BMW M3 GT2 at Imola

[Kenadian]

For this race we'll be driving the BMW M3 GT2 Car at Imola.

Since this is a challenge the race time should be 12 noon with all driving assists off except for Clutch.

• Stability Control: Off
• Mechanical Damage: 100%
• Fuel Consumption: 1x
• Tyre Wear: 1x

 

[Kenadian]

So far the best lap time I could put up is a 1:49.992 in one lap.

I've yet to string together 5 laps worth repeating in public :icon_redface:

 

[little P]

Cool, I'll have a go later, I'm sure it's a different beast entirely from the KTM!

 

[Kenadian]

Cool, I'll have a go later, I'm sure it's a different beast entirely from the KTM!

The thing is tail happy that's for sure.

Imola has some weird rubber beyond the rumble strips which cause all kinds of handling issues if you hit them.

Trying to keep up my speed I hit the bl00dy things nearly every time so putting together clean laps is nearly impossible so far.

 

[Kenadian]

I was checking out the Steam Achievements and ran across these two:

1. You were flying over the kerbs out there! Beat 1:43:00 at Imola with BM2 M3 GT2.
2. A man with a german accent on the phone says he has a contract for you. Beat 1:42:00 at Imola with the BM2 M3 GT2.

So basically my 1:50 is something to be ashamed of lol.

 

[little P]

I was checking out the Steam Achievements and ran across these two:

1. You were flying over the kerbs out there! Beat 1:43:00 at Imola with BM2 M3 GT2.
2. A man with a german accent on the phone says he has a contract for you. Beat 1:42:00 at Imola with the BM2 M3 GT2.

So basically my 1:50 is something to be ashamed of lol.

Oh right, ok that gives us a benchmark... I wonder if you can get those achievements with the assists on though, as we are driving with nothing but auto clutch on, which is a different ball game altogether... Well, I've got an hour before I have to go to work so I'm going to sit down and give it a go now... gulp

 

[little P]

Never really driven Imola before in any sim but I'm loving it so far, it's got elements of Monza, Catalunya and Suzuka all rolled in to one... a fun place to push a race car indeed!

Well, so far that's the best I could do, I'll have another crack at it this evening

 

[ElektroVodka]

I wish i could join, i really have no way to set a representative time as i haven't got a single clue as to whatever happened to my wheel and pedals.

I agree with the tailhappy attitude of the bimmer tho, especially when u can't control the amount of throttle with a keyboard, it's either full throttle or non at all.

My time: 1.54.992 (After 10 laps of constantly being above 1.55 up to 1.60)

I'll try how it works with a controller this weekend.

 

[little P]

I wish i could join, i really have no way to set a representative time as i haven't got a single clue as to whatever happened to my wheel and pedals.

I agree with the tailhappy attitude of the bimmer tho, especially when u can't control the amount of throttle with a keyboard, it's either full throttle or non at all.

My time: 1.54.992 (After 10 laps of constantly being above 1.55 up to 1.60)

I'll try how it works with a controller this weekend.

Very impressive with a keyboard Quick!

Here are my settings for a 360 controller if that helps?



I fiddled around with these for a while until I found something that felt right, you may not like them but it's just in case you were wondering what some good settings were

Good luck and good to have another racer posting times

 

[ElektroVodka]

Oh the xbox pad should help!

I'll try to get the wire to connect it to my computer tonight and have a go

Thanks p!

 

[little P]

No problem Quick

Well, this is some improvement, but still some way to go to crack that 1:42 achievement!

[video=youtube_share;R29qGiTuKq8]http://youtu.be/R29qGiTuKq8[/video]

1:47.568

EDIT: 1:47.468...

Banging in 47's for fun now, but where I'll find the extra 5 seconds from I do not know!

 

[Kenadian]

I have to admit that I'm really struggling because I just can't find any grip. The best I can do is low 1:49's and that's a struggle as well. Consistently the best I can manage lap in and lap out is 1:50 so I have no idea where to find an extra 3 seconds never mind 7'ish

I never thought I'd live to see the day but Assetto Corsa has actually made me dread getting behind the wheel of a GT2 Car or actually any Car and going fast with it.

Hopefully these configuration changes to POV and Throttle Sensitivity make a difference.

 

[Kenadian]

Finally managed to get somewhere close to your time little P but it wasn't pretty at all:

[video=youtube;OmFi_ly473U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFi_ly473U[/video]

Best time so far is 1:47:244 and you can plainly see I'm barely in control.

 

[little P]

Nice skin there Duke, where'd you get that from?

Love the lap, balls to the wall there on several occasions I can tell! :lol:

Well, the struggle for grip is what I love about this, in Forza and GT and even some so-called simulations the cars are on rails, it's just not like that when you are on the limit in a fast car (or any car for that matter). I'm not saying you here, but some people who have tried Assetto Corsa round my house have complained "it's too hard" "it's like driving on ice" "this is ****" But the trouble is 99% of people have never taken their car to it's limits of adhesion, certainly not on public roads, it's impossible. The ones that do, either from knuckle-headedness or the running out of talent at a corner (or even straight with enough power) usually end up in a ditch because it takes them by surprise what a car does when you push it to the edge. It's that "at the edge" point of adhesion that I love about this title, because it really does feel how it felt when I used to do it.

I went on to their forums briefly to ask a question about sound and got an answer straight away from one of the developers, that impressed me too. Wouldn't get that from Turn 10/Polyphony.

I think I'm turning into a super-fan :icon_redface:

 

[Wotan]

Wonderful - After 2 hours I managed a measly 1:57. Are there any tutorials out there you could recommend?

 

[Kenadian]

Oh no I understand fully and I feel like a whiny little bitch whenever I speak lol.

I'm just really having a hard time with this game right now because even hitting my marks isn't working out if I'm pushing for time which I have to admit is very frustrating for me. I'm the kind of guy that works hard at getting better in whatever game I play and I'm usually quite successful.

Unfortunately I'm not improving as I'd hoped in Assetto Corsa and I'll admit that it's a bit frustrating at times. That's actually when I post, when I'm frustrated; not good.

It does appear though that little changes make sometimes big differences for example, I had to really play with FOV and Seat Position a lot to get a good balance of immersion and proper view.

I've also learned the hard way to limit heavy braking and full acceleration to when the car is driving in a straight line. You can't have the wheel turned 5 degrees in the game without the rear end stepping out on you which I find a bit tough to get used to.

Most of us have accelerated or decelerated at 100 MPh and I can tell you for certain there is much more grip on the freeway in a road car than there is in Assetto Corsa in this regard.

HOWEVER, this is not as apples to apples as my scenario would suggest as you are not going from near 200 MPH to near 100 MPH and hitting a chicane or tight reverse curve on a Freeway (at least I hope not).

I'd wager this is the hardest thing to get used to for most people and why they'd say the car feels like it's on ice. I've yet to ever see a driving game punish you this much for tiny mistakes and it's very difficult to get accustomed to.

Unlike most, I grew up driving in snow and know how to handle a car when it is on ice. I'm very good at bringing the tail back in line if it steps out in real life but I'm completely useless at it in Assetto Corsa. This probably is a big part of my frustration because I'd literally go to the Mall Parking Lot after a big snow and intentionally get my dads car sideways to see if I could pull it back (he never knew that though lol).

HOWEVER X 2, my experience although extensive in this regard rarely occurred in rear wheel drive as I've primarily driven front wheel drive much of my life. The few rear wheel drive cars I've had were babied in the snow because they were all "sexified" and I didn't want to bring harm to my babies. I know rear wheel drive is inherently loose all the time in anything except some mid and most rear engine vehicles so I drive them a bit differently in both rain and snow.

In essence I feel like I'm learning how to drive all over again :lol:

The other thing that was certainly not helping was Accelerator Sensitivity on my Momo which I've since cranked. That seemed to help me get power to the wheels quicker but what I'm a bit off by is I had to cheat on steering and over-saturate it a bit.

As I get more into the game I'll return my wheel settings back to normal saturation because my drivers hands should match mine and right now they don't on tight turns. Of course this is intentional because unlike other Racing Sims, Assetto Corsa really makes you work the wheel and I just don't have the desk setup to properly allow for the range of motion required.

It's clear I'll have to try another physical setup with my Momo because using this old keyboard pullout isn't getting the job done.

Rest assured though, even if I do piss and moan here about my failures I'm still in this game for the long haul. I've never played a racing sim that gave the sensation of speed and narrow control envelope like this game does.

I also love the fact it's moddable and will likely have a vibrant community built around it.

Lastly, I just want some balls to the wall MP Racing with my mates and I can't think of a better title to do it in.

...

Oh and I provided a link to the skins in the video description: http://www.virtualr.net/assetto-corsa-bmw-m3-gt2-skinpack-released

 

[Kenadian]

Wonderful - After 2 hours I managed a measly 1:57. Are there any tutorials out there you could recommend?

Not that I know of.

The best way to improve is to watch videos and get to know the braking zones, where to downshift, and where to best enter/exit the corner. I've actually learned a bit from watching little P (thanks buds) on where to push and where to let the car drive itself.

...then practice it a lot.

In fact, I'd recommend just turning laps instead of actually trying to go fast. Turn 50 or so laps, get used to the breaking zones and you'll slowly chip away at your speed.

It's probably best to do this in Practice Mode with the "Ideal Racing Lines" turned on so you learn which marks to hit that much sooner.

Also, focus on hitting the rumble strips everytime as they're typically on the racing line and they give you additional grip, assuming of course that your car isn't bouncing over them.

Lastly, don't go full throttle unless you're going in a straight line, you have to feather the throttle a lot more than floor it. The same can be said for breaking, make sure your not even turning slightly or you'll get hit with massive oversteer/understeer which in many cases is unrecoverable at speed.

Lastly, make your first corner entry downshift prior to the corner and do it at the exact time you hit the breaks. In many cases you can actually downshift well into the breaking zones and maintain attitude without losing the rear end although it's tough to get used to.

This one epiphany has allowed me to break later and enter/exit corners cleaner at speed than ever before.

 

[little P]

Not that I know of.

The best way to improve is to watch videos and get to know the braking zones, where to downshift, and where to best enter/exit the corner. I've actually learned a bit from watching little P (thanks buds) on where to push and where to let the car drive itself.

...then practice it a lot.

In fact, I'd recommend just turning laps instead of actually trying to go fast. Turn 50 or so laps, get used to the breaking zones and you'll slowly chip away at your speed.

It's probably best to do this in Practice Mode with the "Ideal Racing Lines" turned on so you learn which marks to hit that much sooner.

Also, focus on hitting the rumble strips everytime as they're typically on the racing line and they give you additional grip, assuming of course that your car isn't bouncing over them.

Lastly, don't go full throttle unless you're going in a straight line, you have to feather the throttle a lot more than floor it. The same can be said for breaking, make sure your not even turning slightly or you'll get hit with massive oversteer/understeer which in many cases is unrecoverable at speed.

Lastly, make your first corner entry downshift prior to the corner and do it at the exact time you hit the breaks. In many cases you can actually downshift well into the breaking zones and maintain attitude without losing the rear end although it's tough to get used to.

This one epiphany has allowed me to break later and enter/exit corners cleaner at speed than ever before.

Good to know you're going to stick with it Duke, it's ultimately very rewarding isn't it, although I agree it is something you need to work on eh. That's what's great for me, too many games these days make it easy for you, I like that this takes some doing to master, much like a real race car would.

And great tips for Wotan too. Only thing I'll add is what Duke said is very true, don't try to go fast straight away, it needs to be built up slowly. This is what practice sessions are for at real race meetings, so brake earlier than you think and go slower than you want to, and slowly build it up corner by corner, and if you go off, remember what you did (or didn't do) at that corner and adjust until you get it mastered. This is the way I go about learning a new track, and of course once you change car it's everything out the window and start again, which is great fun

I personally don't use the lines even on a completely unknown track (like Imola was for me), I prefer to figure it out myself using track landmarks and distance markers, but that is personal preference, I'm approaching each new track and car combo as a race driver would in real life. That's where I get my kicks out of Assetto Corsa. The multiplayer is going to be such a laugh, I can see there being some really close racing ahead, where each corner will be a decision to try and cut a bit out of the car ahead and risk running off or hassling the car in front trying to force a mistake, brilliant.

Really good tips though Duke

 

[Kenadian]

When I first started I was using the Ideal Racing Line in Practice but I don't do that anymore either. I actually found them to be more a hindrance because while there good for mapping out the best trajectory, there not entirely practical once you start adding speed.

That said, they did help me when I first picked up the game because they ease the pressure in some ways. Trying to go fast is difficult enough, trying to do so when you don't understand the track, physics and handling characteristics of each car can be too daunting for most people especially on a new game that you've spent no time in.

Personally I'd recommend everyone new to the game use it just to get some game familiarity built up. Once you have an idea of how Assetto Corsa presents racing it mostly makes the Ideal Racing Line moot.

As little P has already said, Assetto Corsa approaches the Racing Sim a bit different than everyone else, they reward you for consistency and punish you, sometimes severely, for even the tiniest of mistakes.

 

[Kenadian]

Well it's not pretty but I managed to drop a tenth to 1:47:136. I probably should have taken a time penalty in turn 1 but I somehow got away with it.

[video=youtube;Bo4d2uHVuxM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo4d2uHVuxM[/video]

...still trying to break into the 1:46's.