Community Rally School -Having questions bout driving techniques, game features, setups...? Go here!

[szekto 0]

Just a question, because I'm curious: why did the developers called the Scandinavian flick the 'pendulum turn'? :) I know that you can call it as 'pendulum', but I think in rallying the expression of 'Scandinavian flick' is more common than the 'pendulum'. 

[Kakkela 0]

szekto said:

Just a question, because I'm curious: why did the developers called the Scandinavian flick the 'pendulum turn'? :) I know that you can call it as 'pendulum', but I think in rallying the expression of 'Scandinavian flick' is more common than the 'pendulum'. 

Pendulum is probably more familiar thing for many people that aren't that into rallying YET.

[fat4eyes 0]

I hit a performance wall at the Clubman level and I'd like some tips on how to get better. I'm driving cleanly but can't get good enough times to get a podium finish on Clubman. I've looked at several videos (including most mentioned on this thread) but I can't quite put those concepts into practice, particularly on non-tarmac courses.

I've recorded videos of me driving a Lancia Integrale on tarmac and gravel and would like some tips on how to get better times. I'm using a Driving Force GT on automatic, but no other assists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fp6pcEcl5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOh4V4ZmaHo

[BadD0g 0]

@fat4eyes -

On gravel, you're not sliding enough. Sliding helps you carry more speed through the corner. You're turning in mid-corner, you need to be turning in more and earlier. Rally is all about momentum. When you make the car to rotate a little before the corner, it will have more momentum going into it, and you'll be able to carry that momentum through. You've probably learned about weigh transfer in watching tutorials, if you don't get it just remember this: brakes make the weight go forward, throttle makes the weight go back. The grip you have always follows the weight. More brakes means more front grip, more throttle means more rear grip. Use this to get the back end of the car to step out a little bit before the corner - hard on the brakes, turn in, ease off the brakes as the car rotates, accelerate out. While sliding you can keep using weight transfer to manage the slide by modulating the throttle and brakes at the same time - again remember: brakes = front grip, throttle = rear grip. It seems abstract and odd at first but you will start to feel how it works with time and practice. You'll also start to learn where you need to turn in to each type of corner, that will come with practice.

You're also very timid on the throttle. On gravel you don't need to lift nearly as much if you're left foot braking. Don't be afraid to keep your right foot planted when you're left foot braking. In Monte Carlo, you are lifting on relatively fast corners that you can take with much more speed, I know the road edges are scary but you've got more grip than you think. Instead of lifting, keep your right foot down and use the brakes instead to manage your speed. This won't work for every corner obviously but try to think of this when you're driving, it will eventually become second nature.  Drive Monte Carlo like a road course - follow the scrub marks on the road, keep clean lines, slow in, fast out, etc. - just be ready to react to the surface and the car. 

Hope these tips help. It's tricky to learn, but you'll get it. It's like learning real rally. These techniques carry over, so if you're not getting the Dirt tutorials, watch some real rally ones. Check out Team O'Neil rally school on Youtube, maybe seeing real-world examples would help you better. Everyone drives and learns differently, just give it time and an open mind and you'll get faster.

[fat4eyes 0]

BadD0g said:

@fat4eyes -

On gravel, you're not sliding enough. Sliding helps you carry more speed through the corner. You're turning in mid-corner, you need to be turning in more and earlier. Rally is all about momentum. When you make the car to rotate a little before the corner, it will have more momentum going into it, and you'll be able to carry that momentum through. You've probably learned about weigh transfer in watching tutorials, if you don't get it just remember this: brakes make the weight go forward, throttle makes the weight go back. The grip you have always follows the weight. More brakes means more front grip, more throttle means more rear grip. Use this to get the back end of the car to step out a little bit before the corner - hard on the brakes, turn in, ease off the brakes as the car rotates, accelerate out. While sliding you can keep using weight transfer to manage the slide by modulating the throttle and brakes at the same time - again remember: brakes = front grip, throttle = rear grip. It seems abstract and odd at first but you will start to feel how it works with time and practice. You'll also start to learn where you need to turn in to each type of corner, that will come with practice.

You're also very timid on the throttle. On gravel you don't need to lift nearly as much if you're left foot braking. Don't be afraid to keep your right foot planted when you're left foot braking. In Monte Carlo, you are lifting on relatively fast corners that you can take with much more speed, I know the road edges are scary but you've got more grip than you think. Instead of lifting, keep your right foot down and use the brakes instead to manage your speed. This won't work for every corner obviously but try to think of this when you're driving, it will eventually become second nature.  Drive Monte Carlo like a road course - follow the scrub marks on the road, keep clean lines, slow in, fast out, etc. - just be ready to react to the surface and the car. 

Hope these tips help. It's tricky to learn, but you'll get it. It's like learning real rally. These techniques carry over, so if you're not getting the Dirt tutorials, watch some real rally ones. Check out Team O'Neil rally school on Youtube, maybe seeing real-world examples would help you better. Everyone drives and learns differently, just give it time and an open mind and you'll get faster.

Thanks for the tips. I'll try that one on the throttle and brake first, it seems to be the easiest change to start with. On gravel I'm always nervous about turning early because I almost always misjudge the distance to the turn and either end up losing too much speed or crashing over the curve. I guess I'll just have to practice more.

[BadD0g 0]

If you're misjudging distances, you might want to lower your FOV.  It seems pretty high in the videos, I don't know what kind of monitor/TV setup you have but lowering it so the road on screen is closer to 1:1 scale might help you.

[MrDeap 0]

RinusRally said:

Don't watch video's to get better. I mean the Dirt Rally hotlap video's. Just read the topics in OP's post, and also watch the tutorials. Drive a lot in DR and find you own way in your driving style. Adapt a driving style, make it better, master it and make it even more better. Also don't use setups from the workshop. However, you may use them but only to feel and see why people tune these car their way. So tune your own setups and be the very best like you never was. from Zero to Hero! 

There's no such thing as driving style as perfecting a stage. You adapt to the car & track. Driving style is a driver error or mistake to ease thing, but perfecting a run has no style.

Some tune work better than other, some cars have decent default setup, some don't.

Driving style exist in a way though...

[shadow118 10]

fat4eyes said:

I hit a performance wall at the Clubman level and I'd like some tips on how to get better. I'm driving cleanly but can't get good enough times to get a podium finish on Clubman. I've looked at several videos (including most mentioned on this thread) but I can't quite put those concepts into practice, particularly on non-tarmac courses.

I've recorded videos of me driving a Lancia Integrale on tarmac and gravel and would like some tips on how to get better times. I'm using a Driving Force GT on automatic, but no other assists.

Watched a bit of the first one. You need to be more confident with the throttle. You could try some custom event runs where you go crazy, drive with no brakes, crash, etc. That way you can realize, what the car can actually do, like if you full throttlede a certain corner, would the car stay on the road or not, and if it does, you can now use that knowledge in your regular career driving. 

[Lagoa86 0]

Having issues driving in Greece. I get first place on Elite quit often. Just Greece kills me. Driving witht the Ford focus 2007 at the moment. Are there any easy (not to complicated) things I can change for more grip and better handling?

[SkyRex 36]

Lagoa86 said:

Having issues driving in Greece. I get first place on Elite quit often. Just Greece kills me. Driving witht the Ford focus 2007 at the moment. Are there any easy (not to complicated) things I can change for more grip and better handling?

For greece I tend to go with quite high ground clearance and quite soft dampers. This way you can drive over a lot of the road edges, without upsetting the car, because the suspension swallows the difference.

But that won't save you from walls and such. Greece is pretty narrow overall. At the beginning I wasn't very good there but it gets better with practise. By now greece is one of my favorite locations, for the very reason that you have such little margins for error if going fast. That makes the thrill ;)

[MrDeap 0]

Each time you lift off the throttle, steer more aggressively. You have to experiment how the front tire understeer.

Turn in more late & rotate more aggressively while hitting the apex is a good racing style point until you know the track to steer less with progression once it is known.

[worldcitizen191 0]

I bought the wrong game but now I'm stuck with it may as well ask some things.

How many tracks are there. I seem to be playing on the same tracks always just different weather combinations or reverse? The graphics and audio are great. I'm using an Xbox One controller works ok.

How many upgrades do I need before I can be competitive? 

[shadow118 10]

worldcitizen191 said:

I bought the wrong game but now I'm stuck with it may as well ask some things.

How many tracks are there. I seem to be playing on the same tracks always just different weather combinations or reverse? The graphics and audio are great. I'm using an Xbox One controller works ok.

How many upgrades do I need before I can be competitive? 

There are 2 long stages (10-15km) for each location, which are also reversed and all of those are also cut in half for shorter stages, making a total of 12 stages for each ot the 6 locations

Depends on your skill and the difficulty. It's better to have it fully upgraded cars, but you can still win or be competitive without all of the upgrades. 

[MrDeap 0]

I think it's more you can make up in the top 3 without the upgrade on the easiest difficulty.

[worldcitizen191 0]

I'm no good at the game yet have progressed to clubman. Now I'm in a more difficult place that I don't feel ready for. Is there any way apart from resetting to go back again? I would have preferred to continue playing the previous level until I mastered it or got a few first places but now I've been moved on because I got a 3rd. Is this a fault in the game design? Shouldn't I be allowed to stay on the lower levels until I feel ready to move up and then move up? 

[shadow118 10]

worldcitizen191 said:

I'm no good at the game yet have progressed to clubman. Now I'm in a more difficult place that I don't feel ready for. Is there any way apart from resetting to go back again? I would have preferred to continue playing the previous level until I mastered it or got a few first places but now I've been moved on because I got a 3rd. Is this a fault in the game design? Shouldn't I be allowed to stay on the lower levels until I feel ready to move up and then move up? 

It's not a fault in the game design, that's how it's supposed to be. Top 3 places advance to a higher class, bottom 3 places go down a class. If you got advanced, there's really no need to go back. The learning process won't change depending on which class you are in. And while you might not get top 3 in the first go, you can stay in the Clubman and train there, The money is probably gonna be better, even if you finish a bit lower than you did in Open 

[Dommel007 0]

When I take handbrake turns I let the car slide but when I hit the throttle the car does not respond straight away. It feels like it nearly dies on me. Is this due to lack of speed, settings of the game/car or type of car? In other rally games I approach the corner, brake, turn in and hit the handbrake. The car starts sliding and as soon as I see the end of the corner I hit the throttle. Depending on the surface and FWD, RWD or AWD I vary the amount of throttle I give. I know that in FWD cars it's hard to keep the car sliding (as it is in real life) but even with RWD or AWD I tend to have problems in keeping the momentum and nearly every time the cars comes almost to a complete stand still before accelerating again.

I read here that you can drop a gear but as I'm driving automatic this isn't an option...

[KK78 0]

Dommel007 said:

When I take handbrake turns I let the car slide but when I hit the throttle the car does not respond straight away. It feels like it nearly dies on me. Is this due to lack of speed, settings of the game/car or type of car? In other rally games I approach the corner, brake, turn in and hit the handbrake. The car starts sliding and as soon as I see the end of the corner I hit the throttle. Depending on the surface and FWD, RWD or AWD I vary the amount of throttle I give. I know that in FWD cars it's hard to keep the car sliding (as it is in real life) but even with RWD or AWD I tend to have problems in keeping the momentum and nearly every time the cars comes almost to a complete stand still before accelerating again.

I read here that you can drop a gear but as I'm driving automatic this isn't an option...

A few things can cause this I have found, if driving auto and with traction control it can make certain cars almost stall when using the handbrake, so if you can ease off or turn off TC. Also map the release clutch function to L1 (on PS4) and when you come to a corner quickly handbrake then drop the clutch- takes  bit of getting used to but it keeps the momentum and revs up.

[Dommel007 0]

KK78 said:

Dommel007 said:

When I take handbrake turns I let the car slide but when I hit the throttle the car does not respond straight away. It feels like it nearly dies on me. Is this due to lack of speed, settings of the game/car or type of car? In other rally games I approach the corner, brake, turn in and hit the handbrake. The car starts sliding and as soon as I see the end of the corner I hit the throttle. Depending on the surface and FWD, RWD or AWD I vary the amount of throttle I give. I know that in FWD cars it's hard to keep the car sliding (as it is in real life) but even with RWD or AWD I tend to have problems in keeping the momentum and nearly every time the cars comes almost to a complete stand still before accelerating again.

I read here that you can drop a gear but as I'm driving automatic this isn't an option...

A few things can cause this I have found, if driving auto and with traction control it can make certain cars almost stall when using the handbrake, so if you can ease off or turn off TC. Also map the release clutch function to L1 (on PS4) and when you come to a corner quickly handbrake then drop the clutch- takes  bit of getting used to but it keeps the momentum and revs up.

I turned of the TC (was on 2) and handbrake turns work OK now. I need a lot of practice now to get used to the more nervous behaviour when applying full throttle and use less full throttle. I do not have a clutch pedal but nevertheless the TC adjustment did the trick. Thank you very much !

[KK78 0]

No worries buddy :) You can have the clutch enabled on the controller, it is just not set automatically, you need to go into controller settings and pick a button to map it to

[Fidds78 0]

Turn off Traction AND Stability Control, I find myself going round the tighter corners much quicker

[Fidds78 0]

I really (!) need help with my setup for the different surfaces.....I know a bit about what most settings do but I've never really messed about with them, almost always on default setup. 
And I know if I can get it set up right I can shave nanoseconds off my PBs!

[BadD0g 0]

Ready for a wall of text?
It all depends on what you want each car to do in each scenario. The descriptions do a pretty good job of explaining the mechanical effect of each setting, if you think about what you want the car to do you can figure out which settings to change accordingly.

You can change many different settings to change a certain handling characteristic, but different settings may be better for certain situations. You have a lot of options and it may seem intimidating at first, so you have to try different things one at a time so you can learn how the car responds to each one. For example, if you want oversteer in a 4WD car you have a lot of choices:

-Move the brake bias back to get the car to rotate more under braking
-Soften the front suspension or sway bar (or stiffen the rear) to increase weight transfer to the front, causing more rotation under braking
-Add some positive toe angle to the front wheels for slightly sharper turn-in
-Loosen front diff for sharper turn-in and less understeer on-throttle
-Move the center diff power bias to the rear for more on-throttle oversteer
-Tighten rear diff for more on-throttle oversteer

...and there's many more. All of these can be categorized under "causes oversteer," but they are all different. You need to ask yourself what the car does, and what you want it to do. Maybe you feel you could be faster with more oversteer when braking into a corner, so try one setting at a time. Try moving back the brake bias first, see how it feels and if it helps you feel more comfortable with the car. If not, try loosening the front diff, or softening the front suspension. Maybe you want the car to rotate when you get on the throttle. Try tightening the rear diff and loosening the front, then maybe try moving the power bias back.

It's all about experimentation. Contrary to common belief there's no such thing as an 'ideal setup,' it all depends on you - how you drive, how you like the cars to feel - if you're comfortable with the car you will be faster. Just like everything else in the game, it's a learning process. So go mess around with setups! Remember: try one option at a time, think about how you want to car to feel. With some practice you'll find what works for you, and you'll have a better understanding of why the cars drive the way they do. 

[Fidds78 0]

@BadD0g
yeah, that was interesting reading (no sarcasm!!)
I appreciate your words mate and totally get when you say about experimenting. But, what I I was actually hoping for was a screenie of others' car setups and their reasons for doing so. That way, myself (and others who no doubt will find this very helpful) would be able to set up generally for gravel/tarmac/snow and then tweak the settings as each individual sees fit.
I'm going back a bit here but I think the later GTs had the function of downloading setups from other drivers - this is something I've suggested btw ;)
Certainly the PC version has it so no reason why the console versions don't?

[BadD0g 0]

I don't have any setup screenshots for you, I start with default and go from there depending on the car/stage/conditions. I forgot that you console guys can't just download setups, that's kind of a bummer. On PC that functionality is handled through the Steam Workshop, so I don't think the game is set up to manage downloads on its own without the help of an extra system like Steam. That might be one of those things that doesn't ever make it into this game, unfortunately. Hopefully that will be something they build in to future games.