[1997TA]

I am fairly new to the road racing arena. Would practicing road-racing via realistic video gaming at home help my driving skills? Or, would it be a waste of time?

[V6RSR]

No, you get absolutely no fedback to what the car is doing. A video game is 100% out of touch with the chassis feel. It is not even going to help you with a line because the car in the game has different charateristics than that of the braking zone and pedaling of the throttle and brakes of your real car.

The ONLY thing a video game is good for is learning a track like Limerock, or Watkins Glen, Etc where you get a bit used to blind sections of the track before you actually drive on them for real.

This post has been edited by V6RSR: Dec 4 2007, 06:00 PM

[Vracer111]

No, you get absolutely no fedback to what the car is doing. A video game is 100% out of touch with the chassis feel. It is not even going to help you with a line because the car in the game has different charateristics than that of the braking zone and pedaling of the throttle and brakes of your real car.

The ONLY thing a video game is good for is learning a track like Limerock, or Watkins Glen, Etc where you get a bit used to blind sections of the track before you actually drive on them for real.

Spend some time with GTR2 (a racing SIMULATION, not video game) then see if you truely feel the same way afterwards... You will learn about being consistent and keeping on the line. And you will learn about how your line must change as the tires wear and fuel gets low along with the track changing from rubber buildup and temperature shifts. Even though the G force is missing from the equation like in real life you can feel what the tires are doing and balance the cars grip as in real life. Someone who has never been on track before can learn how to drive properly on track in GTR2 - proper race/driving theory applies to GTR2. It doesn't feel exactly the same (no G's), nor is truely as fun as being on track in real life, but a person can become a competent driver (get the mechanics of driving a car on track down) and be way ahead of the curve before ever setting one wheel on a real track.

Donnington National in a Porsche GT3 RSR is just too much fun! Makes me want to drive a real Porsche 911 GT3 RSR if I ever get a chance... (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)