When to downshift?

[TayDex]

Im new to sim racing and shifting in general. Shifting up is clear, I mean you basically get told when to with the rpm lights. But when to downshift? When I slow down for a corner of course I will have to shift down but how do I decide how many gears I shift down?

[rayhere]

You really should check out YouTube, under this sim and you will get some help. I often look there for race sim help. Hope this helps.

[Samari 🐉]

That's a very important question.
First, when you're heading into a corner, you need to know what gear you should be in while cruising it. That comes through practice and knowing both the circuit and the car gear's, like how long Gear 1 is. For example, the first chicane in monza, there are some cars in which is possible entering and exiting the corners in 2nd gears, others like the jaguar (this one has a loong gear ratio) really apreciate 1st gear all the way through.
Okay, so now, let's say you've practiced this specific track and car combination long enough, and you know exactly which gear you should be in when entering the first corner, for example. Cool, so whats the next step? Braking, that is, of course.
You also know what is the point you should be braking from the practice you've done before, so there you go braking all the way to the corner. During your braking, you'll want to downshift as soon as the car can handle. Why is that? Because there is a new factor here called engine braking.
And what the heck is Engine Braking, my dude? That is a resource in the engine of the cars that helps the vehicle to slow down after you lift the accelerator pedal. We're talking about racing here, afterall, a sport where 0,5 seconds mean the difference between pole and back of the pack, so every second counts, and we'll try to exploit everything that can be exploited.
So, the deal here is as easy as to just downshift real fast?
Nope, if you downshift very fast, you're putting your car in a risky situation. If you happen to downshift to first gear when you're moving at, let's say 90 km/h, but that specific car you're riding hits the limit at 70 km/h in the first gear, then you've just played yourself real good, you money shifted. That may cause some severe damage to the engine, even ruin it, so, once again, you need to know the limits of the machine too.
Long story short, downshift as fast as the car allows you to, the timing will come with practice, Knowledge is key. Since this is a GT3 racing sim, and these cars have some assistances that prevent you from messing up, you just got to find a balance between upsetting the car, causing it to lose control (that can happen too, if you downshift way to fast, but i've never saw anyone doing it in GT3) and being too slow to be at the right speed at the entry of the corner.
And that is it, hope i didn't forget anything important, that is a long text and there's a lot of info in it, so it's easy to get confused. Anyways, cheers, have a nice new year, and never stop improving, there's always something new to learn, whether it is in motorsport or life in general (although there is a very thin line between these two for some of us, like Steve Mcqueen put it once: "When you're racing, it's life; Anything that comes before or after, is just waiting") ;).

[pussi]

no trick you just get the feeling overtime really