Where do you use the handbrake instead of regular brake?

[Stefandreus]

Like it seems that it's most useful in sharp turns at low speed, but i'm not sure, i have still troubles in tarmac surfaces, like in japan, germany, those "u" curves descending from the mountains, is it regular brake or handbrake?
I try to slide, countersteer and then downshift but sometimes the car oversteer a lot and i lose time, ending with a spinning car
but i don't use the handbrake in those cases, regular brake, and downshifting as i said
thanks for eventual advice

[Franky M.]

The handbrake gets a lot of use in real-world rallying but given art of rally's driving physics and stage design, it's less useful in-game than you would think. There's very few corners sharp enough to make it worth considering (a few hairpins in mt haruna come to mind) and it's almost always faster to simply drive around without sliding the car.

[Stefandreus]

thanks in fact i noticed the same thing but wanted to know by more experienced players, thanks a lot

[Simon said EAT DUST PLAYER_1 !]

basically when you ran out of road to swing your back into the turn. THEN you can try and force it with the handbrake. A quick jab at it at the right moment when your outer wheels are loaded up with tha car's weight enough to break traction where and exactly when you need it done. Won't stop you from crashing big-time when severely overspeeding, though. Your tyre-sidewalls are only ever-so-effective when used as brakes. They, too have their limits.

[Stefandreus]

thanks i tried to use it even in hairpins and sometimes if done effectively it's good, but i changed the button from B to Y and sometimes it's not worth it since you have to downshift brake, and shift again, if you didn't end with the nose of the car too inside (i guess oversteering?) and lose time
So i never thought of this, because well...in this game i've always used the normal brake even in the situation described by you, so i guess i can't explain it properly in words but generally normal left trigger brake, handbrake to be faster in sharp bends, but it depends
i'm not a pro, so i can't say to have a clear idea, i often use what is better, or what i think it's better

[Squizzo]

Most of the times I just "tap" it for little corrections or slow speed corners, unless I'm just going for a fun ride.

[Simon said EAT DUST PLAYER_1 !]

yep, using it at very slow speeds is the best way to make use of them in the sense that it will put you into the right mind-set. YES, more advanced drivers might still use it in certain faster-rolling situations to balance out a sliding car, but realistically: that comes after you mastered the slow-speed stuff and developed some muscle-memory around it.

In the real world: anything rwd will punish you for using the handbrake in the wrong situations - this game though does not take putting half a foot wrong as serious, though.

...and please remember to disable all stability-assists in the gameplay-submenu. Since I use keyboard, I tend to leave 10..30% ABS on. That is it. Real rally-cars in general do not come with ABS and/or are sanctioned to disable it during actual stage-runs.

[Stefandreus]

i have 0 on all the things, counter-steer factor at 100% but i'm still confused about it
so ABS 0, stability 0 since i bought the game lol
i guess these don't influence leaderboards, imagine how many leaderboards would we have lol
anyway even damage, i'm still unsure about it, it's fine to keep the car on the track, but i don't see other advantages in putting damage on severe, and what causes what
for ex. gearbox damage, ok but there's that track in finland with a turn after another, i'm always "1st-2nd gear-1st", there i use the handbrake, anyway i'm not an expert so thanks for all the advices
and even changing gear while sliding to remain on track, i don't know how to do it properly, and if it's better to just make the curve normally, because often i find to much on the edge of the curve and i keep downshifting until i can keep going but it's risky because sometimes i end up with the car's front toward the inside of the curve, so i lose a lot of time since at that point i'm stuck and i must accelerate again from being still
it's very hard to describe these things in words and i'm not a native speaker so sorry for the confusion

[Stefandreus]

...and also: changing gear while keeping the gas pressed or lift the throttle before upshift/downshift...does it matter?
Like higher gears seem to give more stability on some surfaces
but about lifting and shift gear, maybe that affects the gearbox damage?

basically when sliding i have to upshift, not downshift, since the rear of the car tend to spin, so i upshift to keep it steady
anyway, as i said, it's difficult to talk about these situations in words

[Simon said EAT DUST PLAYER_1 !]

...and also: changing gear while keeping the gas pressed or lift the throttle before upshift/downshift...does it matter?

it does when it comes to driving-dynamics as well as it does not in technically since this game does not simulate a realistic driveline in all its aspects.

basic knowledge of vehicle-dynamics is helpful. How does the typical torque-curve of an ice-engine influence vehicle-cotrol? What is the difference between naturally-aspirated engines, forced-induction engines with either supercharger and/or turbo?

The reason why higher gears are easier to control when negotiating a slippery stretch of corners is simple: less torque at lower RPM. Torque matters. As a rough rule: Torque x RPM = power.

As a hint: watch "Drift Bible" with Keiichi Tsuchiya (should be available on youtube) for a demonstration of how to establish balance into / throughout a drift. This is for the most part pretty relevant for rally-driving technique when negotiating loose surfaces. Understanding the basic concept of vehicle-dynamics beyond just grip-driving is key in all motorsport.

Furthermore as an extra: Team O'Neil Rally School has a very good series of educational videos about: Rally driving concepts and technique. I recommend for advanced study after you covered the basics.