Tips for "learning to drive"?

[Nep ♿]

Basically had the game since 2016 but only played with a controller for a few hours

Now I got the ultimate edition planning to learn driving as much as a sim can help me do that. I at least read this is the most realistic (and affordable) one. I have a G920 wheel and ordered an H Shifter (arriving today) and a wheel stand (arriving next week) for the best experience.

I'd like to know the following: What cars do you recommend starting with to learn driving before I start a drivers license? Most importantly what assists should I turn on/off and how strong do I set them? How do I drift properly with a wheel/hold long drifts? That'd help me learn controlling my car

[Wolfsun]

For learning purposes I suggest you begin with a slower car like some of the BMW series.

Pick a track (I like the Monza one) and practice on it; a lot. Compare your times with other's published times.

Get used to setting up the suspension (you tube is your friend now) and optimize it for the car you are using and the track you are using.

Once you've got the track down pat and have reached what you consider the limits of your skill on that track and have the car tuned to your liking then move on to another track.

After a couple of times doing the above switch cars to one of a higher performance and go back to the original learning track you chose and rinse and repeat.

After that you'll have a good feel for the game and how to handle a car.

Go into race mode on the track of your choice that you've pratcticed on and setup an AI only race with the AI set to the lowest and race. When you can consistently win then up the AI.

Rinse and repeat until you can consistently come in 1st or 2nd with the AI set to as close to highest as you can get without gettin your ass handed to you.

At that point you can start racing against human players. Expect to get you ass handed to you at first.

OH. And IRL for the kind of cars that are in AC drifting is not usually done and if it is it's done by accident. There are races and tracks designed for drifting to be done but I don't believe there are any in AC. That said there are suspension setups available that are designed to optimize drifting.

If you've accomplished all of the above you're on you on. Good Luck and have fun.

[clairvoyantwolf]

My preference for starting cars: Miata (ND), Mustang, 370Z in that order.

All assists off, ABS factory

With drifting (though I don’t really bother with it) drift angle is controlled by the throttle not really the wheel. It will take practice for that to “click”

[clairvoyantwolf]

Originally posted by Wolfsun:

Get used to setting up the suspension (you tube is your friend now) and optimize it for the car you are using and the track you are using.

Personally, for a complete beginner, I think it’s counterproductive to adjust the suspension. Instead of learning to drive the car they are tuning away handling vices that might not even be handling vices.

[HallyGator]

I also had a hard time driving cars that were too fast or unstable. This site helped me a lot because it has a ranking of the best cars ( and, ultimately, also easier to drive.) I recommend Ginetta and KTM that are free and, respectively, in first and third place.
https://www.tiiips.com/m/tiiips/home?action=viewCategory&cID=25495
You don't have to be discouraged and drive slow (it's a game, so have fun), don't be lured by excessive speed and the desire to overtake. There will always be someone faster than you. The important thing is to have fun, not to finish among the first.

[Sven]

I used the Alfa Giullietta to prepare for my driving lessons, mostly on Aspertsham (google this for Assetto Corsa); you can practice parking, using look right/left/mirror to practice this for driving lessons. The most important things to get right are your clutch sensitivity (my lessons car was a diesel and I had to drive away on clutch slip) and to shift early, still recommend a FOV calculator as well.

As it's a manual I used my shifters as turning signal buttons to get this into my system. Usually took this car out for 20-30 mins before driving lessons, helped getting into the easy driving mode.

I was pretty late getting lessons into my 30's; never needed and still don't need a drivers license. I was already a pretty competent sim racer, driving on a highway in real life therefore felt way easier than going 240 km/h down the Spa straight with two cars aside you and two in front of you.

[Nep ♿]

Originally posted by Sven:

I used the Alfa Giullietta to prepare for my driving lessons, mostly on Aspertsham (google this for Assetto Corsa); you can practice parking, using look right/left/mirror to practice this for driving lessons. The most important things to get right are your clutch sensitivity (my lessons car was a diesel and I had to drive away on clutch slip) and to shift early, still recommend a FOV calculator as well.

As it's a manual I used my shifters as turning signal buttons to get this into my system. Usually took this car out for 20-30 mins before driving lessons, helped getting into the easy driving mode.

I was pretty late getting lessons into my 30's; never needed and still don't need a drivers license. I was already a pretty competent sim racer, driving on a highway in real life therefore felt way easier than going 240 km/h down the Spa straight with two cars aside you and two in front of you.

I'll 100% save that advice for future lessons ^^

[ling.speed]

Originally posted by Nep:

I'd like to know the following: What cars do you recommend starting with to learn driving before I start a drivers license? Most importantly what assists should I turn on/off and how strong do I set them? How do I drift properly with a wheel/hold long drifts? That'd help me learn controlling my car

Take it in steps. I'd start with BMW M235i. It's not a car to drift but it's good for getting a hang of steering wheel and speed control. When shifter comes try Toyota GT86, it's slower but very well behaved car. And you can slide it around a bit.

For drifting actually i'd recommend mods right of the gate. The default kunos drift cars like BMW E30 Drift version are ok but not as easy to drift as purpose built machine. (havent drifted in a while but WDT pack is probably good starter)

For assists, the earlier you can drive without automatic gears without crashing the better. Pick a sequential car first (like the 235i). Most AC cars are designed to drive with ABS ON, so keep it that way. TC is ok when starting, later you want it OFF.

When learning H-pattern i'd drop both auto clutch and auto blip out of the gate, and put (enlarged) pedals app in the middle of the screen - as it's easy to get confused on what the feet are doing. Then use replay feature often to confirm what happened when stuff goes wrong.
Oh also older street cars require more shifting precision, while some race gearboxes can be abused with no clutch at all if you rev match. It's a thing to keep in mind to avoid confusion.

Lastly regarding wheel force feedback. Normally you want around 80% of FFB gain in settings plus some minimum force (5-15%). But for drifting you might want more to get faster response. You can also drop all "effects" (maybe except ABS).
And try out Content Manager mod to get different launcher interface with more options.

[luZk]

Start with the regular BMW M3 on nordschleife.