How to get better?

[Mr W]

I am consistently at the low end of times looking at the leaderboards. How to get better scores? Obviously, practice. Learn the stages and how the cars handle. But besides those obvious tips, are there some things I may be missing as I am new to this (but like it)?

[Rex]

Try to drive clean, not fast :-)

[EthanH33]

you can take nearly every corner at 30 except hair pin 90 angles that need hand brake... break to that before you start the turn into corner and you will see a massive improvement.... then its just practice as you say.... slow into corners power hard out.....corner stone of any good racer..

[jellobiafra]

Don´t look at your car, look as far ahead on the road as possible.
You have an analog throttle, use it.

[robert357 - W7 FTW]

1. Turn off traction control. It helps a lot!
2. Obvious - play on gamepad.
3. Don't drift that much and stay on track as long as you can. Also cut sharp corners as much as you can.

[Mr W]

By cutting sharp corners are you implying go off road?

[Frankie Boy]

Originally posted by jellobiafra:

Don´t look at your car, look as far ahead on the road as possible.
You have an analog throttle, use it.

Exactly what I was going to say - helps to improve massively on most courses.

[robert357 - W7 FTW]

Originally posted by Mr W:

By cutting sharp corners are you implying go off road?

Indeed. It's usualy faster (that why most maps have obstacles placed on sharp corners).

[Mr Deanster]

rally is always cheeky about cutting corners, it what you can get away with. That being said clutch bumping to get more accleration is a good thing too :D

[Trips]

You also have to have good lines and know when to turn in. But more often than not, the problem is usually people going in too fast rather than too slow.

[Cpt. Barbacoco]

Originally posted by jellobiafra:

Don´t look at your car, look as far ahead on the road as possible.
You have an analog throttle, use it.

Exactly this. Focus your atention on half the distance between the car and the top of the screen. The key is to have the car ready to take the corner when the turn gets there, then use brake and throttle to balance the car.
Also use only the handbrake to correct the angle of the car midcorner if you messed up the entry.

[Trips]

Handbrakes do have their purpose in extra-tight corners, but you rarely have to use it.

[James39]

Handbrake on very steep turns.

[HandHeldOctane]

If on the controller, try turning down steering input sensitivity to begin with to 30-40% turn brake/throttle input sensitivity up to 100% and run 50% stability, 50% counter steer and 50% ABS initially, and tune stability based on how much ROTATION you need when the car takes a set (when its loaded up in a corner) then it comes down to learning the track/car etc, when to cut and not to cut, when to jump and dive an angle over the course etc - some group 2 cars are actually faster holding 3rd on the limiter since you are inherently power limited when in 4th for example, this all takes time but its such a good game, you will enjoy that little learning curve!

[R.Wut]

I'm still terribad at this game but what helped me the most so far was to just play time trial and race the same track over and over again. I also use the restart button liberally, sometimes just practicing the first couple of curves on the track. The rallies with their almost infinite stream of different curves is just too much for me right now.
Also to practice staying in control of the car I imagine everything off the road is lava and hitting a tree or a rock is instant death. It's much better taking the curves too slow than to smash into something.

[Leigh]

Mid-air countersteer, obviously.