Differences between cars

[Tiro]

heyo!

So i've bought the game and i'm absolutely loving it. I really agree with the game's philosophy of making rally into something calm and soothing. I've made a lot of progress in only a handful of hours, but there is one thing i've been struggling about:

How are cars of one category different?

I'm very conscious they are different from one another. With some, I can control my slides easily and avoid crashing. Others are significantly harder. I do realise the descriptions for each car include some tips, and they are based on real rally cars, but to a novice like me, the only difference I can notice is how easy they are to drive.

For example, I've tried the esky v1, la montaine and das 220 in group 2, as well as das 119i. The three former were very nice, and fitted me very well. However, das 119i felt like an absolute bus. I couldn't notice much difference in power, but I couldn't keep it on the road when I felt I was driving similarly. I do realise it must be tied to a style of driving, and maybe tied to the rear engine, as das 199i is present on the top of the leaderboards, but I just can't make it work.

Could anybody give me a hand discerning them? Thanks!

[Matt Tanner]

I don't know how realistic the physics of art of rally can be. But I imagine that the basic principles are respected.

DAS119i seems to be a porshe with therefore a rear mid-engine.

the center of gravity of the car is therefore located at the rear. It is therefore very important to maintain the throttle when cornering to maintain the grip of the car, otherwise the weight of the engine will drag the rear of the car to the outside of the bend. The handbrake should be avoided with this type of car, the brake is sufficient (load transfer).

Generally speaking, we often brake too late ... and we always lose more time by braking too late.

Force yourself to brake early, right wheel, take your turn to the rope with always a little acceleration.

Force yourself to be careful.

[Tiro]

Originally posted by Matt Tanner:

I don't know how realistic the physics of art of rally can be. But I imagine that the basic principles are respected.

DAS119i seems to be a porshe with therefore a rear mid-engine.

the center of gravity of the car is therefore located at the rear. It is therefore very important to maintain the throttle when cornering to maintain the grip of the car, otherwise the weight of the engine will drag the rear of the car to the outside of the bend. The handbrake should be avoided with this type of car, the brake is sufficient (load transfer).

Generally speaking, we often brake too late ... and we always lose more time by braking too late.

Force yourself to brake early, right wheel, take your turn to the rope with always a little acceleration.

Force yourself to be careful.

Thanks a lot!
I've learned to manage my grip in F1 2020, which might not translate too well.
When sliding (in general, not only with central-rear engines), does throttle help keep grip? Does braking help end the grip?

As I said earlier, I'm a huge fan of the game's feel, but damn is it hard trying to get how to properly race

[Matt Tanner]

Everything depends on the situation. In general when sliding it is better to avoid braking. The idea being to learn to master the glide with a little acceleration and counter-steering if necessary.

Be careful, however, to fully understand these principles, it is better to lower the stability aids as much as possible otherwise, the behavior will not be natural at all.

But some very difficult cars I personally find that 20-30% stability is pretty good.

[Tiro]

Originally posted by Matt Tanner:

Everything depends on the situation. In general when sliding it is better to avoid braking. The idea being to learn to master the glide with a little acceleration and counter-steering if necessary.

Be careful, however, to fully understand these principles, it is better to lower the stability aids as much as possible otherwise, the behavior will not be natural at all.

But some very difficult cars I personally find that 20-30% stability is pretty good.

I'm running no assists whatsoever, to truly face the "art of rally". I haven't unlocked category 3 yet, so i'm not expecting anything to be crazy just yet.

[Tiro]

Basically, should I be looking to slide into a corner, or try to maintain grip as long as I can and control the inevitable slide when I run out of grip?

[miketsukami bo.]

- Should I be looking to slide into a corner, or try to maintain grip as long as I can?
- Yes.

Surprisingly, that's the answer. If you ask the resident top 5 players on the online leaderboards they will tell you it's better to avoid sliding at all times. However as you get better at the game you'll be able to fling your car into a corner with a mad weight transfer and still keep optimal speed. art of rally is really great when it comes to drifting too, so just have fun trying all the things!

I do however recommend finding a car that suits your driving style and sticking with that one in the beginning. There are many different factors that make the experience with each car varied and unique - wheel base, counter-steer, steering sensitivity, power in lower gears and even weight. Some of these you can tune from the gameplay settings. It seems that sensitivity in advanced controls also works for keyboard players. Therefore it's better to get used to one car and see which settings work best for you.

[Tiro]

Originally posted by miketsukami bo.:

- Should I be looking to slide into a corner, or try to maintain grip as long as I can?
- Yes.

Surprisingly, that's the answer. If you ask the resident top 5 players on the online leaderboards they will tell you it's better to avoid sliding at all times. However as you get better at the game you'll be able to fling your car into a corner with a mad weight transfer and still keep optimal speed. art of rally is really great when it comes to drifting too, so just have fun trying all the things!

I do however recommend finding a car that suits your driving style and sticking with that one in the beginning. There are many different factors that make the experience with each car varied and unique - wheel base, counter-steer, steering sensitivity, power in lower gears and even weight. Some of these you can tune from the gameplay settings. It seems that sensitivity in advanced controls also works for keyboard players. Therefore it's better to get used to one car and see which settings work best for you.

Thanks a lot!

[Squizzo]

Originally posted by Tiromir:

Basically, should I be looking to slide into a corner, or try to maintain grip as long as I can and control the inevitable slide when I run out of grip?

Slide for fun, grip for leaderboards. Usually. But it could depend on your driving stile, if you're good to do both at the same time. :)
The best thing to judge is to use your personal best ghost car and see the difference, when you're gaining or losing time in corners.

[Simon said EAT DUST PLAYER_1 !]

With the 119i, the engine really is mounted behind the rear wheels. Only the latest generations of 911s had seen their "lump" being pushed ever-so-slightly more forward. But those have very little in common with what the game offers you in group 2.

Rally competition-cars are optimized for:
handling, driveabiltiy (engine- and gear-ratio wise) and endurance. No slammed to the ground suspension, here unless on very particular tarmac-events. Luckily: AoR does not include tuning in any way (and I am thankful for that).

A classic 911 is a small-ish, narrow-ish, very light, short wheel-base car with engine and gearbox (the main concentrations of weight) in the back. As previously mentioned: slow-in, fast out is it's mantra, as you need to maintain dynamic weight over the back wheels to stabilize the grip on the rear axle. On the flip-side: get that pesky rear settled and hooking up and you can power through turns like nothin else with 2WD. And in the real world, having the rear axle carry so much of the car's mass helps in braking-performance - as long as you make sure, you keep the car tracking in a straight line.

So brake late, but brake to a slightly slower entry-speed that you would in a "normal" front-engined car, then apply power a tad earlier (without excessive wheelspin, keep the wheels gripping) and reap superior exit-speed.