someone teach me how to drive RWD in this game, please???

Here’s the thing, I am a beginner and I know I’m not all that good. However, I can drive some D and C class fwd cars very well. In RWD, I have a B class Mercedes 190E and a Subaru BRX that I can drive pretty well, and a "71 Nissan Skyline that I love in both D and C class too. I also have a B class Buick GNX and a '90 Camaro that I’m ok in.

I upgraded to being a VIP member today and Forza gifted me some cars. One of which is a Lexus IS F. I thought that was cool, so I downloaded it, maxed it with all the handling I could and still keep it to a B600, and took it out on the track. Ran ten laps at Sebring Full with it. Dreadful, I mean just dreadful. This car doesn’t turn corners, it slides through them. I spend more time going sideways than I do driving straight ahead. I can control the car if I drive it like I have a 2 year old in the back seat, but its a racing game, right? I want to be able to do more than that. I managed one clean lap, but it was like 2:58 and my personal best is in the 2:20s for B class (done with a Buick GNX) on that track.

I figured maybe it just needs a good tune. Worm usually has very good handling tunes for most cars, so I downloaded his and took it out for another 10 laps at Sebring. It was worse. If I give this thing more than 1/4 throttle, it just goes sideways, so what’s the point? I’ve noticed this with most RWD cars that have high HP in the game. I simply can not drive them at all. Its like trying to run track on a hockey rink, it just doesn’t work. I have quite a few cars (Viper, Camaro, Nova, etc.) like this that I can’t drive at all. I know its not the cars, nor the game. Its me, I totally suck with them… The thing is, I want to learn how to drive them. I can handle RWDs that are toned down in HP and tuned with the best possible handling. I can drive most FWD cars without a problem. AWD is ok for me and mid engine RWD (Ferraris mostly) I am ok with too. Put me in a front engine RWD car and its just over. The back end slides out from under me around almost every turn. If I baby it into the turn and try to come out with any momentum, the rear end lets loose at the end of the turn and I go sideways. I’m not talking full throttle either, maybe 1/4 or 3/8 throttle and its still spinning all over the place. I just don’t get it, but I want to learn.

I took the Lexus out for 5 laps on Alps Festival (I’m the most comfortable with that course) and saved a replay of it. If anyone wants to take a quick look at it, I titled it, “RWD what a joke.” The part that confuses me is I have something like a 1:57 lap time with a RWD 190E on the Alps course in B class. I know that’s not spectacular, but its not dreadful either. If you have to baby a car so much to keep it under control, then how do you race it? I know a lot of you are really good at RWD cars, can you pass on some pointers that might steer me in the right direction?

I’d appreciate it guys…

Hi there, I’d like to offer a few tips that I use to keep myself under control in high powered RWD cars:

  1. No 100% throttle unless you’re on a straightaway, but even then some RWD cars will STILL get squirrely, so throttle moderation is essential: A properly tuned differential (next item) will assist you more than any other actual upgrade or tuning setting; It will allow you to get on the throttle more and earlier, however restraint is still absolutely necessary. Accelerate softly and gently into corners until you find the apex and exit line.

  2. Purchase the ‘Race Differential’ and reduce lock-under-acceleration to like 10 or 20%: This will cause the wheels to lock (and spin) less often during acceleration. Experiment with the values, but low settings allow you to get on the throttle earlier without inducing wheelspin (and thus oversteer).

  3. Don’t punch it on the way out of a corner until you’re riding the exit line with enough downforce on the rear of the car to put that power down hard. Come onto the throttle gently, when your turn is almost complete, and you’re on the line, and you know you have the grip, punch it.

  4. Brake early (and softly) to shift the weight of your car forward before a corner, then get back on the throttle gently to put that weight back overtop of the drive wheels as you turn in.

  5. Out-In-Out: A good racing line is essential since the car will inherently want to get sideways. Use the whole track, stick to the outside until you see your turn in point, hit the apex, and then accelerate back to the outside.

This site explains the concept of “100% Traction” which I originally read in the Gran Turismo 2 manual (It was taken directly from the Skip Barber Racing School Manual at the time), and it has been the basis for my understanding of racing and traction ever since. Hope some of what I have offered is helpful, and if you want to go for a rip sometime just look me up!

  • Keiisuke
4 Likes

Yes, its very helpful and I will give it all a try. Thanks for the link too…

I’m a pretty non-competitive racer so if I buy the auto upgraded version of anything b class or higher then I pretty much have to use either tcs or tcs and the stm. I know I could be faster with them off but it requires a gentle throttle through/out of corners and i usually muck it up.

If I buy the base car and focus more on handeling and tires I can usually get good times with b class and some a class.

Just my two cents, may or may not help you.

you can just take the easy way out, like all the top leaderboard guys do, and turn on TCS. then you can just mash the throttle any time your not braking and you wont lose traction.
or you can actually learn to drive. if thats what your looking for, the best advise i can give you is their is a ratio for the amount of throttle you can apply with the amount of steering angle you can apply at any given moment. so assuming all the available traction is 100%, if your using 80% of traction to steer, you can only use 20% for acceleration at that moment. if your using 80% for acceleration you can only use 20% for steering. so the more steering angle your using the less throttle you can apply at that moment. the point is to try to use 100% of available traction ALL THE TIME, weather for turning, braking, or accelerating.

You can give help without some snide comments about TCS you know lol. If you think those top times are just mashing throttle every where you are wrong.

The steering angle advice is good though. Learning to control the cars angle while getting on the throttle is key.

snide maybe but true.
with TCS on, throttle input becomes “all or nothing”, no need to feather the throttle or find the steering/throttle ratio.

Not quite. It does help of course but the less you activate the TCS the faster you can go. Having good throttle control and using TCS is the best of both worlds.

actually your are right, the “all or nothing” throttle input would be the lazy (and slower) way of using TCS.

I will remember every word of this, trust me.

As to TCS, I do use it at times, but I have been trying really hard to get away from it entirely. Pretty much everything I drive in D and C classes now, its off. I’d say I’m up to about half of B class and a few cars in A class. I want to learn the game properly and eventually get all the assists off. Its been a long time since I played a video game before Forza, so the assists were needed at first.

then i would recommend leaving TCS on as a “safety net”, but drive as if you dont have it on, just notice when the TCS light flashes so you know when your applying to much throttle, but still drive as described above with the steering/throttle traction ratio.
btw, the same applies to braking. if your using 100% of traction to brake then you cant steer, if your using 70% of available traction to brake you can only use 30% to steer at that moment.

Just use traction controll

The Lexus is a beast.

It’s a sedan that is too big for it’s britches imo.

Widest tires, best compound, soft rear shocks, springs, I went slightly stiff on the bars, and a tad softer on the pressure. I push very hard on straights to make up for feathering every turn.

It’s still a fun car. Don’t try to learn RWD with it LOL

Throttle control, throttle control, throttle control. That is the biggest requirement to learn if you wish to race without TCS in any car, virtual or reality.

1.) Feather the throttle through the corners, keep it steady and keep the back wheels in without losing grip. If the controller starts to vibrate in such a way and (in third person view) you see skid marks appearing behind your rear tires then let off just a little bit.

2.) As mentioned above, never full throttle unless on a straight a way.

3.) Balance the wheel (stick) enough to where you aren’t over turning and causing slip in the rear wheels. This needs to be well balanced with the throttle as well. Don’t jerk the wheel either. The cars respond better to gentle turns.

4.) Make sure to hit the apex and while doing all of this. Don’t stray from the racing line. It helps to turn on full racing line when learning the tracks, and then if you feel comfortable enough you can turn it off altogether, or go for the brake line.

You can also use tuning to balance your RWD driving out. I am not extremely great at tuning, but know enough to keep a car under control when needed.

1.) Racing Differentials may appear to hurt the car from the weight, but if you know how to tune them right they can be one of the best parts you put on a car.

2.) Make the rear tires as wide as possible. Then tune the tires to roughly 28-29 PSI in the front and usually 28.5-29.5 in the back works for me.

3.) If you want, you can put a wing on the back for added downforce. Put the downforce up to enough to where the car won’t be struggling in the front to get around a corner and not turning enough (understeer), but will hold steady through the corners.

Overall, I recommend starting with something like the Corvette ZR1 to practice with your driving. Then, once you are better at driving to start tuning to help yourself out. This is how I learned back in Forza 3 when I became serious about getting better without any assists.

Yeah diffs are usually set pretty low imo on these cars… 5 to 10% R/F unless you have some issues you can try going further if you’re not achieving results from typical ARBs/SRs… imo

come in and correct me if you need to.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND learning in a high powered RWD car, such as the ZR1. the exact opposite is easier, learn in a low powered RWD car, such as a stock miata, or stock '87 trans-am, or stock '93 mustang cobra. the key is stock, not modified, dont use a 600 hp miata to learn with.

Carefully

and don’t forget to tune the car first

Some good advice here so far. But most of this has been real world related.

I will give you some Forza 5 advice which may sound crazy as you read this but it is what works for me.

To start I am going to put this stat up not to brag, but so people that don’t know of me will know I am talking from knowledgeable stand point. A and S class #1 No assists overall, all my own tunes and builds.

Tune wise I start roll bars at 30 front 10 rear on Front engine RWD. On mid and rear engine RWD 25/15. Basics of this go as follows. The tighter the roll bar (1 being the tightest) the more it grips. If the car is controllable but under steers drop the front raise the rear 1.0 (29/11 etc…) each equally until you are at the edge of grip and can maintain thru the corners. If too loose do the opposite. This is a base. On some cars like the Viper 08 my ARBS are 15/25 so you never know until you run it. (ZR1 with no tire upgrade I run 40/1)

Next I tune springs. Generally I run about 60% of the stock ratios. On most Front engine cars this is a 52-55% front bias split. So a general 2800-3000 lb car the springs would be like 450 front 400 rear. On Rear engine and mid engine rear wheel I don’t bother with the cars bias, I set the back 150lbs-200lbs more than the front. Some people like them stiffer some lighter. The feel of the car is preference but that 60% realm I have found to be the sweet spot per se. That is the starting point. Since your Roll bars are set and your spring rate is set, now you want to set the Bias. On occasion you will want to add more front stiffness or maybe abit softer in the rear. If everything is gripping good but you want a bit more over steer you need to drop the front springs. Go by 25 lb increments. On the rear if you are close to perfect but you find the rear slightly slipping you drop it. I use the same 25 lb at a time method.

Bump I run double the spring rate. 450lb front is 9.0 etc…

Rebound I run about 1/4th the bump.

If you put Aero on which I advise on anything A and up I always run max on front and rear. The only time I will drop it is If I am tuning a car for a specific track and the results show it turns out faster. But literally 90% of the time it is max on both. Lemans full is the only place you don’t want Aero.

Brakes are preference but remember the ratios are reversed in Forza 5. if you want to be able to turn in while braking you need to set the brake bias around 52-55 to the front. Pressure is whatever. My controller is bananas on sensitivity so I use 95% pressure usually.

Finally the differential, this is always a topic of debate because the description says one thing but in reality it is another, and real world is a hole different ball game. I run my accel at 55%-65% always no matter what. The reasoning is you just have better control thru the power band. On occasion I have set it low like 10-20%, while slightly easier to control (I stress slightly) my lap times went down.

deceleration I start at 35%. The lower this number the less your diff will spin as you get off the throttle. So in really high horsepower cars if you have it low when you let off throttle the car will slide out. I have never found a car that needed it higher. On some cars I drop it if they grip like crazy and I want to induce some over steer off throttle.

I am not the master tuner, this just is what works for a very heavy handed forza addict.

Thanks for all of that. I read the part about the ARBs in another thread a while back and it stuck in my head for some strange reason. I tried it out and it really seemed to help with some cars.

I’m really into driving a 190E at the moment in C class. It grips like crazy in C, so its not really an issue. I have the same car tuned for B class though and plan to move onto that next. There’s a lot more HP in the B class version so I will be coming back to this post. Without a doubt, the worst car I have is a 2002 Corvette Z06 that is tuned for A class. IIRC, there wasn’t much PI room to upgrade tires and so forth, so that thing is maddening to drive. I’m looking forward to applying what you wrote to that car.

Thanks a lot.