GRAsim V8 Supercar league

[Kenadian]

I'm not sure if this car allows for it but if it does I'm going to start messing around with throttle shaping.

My loss of control in this car is almost always in the same exact scenario, mid acceleration out of a corner. This means I've already begun a controlled acceleration but lose it shortly thereafter when the rear over rotates suddenly.

I'm going to review my recorded footage but my guess is if I can desensitize the throttle just a bit at the mid point I may be more successful under acceleration.

 

[Daunt]

Not really sure what everyone plans to do for next season, but I've been keeping an eye on the schedule thread for V8. Mainly everyone votes and while not a definitive list, it gives you an idea what most tracks will run next season and such.

That said, it looks extremely disappointing... I have no idea what it is with the V8 crowd but they seem to enjoy running the same 10-11 tracks over and over again...

Well just take a look at the top tracks: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17IIoZouXVb06Yq9qvuOmqWxcGC-uSPTJrSovOiqb-FM/edit#gid=173151931
Make sure you select the standings sheet from the bottom. It is literally, with the exception of two or three tracks, the same crap over again.

 

[Daunt]

OP updated as well with standings info and weather for next week.

 

[Daunt]

Early Zolder Testing: Looks like it will be around 32 gallons (That is probably a higher estimate, as that estimate was based off of starting with 29, which would be too much)

So far seems very fun. Won't be an easy track to pass at in the least. Current PB is 1:30.5xx. OPT is 1:30.1xx.

 

[Daunt]

Anyone run any practice this weekend? My weekend was insanely busy.

 

[Kenadian]

Anyone run any practice this weekend? My weekend was insanely busy.

I did about 25 minutes practice and broke into the high 30's but definitely need more practice around here.

It's going to be a week about throttle control virtually everywhere, even more so than Montreal I'd wager.

After each chicane is a quick uphill/downhill bump (for lack of a better word) that can really throw the rear out of the car. Each bump is on a left hand turn as well meaning that you'll have to drive straight through the corner to stay on throttle or lift slightly as you turn adding gas once the car settles.

It's funny racing these tracks in the V8 because you just never notice how technical the tracks are until you drive the V8.

 

[Daunt]

It's funny racing these tracks in the V8 because you just never notice how technical the tracks are until you drive the V8.

Good point. Really speaks volumes of the car. You don't think about much in the gt3s. But in the V8 you have to consider a lot more. Much more challenging car to drive.

 

[Kenadian]

I forgot to mention, I was fiddling with setups a bit yesterday and unfortunately there is no throttle shaping in the V8 :icon_confused:

I've come to realize there is a drastic change in my car after about 10-15 minutes of racing but I've still yet to determine what this change is?

I look at all my races and this is the point at where things turn inside and out for me. The only unaffected race so far this season is Oran and I think that's because there is only one immediate full throttle zone.

I wonder if this is the point in my stint where the rear wheels start to get greasy and lose grip?

Since it's the only thing I really have control over I may start fiddling around a lot with air pressure settings this week and see where that takes me.

 

[Daunt]

Maybe it's just that you're continuing to use the same throttle application, and not really adjusting to the tires. As in as the race goes on, giving it more and more time to get to full throttle. And that can be where even a tiny error gets compounded. With new tires, mashing the throttle once or twice might upset it but not send you in a spin fully... but near the end of a run, that same action can result in a serious spin.

Do you see your lap times fall off and are you trying to compensate? Or do they drop off and you're trying to keep up with your pace? Because I feel like especially for us beginners, lap times should really start to show drop offs as you go on, as you takes corners slower and throttle out a bit more slowly.

 

[Kenadian]

To be honest with you Kyle I'm really not sure why it's happening and it's the same yet different with McLaren really.

In the McLaren I always lose it under heavy braking and I'm convinced it has to do with quick lifting off throttle. I'm doing a lot of work in this area to try and roll into corners more by getting off throttle a bit sooner and allowing the car to settle.

I first started embracing this technique at Road America in the Z4 and had my cleanest and most controlled lap-time that was nearly 1 full second quicker than all previous attempts.

Under acceleration though I have no idea what the issue is? In the V8 I take corners in one of two ways, either late apex and flat, heavy throttle (mostly) exit or typical slow roll corner entry with emphasis on quick exit.

The second option is the trickiest for me in all cars and where I mostly experience power on oversteer. I've managed to minimize it some by entering the corner utilizing the balancing I alluded to earlier and it works well for me even in the V8.

Having said that, my primarily flat trajectory exit at Montreal is where I put it in the wall and I'm still shocked it happened. The car probably wasn't perfectly balanced but it was pretty settled and I was already well on throttle when the rear spun around on me.

This is what I'm trying to tune out because I'm convinced I can do so.

I don't know if you've ever noticed from my YouTube Videos but I take great strides to duplicate everything lap to lap. Even on a straight the only time I'll move from my line is to draft the car in front of me.

For me to be successful racing is all about consistency so that's always my base of my Practice and it works great much of the time.

Usually I can feel when the car is starting to go and correct for it and carry on my business. I can also feel when the tires are starting to get greasy and I always compensate in my driving. Over the course of a run I'll do all I can to cool the tires off even if it means losing a little time to do so.

The most glaring issue I have with both of these cars is no feeling of slip at this crucial tipping point until it's too late.

It also may have a lot to do with the lack of mobility and sensitivity I have in my right foot because it's more of a club than a foot when it comes to feeling.

 

[Daunt]

The most glaring issue I have with both of these cars is no feeling of slip at this crucial tipping point until it's too late.

I agree with you on just about everything except for this point. Or maybe its that you don't feel it personally, but I think catching on-throttle slip in the V8 is easier than most cars, especially McLaren. The Macca is the worst, hardest to identify slip until it is too late to correct. Problem with the V8 gets to be when you add a lot more turning to the equation. Still though, I think a big key is learning to catch and back off accelerating to keep from making the spin worse.

 

[Kenadian]

I agree with you that it's easy to feel overall but it's this one point in time in the race where I struggle.

That's actually what you quoted but I can understand how it can be misread.

Overall I'm not having issues feeling the car slip, I'm just having an issue at this one time in my race stint where I believe something changes far more drastically than I'm able to notice.

This is why I'll be dropping tire pressure this week to see if I can mitigate it some.

 

[Daunt]

Ah. I see. You are saying that at that certain point of the race, you're not sure where or why, you lose that [love and] feeling.

Honestly I've not even tried to run competitive enough to where I am really trying hard to get on the gas early. My one crash out was due to a lapse in concentration, missing my braking point. I don't have fast lap times, especially in-race, but i'm getting around the track, which is what I'm hoping for.

Hence my absolutely horrible first few laps. Doesn't matter where, but unless they're pretty slow, the car in front of me will outrun me by a few seconds over the course of the first few laps because I'm babying the car that much... probably way too much but its weird that my driving changes that much for the first few laps until I settle into my groove.

 

[Kenadian]

Ah. I see. You are saying that at that certain point of the race, you're not sure where or why, you lose that [love and] feeling.

Honestly I've not even tried to run competitive enough to where I am really trying hard to get on the gas early. My one crash out was due to a lapse in concentration, missing my braking point. I don't have fast lap times, especially in-race, but i'm getting around the track, which is what I'm hoping for.

Hence my absolutely horrible first few laps. Doesn't matter where, but unless they're pretty slow, the car in front of me will outrun me by a few seconds over the course of the first few laps because I'm babying the car that much... probably way too much but its weird that my driving changes that much for the first few laps until I settle into my groove.

This is the smart way to go and I tell myself every single time I'm going to do this.

...and then I don't.

At Mosport and Montreal (just realized Canadian tracks are killing me lol) I was in a fight early on; Podium at Mosport and Top 5 at Montreal.

At Mosport I botched Moss Corner and put it in the grass. I over-accelerated out trying to maintain some momentum on the uphill straight instead shooting across the track into the wall.

At Montreal I came out of T1 in a flat, tight trajectory and already on throttle lost the rear end and put it in the wall.

I wasn't even trying to be competitive at Oran and I got Podium.

Changing my driving style would make sense but then I'd never learn what the issue actually is. I need to find out why I'm having issues and either correct it via setup or make a change at that point in time.

To change now could be compensating for some unknown issue and never learning from my mistakes.

Having said that I will try to ease into throttle a bit more over the short term but I'm talking an ever so slight adjustment to my driving.

 

[Daunt]

Honestly I'm that way in golf. I slice it HARD right a lot, and I've been told to "correct" it by just aiming far left. That is not going to fix the problem, its only going to play into my handicap. So I've tried to correct it, rather than continuously aim left.

Not the case racing though. I'm just going with what works, rather than force myself into different driving styles. I may not be fast, but I think as I get more consistent I'll see drops in time. people on the iracing forums have literally said it takes over 12 months to get above average in the car.

 

[Kenadian]

lol I had the same problem in Golf and a Client at John Deere (who's an avid Golfer) helped me fix it in an afternoon, never been a problem since.

The problem in iRacing is my bl00dy YouTube Videos and Twitch Streams. I watch these videos a lot before publish (YouTube) and a fair amount after (Twitch). I watch them not just to learn about driving but commentary and presentation as well.

I've learned a lot about myself and the Gamer I am in the past 16 months and of all I've learned I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be.

In iRacing I'm constantly reevaluating my effort and trying to find ways to improve while keeping it consistent. Right now I'm only a few steps into a new driving style that is a huge change for me but likely looks no different than how I drove before.

I'm quite literally relearning tracks I already know to accommodate this change but some cars give me more trouble than others.

The Corvette and Cadillac for example have both benefited greatly as has the Z4 and virtually everything else however the McLaren and V8 not so much lol.

This is yet another reason I've been playing with setups because I think I need a different kind of setup than I'm accustomed to.

 

[Slider]

Aaand...first missed week for me. I ran out of drop weeks I think, so I'll be down some points. Waking up stupid early tomorrow, so no racing for me. Good luck!

 

[Daunt]

How did you run out of drop weeks? You've missed one race

 

[Kenadian]

Aaand...first missed week for me. I ran out of drop weeks I think, so I'll be down some points. Waking up stupid early tomorrow, so no racing for me. Good luck!

So no battle of incompetence this week then?

Another tough week in the V8 and none of my setup changes helped me at the 10 lap mark so I guess I'll just have to try and drive more conservative.

I took some bounce out of the front end and tire pressure out of the rear only to introduce a bit of understeer. The tail is happier than ever the first few laps. After that the car seems to settle a bit and is pretty drivable, at least on the short run.

I managed to hit low 29's with it so I know it's quick but how well it holds up on the long run is anyone's guess?

 

[Daunt]

I have had barely any practice. Over the weekend the few laps I did turn I really enjoyed using my Road Atlanta setup. Oddly enough. It helped with the bounces and was pretty easy to maneuver through the tighter turns.

I'll probably go with that, especially since I know it is pretty good in the long run, or was at RA.