A skippy thread

waters10 · 30 March 12, 18:20

As this is a popular car, I think it'd be good to have a dedicated thread about it, so we could exchange some setup info, get together for some practice sessions or races, post race reports, etc.

I got promoted to D this week, bought the skippy that day along with 7 tracks. I'm just learning car control for now. But honestly, I didn't find the car that hard. I read a lot about how the skippy is evil and all. I guess it's all about expectations. I was expecting something closer to the SRF, which is much much harder to control imo. That being said, car is not a walk in the park for sure.

I've been solo practicing on Laguna Seca so far. Got my PB yesterday, after messing with the skippy setup guide at 1:40.3xx. Then I realized on ispeed lap analyzer that my throtle wasn't hitting 100%!! Stupid standard fanatec pdeals. I could've been a bit faster. Ordered a CSR elite pedals after that! Anyway, I was using 19PSI on all tires, +5 SPO and 2 ARB, 56 brake bias. I didn't do a ton of testing, but this felt better to me than the baseline setup. What kind of setup are you guys running??

I'm not planning to race this week due to not enough car control just yet, so I might shift my attention to Suzuka for next week. If you have a setup for that track, let me know.

And if anyone want to get together for a practice session, let me know. I play after 9:30pm Eastern, mostly during the week.

nachtwache · 30 March 12, 18:26

I just posted in the "iR Lounge Thread", i'm in the same situation. Went quickly through to class D and bought the Skippy today - also testing at Laguna Seca. My PB is around yours, at 1:40,5 with an optimal of 1:39,3. Just did not manage to do all Sectors clean in one lap.

Do you also have this extreme lift off oversteer? I'm not very sure about what to do, played around with tyre pressures and rear ARB, but it seems nothing helps to reduce it. Also little gas while braking to stabilize does not really help.

I may try your setup now.

waters10 · 30 March 12, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

I just posted in the "iR Lounge Thread", i'm in the same situation. Went quickly through to class D and bought the Skippy today - also testing at Laguna Seca. My PB is around yours, at 1:40,5 with an optimal of 1:39,3. Just did not manage to do all Sectors clean in one lap.

Do you also have this extreme lift off oversteer? I'm not very sure about what to do, played around with tyre pressures and rear ARB, but it seems nothing helps to reduce it. Also little gas while braking to stabilize does not really help.

I may try your setup now.

Yeah, longer tracks have that problem. It's hard to get everything good for that one lap! My optimals are 1:39.6, if I'm not mistaken.

I get some lift off oversteer, but I wouldn't call extreme. Again, compared to the SRF, it's not as bad! Did you read the tuning guide on the iracing forums? There's a detailed and a quick guide. They're very good! But I tried to follow that to reduce oversteer and I minimized it, but it's still there to some extent. For example, Rainey curve (downhill left hander after corkscrew) shows that. If you let of gas there, you will spin! You really have to use the gas to point the car to the apex in that turn.

For now, I'm using auto clutch, auto blip. And even though I left foot brake, I'm not using gas while braking. My brain just refuses to learn that skill ...

nachtwache · 30 March 12, 19:13

I'm doing nearly the same as you, Auto-Clutch and -blip as i have only two pedals at my DFGT (for now, saving money atm for some G25/27 pedals with leo bodnar adapter or if i feel nice with iR for the upcoming time, i'll eventually buy some Fanatec CSP's) and i'm left-foot-braking. Why not if you only have two pedals...

I just did a quick test with your setup and lowered my PB to 1:40,02 and the optimal Lap to 1:39,1 - so it seems to work fine!

Did two Spectator sessions earlier this day and watched a guy doing low 1:37's in quali. Was impressive to see these lap times, but he was drifting nearly all apex'es. This normally seems to be unlogical as you would normally lose speed while drifting, but it seems to be the fastest way around the track... But hey, it's all about finding out how to do the fastest lap in a game, this is the same in all sims - no matter if it's realistic or not.

EDIT: i think i'll watch some races as spectator now in order to see what the "normal" guys do as average lap times, i think it will be enough to do around 1.40 if it's constantly. At least in the lower splits. But that may be just what i hope to be true...

EDIT2: seems to be a "you get better the more you are practicing" thing, just dropped my PB to 1.39.7 with optimal of 1.38.8 - so i'll spend the next days to do laps like this constantly, should be enough for a first race without quali from lower end of grid - there are always enough guys who spin out...

waters10 · 30 March 12, 20:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

I'm doing nearly the same as you, Auto-Clutch and -blip as i have only two pedals at my DFGT (for now, saving money atm for some G25/27 pedals with leo bodnar adapter or if i feel nice with iR for the upcoming time, i'll eventually buy some Fanatec CSP's) and i'm left-foot-braking. Why not if you only have two pedals...

I just did a quick test with your setup and lowered my PB to 1:40,02 and the optimal Lap to 1:39,1 - so it seems to work fine!

Did two Spectator sessions earlier this day and watched a guy doing low 1:37's in quali. Was impressive to see these lap times, but he was drifting nearly all apex'es. This normally seems to be unlogical as you would normally lose speed while drifting, but it seems to be the fastest way around the track... But hey, it's all about finding out how to do the fastest lap in a game, this is the same in all sims - no matter if it's realistic or not.

EDIT: i think i'll watch some races as spectator now in order to see what the "normal" guys do as average lap times, i think it will be enough to do around 1.40 if it's constantly. At least in the lower splits. But that may be just what i hope to be true...

Cool that you were able to lower your PB! I need a lot more practice to get into 39s. There's a youtube video of a 1:36.5 from Christian Aranha. Pretty impressive. But instead of looking into WR type of videos, I prefer to get ispeed and compare my laps to laps that are about 1sec faster than mine, per this guide. Then you can start making some small improvements, instead of getting into too advanced techniques that you're not ready for yet.

As far as race pace, I think 41 and 40 is more than enough for the lower split. My problem is turning those lap times consistently and safely. I'm not quite there yet.

nachtwache · 30 March 12, 20:29

Yeah just look i edited my previous post, dropped my PB once more. Practice, practice, practice...
Like i said, in the lower splits it should be enough to do average laps around 1.40 - there are always enough guys that spin and mess up the car, so you can always gain a good finish position even if you are not the absolute fastest guy.
That was always the case in my MX-5 races, i've mostly been half a second slower than the top drivers but was constant and often achieved a podium place, and all done nearly without incidents. So patience pays off alot more than trying to go over your limit and mess up your race.

Feel free to PM me your driver name in iR, i'll add you to my friends list.

waters10 · 30 March 12, 20:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

Yeah just look i edited my previous post, dropped my PB once more. Practice, practice, practice...
Like i said, in the lower splits it should be enough to do average laps around 1.40 - there are always enough guys that spin and mess up the car, so you can always gain a good finish position even if you are not the absolute fastest guy.
That was always the case in my MX-5 races, i've mostly been half a second slower than the top drivers but was constant and often achieved a podium place, and all done nearly without incidents. So patience pays off alot more than trying to go over your limit and mess up your race.

Feel free to PM me your driver name in iR, i'll add you to my friends list.

Cool. I have my name in the sticky "what's your name in iracing" thread.

nachtwache · 30 March 12, 20:51

I'll add you. Just dropped to 1.39.4 - your setup seems to work very fine. It's just about learning how to drive the car.

jgf · 30 March 12, 20:59

I thought this was about peanut butter....

nachtwache · 30 March 12, 23:43

lol, my first thought was "skippy?" "the cangaroo?"

OT: waters, your setup is fine - i wouldn't change anything... had a couple of beers now while testing and just did 1.38.7 as fastest and can do high 1.39's average. Not bad for the first day with a completely new car and track, now some more days practice and i'll be good to go.

Or maybe it was just the beer that made me go fast? I don't know?

waters10 · 31 March 12, 14:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

lol, my first thought was "skippy?" "the cangaroo?"

OT: waters, your setup is fine - i wouldn't change anything... had a couple of beers now while testing and just did 1.38.7 as fastest and can do high 1.39's average. Not bad for the first day with a completely new car and track, now some more days practice and i'll be good to go.

Or maybe it was just the beer that made me go fast? I don't know?

Nice! You're clearly faster than me! I don't see me going to 38s anytime soon. Maybe weeks later ...

Any experienced skippy driver wants to share skippy stuff with these skippy noobs?

Scalage · 31 March 12, 15:43

Well, I'm not a skippy master but what I've found is that you can use lift off oversteer to your advantage. If you understeer in a corner (a thing I do a lot, one of my weaknesses) just get off the throttle a little to get it in balance. It's a good thing these things are a little nervous to drive because it teaches you to be smooth.
For myself, I'm currently C with an SR of 3.41 with enough experience to go to B even though I've only been an iRacing member since last week. My name in iRacing is Marco Hooghuis (also my real name) if you wish to connect.

nachtwache · 31 March 12, 18:11

My problem was the Rainey Curve on Laguna Seca where i had spins too often. I've watched some tutorial videos and tested some more, now i drive a slightly different line and can avoid that without loss of time.

But i will stop practicing at Laguna Seca for the moment to concentrate on Suzuka GP because it's the next track in the schedule starting on tuesday.

Edit: forgot something - i was reading the Skippy Tuning Guide (from the member forums) once again and the recommended initial settings i found are +2 SPO and 5 ARB - just the inverted values of the ones from your first post, maybe a typo from you? I'll test that tomorrow, today i'm on a friends birthday.

waters10 · 31 March 12, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scalage

Well, I'm not a skippy master but what I've found is that you can use lift off oversteer to your advantage. If you understeer in a corner (a thing I do a lot, one of my weaknesses) just get off the throttle a little to get it in balance. It's a good thing these things are a little nervous to drive because it teaches you to be smooth.
For myself, I'm currently C with an SR of 3.41 with enough experience to go to B even though I've only been an iRacing member since last week. My name in iRacing is Marco Hooghuis (also my real name) if you wish to connect.

Yeah. Lifting off to get the car to rotate and back to gas to stop the rotation is very useful. You just need to get used to how much to lift and when to go put some gas back. I'm still learning that and I still spin once in a while because I let the car rotate too far and can't recover.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

My problem was the Rainey Curve on Laguna Seca where i had spins too often. I've watched some tutorial videos and tested some more, now i drive a slightly different line and can avoid that without loss of time.

But i will stop practicing at Laguna Seca for the moment to concentrate on Suzuka GP because it's the next track in the schedule starting on tuesday.

Edit: forgot something - i was reading the Skippy Tuning Guide (from the member forums) once again and the recommended initial settings i found are +2 SPO and 5 ARB - just the inverted values of the ones from your first post, maybe a typo from you? I'll test that tomorrow, today i'm on a friends birthday.

Rainey Curve was one of the biggest challenge to me as well. I can get it right most of the time, but I'm sure I can improve. I'll be starting Suzuka as well.

Yeah, +2 SPO and +5 ARB is what's suggested there. But I found +5 SPO better to me. ARB honestly I didn't feel much difference, I lowered it to 2 to try to reduce some oversteer, but I didn't notice much difference and left at that. If you experiment, let me know what you find out.

darock · 31 March 12, 19:38

Advice about advice.

Some advice you find was written when a car was an earlier version than the version today. iRacing has a history of changing cars significantly with the other things they do, like release an entirely new tire model.

Funny thing is that sometimes releases don't make sense. Middle of last year, the Tour Mod changed and there was supposed to have been no changes to it in that build.

So when you find advice that conflicts with what you know or have recently read, don't be too surprised.

darock · 31 March 12, 19:43

Also, a number of the D and C cars have very limited garage menus. The Skippy is one of the worst. Changing tire pressures to actually hurt traction is done by some to deal with handling issues noone in their right mind would treat with pressure. When you only have a couple-three things you can adjust, you work with what you got.

waters10 · 31 March 12, 22:34

Yeah, I realized the big differences between seasons. It's easy to see that when you compare youtube videos and you see the same car/track combo and you see different braking points for example.

The setup guide in the iracing forums is updated to this season. I was surprised to see 20psi being suggested there. I saw youtube videos with 17.5psi, but that was for other seasons. Then I saw Christian Aranha's 1:36.5x on youtube, and he's using 19psi, so that's the reason I'm using in my setup.

Let's see if Suzuka requires a different setup. It seems very different to Laguna, with a lot of high speed corners.

darock · 1 April 12, 00:20

The guys I know who could almost be considered as Skippy pros say they developed just one setup to begin with. Apparently it's better to get a handle on the car first. I tried that and it was going good until the car changed with the NTM and then the NNTM.

Their advice was to work out the setup then run it at all the tracks. After a season working with that somewhat stable basis, you've got a better feel of everything and will be better able to adjust for the few unique things some tracks have.

I'll testify whole heartedly that as long as I kept screwing around with the setup early on, I was constantly battling the car. When I stopped trying to figure out how to make it better and just drove it, I think the third track in on that plan and it started clicking.

I really think what worked in that plan was that it'll take at least a couple of tracks to start getting the feel of the power off oversteer and the power on understeer and how to use them. Constant fiddling wiped the learning to that point off the board.

nachtwache · 1 April 12, 07:26

The values i've posted are from the "Skippy Tuning Guide 2012 Season 1" from february this year, so they are not outdated.

In the end there's no "magical setup", it always has to fit your own driving style and you have to find out what works best for you.

steve 81 · 1 April 12, 07:29

Adjusting tyre pressure is certainly a valid technique. You have an over steering car and you have exhausted all other setup avenues trying to get more grip for the rear tyres then your only option is to actually remove grip from the front end for the sake of balance. Whether or not it's a real life technique is moot because this isn't real life, it's iRacing

nachtwache · 1 April 12, 12:40

You're right, it's only up to find out how to drive fast in this particular piece of software... Like in all sims.

@ waters: i was watching the top split race at Laguna Seca earlier this day, with an alien doing his 1:37s in front but P2 to P4 did average laps of 1:40-1.41, and the drivers on P5-9 had 1:41-1:43.

(btw: the winner of split#2 did 1:41.7 average)

So, if you can do 1:40 laps average, it's more than enough for the beginning - that seems to be good for a mid-field position in top splits or maybe top 5 or 3 in lower splits. All you have to do is not to spin and do a good average pace.

I've started testing on Suzuka (with the recommended settings of the tuning guide, +2SPO/5ARB/20PSi/58%BB) and was able to do a personal best of 2:27.1 with optimal lap of 2:26.2 - and that just after two hours of testing.
The optimal lap will be enough to reach the top25 lap times.

(didn't test it on Laguna Seca yet)

It can't be a big mistake to give it a go, and to only do some minor changes later to find your best balance.

Edit: tested same setup on Laguna Seca - works fine, i could set some new sector bests, not much but a slight improvement - all in all it's nicely driveable for me

darock · 1 April 12, 15:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve 81

Adjusting tyre pressure is certainly a valid technique. You have an over steering car and you have exhausted all other setup avenues trying to get more grip for the rear tyres then your only option is to actually remove grip from the front end for the sake of balance. Whether or not it's a real life technique is moot because this isn't real life, it's iRacing

Especially when you can't adjust camber, toe, sway bar, spring rates, shocks etc.

Of course, the Skippy isn't your car, it's Skip Barbers, but all those things are adjustable by Skip's people, just as the tire pressure is. However, iRacing has decided that you can tune your school car but only a couple of things, which is a bit strange. And they choose one of which being the last thing Skip is going to allow students to mess with, and probably the last thing anyone in their right mind would choose to adjust first thing.

You nailed it. It isn't real life nor a simulation of what goes on in SB classes, but it's what iRacing chose to let you do. That doesn't make tire pressure something anyone would choose as the only way to adjust if given a limited list.

It really appears that iRacing just flipped a coin.

Yeah, it is what it is, but that doesn't make it the most sensible thing for iRacing's members to learn in 2nd grade. Seems they would have provided the same list of things for the skippy as they provide for the Late Model and SK modified. Unless they figure road racers aren't as capable of setup tuning as oval racers.

There is a significant difference what is being taught there. They seem to think something is different one side to the other.

waters10 · 1 April 12, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

You're right, it's only up to find out how to drive fast in this particular piece of software... Like in all sims.

@ waters: i was watching the top split race at Laguna Seca earlier this day, with an alien doing his 1:37s in front but P2 to P4 did average laps of 1:40-1.41, and the drivers on P5-9 had 1:41-1:43.

(btw: the winner of split#2 did 1:41.7 average)

So, if you can do 1:40 laps average, it's more than enough for the beginning - that seems to be good for a mid-field position in top splits or maybe top 5 or 3 in lower splits. All you have to do is not to spin and do a good average pace.

I've started testing on Suzuka (with the recommended settings of the tuning guide, +2SPO/5ARB/20PSi/58%BB) and was able to do a personal best of 2:27.1 with optimal lap of 2:26.2 - and that just after two hours of testing.
The optimal lap will be enough to reach the top25 lap times.

(didn't test it on Laguna Seca yet)

It can't be a big mistake to give it a go, and to only do some minor changes later to find your best balance.

Edit: tested same setup on Laguna Seca - works fine, i could set some new sector bests, not much but a slight improvement - all in all it's nicely driveable for me

I think I'm sticking to one setup for now. It's more about getting used to the car in general than the setup. Like darock said, it's probably better to get used to it in all tracks. And clearly you're much faster than me! So it might be slight different for you.

My main problem is consistency and get closer to my limit without spinning. After 2h of Suzuka, I was able to get 2:31.0 with optimals of 1:29.1 ... Quite a difference between optimal and PB.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to at least have a race next week. But I won't do it if I think I'm not able to avoid ruining other people's race. I took close to 2 weeks to feel ready to race the mx5. And that was rookie series, where people expect more incidents.

darock · 1 April 12, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by waters10

I'm hoping that I'll be able to at least have a race next week. But I won't do it if I think I'm not able to avoid ruining other people's race.

Don't know if you've tried Spectating or not. It's an excellent way to get a feel for the car on the track in a race. Just spectate a race and run as if you had entered. You don't cause any problems or even participate in the ones the entrants have.

It's a really useful tool.

Scalage · 1 April 12, 18:51

What darock said about getting used to the car first goes for all forms of racing IMO. Even if you know what you're doing, if you don't know the car you can't possibly decide what to change to make it faster (apart from some obvious things like gearing). Once you started to fiddle with a car you don't know you may as well be going the wrong way. I know what I'm talking about, because I made the same mistake in the past

AllanGP · 1 April 12, 20:01

The Tuning guide base set is pretty good for all the tracks I have tried this Season. Laguna being a rare exception where a little less BB 56% and SPO +1 has helped me.

Keep a good eye on Steve81's posts, he's a proper Alien (friendly one!) in this car.

Glad to see lot's of newcomers in this car as I've said lot's of times elsewhere, learn to go quick (say for definition purposes 1 sec off the best times) in this car and you will learn lessons for life in Sim racing. Keeping momentum being a key one by braking less, carrying more speed and getting back on the throttle earlier than you think. Part of braking less it breaking earlier too!

waters10 · 1 April 12, 20:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by darock

Don't know if you've tried Spectating or not. It's an excellent way to get a feel for the car on the track in a race. Just spectate a race and run as if you had entered. You don't cause any problems or even participate in the ones the entrants have.

It's a really useful tool.

I've done that a lot, just not with this car yet. I prefer to solo test or practice session until I feel more comfortable. I just spectated a lower split race and there were a lot of people spinning ... I didn't test drive though. I was spectating on my tablet with the kids around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scalage

What darock said about getting used to the car first goes for all forms of racing IMO. Even if you know what you're doing, if you don't know the car you can't possibly decide what to change to make it faster (apart from some obvious things like gearing). Once you started to fiddle with a car you don't know you may as well be going the wrong way. I know what I'm talking about, because I made the same mistake in the past

You're right. The thing is, I'm not playing with the setup to go faster. I'm just playing with setup to get the car to handle more to my liking/style. I think now that I got somewhat there, I'll just keep practicing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllanGP

The Tuning guide base set is pretty good for all the tracks I have tried this Season. Laguna being a rare exception where a little less BB 56% and SPO +1 has helped me.

Keep a good eye on Steve81's posts, he's a proper Alien (friendly one!) in this car.

Glad to see lot's of newcomers in this car as I've said lot's of times elsewhere, learn to go quick (say for definition purposes 1 sec off the best times) in this car and you will learn lessons for life in Sim racing. Keeping momentum being a key one by braking less, carrying more speed and getting back on the throttle earlier than you think. Part of braking less it breaking earlier too!

I can't wait for my csr elite pedals, so I can try to have more control and consistency under braking. The fanatec standard pedals truly suck ... Not an excuse though. I know the pedals won't make me super fast, I'm looking for more consistency.

waters10 · 1 April 12, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by waters10

My main problem is consistency and get closer to my limit without spinning. After 2h of Suzuka, I was able to get 2:31.0 with optimals of 1:29.1 ... Quite a difference between optimal and PB.

I was able to lower my PB to 2:29.4x with optimals of 2:28.0x. It's incredible how much better I was than yesterday night. I was lowering my best splits one after another in the first 15 minutes. But couldn't get a whole lap together. Finally got it right at the end of this 1h session. Should be able to get to 2:28 and hopefully join a few races next week.

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 08:29

Well done! One thing i noticed is what Allan wrote, don't try to brake as late and hard as possible, in most cases you're faster with braking little more gentle, carry more apex speed and to be on the throttle as early as possible.

It's the same for me, mostly i do my best laps in the first 30 minutes when testing - after that i lose a little concentration, start to cramp and have the tendency to overdrive the car, what results in slower lap times.

Don't push too hard, often i do really good laps although i think i wasn't really quick.

Kalifen · 2 April 12, 08:37

Nice to see a Skippy thread

Many good advice here already. Not much I can add at the moment, it seems, but I'd like to mention braking earlier and braking less again. In a race at Laguna Seca I lost a position due to pushing too much and braking too hard for a corner. I initiated braking at my normal brake point, but pushed the pedal just a bit too hard and locked the tires. Tried to unlock, of course, but ended up going very deep into the corner and slightly out of balance. If I had just followed advice and braked a tad earlier and a tad less, I would not have locked up, and even if I had locked up, I would have had more time to unlock and still manage to brake for the corner.

Also I wanted to mention that while the quickest route to nirvana in this car is left foot braking, it is also possible to reach quite far with right foot braking. You may need to learn to do small steering corrections while braking, and you need to be quick between brake and gas (often just 10-20-30% instead of jumping on it). The advantage is that it gives you a better chance to learn the coast behaviour, and how to sometimes use that for quicker turning. Also, an advantage of learning RFB well, is that you get better fuel mileage - it has happened that that is the difference between pitting and not pitting in some series, while pushing equally hard.

In other news, I was hoping to finally have a go at the premier series at Infineon on Wednesday, and got up to pace practicing yesterday. Turns out I probably won't have the chance this week either

Probably should have spent the time practicing Suzuka instead...

AllanGP · 2 April 12, 12:17

Good discussion on throttle use here;

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/po...t/1866594.page

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 14:37

Yes Allan, it works for me, i use slight throttle braking to stabilize the car and in corners it also helps carrying the speed (and avoid lift off oversteer).

@ waters: if you want i can send you a replay file (~4MB) from me doing 2.26.9 on Suzuka while not using the advanced "sideways" technique - i concentrated on being gentle with brakes and throttle and do a smooth racing line (the "Jenson-Button-style", if you want to call it like that), all done with the lowest possible tyre squeal.

Now starting to drive without any clutch aids (skippy has a sequential gearbox, i didn't know that until i've read it yesterday) using a combination of upshift preloading (holding the shift paddle until hitting the rev limiter) and throttle lift shifting, depending on the situation. It's all in all a littler smoother, the car isn't shaking so much whilst the upshifts in corners. Needs some practice, sometimes i miss a gear but i have the feeling it's faster because there's no more time penalty for the auto-clutch.

AllanGP · 2 April 12, 14:42

Yes, I run the Skippy with no clutch, except starts. I use the rev limiter on upshifts and a little lift on downshifts, it works quite well.

The only issue is upshifts would ideally not be on the limit for some gears, see link to article;

http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/...s/second-shift

By the way we used to always have Skippy season threads when I was driving it as my main car;

http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=189720

!!

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 15:07

Okay, i'll keep that in mind, thanks.
First test ran very well, was good for 2.26.5 with race fuel.

Approaching the second off the practice WR.

I think i slowly understand how to drive that little thing.

Kalifen · 2 April 12, 15:13

Sounds like awesome progress in such short time!

I have managed a 2:25.4 (forgot to save replay, doh!), but when I go for those times, I risk losing it in T1, Degner 1, spoon curve, 130R and possibly getting a 1x or black flag in last sector

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 16:08

Yes i usually learn fast, and it's not my first sim - i started when rfactor 1 and GTR2 were released.
My optimal lap is at 2:25.4 now, i just have to practice more and get all sectors together. But i think it's just a matter of time.

Oh what would be possible if i had better pedals, i'm sure i lose time on the brakes.

waters10 · 2 April 12, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllanGP

Good discussion on throttle use here;

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/po...t/1866594.page

Can't read iracing forums from work. I'll check it tonight.

The thing with braking early is that it's hard to know what early means. I checked ispeed and some of the 28.0 laps I've seen were braking later than I was. Specially on T1. So yeah, posting some replays here would be awesome for me to get a good feel for that. I'd really like this thread to be helpful for skippy noobs!

nachtwache, are you using auto blip/auto clutch? I'm thinking about turning off the assists and going clutchless like Allan. I read the guide and it seems a bit complicated to learn a new car/track and a new technique at the same time. But I think I'll try that jump soon.

Quote:

I think i slowly understand how to drive that little thing.

Slowly?? You're climbing this considerable steep learning curve without breaking a sweat! I know for sure I won't get within 1 sec of WR, specially on such long track like Suzuka!! I'm glad they have multiple splits with the Skippy!

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 16:18

I have used auto clutch and -blip till today, and the 2:26.9 replay i meant was with that. I tried to upload it here but the file size is around ~4MB (already cutted) and too big for an attachment here, would it be okay to upp in on a file hoster?

Yes i started today (see some posts earlier) without using clutch aids, and it improved my PB around half a second. Seems to work! But like i wrote, you have to concentrate a lot to not miss a gear - nevertheless if you get used to it, i'm sure it will help you as well!

Edit: Oh i can upload this on youtube aswell, fraps'ed it and just just have to run it through Vegas and up it to YT, than you can watch it from work.

waters10 · 2 April 12, 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

I have used auto clutch and -blip till today, and the 2:26.9 replay i meant was with that. I tried to upload it here but the file size is around ~4MB (already cutted) and too big for an attachment here, would it be okay to upp in on a file hoster?

Yes i started today (see some posts earlier) without using clutch aids, and it improved my PB around half a second. Seems to work! But like i wrote, you have to concentrate a lot to not miss a gear - nevertheless if you get used to it, i'm sure it will help you as well!

Edit: Oh i can upload this on youtube aswell, fraps'ed it and just just have to run it through Vegas and up it to YT, than you can watch it from work.

The extra focus to not miss gear might prevent me from doing that right now. 0.5s would pale in comparison to a spin or worse.

Nope. YT is blocked here as well. But I can watch it from home tonight.

I'd say either file hoster or email to me. Let me know and I'll shoot you a PM with my address. Thanks!

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 17:28

Okay, here it is, uploaded on mediafire uncompressed/untouched:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/2y3fai...kip_2-26-9.rpy

Pay attention to the brake/throttle display in the left bottom, you'll see i focused on being gentle on both.

MickeyMouse · 2 April 12, 19:30

You can be faster with aids off, but the fact that even a single missed shift can lose you more time than you'll gain over the course of a race means I leave auto clutch on.

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 20:05

It's just about getting used to it, the longer i practice it doesn't happen anymore. Uh i was just on the way to go in the 2:25's but messed up the last sector in the chicane a little bit. But a new PB of 2:26.2 and optimal of 2:25.1... Just give me some days. And better pedals.

Edit: i did it... 2:25.77 - three tens to the Practice WR and five to the absolute fastest lap

waters10 · 2 April 12, 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeyMouse

You can be faster with aids off, but the fact that even a single missed shift can lose you more time than you'll gain over the course of a race means I leave auto clutch on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

It's just about getting used to it, the longer i practice it doesn't happen anymore. Uh i was just on the way to go in the 2:25's but messed up the last sector in the chicane a little bit. But a new PB of 2:26.2 and optimal of 2:25.1... Just give me some days. And better pedals.

Edit: i did it... 2:25.77 - three tens to the Practice WR

For now, I decided to not even try without assists for now. I gotta accept that things will come slower for me!

And no, you don't need better pedals! I do!

MickeyMouse · 2 April 12, 20:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by waters10

For now, I decided to not even try without assists for now. I gotta accept that things will come slower for me!

Its been my experience, and I think most will agree, that race wins often don't come to the fastest car on the track, rather it's the person that makes the least mistakes. I'm an advocate of focusing on extreme consistency before focusing on absolute speed. If you can do a 60 min race and not even get a 1x, only then should you worry about speed (IMHO).

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by waters10

And no, you don't need better pedals! I do!

Oh yes i do need them! I still drive with that crappy stock DFGT pedals, okay you get used to them the longer you stay with but i fear this will be a one-lap-wonder and hard to do constantly.
It's not easy to brake at the limit all the time because they are so floppy. But i'm saving money and now when it seems i can also do well in iR, i think it will pay off to get some better ones.

MickeyMouse · 2 April 12, 21:03

I think the DFGT pedals are pretty good, considering. They won't be the same quality as $400 pedals naturally, but they won't really hold you back either.

Edit:
One thing I should point out though, I strongly recommend against using shoes with plastic pedals, it destroys most of the feel.

nachtwache · 2 April 12, 21:13

Yes i know, but if i stay with iRacing it can't be a big mistake to upgrade at least to some G25 pedals with Leo Bodnar adapter and eventually a nixim brake mod.
I fully agree with you regarding the consistency in long runs - for sure i wouldn't do laps like this in a race - my race pace is always a second slower (or two on long tracks), it's too unsure to drive at 99% limit all the time. Nevertheless i have great fun testing out my absolute limit.

brabham67 · 3 April 12, 00:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

Yes i know, but if i stay with iRacing it can't be a big mistake to upgrade at least to some G25 pedals with Leo Bodnar adapter and eventually a nixim brake mod.

I stepped up from a Black Momo to a G27, and modded the pedals with the Bodnar Cable and the Nixim Mod, and I can say it's in a different league. The G25/27 pedals will suit the DFGT wheel very nicely. You will find that consistency you are looking for!

Kalifen · 3 April 12, 07:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtwache

It's just about getting used to it, the longer i practice it doesn't happen anymore. Uh i was just on the way to go in the 2:25's but messed up the last sector in the chicane a little bit. But a new PB of 2:26.2 and optimal of 2:25.1... Just give me some days. And better pedals.

Edit: i did it... 2:25.77 - three tens to the Practice WR and five to the absolute fastest lap

Don't worry, other drivers will post better times as well

The car is a bit faster this season than recent seasons, and Suzuka is even a fairly new track. Meaning that WR will improve. Actually, it already did, but there will be better times as well.

Oh, and yes, better pedals will help a lot. If the DFGT pedals are like DFP pedals (people say they are), then yes, switching to G25/G27 pedals will make a huge difference. For me, due to the lack of resistance in the plastic pedals, the DFP was rather horrible. I even got muscular problems in the right foot when over time trying to modulate throttle with my DFP. Night and day when I got my G25 some years ago. Also, better angle/position when I got my Playseat helped a lot

nachtwache · 3 April 12, 11:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kalifen

Don't worry, other drivers will post better times as well

The car is a bit faster this season than recent seasons, and Suzuka is even a fairly new track. Meaning that WR will improve. Actually, it already did, but there will be better times as well.

You are right, now i'm 1.5 sec off again. Damn!

30 March 12, 18:20	#1
waters10 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Canton, MI Age: 36	A skippy thread As this is a popular car, I think it'd be good to have a dedicated thread about it, so we could exchange some setup info, get together for some practice sessions or races, post race reports, etc. I got promoted to D this week, bought the skippy that day along with 7 tracks. I'm just learning car control for now. But honestly, I didn't find the car that hard. I read a lot about how the skippy is evil and all. I guess it's all about expectations. I was expecting something closer to the SRF, which is much much harder to control imo. That being said, car is not a walk in the park for sure. I've been solo practicing on Laguna Seca so far. Got my PB yesterday, after messing with the skippy setup guide at 1:40.3xx. Then I realized on ispeed lap analyzer that my throtle wasn't hitting 100%!! Stupid standard fanatec pdeals. I could've been a bit faster. Ordered a CSR elite pedals after that! Anyway, I was using 19PSI on all tires, +5 SPO and 2 ARB, 56 brake bias. I didn't do a ton of testing, but this felt better to me than the baseline setup. What kind of setup are you guys running?? I'm not planning to race this week due to not enough car control just yet, so I might shift my attention to Suzuka for next week. If you have a setup for that track, let me know. And if anyone want to get together for a practice session, let me know. I play after 9:30pm Eastern, mostly during the week.

30 March 12, 19:13	#4
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	I'm doing nearly the same as you, Auto-Clutch and -blip as i have only two pedals at my DFGT (for now, saving money atm for some G25/27 pedals with leo bodnar adapter or if i feel nice with iR for the upcoming time, i'll eventually buy some Fanatec CSP's) and i'm left-foot-braking. Why not if you only have two pedals... I just did a quick test with your setup and lowered my PB to 1:40,02 and the optimal Lap to 1:39,1 - so it seems to work fine! Did two Spectator sessions earlier this day and watched a guy doing low 1:37's in quali. Was impressive to see these lap times, but he was drifting nearly all apex'es. This normally seems to be unlogical as you would normally lose speed while drifting, but it seems to be the fastest way around the track... But hey, it's all about finding out how to do the fastest lap in a game, this is the same in all sims - no matter if it's realistic or not. EDIT: i think i'll watch some races as spectator now in order to see what the "normal" guys do as average lap times, i think it will be enough to do around 1.40 if it's constantly. At least in the lower splits. But that may be just what i hope to be true... EDIT2: seems to be a "you get better the more you are practicing" thing, just dropped my PB to 1.39.7 with optimal of 1.38.8 - so i'll spend the next days to do laps like this constantly, should be enough for a first race without quali from lower end of grid - there are always enough guys who spin out... Last edited by nachtwache; 30 March 12 at 20:21.

31 March 12, 18:11	#13
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	My problem was the Rainey Curve on Laguna Seca where i had spins too often. I've watched some tutorial videos and tested some more, now i drive a slightly different line and can avoid that without loss of time. But i will stop practicing at Laguna Seca for the moment to concentrate on Suzuka GP because it's the next track in the schedule starting on tuesday. Edit: forgot something - i was reading the Skippy Tuning Guide (from the member forums) once again and the recommended initial settings i found are +2 SPO and 5 ARB - just the inverted values of the ones from your first post, maybe a typo from you? I'll test that tomorrow, today i'm on a friends birthday. Last edited by nachtwache; 31 March 12 at 18:37.

1 April 12, 12:40	#21
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	You're right, it's only up to find out how to drive fast in this particular piece of software... Like in all sims. @ waters: i was watching the top split race at Laguna Seca earlier this day, with an alien doing his 1:37s in front but P2 to P4 did average laps of 1:40-1.41, and the drivers on P5-9 had 1:41-1:43. (btw: the winner of split#2 did 1:41.7 average) So, if you can do 1:40 laps average, it's more than enough for the beginning - that seems to be good for a mid-field position in top splits or maybe top 5 or 3 in lower splits. All you have to do is not to spin and do a good average pace. I've started testing on Suzuka (with the recommended settings of the tuning guide, +2SPO/5ARB/20PSi/58%BB) and was able to do a personal best of 2:27.1 with optimal lap of 2:26.2 - and that just after two hours of testing. The optimal lap will be enough to reach the top25 lap times. (didn't test it on Laguna Seca yet) It can't be a big mistake to give it a go, and to only do some minor changes later to find your best balance. Edit: tested same setup on Laguna Seca - works fine, i could set some new sector bests, not much but a slight improvement - all in all it's nicely driveable for me Last edited by nachtwache; 1 April 12 at 14:18.

2 April 12, 20:05	#42
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	It's just about getting used to it, the longer i practice it doesn't happen anymore. Uh i was just on the way to go in the 2:25's but messed up the last sector in the chicane a little bit. But a new PB of 2:26.2 and optimal of 2:25.1... Just give me some days. And better pedals. Edit: i did it... 2:25.77 - three tens to the Practice WR and five to the absolute fastest lap Last edited by nachtwache; 2 April 12 at 20:31.

30 March 12, 18:26	#2
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	I just posted in the "iR Lounge Thread", i'm in the same situation. Went quickly through to class D and bought the Skippy today - also testing at Laguna Seca. My PB is around yours, at 1:40,5 with an optimal of 1:39,3. Just did not manage to do all Sectors clean in one lap. Do you also have this extreme lift off oversteer? I'm not very sure about what to do, played around with tyre pressures and rear ARB, but it seems nothing helps to reduce it. Also little gas while braking to stabilize does not really help. I may try your setup now.

30 March 12, 20:29	#6
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	Yeah just look i edited my previous post, dropped my PB once more. Practice, practice, practice... Like i said, in the lower splits it should be enough to do average laps around 1.40 - there are always enough guys that spin and mess up the car, so you can always gain a good finish position even if you are not the absolute fastest guy. That was always the case in my MX-5 races, i've mostly been half a second slower than the top drivers but was constant and often achieved a podium place, and all done nearly without incidents. So patience pays off alot more than trying to go over your limit and mess up your race. Feel free to PM me your driver name in iR, i'll add you to my friends list.

30 March 12, 20:51	#8
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	I'll add you. Just dropped to 1.39.4 - your setup seems to work very fine. It's just about learning how to drive the car.

30 March 12, 20:59	#9
jgf Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Columbus, OH Age: 59	I thought this was about peanut butter....

30 March 12, 23:43	#10
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	lol, my first thought was "skippy?" "the cangaroo?" OT: waters, your setup is fine - i wouldn't change anything... had a couple of beers now while testing and just did 1.38.7 as fastest and can do high 1.39's average. Not bad for the first day with a completely new car and track, now some more days practice and i'll be good to go. Or maybe it was just the beer that made me go fast? I don't know?

31 March 12, 15:43	#12
Scalage Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Vlaardingen, Holland Age: 23	Well, I'm not a skippy master but what I've found is that you can use lift off oversteer to your advantage. If you understeer in a corner (a thing I do a lot, one of my weaknesses) just get off the throttle a little to get it in balance. It's a good thing these things are a little nervous to drive because it teaches you to be smooth. For myself, I'm currently C with an SR of 3.41 with enough experience to go to B even though I've only been an iRacing member since last week. My name in iRacing is Marco Hooghuis (also my real name) if you wish to connect.

31 March 12, 19:38	#15
darock Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: North Carolina	Advice about advice. Some advice you find was written when a car was an earlier version than the version today. iRacing has a history of changing cars significantly with the other things they do, like release an entirely new tire model. Funny thing is that sometimes releases don't make sense. Middle of last year, the Tour Mod changed and there was supposed to have been no changes to it in that build. So when you find advice that conflicts with what you know or have recently read, don't be too surprised.

31 March 12, 19:43	#16
darock Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: North Carolina	Also, a number of the D and C cars have very limited garage menus. The Skippy is one of the worst. Changing tire pressures to actually hurt traction is done by some to deal with handling issues noone in their right mind would treat with pressure. When you only have a couple-three things you can adjust, you work with what you got.

31 March 12, 22:34	#17
waters10 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Canton, MI Age: 36	Yeah, I realized the big differences between seasons. It's easy to see that when you compare youtube videos and you see the same car/track combo and you see different braking points for example. The setup guide in the iracing forums is updated to this season. I was surprised to see 20psi being suggested there. I saw youtube videos with 17.5psi, but that was for other seasons. Then I saw Christian Aranha's 1:36.5x on youtube, and he's using 19psi, so that's the reason I'm using in my setup. Let's see if Suzuka requires a different setup. It seems very different to Laguna, with a lot of high speed corners.

1 April 12, 00:20	#18
darock Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: North Carolina	The guys I know who could almost be considered as Skippy pros say they developed just one setup to begin with. Apparently it's better to get a handle on the car first. I tried that and it was going good until the car changed with the NTM and then the NNTM. Their advice was to work out the setup then run it at all the tracks. After a season working with that somewhat stable basis, you've got a better feel of everything and will be better able to adjust for the few unique things some tracks have. I'll testify whole heartedly that as long as I kept screwing around with the setup early on, I was constantly battling the car. When I stopped trying to figure out how to make it better and just drove it, I think the third track in on that plan and it started clicking. I really think what worked in that plan was that it'll take at least a couple of tracks to start getting the feel of the power off oversteer and the power on understeer and how to use them. Constant fiddling wiped the learning to that point off the board.

1 April 12, 07:26	#19
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	The values i've posted are from the "Skippy Tuning Guide 2012 Season 1" from february this year, so they are not outdated. In the end there's no "magical setup", it always has to fit your own driving style and you have to find out what works best for you.

1 April 12, 07:29	#20
steve 81 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand	Adjusting tyre pressure is certainly a valid technique. You have an over steering car and you have exhausted all other setup avenues trying to get more grip for the rear tyres then your only option is to actually remove grip from the front end for the sake of balance. Whether or not it's a real life technique is moot because this isn't real life, it's iRacing

1 April 12, 18:51	#25
Scalage Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Vlaardingen, Holland Age: 23	What darock said about getting used to the car first goes for all forms of racing IMO. Even if you know what you're doing, if you don't know the car you can't possibly decide what to change to make it faster (apart from some obvious things like gearing). Once you started to fiddle with a car you don't know you may as well be going the wrong way. I know what I'm talking about, because I made the same mistake in the past

1 April 12, 20:01	#26
AllanGP Donated Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Wrexham, North Wales, 25 mins from Oulton Park Age: 51	The Tuning guide base set is pretty good for all the tracks I have tried this Season. Laguna being a rare exception where a little less BB 56% and SPO +1 has helped me. Keep a good eye on Steve81's posts, he's a proper Alien (friendly one!) in this car. Glad to see lot's of newcomers in this car as I've said lot's of times elsewhere, learn to go quick (say for definition purposes 1 sec off the best times) in this car and you will learn lessons for life in Sim racing. Keeping momentum being a key one by braking less, carrying more speed and getting back on the throttle earlier than you think. Part of braking less it breaking earlier too!

2 April 12, 08:29	#29
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	Well done! One thing i noticed is what Allan wrote, don't try to brake as late and hard as possible, in most cases you're faster with braking little more gentle, carry more apex speed and to be on the throttle as early as possible. It's the same for me, mostly i do my best laps in the first 30 minutes when testing - after that i lose a little concentration, start to cramp and have the tendency to overdrive the car, what results in slower lap times. Don't push too hard, often i do really good laps although i think i wasn't really quick.

2 April 12, 08:37	#30
Kalifen Join Date: Aug 2010	Nice to see a Skippy thread Many good advice here already. Not much I can add at the moment, it seems, but I'd like to mention braking earlier and braking less again. In a race at Laguna Seca I lost a position due to pushing too much and braking too hard for a corner. I initiated braking at my normal brake point, but pushed the pedal just a bit too hard and locked the tires. Tried to unlock, of course, but ended up going very deep into the corner and slightly out of balance. If I had just followed advice and braked a tad earlier and a tad less, I would not have locked up, and even if I had locked up, I would have had more time to unlock and still manage to brake for the corner. Also I wanted to mention that while the quickest route to nirvana in this car is left foot braking, it is also possible to reach quite far with right foot braking. You may need to learn to do small steering corrections while braking, and you need to be quick between brake and gas (often just 10-20-30% instead of jumping on it). The advantage is that it gives you a better chance to learn the coast behaviour, and how to sometimes use that for quicker turning. Also, an advantage of learning RFB well, is that you get better fuel mileage - it has happened that that is the difference between pitting and not pitting in some series, while pushing equally hard. In other news, I was hoping to finally have a go at the premier series at Infineon on Wednesday, and got up to pace practicing yesterday. Turns out I probably won't have the chance this week either Probably should have spent the time practicing Suzuka instead...

2 April 12, 12:17	#31
AllanGP Donated Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Wrexham, North Wales, 25 mins from Oulton Park Age: 51	Good discussion on throttle use here; http://members.iracing.com/jforum/po...t/1866594.page

2 April 12, 14:37	#32
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	Yes Allan, it works for me, i use slight throttle braking to stabilize the car and in corners it also helps carrying the speed (and avoid lift off oversteer). @ waters: if you want i can send you a replay file (~4MB) from me doing 2.26.9 on Suzuka while not using the advanced "sideways" technique - i concentrated on being gentle with brakes and throttle and do a smooth racing line (the "Jenson-Button-style", if you want to call it like that), all done with the lowest possible tyre squeal. Now starting to drive without any clutch aids (skippy has a sequential gearbox, i didn't know that until i've read it yesterday) using a combination of upshift preloading (holding the shift paddle until hitting the rev limiter) and throttle lift shifting, depending on the situation. It's all in all a littler smoother, the car isn't shaking so much whilst the upshifts in corners. Needs some practice, sometimes i miss a gear but i have the feeling it's faster because there's no more time penalty for the auto-clutch.

2 April 12, 14:42	#33
AllanGP Donated Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Wrexham, North Wales, 25 mins from Oulton Park Age: 51	Yes, I run the Skippy with no clutch, except starts. I use the rev limiter on upshifts and a little lift on downshifts, it works quite well. The only issue is upshifts would ideally not be on the limit for some gears, see link to article; http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/...s/second-shift By the way we used to always have Skippy season threads when I was driving it as my main car; http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=189720 !!

2 April 12, 15:07	#34
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	Okay, i'll keep that in mind, thanks. First test ran very well, was good for 2.26.5 with race fuel. Approaching the second off the practice WR. I think i slowly understand how to drive that little thing.

2 April 12, 15:13	#35
Kalifen Join Date: Aug 2010	Sounds like awesome progress in such short time! I have managed a 2:25.4 (forgot to save replay, doh!), but when I go for those times, I risk losing it in T1, Degner 1, spoon curve, 130R and possibly getting a 1x or black flag in last sector

2 April 12, 16:08	#36
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	Yes i usually learn fast, and it's not my first sim - i started when rfactor 1 and GTR2 were released. My optimal lap is at 2:25.4 now, i just have to practice more and get all sectors together. But i think it's just a matter of time. Oh what would be possible if i had better pedals, i'm sure i lose time on the brakes.

2 April 12, 16:18	#38
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	I have used auto clutch and -blip till today, and the 2:26.9 replay i meant was with that. I tried to upload it here but the file size is around ~4MB (already cutted) and too big for an attachment here, would it be okay to upp in on a file hoster? Yes i started today (see some posts earlier) without using clutch aids, and it improved my PB around half a second. Seems to work! But like i wrote, you have to concentrate a lot to not miss a gear - nevertheless if you get used to it, i'm sure it will help you as well! Edit: Oh i can upload this on youtube aswell, fraps'ed it and just just have to run it through Vegas and up it to YT, than you can watch it from work.

2 April 12, 17:28	#40
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	Okay, here it is, uploaded on mediafire uncompressed/untouched: http://www.mediafire.com/file/2y3fai...kip_2-26-9.rpy Pay attention to the brake/throttle display in the left bottom, you'll see i focused on being gentle on both.

2 April 12, 19:30	#41
MickeyMouse Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Ohio, USA Age: 26	You can be faster with aids off, but the fact that even a single missed shift can lose you more time than you'll gain over the course of a race means I leave auto clutch on.

2 April 12, 21:03	#46
MickeyMouse Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Ohio, USA Age: 26	I think the DFGT pedals are pretty good, considering. They won't be the same quality as $400 pedals naturally, but they won't really hold you back either. Edit: One thing I should point out though, I strongly recommend against using shoes with plastic pedals, it destroys most of the feel.

2 April 12, 21:13	#47
nachtwache Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Age: 36	Yes i know, but if i stay with iRacing it can't be a big mistake to upgrade at least to some G25 pedals with Leo Bodnar adapter and eventually a nixim brake mod. I fully agree with you regarding the consistency in long runs - for sure i wouldn't do laps like this in a race - my race pace is always a second slower (or two on long tracks), it's too unsure to drive at 99% limit all the time. Nevertheless i have great fun testing out my absolute limit.