So I'm too tired to play LFS competitively, but I'm not ready to sleep yet, time to fill the gap, how about writing a guide for the forum? Seeing as racing lines, set-ups and the like have been done to death, I thought I'd go for something a little different, crashing. Before reading this : if you have a set-up without a clutch, assign a button, if you don't have a shifter, use the buttons, if you don't have more than 270 degrees lock, well, the flailing arms of doom will be easier for you!
Crashing happens a lot in Live for Speed, but until you get enough practice to get around a 30 lap race fast without dropping a wheel off the edge of the track, being good/considerate about crashing might help, there are two sections here, dealing with a spin and what causes a spin, so here you go:
Spinning -
In the words of Skip Barber, if you're not sliding into the corner, backing the rear in, you're not going fast enough. The slide needs to be at the slip angles which provide the most grip round the corner. (yes, tyres provide the most grip when they're slipping slightly, they can also provide more lateral grip than downward force is applied, they're not simple!)
On the other hand, if you get a bit out of shape, to the point where the inertia of the rear of the car can't be stopped, and it goes past 90 degrees, you've spun, congratulations.
The first thing you should do, is try and save the situation. When the rear end is setting up an overtake for the front, it's time for the flailing arms of doom. You want correction, as much of it as you can get a hold of and as fast as possible, if one turn of the DFP/G25 isn't enough, grab another handful until either you correct it, or you run out of lock. If you don't save it, the show is over, most of the field is about to come past you, if they haven't already, in which case, skip the next section and get on with "the golden rule". If on the other hand you've got no one else near you to crash into, treat each spin like a new spin, and try and catch the momentum
This is ONLY applicable if you have no other drivers around you to take out, if you do have anyone near you, it's golden rule time. If you do stop the yaw increasing anywhere up to about 75 degrees, you'll find yourself in the "pause". This pause is smaller in LFS than in real life due to the tyre physics, but it is there, and it is your cue to start unwinding all that lock you wrenched round just seconds before. Drifters (and they're inferior) do this bend after bend after bend, so don't tell me you can't get it right. Look where you want to be going, and don't forget you may have to unwind the wheel even faster than you yanked it round, just don't do it until the pause!
Recovery is all about anticipation, and if you don't work slightly faster than the physics of your car, you'll find yourself fish tailing like a sex-starved salmon. Either a death wiggle, lots of fast oscillations, or a tank slapper, where the back end of your car is getting its metronome impersonation skills up. Either of these and you're not working hard enough to save it! I always hear the term "over correction" at this point, which is a lie, it's just the right amount of correction, but no-where near enough recovery.
Everything above is great if you've got 5 cars space in any given direction, but if you think you're about to spin, and you've got anyone near you, it's time for the golden rule.
"If you spin, put both feet in."
apply all the brakes you own, even the handbrake if the rear tyres aren't locked up, and clutch in to try and keep the engine running. You will find yourself going in a nice, straight, predictable line at a tangent to the last arc of travel you were on (even if the car is facing completely the wrong direction). The merit of this is that it'll make you far less unpopular with other drivers, an object heading in a uniform direction, rapidly losing speed is a lot easier to dodge than any other kind of moving object.
Don't let off the brakes until you have stopped, and I mean, really stopped. So often I see a car let off the brakes at 30mph, only to suddenly catch grip and dart across into the path of a car trying its best not to kill you, and suddenly your both out of the race. You will be surprised how quickly locking up the brakes will stop you, especially in the lighter cars fitted with slicks. You can be busy changing down to first at this point while you're waiting for the car to stop, it's not like there's anything else you can be doing.
If you have a clear view of what's coming, and you're anything up to 10ft near a section of track that's safer than the one you've stopped on (for example a grass verge), pull out the way of other cars, but only if you can see what's coming at you, if you cant see, just stay put until you can't hear any engine but yours idling!
Don't get frustrated by the spin, if you do, most likely you'll give it too much gas pulling away to go again, and provide extra amusement for the people watching, by spinning, or power-understeering into a wall. Also, try and work out what you did wrong, although for the most part its obvious, but we'll come to that later. Remember also, that you may need to straighten the front wheels, which can be forced into an un-natural degree of lock by the process of losing control.
If you lose it, and you make it to a barrier, be mindful of the fact your car may well be un-drivable, no matter how up your competitive blood is, and also that, in the process of stuffing it, you may have cooked your tyres, and will need to take it easy till you get to the pits.
And now, for
Common Errors.
TTO - trailing throttle oversteer (lift off oversteer/that bit where you come off the gas and you suddenly are facing the wrong direction). If you're driving with Race_S set-ups you'll know all about this! It can happen anywhere in the corner, and sometimes even on straights! You need to be more progressive with letting off the throttle to avoid the back end coming out faster than any one can save it. This is often as a result of other mistakes, when you panic, and stop being so smooth.
The mis-matched down shift - works the same as above, be more gentle with your clutch, or more positive with your heeling of the throttle. In some cases, changing down later helps, but for the most part, it is the down shift method rather than the time of down shift that causes the driving wheels to lose traction.
Early Apex - Every new racers favourite! If you've spun in the second half of the corner, especially from dropping wheels off the track, this classic mistake in terms of line choice could be your problem. It's also often present where drivers alter line to account for other cars, without making changes to speed.
If you arn't at the limit, squeeze off to 25% throttle, and bend the car in further, hopefully you wont run out of road, if you're at the limit when you realise there isn't enough tarmac left for you, you'll drop a wheel or three into the dirt, and you'll know what a food mixer feels like. Put one foot on the brake, one on the cluch, and push down for all you're worth.
Returning to the Track - if you've come off the road and shot along the grass for a bit, remember that when you get back on, that the amount of lock you're using, is probably far too much, to account for the grass.
If you don't adjust before the front wheels hit the tarmac, you'll simply dart across the tarmac onto the other side, or back onto your own allotment. This can also be the case if you apply too much power on the grass, and one driving wheel suddenly hits the grippy stuff. This is most important if there are other cars about for you to destroy.
Going to deep - as you get good, your brake points get deeper and deeper, eventually, you're driving at the limit, sometimes, for one reason or another, you go too deep, and your entry speed is VERY optimistic.
The turn in point comes and goes with barely a change in direction, and you fill your pants.
Corner radius is a direct mathematical function of speed, so either you're going to have to go wide, or you're going to have to find a way of slowing down. A little fast, you'll miss the apex by a few feet, way too fast, you'll miss it by the width of the race track.
Trail braking and bending the car back towards the line can help here, but don't lock up, otherwise the show is over and you're off the track. If you've got a rear wheel drive car with plenty of power, it's possible to use oversteer to bend the trajectory back towards the line, but then again, if you can do that, you probably aren't going to be reading this guide!
Failing to warm up - saw this on the STCC round 3 broadcast today, XRT driver, pit stop, change of tyres, back on the road, straight off again, warm your tyres up before wandering near your usual limit!
Stack-up - If you fail to anticipate the braking of the car in front, you will most likely drill them off the track, this will make you very unpopular, and there isn't really any excuse. You have to apply the brakes proportionally to the distance back in the field you are approaching the corner. For example, if your 7th back, you'll need to be on the brakes about 110ft sooner than the first car through! The first half a lap is always very slow as a result of this, and until you get some space, you wont be able to get anywhere near your pb, don't try, or you'll shaft someone, vote kicked afterwards most likely.
That pretty much concludes my guide, hope it helps someone be less of a liability!
Crashing happens a lot in Live for Speed, but until you get enough practice to get around a 30 lap race fast without dropping a wheel off the edge of the track, being good/considerate about crashing might help, there are two sections here, dealing with a spin and what causes a spin, so here you go:
Spinning -
In the words of Skip Barber, if you're not sliding into the corner, backing the rear in, you're not going fast enough. The slide needs to be at the slip angles which provide the most grip round the corner. (yes, tyres provide the most grip when they're slipping slightly, they can also provide more lateral grip than downward force is applied, they're not simple!)
On the other hand, if you get a bit out of shape, to the point where the inertia of the rear of the car can't be stopped, and it goes past 90 degrees, you've spun, congratulations.
The first thing you should do, is try and save the situation. When the rear end is setting up an overtake for the front, it's time for the flailing arms of doom. You want correction, as much of it as you can get a hold of and as fast as possible, if one turn of the DFP/G25 isn't enough, grab another handful until either you correct it, or you run out of lock. If you don't save it, the show is over, most of the field is about to come past you, if they haven't already, in which case, skip the next section and get on with "the golden rule". If on the other hand you've got no one else near you to crash into, treat each spin like a new spin, and try and catch the momentum
This is ONLY applicable if you have no other drivers around you to take out, if you do have anyone near you, it's golden rule time. If you do stop the yaw increasing anywhere up to about 75 degrees, you'll find yourself in the "pause". This pause is smaller in LFS than in real life due to the tyre physics, but it is there, and it is your cue to start unwinding all that lock you wrenched round just seconds before. Drifters (and they're inferior) do this bend after bend after bend, so don't tell me you can't get it right. Look where you want to be going, and don't forget you may have to unwind the wheel even faster than you yanked it round, just don't do it until the pause!
Recovery is all about anticipation, and if you don't work slightly faster than the physics of your car, you'll find yourself fish tailing like a sex-starved salmon. Either a death wiggle, lots of fast oscillations, or a tank slapper, where the back end of your car is getting its metronome impersonation skills up. Either of these and you're not working hard enough to save it! I always hear the term "over correction" at this point, which is a lie, it's just the right amount of correction, but no-where near enough recovery.
Everything above is great if you've got 5 cars space in any given direction, but if you think you're about to spin, and you've got anyone near you, it's time for the golden rule.
"If you spin, put both feet in."
apply all the brakes you own, even the handbrake if the rear tyres aren't locked up, and clutch in to try and keep the engine running. You will find yourself going in a nice, straight, predictable line at a tangent to the last arc of travel you were on (even if the car is facing completely the wrong direction). The merit of this is that it'll make you far less unpopular with other drivers, an object heading in a uniform direction, rapidly losing speed is a lot easier to dodge than any other kind of moving object.
Don't let off the brakes until you have stopped, and I mean, really stopped. So often I see a car let off the brakes at 30mph, only to suddenly catch grip and dart across into the path of a car trying its best not to kill you, and suddenly your both out of the race. You will be surprised how quickly locking up the brakes will stop you, especially in the lighter cars fitted with slicks. You can be busy changing down to first at this point while you're waiting for the car to stop, it's not like there's anything else you can be doing.
If you have a clear view of what's coming, and you're anything up to 10ft near a section of track that's safer than the one you've stopped on (for example a grass verge), pull out the way of other cars, but only if you can see what's coming at you, if you cant see, just stay put until you can't hear any engine but yours idling!
Don't get frustrated by the spin, if you do, most likely you'll give it too much gas pulling away to go again, and provide extra amusement for the people watching, by spinning, or power-understeering into a wall. Also, try and work out what you did wrong, although for the most part its obvious, but we'll come to that later. Remember also, that you may need to straighten the front wheels, which can be forced into an un-natural degree of lock by the process of losing control.
If you lose it, and you make it to a barrier, be mindful of the fact your car may well be un-drivable, no matter how up your competitive blood is, and also that, in the process of stuffing it, you may have cooked your tyres, and will need to take it easy till you get to the pits.
And now, for
Common Errors.
TTO - trailing throttle oversteer (lift off oversteer/that bit where you come off the gas and you suddenly are facing the wrong direction). If you're driving with Race_S set-ups you'll know all about this! It can happen anywhere in the corner, and sometimes even on straights! You need to be more progressive with letting off the throttle to avoid the back end coming out faster than any one can save it. This is often as a result of other mistakes, when you panic, and stop being so smooth.
The mis-matched down shift - works the same as above, be more gentle with your clutch, or more positive with your heeling of the throttle. In some cases, changing down later helps, but for the most part, it is the down shift method rather than the time of down shift that causes the driving wheels to lose traction.
Early Apex - Every new racers favourite! If you've spun in the second half of the corner, especially from dropping wheels off the track, this classic mistake in terms of line choice could be your problem. It's also often present where drivers alter line to account for other cars, without making changes to speed.
If you arn't at the limit, squeeze off to 25% throttle, and bend the car in further, hopefully you wont run out of road, if you're at the limit when you realise there isn't enough tarmac left for you, you'll drop a wheel or three into the dirt, and you'll know what a food mixer feels like. Put one foot on the brake, one on the cluch, and push down for all you're worth.
Returning to the Track - if you've come off the road and shot along the grass for a bit, remember that when you get back on, that the amount of lock you're using, is probably far too much, to account for the grass.
If you don't adjust before the front wheels hit the tarmac, you'll simply dart across the tarmac onto the other side, or back onto your own allotment. This can also be the case if you apply too much power on the grass, and one driving wheel suddenly hits the grippy stuff. This is most important if there are other cars about for you to destroy.
Going to deep - as you get good, your brake points get deeper and deeper, eventually, you're driving at the limit, sometimes, for one reason or another, you go too deep, and your entry speed is VERY optimistic.
The turn in point comes and goes with barely a change in direction, and you fill your pants.
Corner radius is a direct mathematical function of speed, so either you're going to have to go wide, or you're going to have to find a way of slowing down. A little fast, you'll miss the apex by a few feet, way too fast, you'll miss it by the width of the race track.
Trail braking and bending the car back towards the line can help here, but don't lock up, otherwise the show is over and you're off the track. If you've got a rear wheel drive car with plenty of power, it's possible to use oversteer to bend the trajectory back towards the line, but then again, if you can do that, you probably aren't going to be reading this guide!
Failing to warm up - saw this on the STCC round 3 broadcast today, XRT driver, pit stop, change of tyres, back on the road, straight off again, warm your tyres up before wandering near your usual limit!
Stack-up - If you fail to anticipate the braking of the car in front, you will most likely drill them off the track, this will make you very unpopular, and there isn't really any excuse. You have to apply the brakes proportionally to the distance back in the field you are approaching the corner. For example, if your 7th back, you'll need to be on the brakes about 110ft sooner than the first car through! The first half a lap is always very slow as a result of this, and until you get some space, you wont be able to get anywhere near your pb, don't try, or you'll shaft someone, vote kicked afterwards most likely.
That pretty much concludes my guide, hope it helps someone be less of a liability!
good reading.