Tuning Your Car For the Track - Repost from July 2013

Becoming a good driver is only half the battle. Your ability to recognize, adjust and push a car to its limits depends largely on having a car that can handle the input. If a car is not setup at all, or setup poorly, then even the very best driver will still struggle.

 Being able to setup a car is a very rewarding experience. But in order to do so, you have to know what you want from the car to begin with. Do you want the car to run flat through hard corners? Do you want it to drift the back end out a bit? How much slide is acceptable, or too much? These are the questions you’ll want to figure out before you begin making adjustments to your race car. Let’s look at some of the basic setup changes you can make that will begin to get your car set for racing. Once you play with these settings a bit, you’ll become more adept at making more finely tuned adjustments to fit your driving style.

 Tire Pressures – Often overlooked, tire pressures do affect the cars performance on the track. Generally speaking, the higher the tire pressure, the harder the tire. Less pressure may mean more grip. But it also could wear the tire prematurely in a longer race. After adding upgrades to the car, play with tire pressures first - before making other adjustments. After setting tire pressures and then making adjustments, play with the pressure again to see what fits best.

 Camber – In race settings, typical race camber will be set between -2.00 to -3.00 in the front and anywhere between -0.50 to -1.50 in the rear. This pushes the bottom of the tire out from the car, allowing the tire to plant harder in corners to improve handling.

 Spring Rates – Adjustments to the suspension itself really begin to define how the car performs. Setting spring rates higher allows the car to put more power to the pavement, but too stiff a spring rate can make the car sketchy, prone to spin around corners and the like. Slowing the spring rate too much can cause the car to feel soft and unresponsive. The same is true with Dampening settings. Slowing down how quickly the shocks perform can do much to smooth the car over bumps and apexes. But slow it down too much and the car will wallow around corners inefficiently.

 Sway Bars – Sway bars tie the suspension to the rest of the car. Setting them very stiff can cause the car to stay flat, but may make it prone to sliding out.

 Playing with these 5 settings can do much to improve a car’s performance on the track. Try making adjustments to just one area at a time and see if it makes a difference in track times. The easiest and fastest way to do this is to enter a track via the “Test Drive” section, under the “Upgrades” tab. Once on the track, if something doesn’t feel right you can instantly access the vehicles setup menu and make needed adjustments. Happy tuning!

Stepping Up Your Game - Tips on Becoming a Better Driver

Stepping Up Your Game - Tips on Becoming a Better Driver

This is a repost from July 2013. 

 So, you finally got around the track and posted a fast, clean lap time. Great! Have you ever then gone into the hot laps screen and compared your time only to find that your still seconds slower than your nearest rival? It can be disappointing, but doesn't mean you simply can't be competitive. Sometimes the tiniest adjustment can lead to tenths of a second of improvement, and that could mean all the difference in a race. Here are a few tips on improving your driving style.

1.) Pay attention to the clock - Knowing where you are at is important in order to know where you are going. Try this: pick a favorite track, or perhaps the next track on the FRL schedule, check and see what your fastest lap time is on that track in the Hot Laps section of the game. Knowing where you are on the Friends list is important in knowing how much faster you need to drive. Then, run laps. While doing so, pay attention to your split times. Those are times through particular sections of the track and appear in green (if faster) and red (if slower). Keep tabs on what helped you to go faster through each section (or slower). This will help you set a benchmark for what is helping and what isn't.

2.) Be conscience of your speed - The general mindset in any race game is to go as fast as possible, however possible, regardless of physics. With Forza 4 however, physics does play a key role in how the car gets around a track. If you over-speed into a corner you are penalized with a slower lap time. In a race, it often means getting bumped or passed. Therefore, when practicing laps, pay attention to your car speed into and out of corners. Make note of how fast the car can enter a corner before slipping 'up' the track and onto the grass. Then  make an effort to slow the car down to the correct speed BEFORE entering the corner. Once you learn how to get the car into and out of the corner at proper speed you will notice your lap times will improve. There is an axiom in racing: Sometimes slower is faster.

3.) Choose landmarks - One of the things that will often hurt a drivers ability to adapt and learn a track well is to rely on the in-game driving line. This is a useful tool when first learning a track, but can be a hindrance to developing an advanced racing style. Once familiar with the track, try turning the race line off and look for landmarks alongside the track to use as clues for upcoming turns. Often these are marked with meter (distance to corner) signs. Knowing how quickly your car needs to slow down can help you time your setup for the corner by using these landmarks. This gives you an advantage in a race. Knowing where you are on the track and using landmarks can help you make adjustments to your driving line and can give you an advantage in setting up a pass or extending a lead.

4.) Play with various driving lines - Once you've learned how to recognize and use landmarks on the track, try taking different lines around the corners. Take note of your split times to see if a particular line helps you or hurts your time. This can help you find faster ways around the track. It also benefits you in a race by forcing you to be adaptable in traffic. You may not have the choice line through a curve, knowing how your car will perform outside the preferred line will help you to maintain and perhaps even advance your position in traffic.

5.) Learn to drive a manual transmission - This can be a difficult challenge, particularly for someone new to the game. But the rewards of learning this method are very rewarding. It allows you the flexibility of keeping the car in its power band longer. It also allows you to use the engine to break the car through corners instead of using (and possibly locking) the breaks, which may slow the car too much. The bottom line is that manually running the car through gears will almost always result in faster lap times than an automatic car.

 Practice these tips and you'll be running faster laps in whatever car you are driving. You'll be able to adapt in traffic better, and you'll be moving up the leader board with each track. Our next Helpful Tips article will focus on setting up your car to perform better.

Gentlemen...

 It's almost time to start our engines in Forza Motorsport 6! This game promises to deliver stunning visuals and unprecedented customization of our most favorite cars. Something for all race sim enthusiasts.

 As we get settled into the new game and become familiar with its various features, we'll develop details for FRL Season 4. At the moment, we have an idea of what the series will look like, but we will have to get into the game and look at the mechanics of setup and how the multiplayer features work to see what adjustments need to be made for game reporting and recaps. To that end, we welcome all to join in on Thursday nights starting this week for online multiplayer matches. Depending on group size, we will alternate between league only matches and online lobby play as a group. This will be your opportunity to test your setups and make adjustments in league racing as well as voice your thoughts on any changes or adjustments you would like to see in the FRL.  

 We are excited for the new game and Season 4. We look forward to seeing  as many racers as possible in this next chapter of the FRL.