Why am I so rubbish at braking ?

[917Fan]

I suspect this is more a driver issue, but posting in here in case it's setup or anyone can offer any advice.

I run a Logitech G29 but my braking distances are way bigger than most of the cars im racing. If I do Le Mans with the 919 or Ts 040 I get overtaken by the GT cars going into the chicances. I always seem to get repassed by cars going into corners and just cant brake the same as other cars in the game.

Not sure if it's my driving or if there is anything I can do in the setup \ config to help. Im losing a lot of time here, so this could really help me improve as a racer.

Want to try some online racing, but no point doing that if I can overtaken at every corner.

I'll try and upload some footage to youtube later show what I mean

 

[ocase]

Post some footage for proper advice. My first guess would be you're not trail braking. Brakes aren't just for slowing down, but also used to help rotate on turn in.

 

[aphidgod]

First thing I'd check is that your pedal is working properly and you're getting the full range of braking available. Try running a session with the pedals app open (or something with the same functionality, sidekick or what have you) to be sure there's not a hardware problem.

 

[917Fan]

Here's a video of me being rubbish in Monza. Not my best track but should show the problem

 

[GeekyDeaks]

It doesn't look like you are using the full range of the brakes. You are often at 50% at the start of the braking zone and just peaking around 70%. Are you able to get the red bar to the top in practice? If you can, then you might just need to condition yourself to push the pedal a little further whilst in the race.

I'm assuming the brake pedal is stock and you still have the rubber block?

 

[917Fan]

Thanks for the advice. I’ll do a practice and see what I get. I don’t run the pedal display usually, but will turn it on for testing.

I get the same in F1 too, so maybe it’s my style of using the pedal. They are the stock ones from Logitech.

Are there any game settings I can change to alter the travel, I’d rather change the config than my, albeit rubbish, style . Guess I need to work out where the issue lies first

 

[Alen Pecanin]

Hey man!
Here is a small tip/rule which applies to almost all cars.
The faster you go, the harder and more you can bash the brakes. The reason is with bigger speed, you have more downforce with aero, and with more downforce, you can brake harder. When you let’s say brake from 300kph to 120, you can brake full power. But from 120 you have to ease off or else you will lock the brakes. Remember full brake power with crazy expensive brakes will lock the brakes at lower speeds because the piston pressure is so hard, but it’s not able to lock them on 300kph.

Same with your car, try to mash the brakes at 40kph, the wheels can lock, but mash them on 200kph, and they can’t lock.

Of course, you can have ABS on and never lock them, but you get the idea, and of course, you brake quicker and better without abs, compared to normal abs on. Very high end and expensive race cars have “race-abs” where the computer inside the car has 10-100 times quicker refresh rates on the abs sensor than normal abs from a road car. This provides the car with better and more high end abs setting. It can update and refresh the sensor quicker, which leads to that it can make the decision much faster to lock up, and how much to lock up when being active. That’s why and how you have several and different abs settings on for example GT3 and all LMP cars. This is mega expensive in real life same goes with traction control

 

[GeekyDeaks]

I'll check the exact location tomorrow, but IIRC it's in the advanced settings along with the gamma profile, which is something you might want to try changing to 1 to make it linear, since the G29 already has a slight curve to accommodate the rubber block. In fact, you may find you are pressing until you hit the block. Unfortunately, that often only gives you about 75% braking.

 

[onearmedbandit46]

I have my gamma to 2.4 for my G29 with the rubber block still in. The 'easy' part of the action accounts for around 40% of movement in game, ideal for trail braking. The next 60% comes from the hard action of the pedal, with 90% or more requiring notable force. This suits me well as I have to stamp the pedal to get max braking force (as stated above at very high speeds), back off as the speed reduces then use the soft part of the pedal to moderate trail braking. YMMV.

 

[GeekyDeaks]

I have my gamma to 2.4 for my G29 with the rubber block still in. The 'easy' part of the action accounts for around 40% of movement in game, ideal for trail braking.

This is a good point. Whilst I suggested reducing the gamma to help with the maximum braking, the downside is that it will probably make finding the sweet spot for trail braking a little more difficult with the stock pot.

 

[AlexMentz]

I see myself having a similar problem, it's still hard to find a good position for a firm brake, and when I hit Full brake, I push myself back cause I use a normal gaming chair with wheels. =(

 

[917Fan]

Doing some testing today. I can get full 100% out of the pedal. Seems like with the BMW DTM 90s car im driving at the moment, it starts up full and then reduces back to 75 as I downshift. Is that down to ABS ?

there's certain cars tracks im better at than others, was able to brake later than a few cars into Silverstone, but Le Mans im rubbish. Donington I can pass into all the turns too.

I'll look at turning down the Gamma setting and see what effect that has.

Thanks everyone for the response so far, really appeciate it.

Despite my username, im avoiding the 917 in AC as im just not good enough with it , but do love trying to do a hotlap with it every now and again. I can rae it in PC2, but that says more about the handling in that "game" than my skills

 

[ocase]

I watched some of your video. Let me make some suggestions on the video itself before getting into your driving. The outside view of the car is not as useful for breaking down driving techniques. The outside view helps with car placement and line..Your line looks fine... for now.

The best view in my opinion is the inside cockpit with steering view. That way you see clearly how much steering input you are giving and how you blend/mesh your braking to your steering. This is super important for trail braking. Not to mention a host of other things.

To address your question "Why am I so rubbish at braking ?"

I don't know if your braking is that bad. It seems ok to me, yes you can use some improvements but I don't think that's the main issue. Look at 5:30 into your video, approaching turn 7 (Curve di lesmo). It seems you are trying to take the inside line, thus putting you in a bad position to get a good pull out of the turn. At 5:33 you can see your braking is fine, matter of fact you inch closer to the Porsche in front of you. Pause the video at 5:33, you're out of line, too pinched to the inside of the track, you won't be able to power out for the up coming straight. You need to stay behind that Porsche more to the left side of the track. Being on the inside will not allow you to properly hit your apex and forcing you to wait to get back on the gas. The end result? That Porsche is gone down the straight.

Another case in point entry to turn 8-9-10 (Variante Ascrari) at 5:53 of your video. It's hard to tell how well you broke for the turn relative to other drivers, perhaps they got held up by traffic or whatever, but you CLEARLY caught up to that same Porsche. So again it seems to me, my opinion, that your braking is not the issue.

Now to the issue. I think you need to work on the elements of a perfect turn. Slow down before the turn, enough so that you can start your power out before or at the apex. You want to ABSOLUTELY power out hard on corners leading to a straight. If you mess up these corners, you are going to pay for it. So to recap, at Monza turns that comes before a good long straight are: Turn 7, turn 10, turn 11. That is not to say other corners are insignificant, but these corners will dramatically improve your lap times if done correctly.

My two cents... hope it helps.

ocase

 

[Alex Harkett]

I run a Logitech G29 but my braking distances are way bigger than most of the cars im racing. If I do Le Mans with the 919 or Ts 040 I get overtaken by the GT cars going into the chicances. I always seem to get repassed by cars going into corners and just cant brake the same as other cars in the game.

Can I recommend you upgrade your Brake pedal on the G29 with this product? https://www.axc-sim.com/product/load-cell-for-logitech-g29-pedals/

I just purchased this for my G27 pedal set and I can honestly say it gives a much more accurate feel with the braking, and may help you to brake more naturally.

Having used my friends G29 pedal set, I'd say that the brake pedal on that is stiffer than that of the G27 but you could still push the pedal to the floor, when in reality you want a bit of resistance in order to modulate your foot pressure.

It's really easy to install and comes with two selections for brake feel.

I understand if you're not comfortable taking your pedal set apart to install, and i'm sure you'll find a good setup compromise to improve on your current setup, but i'd recommend this to anyone with a Logitech pedal set.

Note: I don't work for them, i just bought one and it has been great!

 

[917Fan]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

After getting back into the sim world and AC lately ive started to make small improvements. I'll try and do another video from Spa or another track as Monza really isnt my favourite track to race on. Have been having a few good battles on some tracks. Hoping to dip into the online world at some point and do some online races too.

Really appreciate the work of everyone on this forum

 

[917Fan]

Here's another video of me. You can see going into the second chicane the issue im talking about. Im in the quicker car, but get passed by the GT car

 

[ltcars]

I use brake trainer to find the best braking spot and it really improved my consistency. So in the case of the last video, I would do some hotlapping sessions and gradually brake later and later, until I have found the spot. At Le Mans, I think you can brake at the 100m boards

EDIT: Here's the app: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/brake-trainer.32511/

 

[GeekyDeaks]

are you referring to the second chicane on the mulsanne around 2:28? If so, you are just braking a little too early. You can see you are going back onto the power and then back on the brakes. Driver61 mentions this as something to look out for in one of his videos.

I also noticed you are quite late on the power out of several corners, which tends to be a killer at that track due to the length of the straights. I'm a bit of a rookie myself and frequently find myself making this error, especially when learning a track and overcooking it.

 

[ltcars]

I would look at onboards from IRL hotlaps to familiarize myself with the braking points

 

[917Fan]

Thanks. Never been able to make the corners when I brake at the 100 boards, I’ll do a bit more practice .