Sim-Racing tips
Some tips for sim-racing in general but also specific for Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC).
I am not the fasted simdriver or a pro in setup. I just want to guide others true my process :)
I use Assetto Corsa (AC) for the mods and large choice of circuits you can add. The racing against the AI (the game) i don't like that much. There for i use Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC) which has a better AI but doens't alow modding. You can set the level that equals your level for that moment by setting a percentage in game mode > "opponent skill" and "opponent aggressiveness". The online competion server is very good and if you can't join them there are lots of private servers. I do not have experience in iRacing, rFactor or others sims.
For Asseto Corsa (competizione) you can find a lot of information en video's online
McLaren overtake BMW inside the Tarzan-Bocht at Zandvoort. Will he still be outside exiting the corner?
Of course you're looking for information to get faster and a lot of website's say they give the golden tip(s) or you can buy the best setup. Remind all those people are your future opponents. So would you give your opponent all the gold information? No, so keep in mind they keep some secrets. For example you buy a setup were you can make 2.16 laps at Spa but the tire presure is far wrong or the brake pads set at 2 instead of 1. These setups are really good to see in which way you can search or compare them to standard setups and know what some settings will do but don't expect to do the low laps times right away. Note: those youtube fast lap times are made in hotlap mode where the tires are already at temp and get reset every new lap. Most times the tire presure settings are not visible. Important is to do good runs and be consistant.
Hardware You dont need to have the most fency or expensive equipment to have fun but you will lose time if your hardware is not right mounted or unstable. So an office chair with wheels that move every time steer left or right isn't a good base. Make sure your steering wheel is not to far and not to close to prevent wrist and shoulder pain. Same for the trottle and brake. It can take a little time to find a nice position and once you tweak you'll find out your times get faster because the distraction or compensation is gone.
POV and monitor position has become an art too... me getting angry of all information and theoretical .bieb. For me i figured out the right distace when sit in position i will stretch my arm and my pointing finger can touch the sreen
Clutch and shifters To be honest you dont need them. I ordered the clutch pedal but dont needed it. I mounted it in the middle since i found out i was not right positioned with brake in the middle.
Pains... you'll have them when getting started!! The force feedback of steering wheels can be heavy. I use 60%. The brakepaddle can have large springs so you have to brake like an idiot and hurt your leg. My advice is when you feel pains, stop and try next day. It can be frustrating, get tired and make mistakes because of that.
Pick one car If you're not that fast? It's not the car :) Look what car is most used and pick that one, if you like it, stay with it. I think the more you drive one car the more feeling you get with it. For sure it's learningful trying other cars and compare the handling. I choose the McLaren 720, bit i like the Mercedes AMG V8 sound!!
Cockpit view Drone behind camera view is nice getting started but it's not the real deal... Get used to cockpit view straight away!!
Traction Controle and ABS These assists cost laptime. Try them straight away (when you start simracing) as low as driveable for you. Most times i use them both on 2.
Drive along with faster drivers Join an online race and drive along with the fast guys by click their name. You'll learn a lot about the race line, braking point and see the TC/ABS setting used.
Ask There is a chat function (just press enter), try asking some questions, if you are lucky you'll get some tips.
Settings during a lap The profs adjust settings during a lap. For example adjust TC exiting a corner that gives a lot of oversteer (and don't want to lose time grind because you're setting up an overtake the next corner). Adjust it using keybord hotkey's or set the buttons on the steering wheel
Realtime positions Press the hotkey "U" on the keybord to see a realtime position HUI bottom left in the screen. It allows you to see where your opponents are, if they are faster or slower and see if they are a backmarker for example. Passing start/finish you can see their laptimes
It's also good to use when leaving the pit or re-enter the track after a crash to see who is behind and how far.
Look ahead This is something you learn at the trackday and is also the advice in simracing. Look far ahead and look true the corners. Where you are is past, where you go can be adjusted. You'll see adopting this technique makes you faster, earlier on the trottle, use more corner/kerb, etc.
PSI learning Very important in racing and also in sim-racing are tyres and their pressure. Pressure is air temperature dependent so every session need some tweak. IMPORTANT: the pressure you're setting is the cold pressure. After 2 or 3 laps the hot pressure is reached. In ACC the hot pressure should be best arround 27.5. Some circuits, like Zandvoort need different cold setting for left and right and can be a difference like 1 psi (right 25.5 and left 26.5) to reach hot pressure left and right 27.5. I make preset settings for every 5 degrees difference so you can load them fast and not do test runs at the moment a quali or race starts (even not possible). If i dont have a setup i use the quali to see how mutch to adjust. Set all tires to 26.0 cold and do a run of 3 or 4 fast laps. Go back to setup and read last pressure measured. If its 27.2 hot ajust cold with +0,3 psi. Now you know the next run is 27.5 hot. Save this setting and use the airtemp in the filename. You can also read the wear of the tire. It starts at 3.0, if you have a lot of wear (oversteer for example) you will read 2,5 after a session. A nice tip: set the volume of the tires some highter and the enginesound volume some lower, now you can hear the tires make the wairing noise. (Max Verstappen does this, look at his sim-video's)
Low PSI better grip, faster wear. High PSI, less grip, better steering, less wear.
Don't make mistakes If you're not that fast but be able to avoid mistakes it's still possible to have good results. Avoid start or first corner incidents. Hunt the car in front, do a little intimidation for a couple of laps if you're at the same level and can't pass. Big chance they get nervous and make a mistake.
Don't be a carmageddon Oke.. carmageddon was a game in the past where you have to distroy everything on your path. In online races there are carmageddons also :(
- They won't let you true, even when you're faster or they are (going to be) a lap down
- When you're next to them they kick you off.
- When you're finaly overtook them the crash you off
- The only way they (think) are fast is brake superlate
- So they brake late after the start to the first corner en cause a big crash.
- After a crash the come back on track without pay attention to the race line.
- They think you're the trouble and want revange..
- When you make a mistake accidentally they want and make revange
very frustrating and it cost your safety rating even it's not your fault.
Try not being a carmageddon, pay attention to other drivers, let them by if they are a lot faster.
Dont race others in quali sessions, keep distance in front and behind to make a good quali lap.
Blue flags means faster drivers, let them by and get off the racing line (use indicator to show which side you go)
If you're a carmageddon by accident you will be called names in the chat. It's decent to say sorry.
It's more fun to have some race friends and being appreciated
Use Realtime positions by pressing U on the keybord to have goog overview what is going on.
You can get banned in some online servers and lose rating. Low rating means not possible to join in some servers
My setup history I bought a Next Level Racing F-GT Cockpit. During the the "buiding" process i already found out the combination Samsung Curved 49' and the monitor mount was not strong enought . I decided to make a stand alone monitor stand from Maytec aluminium profile. Then i could buy a used Next Level Racing Motion Platform V3 which give movement to the chair. I did not find a way to add this nicely to the F-GT seat because of the extra hight and i found out the seat wasn't that good to sit on because it has no sides to lean on. Long story short i made a complete cockpit from maytec alumnium which is very strong and compact. I angled the chair (Next Level Racing ERS1) a little to the back and lowered it a much as possible since the motion platform add some hight. Wheel and paddle's are from Moza. The building proces itself was already fun. The hardware was really easy to instal and works right away starting AC / ACC for the first time.
The Motion Platform V3 is a really nice suprise. In racing the say "race with your bud" and that's what the motion platform simulates. For example you can feel the car's oversteer and you can react very quick to it. At he beginning it was setup way to strong, the shifting was causing big hits in the back. Luckaly it is adjustable in the software. A crash can be very anoying because the chair moves a lot but thats an other reason not to crash :)
If you're located in the Netherlands and look for a good shop to buy your hardware, try SimRacingStore.nl of Hammedey. Good service, advice and a really nice guy.
