Initial D - Times and Tips

[John Beaulieu]

this thread is for peeps to post initial times, tips etc - the league will take place in a seperate thread

at the weekend i will draw up the rules for the league (points for a win etc) and people who want to participate can post their car preference in there

camps

[Henning]

Camps: -What do you say about one post only per participant, where the participants admin there own results. Just to keep it simple.

[C']

Akina Downhill, Day, Dry - AE86 Trueno

3' 05" 136

Wasn't even that good a run, messed up the 5 hairpins and one of the early dual hairpins so reckon I should be able to cut a few seconds of this time. A sub 3 minute time should be possible.

[Henning]

Akina Downhill, Day, Dry - AE86 Trueno

3' 05" 136

Wasn't even that good a run, messed up the 5 hairpins and one of the early dual hairpins so reckon I should be able to cut a few seconds of this time. A sub 3 minute time should be possible.

Great time, Great track, how do you perform an okay turn? I have a very hard time not hitting the railings?

[Fuddle]

Akina Downhill, Day, Dry - AE86 Trueno

3' 05" 136

i didnt think my akina time was very good, but i didnt think its was as bad as it obviously is
better get some more practice...i cant do the gutter thing very well, but i'm not sure how to make up that much time...maybe a diferent car

[C']

Akina Downhill, Day, Dry - AE86 Trueno

3' 05" 136

Wasn't even that good a run, messed up the 5 hairpins and one of the early dual hairpins so reckon I should be able to cut a few seconds of this time. A sub 3 minute time should be possible.

Great time, Great track, how do you perform an okay turn? I have a very hard time not hitting the railings?

Well personally (and I don't make any attempt at all to suggest this is the BEST method) for the really sharp hairpins, approach from the outside, release the accelerator and apply the brake just before you start to turn. You should start to feel the rear wheels drifting outwards and as you leave the apex of the curve, ou need to apply the countersteer and begin to reapply the accelerator in order to launch out of the corner as fast as possible. During the drift I find that I may need to lightly press the accelerator or brake in order to control the drift to prevent hitting the sides.

The timing for the turn needs to be such that you cut straight across the apex of the turn. So close that your bonnet is very close to touching the inside of the bend but don't actually let it touch. The roads on Akina are very narrow so if you drift in the middle of the road you will slide outwrads and hit the outside railing or you will be forced to add more brake and possibly shift down into third which will lose you a lot speed. To start with try to take the hairpins at around the 110mph - 115mph mark, but eventually with practice this can be increased to 130mph (more?). Also the secret is to not apply full brake or full steering lock to initiate the drift. A full steering lock causes the back end to slide out to far and it will catch the outside railing. Likewise, if you apply full pressure on the brake pedal to initiate drift, the brakes are more likely to lock and you will understeer.

This is how I take the sharp hairpins. However, for some of the shallower bends I use accel-off braking where you release the accelerator, begin the turn to initiate drift, then reapply accelerator to control.

[C']

Akina Downhill, Day, Dry - AE86 Trueno

3' 05" 136

i didnt think my akina time was very good, but i didnt think its was as bad as it obviously is
better get some more practice...i cant do the gutter thing very well, but i'm not sure how to make up that much time...maybe a diferent car

It's just practice. I've been playing Akina for about 6 months now but found I've made real progress the last couple of days as I've discovered a couple of little flaws in my drift technique whilst playing at home which I've been able to sort out. Certianly I can't wait to get back to Arcade Stage now to try my new techniques.

I will say that using the gutters is not imperative to having a good run on Akina. They can help but concentrate on being able to drift the bends without gutters first, then see if you can work guttering into your style later.

Gonna try to beat your Akagi time now Akagi is a great track. It was only added to Arcade Stage ver.2 so I've only raced it a couple of times prior to Special Stage but it could be my favourite course. It has the demanding, technical corners of Akina but the road is just a touch wider, allowing you to drift at slightly higher speeds, plus some wicked straight(ish) sections that really allow you to floor it.

[Henning]

Well personally (and I don't make any attempt at all to suggest this is the BEST method) for the really sharp hairpins, approach from the outside, release the accelerator and apply the brake just before you start to turn. You should start to feel the rear wheels drifting outwards and as you leave the apex of the curve, ou need to apply the countersteer and begin to reapply the accelerator in order to launch out of the corner as fast as possible. During the drift I find that I may need to lightly press the accelerator or brake in order to control the drift to prevent hitting the sides.

The timing for the turn needs to be such that you cut straight across the apex of the turn. So close that your bonnet is very close to touching the inside of the bend but don't actually let it touch. The roads on Akina are very narrow so if you drift in the middle of the road you will slide outwrads and hit the outside railing or you will be forced to add more brake and possibly shift down into third which will lose you a lot speed. To start with try to take the hairpins at around the 110mph - 115mph mark, but eventually with practice this can be increased to 130mph (more?). Also the secret is to not apply full brake or full steering lock to initiate the drift. A full steering lock causes the back end to slide out to far and it will catch the outside railing. Likewise, if you apply full pressure on the brake pedal to initiate drift, the brakes are more likely to lock and you will understeer.

This is how I take the sharp hairpins. However, for some of the shallower bends I use accel-off braking where you release the accelerator, begin the turn to initiate drift, then reapply accelerator to control.

Thanks C' very informative indeed, I will try the different techniques later today.

I have been experimenting with different shift down/up techniques but it?s hard and I hasn?t achieved the desired effect I?m after.

[Henning]

Playing now / and have improved my performance allot with the GT Force. The pad is great but with the wheel it?s a whole new ball game. Before in perspective I was like sitting on the roof of the car wobbeling with the pad, now I?m more doing the DRIVING close to the road. Hard to explain but something like that.

Enough with my wheel nagging.

Usui - left (day/dry) / 3'01''519 / TRUENO
Akagi - Downhill (day/dry) / 2'30''617 / TRUENO

[Fuddle]

managed to improve just a touch.

Akagi 2'29"286 FD
...i've had almost 2 seconds faster by the 2nd checkpoint, just cant carry it through the rest yet

Akina is quite a bit better than my previous, but still way off C's.

Akina 3'10"271 MR 2


(EDIT...both downhill/dry of course)

[C']

New Akagi time, downhill, dry in an FD

2' 26" 666

I attempted to use my FD on Akina but simply can't get it to drift into the hairpins anywhere near as well as I can with the 86. If I could get the technique down I could blitz that Akina time I reckon.

[Henning]

Great time guys, especially Akagi 2?26??666
Spend this evening learning Akina and the last hour getting under 2'30 at Akagi.

Akagi - Downhill (day/dry) / 2'29''079 / TRUENO
Akina - Downhill (day/dry) / 3'08''927 / TRUENO

Akagi is pure technical fun and Akina gets me totally exhausted for all the concentration you have to put in.

[Madbury]

Are we allowing all levels of tune or standard cars only.

If so has anyone got the high rev engine for the 86, I'm wondering if it makes a significant difference to the cars performance.

[C']

Are we allowing all levels of tune or standard cars only.

If so has anyone got the high rev engine for the 86, I'm wondering if it makes a significant difference to the cars performance.

Tuned cars of course. The official worldwide rankings for Arcade Stage allow tuned cars so why should we be any different. If Camps' league plan comes to fruition it will start in about 2 weeks. Plenty of time to fully tune whatever car you decide to use.

[wager]

Quick question about tuning.

Ok, i've been playing this since last night, using the Skyline. I've picked Tuning Option A, and having completed the tuning, every so often (as i gain more points) i'm getting the chance to change parts. I've just been saying "YES" to all the changes. Is that the correct way to do it? Is there a ceiling on how much you can upgrade a car?

Camps - I hope that Myogi time 3.02.... was obtained using a heavily modded car because i'm about 5 secs behind and i've already finished the initial tune-up. If not then i've gots loads of practice.