Why am I so slow...?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Michael L, Feb 20, 2021.

  1. Michael L

    Michael L Member

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    I play raceroom for a couple of months. I know I'm slow but I practiced on a couple of tracks every day (Portimao and Raceway). Then I tried race online on some non-ranked newbie server. There are several people with the same car that passed me on a straight like I was standing still, when I was already on full throttle. I'm talking about the straight here. How can the same car be so much faster? Also, their lap time was something like 10+ seconds faster than mine.
    I know lap time is skill, but the same car was 10+ seconds. Not sure if practice alone will get me there?
    Thanks.
     
  2. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    Check out leaderboards for your tracks and cars, for example: https://game.raceroom.com/leaderboard/?track=1778&car_class=class-1717

    If you click "Challenge" against anyone's name you'll get into a leaderboard challenge with this driver's ghost (be sure to turn on ghost car and/or race line). See what they are doing, might help you improve too.
     
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  3. benoityip

    benoityip Active Member

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    Leaderboard challenge might not have enough entries. I played competitions. Try to nail it within top 20% of the competitions. Portimao and Raceway are very good technical tracks.
    Also, remember the concept of early throttle and exit of the corner before the long straight, this will buy a lot of time in Portugal hairpins. All of my fast laps are based on this concept.

    Another few tips,
    Get your FOV correct, incorrect FOV will lost few seconds per lap
    Your steering wheel sensitivity must be right.
    If you are using driving line assist, (like me), look at the corner before you turn, don't stare at the driving line.
     
  4. fischhaltefolie

    fischhaltefolie Well-Known Member

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    Did you check your throttle? Are you able to apply it to 100 % ?
    Does your brake pedal need some low deadzone?
     
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  5. Vale

    Vale Well-Known Member

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    What control device and steering lock are you using?
     
  6. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    Well, you don't need many entries, you only need like one, maybe two decent ones. Especially if you're 10 seconds slower.


    Oh, definitely not that much. Setting your FOV closer to a real number can help, but if you lose THAT much it means you have more important issues to work on than FOV.
     
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    Last edited: Feb 20, 2021
  7. J.Simonds

    J.Simonds Member

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    Hi Michael..

    I am also very new to Sim racing. What attracts me to this endeavor is that unlike many past times on a computer that rely on RNG ( random events and consequences decided by the computer, not by you) to decide the outcome, raceroom doesn't use RNG, but forces you to actually be in control of what happens. With a Sim, the goal is to create a realistic experience, not create a game. As such, you get what you get... the game doesn't discriminate (cheats not considered here, but is there such a thing?)... "that said" it will take hundreds of races before you develop the feel and then the skill set.. this is what I anticipate. As others have mentioned, getting a good setup is critical to a good start .. learning wrong will hamper you later when you figure out how to do it better.... so FOV and wheel sets ups matter... then once you actually have a good base to start from, pick the easy cars and easy tracks,, as jumping into the "big boy cars" will likely lead to frustration..... and start slow, in practice races or as others said.. pick a mid-level Leaderboard entry to challenge and learn from how that person drives.

    Do you have real world driving experience, such that you already know how to handle a slide or a car out of control? I grew up in the snow belt and as such has hours of experience sliding around, and it makes a massive difference in my ability to pick up on this sim, but even still... I also have lapped tthree different tracks IRL, so I have that experience to help me, and even then... there is still a huge learning curve from rookie to competent, and then from their to the top of the leaderboard is worse....

    The previous computer program I "played" was world of warships, and it tool thousands of battles to develop the skill set, but the RNG is that game, plus the ruination of the game by the programmers in the hunt for $$$ drove me off after 4.4 years... Raceroom doesn't screw with me like that.. their goal is to make it better, not gimmicky.. and it will likely take me thousands of laps to "git gud", but I am willing to go that route .. again... because I know what I am getting and I know what the goal of each side of this Sim is...

    so...... (did you want the short answer?) You are slow because you are new, inexperienced and likely have a setup that needs adjusting, especially with a 10 second difference... help is out here... go get it and figure out a solution! :D
     
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  8. Michael L

    Michael L Member

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    Thank you all for your inputs and I appreciate it very much. I'm using a Fanatec CSL Elite wheel, a set of ECCI 6000 pedals, with a 49" LG 4k @ 120Hz and with the pov calculator it gave me 0.9x and that's what I set.
    I have been playing Richard Burns Rally for years and only recently that I started with AC and Raceroom.
    - The pedals were calibrated to give 100% when fully depressed
    - The FFB was calibrated following the instruction here with the correct multiplier.
    - The only experience I had was with BMW Experience and Porsche experience on a real track for a few rounds.
    - The steering lock was set by raceroom depending on the cars
     
  9. Vale

    Vale Well-Known Member

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    That all sounds good and if you have not touched any in game control panel settings then it would either come down to your technique or that you are driving a pay to play car with variable engine maps (Group 5, GT3) as if you have it on a engine map 1-4 then you donĀ“t get full power. If you are using a free car like the Silhouettes then full 100% traction control will slow you a little on corner exit.

    You could also try using keyboard or mouse just to test it is not some wheel issue.

    My tip is go to single play leaderboards and do some hot lapping in a silhouette on race room bridge. Follow the racing line of ghost players a bit faster than you and when you equal their times and lines then rinse and repeat with faster players. You can easilly knock a couple of seconds off your times by just following the best line.
     
  10. Audii-Dudii

    Audii-Dudii New Member

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    Most likely, those cars are not intrinsically any faster, but they are being driven better and exiting corners harder, which allows them to then carry that extra speed the whole length of the straight, blowing past you in the process.

    Which is probably not what you want to hear, I know, but is actually a good thing, because in sim racing, talent matters the most and you're not likely to be outspent by your competitors (which is definitely not the case with real-world racing, even at the amateur level, where a large budget can cover for a lot of driver sins / lack of skill to a surprising extent.)

    Assuming you practice intelligently and don't just pound out lap after lap driving the same way you always do, then practice can't fail to help you! Otherwise, how would anyone ever improve their skills doing anything?!

    Personally, I started learning how to drive quickly and race in the real world and did so for many decades before I started sim-racing last year, which meant I had already acquired a lot of (but not all) of the skills necessary to drive quickly and race in the virtual world.

    And the way I did that was to practice, practice, and practice some more, spending a lot of money in the process. Oh, what I would have given to be able to learn the basics of car control, car setup, and racecraft online for literally a very small fraction of the cost!

    Mind you, sim-racing is not the same as the real world racing by any stretch of the imagination. But the concepts are similar and a large percentage of your sim-racing skills will transfer to real-world racing (and in my case, vice-versa!) And what is even better is that many of the skills you need to learn can be learned simply by watching YouTube videos, of which there is an endless number.

    So don't complain about your gear, give up trying to become faster or -- gasp! -- quit altogether; instead, determine which skills are your weakest, then put your head down and figure out how to improve them! :)
     
  11. Michael L

    Michael L Member

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    Thank you all so much for your precious advice and help. I truly appreciate your inputs and your willing to help.
    I followed your advice to challenge different tracks and cars I seem to improve a little. As to my question of why the same car was so much faster on a straight line, thank you Audii, I now understand that must be them exiting the corners and made so much faster speed on the straight than I did that I felt their car was so much faster! At least now I know what I need to improve!

    I bought the Pro Pack so I do have more cars/tracks to practice :)
    I do play with the 'get real' setting and with the default engine map.

    Thank you all again! I have fun while learning and the AI is awesome too. I could only race with them set at 92-93 though :) I'm curious what level of AI do you race with and still win?
    With adaptive AI I had so much fun as it was so real.
     
  12. Alexander1976

    Alexander1976 New Member

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    Please share your Hyundai TCR TCR 2019 SPA track settings.Thanks.Especially interested in the balance of the brakes.And your time to complete this track.
     
  13. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    I set it to something around 105, but it also depends on cars and track. For example, AI tends to be faster than you expect in long fast corners and slower in slow, sharp ones; that makes it easier to beat AI at, say, Red Bull ring than at Spa.
     
  14. Michael L

    Michael L Member

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    I haven't tried Spa yet, if you were talking to me. Sorry.
     
  15. Michael L

    Michael L Member

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    Thanks. 105 is a long way for me to catch up for sure :)
     
  16. consoleandpcgaming

    consoleandpcgaming New Member

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    I found this too and its frustrating, ive played Iracing, ACC and Automobilista 2 and this problem isnt apparent there it seems to be Raceroom only. Cars just fly past you on a straight even in fixed setups, this is really annoying. Its not just corner exit I found as sometimes I'm actually faster on the exit but they still fly past on the straight!
     
  17. Andi Goodwin

    Andi Goodwin Moderator Beta tester

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    Are you running the same engine map , is your corner exit too slow , what car and track combo at what ai strength , if you give an example give your laptimes too

    Andi[/USER]
     
  18. Beastux

    Beastux Well-Known Member

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    A tuned setup can help you to find the last tenths, or maybe a second on some tracks, but you won't find many more. The most important thing is to practice, and practice again, and use the fastest ghosts to learn the lines, braking points... A good thing is to enter the fixed setup hotlap competitions, where you will be able to see the gap with the fast guys using exactly the same car.
     
  19. Vale

    Vale Well-Known Member

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    I agree, 10 laps on fixed setup leaderboards followed by progressing to open setup leaderboards will help you be much faster than hours competing against AI. Of course, if you only race in single player, then you need to see how the AI race to be able to beat them but for pure performance and technique, hotlapping is your friend as the fastest guys are pushing the very limits on grip and track cutting.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 18, 2022
  20. banished

    banished New Member

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    if tey pass yo easily on straights it means 3 things (or more i dont know)
    1. you get out of last turn too wide or too slow, like brake too late before that turn, it can be affected by wrongly set FOV
    2. tey use Push To Pass buttons and you not (if car has PTP)
    3. tey changed final gear ratios to be more for acceleration than top speed (if car has that adjustable)