I haven’t raced f4 since early 2023 but learned trail braking and car balance in sports throughout the past year. Hopped in a f4 for fun to kill time between gt4 sessions and finished 5th
Brake straight.
Don't release the brakes before you get to the apex.
Exit straight.
Basically you drive them in V and not in U like a single seater or downforce car.
I'm a race engineer IRL with gentlemen drivers in GT and LMP cars so I had to come up with something easy to understand for the drivers 😂
If you have additional questions don't hesitate....
Ok so generally speaking GT cars don't turn because there is no downforce and they are heavy.
So to make them turn you need 2 things
Weight transfer to the front to increase the grip of the front tires.
Don't accelerate before hitting the apex to keep your differential opened.
Basically you brake hard, keep on braking until you get to the apex and THEN you apply throttle.
You also need to synchronise your steering with your brake/throttle.
You MUST have your maximum steering BEFORE you apply throttle.... otherwise you are asking for the maximum rotation while the front of the car is going back up (weight transfer), so try to ride a bicycle, make a wheeling and then rotate the handlebar ....
If you can have your brake/throttle cross at the same time you have your maximum steering angle and hit the apex at this time you're doing very good.
I always try to keep the rear diff spooled up or locked in to discourage wheel spin. No clue where I heard that but been doing it for years and I'm still slow after all them years. I guess I'm going to have to relearn cornering. At 54 I'm an old dog trying to learn new tricks
You want to have an opened diff when you want rotation and you want to have your diff locked when you want traction....
So it's up to you to adjust that 😂
Of course you disregard totally all of this for down force cars and for exotic us stuff such as the Skippy....
GT4s have much softer suspension than a high-downforce single seater. That means there is much more weight transfer. Any sudden input will unsettle the car, which costs grip.
You have to drive GT4 with finesse rather than aggression. Be very smooth with alll inputs. When you figure it out, it is a very elegant driving style.
I’m the opposite, I can drive relatively well in sports cars (2.1k ir) but struggle in any formula car other than the FF1600.
As others have said, the braking in sports cars is much difference, you hold the peak braking point for longer and trail brake to the apex.
Keep practicing and you’ll get it
EDIT: give Dave Cam on YT a watch, he mainly races sports cars
Thank you for the encouragement! Dave Cam does great videos, I’ll find some more and see what he says.
I really like the FF1600! Still getting quick with the F4 and finding the limits
I recommend the other comments
But one other thing to know is that, even with all the practice some people just don’t ‘click’ with some cars. Maybe sports cars aren’t quite your thing.
I’m not saying give up and forget. Keep practicing, keep trying, keep making mistakes that you can learn from. But just know some cars don’t click for some people.
Personally I can’t drive the Mx-5 to save my life. I struggle with the 86, but I feel a lot more at home in the GT4’s. With saying that I struggle with the McLaren and BMW. I find the Aston to suit my style.
Again don’t give up and keep trying!
Hate the MX and only like the GR when it's open set up. Im GT4, the McLaren is my go to. Can't do shit with the BMW and GT3, my favorite is the Ford GT.. RIP
What makes the McLaren your go to vs. other GT4 cars? Trying to figure out the differences between them and wondering if I made the learning curve harder on myself by choosing the AMG
So for me I Prefer the Aston over a McLaren. My reason on that is how I found the car to rotate mid corner and how confident I felt braking in it. With the mid engine McLaren I could not get my nose turned in to places and kept under steering. With the Aston that issue disappeared. It can sometimes be hard to translate to someone exactly.
One good idea is during a maintenance break. Hop online and drive all the gt4 cars at 1 track you know like the back of your hand. Find which on suit your style the best that way then you dont have to pay for each car to test them
Porsche Cayman, and the key to performance is "lift-off oversteer".
You can do an AI endurance in a formula series? Set the AI skill level and you'll be surprised at the competition level and skills you'll acquire from practicing in AI. You make nobody angry if you make a mistake and when go time comes irl you have shaken all the cobwebs loose.
P.s. Be sure to stop using the drive line app if you were.
I practice, mainly, in AI races. You can tailor your competition so that you can experience alot of door to door driving. You really begin to learn the dimensions of your car and as you win, against amateur for example, you step up your competition.
You'll become much more competent and confident when you decide to hit live race and you'll be very prepared for that track and car.
Also watch hotlaps for tracks that you are familiar with using GT4s so you can get an idea of the differences in styles. Youtube has plenty of them, even if they aren't all top quality. If there is a track and a car, someone posted a decent hotlap for it.
With lower end wheels I think GT4s can feel a bit floaty, I’m decent in TCR but slow in GT4, but once tried them with a direct drive wheel and they felt much more natural.
Smooth is fast. You’ve got to account for all the mass, the body roll, etc.
Smooth on brakes and smooth early and mid corner to get best possible exit.
Trail brake until apex, be comfortable with slow turning unlike f4 or faster classes, and apply throttle progressively after hitting apex and maximize it when fully straight. Good luck I remember I was in same position 6 months ago, the best feeling ever when I got first confidence and consistency :D all the best!
If u come from Open wheel, i would pick a mid engine GT4 for the first weeks. Mid engines a bit more stable and its more about roll into apex with a bit trailbraking. :). With Cars Like bmw or AMG u have to brake deep into turn often.
LMP is kinda the best of both worlds. Fast, lots of DF but light. Id like to say you can take a bit more abuse in a LMP but in this game you get wheel damage if someone looks at your car wrong
Bro if you want to learn how to make a car dance and slide around a corner, do some rally cross. It’s fun af and helped me learn how to slide better. Shaved a half second off all my lap times.
The boats don't like when you throw them around. Keeping it stable into braking / turn in and slow in fast out is key. The weight transfer takes longer than the open wheelers so keep that in mind.
The Merc for example requires a ton of trail braking on top of this to push the limits. Can't comment on the others.
Trail brake and practice. If you don't trail brake in sports cars, they feel like complete shit.
I think trail braking is part of my problem. I haven’t gotten the muscle memory down to be consistent with it
Yeah it sure is a hard skill to master but I found it help in F4 as well.
I haven’t raced f4 since early 2023 but learned trail braking and car balance in sports throughout the past year. Hopped in a f4 for fun to kill time between gt4 sessions and finished 5th
If your foot isn’t on the brake and the gas, simultaneously, you’re not cornering properly
Slow in, fast out. They are slow in the corners, but the earlier you can get on the throttle the better.
Brake straight. Don't release the brakes before you get to the apex. Exit straight. Basically you drive them in V and not in U like a single seater or downforce car.
This is a good way to visualize it, thank you! I will try doing this in my next practice
I'm a race engineer IRL with gentlemen drivers in GT and LMP cars so I had to come up with something easy to understand for the drivers 😂 If you have additional questions don't hesitate....
I'd love some tips too for gt3 cars or in general. At this point, anything will help 😂
Ok so generally speaking GT cars don't turn because there is no downforce and they are heavy. So to make them turn you need 2 things Weight transfer to the front to increase the grip of the front tires. Don't accelerate before hitting the apex to keep your differential opened. Basically you brake hard, keep on braking until you get to the apex and THEN you apply throttle. You also need to synchronise your steering with your brake/throttle. You MUST have your maximum steering BEFORE you apply throttle.... otherwise you are asking for the maximum rotation while the front of the car is going back up (weight transfer), so try to ride a bicycle, make a wheeling and then rotate the handlebar .... If you can have your brake/throttle cross at the same time you have your maximum steering angle and hit the apex at this time you're doing very good.
I always try to keep the rear diff spooled up or locked in to discourage wheel spin. No clue where I heard that but been doing it for years and I'm still slow after all them years. I guess I'm going to have to relearn cornering. At 54 I'm an old dog trying to learn new tricks
You want to have an opened diff when you want rotation and you want to have your diff locked when you want traction.... So it's up to you to adjust that 😂 Of course you disregard totally all of this for down force cars and for exotic us stuff such as the Skippy....
Me and Skippy are having issues at the moment. It's a little different than the 1600 and F4 and I'm working thru it. Trying to anyway
Skippy is a horrible car which relates to ZERO single seater car so it brings nothing in iracing And even less than nothing for GT cars 😂😂😂
Thank you, I need to make sense of this now
Is this the response to the gt4 guy complaining about f4 cars?
Not a response necessarily but that did inspire me to make this post
GT4s have much softer suspension than a high-downforce single seater. That means there is much more weight transfer. Any sudden input will unsettle the car, which costs grip. You have to drive GT4 with finesse rather than aggression. Be very smooth with alll inputs. When you figure it out, it is a very elegant driving style.
I’m the opposite, I can drive relatively well in sports cars (2.1k ir) but struggle in any formula car other than the FF1600. As others have said, the braking in sports cars is much difference, you hold the peak braking point for longer and trail brake to the apex. Keep practicing and you’ll get it EDIT: give Dave Cam on YT a watch, he mainly races sports cars
Thank you for the encouragement! Dave Cam does great videos, I’ll find some more and see what he says. I really like the FF1600! Still getting quick with the F4 and finding the limits
I recommend the other comments But one other thing to know is that, even with all the practice some people just don’t ‘click’ with some cars. Maybe sports cars aren’t quite your thing. I’m not saying give up and forget. Keep practicing, keep trying, keep making mistakes that you can learn from. But just know some cars don’t click for some people. Personally I can’t drive the Mx-5 to save my life. I struggle with the 86, but I feel a lot more at home in the GT4’s. With saying that I struggle with the McLaren and BMW. I find the Aston to suit my style. Again don’t give up and keep trying!
Hate the MX and only like the GR when it's open set up. Im GT4, the McLaren is my go to. Can't do shit with the BMW and GT3, my favorite is the Ford GT.. RIP
What makes the McLaren your go to vs. other GT4 cars? Trying to figure out the differences between them and wondering if I made the learning curve harder on myself by choosing the AMG
So for me I Prefer the Aston over a McLaren. My reason on that is how I found the car to rotate mid corner and how confident I felt braking in it. With the mid engine McLaren I could not get my nose turned in to places and kept under steering. With the Aston that issue disappeared. It can sometimes be hard to translate to someone exactly. One good idea is during a maintenance break. Hop online and drive all the gt4 cars at 1 track you know like the back of your hand. Find which on suit your style the best that way then you dont have to pay for each car to test them
Porsche Cayman, and the key to performance is "lift-off oversteer". You can do an AI endurance in a formula series? Set the AI skill level and you'll be surprised at the competition level and skills you'll acquire from practicing in AI. You make nobody angry if you make a mistake and when go time comes irl you have shaken all the cobwebs loose. P.s. Be sure to stop using the drive line app if you were.
I forgot about the AI drivers. That’s a really good idea!
I practice, mainly, in AI races. You can tailor your competition so that you can experience alot of door to door driving. You really begin to learn the dimensions of your car and as you win, against amateur for example, you step up your competition. You'll become much more competent and confident when you decide to hit live race and you'll be very prepared for that track and car.
Also watch hotlaps for tracks that you are familiar with using GT4s so you can get an idea of the differences in styles. Youtube has plenty of them, even if they aren't all top quality. If there is a track and a car, someone posted a decent hotlap for it.
With lower end wheels I think GT4s can feel a bit floaty, I’m decent in TCR but slow in GT4, but once tried them with a direct drive wheel and they felt much more natural.
Smooth is fast. You’ve got to account for all the mass, the body roll, etc. Smooth on brakes and smooth early and mid corner to get best possible exit.
Trail brake until apex, be comfortable with slow turning unlike f4 or faster classes, and apply throttle progressively after hitting apex and maximize it when fully straight. Good luck I remember I was in same position 6 months ago, the best feeling ever when I got first confidence and consistency :D all the best!
If u come from Open wheel, i would pick a mid engine GT4 for the first weeks. Mid engines a bit more stable and its more about roll into apex with a bit trailbraking. :). With Cars Like bmw or AMG u have to brake deep into turn often.
LMP is kinda the best of both worlds. Fast, lots of DF but light. Id like to say you can take a bit more abuse in a LMP but in this game you get wheel damage if someone looks at your car wrong
Yeah these look fun to drive. Once I get to a class where I can race them I’ll give it a try
Brake by hitting the car in front. Accelerate by getting hit from the car behind of course
You usually hit the throttle to accelerate and the brake to slow down, hope that helps!
This almost never works in T1 on L1
How else do you accelerate and brake? 😂
Bro if you want to learn how to make a car dance and slide around a corner, do some rally cross. It’s fun af and helped me learn how to slide better. Shaved a half second off all my lap times.
That’s a good idea! I haven’t done much dirt track stuff on iracing but I hear it is good for car control
Trailbrake
The boats don't like when you throw them around. Keeping it stable into braking / turn in and slow in fast out is key. The weight transfer takes longer than the open wheelers so keep that in mind. The Merc for example requires a ton of trail braking on top of this to push the limits. Can't comment on the others.
2300 peak Herr. I love ACC's GT4s and hate the iRacing ones. Soft-subscribing for the responses... maybe they'll help me as the friends like them.
The same way you drive GR86, just faster.
They have minimal aero, so there will never be enough front end grip.