Onboards: AMS2 vs. Real Life

Since we're on Long Beach onboards:

This layout would go great with the FRetro G2 cars and the full grid of liveries I've got just lying around.

 

Onboard McLaren MP4/1 at Brands Hatch:

Deleted due to double post.......

 

Onboard Mercedes Benz 190E Evo II with Klaus Ludwig - Nuerburgring:

 

Damn....I fixed it

 

Onboard BMW M3 E30 DTM with Johnny Cecotto - Nuerburgring:

 

Ok.. I will throw a stone in the lake here. Anyone ever pondered why in this and many other onboard videos looking at the way the steering inputs are given, it can be noticed that across certain corners the wheel angle is fluctuating quite a bit and the driver is giving some deliberate, almost brutal hits of "instantaneous" steering angle?
Anybody ever thought what is happening to the car in those moments for the driver to do so?

 

From my limited personal experience in RL Auto Cross events, I use such steering technique to gauge turn-in response and to check for some indicator of threshold of grip-loss.

In the car I drove at that time (Sticky / soft street performance tires), it resulted in vibration (may be tread-crawl) coming through both the steering wheel and chassis when the tires begin to scrub. The course had an early slalom section where I could throw the car into the turns very aggressively without much fear of inducing over-steer.

Slow-corner exit had to be handled carefully with 600hp on tap but, having a good indicator of front grip-loss allowed for smoother transitions (un-winding the wheel combined with throttle application).

I doubt slicks would act the same exact way but, it provided me a clear way to detect over-driving the car (& Scrubbing too much speed) through the corners. Over-driving the slow corners can really set things up for poor corner exit & straight-line speeds. There's not many places to make up time lost in such short race courses with each lap being timed.

 

But surely in modern GT3 cars one must be truly smooth and careful with steering inputs to minimise any loss of momentum in order to fast, as preached by many YT sim racers and ACC acolytes?

Lol no:

 

One thing I see time and time again is the difference in steering angles between real-life and simracing videos. In reality, even modest corners can require 90° rotation or more whereas a lot of simracers like their steering so tight that a brief nudge is all that is needed. When I adjusted AC, ACC and AMS2's steering to match real-life rotation, it immediately improved my ability to catch slides and control power slides.

I wish there was more of a debate on this topic - wheel rotation is an extremely important setting that colours one's perception of handling characteristics.

 

The car behavior in this video reminds me of driving GT3 class in rF2.

I think it's not uncommon to see RL drivers working the wheel pretty frantically when really pushing hard, on the very edge. Steering wise, they are operating within a "range" where the front tires are sometimes scrubbing, sometimes at optimal grip, sometimes building or reducing heat, sometimes countering over-steer, etc.

Another thing that I can't avoid noticing is the role that the drive-train plays in driver response. During cornering, they may try to avoid shifting to a lower gear but, cause the engine to drop a bit too low in it's power-curve, causing it to lug. We can see and hear the physical results in the ride, driver movement, engine and gearbox sounds. This may serve to unsettle the car somewhat and add to the "edgey-ness" of the car handling.

 

just waiting......coming soooooooon......

 

The thing that also comes in to play is "muscle memory". If you drive a track often enough you develop muscle memory. Once you get used to a certain steering input and developed muscle memory for a track, changing steering input will throw you off and it will take time to get used to it again. In my case, I like to use little wheel rotation simply because I'm used to it and have developed muscle memory for it. Also, I get annoyed if I have to turn the wheel 180 degree in a tight corner
I think in the end it comes down to personal preference vs reality.

 

I won't disagree with you there, but it seems strange to me that so much emphasis is placed on what the sim is telling the driver and so little on the opposite.

 

Formula Vintage

Lotus 49

Brabham BT26

Also, although an earlier car, this video shows the driving style of Jim Clark from 1965:

 

T1 and T2 in the video do not look at all smooth in my book... Just watch the brutality of the action exercised on the wheel...
Honestly it's enough not to watch any further...

 

Totally agree: in most sims people seem to rarely approach 90 degrees steering while in almost all real world footage the inputs easily go over 90 and even to 180...

 

The problem is it affects the way even well done sim physics react: if you are capable to apply an unrealistic amount of steering in a very much shorter time the behavior of the car will change significantly. In simulator you can do that because all you need to do is tune down the FFB gain, but in real life having a crazily direct wheel means having crazily strong forces and being unable to have proper control on the car's line.

 

I understand what you are saying. But the adjustable Steering Lock has been added for a reason

 

Yes - Monaco.