Difference between revisions of "Basic driving guides"

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== Simple Driving Tips ==
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== Simple driving tips ==
 
* Use your brakes in good time when you are approaching a corner. It is in fact faster to take a corner at a safe speed, rather than braking late and hard (which could cause you to run off the track or run wide, off the racing line).
 
* Use your brakes in good time when you are approaching a corner. It is in fact faster to take a corner at a safe speed, rather than braking late and hard (which could cause you to run off the track or run wide, off the racing line).
 
* Hard braking also causes flat spots to occur on your tyres, significantly reducing grip and possibly leading to blowouts. Also avoid driving on grass and dirt, as this also reduces grip.
 
* Hard braking also causes flat spots to occur on your tyres, significantly reducing grip and possibly leading to blowouts. Also avoid driving on grass and dirt, as this also reduces grip.
 
* Be gentle with your throttle when you are driving a rear wheel drive car. Applying too much throttle too quickly will cause you to spin out when you exit corners.
 
* Be gentle with your throttle when you are driving a rear wheel drive car. Applying too much throttle too quickly will cause you to spin out when you exit corners.
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* Be very careful in the first corner of the race, especially when starting from the back. Probably you have brake way earlier than you are used to, because cars are piling up there. The first turn is the most dangerous one in a race, be careful, don't ruin your or (even worse) the race of others.
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* Be very careful in the first corner of the race, especially when starting from the back. You will probably have to brake much earlier than you are used to, because of cars piling up in front of you. The first turn is the most dangerous one in a race, be careful, don't ruin your or (even worse) the race of others. Of course this also applies for all other corners where heavy braking is needed - just take a mental note, that for every car in front of you, you have to start braking a bit earlier than usual.
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* Practise makes perfect. Drivers who win races do so because they put in the time and effort into learning the track and their cars.
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* Practice makes perfect. Drivers who win races do so because they put in the time and effort into learning the track and their cars.
  
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== Online racing etiquette ==
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=== Do not spam===
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There is no need to repeat a message over and over. Other racers will be annoyed by you. It's rude and there is simply no use in doing that. Even if you are angry or you have the right to be angry, never spam!
  
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== Online Racing Etiquette ==
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=== Obey the blue flag ===
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* Don't spam: There is no need to repeat a message over and over. Other racers will be annoyed by you. It's rude and there is simply no use in doing that. Even if you are angry or you have the right to be angry, never spam!
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If you get BLUE FLAG displayed on the screen, it means a player who is one or more laps ahead of you is attempting to pass. You must let this player past you without competing with him or unduly hindering his progress.  It is debatable whether or not to leave the racing line, that is your choice.  The most important thing is to <b>be predictable</b>.  Don't make any sudden maneuvers, don't suddenly dive out of the racing line when the faster car is right behind you and already committed to pass, don't suddenly dive out of your line on the straight and jam on the brakes.  If you're going to leave the racing line, do so smoothly, and so that the car behind can see what you're doing.  Otherwise, if you're going to stick to the racing line, make sure the racer behind can see that you're keeping your line.  Bottom line is, the driver behind is still passing, so it's his prerogative to pass cleanly, but it is the other driver's responsibility not to compete with the lapping driver, and not to intentionally prevent a pass.
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* If you get BLUE FLAG displayed on the screen, it means a player who is one or more laps ahead of you is attempting to pass. You must let this player past you as soon as possible by driving your car out of the racing line and slowing down a bit on a clear straight.
 
  
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=== Do not vote to restart race because you crashed ===
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Never vote to restart the race if you are the one making the mistakes. If you miss your braking points and fly off the road at turn 1, but everyone else is doing just fine, then how is it fair to try to restart the race and ruin there races because you couldn't keep your car on the track? Learn from it and try to catch up. If lots of people do make a mistake and cause an accident then fine, vote to restart.
  
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== More Driving Tips ==
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=== Use the pit lane entrances/exits ===
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''by Gentlefoot''
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Pit lane entrances and exits are there for a reason. They are there to improve the safety of not only those who are pitting but also all those drivers that are not. Crossing the white/yellow line when exiting the pitlane is a clear violation of racing rules and is dangerous.
  
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=== Speed comes from consistency ===
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An example: The Kyoto Oval has a pit lane exit that goes inside the banked corner to the second straight before the white/yellow line stops. This means that any cars leaving the pit lane will re-enter the racing track at close to full speed before Turn 2. Those people who simply don't care about rules often re-enter the racing track at slow speeds in Turn 1... the results are obvious.
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It’s all very well pushing to the absolute limit every lap, going off in 3 out of 4 and setting a fast time on the 1 clean lap. However, this will not help you in a race where one off can cost you a win. Also, it will make it very difficult to improve and get really fast.
 
  
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The first time I lap a new circuit I’ll do the whole thing in say 2nd gear. That way I get a good look at all the potential reference points around the track and I get a feel for the flow. Then I begin to build up speed. I find I can learn a track in just a few laps taking this approach.
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Please take notice of the pit lane entrances and exits when you explore a track to improve the safety for yourself and other racers.
  
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Also, if you keep going off in say turn 3, then you’ll never know what the entry to turn 4 will be like at full speed. I have mates who play and go off at the same corner over and over again. When they finally make it through the corner, they crash at the next one!
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=== Don't complain about people exiting the pits properly ===
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This is an extra bit to the rule above. During a race it is the "on-track" car's responsibility to avoid the cars that are properly exiting the pits (i.e. staying inside the pit exit line). Do not drive into the pit exit area if you think a car is going to be exiting the pits in front of you. In fact, it's a good idea to never do it, and please don't tell others to wait to exit the pits until you've passed. That's what the exit lane is there for.
  
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In addition, once you get to within say 5 seconds of the WR, then you’ll know which corners you can push a little harder on to save time and which you are pretty much on the money.
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E.g. At the Westhill International circuit where the pit lane exit takes up the left-hand 25% of the straight.
  
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Consistency is an absolute must when adjusting your setups. When I’m creating setups I JUST try to be consistent so that any changes show up in the time. If I was pushing 99% then a fast bit here and mistake there makes lap time comparison meaningless.
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=== Do not vote to restart a race if drivers are on the final laps ===
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This is more of a courtesy act than a rule. E.g. If two (or more) drivers are busy battling away on the track and are almost finished and then 10 people that just joined the server decide they want to race right now, the drivers racing may get an unfair restart just before finishing. Show a little respect and wait to start a vote until you see the racing drivers finish their races.
  
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=== [[Additional_Tools#Analyze_for_Speed|AnalyzeForSpeed]] ===
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Edit by Keling: Be careful if you and some fast friend have just finished the race. There may be some other players relatively slow who are still struggling 0.5 lap from the finish line. Don't shift+R immediately after seeing YOUR results on the list. The event doesn't end because the first 5 have finished. Wait for everyone.
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This tool is fantastic. When you watch WRs and can’t work out how they are getting through corners at certain speeds, this tool can help. You can see at any moment in a lap speed, throttle/brake position, steering angle and track position. It may look at first glance as tho you are doing the same thing but use AnalyzeForSpeed and you will see how completely different WR holders drive to you.<br>
 
  
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[http://www.ctd-racing.com/AFS/ Analyse for Speed website]<br>
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=== Use clean overtaking tactics ===
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[http://www.liveforspeed.net/?page=analysers LFS's analysers info page (to download the 'trackmaps')]
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Driving a faster car or exiting the corners at a greater velocity does not mean that you have right to ram or force others to step aside if they are in front of you. If you are in a faster car, overtaking safely will not be too much trouble, but it does not cost too much to wait a bit for a clean safe space, so don't squeeze to that 1/2 car space inside of every turn while braking.
  
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=== Corner Entry ===
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If your car is more powerful than the other, wait until after the exit of the corner. Usually you can take a different line which gives you a slower exit speed but lets you safely overtake the slower vehicle without bumping his/her rear (or front) out of the corner. Remember, if the other person is in a UF 1000 and you are in something like an FZ50, you can easily wait until after the turn and blast past down the straight.
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Use every inch of space on corner entry. This opens up the radius of the turn for you so the turn is less tight. Even when you think you are using all the track you probably are not. AnalyzeForSpeed has an uncanny knack of proving this to you.
 
  
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As you are turning toward the apex, you need to be above the ideal corner speed slightly, scrubbing it off as you get to the apex. If you turn in at the required corner speed, you will be shedding time to the fast guys who will be carrying extra speed to the apex I guarantee it. This is one of the hardest skills to master in LFS and in my view what separates the ‘aliens’ (I hate that term) from the rest of us. To do this you will need to learn how to trail brake while keeping some throttle on. Make sure your pedals are set with separate axis.
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If your car is better in the turns, go in around 0.5 seconds behind the slower car, and when the slower car turns into the apex accelerate and pass from the outside. Remember that this works only with medium to high speed corners, and you should be way faster on the corner to be completely ahead of slower car by the corner exit so this would be safe. If you are not fast enough, the opponent will pass you on the corner exit. This is known as double passing. That or you will enjoy a spectacular crash.
  
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=== Braking ===
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Overtaking on the inside is also possible but for this you need to know that the slower driver actually knows racing code and is obeying it, and it is quite hard to see certain spots and therefore easy to get into an accident by misjudgement. If the opponent shows no signs of taking the outside, don't try it.
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Many beginners do not down-change early enough when braking. This makes a big difference in braking areas after long straights into slow corners. It can reduce your braking distance by as much as 10 metres. This will save you 1-2 tenths in lap time. It can also help you when attempting a pass on corner entry or defending a pass from a driver behind.
 
  
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The down change needs to occur at the precise moment when the speed is reduced to a point where the wheels will not lock as you enter the gear below. Lock up and your braking distance will increase dramatically and you will ruin your tyres.
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=== Hold your line ===
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When you're being lapped by a faster car, hold your line. The people coming up on you have seen you, there's no need to try to get out of the way. The turns are all full throttle, and there's plenty room to go around you. If you decide to give us room the moment you see us in the mirror and move to a different line, we've probably already decided to pass you on that same line, and we all end up in the wall.
  
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In many cars you can down change at the same moment of even just before you hit the brakes. This depends on the revs in current gear, gear ratios and the rate at which the car can reduce speed.
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=== Cruise low ===
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If your car is damaged, and is really slow, or just coasting back to the pits, stay in the lowest possible position. Staying on the inside has the advantage of staying out of the groove for the longest period of time. When you finally make it to the pit lane you don't have to cross the track either since you're already there.
  
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=== Tyres ===
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=== Pit safely ===
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Look after them – don’t lock them in braking and apply the absolute minimum steering angle required. If the tyres are making loads of noise you have applied too much lock. This will dramatically increase your tyre temps and mean you have to run less aggressive camber and pressures to make them last the race. This will lose you time.
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When pitting get on the pit entry lane well before turn 3. And slow down so you can safely make the turn on the apron. When exiting, of course do so after turn 1. Also, until you're well on speed (shifting to high gear), stay OFF the groove and run as low as you can.
  
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=== Important Corners ===
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=== Stay still ===
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Corners before long straights are the most important on any circuit. This is because for every mph extra you carry through the corner, you carry an extra mph all the way down the straight until you hit the brakes.
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When you've crashed on track and other cars are trying to avoid you then stick your foot on the brake. Keep your foot on the brake until everyone has passed and you are sure that there is nobody heading your way as it's a lot harder to avoid a moving chicane than it is a stationary one. Either go to the pits immediately, spectate, or do the above and try to limit the disruption to the race.
  
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Fast corners before long straights are even more important than slow corners before straights because at higher speeds the car accelerates more slowly, so the extra mph you carry has a greater affect.
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=== Look before you move ===
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When changing lanes, like in a real car, ALWAYS look in the mirror AND BESIDE YOU. You're doing 290+ km/h and centimetres from other cars... 90% of the time you can't see the cars you're racing. Make sure you know where they are before you change your line.
  
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For corners before long straights you can afford to lose some time on entry if it means you will come out faster. Generally this means apex slightly further round the corner than the mid point. The longer the straight, the later the apex although on fast corners the apex point is pretty much in the middle because you must carry speed through fast corners for reasons mentioned above.
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=== Be nice ===
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Give people room, and be smooth with your actions. At 290+km/h you travel a long way in a second. Cars don't respond to evasive action that well. So be nice to the other drivers. Don't block them if it's not absolutely necessary. They pass you, you'll draft by them the next straight on the track. Being agressive will only take you to the infield care-center.
  
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Set your car up for the most important corners on a track and you should be able to put in some fast times.
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== Controlling the race cars ==
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'' by Impreza WRX''
  
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=== Power on Early ===
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Are you having difficulty driving your racing cars? Here are many tips to get you in the groove.
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Ever wondered why sometimes it seems as though someone is faster down the straight than you? Its probably because they got their foot on the accelerator a fraction a a second before you.
 
  
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Concentrate on getting back on full power as early in a corner as possible (just before the apex if possible, at the very latest, just after the apex). Think about this when you are driving and you will knock seconds off your lap times.
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=== Easy on the gas ===
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This may seem obvious, but many people forget it. This is especially important in the Formula XR, and V8. Slicks have a lot of grip, but lose a lot when skidding. If you break traction while accelerating, the cars WILL snap oversteer. While it is good to do a small burnout to preheat the drive wheels for more control, it is not a good thing when you spin wheels too much, don't get the hole-shot, and try to make up by cutting turn one; or worse, spin out at the start line and cause a crash.
  
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Using AnalyzeForSpeed you can see when the WR holders are getting on the power and compare that to your own best laps. Its amazing how early the fastest drivers get back on full throttle.
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=== Do not lock the wheels when braking ===
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This is obvious, but once again people forget this one. As stated above, slicks lose lots of grip when sliding, and have very thin tread. If you lock the wheels, you will create flat spots. It only takes three laps on a short track to have a blowout from the tread wearing faster on that one spot. Save your self the heartache and learn to smoothly control the brakes.
  
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=== Splits ===
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If your brakes lock, let off the brakes, then put them on again, but with a little less pressure. Known as cadence braking, it is a good skill to learn in real life as well, if your car lacks ABS.
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Know you’re split times so you know if you were quick or slow when you took a particular line through a section. Know the WR splits too so you know which sections you need to make up most time in.
 
  
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=== Following Faster Racers ===
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=== No off road expeditions when racing ===
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Even watching a replay of the WR is not the same as actually following a guy who is faster then you and emulating his/her lines. Sometimes following someone will show you a line you hadn’t noticed in a replay. This helped me massively on the final turn at AS Club.
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Another obvious one, but oftentimes forgotten. Slicks lose a lot of grip when they get dirty. Since the tread is not self cleaning, it takes some time and a couple fast corners at the limit to get the rubber cleaned off. Unless you are avoiding a huge pileup that spans the entire tarmac, don't even clip the grass with two wheels! You will also have a great chance of spinning out or plowing straight into trouble by even clipping the off road on slicks. If you want to cut corners, learn to use the kerbs!
  
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This assumes you are quick enough to keep up for at least part of a lap.
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DeadWolfBones adds: ''If you go off-road get off the gas immediately and don't jerk the wheel''
  
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=== Emulating WRs ===
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Think of driving off-road as driving on ice (In some cars  that is, especially S-S) be gentle on the wheel and throttle to smoothly get yourself off the sand but do be warned your tires will get dirty.
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Don’t watch a WR, see that the driver takes T1 at 87mph and then try and take T1 at 87mph, you will go off. Try to aim for a few mph less and build from there. You will get a feel for the amount of lock, trail braking, and throttle control by doing this. With practice you may then be able to match the WR speed through a particular corner.
 
  
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== Surviving Turn One ==
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This will help quite a bit in not losing control and you should be able to coast/drive at very low throttle back onto the track.
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''by Gunn''
 
  
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Everybody loves a close race, nobody loves being wiped out in the first corner. To win a race you must at least finish the race and all can be lost in the first hot seconds if care is not taken. Let's take a brief look at some important considerations when a race starts and a swarm of cars goes thundering towards turn 1.
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''If you've been off-road take it easier than normal for a few corners''
  
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* When the lights go green there is always going to be a mad dash for the first corner, all drivers want to make the best start they can.
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As Impreza mentioned, tires get dirty and it takes a few corners to clean them off. So, to avoid spinning all over again, brake early, drop down an extra gear, and generally take it easy till you're sure the tires are clean. There's a dirt bar in the bottom middle of each tire on the F9 screen to tell you how dirty they are. Don't add insult to injury!
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* Rarely will all cars launch from the line evenly, a car in front of you may be slow getting away.
 
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* Very few (and perhaps none) of the drivers will have a perfect line into the first few corners as all cars jostle for position and get settled.
 
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* Everybody's tyres are cold, grip levels are low.
 
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* Most drivers would now have opponents close by them but sitting in their blind spot, requiring a head turn to check their actual positions.
 
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* The greatest potential for lag in LFS is when a large field of cars is bunched up together.
 
  
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If there is ever a recipe for a multi-car pile up, Turn One (T1) of almost any race track is the mixing bowl and a bunch of racers hungry for victory are the ingredients. Let's take a look at and discuss ways to avoid T1 pile-ups and increase your chances of finishing the race in one piece so you can enjoy your victory cake.
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'' Don't block the much faster car passing you''
  
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* When the lights go green, apply the throttle smoothly (don't stomp) and try to get away cleanly with as little wheelspin as possible.
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Most people block the incoming car as a strategy inherited from Gran Turismo, where getting bumped by the AI train gives you a boost to speed. In online (and real life) racing, if a car is coming in hot and you block their path, it's considered rude and dangerous. If they can't slow down enough, they will smash your back and most likely cause an accident or one or both of you will go blasting off like Team Rocket because of lag. When it says Blue Flag check your rear view mirror. If they are very close hold your course, as they will pass you out of the racing line. If they are a good ways behind, leave the racing line so they can shoot by easier. This applies to drivers being lapped and drivers who are considerably slower (about 10 MPH or more) than the incoming car. However, if you and another driver are neck to neck, you do have every right to battle each other (without crashing of course) for lead position.
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* This is a good time to quickly glance left and right to see where your nearest rivals are and see how well they have launched from the start. You now have a better idea of your relative positions and are less likely to end someone's race through a poorly-timed move.
 
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* It is best not to throw your car into T1 with wild abandon, if someone is beside you entering the turn you should leave them room to corner, you want to avoid car-to-car contact. Better for both of you to corner carefully than to cause a 6 car pile-up.
 
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* Be prepared to back off or brake, don't rely on luck to get you through. Be aware that other cars are prone to error in these first few turns and get ready to evade an accident ahead.
 
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* Cars in front may brake heavily, avoid contact. Shunting the current world champion out of the race in the first ten seconds is a rather embarassing way to end your (and his) event or championship. Public races should be treated the same way. It is a common error that we have all made or will make early in our training and, as you will find out, it is the worst way to be taken out of a race. No matter if it's the first or last corner of a race be very, very wary of rear-ending another car.
 
  
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=== Smooth, dynamic driving rewards faster lap times ===
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Not too many people realize that racing involves keeping a good rhythm. When accelerating, braking, and turning, the car's weight gets shifted around. Depending on the suspension, it may shift quickly or slowly. If you jerk the car around, like turning left then slamming right, the weight is not loading the correct tires, and they break traction when the weight shifts violently from turning. When you put more weight over a tire, it has greater grip than with less weight. There is a point where the tire is overloaded with weight and will lose traction again. So, when you do the above maneuver, called the "Scandinavian Flick", the weight is initially over the right wheels, and snapping right causes the left wheels to suddenly max out on grip with the little weight over them, causing them to break traction, and as the weight shifts over them, they continue to stay in skid, as the right wheels suddenly lose the weight over them, losing traction and also skidding. This also means that when braking, you should smoothly apply the brake pedal, so the front wheels can load up and provide maximum stopping force, otherwise they lock and you go straight into the unknown! When turning, you should smoothly dial in steering so the outside tires have a chance to load. How fast you turn in, brake, and accelerate depends on the car and the suspension setup. You may be amazed at how fast you can blow through turns by driving smoothly and rhythmically.
  
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== Obeying Flags ==
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=== Adjust your downforce ===
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''by Gunn''
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Race cars have wings. These wings provide traction at high speeds and keep the car from becoming airborne. The more downforce you put, the more grip the car will have at speed but the lower the top speed and top end acceleration will be due to drag. Therefore, on a high speed course like the oval the downforce should be lower, but on a slower, tight corner course the downforce should be higher, and on the drag strip downforce should be minimal.
  
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=== Flags in Live For Speed ===
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Really, though, you need to adjust downforce to suit your driving. Start with one downforce setting, and raise (or lower) the downforce until your lap times are at their lowest on average.
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While racing you may see warning flags displayed on screen and it is important to know what they mean. The flags in our LFS races are controlled by the software of course, in real life racing people make decisions about if, when, and how flags are to be displayed. The general meanings of these warnings (outlined below) should apply in most cases where you are faced with a flag in LFS racing.
 
  
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=== Yellow Flag ===
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Also, the difference between front and rear downforce will play with your car's handling. If there is a lot of downforce on one end, the other end will actually lose grip at higher speeds. Too much front downforce will cause the car to become nervous and oversteer easily at high speed. Too much rear downforce will cause the car to understeer at speed, and actually lose grip on the turns.
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When you see the yellow flag displayed on your screen it tells you that a car up ahead has spun or crashed. You should prepare to slow down and avoid becoming a casualty of the incident. Up ahead the car that has spun may be just rejoining the track when you arrive on the scene. It would do nobody any good if you plowed into him because you had disregarded the yellow flag warning.
 
  
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* When you see a yellow, get ready for trouble and get ready to back off. You can't win the race if your car has become a burning wreck so it is better to be cautious and survive the day.
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Edit by Keling: Always remember that wings hardly benefit a racer in a very big part of a straight line or at a low-speed corner, they only work at high-speed corners and in braking areas. So it's the corners that mainly defines your wing angle. If you are on a 99999-corners tarmac rally track, you never go fast and downforce adjustment is not a big thing. If you are on a super street speedway, enjoying full throttle for 0.7km and than 45kph into a corner, it's a FAST track where wings can only slow cars down (on the straight lines), time saved by better braking will not make up the time you lose in very long acceleration, and cornering speed can only change a litttttle, so you need low-downforce settings. However, we have another type of FAST track where you go through Gear 4/5/6 corners one after another. In this case, there are so many high-speed corners for your wings to work. It's still a fast track, but middle or even high downforce settings would be better.
  
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=== Blue Flag ===
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=== Choose your tires wisely ===
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A blue flag tells you that a car behind is in a higher position than you are. The action you will take depends on your situation. Let's examine the two likely situations where a blue flag will appear in Live For Speed.
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You may have noticed several sets of slicks are available. For long, endurance races, choosing the Hard slicks (R4) will mean more laps before a tire change at the pit stop, but you will not be able to corner as hard. Using soft slicks (R2) means unparalleled traction but frequent pitting. These are useful for short races and hot-lapping.
  
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* '''If you are being lapped by a faster car:''' The car behind you is consistently faster than you and has managed to travel one more lap than you have. He is about to overtake you and the blue flag is displayed to warn you of his presence. In this case you are hindering his progress and must allow him to pass you as soon as it is safe to do so (you can't be expected to yield while negotiating a chicane or high speed corner) Hold your line don't fight the other car, do not make any sudden movements left or right, ease off slightly and let him pass. He is a lap ahead of you and you are not fighting him for position. You must not hold him up.
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Sometimes, you can mix tire types to compensate with overheating sets of tires. For example, if you use R2 front and R3 rear on an FZ50 GTR, you can reduce the overheating of the rear tires. However, you will have less grip in the rear, so you need to re-tune the suspension to reduce the oversteer.
  
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* '''You are not being lapped by a faster car:''' The car behind you is in a higher position but is not consistently faster than you. Perhaps you had an earlier spin or have just made a pit stop or stopped to serve a penalty and that is why your rival has managed to creep up behind you as if he is about to lap you. As above, if you see a blue flag you must not hinder the progress of the car behind, if you are holding it up you should allow the other car to pass you as soon as possible. If you are not hindering its progress then get on with the job and leave it behind you.
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/edit by scipy - This is stupid, you need to INCREASE oversteer when driving R2 fronts and R3 rears because once the fronts heat up (color wise) 2-3°C more than the rears they will just understeer to death. Please don't try to help people with wrong advice.
  
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''Note: There is some controversy in real racing about exact interpretation of blue flag rules. '''Generally it is accepted that you hold your line and make no sudden or defensive moves, allowing the faster car to overtake you.''' You will earn respect from all drivers for acting sensibly and fairly when faced with a blue or yellow flag.''
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=== Learn the track ===
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Learn to drive the whole track, not just the fastest line. You never known when you will need to deviate from the ideal line, to pass a slower car, avoid an incident or recover from a driving mistake.
  
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=== Be careful when downshifting ===
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The GTR cars are very sensitive to inappropriate downshifts - braking hard and not blipping the throttle enough to match the revs will cause the engine braking on the rear wheels and locking them up. This generally leads to the back end stepping out and snap oversteering and ruining your lap (assuming you even catch it in time and don't crash.) Downshifting once too many times will have the same effect.
  
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== Drafting/Slipstreaming ==
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=== The first bend ===
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''by Gunn''
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You will not be able to win a race on the first corner, only lose it! So don't try it, many a time I have witnessed drivers shooting down the inside of a full pack, trying to get to the corner first, locking all the wheels and taking out the front half of the pack.
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As a car races forwards it punches a hole in the air as it goes along, and after the car has gone past the displaced air rushes in to fill the gap.
 
  
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If you travel very close to the car in front you will notice that you can go faster than he is able to. This is known as drafting or slipstreaming. The leading car disturbs the air and does all of the work, the following car (travelling in a nice pocket with almost no wind resistance) is not inhibited and can build up speed faster than normally possible. The trailing car "gets a tow" from the car in front.
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On any track, the first corner is generally better to be taken at slower speeds, ensuring all the cars make it round the corner, accidents may happen, this is racing, but be wary of your surroundings, other cars, and do not try and scream down the inside, braking far to late in the attempt to get that illusive number 1 spot, it will not work!
  
−
It is easy to see how drafting could be used to overtake your opponents and indeed it is a much-used overtaking technique. In some cases two cars may be so well matched that the only chance the trailing driver has to overtake is by drafting on a long straight. So obviously drafting has real benefits, but also there are hazards.
+
As I said, you will not win the race on the first bend, only lose it!
  
−
=== Benefits ===
+
=== Drafting is for straights ===
−
* Your car may reach a higher top speed by drafting (once you pull out of the draft the wind resistance will steadily pull your speed back to the normal maximum for your setup. However your gear ratios and final drive will ultimately effect how well your car can take advantage of drafting).
+
Don't draft in turns. It takes away the air on your car, and either makes you spin, or pushes you into the wall. Try to run a bit lower or higher than the car you're following. However at tracks such as Kyoto Ring drafting is a very useful tool. Get behind a car and let it suck you right up to its rear and put on your brakes. Important! do not let off the gas, or you will loose you momentum and fall back. By staying behind another car in a draft you increase both speeds of each car allowing for you both to pass faster cars and hold them off. "The bigger the pack the faster you go"
−
* Drafting gives you a temporary and short-lived opportunity to gain position, but timing is important. Sometimes drafting may be the only safe way past your rival.
 
−
* Drafting can reduce lap times during a race and may have a minimal fuel-saving benefit.
 
  
−
=== Risks ===
+
=== Don't overheat your tires ===
−
* Braking is not as effective when travelling in another car's slipstream. Not only are you perhaps travelling faster than normal when you reach your braking zone but you have less resistance and slowing down will not be as abrupt as usual. The potential to shunt the leading car is great, and racers should always be prepared to adjust their braking to suit the situation.
+
Slicks warm up and cool down a lot faster than normal tires. If you drift or drive just beyond the limit, the tires will overheat and lose traction. If the interior temperature goes too high, the tire could blow. The last thing you need is a flat tire in the middle of the sweepers. If the tires are getting too hot, slow down in the turns or use harder tires.
−
* Shunting while travelling at full speed is also a risk. If you are very close behind the leading car then your speed may incease very rapidly in a short time. You don't want to shunt the other racer, you'll either damage both cars or even worse you may propel him forward and increase his lead!
 
−
* Cornering in the slipstream can be very tricky. Aerodynamic downforce that is generated by some types of cars (GTR, FOX, FO8) can be affected when there is no air to create downforce on the wings or spoilers. Coupled with your extra speed when drafting this can cause spin-outs in fast curves and can effect your braking too.
 
  
−
=== Considerations ===
+
=== Spin wheels when you exit your pit-stop ===
−
''Should I draft other cars in a race?''<br>
+
Near the completion of a pit-stop; when the refuelling thing comes up, floor the gas pedal, and floor it out of the pits (in GTR cars mainly) to get the tires up to a slight optimum temperature; this will insure you that you wont slip going out of turn 1. If you always wondered why people did that in NASCAR, IRL, and so forth; not only is it to get out of there fast, but mainly to heat up their tires a bit so they don't slide around...
−
Absolutely, but be wary of contact and be ready to brake earlier then usual when approaching corners or slower drivers.
 
  
−
''Is drafting a sure way to overtake an opponent?''<br>
+
=== Use tyre pressures wisely ===
−
No. Often the benefit gained from drafting is not enough to make the pass. If you get close to the leading car early on to the straight then you have a real chance of winning the position, but be wary of jumping into the slipstream late, make sure you have enough room to carry out your plans.
+
Tyre pressures are important. They can mean the difference between cold tires and blown tires. It can mean shooting through the sweepers or lumbering through with great driftage. It can even mean blasting off the line or getting off the line.
  
−
''What do I do if another car is drafting me?''<br>
+
So here's what to do. Start with about 35 P.S.I., and drive around. Are your tires too cold? Are they cooling off too fast? Not enough grip? The insides are too hot? Start lowering the pressure, 2-10 P.S.I. at a time. Are the tires too hot? Is the car wandering too much? Raise the pressure, 1-4 P.S.I. at a time. Once you got it, the tires should not be overheating when you are driving correctly. Also, the car should feel quick through the turns, but not sluggish.
−
If on a straight, hold your line but do not swerve or block, if you get overtaken, then that's motor racing, set yourself up for a well-timed attack further up the track or on the next lap and fight back when you have a real chance of making it happen.<br>
 
  
−
If approaching a corner you can take a defensive line to make overtaking more difficult, but swerving is still a no-no. You should only ever make one defensive movement in response to an attack.<br>
+
Be fortunate that S2 does not yet simulate tires flexing too much in turns and pulling off the "bead", at least as far as I can tell...
−
Absolutely do not brake earlier than usual if you can help it. Remember that the drafting car will brake with difficulty.
 
  
 +
=== Fast launching the XRR and FXR ===
 +
You probably do a lot of bogging down at the start with the [[XR GTR]] and [[FXO GTR]]. However, it is possible to do even a four wheel burnout in the [[FXO GTR]]! How? Here's how.
  
−
== Race Driving Basic ==
+
Three seconds before the start, floor the gas. Your rev limiter will protect your engine from damage, but more importantly, you will build up to 20 pounds of boost. With only 10 pounds of boost, you can blast off in the [[XR GTR]]. With 12, you can spin four wheels in the [[FXO GTR]]. With this ability at your side, you can finally take off as fast ({{car link|XRR}}) or even faster ({{car link|FXR}}) than the [[FZ50 GTR]]! With a well-tuned differential and a well-timed launch, a [[FXO GTR]] driver can always get the holeshot.
−
=== Oversteer & Understeer ===
 
−
Oversteer in the “textbook” sense is the difference between cornering stiffness at front and rear, taking into account tyre characteristics, geometries, bush rates, etc, etc. By this definition, understeer and oversteer are independent of vehicle path or speed - they are purely vehicle properties.
 
  
−
Oversteer or its counterpart understeer is not the difference (or should it be the ratio of the two?) between cornering stiffness front and rear but it is a dynamic trajectory property caused by cornering stiffness. But cornering stiffness are not just static properties influenced by the factors given above. There are more factors that influence cornering stiffness: body roll, roll stiffness front and rear, load transfer, wheel camber change, roll steer (front and rear) and torque applied to the driving wheels. The tyre characteristics are speed and load dependent too. From this, it follows that driving characteristics of a car cannot be defined as being just over or understeering. At every speed and trajectory curvature (1/radius) one can say it is understeering, neutral or oversteering for those conditions. So the over/understeering character is a complex one.
+
Here's another trick. Try making the first gear higher (lower top speed). This way, the car can take off with less or no boost, and won't bog down. However, this also means having to shift into second gear sooner. Try both tricks, and use the fastest one for your driving style.
  
−
In the everyday road car a compromise is sought to make the car responsive to the steering wheel and stable at the same time. From here follows the success story of the FWD concept (understeering). For a sports car that is quick (not the same as fast) and provides driver fun, a different concept is needed: mid-engined, rear wheel drive (initial slight understeer changing to oversteer by applying engine torque - power oversteer/steering with the throttle).
+
Edit by Keling: If 6 gears is really a must, the first gear will be made low enough for the slowest corner, not fit for launching. Then, try to do clutch-kick (sometimes more than once) to keep the rpm high enough. Your {{car link|FXR}} will not launch quickly, but it's still much better than falling to 1200rpm.
  
−
Perhaps it is useful to mention the definition of over and understeer as used by the scientists who perform research in vehicle behaviour? Suppose you are running a car at a constant speed with a constant curvature (the path is a circle then), if you then keep the steering wheel in the same position (angle) and increase the car speed gradually, then if the car wants to run on a circle with a smaller radius the car is said to be oversteering, if it remains on the same radius it is neutral and if the car goes to a wider circle it is understeering (for that speed and curvature!). The test can be done somewhat differently, again the car is running at a certain speed on a certain radius. Increase the speed and try to keep the car on the same radius. If you need to apply extra steering angle it is understeering, if you can keep the steering wheel in the same position it is neutral, if you can turn back the steering wheel somewhat it is oversteering.
+
== Surviving Turn One ==
 +
''by Gunn''
  
−
Oversteer is when the rear wheels are carving a larger arc than the front wheels or the intended line of the turn. Rear “slip angles” exceed those of the front tyres. This is often described as a “loose” condition, as the car feels like it may swap ends, or be “twitchy.” This condition can be caused by “power oversteer”, where you need to reduce power in order to bring the back end back into line.
+
Everybody loves a close race, nobody loves being wiped out in the first corner. To win a race you must at least finish the race and all can be lost in the first hot seconds if care is not taken. Let's take a brief look at some important considerations when a race starts and a swarm of cars goes thundering towards turn 1.
  
−
Understeer is when the front wheels are carving a larger arc than the rear wheels. This is often described as “push” or “pushing” - as the front end feels like it is ploughing off of a corner. Further acceleration only compounds the push, as weight shifts back to the rear drive wheels, off of the front turning wheels, leading to a further lessening of the car’s ability to turn in. Understeer can be remedied by slight modulation in throttle to transfer weight forward to the front wheels, aiding their traction and ability to carve the turn. Many cars are designed to have a tendency to understeer. If the driver gets uncomfortable and “lifts” off the gas, that will cause the front end to tighten the curve - a relatively safer, and more predictable condition.
+
* When the lights go green there is always going to be a mad dash for the first corner, all drivers want to make the best start they can.
 +
* Rarely will all cars launch from the line evenly, a car in front of you may be slow getting away.
 +
* Very few (and perhaps none) of the drivers will have a perfect line into the first few corners as all cars jostle for position and get settled.
 +
* Everybody's tyres are cold, grip levels are low.
 +
* Most drivers would now have opponents close by them but sitting in their blind spot, requiring a head turn to check their actual positions.
 +
* The greatest potential for lag in LFS is when a large field of cars is bunched up together.
  
−
=== Trail Braking ===
+
If there is ever a recipe for a multi-car pile up, Turn One (T1) of almost any race track is the mixing bowl and a bunch of racers hungry for victory are the ingredients. Let's take a look at and discuss ways to avoid T1 pile-ups and increase your chances of finishing the race in one piece so you can enjoy your victory cake.
−
Trail braking (a.k.a. ‘brake-turning’, braking while turning toward the apex of a corner) is another learning curve for you to climb sooner or later. However, learn trail braking slowly; if you’re used to road driving (where you’re taught to finish braking before turning into a corner) then you might find it tricky to learn the extra delicacy demanded by trail braking. In PU, the trade-off between brake pressure and steering input is hard to judge when you can’t feel the car turning and pitching through your body.
 
  
−
What is trail braking? In essence, it means continuing to brake after having turned in for a corner. The further you progress into the corner, the more you turn the steering wheel and the more pressure you release from the brake pedal. Typically, the procedure goes like this: You are hurtling in a straight line toward a corner; You apply the brakes - fully - while still travelling in a straight line; At some point, you release a little pressure from the brakes and start to turn in; As you bend into the corner and approach the throttle application point, you progressively release the rest of the pressure from the brake.
+
* When the lights go green, apply the throttle smoothly (don't stomp) and try to get away cleanly with as little wheelspin as possible.
 +
* This is a good time to quickly glance left and right to see where your nearest rivals are and see how well they have launched from the start. You now have a better idea of your relative positions and are less likely to end someone's race through a poorly-timed move.
 +
* It is best not to throw your car into T1 with wild abandon, if someone is beside you entering the turn you should leave them room to corner, you want to avoid car-to-car contact. Better for both of you to corner carefully than to cause a 6 car pile-up.
 +
* Be prepared to back off or brake, don't rely on luck to get you through. Be aware that other cars are prone to error in these first few turns and get ready to evade an accident ahead.
 +
* Cars in front may brake heavily, avoid contact. Shunting the current world champion out of the race in the first ten seconds is a rather embarassing way to end your (and his) event or championship. Public races should be treated the same way. It is a common error that we have all made or will make early in our training and, as you will find out, it is the worst way to be taken out of a race. No matter if it's the first or last corner of a race be very, very wary of rear-ending another car.
  
−
What’s the point of it? Trail braking helps you rotate the car into a corner by controlling the transfer of weight onto the front tyres, giving them more stick, and thus compensating for any understeering tendency the car would otherwise have. The alternative is: do all of your braking in a straight line, then release the brakes entirely, then turn in. The trouble with this technique is that when you release the brakes, weight - and therefore stick - will be removed from the front tyres, just when you need them to be loaded enough to turn the car into the corner. So - unless the car is set up to be driven like this - it will understeer away from the corner. This is typical behaviour for ‘street’ (aka massively understeering) cars that have been adapted for racing.
 
  
−
On the other hand, a ‘proper’ race car will probably oversteer if you don’t trail brake. If you turn into a corner with your feet off both brake and throttle, the front tyres will have all their traction budget available for turning while the back wheels will be doing some (engine) braking. Net result: oversteer. Application of the brakes settles down the oversteer by substituting a proportionately balanced loss of steering traction (because the brakes are biased towards the front). In fact, you use the brake pressure to control the rate at which the car rotates into the corner.
+
== Obeying Flags ==
 +
''by Gunn''
  
−
How much trail braking you do at a particular corner - i.e. what percentage of the corner is taken under braking - depends on the angle of the corner. For a 60° corner, you’d typically only trail for a few percent of the corner, for a 90° corner, you’d typically trail brake for maybe 25% of the corner, and for a bigger corner, you could do it for up to 50% of the corner. You are aiming to trail off the brakes until they are released completely at or before the throttle application point (which typically occurs somewhere before the geometric apex). - ''Thanks to the Virtual Racers Edge Site for this helpful info''.
+
=== Flags in Live For Speed ===
 +
While racing you may see warning flags displayed on screen and it is important to know what they mean. The flags in our LFS races are controlled by the software of course, in real life racing people make decisions about if, when, and how flags are to be displayed. The general meanings of these warnings (outlined below) should apply in most cases where you are faced with a flag in LFS racing.
  
−
=== Threshold Braking ===
+
=== Yellow Flag ===
−
Think of the contact patch of your tyres. The few square inches that each tyre touches the road with may be upset not only by rapid steering input but by rapid brake input as well. ABS minimizes this, but there is a way that a good driver can shorten stopping distances even beyond ABS in some cases. How?
+
When you see the yellow flag displayed on your screen it tells you that a car up ahead has spun or crashed. You should prepare to slow down and avoid becoming a casualty of the incident. Up ahead the car that has spun may be just rejoining the track when you arrive on the scene. It would do nobody any good if you plowed into him because you had disregarded the yellow flag warning.
  
−
ABS works in different ways, but to illustrate this point, I’ll take an example of, say, a Subaru Outback with four people in the car on a snowy surface (this may be easier to visualize given a heavier car on a slick day): You begin a panic stop, depressing the brake. The car goes up to maximum braking, and then one wheel begins to slide or lock. As it does so, the car momentarily pulses the pedal back to you, which feels like a “burp” under your foot. In doing so, it allows that locked wheel to again rotate. This helps in two ways. First, a tyre brakes most efficiently when it is just short of locking up, exerting the maximum effort on the surface. When it goes beyond that point and slides, braking is diminished. Second, by keeping the wheels from locking up, ABS helps maintain directional control, especially if the driver is steering around an obstacle while braking. In effect, in a panic stop ABS allows the driver to pound the brakes as hard as he or she wishes, but still have effective braking and directional control. Remember that a tyre gets maximum braking just before the point of lockup. Without ABS a driver can get maximum braking effort by braking to the point of wheel lock, and then reducing the pressure ever so slightly to the point where the wheels are rotating again. This is known as “threshold braking.” The dangers of course are in backing off a bit too much and not getting maximum effort, and in maintaining directional control while braking.
+
* When you see a yellow, get ready for trouble and get ready to back off. You can't win the race if your car has become a burning wreck so it is better to be cautious and survive the day.
  
−
Back now to an ABS equipped car: By using threshold braking, it is even possible in some cases to do better than ABS. Remember the pulsing action that some ABS systems use to allow the locked wheel to rotate again? While this is happening, the braking effort on the other three wheels is momentarily lessened also. On a slick snowy surface, if you continue extreme hard braking so that ABS is constantly activated, the lessened brake force is extremely evident. It almost feels as though the car starts sliding faster! If this happens to you, back off slightly to allow the ABS to disengage, and use threshold braking ... release ever so slightly as the ABS starts to “burp” back at your foot. A well executed stop will have you riding that edge, with ABS intermittently engaging as you modulate and keep feeling that threshold. On DRY pavement with good traction, you can stand on the pedal as much as you need to stop quickly and effectively.
+
=== Blue Flag ===
 +
A blue flag tells you that a car behind is in a higher position than you are. The action you will take depends on your situation. Let's examine the two likely situations where a blue flag will appear in Live For Speed.
  
 +
* '''If you are being lapped by a faster car:''' The car behind you is consistently faster than you and has managed to travel one more lap than you have. He is about to overtake you and the blue flag is displayed to warn you of his presence. In this case you are hindering his progress and must allow him to pass you as soon as it is safe to do so (you can't be expected to yield while negotiating a chicane or high speed corner) Hold your line don't fight the other car, do not make any sudden movements left or right, ease off slightly and let him pass. He is a lap ahead of you and you are not fighting him for position. You must not hold him up.
  
−
== Clean Racers Club Race Rules ==
+
* '''You are not being lapped by a faster car:''' The car behind you is in a higher position but is not consistently faster than you. Perhaps you had an earlier spin or have just made a pit stop or stopped to serve a penalty and that is why your rival has managed to creep up behind you as if he is about to lap you. As above, if you see a blue flag you must not hinder the progress of the car behind, if you are holding it up you should allow the other car to pass you as soon as possible. If you are not hindering its progress then get on with the job and leave it behind you.
−
The CRC are well respected in the online racing community and these rules are acknowledged as the guidelines we all should adhere to and strive to drive by. Please think before you blame others, online racing is intense and very competitive and stressful at times, accidents are part of the racing experience and often caused by lag, competitors inattention due to a home phone ringing, family members interrupting them and such things as they cannot control.
 
  
−
The most obvious rule is: No careless driving. Always show respect for your fellow racers. Be careful. Show some patience. Understand the limitations of your program and drive accordingly. Driving online in a racing sim is NOT exactly the same as real life racing in every respect, and in some cases online sim racing requires even more care.
+
''Note: There is some controversy in real racing about exact interpretation of blue flag rules. '''Generally it is accepted that you hold your line and make no sudden or defensive moves, allowing the faster car to overtake you.''' You will earn respect from all drivers for acting sensibly and fairly when faced with a blue or yellow flag.''
−
 
 
−
'''Perhaps the most important rule is:''' No running into the car ahead of you. The onus is on the behind driver to take all necessary care and responsibility not to run into an ahead driver.
 
−
 
 
−
Please read over and over again. This basically means keep back in first corner after a start, so you know you have room if they misjudge the turn and its your fault if you run into them, learn patience and remember we are not racing for sheep stations!
 
−
 
 
−
=== Race Rules ===
 
−
==== Knowing the Rules ====
 
−
K-1: It’s the responsibility of drivers to make themselves familiar with all the rules that govern the casual race or competition in which they’re entered.
 
−
 
 
−
==== General Conduct ====
 
−
GC-1: You must compete in a fair and honest manner.
 
−
 
 
−
GC-2: You must endeavour to drive responsibly in a way that’s not likely to ruin the racing enjoyment of your fellow drivers.
 
−
 
 
−
GC-3: You must not indulge in bad general behaviour.
 
−
 
 
−
GC-4: You must not use abusive or offensive language (including but not limited to swearing) in any of the chat or voice facilities.
 
−
 
 
−
GC-5: You are expected to behave like sporting gentlemen at all times.
 
−
 
 
−
==== Driver’s Name Etiquette ====
 
−
DE-1: Always use your recognised online name.
 
−
 
 
−
==== Event Participation (competitions only) ====
 
−
EP-1: Drivers should log onto the race event with at least 10 minutes of pre-race time remaining. If you’re not logged on by then it may be assumed that you’re not attending and your place may be given to another driver who, for any valid reason, may be allowed to take part in the race in your stead.
 
−
 
 
−
EP-2: If for any reason you know prior to a race you’ll be unable to attend, please advise your Competition Director as soon as possible. If you fail to advise of your intention to be absent in sufficient time before the start of any two consecutive events, it may be deemed counter productive to everyone’s best enjoyment to further allocate you a place in the relevant league.
 
−
 
 
−
EP-3: As a general rule, if there isn’t a stated rule, and then the rules as they are within a program will apply - both intentional and coincidental. I.e. the way a matter is handled by a racing program is the way that it will be interpreted by the Competition Director.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Pit Etiquette ===
 
−
PE-2: Drivers should always take to the track with enough care to avoid any interference with those already on the track.
 
−
 
 
−
PE-3: Cars on the race track have right-of-way over cars entering the race track from the pits.
 
−
 
 
−
PE-5: When leaving your pit stall, you must immediately, and at as sharp an angle as possible so as not to encroach upon any part of an adjacent pit stall, move out and away from the pit stalls lane and into the pit driving lane, exercising due care not to interfere with anyone already in the pit driving lane.
 
−
 
 
−
PE-6: Cars on the pit driving lane have right-of-way over cars in, and coming out of, the pit stall lane.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Race General ===
 
−
No careless driving. Always show respect for your fellow racers. Be careful. Show some patience. Understand the limitations of your program and drive accordingly. Driving online in a racing sim is NOT exactly the same as real life racing in every respect, and in some cases online sim racing requires even more care.
 
−
 
 
−
==== Contact Concessions ====
 
−
CC-1: If there’s contact between drivers that doesn’t put either out of the race, but results in the guilty driver making up places on the innocent driver, the guilty driver should make the contact concession of allowing the innocent party to pass freely to re-establish their respective positions as they were before the contact. Even if the guilty driver has to let other non-incident-related drivers past, thus loosing positions, while waiting for the innocent driver to regain their lost respective position - then that is what the guilty driver has to do.
 
−
 
 
−
CC-2: If there’s contact between drivers that puts the innocent driver out of the race, but allows the guilty driver to carry on, and then the guilty driver should make the contact concession of retiring from the race as soon they can safely do so.
 
−
 
 
−
CC-3: If the appropriate contact concession is carried out by the guilty driver then they may avoid or reduce the severity of any penalties that might otherwise usually apply.
 
−
 
 
−
CC-4: If the appropriate contact concession is not carried out by the guilty party then there’ll be no mitigation of the usual penalties that would apply.
 
−
Contact concession rules are all about just doing the sporting thing in these types of cases - which is why we apply them.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Corner Rights ===
 
−
CR-1: You must establish substantial overlap with the car ahead before they reach the corner’s turn-in point to have the right to drive up their inside, or to expect them to leave inside room for you. Substantial overlap means at least that the front of your car is up to say the driver’s position in the ahead car - and that’s at the very least. You probably should have more overlap in some circumstances. The ahead driver has the right to be fully committed to the racing line of their choice without any interference if there was no substantial overlap before he turned in.
 
−
 
 
−
CR-2: If sufficient overlap is established before the turn-in point, then the behind driver has the right to sufficient side room. The ahead driver must then leave sufficient side room for the behind driver.
 
−
 
 
−
CR-2A: The car on the outside has the right to outside room all the way through the corner – right up to the exit point. They should not be squeezed against the outside towards the exit point.
 
−
 
 
−
CR-2B: The car on the inside has the right to inside room all the way through the corner - right up to the exit point. They should not be squeezed against the inside towards the apex area. The ahead driver can still battle for the position of course but must do so while maintaining side room for the behind driver. The practice of going up the inside of an ahead car after they have already turned in, and where there was no established substantial overlap before the turn-in point, is sometimes referred to as barge passing, ( I.e. you barge your way past ). Understand that barge passing is a high risk manoeuvre for both you and others. You have no rights what-so-ever as a barge passer. Should you cause an accident from a barge passing manoeuvre you’ll be in a defenceless position should you be protested?
 
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−
CR-3: Where an ahead driver has clearly made a sufficient error to warrant a passing move a behind driver may attack their position, with due caution and care, regardless of whether there was any pre-existing overlap. E.g. - If the ahead driver brakes too late and drifts out wide of the apex and then has to reduce speed etc. This would be a valid passing opportunity regardless of whether there was pre-existing overlap. However, there is still substantial responsibility on the overtaking driver to take all necessary care to avoid contact. Small errors by the ahead driver may not be sufficient to justify an attacking passing move however. Just because the ahead drivers gets a bit out of shape at times doesn’t give you an automatic right to pass uncontested by them or a right to room. You still have to judge if their error provides sufficient opportunity for a safe pass to take place.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Defensive Driving ===
 
−
DD-1: Leading cars have the right to choose their own line down a straight. They may make one move to block an attacking car to protect their position while on a straight - but then must maintain that position as long as the attacker remains affected by their position. Then, naturally, as they approach the next corner, they can of course return to the racing line of their choice for the corner.
 
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−
DD-2: Leading cars have the right to take their line of choice through corners. E.G. they may drive a defensive line around the inside of a corner to protect their position, thereby forcing an attacking driver to try to pass around the outside. This is not blocking and is part of normal racing etiquette.
 
−
 
 
−
In fact, apart from the restrictions of rule DD-1, a leading driver can drive any line which they feel is the most inconvenient for any following car to try to pass them.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Driving a severly damaged car ===
 
−
DC-1: The onus is entirely on the driver of a severely damaged car to take all necessary care, hazard minimization, and responsibility not to interfere with any other car. A severely damaged car has no rights what-so-ever over other cars.
 
−
 
 
−
A severely damaged car for the purpose of this rule means a car that for whatever reason is performing substantially below its normal performance expectations. It constitutes in effect a moving obstacle. The damage may be a mechanical breakage or failure of some kind on the car, or it may be an input control device failure, or whatever.
 
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−
You’ll have no defence if you cause an accident while driving a severely damaged car. The onus is entirely on the driver to assess if they believe the risk of an accident to others due to their cars’ condition is high enough that they should retire rather than continue. If they choose to continue then the risk of receiving a severe penalty, should they cause an accident due to their cars’ condition, is entirely theirs.
 
−
 
 
−
If while driving a severely damaged car you drive off the track at any time then the rules on “Returning to the Track” after an off apply.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Initial Fault ===
 
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IF-1: If you make a significant driving error and another driver or driver’s attempts to capitalize on it then you have reduced rights to counter their attack. If one or the other has to give way, it should be the driver who made the initial error.
 
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E.g. If you go wide at a corner and a close behind car tries to take advantage of this by moving up the inside, you should leave room for them, whether or not they had pre-existing overlap going into the corner. They must leave you room as well of course.
 
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This is a bit of a grey area and requires good judgment. Small errors that don’t much materially affect the speed or direction of a car wouldn’t count here. E.g. Simply going a little wide but maintaining race speed while still half on the racing line would not be enough of an error to expect this rule to apply. For the behind drivers - If in doubt - don’t - should apply. You can always protest after the race if you think you’ve been wronged - but once you’re in the wall that’s you race done - and the other guy might protest you and win.
 
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So ... Behind drivers shouldn’t push your luck with this rule.
 
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=== Recovering from an incident ===
 
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RI-1: The onus is entirely on the driver recovering from any incident that leaves them in any way an obstacle or a hazard to other drivers, to take all necessary care, hazard minimization, and responsibility not to interfere with any cars still on the track and not part of the incident. If you are off the track then the rules on “returning to the track after an off” apply.
 
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RI-2: If you’re on the track after an incident and still in an incident recovery mode then you have no rights what-so-ever. You must give way to all non-incident-affected cars until you are fully recovered. An relevant incident may include, but not limited to, being ... Spun out, facing the wrong way, perpendicular to the track, going abnormally slow for where you are on the track, whatever, ...
 
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RI-3: You must do everything you can to minimize the hazard your car may constitute as soon as possible. This may mean driving fully off the track if you’re half on it. It may mean moving as fast as you safely can to the non-racing-line side of the track. It may mean retiring from the race as fast as you can do so. Whatever.
 
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You will have no defence if you cause another incident whilst recovering from an incident, or being unnecessarily slow at removing the hazard your car may constitute after an incident. Even if the incident was not your fault. All non-incident-affected drivers have right-of-way over anyone recovering from an incident.
 
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=== Re-entering to the track after running off ===
 
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RT-1: The onus is entirely on the driver returning to the track after an off to take all necessary care and responsibility not to interfere with any cars still on the track.
 
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RT-2: For these purposes being hard up against and/or ‘stuck’ to a railing or wall constitutes an Off.
 
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RT-3: On-track drivers have right-of-way over anyone returning to the track. You can have very little defence if you cause an incident whilst returning to the track. If you leave the track you loose all rights. Even if you left the track through an event that was not-your-fault.
 
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RT-4: The returning-to-the-tack-after-an-off period includes the recovery period after the actual off when your car may be physically on the track but still constitutes a hazard to on-coming race-speed traffic while you get up to speed and orientate yourself.
 
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RT-5: Do not reverse back onto the track unless it is absolutely unavoidable to do so. You are responsible not to cause an incident if you reverse backwards onto the track. This manoeuvre, if carried out, must be undertaken with great care and penitence.
 
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Its probably always desirable to re-enter the track parallel to the road, slowly and gently, and always with great care. This gives you the best opportunity to see what’s coming up the track behind you, and it also gives drivers coming up on you the best chance to orientate themselves to your situation.
 
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Special care applies when returning to the track from being stuck against a railing. You may be steering extremely hard angle trying to get unstuck. But what keeps you stuck is your speed. As soon as your speed reduces to a level where you’re able to get un-stuck, if you’re still steering to an extreme angle trying to get off, you will probably suddenly swing out onto the track and maybe even spin. If you do this in front of other drivers you will be held at fault.
 
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To get off a wall or railing ... Slow down first to a very slow speed, possibly even steering into the wall to be sure of keeping yourself out of the way or others. Then ease off the railing, very gently, and always give way to all other cars on the track proper.
 
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=== Running into the car ahead of you ===
 
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RA-1: The onus is on the behind driver to take all necessary care and responsibility not to run into an ahead driver.
 
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RA-2: The ahead driver must not do any malicious or inappropriate braking or slowing. The ahead driver is entitled to be slower or use longer and earlier braking zones than others. They are also entitled to turn in earlier or later and/or apex earlier or later. They are also entitled to be inconsistent and erratic.
 
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Behind drivers are expected to anticipate the possibility that ahead drivers may have longer braking zones etc than do they and should drive accordingly, always maintaining separation.
 
  
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In short, if you are behind someone then you have the responsibility not to run into them. They do not have to try to avoid you. If all else fails, you should run your own car off the track to avoid such a collision.
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[[Category:Guides]]
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[[Category:Driving techniques]]
  
 
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Latest revision as of 10:29, 24 January 2024

Simple driving tips

  • Use your brakes in good time when you are approaching a corner. It is in fact faster to take a corner at a safe speed, rather than braking late and hard (which could cause you to run off the track or run wide, off the racing line).
  • Hard braking also causes flat spots to occur on your tyres, significantly reducing grip and possibly leading to blowouts. Also avoid driving on grass and dirt, as this also reduces grip.
  • Be gentle with your throttle when you are driving a rear wheel drive car. Applying too much throttle too quickly will cause you to spin out when you exit corners.
  • Be very careful in the first corner of the race, especially when starting from the back. You will probably have to brake much earlier than you are used to, because of cars piling up in front of you. The first turn is the most dangerous one in a race, be careful, don't ruin your or (even worse) the race of others. Of course this also applies for all other corners where heavy braking is needed - just take a mental note, that for every car in front of you, you have to start braking a bit earlier than usual.
  • Practice makes perfect. Drivers who win races do so because they put in the time and effort into learning the track and their cars.

Online racing etiquette

Do not spam

There is no need to repeat a message over and over. Other racers will be annoyed by you. It's rude and there is simply no use in doing that. Even if you are angry or you have the right to be angry, never spam!

Obey the blue flag

If you get BLUE FLAG displayed on the screen, it means a player who is one or more laps ahead of you is attempting to pass. You must let this player past you without competing with him or unduly hindering his progress. It is debatable whether or not to leave the racing line, that is your choice. The most important thing is to be predictable. Don't make any sudden maneuvers, don't suddenly dive out of the racing line when the faster car is right behind you and already committed to pass, don't suddenly dive out of your line on the straight and jam on the brakes. If you're going to leave the racing line, do so smoothly, and so that the car behind can see what you're doing. Otherwise, if you're going to stick to the racing line, make sure the racer behind can see that you're keeping your line. Bottom line is, the driver behind is still passing, so it's his prerogative to pass cleanly, but it is the other driver's responsibility not to compete with the lapping driver, and not to intentionally prevent a pass.

Do not vote to restart race because you crashed

Never vote to restart the race if you are the one making the mistakes. If you miss your braking points and fly off the road at turn 1, but everyone else is doing just fine, then how is it fair to try to restart the race and ruin there races because you couldn't keep your car on the track? Learn from it and try to catch up. If lots of people do make a mistake and cause an accident then fine, vote to restart.

Use the pit lane entrances/exits

Pit lane entrances and exits are there for a reason. They are there to improve the safety of not only those who are pitting but also all those drivers that are not. Crossing the white/yellow line when exiting the pitlane is a clear violation of racing rules and is dangerous.

An example: The Kyoto Oval has a pit lane exit that goes inside the banked corner to the second straight before the white/yellow line stops. This means that any cars leaving the pit lane will re-enter the racing track at close to full speed before Turn 2. Those people who simply don't care about rules often re-enter the racing track at slow speeds in Turn 1... the results are obvious.

Please take notice of the pit lane entrances and exits when you explore a track to improve the safety for yourself and other racers.

Don't complain about people exiting the pits properly

This is an extra bit to the rule above. During a race it is the "on-track" car's responsibility to avoid the cars that are properly exiting the pits (i.e. staying inside the pit exit line). Do not drive into the pit exit area if you think a car is going to be exiting the pits in front of you. In fact, it's a good idea to never do it, and please don't tell others to wait to exit the pits until you've passed. That's what the exit lane is there for.

E.g. At the Westhill International circuit where the pit lane exit takes up the left-hand 25% of the straight.

Do not vote to restart a race if drivers are on the final laps

This is more of a courtesy act than a rule. E.g. If two (or more) drivers are busy battling away on the track and are almost finished and then 10 people that just joined the server decide they want to race right now, the drivers racing may get an unfair restart just before finishing. Show a little respect and wait to start a vote until you see the racing drivers finish their races.

Edit by Keling: Be careful if you and some fast friend have just finished the race. There may be some other players relatively slow who are still struggling 0.5 lap from the finish line. Don't shift+R immediately after seeing YOUR results on the list. The event doesn't end because the first 5 have finished. Wait for everyone.

Use clean overtaking tactics

Driving a faster car or exiting the corners at a greater velocity does not mean that you have right to ram or force others to step aside if they are in front of you. If you are in a faster car, overtaking safely will not be too much trouble, but it does not cost too much to wait a bit for a clean safe space, so don't squeeze to that 1/2 car space inside of every turn while braking.

If your car is more powerful than the other, wait until after the exit of the corner. Usually you can take a different line which gives you a slower exit speed but lets you safely overtake the slower vehicle without bumping his/her rear (or front) out of the corner. Remember, if the other person is in a UF 1000 and you are in something like an FZ50, you can easily wait until after the turn and blast past down the straight.

If your car is better in the turns, go in around 0.5 seconds behind the slower car, and when the slower car turns into the apex accelerate and pass from the outside. Remember that this works only with medium to high speed corners, and you should be way faster on the corner to be completely ahead of slower car by the corner exit so this would be safe. If you are not fast enough, the opponent will pass you on the corner exit. This is known as double passing. That or you will enjoy a spectacular crash.

Overtaking on the inside is also possible but for this you need to know that the slower driver actually knows racing code and is obeying it, and it is quite hard to see certain spots and therefore easy to get into an accident by misjudgement. If the opponent shows no signs of taking the outside, don't try it.

Hold your line

When you're being lapped by a faster car, hold your line. The people coming up on you have seen you, there's no need to try to get out of the way. The turns are all full throttle, and there's plenty room to go around you. If you decide to give us room the moment you see us in the mirror and move to a different line, we've probably already decided to pass you on that same line, and we all end up in the wall.

Cruise low

If your car is damaged, and is really slow, or just coasting back to the pits, stay in the lowest possible position. Staying on the inside has the advantage of staying out of the groove for the longest period of time. When you finally make it to the pit lane you don't have to cross the track either since you're already there.

Pit safely

When pitting get on the pit entry lane well before turn 3. And slow down so you can safely make the turn on the apron. When exiting, of course do so after turn 1. Also, until you're well on speed (shifting to high gear), stay OFF the groove and run as low as you can.

Stay still

When you've crashed on track and other cars are trying to avoid you then stick your foot on the brake. Keep your foot on the brake until everyone has passed and you are sure that there is nobody heading your way as it's a lot harder to avoid a moving chicane than it is a stationary one. Either go to the pits immediately, spectate, or do the above and try to limit the disruption to the race.

Look before you move

When changing lanes, like in a real car, ALWAYS look in the mirror AND BESIDE YOU. You're doing 290+ km/h and centimetres from other cars... 90% of the time you can't see the cars you're racing. Make sure you know where they are before you change your line.

Be nice

Give people room, and be smooth with your actions. At 290+km/h you travel a long way in a second. Cars don't respond to evasive action that well. So be nice to the other drivers. Don't block them if it's not absolutely necessary. They pass you, you'll draft by them the next straight on the track. Being agressive will only take you to the infield care-center.

Controlling the race cars

by Impreza WRX

Are you having difficulty driving your racing cars? Here are many tips to get you in the groove.

Easy on the gas

This may seem obvious, but many people forget it. This is especially important in the Formula XR, and V8. Slicks have a lot of grip, but lose a lot when skidding. If you break traction while accelerating, the cars WILL snap oversteer. While it is good to do a small burnout to preheat the drive wheels for more control, it is not a good thing when you spin wheels too much, don't get the hole-shot, and try to make up by cutting turn one; or worse, spin out at the start line and cause a crash.

Do not lock the wheels when braking

This is obvious, but once again people forget this one. As stated above, slicks lose lots of grip when sliding, and have very thin tread. If you lock the wheels, you will create flat spots. It only takes three laps on a short track to have a blowout from the tread wearing faster on that one spot. Save your self the heartache and learn to smoothly control the brakes.

If your brakes lock, let off the brakes, then put them on again, but with a little less pressure. Known as cadence braking, it is a good skill to learn in real life as well, if your car lacks ABS.

No off road expeditions when racing

Another obvious one, but oftentimes forgotten. Slicks lose a lot of grip when they get dirty. Since the tread is not self cleaning, it takes some time and a couple fast corners at the limit to get the rubber cleaned off. Unless you are avoiding a huge pileup that spans the entire tarmac, don't even clip the grass with two wheels! You will also have a great chance of spinning out or plowing straight into trouble by even clipping the off road on slicks. If you want to cut corners, learn to use the kerbs!

DeadWolfBones adds: If you go off-road get off the gas immediately and don't jerk the wheel

Think of driving off-road as driving on ice (In some cars that is, especially S-S) be gentle on the wheel and throttle to smoothly get yourself off the sand but do be warned your tires will get dirty.

This will help quite a bit in not losing control and you should be able to coast/drive at very low throttle back onto the track.

If you've been off-road take it easier than normal for a few corners

As Impreza mentioned, tires get dirty and it takes a few corners to clean them off. So, to avoid spinning all over again, brake early, drop down an extra gear, and generally take it easy till you're sure the tires are clean. There's a dirt bar in the bottom middle of each tire on the F9 screen to tell you how dirty they are. Don't add insult to injury!

Don't block the much faster car passing you

Most people block the incoming car as a strategy inherited from Gran Turismo, where getting bumped by the AI train gives you a boost to speed. In online (and real life) racing, if a car is coming in hot and you block their path, it's considered rude and dangerous. If they can't slow down enough, they will smash your back and most likely cause an accident or one or both of you will go blasting off like Team Rocket because of lag. When it says Blue Flag check your rear view mirror. If they are very close hold your course, as they will pass you out of the racing line. If they are a good ways behind, leave the racing line so they can shoot by easier. This applies to drivers being lapped and drivers who are considerably slower (about 10 MPH or more) than the incoming car. However, if you and another driver are neck to neck, you do have every right to battle each other (without crashing of course) for lead position.

Smooth, dynamic driving rewards faster lap times

Not too many people realize that racing involves keeping a good rhythm. When accelerating, braking, and turning, the car's weight gets shifted around. Depending on the suspension, it may shift quickly or slowly. If you jerk the car around, like turning left then slamming right, the weight is not loading the correct tires, and they break traction when the weight shifts violently from turning. When you put more weight over a tire, it has greater grip than with less weight. There is a point where the tire is overloaded with weight and will lose traction again. So, when you do the above maneuver, called the "Scandinavian Flick", the weight is initially over the right wheels, and snapping right causes the left wheels to suddenly max out on grip with the little weight over them, causing them to break traction, and as the weight shifts over them, they continue to stay in skid, as the right wheels suddenly lose the weight over them, losing traction and also skidding. This also means that when braking, you should smoothly apply the brake pedal, so the front wheels can load up and provide maximum stopping force, otherwise they lock and you go straight into the unknown! When turning, you should smoothly dial in steering so the outside tires have a chance to load. How fast you turn in, brake, and accelerate depends on the car and the suspension setup. You may be amazed at how fast you can blow through turns by driving smoothly and rhythmically.

Adjust your downforce

Race cars have wings. These wings provide traction at high speeds and keep the car from becoming airborne. The more downforce you put, the more grip the car will have at speed but the lower the top speed and top end acceleration will be due to drag. Therefore, on a high speed course like the oval the downforce should be lower, but on a slower, tight corner course the downforce should be higher, and on the drag strip downforce should be minimal.

Really, though, you need to adjust downforce to suit your driving. Start with one downforce setting, and raise (or lower) the downforce until your lap times are at their lowest on average.

Also, the difference between front and rear downforce will play with your car's handling. If there is a lot of downforce on one end, the other end will actually lose grip at higher speeds. Too much front downforce will cause the car to become nervous and oversteer easily at high speed. Too much rear downforce will cause the car to understeer at speed, and actually lose grip on the turns.

Edit by Keling: Always remember that wings hardly benefit a racer in a very big part of a straight line or at a low-speed corner, they only work at high-speed corners and in braking areas. So it's the corners that mainly defines your wing angle. If you are on a 99999-corners tarmac rally track, you never go fast and downforce adjustment is not a big thing. If you are on a super street speedway, enjoying full throttle for 0.7km and than 45kph into a corner, it's a FAST track where wings can only slow cars down (on the straight lines), time saved by better braking will not make up the time you lose in very long acceleration, and cornering speed can only change a litttttle, so you need low-downforce settings. However, we have another type of FAST track where you go through Gear 4/5/6 corners one after another. In this case, there are so many high-speed corners for your wings to work. It's still a fast track, but middle or even high downforce settings would be better.

Choose your tires wisely

You may have noticed several sets of slicks are available. For long, endurance races, choosing the Hard slicks (R4) will mean more laps before a tire change at the pit stop, but you will not be able to corner as hard. Using soft slicks (R2) means unparalleled traction but frequent pitting. These are useful for short races and hot-lapping.

Sometimes, you can mix tire types to compensate with overheating sets of tires. For example, if you use R2 front and R3 rear on an FZ50 GTR, you can reduce the overheating of the rear tires. However, you will have less grip in the rear, so you need to re-tune the suspension to reduce the oversteer.

/edit by scipy - This is stupid, you need to INCREASE oversteer when driving R2 fronts and R3 rears because once the fronts heat up (color wise) 2-3°C more than the rears they will just understeer to death. Please don't try to help people with wrong advice.

Learn the track

Learn to drive the whole track, not just the fastest line. You never known when you will need to deviate from the ideal line, to pass a slower car, avoid an incident or recover from a driving mistake.

Be careful when downshifting

The GTR cars are very sensitive to inappropriate downshifts - braking hard and not blipping the throttle enough to match the revs will cause the engine braking on the rear wheels and locking them up. This generally leads to the back end stepping out and snap oversteering and ruining your lap (assuming you even catch it in time and don't crash.) Downshifting once too many times will have the same effect.

The first bend

You will not be able to win a race on the first corner, only lose it! So don't try it, many a time I have witnessed drivers shooting down the inside of a full pack, trying to get to the corner first, locking all the wheels and taking out the front half of the pack.

On any track, the first corner is generally better to be taken at slower speeds, ensuring all the cars make it round the corner, accidents may happen, this is racing, but be wary of your surroundings, other cars, and do not try and scream down the inside, braking far to late in the attempt to get that illusive number 1 spot, it will not work!

As I said, you will not win the race on the first bend, only lose it!

Drafting is for straights

Don't draft in turns. It takes away the air on your car, and either makes you spin, or pushes you into the wall. Try to run a bit lower or higher than the car you're following. However at tracks such as Kyoto Ring drafting is a very useful tool. Get behind a car and let it suck you right up to its rear and put on your brakes. Important! do not let off the gas, or you will loose you momentum and fall back. By staying behind another car in a draft you increase both speeds of each car allowing for you both to pass faster cars and hold them off. "The bigger the pack the faster you go"

Don't overheat your tires

Slicks warm up and cool down a lot faster than normal tires. If you drift or drive just beyond the limit, the tires will overheat and lose traction. If the interior temperature goes too high, the tire could blow. The last thing you need is a flat tire in the middle of the sweepers. If the tires are getting too hot, slow down in the turns or use harder tires.

Spin wheels when you exit your pit-stop

Near the completion of a pit-stop; when the refuelling thing comes up, floor the gas pedal, and floor it out of the pits (in GTR cars mainly) to get the tires up to a slight optimum temperature; this will insure you that you wont slip going out of turn 1. If you always wondered why people did that in NASCAR, IRL, and so forth; not only is it to get out of there fast, but mainly to heat up their tires a bit so they don't slide around...

Use tyre pressures wisely

Tyre pressures are important. They can mean the difference between cold tires and blown tires. It can mean shooting through the sweepers or lumbering through with great driftage. It can even mean blasting off the line or getting off the line.

So here's what to do. Start with about 35 P.S.I., and drive around. Are your tires too cold? Are they cooling off too fast? Not enough grip? The insides are too hot? Start lowering the pressure, 2-10 P.S.I. at a time. Are the tires too hot? Is the car wandering too much? Raise the pressure, 1-4 P.S.I. at a time. Once you got it, the tires should not be overheating when you are driving correctly. Also, the car should feel quick through the turns, but not sluggish.

Be fortunate that S2 does not yet simulate tires flexing too much in turns and pulling off the "bead", at least as far as I can tell...

Fast launching the XRR and FXR

You probably do a lot of bogging down at the start with the XR GTR and FXO GTR. However, it is possible to do even a four wheel burnout in the FXO GTR! How? Here's how.

Three seconds before the start, floor the gas. Your rev limiter will protect your engine from damage, but more importantly, you will build up to 20 pounds of boost. With only 10 pounds of boost, you can blast off in the XR GTR. With 12, you can spin four wheels in the FXO GTR. With this ability at your side, you can finally take off as fast (XRR) or even faster (FXR) than the FZ50 GTR! With a well-tuned differential and a well-timed launch, a FXO GTR driver can always get the holeshot.

Here's another trick. Try making the first gear higher (lower top speed). This way, the car can take off with less or no boost, and won't bog down. However, this also means having to shift into second gear sooner. Try both tricks, and use the fastest one for your driving style.

Edit by Keling: If 6 gears is really a must, the first gear will be made low enough for the slowest corner, not fit for launching. Then, try to do clutch-kick (sometimes more than once) to keep the rpm high enough. Your FXR will not launch quickly, but it's still much better than falling to 1200rpm.

Surviving Turn One

by Gunn

Everybody loves a close race, nobody loves being wiped out in the first corner. To win a race you must at least finish the race and all can be lost in the first hot seconds if care is not taken. Let's take a brief look at some important considerations when a race starts and a swarm of cars goes thundering towards turn 1.

  • When the lights go green there is always going to be a mad dash for the first corner, all drivers want to make the best start they can.
  • Rarely will all cars launch from the line evenly, a car in front of you may be slow getting away.
  • Very few (and perhaps none) of the drivers will have a perfect line into the first few corners as all cars jostle for position and get settled.
  • Everybody's tyres are cold, grip levels are low.
  • Most drivers would now have opponents close by them but sitting in their blind spot, requiring a head turn to check their actual positions.
  • The greatest potential for lag in LFS is when a large field of cars is bunched up together.

If there is ever a recipe for a multi-car pile up, Turn One (T1) of almost any race track is the mixing bowl and a bunch of racers hungry for victory are the ingredients. Let's take a look at and discuss ways to avoid T1 pile-ups and increase your chances of finishing the race in one piece so you can enjoy your victory cake.

  • When the lights go green, apply the throttle smoothly (don't stomp) and try to get away cleanly with as little wheelspin as possible.
  • This is a good time to quickly glance left and right to see where your nearest rivals are and see how well they have launched from the start. You now have a better idea of your relative positions and are less likely to end someone's race through a poorly-timed move.
  • It is best not to throw your car into T1 with wild abandon, if someone is beside you entering the turn you should leave them room to corner, you want to avoid car-to-car contact. Better for both of you to corner carefully than to cause a 6 car pile-up.
  • Be prepared to back off or brake, don't rely on luck to get you through. Be aware that other cars are prone to error in these first few turns and get ready to evade an accident ahead.
  • Cars in front may brake heavily, avoid contact. Shunting the current world champion out of the race in the first ten seconds is a rather embarassing way to end your (and his) event or championship. Public races should be treated the same way. It is a common error that we have all made or will make early in our training and, as you will find out, it is the worst way to be taken out of a race. No matter if it's the first or last corner of a race be very, very wary of rear-ending another car.


Obeying Flags

by Gunn

Flags in Live For Speed

While racing you may see warning flags displayed on screen and it is important to know what they mean. The flags in our LFS races are controlled by the software of course, in real life racing people make decisions about if, when, and how flags are to be displayed. The general meanings of these warnings (outlined below) should apply in most cases where you are faced with a flag in LFS racing.

Yellow Flag

When you see the yellow flag displayed on your screen it tells you that a car up ahead has spun or crashed. You should prepare to slow down and avoid becoming a casualty of the incident. Up ahead the car that has spun may be just rejoining the track when you arrive on the scene. It would do nobody any good if you plowed into him because you had disregarded the yellow flag warning.

  • When you see a yellow, get ready for trouble and get ready to back off. You can't win the race if your car has become a burning wreck so it is better to be cautious and survive the day.

Blue Flag

A blue flag tells you that a car behind is in a higher position than you are. The action you will take depends on your situation. Let's examine the two likely situations where a blue flag will appear in Live For Speed.

  • If you are being lapped by a faster car: The car behind you is consistently faster than you and has managed to travel one more lap than you have. He is about to overtake you and the blue flag is displayed to warn you of his presence. In this case you are hindering his progress and must allow him to pass you as soon as it is safe to do so (you can't be expected to yield while negotiating a chicane or high speed corner) Hold your line don't fight the other car, do not make any sudden movements left or right, ease off slightly and let him pass. He is a lap ahead of you and you are not fighting him for position. You must not hold him up.
  • You are not being lapped by a faster car: The car behind you is in a higher position but is not consistently faster than you. Perhaps you had an earlier spin or have just made a pit stop or stopped to serve a penalty and that is why your rival has managed to creep up behind you as if he is about to lap you. As above, if you see a blue flag you must not hinder the progress of the car behind, if you are holding it up you should allow the other car to pass you as soon as possible. If you are not hindering its progress then get on with the job and leave it behind you.

Note: There is some controversy in real racing about exact interpretation of blue flag rules. Generally it is accepted that you hold your line and make no sudden or defensive moves, allowing the faster car to overtake you. You will earn respect from all drivers for acting sensibly and fairly when faced with a blue or yellow flag.

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