Call me a looser, a quitter, or anything, but NASCARs initial interest
is begining to die for me.
Why?
Because I seem to have some fundemental problems with controlling the
cars.....in obtaining a balanced, stable, consistant car setup that
gives me at least some semblance of "control".
I've been practicing at Watkins Glen, as this is "real" driving for me.
I've fiddled with all sorts of setups in the way of shocks, weight
balance, etc in an attempt to get a car which will behave consistantly.
I'm not looking for pure speed at the moment, just control. With maximum
spoilers, even-pressured tires, etc I find the car grossly unstable on
the brakes whatever I do. I've tried spongy shocks, rock ***es, I've
moved the weight back and forth etc. Nothing seems to improve this.
I've also been trying everything I know about good driving. Being
smooth with bringing the brakes or the throttle in progressively,
ensuring the car is straight before slamming on full power/brakes,
slowing the car before turn-in and then cornering lightly on the power
to keep the balance right, etc.
ICR's and F1GP respond to this sort of thing.
NASCARs persist in jumping sideways into the wall on the brakes, or
ploughing straight on even when I'm making sure I'm using the same
braking point and the same entry speed as the last two laps. In straight
lines the stability seems ropey as well - flat out down the long
straights the have a habit of lurching themselves sideways without even
a tremor on the controls (good quality CH Flightstick, non-linear
steering....can't blame that surely).
Are there big bumps programmed into the track surface? Does grip or
maximum braking vary randomly to represent oil spills, fade, or
something? Watching the progress of the car makes it look like a flight
sim sometimes the way it jumps about although power, steering etc are
all constant and there are no signs of skidding, sliding etc apparent
either at the time or on multiple, all-angle viewings of replays.
Or is this a sign that, because the majority of testing/play is on ovals
(due to there ***, and interest I get the impression - far more
conference traffic about driving, setups, lap records, etc for places
like Talledega, New Hampshire or Bristol) that there has been inadequate
de-bugging or programming effort spent on the sims handling of braking
and acclerating?
Can someone explain this sort of behaviour, and what to do about it?
ICRs were ***y difficult and frustrating when I started, but
persistance, practice, and application of race-car theory all seemed to
pay back with results. I wish the same could be said of NASCAR. Would a
helpful enthusist attempt to stop me abandoning the game and going back
to more entertaining, profitable sims......ICR?
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* RM 1.3 U0414 * Include this in your CONFIG.SYS File: BUGS=OFF
Although I don't Watkins Glen, because I prefer tight, short ovals, I
might guess that this is just the nature of a NASCAR car ;-) At the
best of times the real stock car handles like a boat anchor on dryland,
when compared to ICR, or F1.
But seriously. . . . . I don't know, but I have seen a similar problem on
my system too, 'cause I tried the track after reading the post. I chalk
it up to driver error on my part.
Kev.
