be caught dead in an LFS server wearing that

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

DUDE, you need a cooler looking helmet !! :P I wouldn't be caught dead in an LFS server wearing that

Open face helmets are cool! I use one, and so should you. Dale Earnhardt is my hero. If I didn't wear glasses, I would also have the bubble goggles. Though, I would rather have a full face and HANs for safety's sake.

I have used the speedo before to gauge corner exit speed. I just look at the angle of the needle and compare to the lap before. The tach is just as easy to use, but the speedo is right in front of me.

Using the speedo to check top speed is ludicrous. That's usually about the time you ought to be trying to push the brake pedal through the floor boards.