Mclaren F1

[DrDeath]

Basically all this car does is slide out of control and brakes are useless when coming to then end of a straight. This is with traction control, stability control and abs all turned on.

[gpk99]

yep that car needs to be coddled like a baby...amazing tourque...but once it begins to howl it sings like an opera star...awesome machine

[eric]

Originally posted by DeathDealer:

Basically all this car does is slide out of control and brakes are useless when coming to then end of a straight. This is with traction control, stability control and abs all turned on.

Actually when it starts to swerve I let off gas immediatly and it goes strait. You just got to get used to stability.

[Arya]

Tyre temperature is critical in PCARS, especially with older-generation cars. Take it slow until you've built up temperature, and wait for the car to be ready. Having your tyres at optimal vastly increases your grip. Patience is important with older vehicles, supercars especially. You need to let the car come to you, or you'll go nowhere.

Some cars feel almost undriveable on cold tyres, but come alive as they heat up. The Sierra RS500 is a good example. Cold, it wheelspins horribly when the turbo kicks in and understeers like a pig if you're too aggressive. Warmed up, it's grippy and agile, with responsive steering and potent brakes.

[nhill40]

Old thread, but I stumbled upon this as I struggled a bit with the F1 myself. A few thoughts (a few of these could be considered general racing advice, a few are specific to the F1)

1. An earlier post alluded to this, but use the "McLaren F1" tires, NOT the others (the CTRs, I think). The F1's are much grippier.

2. The F1 is a beautifully designed/engineered vehicle, but do not make the mistake of assuming that its status as a "supercar" means it is superlative in every possible facet. The fact is, the engine is extremely powerful and it is VERY easy to overpower the brakes/tires. These words are going to be cringe-worthy for many, but the fact is you need to approach driving the F1 almost as you would approach driving an American muscle car (like a Camaro or Mustang). Think "point & squirt"...meaning aim for a late apex (and, if you are new to racing sims, you may already be taking too early of an apex already, so aim for what feels like a REALLY late apex) - stay out wide deep into the turn, get your rotation done quickly, and then get the hammer down as quickly and smoothly as possible while still keeping it on the track at track out!

3. If you are struggling with this car, do not worry about braking (i.e. get your braking done early & conservatively in a straight line). It is very common for rookie drivers to focus on braking as a point of first concern because they see the experience guys waiting until they are impossibly late in the braking zone before getting on the brakes. It's important to remember that the ability to brake at the last possible instant is the *LAST* thing they mastered for that given car/track, because they know that finding the line that allows them to carry the most mid-corner speed and get on the throttle sooner is going to pay WAY bigger dividends that braking a few (or even 50) meters deeper. Work on your line, work on getting on the throttle quickly/smoothly, work on maximizing mid-corner speed. If you can honestly say you've mastered those for this car/track, only then is it time to focus on shortening your braking zone (and experimenting with trail braking).

4. The tires are *extremely* hard to get heat into. I'm assuming I could get better laptimes if I could get some heat into the darn things, but I haven't solved this one yet!

[Arya]

Originally posted by nicholas_e_hill:

<snip>

Great post, a lot of good info. +1

[Fabio-DSC]

Originally posted by nicholas_e_hill:

That was really good information, thanks +1

[nhill40]

Something else to take note of regarding the F1 - from the Project CARS patch 2.0 release notes (http://www.virtualr.net/project-cars-patch-2-0-details-revealed)

* McLaren F1 – Fixed an issue that caused the car to use the wrong default tyre compound.

In my own testing, I noticed I started having much more success (and fun! :) ) with the F1 when I started going into the tuning menu at the start of each session and manually selecting the "McLaren F1" tire compound (instead of the default, which is something like "Automatic based on weather").

My hunch is - based upon my own testing & this comment from the changelog - is that the default tire was probably the other compound (something like "CTR"), which I'm assuming is intended for the wet.

[Deztronico]

^^
You're spot on there. My first drive of the F1, I binned it exiting the pits (and it seems I'm not the only one) and couldn't for the life of me keep it in a straight line. There was no grip at all. Changing to the McLaren F1 tyres made all the difference. It's still tricky to drive, but I was actually able to start stringing some good laps together. At least it sounds like they're sorting the problem.

[nhill40]

Originally posted by Deztronico:

^^
You're spot on there. My first drive of the F1, I binned it exiting the pits (and it seems I'm not the only one) and couldn't for the life of me keep it in a straight line. There was no grip at all. Changing to the McLaren F1 tyres made all the difference. It's still tricky to drive, but I was actually able to start stringing some good laps together. At least it sounds like they're sorting the problem.

^ The key phrase being that "it's still tricky to drive"!!! Even on the right tires, don't expect "easy" - the F1 is still a handful and I think one of the most challenging cars in the game...but "tricky" is much better than "impossible"!!! :)

It's a very rewarding experience once you can manage to get a feel for it and get to the point where you can start pushing a bit.

[chrcoluk]

still cannot buy this car as a DLC.

[WildKarrde]

Originally posted by chrcoluk:

still cannot buy this car as a DLC.

The F1 isn't DLC though.... the F1 Longtail is, and it's a dream to drive. I've always found the normal F1 to be quite a handful, but I guess it turns out that's because it had the wrong tires.

Even still, I never found it completely undriveable, even with the wrong tires.

[chrcoluk]

Originally posted by spaceweed10™:

Originally posted by WildKarrde:

The F1 isn't DLC though.... the F1 Longtail is, and it's a dream to drive. I've always found the normal F1 to be quite a handful, but I guess it turns out that's because it had the wrong tires.

Even still, I never found it completely undriveable, even with the wrong tires.

Yes it is DLC - it's part of the LE upgrade pack.

ahh when I read your post I checked the store, and yep the DLC is there now, finally.

thanks, got the cars now.

[WildKarrde]

Originally posted by spaceweed10™:

Originally posted by WildKarrde:

The F1 isn't DLC though.... the F1 Longtail is, and it's a dream to drive. I've always found the normal F1 to be quite a handful, but I guess it turns out that's because it had the wrong tires.

Even still, I never found it completely undriveable, even with the wrong tires.

Yes it is DLC - it's part of the LE upgrade pack.

You're right, my bad.

It's included if you buy the game directly from Steam though.

[winter1894]

Man, I just left the game frustrated trying to drive this thing. If I baby it I can do pretty well. The most irritating thing about it all though is that the computers automatically drive it like superior beings. They don't need to wait for tire warm up or anything. They just full throttle and it stays in a perfect line.

[SlomoRacing]

Originally posted by UK_SPAWN:

Originally posted by MOV r0,r0:

One of the devs (Casey, maybe Doug?) said all the cars have default settings based around ease of handling and you only need to change the settings if you need more speed. If the car is a handful for you, altering set-up will likely make it worse.

No to me the cars are set up badly, they allways handle better after a tune (imo). The race cars are set up OK as race cars and dont need much tuning it seems. BUT THEY SHOULD BE SET UP !!!! AS THEY ARE IN REAL LIFE !!! thats the dumbest thing to me :( ... what is the real spring rate for the Pagani Zonda Roadster?????!!!! dumb move in my opinion!

+1 to this post and thread, practically have to drift the thing around the whole track. And this is somone coming from Assetto Corsa