Simulation racing may look like a piece of cake if you know how to drive a car. However, most people fail to realize that these “ racing game” mimics real-world race cars, track conditions, and physics. As a result, their confidence backfires and often leads to crashes, following which they either start again or quit trying.
Therefore, the first thing you need to understand and accept as a beginner is that you’re going to suck at sim racing in the beginning. The only way you’re going to get better is by regular practice to improve your footwork, car weight balance, steering angles, and so on.
Ultimately, practice will become instinct, and you can use these improvements to improve lap times and win races. Many sim racers also use racing simulation to practice real-world driving and apply their new skills in their vehicles (without breaking the traffic rules, of course).
So, if you’re looking to learn how to practice sim racing the right way, keep reading to check out seven highly-effective tips for beginners and intermediate racers.
7 Effective Tips for Practicing Sim Racing
So, without further ado, let’s get right into it:
1. Stick with One Game, One Car, and Track
Depending on your gaming platform, there are several sim racing games you can opt for, such as iRacing, Dirt Rally 2, rFactor 2, F1 2021, and Grand Turismo, to name a few. While it’s not impossible to be good at all of these games, you should start with one game and master it before moving on to the next.
Secondly, if you’re a fan of motorsports or fast cars, in general, it’s easy to get tempted in the beginning and jump straight into a GTE or an F1 car. These cars are incredibly hard to drive, and you’re going to crash in no time. Instead, we recommend opting for less popular or slower cars if you may get started. Next, pick a track, preferably one with plenty of turns and manageable distance.
2. Stick to AI Races
We agree. Playing with AI bots isn’t nearly as fun as playing with real-world opponents and friends. However, you should stick to AI races at different difficulty levels before you sign up for a local tournament or challenge a friend.
Many racers, especially those starting, won’t race regularly unless they’re aiming to go pro. Therefore, they can be a little rusty after taking a couple of days or even weeks off their rigs. Practicing in AI races can help them keep their driving clean and improve their lap times.
However, please don’t get too used to playing with bots, as they can tarnish your overtaking and defending skills. Real opponents bring unpredictability to the table, so you need to ensure you’re ready to react to different moves and styles.
3. Turn Off Assists Gradually
In the beginning, you’d be tempted to keep the brake assists, auto clutch, road lines, and other assist features on. We recommend keeping them on for as long as possible if you’re starting out. These assists will help you understand the real-world dynamics at play and allow you to instinctively act or react similarly without them once you turn them off.
However, instead of getting out of your comfort zone in a single go, take things slow and turn off the assists one at a time, starting with the road line. Once you do that, you’ll realize that racing lines are neither the fastest nor the go-to routes for most pro racers. Next, we recommend turning off the braking zones and finding your optimal distance before applying the brakes.
The last assist we recommend turning off is the auto clutch. Of course, for this, you’ll need a pedal set with a clutch pedal. Once you start shifting manually, you’ll have more control over your engine’s power, torque, fuel usage, and acceleration.
4. Focus On All Three Forms of Feedback in Sim Racing
In simulation racing, you have to practice three types of feedback – vision, hearing and feel – to become more sensitive to your car and road’s conditions. To improve your vision, try to do a few laps solely relying on what you can see. Pay attention to different track aspects, including the road elevation, camber, where curbs begin and end, and even brake marks. Also, notice the little things like grass, mud, and astroturf.
To improve your hearing, invest in a higher-end gaming headset with 3D surround sound. A better gaming headset will help you hear the noise of your engine and tires when racing. Using these noises, you can understand when you’ve oversteered or understeered, or even when you slide on the track. By hearing the sound your engine makes, you can determine the optimal gear shift points. Lastly, improve your feel by paying attention to your steering wheel and its reactions on different surfaces.
5. Watch Replays
Watching replays is something most beginners find boring and usually avoid doing. However, it’s an essential aspect of practice as it helps racers evaluate their performance on the track. By learning what went wrong, you can avoid them next time and improve your lap and finish time. Most sim racing games offer detailed replays with different viewing angles. You can also view what other drivers did differently to finish better than you and apply the same tactic to your game.
6. Learn Different Braking Techniques
As strange as it sounds, the key to faster lap times is braking. Most beginners fail to realize that flooring the throttle on straight roads and braking hard on turns costs them valuable time. Instead, pro racers recommend easing off the throttle before approaching the corners and braking until you pass the apex (trail-braking).
You can also practice other braking techniques, such as threshold braking. This involves slowing down your car at the maximum brakes in the event of a crash on the track or while driving in a stampede around the corners.
7. Make Mistakes
Most people learn by making mistakes, and sim racing lets you make them without limits. The biggest benefit of simulation racing is that whenever you do, you can always start from the beginning without any real-world consequences. So, don’t be afraid to take that one corner faster or slower to see what happens in both cases. Learn how to handle your car when it’s out of control.
All the best racers in the world got to where they are by testing the limits of their cars and trucks. You should be ready to get out of your comfort zone and take risks to do the same.
Conclusion
And there you have – 7 simple yet effective ways to practice sim racing properly. Regardless of your playing level, equipment, gaming platform, or game of choice, the information in this post can help you become a better sim racer. Besides, learning how to practice sim racing the right way can help avoid time wastage and frustration.
So, what are you waiting for? Turn on your rig and take a few laps with what you’ve learned today. If you feel you’re still struggling, perhaps you should consider professional sim racing coaching services like Driver61, Coach Dave Academy, and Virtual Racing School, to name a few.
